~What Am I Feeling?~

~Chapter 25- Worries~

The next morning, Albus' anger hadn't worn off. He had stayed the night in the hospital wing, though he had insisted he wanted to go back to his room with Scorpius. However, Madam Pomfrey refused. Scorpius stayed the rest of that evening until Madam Pomfrey shooed him away.

Albus had been anxious the whole time and Scorpius could tell. Scorpius did his best to entertain and distract Albus from the situation with James but he knew it hadn't worked. Albus probably had some idea planted in his head and Scorpius knew how stubborn he was. Even if he knew what Albus was thinking, Scorpius still could not have changed Albus' decisions.

Once Madam Pomfrey told Albus he was fine to leave, he had jumped out of bed only feeling a bit achy. Stretching his legs and back, Albus reached for his clothes which Scorpius fetched for him the previous night and got changed in haste.

It was Sunday morning, around ten o'clock and Albus very well knew that James liked to go for a Quidditch practice on his own at around this time every week. He planned to confront James for what he had done to Scorpius throughout the years and ensure James would never do it again.

Just as Albus thought, James was walking onto the Quidditch pitch by himself while he swung his broom around in a bored manner.

Albus' eyes narrowed as he charged towards his older brother, ignoring the slight twinge still left in his leg.

With a furious passion he could never have predicted he had, Albus grabbed James' shirt and shoved him with no sympathy against the outside wall of the changing rooms. James grunted and arms shot out in surprise but Albus had the upper hand in this situation and simply held James collar, his elbows able to dodge his brother's hands with his Seeker skills.

James had been expecting Albus to confront him some time soon, though he didn't realise it would be so early. James didn't feel any regret for what he did to Scorpius. He still hated the Malfoy and would always harass him because he didn't think Albus should hang around him and hoped to put Scorpius off, however it never seemed to work. So he kept doing it, kept hoping and convinced himself that one day it would happen and Malfoy would be officially out of the picture forever. After all, Potters and Malfoys were never supposed to get on.

"You complete asshole!" Albus yelled, his nose almost touching James' threateningly; they were almost the same height.

"For doing what? Trying to protect you?" James argued weakly, knowing the spat was lost already. First of all, deep down he knew he was wrong for what he had done to Scorpius but he also realised there was no way he could win a fight against Albus. He was far more clever than him.

"Trying to protect me!" Albus screamed out, "How was hurting Scor protecting me?"

"Because he's no good for you! And you wouldn't listen to me when I told you that he was no good! So I did everything I could do to put him off you!"

"Well it didn't work! Because me and Scorpius are loyal to each other! We're… we're friends!" Albus had to correct himself, "True friends! And despite all the crap you put him through, he still stuck by me! And always will!"

James dropped his head in shame, pressing his lips together in a line, "He's a stubborn little-"

"No, he's nothing you think he is. You. Do. Not. Know. Him," Albus said firmly, punctuating each word, "He's a better person you'll ever be! I used to respect you, no I used to admire you. You're my big brother, the one I'm supposed to look up to! I knew you didn't like Scorpius but when I found out this… I lost all my respect for you."

"You're right; I don't like Scorpius," James spat out, "But that doesn't mean I want it to get between us. You're my brother. I won't do it again but I won't change my opinion on Malfoy. I still think he's a manipulative little bastard."

"You're only saying this because Uncle Ron put those ideas in your head before we all met Scorpius!" Albus finally released his brother and stepped back, "You don't know Scorpius. You've never even given him a chance. He's amazing… he's kind and so clever. And he means the world to me… and if you ever do anything to him again, I will not be able to consider you my brother again."

James was taken back by that comment and gasped slightly. He didn't think Albus would ever be that extreme about such a thing but by Albus' tone and facial expressions, he could knew his brother was telling the absolute truth. No matter how much he disliked Scorpius, Albus came first… family always came before hatred.

"Okay… I won't…" James breathed slowly, "I'll leave him alone. For you… for you though."

"And I want you to apologise to him. For all the awful things you've done." Albus ordered, glaring at his older brother.

James nodded solemnly, "If that's what you want."

~X~

Scorpius had stayed in bed for most the morning, laying there awake. He worried for Albus, alone in the hospital wing all night hurt. Madam Pomfrey had shooed Scorpius out as soon as visiting hours were over and they spent the first night since they had become a couple away from each other.

Scorpius shifted in his position, sighing into his pillow. He worried about he and Albus. They had everything going against them really; first, they were both boys. Not everyone accepted two boys being together, it wasn't a scandal like it used to be in the Wizarding World, but definitely out of Hogwarts they would face some kind of prejudice.

Secondly, James didn't like Scorpius. James was Albus' big brother so they couldn't pretend his opinion didn't matter. James meant a lot to Albus, Scorpius knew this. And he could only imagine what would happen if James found out about their relationship. Not just James, but Scorpius was sure Ron wouldn't be happy too. And maybe not even Ginny… His grandfather almost killed her when she was in her first year for god's sake. She might accept him and Albus being friends… but what would she think about them as a couple?

