The Christmas banquet the House Elves had put on was spectacular. Turkey, duck, goose, pigs in blankets, sprouts, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, boiled potatoes… everything Scorpius could have wished for from a Christmas dinner. The Great Hall was decorated with tall, snow-covered Christmas trees, all sparkling with fairy lights and baubles and the snow fell thick and fast from the enchanted ceiling as everyone tucked enthusiastically into their food.
Albus helped himself to more pigs in blankets, filling more than half his plate with them, and Scorpius grinned and rolled his eyes.
"Of all the food on the table, you choose to gorge yourself on the least healthy," he said, taking another helping of sprouts from the large serving bowl in front of him.
Albus shrugged. "Of course," he replied, grinning. "You're the only person I know who actually likes the healthy stuff."
Scorpius looked down at his own plate, filled mostly with vegetables of the green variety, and a meagre helping of turkey and cranberry sauce. Vastly different from Al's mountain of sausages and fatty duck breast. He couldn't help it if an inch of chewy fat on the back of a dead bird didn't sound terribly appealing. He knew Al was right, though; most of the students' plates looked exactly like Al's and his was the only plate he could see with more than the one token sprout on it. He sighed and tucked into his meal, comforted by the fact that his heart wasn't likely give out any time soon.
"What do you have planned for the holidays?" Albus asked, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. Scorpius shrugged.
"Nothing special. Mother says the House Elves have already decorated the parlour, so I'm quite looking forward to that."
"Oh?" Al said, carving messily into his duck. "What does it look like?"
"Oh, it's nothing amazing, really. It just reminds of me being a child. Our tree tends to be decorated in silver and blue."
"Like that one?" Al said around a mouthful of turkey, nodding in the direction of one of the trees by the teacher's table. Scorpius purposefully didn't mention Al's lack of table manners and just nodded.
"A bit like that," he replied. He looked at the tree for a while, then smiled, turning to face Al properly. "What does your tree at home look like?" he asked, suddenly curious. He'd never been allowed to Al's house and Al had never been allowed to his. All these years as best friends and he didn't even know what Al's house looked like.
Albus looked up, swallowed his food and gazed around the room. "It's a Gryffindor tree, very red and gold," he said, obviously looking for a tree to compare it to. "Like that one."
Scorpius followed the line of Al's finger to the tree sparkling with red and gold decorations in the far corner. It was much warmer-looking than his blue and silver one and Scorpius could easily imagine the Potter family decorating the tree together.
"I don't mind the red and gold, really," Al went on, smiling. "It's been that way since I was little so it's a sentimental thing. James likes to boast that we get a Gryffindor tree every year, but as I keep pointing out, it's the decorations that are Gryffindor-coloured, not the tree."
Scorpius grinned and shook his head. The rivalry between Al and his brother was confusing and rather difficult for Scorpius to grasp, being the only child that he was, but he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that there was nothing genuinely malicious in it. He would rather like to see them getting along at some point, though. He wondered how different they were when they were at home.
"What do you want for Christmas?" Albus asked, his tone changing as he put down his knife and fork and turned to face Scorpius. Scorp was quiet taken aback at the sudden change in topic and blinked at him for several moments. He'd not really thought too much about it. There wasn't actually much he wanted at the present time, and what he did want he couldn't have.
"There's not really anything I want," he said, truthfully. "Perhaps a copy of Ichabod Ivanhoe's 'Aztec Runes and Artifacts'," he added, not wanting to be awkward. He hated it himself when people gave him nothing to work with, though he was generally quite good at gauging Al's wants and needs. The book wasn't part of their syllabus, but the topic fascinated him, and it wouldn't hurt to get a bit of extra-curricular studying done over the holidays. Albus simply rolled his eyes.
"Is that all?" he asked. "Isn't there something fun you want?"
"Books are fun, Albus," Scorpius said, matter-of-factly. "Knowledge is power. And no, there's nothing else I want."
Albus looked at him for a while, then shrugged. "Alright."
