Everything is J.K. Rowlings. I only claim the plot. Everything else is hers, all the characters and the magic, all of it. Please let me know what you think though, I encourage feedback of all kinds, just be nice about it!

A little Albus and Frederick for you! Should they be Alrick or Frebus? lol

Night Flying

The chill January breeze blew past him and Albus shivered against the cold. He had just finished leading his team through a late night practice and while his blood was still warm and pumping his sweat was cooling and the cold air was doing nothing for him. So he followed his team into the locker rooms to change and shower quickly before going back outside with a warming charm placed on him. But at the same time, he couldn't be too fast at getting ready. He was aiming to be the last person in the locker rooms and on the field.

The minutes felt like they dragged on as Albus waited for everyone to finish dressing and leave. He tried to appear calm and indifferent but he was inwardly screaming for everyone to hurry up. He didn't want Frederick to think he had forgotten about their deal. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the last team member left the locker room and Albus was finally alone. Tightening his scarf and placing his beanie back on his head, he grabbed his broom and one of the spare school brooms and left the locker rooms.

The pitch was empty, the rising moon and the stars shone down on the snow covered grounds, making it look magical. Albus paused for a moment to take in the sight and admire the view, breathing deeply and feeling peace creep into his bones. The sound of snow crunching brought his attention back to the present and he turned to spy Frederick a few yards away, bundled up and shivering against the cold.

Grinning widely, Albus strode over. "Glad you could make it!"

"Just don't make me regret it," Frederick shot back, jokingly but he was nervously eyeing the broomsticks nonethless.

"Don't worry. You are in good hands, now come on."

Albus lead Frederick farther out onto the field, their tracks clearly marked against the snow and the moonlight lighting their way. "Alright, so we are just going to focus on mounting and pushing off because really the calling the broom to you isn't necessary. It just looks cool," Albus began, handing the school broom to Frederick, their gloved fingers brushing each other and the Slytherin could have sworn he felt a jolt of electricity as their hands touched but reasoned it away. "Alright, swing your leg over like this and grip it like this," he demonstrated.

Frederick nodded and mimicked the motions. Dismounting, Albus went to check the position and after a few tweaks he felt satisfied. He was finding it very difficult to focus on teaching the boy how to fly with those green eyes full of fear and trust as they gazed at him. Swallowing thickly though, Albus, stared intently at his broom handle, gathering his thoughts.

"Right, so now, we are going to push off, just do it really lightly, you don't have to go high or anything, just a couple feet and then hover."

"O-O-OK...are you..are you sure?"

"Positive. You can do this Frederick. Now, on three. One. Two. Three." Albus pushed off but noticed Frederick frozen to the ground in fear. "Come on. You can do this. There is no one else here. It is just you and me, and I will not laugh at you and I swear to you that I will make sure that you are completely safe. Trust me. Just raise up just a little bit. It's a small jump but I'm right here for you."

Taking a shaky breath, Frederick closed his eyes and nodded and slowly bent his knees and pushed off. The Ravenclaw wobbled as he flew to be level with Albus.

"Frederick you are doing it! Open your eyes!"

Hesitantly, the blonde creaked one eye open and then the other, before looking down at his feet off the ground and beginning to panic. "Albus! Albus! I -I don't know if I can do this. Let me go back down. I can't do this!"

"Frederick! Frederick, look at me. Don't look down, don't look up. Just look directly at me," Albus insisted. He almost wished he hadn't demanded that because he forgot what he was trying to say when those forest green eyes locked on his. "Just look at me…." he breathed. "Don't look anywhere else. Just me. You are doing this Frederick. You can and you are. You are doing so well already. Just take deep breaths, and keep your eyes on me."

Frederick swallowed hard and his hands were clenched tight on the handle; his fear was still evident but he never took his eyes off Albus.

"Great, now lean forward just a little bit and fly towards me. Come closer to me, just lean forward," Albus instructed, his voice barely above a whisper. His heart was beating rapidly and he didn't know why, he wasn't in fear for Fredericks' life, but as the Ravenclaw stared at him he felt unable to speak at a higher volume. This moment was precious, and he didn't understand why. "Just fly closer to me. You can do this," he urged. Unwillingly, thoughts of he and Frederick in incredibly close proximity of each other in a broom closet flashed through his mind and he felt a heat rising in his cheeks as he tried to banish those thoughts from his mind. Luckily, he could blame the redness of his cheeks on the cold weather.

Snapping back into focus, Albus saw that Frederick had in deed flown closer and was so close the tips of their brooms were almost touching. "Alright, Fredrick. You are doing a great job. We are going to go back down now. OK? So angle the broom down slightly, there you go, aim it to the ground. You've got this." Fredericks' eyes were back off of his own now and Albus found himself able to breath again once more and the hotness he was feeling under his collar dissipate.

Taking his eyes off the boy for a moment to calm himself down, Albus instantly regretted it when he heard a shriek. Not even thinking, Albus was already diving towards his friend, who had somehow flipped the broom and was about to crash into the ground upside down. Sweeping in Albus grabbed Frederick by the waist and yanked him off of the school broom. Under the sudden doubled weight though, Albus lost control of his broom and the two sank to the ground with a dull thud.

