Disclaimer: James Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. As do all other recognisable characters and settings.

Notes: A little Albus/Scorpius story that I've been meaning to write for a while, based on my headcanon that Albus would always feel insecure about his place in the wizarding world, especially if the wizarding world always compared him to his older brother, James. There may also be a little hint of Drarry...

Hotter than James Potter

"James Potter is so hot!"

Oh, how those words tormented Albus Potter throughout his sixth year at Hogwarts!

Okay, maybe it wasn't all that bad when most of the girls at school (and some of the boys) used variations of this line repeatedly when they talked about James (although, honestly, Albus did find it a bit annoying, having to listen to every other student discuss his older brother's apparent attractiveness in detail); but, honestly, the real problem occurred when one person in particular felt it necessary to go on and on about how 'hot' James was, using this line as though it were the coolest turn of phrase ever, even though Albus thought that it sounded quite unnatural when it was spoken in an upper class British drawl.

He was also convinced that the phrasing had in this case been copied from several witches who were students at the Salem Witches' Institute, when they visited Hogwarts for a school Quidditch tournament in Albus's sixth year.

That person was Scorpius Malfoy, Albus's closest friend (with the exception of Rose), and also the wizard who Albus had unfortunately been in love with since at least fourth year (and maybe even before that), and who he could definitely see as being 'The One', if only Scorpius weren't too caught up in his obsession with James Potter to even begin to consider Albus as a potential boyfriend.

The seemingly endless repetition of, "James Potter is so hot!" right the way through sixth year might not have been as unbearable for Albus, if not for the fact that he had already been forced to endure Scorpius's praise for James from the moment he met his best friend on his first journey to Hogwarts…

"James Potter is so cool!"

This was one of the first things that Scorpius said about James, back on the Hogwarts Express just before they began their first year.

The words were spoken almost instantly after James swaggered into and out of their train compartment, where he spent a few minutes with Albus and of course he reminded him that he was only checking on him because their parents had told him that he had to, also introducing himself to Scorpius and making a few jokes about the Sorting Ceremony and a few not-so-subtle suggestions that he and his cousin Fred had smuggled some kind of 'forbidden' magical creature onto the train.

As he spoke, Scorpius had watched James the whole time in what looked to Albus like wide-eyed fascination, with a slight flush to his pale cheeks, before he breathlessly informed Albus of just how cool he thought that James was.

And with those words, Scorpius's obsession with James began.

Albus felt rather annoyed, because before James made his appearance in their train compartment, he and Scorpius had spent most of the journey talking happily to one another, with Albus instantly taking a liking to the shy, blond boy who smiled at Albus and seemed genuinely interested in his stories, and he decided as he shook Scorpius's hand that all of the gossip and negative comments that he'd heard about the Malfoy family (mainly from his Uncle Ron) were probably going to pale in comparison to Scorpius's friendly smile.

He felt a strange sense of jealously, like he'd had Scorpius's undivided attention for a little while and then James had rudely interrupted their friendly chat, somehow making himself the centre of attention as usual, forcing Albus into the background, as always.

Albus knew that his feelings of anger and jealousy were mostly based on his childhood insecurity about James being a lot cooler and more confident than him-and more likeable-and his belief that most witches and wizards already preferred James anyway. Right from the start, he had been reluctant for Scorpius to be part of all of that.

For some reason, he wanted Scorpius all to himself.

"James Potter is so funny!"

This was Scorpius's favourite line in second year. It started after he spent an evening at a party in the Gryffindor Common Room-having been personally invited by James, of course, much to Albus's irritation.

Albus had pointedly refused to go with Scorpius, ignoring his friend's pleading expressions and determinedly remaining in the Ravenclaw common room, sulking by himself, all evening.

Albus loved his brother, but he had increasingly found at Hogwarts that a bit of distance sometimes seemed to do them both good, especially when a lot of their time together seemed to consist of Scorpius staring at James as though he were some kind of celebrity.

