The Onlooker – written in honor of Pride Month

Pairings: Albus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy

Note: Albus Dumbledore and Albus Potter will both be in this story, so to avoid confusion, Dumbledore will be referred to by his last name, and Albus Potter will just be Albus.

Words: 2,045

Dumbledore was humming an indistinct song, sitting peacefully on his self-rocking chair. He was surrounded by an otherworldly purplish mist. It had been years since his planned death. The only different between life and death was that death was lonelier but much more peaceful. He had been forced to become an onlooker on the lives of the people he loved. Dumbledore enjoyed the serenity for the most part, but sometimes, when crisis occurred, he was frustrated at his inability to intervene.

He checked in on those he loved often. One of those people was Harry Potter, who now had a wife and three adorable children. Dumbledore tried not to play favorites, but often he caught himself paying closer attention to the one who shared his name: the middle child, Albus Potter. The child had been sorted into Slytherin, which forced Dumbledore to reconsider his deep-rooted prejudice against the house.

He noted a lot of unique things about the child. Apart from the obvious, Dumbledore noticed that Albus was more reserved than his family. He also had much lower self-confidence, which saddened Dumbledore. He could tell Albus had a lot of potential, but he suffered from the same problem his uncle Ron had.

Dumbledore was also highly interested in Albus' best friend, Scorpius Malfoy. He had always known Draco Malfoy was a decent kid deep inside, but he'd never considered that Draco would grow out of what his terrible father had taught him. On the contrary, Scorpius was raised in the best way Dumbledore could have ever hoped for – without the silly ideology of blood purity. Scorpius was kind and accepting of others, and he soaked up knowledge like a sponge, which was why Dumbledore was delightfully unsurprised when Scorpius had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Scorpius had defied his heritage full of Slytherins and become his own person.

It was truly a shame what had happened to Astoria. Dumbledore knew all too well what it was like to lose family. In a way, he could relate to Scorpius.

Come Albus and Scorpius' second year at Hogwarts, it was obvious that Scorpius had an intense infatuation with Rose Granger-Weasley. He would stare at her every time they had a class together. She would pretend not to notice. Although, Dumbledore noted, the infatuation seemed to wane over the following few years. Meanwhile, Scorpius and Albus had become even closer, something Dumbledore didn't think possible.

Dumbledore could see the signs. He knew what it was like to be in love with a best friend – a male best friend. And he silently thanked Merlin that neither of them seemed likely to turn to the Dark Arts like Dumbledore's own former love, Gellert Grindelwald, had.

Albus' eyes always seemed to widen when he did as much as brush hands with Scorpius. He smiled ten times as often around his friend as he did with anybody else. And of course, Scorpius' extremely pale skin made it ever so obvious when he blushed even slightly. Their hugs had become more and more frequent.

Dumbledore smiled because he knew that these boys lived in a time when this sort of thing was more acceptable.

During the autumn of Albus and Scorpius' sixth year, things got real. Dumbledore knew the moment he'd been waiting for was coming. He peered in on Albus' life, and saw he was writing a letter. It was a coming-out letter.

It said:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have something to confess. I'm really nervous about this – you can see why I'm not a Gryffindor. Well, the short way of saying it is, I won't be passing on the Potter blood. (I know you're not really concerned about this, but still.) The long way is, well, I'm kind of gay, and I may or may not have a huge crush on Scorpius and I might have faked dating Olivia in fourth year. I'm sorry I didn't tell you in person, but writing this is scary enough as it is. I hope you can accept me.

From, Albus Severus Potter

Dumbledore watched as the teen boy shakily sealed the letter and went to the Owlery to send it. Frankly, Dumbledore did feel a little odd observing such a personal moment for Albus, but he couldn't help but feel pride swelling in his chest. It was truly a sign of the times to see someone who wasn't even that brave write such a personal and vulnerable letter. Dumbledore was a Gryffindor, and during his youth, he didn't have the courage to tell anyone in fear of being ostracized. He had to deal with constantly being asked why he didn't have a girlfriend yet. The only person he told was his closest confidante, and it was sheer and immense luck that Grindelwald felt the same.

All of this was why when Dumbledore finally figured out how to interact with the living in their dreams, he decided on having a conversation with Albus as one of his first priorities.

Dumbledore dove into Albus' dream once he knew he was asleep.

He appeared in an empty room with a window that displayed the inside of a lake. 'It must be the Slytherin common room', Dumbledore thought. He looked around. The decorations were mostly the same from when he was headmaster.

A familiar messy-haired figure entered the room. It was Albus, of course. He turned his head toward the old wizard.

"D-Dumbledore?" he questioned. He seemed to have stopped breathing for a few seconds. "What are you doing here?" He didn't seem intimidated by the former headmaster; rather, he was extremely confused.

"Hello, Albus. Yes, I've decided to visit you in your dream. I have recently discovered it is within the ability of the dead to do so." Dumbledore procured a piece of candy from his billowing red-and-magenta robes. "Care for a lemon drop?"

Hesitantly, Albus took the candy from Dumbledore's hand. He sat himself down on a green sofa. Dumbledore did the same on the seat across from him.

