What were you going to say, though?

"Scorpius?" Albus called out, his voice shaking, giving too much away already.

"Yes, Albus?" returned Scorpius in a sing-song voice.

Albus hesitated. Why did Scorpius have to use his sing-song voice? "Never mind."

"Albus?"

"It's nothing."

Scorpius popped his head out the crack of the bathroom door. Albus quickly averted his gaze. "What were you going to say though?"

Albus shrugged. "It's not important."

Scorpius's eyes narrowed as his smile grew wide. Albus realised his mistake too late. Scorpius loved mysteries. There was no way he was going to let this go now that Albus had been so cryptic about it. "It was important enough to interrupt me mid-shower, and more significantly mid Celestina Warbeck's Greatest Hits."

""Which you can go back to butchering now because I'm not telling you anything." Albus scuttled back to his dormitory bed where he had been laying so peacefully before he had entertained the ridiculous idea to confess his feelings for Scorpius. What had he been thinking? How was he even planning on saying it? He hadn't thought anything through at all. He was relieved to hear the bathroom door close again, but shortly after the shower stream was turned off and Scorpius reopened the door, a towel wrapped around his waist.

Albus stifled a groan. This was really not the best time for Scorpius to be approaching him in nothing but a towel.

"Butchering? That's harsh. I know I'm not reaching all the high notes but it was you who said I was a good singer." Scorpius sat on the edge of the bed, his wet hair dripping onto Albus' legs.

Albus tried not to flinch at the cold water. "I didn't say that. I said I liked hearing you sing."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Scorpius crumpled up his face in exaggerated confusion.

"No." It wasn't the same thing at all. "And that was years ago anyway."

Scorpius pouted. "So you don't like hearing me sing anymore?"

No. He had liked it so much it had almost driven him to confess his feelings for Scorpius, feelings he had managed to keep hidden for over two years. But that wasn't something he could really explain to his best friend. "Maybe you should steer clear of Celestina at least." He said instead.

"Never!" Scorpius sung out. Albus rolled his eyes, and tried to shove Scorpius from his bed, but his best friend wasn't having any of it.

"So what's on your mind?"

Albus gritted his teeth. "I told you: nothing."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "And I thought I made it clear that I don't believe that."

Albus rolled over to his side, his back to Scorpius. "You should get dressed. We'll miss breakfast."

Instead of following his friend's suggestion, Scorpius leant over Albus so he could regain eye contact, which unfortunately also meant his body was pressed up against Albus'. The two friends were not shy when it came to physical contact but having Scorpius practically naked and in his bed made things a whole lot more complicated, at least for Albus. "Albus Severus Potter. You will talk to me." The scent of Scorpius' peppermint breath hit Albus hard and he scrambled to his feet before he could be assaulted again.

"I'm hungry," said Albus quickly, not facing Scorpius. "Are you coming or not?"

"Okay okay. Give me two minutes." Albus let out a mouthful of air he didn't know he had been holding.

"Did you have an epiphany?" asked Scorpius.

"What?" said Albus through a mouthful of porridge.

"While I was in the shower, did you realise something suddenly? It must be, right? Why else would you want to tell me immediately?"

Because I knew I'd chicken out, though Albus sadly, and look what happened. "Yeah, sure, an epiphany."

"Hmmm." Scorpius had closed his eyes and returned his head to his hands, ignoring the plate of food before him.

Albus stared freely at Scorpius across the table. He was so fucked. "You should really eat breakfast."

Scorpius' eyes flung open. "How can I eat when there is a mystery to be solved?"

"I'm sure Aurors do it all the time." Retorted Albus.

"I guess that's why I'm not an Auror."

"And also because you're still in school" Albus muttered.

"You'll just have to tell me, or I'll starve to death." Scorpius flung a hand to his head as if he were about to faint.

Albus loved it when Scorpius got dramatic. "I hate it when you get dramatic."

"I'm serious, Albus. It's vital to my well-being that you share this information with me."

And it was vital to Albus' well-being that he didn't share any such information. "It's personal."

"But you were going to tell me anyway!"

Only when he had momentarily lost his mind, lulled into a full sense of confidence by Scorpius' out of tune but somehow still angelic shower singing. "I've changed my mind. Please eat something."

Albus knew if his friend didn't eat breakfast, he would just binge on sweet treats when Albus wasn't looking. Scorpius looked down at his plate as if considering giving in. "I will if you give me a clue."

"A clue?"

"To help me guess what you were going to say." Scorpius explained.

Albus shook his head. How was he going to get Scorpius to ever let this go? "I'm not giving you a clue. I'm not telling you anything."

Scorpius only smiled. The more Albus refused, the more curious he became. "Fine. I'll just try and narrow it down myself. Was it food based?"

"What? No. Why would it be food based?"

"Well, that certainly rules out my first guess - "

"Wait, what was your first guess?" Albus asked, trying to imagine what on earth Scorpius could possibly be thinking.

Scorpius leant forward in his chair excitedly. "Does it involve me?"

Albus purposefully ignored that question. "What was your first guess?"

Scorpius jumped up from his seat. "Oh, is it about our DADA homework? If you need help, it's nothing to - "

"No, Scorpius, it's not. Please just drop it."

