The rest of the Easter holidays proved to be much easier. Albus and James stayed in Romania until the Saturday before their return to Hogwarts. They stayed with Uncle Charlie who cooked for them in the evenings after he got back from work and played card and chess games with them. Truly, Charlie seemed to be just as happy for the company as Albus was.
During the day, the brothers would go for bike rides or walks. They went into nearby wizarding towns to find butterbeer and go shopping. They visited the reserve again one day and Charlie brought them flying so they could see the expanse of countryside and spot some dragons.
Albus had been blissful since James' arrival in Romania and didn't really want to return to Hogwarts. He knew he was going to be thrown back into reality. Of course, Albus was still thinking about Scorpius, but he knew he would be more prepared for seeing his boyfriend/ex-boyfriend. Albus had never been so grateful to James in his entire life. He felt like they had rekindled their close brotherly bond and perhaps even expanded beyond what they previously had.
Any feelings of anxiety and worry for Scorpius had gone. Now, he only felt anger towards the other boy. He wanted to yell and scream at Scorpius and give him a piece of his mind. Albus channeled his emotions into his upcoming birthday and tried to focus on that rather than anything else.
On the Hogwarts Express, Albus couldn't help but let his eyes wander for Scorpius. Every time he realised what he was doing, Albus would dig his fingernails into his leg. He didn't want to want to see Scorpius. But he did. Of course he did. He wanted an explanation. That wasn't too much to ask.
It was the longest train journey of his whole life.
Albus didn't see Scorpius on the way and felt slightly disappointed. Even when he arrived at the Gryffindor table with Dominique, Scorpius was not there. Albus had to stop the tears that threatened to pour over. He felt like Scorpius had made a fool of him once again. He had been expecting to see Scorpius here and felt stupid for that. Why would Scorpius turn up now after disappearing for so long?
Dominique put a hand over Albus' snapping him out of his trance, "Are you okay?"
"He isn't here," Albus said quietly.
Dominique squeezed his hand, "I'm sorry, Al," she looked around fleetingly before leaning in close and saying, "He's probably shat himself. Knew he would have the living day light kicked out of him. By me of course."
Albus chuckled softly, "Yeah, probably."
They ate dinner and his group of friends were quiet. He knew that they wanted to ask him about Scorpius, he knew they were probably dying to. But they didn't which Albus appreciated. He just didn't want to discuss Scorpius Malfoy in that moment.
As they were heading back up to the Gryffindor common room after dinner, Albus heard his name from down the changing stairs. His heart jumped down his throat and he turned around abruptly, calming down when he realised it was Louis.
He returned down the stairs, leaving Dominique and his friends behind. Louis grabbed his elbow and said, "You need to come with me. It's Scorpius."
Albus' nerves hit him again as he followed Louis quickly down the stairs. They walked against the crowd, Louis still holding him by the arm. They didn't speak. Albus thought of the things that used to make him nervous. Meeting new people, coming to Hogwarts for the first time, walking into the great hall, Quidditch games. He had never been so nervous as he was then in his entire life.
He had also never been so furious.
Louis led him to the boys bathroom, down the corridor from the great hall. It was quiet, everyone had returned to their common rooms except the two people he found in the bathroom.
James and Scorpius.
James had Scorpius pressed against the wall, the blond's tie clutched in his fist. His other hand held Scorpius tightly by the shoulder. His face was screwed up and was threateningly close to Scorpius'. He was whispering harshly to the other boy.
Scorpius did not give James eye contact. His face was turned to the opposite side to where Albus was, and though Albus could see him, he could not see Albus. He was listening to James. Albus felt his fists ball up immediately but then he studied Scorpius further. His ex-boyfriend was a sickly pale, far paler than he had ever seen the boy before. There was large bags under his eyes, he was tired. Even though Scorpius was wearing his uniform, Albus could tell he had lost a lot of weight. His shirt looked baggy, and his normally flawless hair was scruffy and unkempt.
When Albus' heart ached for Scorpius he shunned himself. Why did he just want to scoop up the boy in his arms and tell him he loved him and that everything was going to be okay? Why did he feel sorry for Scorpius and worried about what had happened? He reminded himself of everything Scorpius had put him through and the anger welled up inside him like an old friend.
"James, let go of him."
When Albus' voice rang through the room, both his brother's and Scorpius' heads snapped around. He finally looked Scorpius in the eyes after three weeks. Albus saw nothing there. No emotion. Scorpius looked empty. All the things he had seen in Scorpius before disappeared. His charisma and charm, his confidence. The love in his eyes. Gone. The fascination Albus had once felt for Scorpius was not present. Scorpius was an empty shell.
His train of thought broke when James yelled, "Let me deal with this prick, Al. It's what he deserves!"
"What I deserve is an explanation and it don't think that's going to come with you guys here. So would you mind buggering off so I can sort this myself," Albus said assertively.
"Al! I'm trying to defend-"
"This isn't a problem you can solve, Jamie. I need to deal with this myself, so can you leave? I'll talk to you later."
James begrudgingly let go of Scorpius' tie. Scorpius sunk to the ground, crouching and looking at the floor. As James walked past Albus, he placed a supportive hand on Albus' shoulder. Louis scuttled off behind him.
