Chapter 24: Plastic Hearts

Scorpius woke up to the sound of a door slamming out in the hall. For a moment he thought he was back at Malfoy Manor and that his father was going to barge into his room, yelling about the early wizard getting the broomstick. And then Scorpius remembered that he was not at home but rather at a place he wished was home.

He sat up slowly, realizing that Albus's bed was empty and that the hospital bracelet had made a dent in his hand from having held it all night. He stashed the bracelet under his pillow and left Albus's room to find the toilet and almost immediately walked into James Potter. James glared at him, arms crossed over his chest. He seemed tired but still managed to look pissed off.

Scorpius froze, caught in a rather compromising position wearing only his boxers.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," James said in a low voice. He twirled his wand between his fingers making his intentions clear. Scorpius was intimidated for only a moment before he realized the idiocy of it all. He let out an exasperated laugh and shook his head.

"You still don't get it, do you?" he said. "Up until now it's been done your way. You think I'm just another distraction, one more thing to complicate Albus's life? But what if it's the other way? What if I'm the good distraction that Albus needs more than anything?"

James looked poised to interrupt but Scorpius cut him off.

"We're running out of time and options here." He shrugged. "We can only try."

He strode past James in a few quick steps and locked himself in the bathroom. He stayed in there an extra ten minutes just to make sure James had gone.

Back in Albus's room Scorpius found a note on Albus's bed that he hadn't noticed before. It read:

I'm either out doing 'post-winter stuff in the garden' like a muggle because my dad is crazy or I've been abducted by aliens. –Spaceman

"Idiot," Scorpius murmured fondly.

He dressed quickly in fresh clothes from his bag and went downstairs. There was no sign of any Potter. He was making himself a piece of toast when Albus came bursting in through the back door covered in dirt and melting snow.

"It's beautiful outside," he panted, ripping half the piece of toast right out of Scorpius's mouth.

"Hey!"

Albus ignored him. He stripped off his muddy t-shirt without warning. Scorpius blushed and averted his eyes.

"I'm gonna go change and then we're going out for the day, okay?" he said, oblivious to Scorpius's discomfort. He left before Scorpius could say anything.

When he was alone Scorpius backed up against the kitchen sink, head bowed. There were many things going through his mind at that moment, all of them leading back to the realization that he was in way too deep. He ran a hand through his hair and suddenly became aware that he wasn't in fact alone. James was standing just off from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in his hands. His eyes were cast down but when he knew Scorpius was looking he met his gaze evenly. Scorpius stared back before finally shaking his head slightly and brushing out of the kitchen.

~O-O~

The warm breeze and the all around perfect weather distracted Scorpius only for a moment.

"Please dear wizard God tell me we're apparating and not driving. It's too early in the day maniacal navigation and death."

"You are such a buzz kill," Albus said, laughing. He pulled his hoodie on over his head and immediately grabbed Scorpius by the hand and apparated them to a back street in London.

Scorpius stumbled into the side of the building, gasping for breath.

"Jesus! What the fuck!? A little warning next time please!"

Albus laughed. "Oh, shut up. Common."

He lead the way to the shop next door that sold muggle tapes and CD's and records. Albus bought 4 new tapes, 2 records and half a dozen CD's in under 10 minutes. He made his rounds through the aisles in expert precision, owning to the fact that he'd clearly been here many times before. The heavily tattooed man behind the counter even recognized him. But he called him Al.

They left and a few blocks away Albus stopped abruptly in front of a clothes store.

He laughed. "Look, it's us!"

In the display window two mannequins were modeling Gryffindor and Slytherin colored flannel shirts. The mannequin with the grey and emerald shirt was considerably shorter than the other one.

"I am slightly offended," Scorpius said flatly as Albus gleefully ran ahead and ducked into the store. Scorpius eventually found him on the second floor of the shop where all the flannels were. Albus was way more excited than he should have been.

"Scor, look! They have Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff too!"

Scorpius thought it was a bit weird for this place to just accidentally have all the Hogwarts house colors.

"Maybe this store is owned by a wizard..." Albus mused, more to himself than to Scorpius.

He pulled a Gryffindor one off the rack and after casting a quick look around them to make sure they were alone he took off his hoodie which was followed quickly by his t-shirt.

Scorpius gaped for a moment, having not had enough time to emotionally prepare himself to see a half naked Albus again.

His heart tugged. His hand itched to reach out and touch him. Since Albus had found out about everything Scorpius hadn't been with Al let alone even be in the same room as him. But seeing him now, like this, he realized he missed it. He missed his body- the way he was both skinny and toned at the same time. He missed the way his back muscles flexed and pulled when they-

"Checking me out, Scor?" Albus teased suddenly, breaking Scorpius out of his trance. Scorpius turned red, realizing with embarrassment that he had been openly staring at Albus.

He looked down. "Sorry," he muttered feeling humiliated and frustrated with himself. Albus swore and the Gryffindor-flannel clad boy was abruptly in front of him, one hand lightly gripping his upper arm and the other lifting his chin up.