Apparently, James had spent the evening in the Gryffindor common room telling 'hilarious' jokes and stories, right at the centre of attention as usual, as he was celebrating yet another victory as Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

As always, Albus felt his familiar pang of insecurity. He knew that people found James funny; he had heard about how hilarious he was plenty of times from various members of his family, and, as though that weren't enough, he knew that loud, appreciative laughter usually followed James wherever he went at Hogwarts, especially after he carried out one of his infamous practical jokes, whilst Albus tended to stay hidden in the background, mostly unnoticed by a lot of the students outside of his close circle of friends.

Yet Albus had managed to push this insecurity down throughout most of his first year at Hogwarts, because he was fairly certain that his best friend Scorpius found him funny, and that was all that had mattered to Albus.

Although several Hogwarts students seemed to believe that Scorpius was somewhat cold and serious, Albus knew better; he could always make Scorpius laugh when they shared jokes and stories on the sofa together in their common room, often sitting much closer together than the other boys in their House (in Albus's opinion, anyway), with the two of them having their private or 'in' jokes after only a year of friendship.

Sometimes, Albus would only have to catch Scorpius's eye during certain moments in their Potions class, and the two of them would grin at each other, trying not to make it obvious that they were silently laughing at a particularly funny event. They even passed notes scrawled on spare bits of parchment in class (although Rose thought that this was 'a bit childish'), and Albus would always notice Scorpius's grin whenever he unraveled the piece of parchment and he read whatever joke Albus had written on there.

But, in second year, as Scorpius continued to attend parties in the Gryffindor common room, and as he continued to laugh loudly at all of James's jokes whenever James sat with the two of them at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, Albus began to worry that Scorpius found James a lot more entertaining than Albus, and he was concerned that his jokes would start to seem distinctly unfunny when compared to James's.

On top of it all, Albus felt the pain all over again at the thought that James was somehow 'better' than Albus in Scorpius's eyes.

"James Potter is so brave!"

This became Scorpius's phrase of choice from fourth year, having used his line about how funny James was to excess for the previous two years.

This declaration of James's bravery came after an incident in a Gryffindor Care of Magical Creatures Class, where apparently James (according to his older brother's version of events) had ended up single-handedly taking on several escaped Blast-Ended Screwts, calling on his 'brilliant' Defence Against the Dark Arts skills to protect some of the younger students, and, later that same day, Scorpius listened attentively as James recalled the event at dinner in the Great Hall.

This was one of many stories of heroic deeds from James throughout the year, and Scorpius always seemed to be there to provide Albus's older brother with a one-person equivalent of a captive audience, before annoyingly going on and on about how 'brave' and 'fearless' he believed James to be whenever James discovered yet another secret passage out of Hogwarts, or when he snuck out of school to Hogsmeade one night to purchase bottles of Butterbeer for his friends before returning to a Gryffindor party, or when he got away with yet another practical joke, or when he stood up to the older students who were rude to Scorpius about his Malfoy family background.

Albus knew that he should be proud of his brother's bravery, especially when it came to standing up to the school bullies, but unfortunately, this time, Albus felt the pain-or maybe it was the heartache-of Scorpius's admiration for James more than ever.

He knew that part of it was due to the fact that now he was a bit older, he had finally come to realise that his feelings for Scorpius went far beyond best friend territory, and that his obsession with Scorpius's silky blond hair and smooth skin and deep, grey eyes and his distinctive features could in no way be considered as the casual observations of a purely platonic friend, and that his desire to always be as close to Scorpius as possible definitely wasn't just about being a protective friend. Therefore, any attractive wizard who Scorpius admired would have probably seemed like some sort of threat to Albus, regardless of whether that wizard was his brother or not.

Yet he also knew that the insecurity ran a lot deeper than that. Albus had grown up listening to stories of his father's bravery and heroic deeds. This bravery seemed to run in the family, and although Albus was somewhat proud of his older brother's daring personality and the way that the wizarding world always compared James to their dad, he also knew that most of the wizarding world expected something similar of him.

He had read enough newspaper articles and magazines and he'd heard enough gossip from witches and wizards to know that many of them had believed that he would also be sorted into Gryffindor House, where bravery seemed to be a common trait, and that he would go on to excel at Defence Against the Dark Arts, just like his father, or take part in heroic adventures at Hogwarts, breaking a few school rules in the process when it was necessary, or they believed that Albus would be allowed to play on a school Quidditch team from first year, and he would become one of the school's star players, bravely pulling off daring moves on his broomstick.