Arms still around Fredericks' waist, Albus lay face down in the snow while Frederick landed on his back. Spluttering as he raised his head out of the freezing snow, Albus glanced down at Frederick. "Told you I'd protect you and that you were in good hands," he teased. This brought out a laugh from the blonde boy, a laugh that Albus could feel vibrating through his own body due to the connection of his arms around the others waist. Becoming conscious of this fact, he yanked his arms away from the warm body, instantly feeling the cold rush of air replace the warmth that had previously been there.

Flopping onto his back, Albus cast a warming bubble around the two as they continued to lay on their backs on look at the stars and moon.

"Thanks for teaching me how to fly, Al. Even though it still seems that I'm rubbish at it."

"Nonsense, it just means you need more practice. Just watch, I'll make a Quidditch player of you yet."

Frederick snorted at the thought before going silent. The silence stretched on as the boys gazed upwards before it was broken by Frederick once again. "Speaking of Quidditch playing. How did your Career Advisement go?"

"Interestingly," Albus replied thoughtfully. Frederick didn't respond but Albus could picture him quirking an eyebrow, silently questioning him but waiting for him to continue on his own time. "I mentioned possibly becoming a politician, he seemed to agree with you. Even said he could see me as Minister of Magic," he said quietly. It was as he spoke these words that Albus realized he hadn't even mentioned that to Rose and Scorpius.

"Yeah, I could see you being Minister," Frederick agreed with a slight nod. "But you can't jump right into that. So what else was said?"

"Suggested a couple things. The two that stood out were Professor and...and an Unspeakable." Albus held his breath as he waited for a response. He couldn't say why but Fredericks' opinion on the matter was rather important to him.

"I could see you as a Professor, I guess. I mean you certainly helped me a lot with my studies," the other boy mused. "But I think you would be best suited as an Unspeakable. You already come with an air of mystery so you'll fit right in at that Department. Plus, you're too smart to just sit in front of a chalk board all day. The world will need all your discoveries that come with working as an Unspeakable."

Albus didn't say anything, and was glad it was dark so Frederick wouldn't be able to notice the heat rising to his cheeks again at the praise.

"Thank you. And what about you? How did your talk go?"

"Well, first the Professor couldn't stop commenting on how my grades seemed to be improving," Albus could hear the smirk and pride in Fredericks' voice. "Then went on to ask what my thoughts were. And well….I told them what you suggested. It really stuck with me. Being an engineer of some kind. Well...apparently there aren't many in the wizarding world, so I would be paving my own way. Also be hard to find a job at first too…" he sighed.

"So what if it takes awhile to find a job. You'll be doing something you love and making a name for yourself and in the end everyone will be wanting to be a magical engineer. Besides, you could always get a part-time job if you are crunched for money," Albus suggested. "And I'll help you too."

"No! Don't even suggest that Al, I will not have you loaning me money as I make a vagabond existence of myself on my road to discovery."

"Think of it as me investing into your future business. And I'm your friend. I won't have you starving. And then, well you could always get a roommate...We could be roommates….." he added quietly, hardly audible. And Albus immediately began to panic at what he had said. What was he thinking suggesting something like that! It was still two years away!

"Really? You would want to be roommates with me?" Frederick asked just as quietly.

"Sure. I mean if you don't have any other offers by that time or your then girlfriend doesn't want to live with you," he joked lightly. "But yeah, I'll be your back-up."

Frederick was silent for a while. "Thanks. But I don't think we will have to worry about a girlfriend."

Not sure what to say to this statement, Albus didn't address it. "So back-up roommates then?" he asked sticking out his pinky finger.

Chuckling softly, Frederick lifted his own pinky. "Back-up roommates."

The two settled into silence once more, content in their own thoughts for the time being.

"So what kind of classes will you need to take to be an Unspeakable?"

"Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Alchemy," Albus listed off. "Rose and Scorp are going to have to tutor me in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy to make sure I'm up to speed by September. So that is two years of learning I've got to cram into a couple months in two subjects. And then if not enough people take up Alchemy then I'll need to do an independent study of that," Albus sighed. "You?"

"Since my career would be unique the Professor just kind of gave me some half-assed suggestions. But mainly, Charms and Transfiguration. Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and Alchemy…."

"What! You need to take Alchemy too!"

"Yeah, figured it could be of use in construction, using the elements and all."

Albus was silent processing this as a huge grin spread across his face. "So you mean to tell me, we are quite possibly going to be in a class all by ourselves. And that I'll be in all of your classes with you?"

"Yeah...it looks that way doesn't it? Sure hope you don't get sick of me."

"Doubt that is possible. It's just too bad you can't take potions too, then it really would be every class."

"Yeah, that would be cool."

"Yeah...so when do you next want to go flying?"

"Ugh! Are you serious?" Frederick shifted his face to glance at Albus and Albus gave him his most solemn nod. "Fine, you git. How about in two weeks? I doubt you're going to have much time though due to your extra studying you'll have to do for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."

"I'll always make time for us," Albus stated firmly. Blushing as he realized what that could sound like, he rushed on. "And I mean, you're in those classes now. So you could probably help me learn too. You can be my tutor now."

"You really want me to help tutor you in those?"

You can tutor me in anything you want, was the response that Albus's brain thought of. Luckily he didn't say that out loud instead he replied with a simple "Yes. And I'll still help you in the other subjects too. Though we can just focus on Charms and Transfiguration from now on since those are your main subjects."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Frederick murmured.