Scorpius' eyes opened wide as an idea came to him and he sat back down slowly. "Is it about a girl you like?"

"No" Albus answered truthfully but he couldn't stop the blush that came to his cheeks. Scorpius smiled gleefully.

"It is! It's about a girl! Who?"

"Scorpius…"

Scorpius waved his arm lazily. "Fine, don't tell me. I'll work it out. Wow. This is exciting. Albus' first crush."

Albus cupped his head in his hands to try and hide his bright red cheeks. "It's not my first crush."

Scorpius frowned. "You've never told me about anyone else."

"And I'm not going to tell you about this one." Said Albus into his hands.

Scorpius clicked his fingers. "Oh right, Delphi, of course." He raised his eyebrows at Albus. "Hope your taste has improved." He teased.

"I did not have a crush on Delphi."

"Sure. It's not Polly is it?"

"Of course not!" Albus shouted.

"Good. That's one down." Scorpius looked around the hall thoughtfully before turning back to Albus. "What about Valerie?"

Albus closed his eyes and considering falling forward into his bowl of porridge. "I'm not answering any more of your questions." He said instead.

Scorpius nodded as if expecting this. "So not Valerie. And Mariana?"

"You can't…I'm not…how…you won't…I didn't - " spluttered Albus.

"You don't have to answer. Your blush will give you away as soon as I say the name." Scorpius smiled brightly and winked.

Albus swore. "Drop it, Scorpius. I mean it." He jumped up from the table and hurried from the hall, hoping he wouldn't be followed.

He heard Scorpius call out behind him "Why won't you just tell me?" If only he knew.

Albus only managed to avoid Scorpius for the remainder of breakfast. When their first class of Charms rolled around, he found himself stuck beside his best friend while the latter whispered various female names in his ear and watched each reaction carefully. Albus didn't bother responding.

By their last class of the day - double potions - Scorpius was stumped.

"I must have said every female student in the school…oh!" Scorpius gripped the table and his jaw dropped in realisation.

Albus swore internally. It was out. Scorpius knew he liked him. That was it. End of friendship. Albus studied the desk in front of him intently.

"Professor McGonagall!"

"What?" Albus whipped his head up to face Scorpius.

"Oh. I really thought I was on to something." Scorpius shrugged. He didn't know. He really didn't know. How could Albus have fallen for this oblivious idiot?

They both returned to their Potions work, Scorpius quiet for the first time all day. His eyebrows were tight, his mouth open, as if deep in thought.

Scorpius remained that way for most of Dinner as well. At first Albus was relieved to no longer being barraged with names and questions, but the longer it went on, the more concerned he became. Had Scorpius worked it out yet?

When they returned to the dormitory, Albus opted to take a quick shower so he could avoid Scorpius. If his friend really had worked it out, then Albus would prefer to delay that conversation for as long as possible.

As he was washing the shampoo from his hair, he heard Scorpius call out his name from outside the bathroom door. His heart jumped out of his chest and slid down the drain.

"Yes?" he answered in a squeaky voice.

"I'm sorry I've been such a git all day." Scorpius started.

Albus turned off the water so he could hear better, wrapped a towel around his waist and leant up against the door, not ready to open it yet.

"I shouldn't have teased you. I knew you'd be embarrassed. I didn't realise…and well to be honest, I was a bit jealous."

"Jealous?" Albus tried to ask casually but his voice betrayed him.

"Will you come out for a second?" asked Scorpius.

Albus took in a deep breath of steamy air and slowly opened the door. He found himself face to face with a very serious looking Scorpius, which was odd because Scorpius was hardly ever serious. Albus would have laughed if his stomach wasn't so tight.

"Albus," Scorpius asked in a whisper, "are you gay?"

Albus looked down at his feet before responding. "Yes." There was no point denying it now.

"And this guy you like, is it…do I know him?"

Albus didn't respond.

"See the thing is," Scorpius continued, "I'm kind of hoping I do know him. I'm hoping I know him really well or this next part is going to be really embarrassing."

"Next part?" Albus repeated, lifting his gaze to meet Scorpius'. Their faces were a lot closer than Albus had realised.

"The part when I ask if I can kiss you."

Albus' eyes widened and an involuntary gasp found its way from his lips. He waited for Scorpius to laugh and say he was kidding but it never came. Instead -

"Albus, can I kiss you right now?"

Albus opened his mouth to speak, he wanted to say `yes so badly, but no sound would come out. Scorpius was waiting for his answer, his cheeks growing redder the longer Albus' silence continued. There was only one thing for it. Albus leant forward and kissed Scorpius himself.

Albus was only faintly aware of a wolf whistle and someone muttering "about fucking time" around them - he had forgotten they were not alone in their dormitory - as he was much more absorbed in the overwhelming taste of fresh peppermint and the pressure of soft lips on his. So this is what it felt like to kiss Scorpius Malfoy. Maybe he should have said something two years ago.

When they split apart, Scorpius was grinning wickedly. "So I was right." He said in his sing song voice. "You do have a crush on me."

Albus laughed. "No need to act so smug about it."

"Don't worry," Scorpius said with a wink, "I have a crush on you too, Albus."`

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