(Guess what, lovely readers? I moved back into my dorm today for the new semester! :D Classes don't start for a few more days, though, so let's see what I can accomplish before then! I always get a bit sleepless moving into a new dorm, so I'll probably suffer from just enough insomnia to be productive until Monday comes. ^^ Enjoy the chapter!)

Hogwarts was in an uproar. Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter were dating? Such a thing was simply impossible, by any stretch of the imagination! And yet they walked hand in hand to the classes that they shared, and kissed chastely when they had to part. Scorpius had taken to sitting at Gryffindor table with Albus during dinner, and Albus sat with the Slytherins at breakfast. They took turns swapping who sat with whom at lunch.

It was almost too perfect. Several were suspicious, teachers included. The hatred between Potters and Malfoys had always been a sturdy, immovable rock in their lives, as was the hatred between Slytherins and Gryffindors. And yet neither stood in the way of the budding romance taking place before their very eyes.

"You know Dad is going to completely lose it when he finds out, right?" James rested his chin on his palm and studied the both of them over his dinner. Scorpius paid him no mind, but Albus shot him a glare.

"Belt up, Dad won't care. He's marrying Scor's dad, after all. And there's nothing wrong with us being together after that because we're not blood anyway, so it doesn't matter." Scorpius slid his hand onto his knee, squeezing, and Albus leaned back on the bench, taking a deep breath. He slipped his hand over the blonde's and gripped it firmly.

"Still," said James with a smirk, "You'll kind of be brothers. It's definitely weird. Plus, Scorpius is older than you. That means you'll be the one being taken advantage of in this little relationship. Dad is definitely going to care that his youngest son is being taken advantage of by some sneaky Slytherin Malfoy."

Scorpius glanced up from his plate. "I'm only older by a few weeks and, despite the fact that you are correct in that we will, in fact, technically be brothers, it's hardly their decision so long as it isn't legally wrong, and as it isn't, it really isn't as big an issue as you're attempting to make it out to be in order to upset myself and your brother. If you really wanted to do something useful, you could try and support him, as your blood brother."

Albus gave James a smug look, but the older brunette just rolled his eyes. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you when they find out and you're both in huge trouble for it." Scorpius didn't even deign him with a response, looking back down at his plate to resume his meal. Albus tried to do the same, but he couldn't seem to shake the troubled feeling that settled like a heavy, unshakable weight in the pit of his stomach.

When they left the Great Hall, Scorpius pulled Albus to the side, allowing his mask to now fall away and expose his concern. "Don't let James get to you," he instructed gently, offering a small smile that immediately had Albus' mood lifting. It was so rare to see Scorpius smile without good reason, it was impossible not to be affected by it. "He's just trying to make you upset, Albus. Just ignore him when he starts up, like I do."

Albus sighed and glanced away. "I know, and I try, really I do! But what if he's right, Scor? What if our dads don't let us be together?"

Scorpius muttered a curse and pulled him in for a quick kiss. "Then they're both great big gits that need to get over themselves. If they're allowed to be together, why can't we be? Just because they're older and saw each other first?"

Albus chuckled at that. "I guess." He wrapped his arms around the blonde and just clung for a moment, inhaling deeply. He laughed again, quietly, and an arm came up to curl around his waist tightly, bringing them closer together.

"What are you laughing at, then?"

Albus grinned against the older boy's robes. "You smell like the Potions classroom, and that fancy shampoo you like so much. It's so weird, but… it's also nice." He ignored Scorpius trying to pull away and dug in deeper, inhaling again deeply. "Very nice."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall when it became clear that he had no way of escaping the brunette's hold. "So I smell like fancy dungeons, is that it? I suppose coming from you I should be flattered."

Albus grinned and lifted his head, giving him a kiss. "You know what I meant."

Scorpius softened, and nodded ever so slightly. "Yes, I do."

They kissed again, lingering now. They could hear footsteps nearby. If they shifted half a foot to their left, they would be completely exposed to every student coming or going down the hall. But it was worth the risk to get even this little bit of extra time together. What could have been moments, or could have been hours, were allowed to drift by before they finally drew apart to look at each other again. "Merlin, why is it that every time I try to talk seriously with you I end up snogging you senseless?" muttered Scorpius with a soft laugh.

Albus wrapped his arms around his neck. "I don't know," he said with amusement, "But I'm definitely not complaining."

Scorpius gave him a nudge. "Before you distract me again, I wanted to talk about something else. Christmas holidays are soon, and my father wrote to tell me that we'll all be staying at the Manor together for the duration of them. This means you're going to all be selecting bedrooms and we'll be doing presents together, as we did last year."