Scorpius grinned when Al turned back to his food. He knew perfectly well what Al wanted, since he'd barely stopped drooling since getting back from their trip to Hogsmeade that weekend. Hopefully, as long as the shops didn't sell out, Albus would be opening up a brand new pair of Salamander hide Quidditch gloves on Christmas morning.
Pudding was eaten and Christmas crackers were pulled – Albus winning both times but deciding that Scorpius could keep the live mice. Eventually, the feast was over, and students slowly retired to their Common Rooms. Scorpius and Al made their way down to the Dungeons and took a seat by the fireplace. Most of the others were huddled in small groups, talking and playing with the presents from their crackers, and there was a definite feel of Christmas in the air.
Albus stretched in his seat and Scorpius glanced sideways at the slither of exposed skin on Al's stomach. He thought of briefly running his fingers over it, but the thought was quickly pushed from his mind as Al relaxed again and yawned.
"I'm going to go up and pack my stuff for tomorrow," he said, rubbing his eyes. Scorpius could tell he was tired. "You coming?"
Scorpius nodded and followed him up to their dormitory. They had to meet their families at Kings Cross at twelve o'clock tomorrow morning and it seemed like a good idea to get all their packing out of the way now. The room was quiet, with most of the students down in the Common Room, and Scorpius walked over to his bed and pulled his trunk out from under it.
"So what are you doing over the holidays?" Scorpius asked, as he opened his trunk and shoved several books into it.
Albus shrugged. "Nothing apart from the Swallows games," he said, dragging his own trunk out from under his bed.
Scorpius turned to watch him as Al pulled his jumper off over his head and threw it into his trunk.
"Have you decided who you're taking?" Scorp asked after a while, his voice softer now, unsure whether the question was appropriate. Al's brief look of panic made him instantly regret asking. "Not that it's any of my business," he added quickly, not wanting Al to feel he was putting him on the spot. It wasn't anything to do with him, anyway. They were Al's tickets now, and he could take who he wanted.
"Um... no," Al replied, biting his lip. "I haven't actually mentioned them to Joanna yet. I suppose I should probably do that."
Scorpius looked at him for a while, biting the inside of his lip, before wordlessly going back to his packing. He didn't want to say anything further on the subject, already regretting having brought it up in the first place. It seemed that Al didn't want to discuss it either, since he too went back to his packing just as silently. Scorpius watching him out of the corner of his eye for several minutes, placing books and clothes neatly into his trunk and closing it once he was done.
Al took a while longer to pack, having to find room for his Quidditch leathers and uniform. Finally, Al closed his trunk and sat down on the edge of his bed, sighing and blowing hair from his eyes.
They sat and looked at each other for a while, then Al grinned at him. "You know… I kind of don't want to go home this Christmas," he said, and Scorpius understood the sentiment completely. He'd much rather stay here with Albus. He nodded in agreement.
"Me, too."
Al chuckled and shook his head, breaking eye contact and standing up. Scorpius averted his eyes as Albus changed into his pyjamas, finding it hard not to take just a peek at the lightly tanned skin, and leaned back against the nearest bedpost.
"Maybe we can arrange to meet during the holidays," Al said, causing Scorpius to roll his eyes in Al's direction. "Like we did over the summer."
Scorpius smiled and nodded. "That would be nice," he replied, suddenly feeling very tired, himself. He changed into his pyjamas and slid under the blankets, gripping the hem of his sheets tightly as he stared up at the canopy. It was only now that the realisation he wouldn't be seeing Al for two weeks had dawned and his stomach fell away, leaving him with an empty, achy feeling in its place.
Al yawned again and Scorpius could hear him roll over under his sheets. "I'll work something out," he said, and Scorpius turned to see Al smiling at him again. He smiled back faintly and felt the ache lessen somewhat. Al's smile always seemed to do that. Al closed his eyes and Scorpius watched him silently for several long minutes.
"Goodnight," he whispered, before rolling over and slowly drifting off to sleep.
