CHAPTER 7

Scorpius and I hadn't said much to each other after we'd gotten back from the hearing, although he did sneak a long, enthusiastic kiss as thanks for getting him out of testifying once we'd left McGonagall's office. We ended up back in the dormitory for most of the day while classes went on without us, but I was too keyed up to get much work done. Scorpius went back to sleep for a short period before getting up to continue his homework, and he even attended last period double Potions, although I took full advantage of our excused absence for the day.

A couple days later, I received an owl from home at breakfast, getting another round of "we love you and we're so proud of you" and "please let us know if you feel any changes from the attack", as well as a short note that several of the Wizengamot had already viewed the memory and were close to setting a date for Craglin's formal sentencing. Dad wrote separately that he hadn't told Mum any of the major details as he'd promised, and I breathed a sigh of relief that at least she would be spared that burden.

Mostly I wanted to put everything behind me. In a roundabout bit of luck, I was able to forget all about the trial as our classes had picked up immeasurably in the following couple weeks, with homework increasing to the point that even with free periods to use for studying, Scorpius and I had almost no time to ourselves. And as such, we'd had no time for anything beyond a few brief snogs here and there, usually as he was getting in from his Prefect rounds, or hidden in alcoves while the rest of the school was watching Quidditch matches.

So despite our mutual interest in putting our new anatomical addition through its paces, the knot was put on the backburner. However, I had noticed during another shower wank that I could, in fact, prevent the knot from forming at all, with enough desperate concentration. Probably for the best; I could still get my rocks off without turning into a lifeless puddle of bliss for an hour and risking being caught by other students.

I told Scorpius as much and he'd nodded heavily. "Yeah, I've noticed the same. It's good to know but it's tough to keep the knot under control and still enjoy the wank, you know? I just miss when we could take our time. Even before all this knotting business."

He pulled me in for a kiss that made me forget where I was for a moment. He pulled away just enough to whisper against my lips, "I'll figure something out. Try to stay ahead of your homework in case an opportunity presents itself."

And then he was gone, heading down the corridor like nothing had just happened between us and nodding kindly to a small group of first-years who'd just rounded the corner.

Homework, right. Get a jump on my homework, then sexy fun times with Scorpius. That was the goal.

I had spent all afternoon and evening catching up on my homework, getting ahead on some of my reading for Defense and Herbology. I hadn't seen Scorpius since our stolen kiss and he didn't even show up for dinner, which I'd found odd. After I'd had my fill in the Great Hall I checked the Library, but he wasn't there either. It wasn't until I was turning in for bed, having already surpassed the week's reading in Charms and Care of Magical Creatures, that Scorpius burst into the dormitory in a flurry of robes and flushed cheeks. Had we been alone, I'm sure he'd have swept me up in a kiss, but fortunately he noticed that two of our three other roommates were there as well, also preparing for bed.

Scorpius and I found ourselves in this particular situation more often than we were out of it. We had become expert at cramming down our excitement at seeing each other. Just be bros. Involve the others in the room in the conversation, make it look casual, totally platonic…

"I've done it!" Scorpius announced dramatically to the room at large. Our roommates looked up, mildly interested. They'd always known Scorpius to be over-the-top in his excitement about school.

"Done what, mate?" I asked.

"I made a Patronus!" He lit up, and although he was looking at me, the other boys in the room looked over at him, impressed.

"Damn, Malfoy, that's brilliant," said Eddie, a tall, slim boy who played Keeper on the Slytherin Quidditch team. "What shape did it take?"

Scorpius looked over at him and I'm glad he didn't have to be obvious about focusing on me. "Well, I didn't make a complete animal form yet," he explained, "but I was able to make a really solid cloud for almost half a minute. The cloud did have four feet, though!"

"Feet?" I laughed. "You think Dementors are going to flee from your cloud with feet?"

"Ah, fuck off, Potter," said Wyatt, though there wasn't any real force behind it. "What's your Patronus look like then, eh?"

"Albus can't make one yet," Scorpius said with a half-hearted smirk; not quite a patented Malfoy Sneer.

"Whatever, as long as it doesn't become a damn stag when I do figure out how to make one," I scoffed.

