Summary: Scorpius Malfoy has been absolutely, undeniably and irrevocably in love with Albus Potter since he was eleven years old. He is perfectly happy to watch from the sidelines but his best friend, one Rose Weasley, has decided that she's had enough. Cue anonymous owls, a stolen bottle of Firewhisky, a double detention and a party in the Slytherin dungeon. This plan is 100% foolproof. Possibly.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings that you recognise; they belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am not making any money from this story.

A/N:

Almost a month after writing to his father with the news of his detention, Scorpius was still waiting for a reply. Most people would take this as a good sign and breathe a sigh of relief but Scorpius was wiser than this; he knew better than to take his father's silence to mean that he was getting away unscathed. No, it was far more likely that Draco was planning to unleash his tirade face-to-face when he returned to Malfoy Manor at Christmas.

"Scorpius!"

The blond spun round at the sound of his name to see Albus hurrying towards him.

"Hi, Al," he smiled, butterflies dancing in his stomach as the other boy approached. "How are things?"

"Not bad," Al replied. "I've been looking for you all morning."

"Really?" Scorpius' heart leapt.

"Erm, yeah," a blush crept across the Slytherin's nose and cheeks. "I – I have something for you."

"Oh?"

"It should be in here somewhere," Al wrenched open his book bag and began rummaging around inside it. "Here is it! Oh, sorry - it's a bit squashed."

Scorpius took the crumpled piece of parchment and scanned it; it was an invitation.

"You're having a party?"

"Sort of. It's an invitation to the Slytherin Christmas party," Al explained.

"Oh, I see," Scorpius frowned. "But I'm not in Slytherin."

"I know, but everyone is allowed to bring a date. Or a friend," he added hastily, flushing magenta. "Are you up for it?"

"I don't see why not. Where is it?"

"The Slytherin dungeon. Just bring the invitation and they'll let you in, no questions," said Al.

Scorpius checked the date. "Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah, is that okay?" Al cocked his head.

"Are you staying here for the holidays?"

"My mum and dad are taking James and Lily to Romania to spend Christmas with my Uncle Charlie," Al replied. "I'd rather stay here so I told them to go without me. What about you?"

"Well..." Scorpius paused. "I usually go home for the holidays but I suppose I could stay this year."

"You don't have to change your plans for me!" Al said hurriedly. "I wouldn't want you to feel obliged. I just thought I'd see if you and Rose were free."

"Rose is spending Christmas at the Burrow," Scorpius said slowly. "So it would just be me. Is that okay?"

Al nodded eagerly. "That's fine! If you can stand the thought of my company for a whole night, that is," he added, grinning.

Scorpius fought the urge to do a quick victory dance. "I'm sure I'll manage."

On the last day of term, Scorpius was a mess. He was aware of Rose talking animatedly in his ear throughout their final class of the day, History of Magic, but he couldn't for the life of him concentrate on the individual words.

"So, then Alice said to him, 'if I find out that you've been doing more than Potions revision with her, I'll hex your balls off!' and he went red, I mean bright red, and then – Scorp? Scorpius, are you even listening to me?"

"No," he said flatly. "I've not heard a word you've said in the past hour and a half, Rose."

"Well, that's a bit of a kick in the nuts, Scorp. You could ramble on for hours about the uses of dragon blood and I have always made an effort to listen! I think Alice and Richard's argument is bit more interesting than the uses of dragon blood, to be honest, so you could at least make an effort to pay more attention."

"Rosie, I am very interested in the inner workings of our friends' relationships, you should never question my love of gossip, but at this very moment in time I am slightly more preoccupied with a certain party invitation from a certain Slytherin!" Scorpius hissed.

"Ohhh," Rose nodded slowly. "I see! You're worried about making an arse of yourself in front of my cousin."

"Among other things, yes."

"Why are you worrying? You've made an arse out of yourself in front of him loads of times."

"Thank you, Rose, that's very comforting right now," he said dully.

"You have! And it obviously hasn't put him off that much or he wouldn't have invited you to this party, which, by the way, I am incredibly jealous about. Stupid mum and dad making me going to my stupid gran's house," she grumbled. Scorpius ignored her.

"What if he invited me out of pity?" the blond turned to face his friend, panicking.

"Scorpius, didn't you tell me that he had no idea that you weren't planning on staying for the holidays?" she asked, looking exasperated.

"Yes," he answered slowly.

"And did he or did he not blush when he accidentally referred to you as his date?"

"I can't really remember now, I might have just -"

"AND," she cut across him loudly, earning her glares from the students in front. "Did he not offer to keep you company all night?"

"Well, he did but only in a -"

"Scorpius! For Merlin's sake, would you please just calm down? You're getting yourself into a state about nothing," she soothed. "Albus is a good guy and he likes you, now please just stopped twittering like a little bird about all the things that could go wrong and tell me what you're going to wear."

