Title: Potter and Malfoy
Disclaimer: Do not own, never have, never will.
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Italics: Flash back
Normal: Present time

'I'm not as pretentious as people think,' Scorpius murmured lazily, letting a pale skinny hand fall through his blonde hair. 'Just because I'm a Malfoy and my father is a git, doesn't mean that I am too.'

Albus looked up, licked his lips and adjusted his collar briefly. 'I never said that you were,' he said, his lips only moving slightly. Scorpius's dark, grey eyes were watching him intently and his blonde hair fell about his sharp, pointed face. Occasionally the young Malfoy in Albus's year looked like he had been carved out of stone and he was always as cold as stone too but it never stopped Albus from trying.

'And just because my father was a Death Eater that doesn't mean that I'm going to grow up to worship Voldemort too, you know?' Scorpius said, sitting up in the chair this time and focusing even more so on Albus.

'Your family has changed,' Albus said, almost having difficulty getting the words out of his mouth. In all their years as classmates in Hogwarts, only three to the count, there had never been a conversation like this between them. They had always just assumed they knew this and that the bond of friendship, however unspoken, didn't discriminate. 'Even dad thinks so.'

Scorpius didn't seem to hear him and carried on idly but with more spark to his voice. 'I have a lot going against me,' he said, 'especially my name. Bloody Malfoy,' he said like it was disgusting. 'It's not a good name anymore like it used to be.'

'It's not that bad.'

'You're lucky to be a Potter, Al,' said Scorpius placing his icy cold hand on top of Albus's and giving a little smirk that was probably meant to be more of a smile. 'People don't judge you in the wrong ways because of it.'

Albus wanted to pull his hand out from under Scorpius's as the sting of the cold was intense but it felt nice. His hand remained under Scorpius's on the table. 'I get judged,' he said softly and Scorpius looked blandly at him. Sometimes he wondered whether Scorpius decided never to show emotion in his face, only the small twitch of a lip, or if he'd been cursed by accident. 'People think that just because I'm a Potter I should be a hero like my dad.'

'You're no hero,' Scorpius said, even laughing.

'I know.' Scorpius's soft fingers gently ran along the skin of Albus's hand and the Malfoy looked back into the Potter's eyes as he looped his fingers through those of the other boy's. Looks were exchanged and Albus Severus Potter knew he'd never forget this moment.

Sitting on the bed, his hands entwined his own dark, messy hair; Albus sniffed and looked towards the window. The sky outside was a chaotic order of colours, it had been like that all morning. Pink, oranges and yellows adorned the horizon and splayed a peaceful glow over his skin and the ring on his finger that glinted whenever a ray of sunlight touched it. He smiled, green eyes shining. It was times like these that he always felt so alive, when the sky looked like it was on fire. It brought back memories, mostly memories of Scorpius.

The library had been dull and boring that day, and Scorpius had been glaring intently in the direction of Albus's brother, James, who like always took great joy in tormenting his younger sibling whenever possible Albus found himself used to it, being the middle child, but Scorpius was an only child and had never grown used to the squabbles between siblings.

'I wish he'd just go away,' Scorpius snarled, narrowing his eyes as James walked past their table for the fifth time that hour, helping himself to half of Albus's quills and whacking his younger brother over the head with his heavy Divination book.

Albus rubbed the back of his head, staring after James in disdain. He'd taken his best quill. 'He'll get tired of it eventually,' he said.

'Why don't you hit back next time?' asked Scorpius suggestively. 'Go on, I can tell you want to. Just do it, or hex him at least.'

Shaking his head, Albus dipped his quill back into the ink ready to write but was interrupted by the insistent drawl of Scorpius. 'No,' he said with more emphasis to his voice. 'I'll get in trouble.'

'Some Slytherin you are,' Scorpius said huffily. 'More suited to Ravenclaw,' he jeered. 'Or maybe even Hufflepuff.'

