CHAPTER ONE
Scorpius and Albus were sitting together on a couch in the Slytherin common room. Year five had started a few weeks ago and Rose and Scorpius had just broken up after dating for a few months. Rose and Scorpius had started talking a bit more during the second semester of year four and had eventually gone on a few dates. Scorpius had asked Rose to be his girlfriend in May and she had said yes. Scorpius shrugged: "I'm fine, really Albus. We didn't get along anyways...," he trailed off. Albus put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you sure? Is there anything I can do?" Albus said carefully. Scorpius shook his head. "It's fine, really! I guess I just put her on a pedestal. She is gorgeous and I don't know... I don't know really why I even thought that this could work out. I don't think she ever really liked me to begin with...," Scorpius trailed off again, shrugging. The truth was he wasn't surprised that she had broken up with him. It truly never really worked out with them. They fought a lot. He wasn't that upset about it, so he finally sighed, admitting to himself that he never really had strong feelings for her either. "You know what would make you feel better?" Albus said with a smile, taking his friend's hand and pulling him up to the dorm room that they were sharing with three other boys. Albus opened the first drawer of his small night stand and pulled out a package of Pepper Imp sweets, handing it to Scorpius with a wide smile, "Your favourite sweets!" Scorpius took the bag, plopping down on Albus' bed, putting two of the sweets in his mouth. Both boys laughed as smoke started coming out of Scorpius' ears. Albus sat down next to Scorpius, still laughing. "Thanks for always being there for me, Al!" They hugged. "Friends forever?" Scorpius asked. "Always!" Albus replied with a smile.
It was the middle of December and Hogwarts had been getting excited for this year's Yule ball for weeks. There was no Triwizard Tournament, obviously, since Hogwarts would no longer take part in such events, but McGonagall did like dancing and she did like they joy that the annual Yule ball brought to people. It wasn't as big of an event as it had been when it was part of the Triwizard tournament but it was still nice. The great hall became a dance floor with lovely wintery decorations and most students enjoyed the ball as a whole. Being in year five Albus and Scorpius would be allowed to go to the dance, yet they had no intentions of doing so. Even less now that Scorpius and Rose had broken up just a few weeks ago. They simply didn't care for dancing. Besides, who would they ask out anyways? But they didn't mind. Quite on the contrary they were quite looking forward to having the entire dorm room, if not even the entire common room to themselves.
They were planning on enjoying the silence and maybe playing some chess with some butterbeers that they had snuck into Hogwarts from their last visit to Hogsmeade. Scorpius and Albus still were quite the misfits and didn't really have any friends besides each other so they didn't mind being alone and not being called names for once. Albus and Scorpius were sitting on Scorpius' bed, quietly playing a game of cards while the three boys they shared their dorm room with were getting ready for the ball. From time to time one of the two friends looked up to roll their eyes at the other when they overheard part of the other people's conversation. They had gotten extremely good at communicating quietly and pretending that they didn't exist. They opened their first bottles of butterbeer and toasted one another, the bottles making a silent *cling* noise.
They were at their 8th round of their card game when the others finally left and closed the door. A calming silence washed over them. "Finally I don't have to listen to Thomas talking about how many girls had asked him to the ball anymore. Ugh, I was close to throwing up!" Albus exclaimed. Scorpius giggled, opening their second bottle. "This one is to you thankfully not being an annoying prick like everyone else in this dorm room," Albus said as he raised his bottle in Scorpius' direction and then proceeded to take a gulp of butterbeer. "Thanks, I guess!" Scorpius chuckled, taking a huge sip himself. They played cards for a bit more and then a round of Wizard's Chess and as ten o'clock rolled around they were just lying next to one another in Scorpius' bed, butterbeer bottles in hand, both a bit tipsy, staring at the roof of the bed that Scorpius had enchanted to look like the universe. Albus was staring at the stars and the vast majority of space as he whispered, "I'm so glad that you're my friend, do you know that? I have no idea what I would do without you..." Scorpius smiled turning to face Albus. "I'm really glad, too".
