Written for 'The Star Challenge' for the star Canopus. I used the prompt 'write about the invisibility cloak'. It would have been way too easy for me to write about the Marauders using the cloak, but I wanted to write out of my comfort zone for once and next-gen is reeeeally out of my comfort zone XD

The Invisibility Cloak

Scorpius Malfoy was sitting on his bed reading Quidditch Through The Ages. It was very rare that he had the bedroom to himself on a Saturday, but most of his dorm mates seemed to be elsewhere. He was waiting for his best friend to return. Albus had told him that morning that he had something important to do and that he'd explain later, before he dashed out of the room and Scorpius was still waiting for him to return.

Finally, the door slammed open and Albus came running in, looking out of breath but triumphant. He dropped down on Scorpius's bed and propped himself up with his elbows as he grinned at Scorpius.

"What?" Scorpius said cautiously, putting the book down and sitting up straight. "You look crazy, Al."

Albus continued grinning at him.

"Come on, Al!"

"Guess what I got," Albus said, looking excited. "I bet you'll never guess."

"A girlfriend," Scorpius guessed. Albus rolled his eyes.

"Scorp, you know I'm gay."

"Oh yeah," Scorpius said. He hadn't really forgotten. In fact, it was all he ever thought about. The thought that perhaps Albus may feel the same way about him as he felt about Albus. He just liked to rule out the worse possibilities, and Albus having a girlfriend would be the worst possibility at the moment for Scopius. "What is it then?"

Albus sat up and pulled something out of his bag. Scorpius wasn't quite sure what it was. He leaned forward to get a better look. It looked like a cloak.

"Wow, Al," he said, rolling his eyes. "How terribly exciting! You got a cloak!"

"Not just any cloak, my friend."

"Oh, what does it change colours or speak or something," Scorpius said sarcastically.

"Not quite," Albus said with a grin. He stood up. "I nicked this from my brother. He nicked it from my dad."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "I'm still waiting for the exciting part."

Albus threw the cloak over himself, and suddenly all that was there was his head floating in mid-air – his whole body had disappeared. Scorpius's mouth fell open.

"An invisibility cloak!" he said in awe. "And one that actually works!"

"It's the original one," Albus said, looking proud. "You know, the one from 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'."

"No way," Scorpius said, standing up to examine it. "May I?" he asked. Albus took it off and handed it to Scorpius, who threw it over himself and stared at his reflection in the mirror. It felt very weird staring at only his head.

"It really is the real one," Albus said. "My dad told me so."

"Wow," Scorpius said. "This is amazing!"

"I was thinking we could use it to sneak into Hogsmeade today," Albus said, eyes lighting up with excitement.

"I like the way you think."

"Shall we go?" Albus asked. Scorpius's floating head nodded and he helped his friend sneak under the cloak with him.

The closeness was almost too much for Scorpius. They were close enough for him to count every freckle on Albus's face, close enough for him to count every eyelash, close enough for him to just lean forward and...

"What are you looking at?" Albus asked, breaking Scorpius out of his thoughts. He coughed awkwardly.

"You have, er, something on your nose," Scorpius lied.

"Get it off!"

Scorpius reached up to 'brush it off' but as his hand made contact with Albus's skin, the both of them couldn't help staring into each other's eyes. Scorpius could feel the electricity running between them and he wondered whether Albus could feel it too.

They stood in silence for a minute, Scorpius's hand just resting on Albus's cheek.

When Scorpius realised what he was doing he moved his hand away and muttered "sorry".

Albus shook his head and smiled. "I'm not," he whispered, leaning forwards and closing the small gap between them.

Oh Merlin, he's kissing me.

It wasn't exactly a long kiss – it was merely just a peck, but it was perfect in Scorpius's eyes. It was all he'd wanted for the past three years.

"I've wanted to do that for a really long time," Albus said quietly.

"You... have?" Scorpius asked, bewildered.

"Yes."

"Me too," he said, biting his lip.

"I know you're my best friend, and that if this all goes wrong I could lose you forever but I've been in love with you for ages now," Albus said. "I'm willing to risk it all."

Scorpius couldn't help grinning. "I love you too."

They pulled the cloak off and tossed it into the corner, forgotten. What the two of them had was far more important than a silly old invisibility cloak. Albus took Scorpius's hand and led him over to his bed.

"I know a better way to spend our day."

Scorpius couldn't argue with that.

~THE END~