Title: Carved
Word Count: 990
Rating: T
Pairing: Albus Severus/Scorpius
Beta: melissaisms
Summary: After his boyfriend's death, Scorpius finds comfort in the only thing he can, Al's half completed journal.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, don't sue.
Author's Notes: Major character death (happens before the story starts). Written for the_ass_fest on LiveJournal, Prompt #161 - waterfall, initials carved into a desk, ice skates, yellow quill, half completed journal -AND- "I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past. I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts." (Quote from Nickel Creek, "The Lighthouse's Tale"); prompt given by byaghro.
Scorpius opened the door slowly and looked around at the dark walls of his lover's study. He walked inside and made his way to the large oak desk. He ran his fingers along the grooves in the smooth wood. Smiling privately at thoughts of what the two of them had done on this desk, he made his way around to the back of it.
He sat down in the large leather desk chair and stared. There, lying open in a mess of scattered papers, was Al's half completed journal.
Scorpius swallowed a lump in his throat. Flipping to the first page, he looked nervously around the room, as if waiting for Al to jump out and tell him to stop. But he knew that wasn't going to happen.
I'll tell you a story, paint you a picture from my past. I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.
Scorpius tried to smile. Only Al would start a journal off with a quote from a Muggle song.
I found out today that I am dying. I haven't told Scorpius yet. I don't think I know how.
A tear slid down Scorpius' cheek. He knew how hard it had been for Al to break the news to him.
"I love you" Al had said abruptly, looking up from his plate of food.
Scorpius had laughed it off. "Of course you do, you prat."
"No," Al had said, standing up and walking around the table. He had taken Scorpius' hands in his own. "I love you. I have always loved you and I will never stop loving you. I just want to make sure you know that."
The tone of Al's voice had scared him, but Scorpius tried to stay positive. He nodded his agreement, but couldn't find the right words to say.
Al had cleared his throat nervously and looked for comfort in Scorpius' eyes. "I'm dying."
At first Scorpius didn't believe him, told him to stop playing around. When the news actually hit him, it had hit him hard. But Al was there, holding him close and answering his pleading questions. Al had always been the strong one.
Now there was no one but this journal to comfort his aching heart.
I want to use this journal to remember things, happy things, the best moments of my short life. Then maybe, just maybe, Scorpius will be able to read this and remember the good times.
Scorpius read the rest of the journal as fast as he could. There were stories from Al's childhood and stories from their days at school. The story about Al's favorite yellow quill made Scorpius laugh aloud. He remembered how he had chastised Al for liking the color yellow in their second year. "It's such a Hufflepuff color. Do you really want to be like the puffs?" Of course, Al had stood his ground and used that quill as often as possible in Scorpius' presence, just to bother him.
After the younger school days, there were stories about sex. There were a lot of stories about sex because, well, he and Scorpius had a lot of sex. Al told the stories of all his favorite moments. He told of their first time, and the time they had sex in a cave behind a waterfall. He also told of their winter trip ice skating and how they had sex in the equipment room with their ice skates still on.
Finally, there were stories about love. He told of his first pet and his first crush. He told many stories about Scorpius, including the saga of their parent's hatred and eventual mutual agreement that their boys came first.
On the last page of writing, about halfway through the journal, Scorpius found something he wasn't expecting.
Dear Scorpius,
I have no doubt in my mind that you are reading this after my death. Okay, that was way too morbid. Sorry.
I tried to write this journal for you so you could read all of my most important memories, but obviously it's not finished. You know how terrible I am at finishing things.
I know you are probably really sad right now and lost and wondering where to go from here, but you have to be strong. I love you Scorpius Malfoy. I have always loved you and I will always love you. (It should at least make you happy that I never even got to contemplate the possibility of cheating on you!)
You were the best thing that ever happened to me and I owe you so much. So maybe it's a bit cliché, but I'm going to give you some advice.
Live your life. I want you to go out and do the things that you always wanted to do. Hell, do the things that I always wanted to do but never got the chance. If I find out that you are moping about for any longer, I will seriously haunt your arse.
Only yours,
Albus Severus Potter
PS—Crawl under the desk for me.
Scorpius crinkled his nose in disgust, but pushed back the chair. He sat down on the hard floor and slid underneath the desk, hoping for some sign of what he was doing. He saw a small piece of folded parchment Spell-o-Taped to the underside of the desk and pulled it off.
Tears welled up in Scorpius' eyes as a smile stretched across his face. Carved in the wood of the desk was a lopsided heart with the initials "AP + SM" inside.
This is one of the memories I didn't get to add to my journal, and one of my favorites. One of the most eventful nights of our seventh year was the night we snuck into as many classrooms as we could get into and carved our initials on the undersides of the desks. "Proof of our love forever," you told me.
Carve up some more desks for me huh?