Albus' brow furrowed. "So we can't be together during the holidays? How are we going to keep James from running his mouth? You know he'd just love to spoil things for us and tell them before we even have a chance…!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes and kissed him, hard, shutting him up immediately. "It seems you've distracted me anyway. Quiet or rambling, I just can't win. Anyway," he continued, smirking as Albus pouted, "If I may be allowed to finish, I want you to take the room right next to mine. That way it will be easy to see each other at night while everyone else is asleep. We're far enough away from my father's bedroom that it won't disturb him if we're up and about, as long as we're not racing through the halls or being obnoxiously loud."

Albus smiled. "So we can sleep together?"

Scorpius arched a brow at him teasingly. "So forward."

Albus gave him a shove, flushing red immediately. "You know what I meant!" Scorpius laughed, and it soon had Albus laughing, as well. "But what about James?" he asked, returning to his other previously-mentioned concern. "How are we going to keep him from ruining everything and just telling them as soon as we get there?"

Scorpius smirked. "Leave that to me."

(Time skip)

"Do you see them?"

Draco smiled slightly and barely resisted the urge to press a kiss to his adorable fiancé's hair. Instead, he simply gave his waist a squeeze with the arm he had wrapped around it, casting around a brief, intimidating Malfoy glare to discourage on-lookers from staring for too long. "Careful, love, your anxiety is showing."

Harry glanced up at him, lips quirking at the corners in amusement. "I'm sorry; we can't all completely control our emotions like you can. I'm just worried that they're all going to be absolutely miserable, and it's going to be all our faults for forcing them together."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I told you, if you want to wait until Lily gets out of Hogwarts…"

"I don't!" Harry snapped, annoyed at being reminded of the out that had been offered to him (yet again!).

"Then stop worrying," said Draco mildly, and lifted a hand to wave as he spotted the first of their four returning students stepping off the train.

Lily skipped right over to them, smiling as she began to chatter to Harry immediately about everything that had gone on already this school year. She seemed at ease with Draco being around, and seemed to be telling him the story just as much as she was her actual father. Albus and Scorpius came off at the same time, talking animatedly. Draco lifted a brow in surprise, but was inwardly pleased. Perhaps a sign of friendship between their sons would finally help Harry to relax and actually enjoy their engagement instead of this constant worrying.

James was the last to arrive, looking rather grumpy, but he didn't say anything negative yet, so Draco took that as a good sign, despite the tension that seemed to be brewing just a bit between him and the two younger boys. Sibling rivalry was natural, after all. Harry, meanwhile, was obviously trying to listen to Lily's monologue, but at the same time he was looking the boys over worriedly, desperate to make sure that everything was well between all of them.

"We should be going," said Draco when Lily stopped talking long enough to take a breath. "We can talk more at the Manor after everyone's had a chance to pick their bedroom and unpack." Harry was quick to agree, and it was the work of a moment to gather their belongings between the six of them and move out.

Scorpius and Albus took off upstairs with their things as soon as they arrived, and James and Lily were right behind them. Draco tugged Harry close and kissed him, smiling as the children disappeared. "They all seem to get along just fine," he said, and Harry nodded, still staring at the stairs where they had all vanished.

"I think something's wrong with James. He's been too quiet ever since he got off the train."

Draco rolled his eyes. "You'd worry even if they'd all walked up arm in arm and grinning like mad. Calm down, Harry. This is why they insisted that you start your Christmas holiday early, you know. You stress yourself out too much and it's very unhealthy for anyone, especially someone with a job like yours. You're Head Auror. You need to take a few deep breaths and relax for the holidays."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. At least they're not outright fighting or anything. I suppose we should count our blessings and hope things can continue to be so good for as long as they're home." Draco nodded, encouraged by the attempt at good humor, and drew him a little closer, kissing him again.

"I'm sure everything is going to be just fine. You just focus on the positives for right now. Our kids are all home for the holidays, we both have a few weeks off, and we're going to be getting married soon…" Harry allowed his shoulders to drop, finally fully relaxing for the first time all day, and he grinned at his blonde counterpart.

"How in the world did I ever survive without you?"

Draco chuckled leaned a little closer, his eyes lit with mischief. "You didn't. That's why it was so easy to convince you to fall as desperately in love with me as I already was with you."

Harry tugged him even closer, his eyelids falling to half-mast as their lips brushed ever so slightly. "How clever of you," he murmured, and pulled him in for a quick, hungry snog. "Perhaps tonight we should test how we're going to go about sleeping together with a house full of children," he whispered, and had the pleasure of seeing his lover's eyes darken with lust.

"We should go upstairs and ensure that none of them are picking any bedrooms too close to ours," Draco said, and with a grin Harry proceeded to drag him up the stairs so that they could oversee the selection and decoration of their new rooms.

(Eeeeehhh, college, why do you hinder my muse so? ;-; Classes have barely begun and I've already had a sudden block, lovely readers. But I shall persevere! :D Yet another chapter for Reetu, another in the works for Of Then and Now and But Chains and Whips Excite Me. Wow, I like to use long titles. I'm going to have to end up making acronyms. XD Enjoy, lovely readers! Be sure to review and spark my drowning muse!)