"Gin, I think that's them. Could you get the do-"

Harry was interrupted by the thudding of bare feet on the wooden floor and by the groaning hinges of the Potters' front door as it was jerked open, rebounding from the scuffed wall in a violent collision.

"Albus! Your boyfriend is here!"

Dusting his flour-coated hands on the sides of his trousers, Harry hurried out from the kitchen to receive their guests, but stopped short at the sight of his daughter greeting the Malfoys through the open door. Lily was doubled over, clutching her knees as she had evidently sprinted the whole way downstairs and raced outside into the frozen front yard of the Potters. She straightened up, ankle-deep in the snow and made to wedge herself between the Malfoys, linking arms with them and directing them back in towards the house.

"Right this way, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Malfoy." Draco and Scorpius looked at her hesitantly before conceding and letting her guide them in.

Ginny appeared in the doorway beside Harry holding up a pair of blue rubber snow boots. "Lily. Shoes. Wear them."

"Oh, sorry, Mum. Couldn't find them anywhere in the house now that we've been rearranging it all day."

"Somehow, I don't think you looked. And it hasn't been 'rearranged.' It's been cleaned!" She thrust the boots towards her daughter who looked back at them with an eyebrow raised.

"Are we really going to do this again? Here? Now? When we have company?" She gestured towards the guests still locking arms with her before looking back at her mother squarely, her expression set. Ginny had both eyebrows raised and a look of casual disbelief in her eyes. Then she peered down intensely at her daughter, studying the lines of her face, searching for a weakness. The clock in the entrance hallway ticked distinctly louder than Harry felt it usually did until finally-

"Yes, Lily Luna. Yes. We are."

Lily released her guests and stepped forward now face-to-face with her mother who was bent down to look at her. Scorpius almost visibly relaxed now that he could step away and made to fade into the wallpaper. "Mum, I'm not wearing them. Shoes are for the weak."

"Darling, I don't think anyone has ever accused you of being weak. And I think you'd still be safe even if you wore shoes."

"Why, though? You used to let James go about barefoot all the time! And the most you ever said to him was to wash his feet before he came in!"

"She's got a point there, Mum." James had just entered from the hall, closely followed by Lilah. Judging by the state of his hair and the sweatpants he was wearing, the two had just woken from a mid-afternoon nap.

"No she doesn't!" Ginny said, her eyes never leaving Lily's.

"Why are you treating me differently? Is it 'cause you think I'm a soft little girl and I might 'injure' my wee little toes if I don't wear them. Because I'm not soft. I'm not little. My toes are not wee. I've got tough toes and every one of them can take it. Why won't you let me-"

Closing her eyes so as to not roll them, Ginny said, "I let James go without wearing shoes because it was July. This has nothing to do with you being a little girl and everything to do with there being seven inches of snow outside! Lily, I do not want to have to take you to St. Mungo's to amputate your foot! And I don't think you could pull off a pegleg as well as you might think."

"I could pull it off."

"Lily."

This time it was Harry who addressed her.

"What, Dad?" Lily asked, crossing her arms as she turned to him.

"Lily, can you at least wear shoes when we have guests over? I mean, we wouldn't want anyone to realize that we're actually extremely negligent parents, would we? We've got a front to keep up, Lils, you know that." He looked over at Draco pointedly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"I-but-okay, fine. But I'm only doing this for the sake of our guests. Not because the snow is cold and makes my feet numb. They're not numb. They're not cold. They're fine. I've not complained once and you know it." She glanced around the room studying each of their faces as though daring them to contradict her. When she turned all the way around to stare accusingly at Scorpius, his expression grew pained and he was quick appease her.

"No, of course your toes haven't been complaining! I mean you. You haven't been complaining. About your toes. They're absolutely massive toes. Tough as nails! Not toenails, I mean, you know, Muggle nails. They're really- your toes are really-"

"Scorpius!"

Albus had just rounded the corner of the hallway and was staring around at the scene, his hair still dripping wet down the back of his neck. In two great steps, Scorpius had crossed the room from the corner of the wall into which he'd been slowly shrinking and threw his arms around Albus's shoulders, pinning his upper arms to his sides.

"Albus!" He shouted in a rather higher pitch than he'd been talking. Albus tried to return the hug by wrapping his forearms around Scorpius's waist and held him tight. For a long second they stood there until Albus pulled away and directed Scorpius towards the hall, one arm at the small of his back. "Let's go, er-unpack, shall we?"