It was a pointless, fluffy chat, and that's how Scorpius and I stayed under the radar with our relationship. It was all a lie anyway, since Scorpius and I had been able to produce full-bodied Patronus charms since last year. (Mine was a huge, draught-breed horse; Scorpius' was a lion.)

"I'll show you tomorrow, Albus, and then maybe you won't be such a dick about my 'cloud with feet'." He snarked.

Wyatt and Eddie chuckled a bit, but after they'd looked away and continued going about their nightly routines, I chanced a longer look at Scorpius. He had a look in his eye that I recognized immediately. A barely-contained glee that meant he'd either found something, or had come up with an idea. The prospect excited me, too.

That was last night. Thank Merlin today was not just Saturday, but Quidditch Saturday.

Despite the match being Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff, our Common Room cleared out almost completely after breakfast. Slytherin had a very real interest in the point spread, especially with Hufflepuff looking uncommonly hot this year. The guys in our dorm had spent all morning loudly debating strategy and how many points they'd need to win the Quidditch Cup with either a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff win today.

"You ready to see my mad Patronus skills?" Scorpius asked, as a few stragglers passed us on the way out of the dungeons. We were finally alone in the corridor now.

"'Patronus skills'," I mocked. "So what did you actually find?"

He grinned broadly, the same delight I'd seen on his face last night coming back again. "I'm not sure how we can necessarily lighten our course loads enough to have more time to ourselves, but I do know of where we can be together in private if and when we do find the time," he said, beaming triumphantly. "The Room of Requirement. I finally found it!"

I knew the reference. I'd heard it mentioned in stories from my parents and aunts and uncles about how they'd met in secret to build a resistance within Hogwarts when they were students, but I'd never found out where it was and honestly, until now, I hadn't really seen the point in seeking it out.

However, my sudden intrigue was extinguished as I remembered something.

"Hang on, I thought it was destroyed by Fiendfyre," I said. "Your dad's friend set it during the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Yeah, Crabbe burned the place up, I guess," Scorpius said, though he was still flushed with excitement. "But it must have been rebuilt, because it's still there and it still works! At least to some extent. Maybe I don't know exactly how to ask it for certain things, because some stuff it couldn't do, but it can provide simple requests, at least. Like, say, a large bed and warding against visitors." He grinned, rambling happily.

I laughed. "We're going to turn an elusive room, built from some of the most complicated magic known to magicalkind, into our own personal love nest?"

"Why not?"

How could he manage to look so sweet and innocent about this?

After climbing several flights of stairs and winding down multiple corridors to a part of the school I rarely visited, Scorpius stopped me and instructed me to stand off to the side. Then he began to pace back and forth in front of a long stretch of blank-walled corridor. I suppose it should have been conspicuous in its emptiness; very few walls in Hogwarts weren't covered in portraits or tapestries.

And then a door suddenly grew from the empty wall, although it didn't look exactly the same as all the other doors in the school. This one was terribly age, the paint faded, the wood dry and splintering around the handle, with gouges and streaks of ash marring its surface. Despite its dilapidated appearance, Scorpius squeaked when he saw it and we both made a beeline straight through it.

I didn't fully understand the magic behind this room, but I was grateful for its versatility, even in its current damaged state. The interior was a comfortable size, neither sprawling like a classroom nor cramped like a typical bedroom. It was larger than our dormitory room but with only one four-poster – thankfully much larger than our narrow single beds – strung with rich black velvet hangings, and a small side table next to it. There was an ash-strewn fireplace with a plush dark green couch facing it on the other side of the room, and another door across the room from us, open to reveal an attached bathroom. Despite the fireplace not being lit, the room was a comfortable temperature and not too bright.

Simple, cozy, private.

"You're a genius, you know that?" I said, elated and enthralled.

"I guess I could have forgone the fireplace," he mused quietly from a few steps behind me. "I asked for one earlier, but it wasn't lit then either, and I couldn't start even just a small fire on my own. Although I suppose that makes sense, you know? I wonder if the room remembers…"

I was mesmerized by the incredible gift of this room when I felt his lips on my neck. I reached back to stroke my fingers through his hair and felt his hands slide over my hips and begin tugging at my belt. I spun around, and we were connected at the lips instantly.