Scorpius didn't look up at Albus. He made no noise, Albus couldn't even hear Scorpius breathing. He didn't know what to do in that in that moment. Albus had to resist the urge to hug and kiss the boy. He wanted to do nothing more. But he knew he couldn't. He wouldn't.
Albus crouched down next to Scorpius, placed a hand on Scorpius' shoulder and shook. The boy still didn't look up.
"Are you going to even acknowledge my presence or is even that not worth your time?" Albus asked harshly. Scorpius abruptly looked up, looking surprised at Albus' comment. Albus shook his head subtly; of course Scorpius didn't even realise what he had done, "What the fuck happened, Scorpius? Do you realise how worried sick I've been?"
Scorpius lowered his head again, "I don't want to talk about it," he whispered, his voice breaking in the middle.
"Are you kidding me?" Albus said loudly, his anger bubbling up inside him, "Are you fucking kidding me, Scorpius?! You've put me through hell the last few weeks, I haven't known where the fuck you are, you just disappeared and you couldn't even send me a goddamn shitty letter!" The Potter was yelling now and he realised that Scorpius was cringing but didn't care, "And now you can't even find the decency to tell me what happened? How is that fair to me Scorpius?" Scorpius turned his head away and tears formed in his eyes, "Will you not even look at me? I just... I don't get it Scorpius! I... I gave you everything," Albus cried also, wiping his eyes, "I literally gave you everything. I opened up to you like I never had to everyone else... and you threw it back at me. You couldn't even... just tell me what was going on. Do you know how that makes me feel? I was heartbroken, Scor. I thought you loved me and... I thought-"
"I do love you," Scorpius said strongly, "I have never stopped loving you."
"Then why would you do this to me?"
"Albus... I will tell you. Soon. But I need a few days... to get used to things here again."
Albus stood up abruptly, "Don't expect me to be a part of you getting used to things."
Scorpius dragged himself up off the floor. He rubbed a sleeve over his face. Scorpius looked broken. Albus couldn't even guess what had happened to the other boy. It hurt too much to think about it. But Scorpius had always told Albus that he needed to do what was good for him. And he couldn't even think about forgiving Scorpius until he told Albus what was happening.
Scorpius looked at Albus full in the eye and Albus thought he saw a glimmer of the old Scorpius there, "I'm so sorry Albus."
Scorpius walked out of the room without a word more. Albus cried uncontrollably. He leant over the sink, looking at the reflection in the mirror above him. He looked a state. Scorpius had torn him apart. The explanation he wanted hadn't come. And it was devastating.
In the next few days, Albus didn't see Scorpius very much. Scorpius avoided everybody it seemed. The only times Albus saw Scorpius was in the lessons they shared. Scorpius sat apart from Albus and didn't speak to anyone, including Albus. He just seemed to get on his work. He looked fairly better than he had on the first day of Hogwarts, but not much. Albus hadn't seen him in the dorm once. He didn't know whether Scorpius had moved dorms completely or just didn't come back until everyone was asleep, and wake up before they were all up.
Being back at Hogwarts and not being with Scorpius made him miss him more. He missed spending so much time with Scorpius. He still felt confident and he knew he was different to the way he was before he met Scorpius. But something was missing. He missed feeling so completely comfortable with someone. He missed listening to Scorpius and his interesting outlook on life. He missed the intimacy. He just missed everything about Scorpius.
It was Albus' seventeenth birthday and it had been a good day. His friends and family threw a small party on the Gryffindor common room. There was cake, balloons and presents. Albus had a good time, but he couldn't help but feel there was something not right. And he knew what it was.
While they were all crowded around the Gryffindor sofas watching Albus open his last present from James, Scorpius walked past. The room went almost silent as Albus' eyes followed the Malfoy. Scorpius' eyes were bloodshot. He had never seen Scorpius cry properly.
Scorpius went up to the Gryffindor dorms and the party continued. Albus tried to distract himself and eventually, he did. He spoke to James and Dominique. Louis teased Albus over Merlin knows what. Rose told James off, saying he needed to get back to work soon because the people who marked his exams wouldn't care if it was his brothers birthday or not. James did not budge.
Albus went up to his room in the late evening to leave his presents upstairs. Scorpius wasn't there. He must have slipped past them and left. Albus collapsed on his bed for a moment, reading a letter from his parents. When his head hit the pillow he felt something hit his head immediately. He looked under his pillow and found a small box with a card next to it.
He recognised the writing as Scorpius' in a flash.
He ripped open the envelope and began to read.
Happy Birthday, Albus. Would you meet me in the room of requirement after 11? I want to talk to you. Scorpius.
Albus' heart beated rapidly as he read the letter over and over. Did Scorpius finally want to speak to him? Could he finally have the explanation he needed to move on?
The Potter went back downstairs to rejoin his party and waited impatiently for eleven o'clock.
-x-
Soooo, this is the penultimate chapter! I'm actually really sad to be finishing this story! I've loved writing it. I have a few ideas for stories I could do next, I really want to finish a story I started on my other account called Secrets, which is a George/Draco story (I love weird but wonderful pairings haha) or do a story about Charlie in this world, so kind of a sequel to this story! Tell me what you think! As always, please review! I haven't had any for a while and I'm starting to think everyone hates this story! Please prove me wrong...