Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot. Thanks and enjoy.
Bonds In Twos
It took Albus singing the song about twenty three times before Phoenix's eyes finally closed for good, the boy's breathing slow and even as he appeared to dream peacefully between them. Only then did his parents remove their hands from his stomach, Albus shifting up on one elbow while his other arm reached out so that he could cup the back of Scorpius's head when the other man did the same, drawing his man close for sweet, gentle kisses that soothed the last of the sharp edges.
When they finally pulled away and lay back down on their pillows, content to cuddle side by side with Phoenix still between them, Scorpius asked Albus what he thought the odds were that they'd shortly be watching their son grow before their very eyes. Because while theoretically that would be sort of brilliant to see, in reality it wasn't a good thing.
"I don't know. I mean he was upset, but it wasn't us fighting, which seems to set him off the most."
The look they shared made it clear they both thought it was wishful thinking on their part, to hope he wouldn't grow, but stranger things had happened in their lives and they were trying to be optimistic.
"Are we going to have to have a fight over Callendar?" Albus asked, pretty sure he knew the answer to that one. He hadn't gotten physical with Vince yet but the man had crossed too many lines today and he wasn't going to just let it stop at lecturing the man anymore. That obviously wasn't getting through to his former friend and he was tired of letting other people handle the situation when Scorpius was his to protect, not Lily or Fred or anyone else's.
"You beating the crap out of him might make you feel better…but it won't make the situation better for anyone." Was Scorpius's quiet response after a moment's pause.
"He can't come near you if I break half the bones in body."
Scorpius couldn't help but smile just a little. "You don't have it in you to break half the bones in his body, not deliberately. At least not over something like this. And even if you did we're wizards, I don't imagine that would be that hard to fix."
The sound Albus made was perilously close to a growl. "So what, I'm just supposed to be content knowing I have what he wants? Cause that's not near enough in my books and he's too stubborn to give up. I might not know him nearly as well as I would have said I did a couple years ago, but I've seen how hard his head is too many times not to know he won't back down."
When Scorpius didn't say anything Albus gave him a questioning look, squeezing his hand to get his attention. He was trying to discuss this reasonably after all, even though he didn't want to.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to tune you out. I'm still trying to wrap my head about the fact that he…wants me. My brain can't quite process it no matter how I look at it." It was probably going to be a very long time before he could believe it, even with what the other man had done, Scorpius acknowledged as he let out a sigh. He was still getting used to the idea that he had a son and that Albus fancied him now too. His brain could handle only so many explosions in such a small time frame.
Shaking his head Albus would have lectured the Slytherin about his obliviousness to his own appeal if not for the fact that he hadn't seen it himself until fate had forced him to really look and see Scorpius for the man he actually was. And that fact reminded him of a particular photograph he'd developed a couple of days ago but hadn't gotten around to showing his boyfriend.
"Be right back."
Getting off the bed Albus walked around the bed and headed out of the room to retrieve the photo in question, having left it with the others he'd set aside to copy and send to the grandparents who couldn't get enough pictures of Phoenix, at least if their frequent letters were anything to go by.
Though the picture he'd come for was definitely not one he'd be sending to anyone, Albus thought as he flipped through the photographs until he found the one he was looking for. Returning the rest to his desk drawer Albus tucked the picture into his pocket and then headed back into the bedroom.
Pulling the photo from his pocket after he was once again resting on top of his covers while facing Scorpius Albus grinned as he watched a stunned expression cross the Slytherin's face as his boyfriend got a look at what he'd brought him.
Logically he knew that the picture was of him, but Scorpius had never seen himself look…well…sexy was the only word that seemed to fit which was just too weird for words. He looked like he'd either just had sex or was about to have sex and the more he stared at himself the hotter his face got. Vaguely he recalled the picture being taken and being annoyed because he was fresh out of bed and not properly groomed…but apparently he just needed to be half awake to have sex appeal, go figure.
And since he now had proof that he could be appealing the best he could do was point out that no one but his parents, Albus, and Phoenix had ever seen him looking like this way. And not even really his parents, Scorpius pointed out, since he was expected to always be properly dressed before coming down for breakfast.
"If I have my way it will stay that way too. I don't want any other guys realizing how sexy you are." Just the thought of having more gits trying to lock lips with his boyfriend had Albus's earlier dark mood returning.