Despite our general desire to be able to take our time, we had been without each other too long. We had time and energy for more than one round, however, so neither of us slowed our pace.

We were naked and pressing against each other in no time at all. We'd somehow managed to find our way blindly to the bed, where I sat precariously on the edge. Scorpius swung his left leg over my right hip, and placed his right leg between my legs, pulling my knee up around his slim waist. The position enabled us to grind deliciously and we were both shaking and groaning quickly.

Scorpius released his hold on my knee to better line up our lengths and began to stroke them together. I had to pull away from his mouth to regain my breath. When it did return, it was punched back out of my lungs in a jagged swear.

I could feel the knot growing and, looking down, I saw that mine was already slightly larger than Scorpius'. His hand slowed and his rocking became shallower, barely letting me press myself against him.

"Calm down, Albus," he whispered, dragging his tongue along my ear. "Don't knot. Keep it under control. I know you can feel that pressure, I can too, but don't give into it."

My whine was utterly pathetic, worse than a child who'd just been handed a candy bar and told not to eat it. Scorpius chuckled a low, sexy huff against my hairline and it tickled. I shivered and slid my hands over him, trying to pull him closer again.

"Oh, we're definitely going to knot," he assured me, reading my desperation and sighing as I dragged my fingertips up and down his back. I slid one hand up over his shoulders into his hair, massaging his scalp. My other settled over one of his ass cheeks and he moaned low when I gave him a firm squeeze.

"We're going to knot a little later," he said breathily, "but for now… an exercise in self-control. Sort of."

He pushed me down onto the bed and I crawled backwards that so we were both fully on it.

"A brief exercise, I hope," I said, not caring that I sounded more than a little frantic. I was spread eagle below him, and he spread his own legs obscenely wide as well, still managing to pin his thighs wide enough to seat himself against my pelvis, our balls crushed together and erections dragging against each other with each dirty roll of his hips.

"Just…concentrate," he instructed. "Pull back from the knot. It has its own…" his eyes screwed shut and he lost his train of thought but somehow I knew what he was saying.

"It feels like it has its own bloodflow or something," I finished for him, stroking one hand up over his taut, shivering abs and using the other to grip his hip, guiding him against me.

"Exactly," he hissed out, adjusting to sit forward on top of me, hands clutching at my shoulders, letting my cock bob against the back of his thigh. With some wiggling where he ground his own leaking cock against my abs – we both gasped – he settled as my own cock slipped between his ass cheeks, and I could feel him flexing, altering his grind to accommodate the new position.

I tried my damnedest, although I felt it was a lot of ask of a teenage boy in the middle of a mouthwatering rut to tamp down his arousal. But I could feel Scorpius managing it so gritting my teeth, I did it too. I focused the heat in my belly away from the ring that I could feel tightening, but refused to let it rise further.

We were kissing as we came, within seconds of each other. Scorpius came first, gasping his climax against my mouth and he pulled away briefly to avoid biting my tongue. I felt his come smear between our bellies.

He was back to devouring my mouth as he cleared the first wave, and I hit my peak too, grunting into his mouth and shoving my dick as fast as I could along the seam of his ass. He reached behind himself, rubbing at my cock as I came along his lower back. We slowed and finally settled in a heap of sweaty, sticky limbs.

Scorpius rolled off my lap and flopped on his back next to me, and I barely noticed that we'd linked our fingers as our skin continued to cool and we caught our breath.

We spent several hazy minutes just touching. First running our fingers along each other hands, traveling over palms, then stroking over wrists, tickling over the hair on forearms. We both rolled to our sides, facing each other to continue our sensual exploration over quivering abs, sensitive inner thighs.

Scorpius eventually pulled away to lean over the side of the bed to wrestle his wand out of the pocket of his robes. He Cast a Cleaning Charm over us and made a particularly theatrical show of swiping his wand over his low back, quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Well, that's one hell of a start to a Saturday morning," I said, stretching.

"Informative, too!" Scorpius said, his eyes bright, his nerdy glee chasing away the erotic blaze from minutes ago. "So now we know that we can both control the knot, and I might point out, unlike my solo experiments, that was much more fun. On my own it was… tedious… trying to focus on not knotting. But with you, I could still enjoy what we were doing, without losing control."

