The Dissolution of Dynasties
Albus tossed the fifth shirt onto the bed, frustrated. He had no idea why he always got so nervous around Scorpius. It wasn't like this was their first, second, or even third date. He pulled a blue shirt on and started folding the discarded clothes.
"Is this a date?"
Albus jumped about a mile. "Oh, hey James."
"Is this a date?" his brother repeated, sitting on the bed.
"What gave me away? The wardrobe changes?" Albus chuckled.
"That and the fact that you were moaning Malfoy's name in your sleep," James said, rolling his eyes. "I'll send you my therapy bills."
Albus turned red and started searching for his wallet. "Go away," he said.
"Sure."
When James was about halfway down the stairs, Albus realized that he'd made a grave error in judgment. He should've kept talking to James until he was ready to leave. Now he was going to have to play "Dodge the Parents" to get to lunch on time. "They're WHAT?" he heard from downstairs. Finding his wallet in the night table drawer, he grabbed his broom and snuck out through the window.
"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," Scorpius said, smiling and hugging Albus.
"Shut it," Albus laughed. "I won't have the luxury of Apparating for another week. I had to endure a thirty minute broom ride. Taking the summer test was the worst decision ever."
"Hey, at least you're not splinching yourself in front of everyone like I did," Scorpius said as they sat down to eat.
"True. Er…I'll have a Butterbeer," he told the waiter. "So…got some news."
"What's that?"
"My parents know about us."
Scorpius snorted the whipped cream on his hot chocolate up his nose. "I thought we were waiting until after the year started to tell them?"
"That was the plan, but my brother has a big mouth."
"How'd he find out?"
"I…er…." Albus hated the fact that he blushed so easily. He ran a hand through his hair and kept mum until after the waiter had dropped off his drink and taken their orders.
Once he'd left, Scorpius grinned and asked, "Were you sleep talking again?"
"Yeah…"
Scorpius laughed. "Well, that's one way to do it, I suppose."
"You're not mad are you?"
"Of course not. I do need to talk to you about something though."
"Uh oh."
"It's nothing bad." Scorpius paused, trying to think of how to best bring up the topic. A stray cat sauntered by and brushed against his leg. He gave it a scrap of bread to buy time. "Look, I'm taking off for an entire month, but I don't want to go alone…."
"Scorp…"
"I know you said you didn't want to, but I thought, maybe you'd changed your mind a little? Or at least, are less against it now than before?"
"I just…like it where I am. Plus, you're supposed to be leaving in three days and I can't."
"So I'll wait until you've passed your test. Please? I really can't bear the thought of not seeing you for an entire month. Besides, it's not even like you'll have to lie to your parents or anything. You can totally tell them that your gorgeous boyfriend is whisking you away for a bit."
"Where did you have in mind?" Albus asked, still not ready to give in. He eyed the cat, who was now purring next to his leg. It seemed to think they'd keep feeding it if it looked pitiful enough.
"I don't know. I gave Grandfather a list of places, but I just pulled them out of my arse. Where do you want to go?" Scorpius saw Albus's eyes light up, and knew he'd almost won. "We can plan the trip together. It'll be fun!"
Albus smiled. "I'll talk to my dad tonight."
Scorpius grinned. "Really?"
"Yeah. I suppose I can't leave you to your own devices for an entire month," Albus said, smirking. "Who knows what you'd get into without me there to supervise…."
Laughing, Scorpius took Albus's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "We should start planning then. If you're going to swing the plan by your dad, we should actually have a plan…."
The two wizards got a lot planned during lunch, deciding on Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Greece as their main stops. Deciding to vacate to Scorpius's house to hammer out the details was definitely counterproductive, however, seeing as it only took them 23 seconds to realize they were not at Hogwarts. The threat of nosy first years eliminated, the trip planning quickly turned into a snogging session.
Albus was in the middle of giving Scorpius his fifth hickey when he heard something. "What was that?"
"Your leftover paranoia from having to hide while we do this at school," Scorpius panted. "I didn't hear anything."
"Scorpius, did you remember to—whoa!" Draco Malfoy had been reading the Prophet as he walked, and looked up just in time to see a half naked Albus Potter bolting into the bathroom.
"I don't feel the need to explain myself," Scorpius said with as much aplomb as he could muster, having just flipped off the bed in shock.
"No indeed, I have eyes," Draco said. "Close, and lock, the door next time. Nice to see you again, Albus!" he called.
"You two, Mr. Malfoy," Albus said, sounding mortified.
Albus wasn't quite over the incident when he walked into his grandparents' house later, so he was hoping to quietly slip up to his room and avoid talking to anyone for a while. No such luck….
"Al?"
"Hi Dad."
"Anything you er…wanna talk about?"
"Yes, James was telling the truth. I'm dating Scorpius Malfoy," Albus said, deciding to get the conversation over with as soon as possible. "We're going on a trip together."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. He's been planning to travel for a while now, and he asked me to come along. Just a few different countries. We'll be gone a month." He figured telling his dad, rather than asking, was the more adult thing to do.
"Were you planning on running that past your mother and me?"
"I am right now," Albus said, giving his dad what he hoped was a winning smile.
"How long have you been seeing him?"
"Er…look, you can't be mad. We were going to tell you guys soon."
Harry quirked an eyebrow at him.
"We've been dating for a year now."
"A YEAR?"
"I knew you'd take it like this," Albus said morosely. He sat his broom on the rack and grabbed a glass from the counter. He stopped when his dad squeezed his shoulder.
"I'm…just surprised is all. I'm not mad about you dating him. I just…wish you'd told us. And, since you've obviously decided to go off with him on a…prolonged date…I think we should talk about…" his dad took a deep breath, obviously steeling himself to continue. "We should talk about…er…responsibility and…"
"Dad!" Albus said, realizing where this conversation was going. "We've already talked about…stuff like this…."
"You've never been on a month long trip with a…significant other before."
"It's okay. I remember everything you've ever told me."
"Everything?" the older Potter asked, smirking. "All right, fine. We'll talk your mother into this trip of yours over dinner."
"Thanks Dad," Albus smiled. Taking his glass of water, he made his way to his room. At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and turned back to the kitchen. "Dad? On the way home, I stopped to get a new travel cloak. There was a reporter there who wouldn't stop bothering me…It's not a big deal, but…"
"I'll talk to the Prophet," Harry said. He'd never been a fan of the way the Prophet stalked his kids, but their obsession with his youngest son was really starting to get out of hand.
"Cheers."