Albus knew that all of this would be seen as some sort of preparation for the brave and heroic deeds that he might undertake after Hogwarts. Yet right from the beginning, when the Sorting Hat placed him in Ravenclaw House, defying all expectations, Albus knew that he probably wasn't going to follow the brave Gryffindor path that many expected he would follow.

It wasn't as though Albus were unhappy in Ravenclaw House, and it wasn't as though he were particularly interested in taking part in James's so-called 'brave' activities just for the sake of gaining admiration from other Hogwarts students, not if it meant missing out on valuable studying time in order to do detention as a punishment, but still, it could be scary, following a different path to the rest of his family, and coming to terms with the fact that he was a lot more shy and uncertain and nervous (and maybe even fearful, sometimes) than a lot of people expected him to be, especially the times when he was rather rudely described simply as 'Scorpius Malfoy's sidekick'.

With Scorpius's help, those fears had been eased a little bit for Albus's first few years at Hogwarts, as his best friend had always reassured Albus that he was brave, in his own way.

He told Albus repeatedly that he was strong and brave for always staying by his side, not even taking into consideration the gossip and the whispering about all of the past issues associated with the Malfoy family or the murmurings of disapproval about their friendship.

He reminded Albus that it had definitely taken a lot of courage for him to visit Malfoy Manor for the first time during the summer holidays between first and second year, enduring Scorpius's father's wary looks and general scrutiny.

He also insisted that Albus showed a lot of bravery whenever he diplomatically solved arguments between witches and wizards from old-fashioned pure-blood families and some of the other students, and that he was proud of Albus for attending parties thrown by those same pure-blood witches and wizards, giving them a chance and making an effort to get to know them, even though other students tended to suggest that it would probably look better for Albus if he wasn't seen as being 'too friendly' with those kinds of families, especially those with 'questionable histories' and 'dubious past associations'.

Then there were the times, times that only he and Scorpius knew about and times that Scorpius would never admit out loud to happening, when Scorpius would have particularly bad days, or when there were things going on with his family outside of Hogwarts, and he would seek Albus's comfort and support, sometimes crying on Albus's shoulder as the two of them curled up together on Albus's bed in the boys' dormitory, with Albus stroking his best friend's soft hair, trying his best to stay strong enough for both of them and mutter soothing words into Scorpius's ear and trying not to enjoy the close contact with Scorpius too much.

"You're the only one who really understands me, Al," Scorpius would always whisper into Albus's shoulder. "I only truly feel safe when I'm around you." And, in those moments, Albus wouldn't care that the rest of the school thought that James was one of the bravest wizards they knew, because he was happy just to be Scorpius Malfoy's hero.

However, as soon as Scorpius started to fixate on James's bravery, Albus worried that Scorpius would no longer be there to reassure Albus that he was brave in his own way, and that every subtle act of bravery that Albus took part in would no longer matter to one of the few wizards who mattered the most to Albus, especially when those small acts were compared to James's bold statements involving wand waving and rule breaking and daring broomstick stunts and an admiring audience.

Most of all, Albus worried that James Potter would replace him as Scorpius's hero.

"James Potter is so talented!"

This was Scorpius's compliment of choice in fifth year, after James really started to rise to prominence on the Quidditch pitch, having spent a couple of years as team captain and gaining a following from most of the students, who all talked about how it was almost certain that James would become a famous Quidditch player after Hogwarts.

Scorpius was always the first to agree with this prediction, often following James's Quidditch matches and training sessions with an almost stalker-like devotion (in Albus's opinion, anyway), and he was almost always in the front row seat at James's matches.

Whenever Albus tried to point out to his best friend (perhaps rather immaturely) that a few victories on the Quidditch pitch couldn't really count as 'talent', Scorpius would quickly jump to James's defence, reminding Albus that James also got excellent marks in subjects like Defence Against the Dark Arts, and that some of his practical jokes took a high level of talent to carry out, and that James also gave 'amazing' speeches about House unity in the Great Hall at Hogwarts formal events like the school winter ball.