"Right!" Agreed Scorpius, walking quickly to keep up with the pace Albus was pushing on him. Halfway up the stairs leading to Albus's bedroom he stopped again. "Wait, what? Unpack into where? I never unpack when I stay over. You haven't any spare dressers or wardrobes. Unless you bought new furniture. You didn't, did you? I mean I always figured you'd tell me if you made any life-changing decisions, but I guess n-"

The warm arm that had been wrapped around his waist released him and pushed him down into a seat on the carpeted steps. Albus moved towards him, and suddenly he was sitting in his lap, sliding his arms behind his neck and the tips of his fingers dipped under the back collar of his shirt. Scorpius's breath caught in his lungs and he froze.

"I didn't buy new furniture, Scorpius."

They stared at each other for the briefest of moments, green eyes on gray, before simultaneously leaning in and meeting each other's lips for the first time since term had ended. The kiss was neither as gentle nor as sweet as usual. Rather, it was equal parts frantic and sensual as they both tried to taste as much of the other's mouth as possible. Vaguely, from somewhere in the back of his mind, Scorpius saw the image of them snogging heatedly on the Potters' staircase and the sudden footsteps pattering down the hallway below brought him to his senses.

"Toes! I hear toes coming! Y-your sister-she's-"

At Scorpius's words, Albus froze and looked over his shoulder down the stairs. Lily was standing at the bottom frowning up at them. She opened her mouth and for a moment Scorpius thought she might call out to her parents, but she merely sighed and started marching up the stairs.

"Watch yourselves. Mum won't even let me go outside without shoes, let alone snog on the steps arse-naked."

"Lily! We're not naked!" Albus hissed, glaring up at his sister who had reached their location on the steps.

"Not yet, anyways. But you are snogging," she replied, glaring right back. "Though I'll not turn you in just yet." And she turned and leapt up the remaining few steps to the floor above.

Scorpius turned to look at Albus and found him still glaring after his sister.

"'Just yet.' Albus, what'd she mean by 'just yet?' Will your parents be upset if they find out we snog?"

"No," said Albus. "She's got nothing on us. Mum and Dad wouldn't care. I mean, they know James and Lilah shag and they still let them sleep in the same room together. Why would they care that we snogged?"

"Well yeah, but your brother and Lilah, they're practically married aren't they? Just waiting to make it official once they're out of school, right?"

"I suppose. I still don't think there's any harm in the occasional snog or two. Although I admit the stairs might not be the best location for it."

"'Occasional?'" Scorpius asked. "Oh. I was sort of under the impression I would be getting more than the occasional snog from you. I'll be here for three whole days," he teased.

Albus paused and considered this for a moment. "Well, I suppose it is Christmas," he replied with a cheeky grin. And with that he was kissing him again, hands braced on the steps beside Scorpius's head. His shirt began to slide up as Scorpius snuck his hands underneath it to roam them across his back. Albus groaned softly into Scorpius's mouth and Scorpius felt his heart stop beating. He gripped Albus against him tighter still and felt him lower his weight fully onto his lap. The effect of the contact was immediate and both boys frantically made to increase the pressure. Slowly, Albus ground his hips once into Scorpius's, their bodies reacting fully to the increased friction. Whatever blush Scorpius had sustained from Lily's crude comments had ceased as all his blood ran south. It was delicious feeling Albus pressed against him like that, like he'd never been before. And before he knew it, he was moaning back into Albus's mouth, all rational thought receding quickly.

Albus shoved a hand over Scorpius's mouth and stared at him in shock. "Scorpius, love, you cannot be that loud. Someone almost surely heard you," he giggled, looking at Scorpius in disbelief.

"Sorry," he breathed back, not daring to raise his voice any louder. He wanted to ask whether they could go somewhere where they could be as loud as they wanted, but it seemed for Albus the moment had passed as he got up and disentangled himself from Scorpius. "Are we going back down now?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound too crestfallen.

"What? No," said Albus, pulling Scorpius to his feet. "I thought maybe we could go in the bathroom and run the shower."

Scorpius stared blankly back at him, suddenly red in the face and very much without a coherent response.

Albus felt his face heat up as well. "I-I just meant, we could run the water and then no one would hear us if we snogged a bit. I didn't mean for us to-to-"

"Right," said Scorpius, "I-yeah, me neither. Not that I definitely wouldn't want to if that's what you were saying, though. I think I would very much be okay with whatever you're okay with, Albus. But for now-kissing, rubbing, that slow grinding thing you did earlier-those are all good. Very very good."

"Okay," Albus grinned, still very much red in the face. "Glad to hear it. So, um, fancy a trip to the loo?"

"Um, yes. Yes, I would like that, please. Very much."