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to be forever young


prompt: red

pairing: AlbusScorpius, implied RoseScorpius


There are certain things that stand out in Albus' mind when he thinks of that summer- the scratchiness of his red blanket, the taste of sweat, the feel of Scorpius' skin on his.

The Shrieking Shack became their secret meeting place- only Teddy ever came up there, and that summer, he was too preoccupied with the Lily-Victoire drama to care much about what his god-brother was doing. And so they'd meet in the Shack, with the red blanket in the corner, and forget the reasons why they shouldn't be doing this, and focus on each other, and their overwhelming lust.

It was never an even relationship. Albus felt too deeply, he would cling onto Scorpius, wishing for more and more time. And Scorpius would push him away, tell him this was meaningless, slip away when Albus drifted off to sleep.

Albus pretended he didn't mind. Scorpius would pant out between his heavy, desperate kisses that none of this meant anything, and Albus would agree, kiss him back, and agree.

And then one night, it's all over, the long summer drifting away into a faint memory. Scorpius won't make eye contact, won't respond to Albus' touch. And when Albus, voice cracking, asks what's wrong, he tells him. "I'm in love with Rose, Al. We have to stop this."

Albus can only nod and Scorpius looks at him with a mingled expression of relief, lingering lust, and maybe a smidgen of regret. "You okay?"

"Great," Albus manages, and flashes a brilliant smile at him. "It's fine. We knew it wasn't going to last."

"Yeah," Scorpius says gratefully. "Well, I'll see you around then."

Albus nods and once he's gone, collapses on the scratchy red blanket. He stares at it, trying not to cry, trying to forget. He's not very successful at either.