"Would you like to have a chat?" said Dumbledore. His friendly blue eyes twinkled in the light from the fireplace.

Albus straightened his posture and breathed, "Yes, sir." His emerald eyes wandered around the room, as if he was afraid of being told off for some wrongdoing.

"Don't be nervous. I'm here to tell you how proud I am."

"Of what?" Albus fingered the lemon drop, the wrapper slowly unraveling in his hand.

Dumbledore smiled warmly. "I'm proud that there's somebody named after me." He took another lemon drop from his pocket and ate it himself.

Albus chuckled softly. "Yeah, well, I'm also named for the guy who killed you."

"It had to be done."

There was a silence that lasted nearly a minute before Dumbledore picked up the conversation again.

"It's truly flattering to share a name with someone so pleasant," he said. "Your friend Scorpius is lucky." One of Dumbledore's goals in the conversation was to raise Albus' self-esteem, if only by a little bit. He knew that Albus felt like the black sheep of the family, the one who didn't belong. "Say, how did you meet him?" He already knew the answer, but he wanted a good segue into the topic he wanted to discuss next.

Albus swallowed the lemon drop. He was looking toward the ground and fidgeting his fingers.

"We met on the Hogwarts Express when first year began. Dad said I should stay away from him, but he didn't know what Scorp would be like. He thought he'd be just another blood-supremacist Malfoy," Albus admitted. His voice was soft. "And we became friends because the Slytherins and Ravenclaws had a lot of classes together during the first term."

Dumbledore nodded. "I hear you two are still very close."

Albus blinked. "Y-yes, sir."

"Tell me, what is the nature of your relationship with him now?" Dumbledore asked with a grin. "Don't worry. I don't bite."

Albus froze.

"U-um…" He trailed off. He seemed to suddenly take an intense interest in the fireplace to his left. "Ugh, I have a feeling you're not going to let me go unless I tell the truth. I kinda-sorta-maybe have a big crush on him, and I kind of fantasize about kissing him every night." He paused and messed up his hair. "There, I said it."

Dumbledore took a bottle of butterbeer from his colorful robe. (It seemed he stored an entire restaurant of refreshments in it.) He poured some into two small cups embellished with jewels.

"It's quite fitting you share my name, Albus," Dumbledore said, a hint of joy in his voice. "You must not tell anybody else, but I too was in love with my best friend. I'm also gay. It's not odd." He took a sip from his butterbeer, and Albus copied.

"You're quite lucky you live in this time. When I was growing up, it was unheard of for a man to fancy other men. If I told anyone, I'd be considered a freak," the former headmaster said. "Gellert Grindelwald – maybe you've heard of him – used to be my secret lover. However, I changed my beliefs. I abandoned my hatred of Muggles, and he didn't. We parted ways, and eventually," he set down his cup, "we dueled. It was difficult, to say the least."

Dumbledore stood. His gentle eyes blazed with the light emitted from the fireplace. "But you won't have to go through that. Scorpius is quite a good young man. I don't imagine him ever turning to the Dark Arts."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

Dumbledore took a few slow steps toward Albus and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can assure you, he does."

Albus rubbed one of his eyes, which had gone watery.

"You two had better get married someday," the former headmaster chuckled.

The Slytherin stood up as well, and pulled Dumbledore into a loose hug.

Albus put a sheepish half-smile on his face. "Thank you for chatting with me. I – I really needed this. Your secret is safe with me."

The scene dissolved, and Dumbledore found himself back in his rocking chair. Albus must have woken up. He was glad to have had that talk with the teen. It was freeing, really, finally spilling his secret to someone who experienced something similar. The experience was similar, but Dumbledore was glad it wasn't exactly the same. He knew in his heart that Albus would be accepted by his parents, and that he and Scorpius would be happy together for a long time.

Sometimes, it was nice being an onlooker.

Two Weeks Later

Albus Potter was quite sure he was the happiest he'd ever been in his life.

He'd received an owl back from his parents saying it was okay, and that they'd suspected that Albus was gay for a while. Then, Scorpius had confessed his feelings for Albus, and in return, Albus had kissed him. It was a little bit of an awkward one. Albus had kissed once before. His first was Olivia, the girl he'd pretended to love when he was still in denial. But that one was forced. The kiss with Scorpius was real, and it was messy and strange but it felt right. After that single kiss, Albus and Scorpius had declared themselves officially dating. (Albus didn't like to say boyfriends; the word felt a little weird on his tongue.)

After that, Scorpius had told Albus that he was bisexual, and that yes, maybe he had a thing for Weasleys. It was quite ironic, really. Scorpius' dad, Draco, used to despise the Weasleys, until George and his sadly deceased twin, Fred, had started their joke shop. Suddenly, the Weasleys had money. Draco always said he stopped hating the Weasleys for various reasons, and that was just one, but Scorpius liked to tease him for it. It was all in good fun, really.

When the news of Albus and Scorpius' relationship broke out to Scorpius' dad, he was ecstatic. He had said he really didn't care whether the Malfoy line continued, and that all he wanted was for his son to be happy. He'd Floo-called Albus, and simply said, "Welcome to the family."

Dumbledore had witnessed all of this from his place in the afterlife, and he was happy to be an onlooker.