"Ditto," I said, rolling my eyes and smiling lazily. Leave it to Scorpius to follow up sex with analysis.

He resettled himself against me and we fell back into our easy habit of snogging and gentle stroking. I eventually got Scorpius rolled over onto his belly and he rested his head on his hands, sighing as I started massaging his shoulders after crawling up his body and straddling his waist. I loved touching his body and he was always willing to let me, but it had been so long since we'd had enough time alone to do this. We were normally watching the clock too much to enjoy anything fully, with Scorpius constantly second-guessing if his warding charms would hold if we were suddenly interrupted. But there was nothing to worry about here and I was infinitely grateful.

He shifted a bit under me, and eventually slid a hand under his belly to readjust himself before resettling into the bed, chin on his hands again. I was growing hard again too and I figured now was as good a time as any to work up to a knot with him.

I crawled off him and as I did so, he mumbled, "Check the drawer."

I paused for a moment, then slid across the bed to pull open the drawer on the side table and sure enough, there was indeed a vial of lube.

I smirked. "You cheeky bastard, you told the room to supply lube?"

He grinned and wiggled his ass. He scrabbled for his wand again, muttering a quick spell we'd figured out for a dry enema months ago in a book snuck from the Restricted Section after hours. He hissed as the spell took effect and I knew the feeling – suddenly chilly and empty. He tossed his wand away carelessly.

I reseated myself behind him, nudging his legs apart. I opened the lube bottle and trickled a few drops into his crack, watching it run down the back of his balls. The chill and sudden wetness had him squirming against the bed for a few moments. Scorpius loved a good, sensual tease. He sighed and spread his legs a bit wider.

I allowed the bottle to warm a bit more in my hand before slathering up a finger and tracing his fluttering hole. He began to press back against me and allowed me to slide in my first finger halfway. He froze, clamping down for just a moment before I felt him forcing himself to relax and push back against me again. We slowly worked up to two of my fingers fully inside of him, rocking and gently scissoring. He was breathing more heavily now, beads of sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

"Albus."

His voice was uncharacteristically low and even.

I hadn't stopped thrusting my fingers, still slow enough to avoid a too-soon ending but it kept him comfortable and rolling his hips slightly against the mattress.

"Yeah, Scorpius, I got you," I whispered to him.

"I want you," he begged, sounding slightly desperate. "Not just your fingers. Please, I'm ready."

That made me slow my motion to a crawl. He looked over his shoulder at the change of pace and I could see it in his eyes. He was completely serious.

"But… the knot. Scorpius, we can't – I can't, it'll hurt you –" I scrambled, but he cut me off.

"Just don't push in past the knot. Let it build, I will too, and we'll bust our knots together. But I want you. Please, Albus." His begging was so small, but the look in his eyes was earnest.

He almost looked afraid that I'd reject him.

Like I could ever do that, Scorpius. I'll never deny you.

I gingerly removed my fingers and moved up to lean over him as he pushed himself up on one arm. It was awkward with him still mostly on his belly and looking over his shoulder, but it was one of the heaviest kisses we had ever shared. The slow, sincere drag of his tongue over mine floored me.

"Please," he whispered again, against my lips.

I released an unsteady breath. "Stop me if it's too much." I said quietly, begging him to make me stop just as much as he was begging me to give it to him. I pulled back and resettled myself again between his spread legs.

I ran my hands up his thighs, over his ass, rubbing, squeezing, then massaging down again. When he began to follow my movements with tiny twitches of his hips, I reached for the bottle of lube again, rewetting my fingers and pressing in slowly. He groaned impatiently.

"No more fingers," he grunted. He lifted his ass, then pulled his knees beneath himself, presenting himself to me; I automatically took hold of his hips, running my thumbs over his soft skin. I leaned down, dragging my tongue down his crack, and he hissed. "C'mon, Albus."

I'm not particularly into rimming – giving or receiving – but the specific type of shudders that wrack his taut body when I flick my tongue inside his tight ring are like nothing else. He shook and whimpered as I gave him a few more licks.