Eleven o'clock and another two bottles of butterbeer later and Scorpius' brain felt nice and fuzzy, his body warm. He was sitting next to Albus, still in bed, their backs against the bedroom wall. He took his and Albus' empty bottle and put them to the side. "Enough butterbeer for tonight I think!" "Agreed!" Albus giggled. They were not quite drunk yet, but on the edge of it. They were very tips. Albus smiled, his head feeling dizzy but not in an uncomfortable sort of way. "What a nice thing, getting drunk for the first time, with your best friend right next to you!" Scorpius smiled, turning to his friend, "Yeah!" Albus looked into Scorpius' piercing blue eyes. His mind was swimming away, his body felt like it was floating in space. It felt nice to not worry. It felt nice to just be. Formless. Careless. Albus bit his bottom lip, his brain trying to process if he was actually about to do this, if he actually should do this. But he couldn't really think. All he knew was that they were alone. All he knew was that Scorpius looked damn right gorgeous. All he knew was that suddenly his friend's face was very close and that at some point he just pressed his lips to Scorpius', both of their eyes flying shut. Time kind of stopped. Soft lips, fingers tangled in hair, the distant taste of butterbeer. It all felt fuzzy. It all felt so good. They broke apart and stared at each other as the information slowly sunk in. Oh damn. "Okay... Hello. Um. Have we kissed before? Do we kiss?" Scorpius mumbled confused, unsure if this was reality or a dream. Albus shrugged, biting his lips sheepishly. Scorpius blushed. So did Albus. "My father definitely won't hear about this," Scorpius mumbled quietly, his head spinning, his lips burning, his heart fluttering in his chest. Albus just sat there quietly, then, even more quietly, he stood up and went over to his bed and laid down whispering "sorry", before he closed the curtains.
Morning hit hard for Scorpius. His head felt too heavy for his body and he was feeling a bit sick to his stomach. He rubbed his eyes and looked around his bed when he saw the empty beer bottles and the memories of last night slowly started to come back. Oh shit. They had kissed, right? They did? It wasn't a desperate dream this time? No, Scorpius could definitely remember Albus face pressed against his. Suddenly it hit him hard. All this time that he spent thinking that they were only best friends... What if he felt more for Albus? What if this was not how friendship felt to other people. How would he know, he never had a friend before Al. Somehow he had never even considered that he might like the other boy more than the standard acceptable level of friendship –'like'. But then they kissed and his world came tumbling down and how had he not realised before just how much the boy meant to him. He blushed. He was glad that the curtains of his bed were still closed so nobody could see. Scorpius sighed, smiling for a brief moment, when suddenly more worries washed over him. What if only he had felt it? Yes, it was Albus who had initiated the kiss, but he had just gone back to his bed right after without any explanation or anything. What if he didn't like him that way? What if it was just because they were drunk? Scorpius sighed, deciding that he would not ruin their friendship and lay low with his feelings, waiting for how Albus would react first. He opened his curtains and to his surprise Albus wasn't in his bed anymore. They usually woke one another up so they could go and eat breakfast together.
Scorpius put on his uniform and went down stairs, finding Albus in the Great Hall, sitting on his own. He hesitated a bit but finally sat down next to his friend, who was leaning over a cup of coffee. Albus startled a bit when someone sat down next to him, but his mouth instantly curved into a smile when he saw Scorpius. "Good morning!" he smiled, pouring a cup of coffee for the boy as well. "Sorry I didn't wake you! I thought maybe you would like to sleep a bit longer to well, cure your hangover a bit!" Scorpius smiled relieved as he realised that his friend wasn't mad or anything. "Does your head also feel so heavy?" Albus nodded. They kind of sat in silence during the rest of breakfast, neither of them being sure whether they should address the previous night or not.
They next few days they spoke a bit less than usual. They weren't as carefree and there was a bit of a weird tension between them. It would have probably been best to spend a few days apart, to sort out their thoughts, but neither of them had any other friends still and they would have been extremely lonely without one another. Finally, what seemed like an eternity after their kiss, though in reality it had probably been a few days only, Albus decided to sit down next to Scorpius as he was reading on his bed. A burning heat rushed over the boy as he realised that this was the spot that they had kissed. He coughed awkwardly. "Scorpius? Can we talk for a moment?" Scorpius finished reading the last paragraph of the page and then put the book to the side, looking at his friend. "Sure, what's up?" A smile. Albus was fumbling with the hem of this shirt. "Listen about the other day... I'm sorry." Scorpius looked at his friend, trying to read him. "There is nothing to be sorry about!" His heart beat faster. Should he tell Albus how he really felt about it? Should he ask him if he had felt the same? Should he - "Oh thank Dumbledore, I'm so glad you're not mad! It was stupid okay, I should have never done that! I'm really sorry!" A moment of silence. Scorpius stopped breathing for a second, contemplating, trying to place the information, trying to read what the other boy was saying, when: "Friends?" Scorpius smiled. "Always." They hugged. They smiled. Scorpius' heart was slightly breaking.
