thanks to tiggs for betaing!
prompts at the bottom
498 words, by gdocs
September was off to a great start. It really was. It would be a relief to finally see Albus again. There was something pressing on his chest, but he tried to push it away as he and his father pull into King's Cross.
"You'll be okay?" Scorpius' father asked as the car stopped. Looking up, Scorpius could see that his father was close to tears. Forcing a smile, Scorpius nodded.
It was a new month. It was a new time. Fourth year at Hogwarts! Exciting times ahead!
"Bye, Dad," Scorpius said, getting out of the car. He swore that there was something suffocating about that car because, with a tiny gasp of fresh air, he felt so much better. Not that he felt bad in the first place.
It was September. September was off to a great start. He was fine.
He needed to find Albus.
Weaving through the crowds of people, Scorpius strained his eyes for a glimpse of black hair.
Merlin. He really needed Albus.
Still looking around for Albus, Scorpius slammed right into someone. The pain in his chest from the crash lingered as he drew back.
"Scorpius!"
Scorpius took a deep breath as he saw Albus. There was something stinging the corners of his eyes but he tried to push it away as he forced a smile at Albus. He loved Albus. Albus was such a good friend to him.
"Albus," Scorpius said, giving in to a strong urge to hug Albus, squeezing him.
"We hug now?" Albus said, pulling away.
"I just—" Scorpius said, hesitating. He just wanted to do that. He needed to do that. He shrugged instead, taking another deep breath. There were probably some health laws about the amount of smoke allowed in train stations, right? Because Scorpius couldn't breath, no matter how many breaths he took.
"Scorp?" Albus asked, looking at Scorpius worriedly. He placed a hand on Scorpius' shoulder, which Scorpius tried to shrug off. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to start crying."
Scorpius was not about to start crying because it was September and September was new and there was nothing to cry about. He was fine.
"I'm fine," he choked out to Albus. There really should be less smoke in the air, Scorpius thought as he let out a cough.
"Okay…" Albus said, sounding unsure. "How was your summer?"
Summer? Scorpius' summer was absolute crap because — because —
And then Scorpius started crying, right there, right in front of Albus and he couldn't stop.
"Scorpius?" Albus asked, putting his hand on Scorpius' shoulder again.
"My mum died," Scorpius choked out, trying to stop the tears that felt as if they were waiting to pour for the past five weeks.
"Oh," Albus said. Albus pulled Scorpius up and pulled him into a strong hug. "Well, I'm here for you. Okay?"
And Scorpius felt something tingle in his heart as he cried another fresh stream of tears.
September was off to a great start.
for:
houses competition [gryffindor, year 7, drabble - (birth month) was off to a great start]