For the Tien Len Competition on HPFC with the prompts Scorpius Malfoy and bright.
I kind of like this idea so I'm wondering if I should continue it when I'm not working on "The Unexpected".
Thoughts?
The street light flickers, casting a sickly orange glow, but neither of them notice. They are half hidden in the shadows, their eyes closed, lashes brushing against pale cheeks, fingers clutching at thin shirts until a hand clumsily reaches out toward the deserted street, raised as if to flag down a cab that isn't there.
They are an utterly tangled mess; two boys on their way to greatness or perhaps disaster. Scorpius would argue that there is no difference. Albus would call him a pretentious arsehole but then kiss him anyway. Lips, cheek, jawbone, the hollow of his throat, whatever skin he can reach. It's always softer than he expects.
Scorpius shifts, never letting Albus go, but moving them closer to the street. "Ought to have been here by now," he mutters when he pauses for air.
"I thought you were joking," Albus says, "when you said we were going to run away."
Scorpius smirks in an irresistible sort of way. Seductive and smug and beautifully unfair. "Changing your mind already?"
"No," is the immediate reply. Albus turns and sticks out his own hand as well. "You used your wand hand, didn't you?"
"'Course."
It's moments later, when they are forced to flatten themselves against the oak tree on the corner and the Knight Bus comes to a stop halfway on the pavement, blinding them with bright headlights and a shock of purple. A scruffy-looking man jumps down to greet them.
Yes, they would like to share a bed. No, they don't need toothbrushes. How many Knuts?! And so on and so forth until the two boys are led to one of the larger beds set up at the very back.
"Where to?" The attendant looks at them expectantly and Albus shrugs because he doesn't know and he doesn't care where they go. They are running away. Not forever, he knows. He could never run forever, and Harry Potter's son could never get too far away. At least not for long. But just tonight. Maybe tomorrow too, if he's lucky.
If they're lucky.
He turns to Scorpius, who only smiles and says, "The ocean."
They are thrown onto the floor as the bus takes off, Albus' face colliding with Scorpius' chest, both gasping for air. Albus looks up and grins. "Why the ocean?"
"Because," Scorpius says, struggling to his feet, and pulling Albus up to sit with him on the edge of the bed. "Because I've never seen it. Can you believe that? And then you can do a sketch of me."
"You want me to sketch you?" Albus asks.
Scorpius grins and pulls out a pad of paper and a pack of pencils that he swiped from a local shop. "I've seen your drawings. But they're all of Lily or James or that other bloke…what's his name… Ted? Teddy?"
"Yeah." Albus nods. "Teddy. I make him morph so it's different every time."
"Right, well, it's my turn." Scorpius yawns and presses his face into Albus' neck, turning out the light by the bed. "Just make sure you get my good side, yeah?"
"Okay." Albus settles back into the lumpy pillows, watching the world around them blur past the windows at breakneck speed. He vaguely wonders if they're missing anything when they travel like this. Perhaps they ought to have flown, or even ran, literally ran away.
The blur of city lights and the hum of the engine soon distract him, and eventually they lull him to sleep, Scorpius' hand in his, and it is that which makes up for anything he might otherwise miss.