Blush some more Scorpius nodded, just fine with that. Albus was the only one he wanted noticing him anyway.
Albus reached out and ruffled the blonde's hair, torn between adoring the man's adorableness and worrying about what sort of trouble that could potentially get Scorpius into later. "I'd say not to act so adorable too but you can't seem to help it when I'm around."
Since Albus seemed to find his blushing adorable Scorpius knew that no, he wouldn't be able to help himself no matter how hard he tried. So instead he handed back the picture, pleased when Albus moved to set it on the bedside table so that it wouldn't get bent or folded in his pocket. And then those green eyes were back and looking into his and Scorpius couldn't think about anything else.
Sighing over the look in the Slytherin's eyes Albus figured he could only be grateful Scorpius had yet to figure out how wrapped around his little finger he was becoming. "You really want me to let what happened today with Vince go?"
Scorpius nodded solemnly, surprised that Albus was willing to consider it at all given how pissed he obviously was. He wasn't an idiot either after all, he got how frustrated and angry Albus must be not to be able to act, to have him ask that of him. If someone were to hurt Albus he'd want to shed blood too.
"I'll agree to that on two conditions." Albus finally said, nearly biting off the words as he spoke them. "The first being that when we go out to Hogsmeade this weekend we make it damn clear to everyone that we're dating and you're mine. If that sets Vince off then all the better because then he'll come after me and I can kick his ass without you having any say in the matter because he'll finally be aiming at me instead of you."
Seeing a lot of public displays of affection happening during their date Scorpius blushed some more and figured that it would be in his best interests to find out what the second condition was before he agreed to anything. "And what's the second part?"
"That on Sunday I get to talk to him man to man once and for all and if I don't think you and Fred got through to him today I get to kick his ass. Or I should say incite him to throw the first punch so that afterwards I get off scot free for beating the crap out of him."
"You're really hung up on kicking his ass."
"You have no idea."
Getting that fact Scorpius sighed again and then caved, knowing it wasn't fair to keep trying to keep Albus out of his dealings with Callendar. "Okay. I'll agree to your conditions. And I won't even insist on being there when you talk to Callendar about…well about everything. My presence would probably only make it worse anyway." He'd just pray like mad that the former friendship between the two was enough to keep the Gryffindors from bloodying each other too badly.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." And since they were on a somewhat depressing topic… "If we're going to come out as a couple this weekend we both need to give our parents a heads up or they're all going to be extremely pissed at us." He didn't even want to think about how his father's father was going to react to the news when it finally reached the old man's ears. His grandmother probably wouldn't take it so well either.
Imagining the reactions that particular letter home would cause Albus decided it was a damn good thing he had a lot of pictures of Phoenix to send along with it. Hopefully that would help ease the shock a little. His parents would probably take the news loads better than Scorpius's family would though. "Will they come and see you to try and talk you out of it? Out of dating me, I mean."
"Honestly, I don't know what they'll do. I never spent that much time wondering what their reaction to that would be. I only ever imagined what it would be like if they figured out I fancied you. That never went well in my mind."
Albus didn't like the sound of that one little bit. The last thing he wanted was to put more weight and problems on Scorpius's shoulders.
It was at times like this that he couldn't help but think that growing up royally sucked sometimes.
)
Gabrielle packed up her stuff and then waited for the majority of her classmates to leave the classroom before getting to her feet as well. She hated being crowded in and bumped by every thoughtless prat who seemed to think that running out of the room would somehow magically change things so that they wouldn't have to return for the next class. That or they just wanted to leave, not seeming to see the irony in the fact that technically they were just hurrying to another class which could possibly be even harder than the class they'd just left.
People were dumb sometimes.
And speaking of people who could be very dumb at times…Fred Weasley was here.
Not quite sure what to think of his presence as she stepped out of the door, though she surmised he was there to see her since he seemed to find spending time with her so much fun for some reason, Gabrielle sighed in resignation and then walked over to stand in front of him. "What do you want?"
"Would it kill you to seem happier to see me, Elle?"
"Yes. My Slytherin soul would wither and die."
Obviously amused by her response Fred moved in closer, grabbed her hand before she could stop him, so that he could kiss the back of it with much pomp and flourish. "Well we wouldn't want that, now would we?"
Jerking her hand back while her cheeks colored up Gabrielle glared up at him. "Don't do that!"