"Hey," he said gently. "It's okay, don't do that. It was just a joke. I can see now that it was stupid. We're okay though, alright?" He pulled Scorpius into a quick but tight hug. Then (with a lot more subtlety) he put back on his clothes and grabbed both a Slytherin and a Gryffindor shirt. Scorpius was too wrapped up in himself to protest.

As it turns out the store was only a muggle store. Albus tried first to pay the cashier with galleons but the woman just looked at him like he'd lost his mind. It also didn't help that Albus treated the whole thing like a drug deal, all secretive like they were in a special club.

As the lady moved about, processing their transaction, Albus noticed that Scorpius was still on edge. His forehead was creased and if he chewed on his lip any more it would bleed.

"Scor, please, I promise we're okay," Albus said, pulling them away from the cash to not be overheard. "I know our, er, situation is a bit... well, different but you're one of my best mates and it will take a lot more than you ,well-" Scorpius held his breath, -"than you and my other identity doing it to make me not like you."

Albus seemed very desperate to prove it because before he paid for the shirts he added two random matching bracelets from the rack beside the register. Outside the store Albus tied on his own and then insisted on trying Scorpius's for him.

"Not to be crude or anything," Scorpius said, red in the face, "but this is the gayest thing we've ever done. And we've shagged."

Albus just laughed, brightly and loudly, leading the way to the Leaky Cauldron. Scorpius tried to think back to a time when Albus had looked more carefree but he came up with nothing.

Inside, the pub was dark, smelling comfortingly of smoke and centuries of use. The bartender gave Albus a warm smile and Scorpius a hard one but Scorpius was used to it and found he didn't care as much as he once did. They were almost at the backdoor and the entrance to Diagon Alley when someone called Scorpius's name.

It was the man from the ministry party, with the surfer hair and perfect teeth. His electric blue eyes should have been spectacular but for some reason they reminded Scorpius of chlorine pools and how much he hates them. The man was also wearing an immaculate red turtleneck.

Scorpius hates turtlenecks.

"Scorpius!" the man greeted with too much familiarity. He shook Scorpius's hand with unwanted enthusiasm. "I don't suppose you remember me. Everett- from the New Vision party."

"Hello," said Scorpius automatically, withdrawing his hand. He could feel Albus's eyes on him. Everett pointedly ignored him.

"I'm so glad I ran into you. Will you be at the St. Mungo's charity event in a few weeks? My father's a senior healer so I'll be there."

"No?" Scorpius said rather rudely. Keeping with tradition, Everett didn't notice.

"Oh," he said. "I just thought that since your father donated all that money that'd you be there to support him."

Now that piqued Scorpius's interest. He wasn't surprised at his father for not telling him something important simply because he never tells him anything anymore. Suddenly Scorpius was angry. Angry at his father for ignoring the fact that he has a son and angry at Everett McPerfectface for interrupting his date.

Er, day.

"No, I am definitely not going," Scorpius said viciously. "Draco Malfoy specifically forbade his fucked up, embarrassment of a son from being seen with him in public. Anyways, if you'll excuse us, Evan."

He pulled Albus into the back alleyway and held his breath until the bricks had closed behind them.

"Well," started Albus. "He was pushy."

He looked a bit pissed off and if Scorpius wasn't mistaken he looked almost jealous.

"Christ, his flirting was on a whole other level." Albus was seething now. "His starting point was like, stage twelve. Merlin's pants that was painful to watch."

Scorpius wasn't sure where the confidence came from but he turned to Albus and smiled rather deviously.

"Are we gonna talk about boys now, Potter?"

"Shut up. He just seems like an arse. And his fucking teeth- they were scary. He definitely tortured small animals when he was younger. Probably has a torturatorium in his basement..."

He looked cute when he was angry. Scorpius bumped his shoulder with his own.

"Agreed, he's a knob. He's also not my type in the slightest." Scorpius cast a sideways glance at Albus to monitor his reaction. "I prefer dark hair."

Albus's eyes were as wide as galleons and his face was redder than Evan's gaudy turtleneck.

~O-O~

They were passing Quality Quidditch Supplies when they were startled by a patronus, materializing in front of Albus. The stag spoke in Harry Potter's voice.

You and Scorpius had better get home, Albus. Lily is getting impatient.

There was a slight pause and then-

Uh, love Dad.

"Get home for what?" Scorpius asked.

Albus looked embarrassed. "We used to go as a family to this muggle rink before- well, before I got ill. We went back for the first time over Christmas. Since then Lily's been a bit obsessed with it. I think she's desperate to pretend we're okay. That it's like the good old days."

"Hey, there are no good old days," Scorpius murmured, remembering what Finn had once told him. "These are the good old days."

Albus smiled and reached for Scorpius's hand. Scorpius didn't even have time to have a heart attack because suddenly he was standing on the Potter's front porch, with the wind knocked out of him and an intense feeling of vertigo.

"ALBUS!"

But Albus just laughed and held onto his hand for a little while longer.