It wasn't too bad, kissing. At least, this sort of kissing. Scorpius had once been trapped under the mistletoe with Myrna Crefin for a full thirty seconds and had come out rather traumatized by the ordeal. But he liked this sort of kissing, which was neither wet nor inexplicably sprout-flavored. He definitely liked this sort of kissing.

Scorpius pressed closer and tried to reassemble his thoughts.

What a curious phenomenon it was, he thought, that though his mind had never had trouble wandering in the past it now seemed to gravitate firmly in the present – i.e., kissing Albus.

He found it highly intriguing. Something to be studied at length. And Al seemed rather enthusiastic as well, judging by his fumbling attempts to rid Scorpius of his shirt. Scorpius heartily assisted him and moments later the offending garment was crumpled at his feet. He kicked at it and started on Al's, kissing at his neck as he went.

Really, he didn't mind this sort of kissing at all. He moved back to Al's mouth, which was moving, and was vaguely surprised to coax out words.

"I – you – for ages – "

Scorpius stopped and frowned. "You could have bloody well said," he told Al.

Al waved a hand vaguely at their surroundings, which included, among other things, a pail, two mops, four brooms, and several cleaning agents of indeterminate purpose and age. "I thought I was," he mumbled.

Scorpius blinked at him, and clarified: "You could have said earlier."

"Oh, are we behind schedule?" snipped Al, flushing.

Scorpius looked down his nose at him. "Very," he said gravely. "We're really going to have to speed it up if we're going to make up for lost time."

Al, who had seemed to be struck by a fit of not-being-able-to-look-at-Scorpius, recovered suddenly and gaped at him. "Scorpius," he gasped, "you're a minx!"

It was Scorpius's turn to blush. "I am not a – a – "

"You are," said Al wonderingly. "You're a sexpot."

"I – what does that even mean?" choked Scorpius. He struggled for a comeback. "Besides, you're the one who dragged me into a broom cupboard and started kissing me and – and whatnot," he finished rather lamely, and became embarrassingly aware that his shirt was on the floor, and that Al's would be joining it imminently.

"Er – did you not like it?"

"No! No, I really did." Scorpius blushed at his own eagerness. "And besides, I've liked you for eons," he added self-consciously.

"What? Since when?" Al gaped again.

"Er – I don't know. Ages. Fifth year, maybe? Um."

"What? But I've been trying to seduce you for six months!"

Scorpius paused and stared. "I'm jut not even going to ask."

"That's probably a good idea," said Al, looking extremely embarrassed.

There was a long silence, then Scorpius said, "But that was practically centuries ago! We really do need to make up – "

"Make up for lost time! Yes! Scorp – " Al collapsed against his shoulder and buried his laugh in his neck, then kissed it. Scorpius found his arms winding over Al's freckled bare neck and shoulders without any say on his part, and found he did not really mind if Al called him a sexpot.