Fred gave her a wounded look, adding puppy dog eyes to the mix for added effect. Not that they'd worked on her yet, but there was a first time for everything. "But I think I deserve some small bit of affection since I came all the way here to see you and give you some important information you'll most definitely want to hear."
"You've experimented on yourself one too many times and have less than a week to live?"
"No, the news I've come to deliver won't be of the utterly devastating, make you cry endless rivers of tears variety. I'm hale and hearty, my darling Elle, and don't worry, I'll stay that way. How could I not when I've only just discovered you? Our relationship's only begun."
"Your death might be more eminent than you think if you keep talking like that!" She hissed, looking around them to see who was eavesdropping on them. "And don't call me Elle!"
Aware that he'd pushed her enough for the moment Fred opted to ease up a little, for the sake of his health. "Scorpius, Al and Phoenix won't be around for the rest of the day. They're fine but Scorpius had another run in with Callendar and it upset the kid enough that his overly concerned parents figured they should spend some quality time with him in the hopes of averting another growth spurt. Callendar was the only one who ended up a little bloody, so no worries there. You trained your best friend well in kicking ass it seems."
Gabrielle had only one question. "Where's Callendar now?"
Neatly sliding her bag off her shoulder before she could stop him Fred slugged it across his chest so she couldn't do the same and then offered her his arm, her death glare sliding over him like water on a duck. "I'll tell you all about it if you let me walk you to your next class like the proper gentleman I am."
"Or I could just curse you and then go talk to Scorpius instead." Gabrielle shot back. "And you aren't a gentleman, you delusional Gryffindor from hell."
The woman had a way with words, he'd give her that. "But you won't curse me because we're on pretty good terms at the moment and because right now Scorpius needs to take care of his son instead of talking to you about something that's not really important since the fight happened already."
Cursing him under her breath and deliberately making sure that he would hear every word, Gabrielle wanted to just grab her bag and walk away, but she knew better than to think he'd give up her bag without a fight that would be embarrassing as hell. Weasleys didn't get embarrassed easily, probably because they did such stupid things all the time. And she really didn't want to fight with him, Gabrielle grudgingly admitted to herself, especially since she couldn't hunt down Callendar and make him cry like a baby if she was being put into detention or being suspended for maiming the grinning idiot in front of her for teasing her. Again. For the billionth time.
So with much grumbling and dark looks Gabrielle slid her arm into his and allowed him to start walking them in the direction of her next class, not even surprised that he knew where to go. No doubt someone in his family had long ago given the prat her school schedule, and she'd bet Lily if she had to choose. The girl seemed to find Fred's new love of annoying her hilarious.
And well aware of the looks they were getting Gabrielle scowled up at him that much harder. "I don't know why you want to hold my arm like this. Everyone's staring at us. They're going to get the wrong idea and then you aren't going to be able to get any dates and my brothers are going to feel that they have to come up to Hogsmeade and embarrass me by trying to beat you up."
She didn't want her idiot brothers to beat Fred up either. If anyone had that pleasure it was going to be her.
Fred stared down at her with bemused affection, marveling over the fact that she still didn't get it. And people thought Weasleys were hard headed. "You know, I know Slytherin heads are supposed to be at least twice as hard as any normal person…but exactly how many times am I going to have to make it obvious before you clue into the fact that I'm trying to get you to like me enough that your answer won't be no when I ask you out."
It was a good thing he had her arm, or Gabrielle would stumbled forward and knocked herself out if the shock didn't first. "What? Are you out of your-I know Weasley humor is so bizarrely twisted that only another Weasley can understand it but seriously-."
The rest of her words died when he leaned forward and placed a kiss against the corner of her mouth.
"I'd snog you good and proper to show you how serious I am, but this isn't exactly the time or the place for that. I have a very romantic soul." He added gravely, even as his eyes danced with amusement. And sensing that his actions had completely and totally struck her mute Fred saw no reason not to take full advantage of that fact.
"So…if you don't say no in the next ten seconds I'm going to assume that you're willing to go out with me during your trip to Hogsmeade this coming weekend."
Ten seconds passed and she was still struck dumb.
"Well then, I'll come to pick you up, can't wait and all that." Taking off her bag Fred neatly placed it over her frozen shoulder and then got the hell out of there before she could recover enough to turn him into a weasel again.
Or something even worse, knowing his girl.