The next morning, Scorpius was sitting alone at the Slytherin table, most his house-mates having gone home the previous evening. He cast an eye around the rest of the hall and counted a total of thirty people dotted around the various tables, most of them older students with revision notes and long essays already in front of them. He was staring glumly into his bowl of corn flakes when a screech from overhead signalled the arrival of the post owls. Correction: post owl, singular. A second later, a tightly-furled scroll landed in his soggy cereal, splashing milk on the table. Another quickly followed, landing neatly at the side of his goblet of pumpkin juice. Sighing, he picked the first one out of his bowl and shook it off gingerly, flattening it out on the table.

Scorpius,

Do not think that your avoidance of me during the holidays will cause me to have amnesia regarding your little stint in detention with the Potter brat. Your punishment has already been decided and will be waiting for you when you return home at Easter. There will be no discussion on the matter. I would also like to make it clear that there will be absolutely no further fraternising with any Potters, Weasleys, or any other hideous hybrids those people have spawned, is that understood? I feel that I have been incredibly lenient towards you and your dalliances with these people in the past but I will not stand for them bringing you down to their uncouth level.

Have an enjoyable Christmas.

Your father,

Draco Malfoy

Scorpius was shaking by the time he had finished scanning his father's letter. He was no longer terrified of his father the way he had been as child but to directly disobey him was still not something one did lightly. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the parchment to one side and opened up the second.

My darling Scorpius,

Take no notice of whatever drivel your father is currently writing, tucked away in the cave that he calls an office; I was cast out of said cave the moment I enquired as to what he was doing, so one can only assume it is pseudo-threatening drivel designed to make you terrified to think for yourself. He has had a broom up his arse ever since Harry Potter was granted funding for his department that the Minister had allegedly promised Draco's research team - how much truth is reflected in your father's rants about Potter, no-one will ever know. On a less tedious note, a little bird tells me that you have been invited to party with Rose's cousin; I am very happy that you're making new friends, my love.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

Your loving mother,

Astoria Malfoy

Scorpius smiled as he read his mother's comforting words; Astoria Malfoy really was the perfect match for his father – warm, patient, caring and, most importantly, unafraid to snap back when Draco took a hissy-fit. His worries eased slightly, he Summoned the coffee from the centre of the long table and poured himself a generous mug, a small smile still gracing his pale face.

"Room for one more?"

Scorpius looked up so quickly he was sure a trip to the hospital wing would be in order; medi-witches would be able to realign spines, surely? He set his mug down in front of him. "Albus, hi."

"Do you mind if I sit with you? My housemates are all lazy arses," he smiled easily, taking a seat across from the blond as he nodded dumbly. "They wouldn't get out of bed before twelve on a holiday unless there's a fire in the dormitory. And even then it'd be fifty-fifty."

Scorpius laughed. "What a waste of a day!"

"I agree. I'd only stay in bed all day if I had someone in there with me," Al grinned.

"Oh, I – I wouldn't know," he stammered. "I've never had the pleasure of having someone to invite into my bed. No, not pleasure! Merlin, what terrible word choice, I sound like my father," he flushed crimson. "I – I just meant -"

Albus was laughing loudly at his obvious discomfort. "I know what you meant, Scorp!"

Scorpius cleared his throat, his face still pink. "Good."

Al shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Me neither."

"I'm sorry?" Scorpius looked up from his coffee cup.

"I've never had the… erm… what you just said. I've never had anyone in my bed, either."

Scorpius took in the Slytherin's avoidance of eye contact and brightly flushed cheeks, frowning. "But, I thought -"

"Everyone thinks the same. They assume that I'm like James, all cool and easy-going and charming, but I'm not. I'm really awkward. My dad is too, but no-one really knows that; most people just see him as the Boy Who Lived or some high-flying Ministry official who gives brilliant speeches and press conferences but he's actually really shy and awkward, like me," Scorpius detected a hint of pride in the boy's voice. "He hates speaking in front of people."

"I had no idea. The way my father speaks of him…" the blond trailed off, not wanting to offend.

"Yeah, my dad says that your dad always accused him of being attention-seeking and thought he was trying to hog the limelight," Al grinned. "They really hated each other."

"My father thinks that my associating with you will be my downfall," Scorpius said nervously, a small smile on his lips.

Albus looked at him seriously. "And what do you think?"

Scorpius met his eye, blushing. "I think he's right."

The raven-haired boy chuckled. "You're the strangest person I have ever met, Scorpius Malfoy. You're so different from anyone else I know."

"I'm not sure that that's a compliment," Scorpius frowned.

Al laughed again. "Trust me, it is."

A/N: Okay, it has taken me far too long but I finally have an update for you! I'm sorry that it's so short but I had to cut it off there as the next chapter is the Christmas party – exciting stuff! Thank you for your patience, love to everyone who had stuck by me in my terrible writers block xo