Then I released my hold on him with a little nip and a kiss to his firm ass. I couldn't resist fondling his balls, rolling them and stroking my thumb up and down his perineum. It made his hips slide in a slow, dirty roll and he moaned again, low and breathy this time. He eased back down to the bed and I watched as he spoiled himself just a little by humping slightly into the sheets. I was mesmerized by the motion: the sensual, rhythmic roll, his back and thighs flexing beautifully.

My heart kicked fast and heavy against my ribcage and I realized that it wasn't just from arousal but anxiety as well. I wanted this – so badly – but could I control it? Could I resist sliding my knot into him, as obviously welcoming as his body was?

But Scorpius was completely trusting and spread out in front of me, sighing gently as he rolled his hips against the mattress again. I coated my cock in lube, noting that my knot was building but wasn't huge.

"Alright, Scorpius," I sighed, lining myself up, brushing my cock against his ass, sliding it gently along his seam, teasing his entrance.

He surprised me by sliding backwards unexpectedly, impaling himself on the head of my cock and groaning happily. I was startled by the movement and utterly unprepared for the feeling. The pressure, the heat, the throbbing pull of his body, all of it. The intensity sent me reeling and I could hardly register the sound I made.

He pushed himself up to his elbows, forearms flat on the bed and hands clutching fistfuls of the sheets. He rocked back, and I followed him a heartbeat later, pushing in bit by bit, even selfishly daring to edge into him past my still-small knot.

We both stilled and moaned when I was fully sheathed, knot and all. But I felt it rapidly growing, pulsing just a bit larger with each of my heartbeats, and I was sure Scorpius could feel it, too. He might have liked it now – hell, I liked it now – but I knew I couldn't let it swell to full size. I couldn't come inside him. Not like this.

We settled into a steady rhythm anyway, a shimmer of worry wheedling at my brain. Scorpius was reveling in it, though, his moans alternating between swears and unintelligible grunts. He was sighing and humming in the most blissed out way that I had trouble paying attention to much else. I was conflicted; I didn't want to let the knot get unmanageable or painfully large, but I also wanted to keep doing the things that was ripping those moans from his slack mouth.

My anxiety didn't like that my carnal instinct had won that round. I was holding his hips more firmly now, picking up my pace. I was trying to discover what I loved more – the even, gentle pelvic rolls (Scorpius gasped at the constant drag of friction); the quick, sharp, shallow thrusts (Scorpius arched and yelped as my balls slapped against his); or the admittedly wolfish mounting. Scorpius seemed to like this best based on his sounds. He huffed a slightly crazed laugh as I released my hold on his hips and lowered myself to wrap my arms around his torso, chest pressed firmly to his back, and pulled him down onto my cock as I thrust up.

"The wolf makes another appearance," he whispered, delighted as my thighs encased his, and the readjusted angle had me sliding over his prostate on nearly every drive.

I can't believe how fucking good this feels.

"More, Albus, faster," he panted.

He shifted his weight entirely to his left arm, dropping his right hand beneath himself, pumping in time with my thrusts.

I could feel the knot growing fast, too fast. It was pulling against his hole on every stroke, and while the sensation had Scorpius groaning happily, my lingering anxiety slipped in and momentarily smothered my animal instinct. It made me move my hand automatically down between us, slotting my cock between my fingers, giving myself a physical barrier to the temptation to continue pushing the knot inside him.

Scorpius whined at the loss of the knot's firm drag, and it cost both of us the satisfaction of balls-deep thrusts. His left arm shook with the effort to keep himself up, his right arm still stripping away at his cock. His own knot must have been nearly full size.

"Fuck, f-fuck – Albus, so good, please," he sobbed between grunts. We were both so close.

I pulled out entirely and we were both practically mindless with the want of each other. I sat back and pushed at his hip and he obeyed immediately, shakily flipping onto his back.

I was right, his knot was full size and mine nearly was, too. He scrambled to sit up on his knees, settling back on his heels, mirroring me. We encircled each other with our left arms, right hands still pulling desperately. We were kissing breathlessly, both right on the edge.

"Look at me," Scorpius hissed, and we pulled away from each other's lips.

