Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series.
A/N: This story is dedicated to Lovisa (lowi) for her birthday. Happy belated birthday! :) Sorry it's so late, I've had a terrible case of writer's block.
It's also written for the School Subjects Competition, Astronomy division.
Albus Potter sat on his bed, looking around the Slytherin seventh-year boys' dormitory. It was oddly clean. While usually the five boys had a tendency to scatter clothes, quills, old essays, owl treats, and other debris around the room, all of that was gone. Five trunks were in the room instead, crammed full of all these things that had, up until this point, taken residence on the floor.
He sighed. They would never mess up the dormitory again. They would never have to hurriedly pack their things and get into half-joking disputes about whose socks were whose again. This would be the last night that they would sleep there, for the next morning, the Hogwarts Express was coming to pick up all the students and take them back home. But it was different for them, this year, because they never would be coming back. It felt so weird to think of - he wouldn't have any summer homework to do, no essays or research, no anxious letters from his friends about whether he had understood the material and who could explain it to whom.
It was such an odd thought, not coming back to Hogwarts. He wouldn't admit it in front of too many people, but he truly loved this place. It felt just as much like home as his parents' house did. He knew it well; he was used to the moving staircases and trick walls and all of the building's little idiosyncrasies. After seven years, they all did. He couldn't believe that this was the last feast he would have at Hogwarts. He'd never be a student at this place again - hell, the chances of him coming back here at all were slim to none, as he knew he wasn't planning on becoming a teacher at any point in his life.
Oh, get a grip, Potter, he told himself. Stretching, he rose from his bed and checked underneath it, seeing if there was anything he might have missed. There wasn't; he had been very meticulous when packing, since he knew that whatever was left behind would be gone for good. He paced around the room, wanting to do something else but not knowing what to do. He was still pacing when Scorpius entered the dormitory.
Al's heart skipped a beat. Scorpius was a very handsome man, there was no denying it. Tall and lean, with blond hair and finely sculpted features, he was widely considered to be one of the most attractive boys in their year. Al couldn't agree more - not that he'd ever join in with the girls who discussed such things. He was already talked about by most of the school because he was one of only two Slytherins in his family, and he was a star player on the Quidditch team. The gossip-mongers definitely didn't need anything else to talk about.
"Hey," Scorpius said, looking at the trunks in a way that seemed almost longing.
"Hi," Al said in return.
There was a moment of silence, where Scorpius was still staring at the trunks, and then he said, "Feels weird, doesn't it? To know that we won't be coming back?"
"I was just thinking that before you came in," Al confessed. He walked over to his trunk and moved it away from his bed so that he wouldn't trip over it when getting up the next morning. "How's Rose? Did you see her while you were out?"
"I think she's still in the library," Scorpius answered, a slight smile playing on his (kissable) lips. "I'm pretty sure she's trying to read about fifty books before tomorrow morning. She'll probably try to get away with staying overnight in there or something."
Al chuckled. "She would, wouldn't she?" He smiled. Rose Weasley, Al's cousin, was a Ravenclaw. She had been the one to initiate sitting with Scorpius on that very first train ride to Hogwarts, where the three of them had become good friends. Although she had been relegated to Ravenclaw while Al and Scorpius were in Slytherin, the trio had remained close for their whole time at Hogwarts.
"Yeah." Scorpius nodded and threw himself onto his bed, sprawling out as though he was posing for a magazine shoot. Al tried not to stare as he sat down on his own bed in a much more normal, less photogenic way. "So," Scorpius continued, "you know what you're going to do this summer?"
"Not a clue," Al answered. "You?"
"Same. I mean, Mum and Dad said that I could take a bit of a holiday if I want, go around the world and see some sights, but I don't know. It sounds kind of dull, to be honest, unless..." He fidgeted with a loose thread of the blanket. "How would you like to come? And Rose, too, if she doesn't have the summer completely planned out."
"'Course I'll go," Al said quickly, before Scorpius could change his mind at all. The very thought of going on vacation with Scorpius was thrilling, and he found himself wishing that Rose already had plans. Just him and Scorpius, on a tropical beach or in a hotel room or at a museum...the possibilities were endless. He didn't exactly have a passion for world travel - but he had a passion for Scorpius, and was certainly willing to travel with him.
"Great," Scorpius said, looking relieved. "It sounded so boring, just traveling the world by myself. At least if you come along, and Rose if she can, it'll be interesting." He looked as though he wanted to say something more, but he stopped, a torn expression on his face.
"Is there something you were going to say?" Al said. Being friends with Scorpius for nearly seven years, he had grown used to the other boy's facial expressions, and that particular one was definitely Scorpius's 'I want to say something but I've got no idea how' face.
"Er," the blond boy replied, fidgeting with the loose thread again. "I, um...no. Nothing."
"Oh, come on," Al teased, "I know there's something. You've got that face." He imitated Scorpius's torn expression. "You know."
"Never mind, Al." The other boy's face became tighter. "I can't say it."
"Seriously," Al said, his tone growing more somber, "you know you can tell me anything, right? I'm your best friend."
Scorpius stared at the blanket for a moment, picking at the thread and unraveling more threads, before bursting out with, "I fancy you, okay?" Instantly he turned bright red, a highly noticeable thing on such pale features. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed when Al didn't instantly reply. "I'll just..." He gestured awkwardly to the door.
"No," said Al, "don't." Scorpius paused, halfway off the bed. "I can't believe it. I can't...Merlin." He shook his head in wonder. "This is...Merlin, Scorpius. I've fancied you for most of the past year - hell, I still do."
Scorpius's mouth formed an O. "What? You fancied me?" He shook his head. "But you went out with Leda, and you bicker and play-argue with her all the time-"
"I went out with her once," Al interrupted, "and that was mainly because Lily bet me that I couldn't get through one date with Leda. Leda's just a friend, Scorpius. It's you. It's been you since, what...October, I think?" He shrugged.
"Wow," Scorpius muttered, still obviously shocked. Al was stunned as well - all this time, he had been thinking that he was pining over Scorpius, who he thought was straight, and who he figured would end up with one of the girls from their year that was always throwing themselves all over him. But, it turned out instead that Scorpius liked him also...this really couldn't get any better.
Until it did. After a short moment had passed, Scorpius stood up and crossed over to where Al was, pulling the smaller boy up off his bed so that they were standing together. "I've wanted to do this for a while," Scorpius said, and captured Al's lips with his own, tangling one hand in Al's wild hair, the other wrapping around his back and pulling Al closer. It was heaven - pure blissfulness. There was really nothing that could equal being with Scorpius, in Al's mind; it was like one of his dreams come true.
When they finally broke for air, Al grinned cheekily up at Scorpius. "Maybe you shouldn't invite Rose on that vacation after all," he said. "I mean, I can definitely think of some things to do when we're in a hotel room alone."
Scorpius grinned. "I see we're thinking the same things, then."
"Great minds think alike," Al answered, and this time he was the one to initiate the kiss, this one deeper and more passionate than the previous had been. For a little while, Al forgot about leaving Hogwarts, and how he wasn't totally sure what career he'd like to pursue. For a little while, all was perfect in Al's world.
All right, so I don't usually ship these two, but I absolutely adored writing this. It got me over my writer's block, which makes me really happy...anyway, Lovisa, hoped you liked this! And to everybody else, also, thanks for reading!