It wasn't as though Albus could really argue with any of that; he could see for himself that James was talented, even though he wasn't exactly pleased about being reminded of it on a daily basis.

The truth of the matter was that Albus had spent years worrying that he didn't have any particular talent of his own.

The fact that he had been sorted into Ravenclaw House seemed to confirm this fear for Albus, in spite of the Sorting Hat's musings on his apparent intellect. He knew that the unspoken expectation that he would be sorted into either Gryffindor or Slytherin House had always been there in the wizarding world, where he would apparently develop skills similar to his dad's as a Gryffindor or somehow single-handedly bring about harmony between all the Houses and end all rivalries in the wizarding world as a Slytherin.

It was easier, at first, to come to terms with the fact that neither of those fates were looking very likely, because Albus got along really well with most of the Ravenclaw students, who seemed really pleased when his high marks in Potions class won them extra House points, and who also seemed to understand that sometimes he just wanted to be left alone in the corner to read and study, rather than taking part in social events or getting involved in the gossip about the occasional argument or duel that still took place between students from certain pure-blood families and students from muggle-born families.

Of course, it was also a welcome bonus to have Scorpius by his side in Ravenclaw house, too, and he often provided a much-needed distraction from Albus's troubling thoughts, especially for the first couple of years when Albus dedicated a lot of his free time to getting to know everything he could about Scorpius Malfoy, as well as teaching Scorpius everything he already knew about Hogwarts that he had learned from various members of his family and his parents' friends.

Yet as time went on, and Albus quickly realised that he lacked so-called talent in subjects like Defence Against the Dark Arts, and he wasn't all that good at flying on a broomstick, and he had no particular desire to play for a Quidditch team, and his exam marks couldn't really compare to those of the really intelligent students like Rose and Scorpius, and he wasn't really confident or sociable or good at solving arguments like James and his group of Gryffindor friends, it started to hit home all over again that, unlike most members of his family, he was yet to find his own particular talent at Hogwarts.

And Scorpius was there all over again to reassure him, constantly reminding Albus of everything that he thought that he was good at, like Potions and History of Magic, as well as telling him that he was a very dedicated student, and that he'd apparently read more books than anyone else in Ravenclaw House, and insisting that he was very calm and patient when dealing with some of the more 'difficult' students that they occasionally came into contact with, and he knew everything that there was to know about Hogwarts, even without the use of the 'mysterious map' that James always carried around school.

So, Albus felt better for a while. After all, he knew that Scorpius was very good at spotting the talent and the good points in other people, even the times when it seemed like certain witches and wizards didn't have very much going for them. Scorpius once told Albus that this was because he'd had a lot of practice at spotting 'the good within the bad' throughout his childhood, and Albus had simply nodded, pretending to understand, and he had also decided to take Scorpius's word for it and believe him when he talked about his good points, as Scorpius was apparently experienced in these matters.

But then, Scorpius just had to go and spot all of James Potter's good points as well, taking his talk about his talents to the extreme. And of course all of James Potter's supposed talents suddenly started to seem a lot more profound and significant, when they were viewed through Scorpius's adoring eyes, and Albus felt yet again like none of his achievements would ever matter as much as James's.

"James Potter is so hot!"

And so this became Scorpius's key phrase in sixth year. It was almost as though all of his previous lines of praise for James Potter had been naturally progressing into this declaration, now that Scorpius was a bit older and apparently wiser than the innocent first year who had thought that James was cool.

Albus first started to hear this line when Scorpius got friendly with the group of witches from the Salem Witches' Institute, who seemed to be equally infatuated with James Potter, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before his best friend started to repeat their favourite phrase out loud about how hot James was.

In other circumstances, Albus might have been able to find something positive in these declarations of another wizard's 'hotness', because at the very least, it confirmed to him that Scorpius's romantic interests were definitely of the male variety, especially when this evidence was put together with Scorpius's new-found tendency to display pictures and posters of attractive famous wizards above his bed in the boys' dormitory, as well as his liking for laughing and whispering with his Salem Witch friends about the many celebrity wizards they found attractive.

Yet this felt like a hollow kind of victory when all of Scorpius's interests in real-life wizards seemed to be focused far away from Albus and very much on Albus's older brother.