The look in his eye was what did it. We were both suddenly shuddering over our orgasms together, practically crying. We did everything we could to maintain eye contact, the vulnerability unlike anything we'd ever had before. My head was swimming. I could barely process the endless shaking of my body, making my thrusts uneven and my hand slipping irrhythmically now that I was smeared with our mutual cum.

We lost our balance, tipping to our sides and losing ourselves in the waves. I vaguely fantasized that he was jerking me off but I couldn't be sure. I didn't remember closing my eyes, but I opened them again to see that – oh yes, indeed, that is his hand on my cock, and mine on his. The sounds we were making were foreign to my ears, almost distressing in their desperation, and we clung to each other as we sunk under the blissful waves again.

We kissed and licked and bit and shivered and stroked ceaselessly. We somehow shifted, me on my back with my legs wrapping around Scorpius, and we were still wanking, but the added wet glide of grinding had us panting our moans into each other mouths.

My eyes rolled back into my head, which was a damn shame because I wished I could watch Scorpius shake and shudder. It felt endless, like the first time on my own in the shower, but the addition of this amazing, beautiful, incredible boy with me – my best mate, maybe more than my best mate – made the sensation almost unbearable. I felt myself suddenly crying, overwhelmed by the intimacy and everything we were feeling. I managed to open my eyes when I heard a similar sobbing coming from Scorpius, but my tears obscured my vision.

The repeated mind-blowing cycle of orgasms began to wane after another minute, mercifully, and we spent the next few minutes riding out the waves, trying to alternate between kissing and catching our breath, slowly bit by bit. We finally released our hold on each other's cocks but continued a gentle press against one another, our knots still hard and throbbing, despite their oversensitivity.

We were cradling each other's tear-streaked faces, stroking through hair, dragging fingertips over necks and shoulders. We'd never kissed like this and if I adored a good snog before, this was astonishing. Completely next-level. I couldn't imagine a better feeling than this right here; the most perfect kisses, wrapped around Scorpius' warm body, jutting knots and cocks trapped between us, both of us still weeping cum.

My tears ebbed, and I felt myself get light-headed and I had to pull away, panting, cheeks still wet. Scorpius latched onto my neck, sucking a bruise I was going to have to ask him to heal later since I'd always been rubbish at first-aid spells. I sunk my hand into his hair, sweaty rather than silky now, and gave him a firm pull and he moaned again, grinding his knot harder into my thigh.

"God, Scorpius, that… fuck, that was –"

He hummed and moaned his agreement, still kissing up my neck and jawline.

My vision swam again, dark spots taking over my periphery. I remembered Scorpius passing out soon after the first time he knotted, and I imagined that I was about to do the same. I pulled him up to look into his stormy gray eyes for a moment before nodding off completely, still hard and coming, wrapped up in Scorpius' arms.

When I awoke, Scorpius was still out cold, pressed firmly against my side. We couldn't have been out too long, our knots were still swollen but we were no longer dribbling cum. Despite feeling fairly boneless, I woozily stretched to retrieve Scorpius' wand from where it was haphazardly tossed near the head of the bed. I managed to cast a decent Cleaning Charm over the two of us on my second try.

The feeling of a lake's worth of semen being magically siphoned from his skin roused Scorpius a bit and he slowly tried to stretch, but adorably flopped on his back instead, sighing contentedly. We watched each other for a moment, just happy to be together, sharing this incredible, secret experience.

Scorpius was still quite wobbly as he pulled himself up the bed, dragging down the covers.

"C'mon," he said over his shoulder. "For all our messing around, we've never just slept together, have we?"

"Never been able to," I said, pulling myself drunkenly off the bed to pull the sheets down before cuddling in close, pressed against his back. "But I've always wanted to. It's about time."

He sighed blissfully as I slung an arm around his waist and pressed a kiss to the back of his shoulder. "Rest," he said. "We might make it to lunch with the rest of the school after the match finishes up."

"Maybe," I said, nearly out again already. "Or we could just stay here. We're caught up on homework and we could probably summon a House Elf to bring us food."

"Oh, I do like the way you think, Albus Potter," he slurred sleepily and for the first time, we nodded off snuggled together.