And finally, what about his own father? The biggest problem without a doubt. He already said that he would never accept Scorpius dating a Potter. Scorpius could only imagine how his father would react. He didn't even want to think about it if he was honest.

But despite everything that was fighting against their relationship, Scorpius knew he loved Albus with all his being. They were young and in love and that's all that should matter at the moment. Being together felt like nothing could ever harm them, they had each other and that's all they truly needed.

Scorpius made a vow to himself in that moment that he would not worry about such things until they faced him hard in the face. He promised to himself that he would enjoy his time with Albus.

His dorm mates had left a long time ago, probably gone to enjoy their weekend. But Scorpius stayed, waiting for Albus to come back.

Soon enough, the sound of the door flinging open rung through the room. Scorpius sat upright quickly in his bed, beaming when he saw Albus, the older boy returning the bold smile.

Albus greeted Scorpius with a strong kiss, possessively running his fingers through Scorpius' hair. Scorpius squealed into the kiss at first in surprise but soon retaliated the best he could.

"Well hello to you too." Scorpius giggled breathlessly, a blush radiating across his cheeks.

Albus rolled them back onto the bed, kissing Scorpius' cheek again, "Can't resist your sweet lips, can I?"

The blonde nuzzled his cheek into Albus', "I missed you. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, just a little achy but overall fine." Albus finally took his place next to Scorpius on the bed. They lay side by side, but their hands were intertwined, resting on Scorpius' stomach, "I missed you too."

"What do you want to do today? We could go… study?" Scorpius suggested with a hopeful smile.

Albus rolled his eyes, "You know studying together never works. We always end up talking," Albus pecked Scorpius' lips, "And giggling," And he kissed Scorpius again, "And kissing…" And again.

Scorpius chuckled, backing his head away so Albus could not reach, "Well then I guess I'll just have to go to the library on my own."

"Ah, don't pretend. Now we're cuddled up here, you will not be able to escape." Albus said teasingly but smugly.

Scorpius huffed and crossed his arms. Albus sniggered at him, pressed an apologetic kiss to his temple.

Albus was curled up into the Malfoy's side when he finally said, "I spoke to James."

Scorpius cringed when his boyfriend said those words, "Oh… right…"

"He said he's sorry for all he's done to you." Albus said seriously, a satisfied grin on his face.

"W-what?"

"I yelled at him basically. I told him he's not allowed to do that to you ever again otherwise.. I couldn't call him my brother. He agreed and he's going to apologise to you the next time he sees you."

"B-but… Al, he would always be your brother…"

Albus brushed the fair locks away from Scorpius' forehead, "No… I couldn't consider him my brother if he kept bullying you. Because I love you and he hurt you. Even though he doesn't know we're a couple, the fact he did that anyway… knowing you were my best friend was bad enough. If he kept doing it… I could never forgive him."

"A-Al…"

Scorpius let himself sink into the arms of his boyfriend, his favourite place to be of late. Albus tightened his arms around Scorpius' body. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have Scorpius all to himself. Scorpius was brilliant and he loved him. He still couldn't believe it.

"I'm going to take you out next weekend," Albus said firmly, "We've got Hogsmeade, so we're finally going to go on a proper date. I've saved up and everything…"

Scorpius' breath caught in his throat, "Oh Al…"

"I promise, it will all be good one day. I mean… we won't have to hide, we won't have to care about what others think." Albus softly whispered, caressing Scorpius' hip bones, enjoying the other boy's shiver. He would have to take that into account one day in the future; Scorpius' hipbone, one of his sensitive parts.

"We could run away together." Scorpius joked.

"I would run away with you! To somewhere exotic… somewhere no one will find us." Albus said blissfully.

"That does sound very lovely I must say… but I would very much like to finish school first."

"After Hogwarts then. Gosh! Is it all about school and exams?"

"It is when we're Ravenclaw."

"Merlin, sometimes I don't even know how I got into Ravenclaw."

~X~

A/N: A very short chapter, following that really long one previously. I've had a really busy week so if it was any longer, it might have been a while until I updated.

The next chapter will be their first date and it's not going to be a very necessary chapter or anything, but it's just going to be full of fluffiness. I've also split the story up into parts on my story plan, and next chapter will be the end of the first part (Yeah, only the first part!). I've planned about 4 parts now and that pans out to about 70 chapters... So we've got a long way to go. And I still know there is going to be even more to the story than I already have planned so it is going to be more than 100 chapters in the end I think... Wow, I've never written that much before!

The first part has basically been where they meet, fall in love and how they get together (as you've been reading). I won't say too much about the second part other than it involves their relationship progressing and the introduction to a new pairing which I'm really looking forward to! I really wonder whether any of you could guess who it's going to be? They have been in this story in the same chapter and stuff before... that's the only clue I'll give you ;)

Thank you to Words of A Feather, Pasdoll, C8ecat and lordsteinmanfor reviewing the last chapter!

Next chapter:: Albus and Scorpius' first date.