It didn't help either, that Albus had reached an age where he was suddenly extremely self-conscious about his own appearance. He pretended that he didn't really care all that much, but deep down, it upset him when he thought that he could never match up to the more attractive wizards in his year.

He was also an expert at finding every possible flaw in himself: his hair always looked a mess, and it seemed like there was nothing that he could do to tame it, no matter how hard he tried, and he would have liked to be a bit taller, and to suit his robes a bit better, and he worried that he didn't have the the well-defined muscles of the students who played on Quidditch teams, and he had recently started to wear glasses, after the words in his textbook started to look a bit blurry, which led to a few accusations that he was just trying to copy his father's 'style', although Albus knew that he would never suit them as well as his dad did.

As he fell further and further into his own private obsession with Scorpius Malfoy, Albus started to wonder if Scorpius might have returned his feelings if he'd looked a bit more attractive, or cool. He knew, deep down, he was being ridiculous, and that Scorpius was always going to be his best friend and care deeply about him, no matter what he looked like, but still, as Scorpius stared at James dreamily every time he passed them in one of the corridors, it didn't do very much to help Albus with his insecurity about his own looks.

It didn't even matter that James only seemed interested in going on dates in Hogsmeade with pretty girls, because his lack of interest in wizards didn't do anything to reduce Scorpius's interest in him, and it still meant that James Potter's hotness always unintentionally monopolised Scorpius's attention.

Throughout his first few months as a sixth year, there was nothing Albus longed for more than to be hotter than James Potter.

A few months into their sixth year, Scorpius went to watch James play Quidditch yet again.

Albus had refused to go and watch the match with him, pointedly ignoring Scorpius's pleas for him to go, as well as his hurt expression when Albus refused.

Albus couldn't help but feel guilty, especially when he was well aware of the fact that things had already been tense and awkward between them for a while, with a weird tension seemingly hanging in the air around them since the start of sixth year, and he knew that Scorpius would have been happy if Albus had agreed to go to the Quidditch match and spend some much-needed quality time with his friend. Yet in spite of his feelings of guilt, Albus just hadn't been able to face another match that consisted of Scorpius staring up towards the sky at James as though his older brother were some kind of star.

As he sat alone in the boys' dormitory, pretending to read one of his many books and still feeling really bad about the situation with Scorpius and the fact that it felt like they were in the middle of some kind of long, drawn-out argument, and also feeling like he missed him already, even though Scorpius was only a couple of minutes' walk away at the Quidditch pitch, Albus finally made a decision. He decided that all of it had to stop.

Scorpius's obsession with James Potter had rapidly become Albus's obsession with Scorpius Malfoy; a jealous obsession that was destroying their friendship and causing them to spend more and more time apart, to the point where he hadn't even been able to muster up a 'goodbye' to Scorpius today before he left the dorm for the Quidditch match.

They were best friends first and foremost, and although Albus knew that Scorpius's 'love' for James was always going to hurt him and make him feel like second best, he still wanted his best friend back.

He couldn't control who Scorpius was attracted to, and it was really sad that his jealousy was getting in the way of their own special bond that they'd had since first year, when the two of them had both felt somewhat like 'outcasts', or like the victims of the wizarding world's beliefs and expectations, and this sense of isolation had served to bring the two of them together; but now, Albus's jealousy was tearing them apart.

After he thought about everything for a bit longer, Albus vowed that he was going to try to spend more time with Scorpius from now on, after today's match, and he was going to be more friendly, and talk to him more without sulking or getting annoyed, and maybe he would even tell him that he would be okay with it, if James decided one day that he might just like wizards after all and he asked Scorpius to go to Hogsmeade with him (even though Albus knew that he wouldn't really be okay with it).

He also planned on focusing on himself more, devoting more time to his studies and his reading and spending some time with his other friends as well as with Scorpius, maybe trying to find out for himself who he really was and what he was good at and what he wanted to do after Hogwarts...

Then Albus's thoughts about his plans were cut off when Scorpius came back to the dormitory after the match, looking all flushed and happy.

"How was the match?" Albus asked him, trying to sound as casual and as friendly as possible.

