You're not on a date. You're not on a date. You're not on a date.
No matter how many times he told himself, Albus wasn't convinced he hadn't asked Scorpius out for an entire day in what could be a very romantic setting. Granted, there were ways that it could be more date-like. Scorpius could be holding his hand. He could be kissing Scorpius' cheek. Scorpius could have his hands down—well, never mind that. That was a train of thought that was taking Albus nowhere he needed to be.
"I can't believe Andy and Rose actually go to Madam Puddifoot's," said Scorpius, shaking his head. "Such a stereotype."
"It's a little weird. Rose used to make fun of the couples that went there. Then she became part of one."
"Do you spend less time with Rose since she's dating Andy?"
"Not really," said Albus, eyeing a giant licorice wand in the window of Honeydukes. "She's very careful not to ignore her friends because of how annoyed she was when James did that in his seventh year."
"I can get you a licorice wand, you know," Scorpius said as they stepped into the sweet shop. "I owe you today's Two A Side victory."
"You don't have to do that, Scorpius."
Scorpius laughed. "No. But I'm going to anyway."
After picking through giant bins of sweets and snacks for a solid ten minutes, Albus and Scorpius settled on their separate bounties, including the longest licorice wand Albus had ever had courtesy of Scorpius. Albus tried to ignore the Freudian implications he'd gleaned from a Muggle psychology book Rose was reading for Muggle Studies class.
"Thanks," he said. "You ready for lunch yet?"
"Only if there's lots of grease on it. I'm still not over the rabbit food my father's had elf serving since the beginning of summer."
"Why is he doing that, anyway?" Albus asked as they ducked into the Three Broomsticks.
"He thinks he's getting fat." Scorpius smirked. "Of course, he's not getting fat so much as getting older. But Mum seemed to think it was a good idea for all of us to diet together. It's murder."
"You don't need it at all. You look really good." Realizing what he'd said, Albus clamped his mouth shut. Scorpius' cheeks reddened slightly, a rare occurrence.
"Thanks, Al."
Albus nodded and fixed his eyes on the menu in his hands. They were seated near Alfie McMillan and Nicolas Smith, the most public gay couple Albus knew. Rose had said the two of them frequented Madam Puddifoot's, but it seemed they'd gone for a change of pace today—although, Albus noticed, they behaved the same way Madam Puddifoot's clientele tended to. Their hands were grasped together across the table and, though Albus and Scorpius had only been in the restaurant for a minute or two, Albus had already seen them kiss once, twice, three times.
"What d'you think they're trying to prove?" Scorpius asked, gesturing toward the couple.
"They don't have anything left to prove," said Albus. "I think by now, we're all thoroughly convinced that they're more in love than anyone else the world has ever seen."
Scorpius laughed. "Love doesn't have to look like that, does it? Think about Andy and Rose. I've never seen them touch each other, let alone ... that." Alfie and Nicolas were full on snogging.
"You don't want to. It's sickening." Albus shuddered and Scorpius laughed again. Then his expression turned more serious.
"Why haven't you ever gone out with anyone, Al?" he asked, allowing Albus to get lost briefly in those stupidly beautiful pale grey eyes of his. "You're clever and bold and fit. You could date any girl. Or guy. If that's what you were looking for."
"It is," Albus said quietly, looking down. "You've probably worked out that I'm gay."
"I wasn't sure, but yeah, I had a thought," said Scorpius. "Don't be ashamed. I mean, I am too. You know that. But there's gotta be someone, right?"
"There is." Albus looked at Scorpius again. "I just don't know if he's interested or not."
"There's no reason he wouldn't be."
Albus was about to do something, though he wasn't sure what, when he heard his name called by a very familiar voice. Suddenly, his father swooped down on him, his mother, auntie, and uncle in tow.
"Hi, Dad," he said. "Hi, Mum. Hi, Auntie Hermione. Hi, Uncle Ron." Albus gestured across the table. "This is Scorpius Malf—"
"I can tell who he is," said Albus' dad, his expression dark. "You look just like him. Though you're not smirking."
"No, sir," Scorpius said. He sounded rather scared, something Albus wasn't used to. His dad stared at Scorpius, stone-faced and stiff.
"Harry..." Albus' mom laid a hand on his dad's arm. "It's OK. Albus isn't you, and Scorpius isn't his father."
"Right. Fine. Why aren't you with your cousins?"
"Rose is with Andy. It's a prefects only day, so Hugo's not around."
"And no Lily?"
"No Lily," said Albus, wondering why this mattered.
"There's no one else you could fill the time with, then? You had to pick him?"
"Harry!" It was Auntie Hermione who moved in this time, sounding sterner than Albus' mom had. "That's enough. We're going to go. I'm sorry, Albus," she said as she steered him away. Uncle Ron and Albus' mom followed.
Scorpius tried to smile at Albus as they walked away. "That went well," he said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.
Albus shook his head. Blinking back tears of anger, he ran outside to the alley behind the Three Broomsticks. Sitting down on the ground, he allowed himself to cry. He'd never seen his father act so cruelly or so judgmentally. His father was heroic, wasn't he? Why would he do this?
Albus leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, tears still streaming down his face. He heard footsteps but didn't look.
"Albus," Scorpius said, more quietly than usual. "It's OK."
"No, it's not," Albus said, practically shouting. "My father is a git and he hates you and I hate him for it."
Scorpius knelt down next to Albus. "You know that's not true. Your dad's great. Hell, your dad saved the world. So what if he hates Malfoys? It's not like..."
"Not like what? You're my best friend, Scorpius," said Albus, his voice cracking. "And I ... I ... oh, sod it." And though he'd never expected to be the one to do so, he leaned toward Scorpius, put his hands to either side of the boy's face, and kissed him full on the mouth.