'Shut up,' Albus said under his breath. His brother was walking closer, coming to pass him again and Scorpius saw this and looked pointedly at Albus. 'I'm not like a Hufflepuff,' he said sternly. Scorpius shrugged.

'You're acting like one.'

Albus glared back at his friend, the same glare Scorpius had been giving his brother seconds ago. He could hear the footsteps falling behind him, slowing. Albus's fingers had already curled around the wand sitting behind his piles of parchment and he looked up to Scorpius for a brief second. The boy wasn't looking at him instead staring up at the towering form of James who was now standing right behind Albus's chair.

It happened in less than a second and Albus barely knew how. But it seemed that it had just taken a mere second for the words to leave his mouth and for there to be huge green coloured bats flying around his brother's face, attacking him with more wrath then Albus could ever muster. He gaped in shock. His mum had actually taught him this hex a while back, Albus couldn't remember when but it must have been after his first year at Hogwarts and she had taught him to use to stop James from picking on him like he did. Albus had never used it before as he'd just taken what James had dished out.

His brother stumbled backwards, crashing into a shelf and effectively knocking it over, clawing at his face and shrieking in a way that Albus never thought he could – high pitched and girly. Scorpius was already gathering up their things in his arms that were scattered across the table but had the triumphant smirk of a madman across his face.

'OUT!' the librarian had yelled at them, pointing her wand directly at Albus as she grabbed the collar of James's uniform and dragged him with her.

Albus didn't need to be told twice and followed Scorpius out of the library at a run. They ran down two flights of stairs and only stopped when they reached the stone of the first level of the dungeons. Scorpius was laughing, sniggering and giggling as he slowed. His arms were full of their quills, parchment and books. He thrust some into Albus's hands and shook his head; another bout of laughter flew past his lips. And Albus blushed, ducking his head.

'Amazing!' Scorpius said in a singsong tone. He shoved Albus a little to make sure he was listening and smirked at him. 'I never thought you'd do it!' he added.

Albus shoved him, making him stagger back several feet. 'Yeah, well,' he stammered. 'We'll get in trouble for it.'

Scorpius had stopped smiling and held up his hands, looking horrified about having to take the blame. 'I never did it!' he said. 'You cast the hex, Al, not me.'

'You made me to do it!'

'You gave in to peer pressure,' Scorpius said definitely, 'hardly my fault you did.'

'Shut up!' Albus said, giving Scorpius one more shove, this time to make him move out of the way, so he could run down to the dormitories and finish his homework. But there was a tight grip on his shoulder stopping him from doing so. He was pulled back and shoved hard against the cold wall.

Scorpius was scowling at him, everything in his arms and had fallen to the floor as he used two hands on Albus's shoulders to hold him against the wall. But suddenly the blonde's expression changed and his grey eyes swelled. Albus frowned. He hadn't seen Scorpius have that look in his eyes since he had been lovesick over Polly Finnigan.

'What?' Albus asked uneasily.

Scorpius's eyes darted around Albus's face and before Albus could react he felt a soft pressure on his lips. He squirmed, startled by the feeling, until he realised that it was Scorpius's lips upon his own. He stopped squirming and wriggling and relaxed.

Albus had never been kissed not before, not by a girl and certainly not by a boy – the prospect of that happening had never occurred to him until now and he was surprised to find that he didn't want Scorpius to stop doing what he was doing.

'Proud of you,' Scorpius murmured awkwardly, though looking terribly composed, when their lips pulled apart with a smack, 'for doing that to your brother,' he added in Albus's confusion. When Albus nodded for lack of anything else to do, Scorpius kissed him again, briefly and chastely.

The sky was still its delicate shades of colour, decorating the vast horizon that on several of Scorpius's more romantic rants he'd promised he'd show Albus. Scorpius often muttered sleepily in Albus's ear that they'd see the world together, as soon as Hogwarts was over, they would see the world. To hell with finding a job, each of them had enough money from their parents' to travel the world fifteen times over. Scorpius had promised, and they were going to, he kept promising. Albus knew they would soon, in only a matter of weeks if Scorpius had anything to do with the plans. And if Scorpius went to places he'd already visited, being exceedingly well travelled compared to Albus, Albus would come with him. Scorpius had always been the one thing Albus could be sure of in his life.