"It was amazing, Al," Scorpius grinned, and, unless Albus was imagining it, he actually looked really relieved that Albus was talking to him without another argument starting. "James Potter is so hot!"

He might have been expecting it, and he might have heard it hundreds of times before, but, automatically, Albus felt his usual rush of anger and jealousy at that phrase, and he couldn't stop himself from gripping onto the nearest book on his bed a little too tightly.

He might have vowed to be more accepting of Scorpius's crush on James, but that vow was being severely tested now that it was being held up to reality and Albus felt the pain of rejection all over again.

"You should see his brother, though..."

Scorpius said the words in barely more than a whisper.

At those words, a sudden, heavy silence seemed to descend on the dormitory, to the point where it felt like there was a strange tension in the air around them that definitely hadn't been caused by some kind of spell going wrong. The room even seemed to spin around a little, as though Albus's world and his life at Hogwarts were suddenly shifting in ways that he couldn't really understand.

"What?" Albus asked him nervouly, feeling thoroughly confused.

Scorpius cleared his throat, and he crossed his arms and ducked his head. Like he was really nervous, too. Or terrified. "Well, he has this younger brother, you see, and secretly, I think that he's so much hotter than James, in his own way-in my opinion, anyway. He has these beautiful, deep, green eyes that I just want to look into all the time, and I really want to know the secrets behind them-a lot of the students do-even though we all think it's kind of cool that he has a mysterious side to him. I love his glasses, too. Once, at a Gryffindor party, I drank far too much Butterbeer and made a few comments about how one day, I'd like to remove every item of clothing from James Potter's brother, except his glasses; it was all rather embarrassing...and, er, his hair, it's this perfect shade of jet black, and I secretly want to run my fingers through it…a lot."

Albus continued to stare at Scorpius in shock and confusion, with Scorpius looking like he was determinedly refusing to meet his gaze. His whole face was now bright red, and he continued to stare at the floor as he started speaking again.

"He has such a good personality, too, even though he doesn't seem to realise it. He's calm and caring and patient, and all of his friends and family always confide in him when they have problems. When I'm having bad days, and he comforts me, I always secretly wish that I were the only wizard who was allowed to wrap my arms around him and lean my head on his shoulder and sleep in his bed…And, er, he's also kind of shy, and even though I wish that he had a bit more confidence in himself, I love that he's not uncaring and arrogant like some other attractive wizards. I feel so comfortable around him, like I can just laugh at his jokes and his witty, sarcastic sense of humour and tell him stories and he won't judge me or look down on me like some wizards do. He's the only one who truly sees me for who I am, the only one who understands me. He's the only wizard who saw me, right from the start, without just seeing a mirror image of my father."

Albus still felt as though this were all some kind of bizarre dream. He would have taken it for a strange practical joke, if not for the fact that Scorpius was looking so scared, and awkward, and uncomfortable, and both his voice and his hands were shaking.

"A-and, the thing with James Potter's brother is that he's so talented, but he just doesn't even realise it. I've never met a wizard who was as good at him at Potions, or History of Magic, or Transfiguration, or even Divination, even though he's embarrassed to admit that he's good at that. He also knows so much more about the ins and outs of Hogwarts than any other student, and he can read people so well-I'm sure that skills like those would help him to be an amazing Auror, one day, if that's what he wanted to do-but the thing is, he could do anything he put his mind to, if he just believed in himself more."

Scorpius paused and took a few deep breaths before he continued. "He's so accepting of other witches and wizards, too, and he takes everybody at their own merit. He's doing so much to help put an end to the hostilities of the past, bravely ignoring the prejudice and pressures that certain people put on him, although he doesn't really realise just how much good he does at Hogwarts, and I know that he's going to do so much in the future, and I admire him...a lot."

Albus could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He still couldn't quite get his head around the thought that maybe, just maybe, he could actually get exactly what he had wanted all along. That maybe Scorpius wanted the same thing.

