He stroked my cheek gently. His soft lips met mine. It tasted wet and salt. The tears were still running down my face. Our lips parted. I looked up in his eyes. They were grey, but still so warm and comforting, in a way. "Please stay." The words came out my mouth like a whisper. He nodded.

The fact that he didn't ask what's wrong made me like him even more. He knew I'd tell him when I was ready. He sat down beside me. I didn't look at him. I don't think he looked at me either. We didn't talk at all, just sat there, in silence.

We sat outside, looking at the starlit sky reflection in the black lake. It was early spring and still chilly in the air. I shivered slightly. He must have noticed somehow 'cause he said, "Here." And he took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders. I smiled at him. He laid his arm around me, and I put my head to rest on his shoulder.

"Scorp…" I said. "Thank you for staying."

"Of course, Al." He said. But it wasn't 'of course'. Not for me anyway. "I wouldn't have let you sit here alone, all sad and crying and stuff."

"And thanks for not asking why I was crying."

It was quiet again. He didn't do anything. He didn't leave, he didn't ask questions, and he didn't try to comfort me. He knew I just needed him there. I didn't want to be alone. And I'd talk when I felt the time was right.

It was late now, very late. We'd been sitting there for hours, maybe, I didn't know. I felt him kissing my head. I sighed. Not loud.

"I can't do it Scorp…" I said after a while.

"Do what?" he asked. He sounded concerned. "Al, you okay?"

"Honestly? I don't know. Everything is just – it's too much. I'll just keep letting people down. Everyone seems to have these great expectations of me because my father is Harry Potter. They think everything I do is gonna be awesome, but I can't do that. The worst part is, I know they know I can't do it. It's like they get angry with me when I can't do something right, or just not as good as they'd hoped. I work my ass off every day to be something I'm not. I'm only 15, Scorp. I can't handle this much pressure. I just wanna be me… like I am when I'm with you."

He'd been quiet the whole time I'd been talking. I liked that. He was the only person in the world that'd listen to me. He nodded. "Al, you can't let everybody else control your life! If you wanna be you then be you, not someone everyone wants you to be." He grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. Then he said seriously, "I like this Al much better. The real Al. The Al you are with me. Show people that Al. I'm sure they'll understand. And if they don't… you'll always have me. That'll never change."

He kissed me again. All I could do was smile. He was right. If they didn't accept me for me then they weren't worth it.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I said in a low voice.

He laughed. "No, I'm really not."

I nodded and kissed him. "But you really are." I whispered. We stood up and looked around. After a moment I said, "It's probably way past curfew…"

"Yeah… You think we can get all the way to the dungeons without being seen?" he asked smirking. He looked at me with those beautiful grey eyes. I nodded slowly and looked toward the big doors leading inside the castle.

"I think I at least can make it so we don't get in trouble if we would be so unlucky to get caught."

A/n: Yeah… I don't know why I wrote this, really. Feel free to review.