'Dad,' Albus said stepping into the study on the second floor of their home. Paper was stern about the table and balled up into piles. The study was a warren of his father's belongings that he couldn't bear to part with. Memorabilia from times long gone – his dad's youth was long gone – littered the bookshelves in the personal study in an organised fashion.

'Albus?' his dad replied twisting around his chair with ink splattered across his fingers. He'd been working hard.

Albus was prepared for this; Scorpius had told him nearly tearfully what had happened when he'd told his own father about it. But he couldn't really imagine his father, Harry Potter, having the explosive outburst Scorpius's had had. Yet it was the only response anyone had ever told him of to the matter, so it was what he prepared himself for and as far as Scorpius was concerned Albus's dad would have the same reaction to his father. Albus wasn't going to tell his mother as he wasn't very close to her, he often felt distanced from her. His dad would tell his mother, he was sure of it.

'There's something you should know,' he said softly, standing in the door way and picking at his nails in his nervousness.

Glasses where pulled down and green eyes peered into Albus's own identical colour with confusion. 'James is usually the one who says that to me. What is it?' he asked.

Albus had thought of the many ways he could tell his dad, but there was only one way and it was the best way at that. To say the words first thing and get them right out there, if he didn't speak them straight away he'd never be able to tell him. 'Dad,' he said again, 'Dad, I'm gay.'

There was nothing, only a small cough like his had choked on air. There wasn't anything more. His father stared blankly at him, like the words his son had said were taking some time to process. Eyes blinked and his mouth opened a little in surprise.

'Oh,' the words finally came out though the tone of voice was disbelieving and unsure. 'How do you know?' Albus flinched; he would have expected that question from Aunt Hermione and not his father.

'There's someone,' Albus murmured vaguely, his eyes down on the floor.

'Who?'

'...' Albus didn't want to say.

'Who, Albus, who is it?'

'Scorpius Malfoy,' he said hastily so that the name came out in a flush of words but it didn't stop it from sounding delicious to his ears. He wanted to moan as he said the name, to taste Scorpius on his lips when he said the name as he had done many times before. There was no one else; it was just Scorpius and the occasional perve at other boys but never a girl.

His dad sucked in air sharply and he looked to be trying to control himself greatly. He stood up and then sat back down, running a hand through his hair. 'Ok,' he muttered finally. 'Ok.' There was something dark playing behind his eyes but Albus chose to ignore that and concentrate on the words, however small, of acceptance his father had just given. 'You can be with whoever you want to be with.'

It was hard for his father to break the bonds of hatred he had for the older Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, but Albus could tell that his father would find it his duty to try and do that for his son. Albus ran from the study after stepping away from the door, his heart pounding in his chest by the time he reached his room, barging forcefully past his mother in order to get there.

And on a parchment, he wrote three words: "Scorpius, I did it."

Albus lay back on the bed and held his hand above his face, smiling peacefully at the ring on his finger. A simple golden band as he hadn't wanted anything else. Scorpius was willing to spend all the galleons he had on Albus but Albus had refused for that to happen and had brought him a ring first to show that the cost didn't matter as the significance of wearing it on your finger was more than money could bring. It was beautiful no matter how much Scorpius and scowled and moaned about the simplicity of it even though he never took off Albus's unless he had too. Albus often wore the stupid dopey grin on his face, especially after spending as little as ten minutes with Scorpius and Scorpius had learnt to smile properly.

Albus snuggled up to Scorpius, resting his head into the crook of his neck and letting out a content breath. Scorpius was stroking his hair lightly, his fingers only just brushing the messy strands of black. His bare chest felt cold against Albus.

'You're cold,' he said reaching down for the blanket at the end of the bed.

