Scorpius began bouncing his knee, distracting Albus from looking out the window at the other aircraft that could be seen. Albus reached out to grip Scorpius' hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Relax," he whispered, leaning into his boyfriend's side.
It wouldn't do to draw attention to themselves before the aeroplane had taken off, and the Muggles around them appeared entirely calm over the impending flight. Albus was sure that the vast majority of them had flown in a plane before, and he was already self-conscious about his and Scorpius' lack of experience with Muggle transportation.
"I'm trying," Scorpius whined, "but the anticipation is unbearable. How are you handling it so well?"
"People fly every day," Albus replied with a short shrug that didn't hint at the inner turmoil he was experiencing. "Clearly, it can't be that dangerous."
Scorpius nodded, but it did little to actually convince him.
"Albus, I know flying to Australia was my idea, but I'm starting to rethink things. Do you think—"
"We can't get off this plane," Albus said calmly, running his thumb over the back of Scorpius' hand. "We've already boarded, and we're taking off in less than five minutes. I don't think they'd be too happy with us. Besides," he lowered his voice and spoke directly against Scorpius' ear, "we couldn't reserve a portkey at such short notice."
Scorpius visibly swallowed, leaning back in his seat as his thoughts took him to the worst possible scenarios.
"Just think of Australia," he muttered to himself in second person. "You're excited for Australia. We'll get to see James and Lorcan again. We haven't seen Lorcan in ages."
He was almost smiling as he thought about seeing his friend. Out of everyone in Albus' family, Scorpius and Lorcan got along the best, even if Lorcan wasn't technically family. Albus raised Scorpius' hand to his lips to kiss it.
"But it's spring in Australia," Scorpius whined, abruptly shifting gears. "And I'll miss fall and harvest time. It's the best time of the year, and we'll miss it because we're on the other side of the world in springtime."
"Scorpius," Albus said, smiling gently. "You said you wouldn't complain about that anymore. It was the only time I could get off work, and we agreed that missing autumn would be better than missing Christmas."
Scorpius nodded, but he was still pouting about it.
"I know it was the easiest for both of us, but you know how nostalgic I get around autumn. It's when all of the best stuff happens," he said. "Just let me stew for a little bit longer. Once we're there, I'll be fine."
Albus did but only because Scorpius' annoyance over missing autumn was distracting him from his earlier fears of the flight.
Then, the plane began moving, and the seatbelt was the only thing that prevented Scorpius from jolting from his seat. When he realized he couldn't move, he squeezed his eyes shut and pushed himself into the back of the seat instead.
Albus leaned in close, kissing Scorpius' cheek and whispering in his ear, "Think of broomsticks. It's nothing more than a really big broomstick. You like flying."
Scorpius nodded, but it was clear that Albus' words were of little comfort to him. As the plane lifted into the sky, he let out a low whine that, thankfully, didn't prompt anyone on the plane to look their way.
As soon as the plane was in the sky, however, Scorpius relaxed. He opened his eyes, looking around as if something should have changed, only to find the cabin to be the exact same it had been on the ground.
"This isn't too bad," he said, nodding his head as he spoke.
"Really?"
"Really."
Scorpius smiled at him, and Albus couldn't detect any of his earlier fears in it.
"I'm glad I convinced you to take a plane," he said.
Albus grinned and placed a quick kiss on Scorpius' lips.
"Tell me that again in twenty-four hours."
Prompts:
HPFC
Favourite Character Boot Camp: Scorpius Malfoy - nostalgic
Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments
Seasonal Challenges - Autumn Prompts: (word) harvest
Word count: 662