Written for the June Monthly One-Shot Exchange, for theresnomeaning.

Prompts: Albus Severus/Scoripus / Hurt/Comfort / Angst / (song) My Lost Lenore by Tristania / (word) gravity / (word) passion / (dialogue) "Hello, beautiful."

Saturday Without You

Albus sighed and forced a smile as his niece tugged on his sleeve. Less than ten seconds ago, her older brother had been trying to get money out of him for ice cream, and now she seemed to want some water.

Albus loved James' kids, honestly he did, but they were tiring, especially when his stress levels were already high. He went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, and was eternally grateful that he'd not had kids himself.

Turning the tap on, he remembered his mother's words, when James' fiancé had announced her pregnancy. "You just need to settle down now, Albus, and soon you'll be in the same boat!" she had teased, and Albus' face had scrunched up in anguish before he told her the truth. "Actually, mother, I have a boyfriend." The embarrassment of the moment soon passed, of course, but as Albus remembered it, another thought floated, unwanted and unbidden, to the front of his mind.

The love he'd never been able to let go; the man he hadn't seen for years. Once, his closest friend and most trusted ally.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought.

"Here you go," he said, handing his niece her drink before watching her run away to her brother.

He sighed and closed his eyes, whispering into the emptiness a name he had not uttered for longer than he could remember. "Scorpius."

The flames of passion recently satiated and soothed, a raven haired boy lay in the arms of his lover. A sheen of sweat still glistened on their skin as they sighed, eyes half-closed.

"Can we stay here, like this, forever?" The boy with blonde hair and blue eyes asks, glancing down at his own fingers as they gently twined around his lover's hair.

"Your father wouldn't like it," he replied with a smile.

"I don't give a damn what my father would like," Scorpius said with a grin, leaning forward to kiss his lover's neck.

"Hmm, neither do I," Albus replied. "I like it very much."

Scorpius laughed before Albus claimed his lips in a kiss.

Saturday afternoon was no time to be drunk, Scorpius knew that. All the same, he was. Steaming drunk, in fact, having started drinking as soon as the pub had opened that morning. He'd had a good five hours there before they'd decided to throw him out. Now, he was wandering around muggle London, lost, gravity becoming his worst enemy as he stumbled and tripped along the roads.

Every time he thought he was heading in the right direction to reach his flat, he'd end up on a street he didn't know and have to turn back. His thoughts didn't even seem to be making sense at all, flashing behind his eyes. His desk at work; exhaustion; his empty Gringotts' vault; his best friend's wedding; his empty home and a pair of green eyes. He stopped, stood still in the street, as he considered those eyes. They were familiar, like a half-remembered dream from years ago.

Standing in the middle of the street, swaying a little, trying to match those eyes with the rest of a face and a name, he didn't hear the car screech around the corner towards him. He didn't know the muggle driver was not looking.

"Albus," he said, the answer hitting him just before the car did.

"Hello, beautiful."

The words rang softly down the quiet corridor as a tall, blonde boy stepped out of the shadows with a smirk.

"What are you doing here?" came another voice as a boy with raven hair and green eyes appeared from beneath an invisibility cloak.

The blonde boy shrugged and said, "I got lonely," as he walked over to meet his companion.

Albus snorted. "You never get lonely."

As the distance between the two boys lessened, their arms instinctively snaked around each others' waists.

"No, you've just never seen me lonely, because I'm not lonely when I'm with you," Scorpius argued with a grin.

Albus rolled his eyes and leaned in for a gentle kiss.

Albus raced through St Mungo's towards the Second Floor, where the ward for Incidents and Accidents was. He didn't know why; he didn't even stop to think when the news had reached him. It had been ten years, ten long years, and still he ran like it was yesterday. It hadn't taken him long to drop the kids off with their grandmother.

It was his friend, Holly Nott, who had told him. She had been a Slytherin, like them, and now worked as a Healer. She hadn't recognised him at first. An unidentified male had been brought in when an observant witch passing by had seen his wand. Dirty, drunk and haggard, they had assumed he was in his early forties. There were dangerous levels of alcohol in his system and the car had broken several bones, leaving bleeding both inside and out. After they'd fixed his body, they'd had to wake him up to administer potions. Holly had told Albus that his name was the first thing he'd said, and that was when she'd realised who it was.

Albus didn't know why he was running, but he knew he had to see him. Holly directed him to the room, and Albus burst open the door as quickly as he could. When his eyes locked with Scorpius', he stopped. All the adrenaline seemed to disappear from his bloodstream as he stared, leaving him cold with hesitation.

Scorpius stared with confusion. "Albus?" he asked.

Albus nodded, not trusting his voice to work past the lump in his throat.

"What are you doing here?" Scorpius asked, weak.

"I… I don't know," Albus began as tears began to form in his eyes. Even after all this time, it still hurt to look at him. "Holly said you were here, and you were hurt. I didn't even think, I just ran. I probably shouldn't have…" he trailed off as he looked away realising he might have just made a mistake.

"I'm glad you came," Scorpius told him. Albus turned back to look at Scorpius to find Scorpius' gaze fixed firmly on the floor.

After a few moments of pregnant silence, Albus could stand it no longer. Things had been left unsaid for too long already. He would not give up on this chance.

"I shouldn't have let you go," he said.

Scorpius turned to look at him, eyes wide and forehead tight as confusion and shock mixed with hope. "I shouldn't have gone," he said.

Hesitantly, Albus started towards the bed, keeping an eye fixed on Scorpius for signs that his advances were not welcome. None came. As he began to bend down to Scorpius' face, Scorpius reached up. When their lips met, the distant memory of the heaven they had once shared came alive once more.