'Leave it,' Scorpius said. 'I have bad circulation, you know that. Well,' he smirked, his teeth against Albus's ear, 'it's not that bad.'

Smiling, and blushing, Albus nodded. 'It could be worse,' he said.

Scorpius lifted his chin with his fingers like they had seen Charles Wood do with Polly earlier that morning. Even a Malfoy needed visual prompting it seemed. He kissed Albus softly, deepening the kiss in an instant, his tongue brushing across his lips. Albus gladly opened his lips slightly and touched his tongue to Scorpius's. When Albus pulled back, needing air, Scorpius was smiling widely, his bright, white teeth that showed that his skin wasn't as pasty as it appeared.

'You should smile like that more often,' whispered Albus.

'Only when I'm happy, Peeves having just given exploding bubblegum to the first years happy.'

There was a photograph of them on the bedside table beside his bed. Scorpius was asleep on Albus's shoulder, and kept shifting against him like he was uncomfortable. Albus had one arm around him and was having trouble flicking through the pages of the book he was reading, but never moved his arm that hugged Scorpius to him. He assumed that someone must have put it here because this was no longer his house; he hadn't lived here for a while, not since leaving Hogwarts and getting engaged. Staying apart for a night before was a bid on the part of his mother and Scorpius's to make sure they kept their hands off each other. Albus was sure that he would have been too tired from the exhausting day behind him to actually to anything with Scorpius even if he whined and moaned more than a dog watching dinner be eaten by its owner. He wanted to be with Scorpius right now though, despite what the night led to the next morning, he wanted to be with his lover. He always wanted to be with Scorpius even with the small fights they had. He loved him.

'Albus, wait!' Scorpius yelled after him. 'Albus! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!

Albus stopped in his tracks, wiped his face, rubbing his eyes dry of tears and turned around to face Scorpius who looked dreadful also. His blonde hair had been mussed and was sticking up at old angles like Albus's did normally and his face was drawn like he had lost his entire family inheritance. Albus had stopped beside the lack and he kicked at the water lamely, sniffing and rubbing his eyes again. He wanted to keep running from Scorpius; he didn't want to speak to him now.

'Al,' Scorpius said softly stepping forward to touch his hand with his fingers. He looked shocked and hurt when Albus wrenched his arm away from him. 'Al, I'm sorry,' he crooned. 'I didn't mean it. And I take it back. I shouldn't have done it.'

'And you shouldn't have said it,' Albus remarked bitterly.

'I know,' Scorpius said, stepping forward and opening his arms. This time Scorpius let him wrap his skinny, pale arms around his body and kiss his neck, though he didn't move in return. 'Al, I'm so sorry. Merlin,' he added, 'I didn't mean it at all, and you know that, don't you?'

'It's ok,' Albus said. 'I forgive you.'

'Albus,' Scorpius whispered. 'You can't just forgive me that easily. What if I did something really awful and you just forgave me right away?'

'I can't stay mad at you,' Albus said, hugging back and tightly too. He was gripping the material of Scorpius's shirt fiercely in his hands. He felt Scorpius smile against his neck.

'I love you, Albus,' the other Slytherin said so quietly Albus was sure he only just heard. 'I love you,' he repeated, squeezing Albus into a tight hug. 'I love you so much.'

'Scorpius,' Albus whispered, his eyes had brimmed with tears again and he was blinking them away. 'I love you.'

'You're crying aren't you?' Scorpius asked in a tone that was mixed with delight and tenderness for the other boy in his arms.

'I try not to,' Albus replied, sniffing and brushing away his tears again. He kissed Scorpius's neck gently. 'I love you,' he said again for the second time. It wasn't the last time he told him either. And it certainly wasn't Scorpius's last time either.

They had been called foolish and stupid many times but this was their decision. Neither Albus nor Scorpius cared that they were young, too young for some, to marry. They wanted this. Albus wanted this more than anything in the world. He wanted Scorpius to be with him forever.