"And, of course, I've been secretly in love with him for a long time, even though he just sees me as his best friend, and there are so many witches in his year that really want him to take them on a date to Hogsmeade, which I'm sure he will, in the near future. I'm so in love with James Potter's brother that whenever I pick up on any of his features or facial expressions in James, it makes me focus on James Potter all the more, thinking about how attractive the Potters are. It's easier to do that, too-because everyone knows that my admiration for James Potter is only the equivalent of a celebrity crush. It's safe, you see, to stare at him and talk about him. If I did the same with James's brother, it would be glaringly obvious to the whole school just how much I'm in love with him. It's a pity, though, that James Potter's brother doesn't feel the same way about me, because it means that I'll have to spend the rest of my Hogwarts years focusing on the closest wizard to Albus I can find, which also means that I'll have nothing but my shallow crush on James Potter that will never go anywhere because deep down, I'll always want to be with Albus. Because, you see, all of those things I've just said about Albus make him so much hotter than James Potter, to me. And-"

Whatever other words Scorpius had been about to say never left his lips, because the second Albus recovered from his shock at Scorpius's confession, he was up off his bed, striding purposefully towards Scorpius, no doubt with an intense look on his face, and then he was practically slamming into him, before their lips met in a passionate kiss and they were both falling back onto Scorpius's bed, with their hands all over each and their lips never parting.

In those blissful moments on Scorpius's bed, Albus was determined that all thoughts of James Potter would be far from Scorpius Malfoy's mind.

"Albus Potter is so…beautiful."

Scorpius had struggled for a while, to find the perfect adjective to describe how he felt about Albus, especially when he was keen to avoid using what he considered to be shallow descriptions like those that he used to talk and gossip about hot wizards like James Potter.

He knew that Albus deserved so much more than that, with the close bond that they had always shared, and with Scorpius having been secretly in love with his best friend for years before he was finally honest about his feelings a few weeks ago.

Now, as he stood on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters after just having returned home from Hogwarts for the holidays and he watched Albus from afar as he stood further down the platform talking to his father, and he said the word 'beautiful' out loud for the first time, he decided that the word was a perfect fit, even though Albus would probably get all embarrassed about it or tell Scorpius to find a word that made him seem tougher or stronger. But it was a perfect fit for his perfect boyfriend. And his perfect best friend. Perfect in Scorpius's eyes, anyway, in spite of Albus's many worries and insecurities.

"Yes, yes, Scorpius," his father sighed impatiently, "you have already informed all of us of your feelings for Potter's youngest son repeatedly in every single one of your letters home for the past month, complete with rather bizarre looking drawings of hearts and green-coloured eyes all over the rolls of parchment. Honestly, your grandparents were beginning to worry about your state of mind…"

Scorpius tried not to grin as his father rolled his eyes. He knew, from years of experience, that 'your grandparents were worried' was some kind of secret code for 'I was really worried about you, but I'm still too much of a proud former Slytherin to admit it out loud'.

He also knew that his father got along reasonably well with Albus, even though he didn't like to make it too obvious in public that he was on friendly terms with anyone from the Potter family. He had confirmed his 'lack of dislike for Potter's sons' to Scorpius a couple of years ago, and he was always okay with Albus coming to stay at the Manor for a few weeks every summer.

His father no doubt had his concerns about how the rest of the wizarding world would react to a Potter-Malfoy relationship, but Scorpius was convinced that he wouldn't disapprove of him and Albus being together; his current sighing and eye-rolling were probably more to do with his beliefs that Scorpius was engaging in very un-Malfoy-like behaviour by staring at Albus lovingly across the platform and openly talking about how beautiful he was.

Scorpius didn't care, though. He was too busy looking at his boyfriend, thinking about how lucky he was that Albus had kissed him and admitted that he felt the same way, and he felt so glad that he finally had a relationship that went a lot deeper than his admiration for wizards like James Potter. Albus Potter was so much hotter, after all. Or beautiful, as Scorpius was going to say from now on.

Scorpius and his father stood staring at the two members of the Potter family for a little bit longer, even though it must have looked rather strange to other observers on the platform. Scorpius couldn't help wondering what his father was thinking about as they stood in silence, both of them apparently lost in their thoughts.

As Scorpius muttered one more, "Albus Potter is so beautiful," and he finally stopped staring so that he could turn in the direction of the barrier that would take him back through to King's Cross Station, he was almost certain that he heard his father mumbling something that sounded a lot like, "You should see his father, though…"