Scorpius still could not believe that he had written that letter to Albus and then had Rodger deliver it for him. However when Professor Splint had approached him about the three day conference at St. Mungos, Scorpius couldn't refuse.

He had left Thursday after lunch to get a room with Charlotte Higgs, a Hufflepuff girl who was also interested in becoming a healer, and sign up for the conference. Then he spent the better part of the next three days going from booth to booth about the latest medical advances and ongoing research, sitting in lectures about battles on mental disease. He took notes upon notes about advances in basic potions and trials of new potions that he couldn't wait to test himself.

Yet when he got back to Hogwarts Sunday night he didn't bother to organize his notes nor did he rush down to the potions lab. Instead Scorpius threw his things rather haphazardly onto his bed and made his way towards the prefects' bathroom.

Scorpius was disappointed to see that Albus wasn't already there waiting for him, having constantly thought about what exactly would happen when he arrived back whenever his mind wasn't engrossed in the conference. With a glance at his watch Scorpius saw that there was still half an hour left for dinner. They had arrived back at Hogwarts ahead of schedule apparently. Resigning himself to fill the bath and wait a while, Scorpius busied himself with getting everything set up, doing his best not to get more and more nervous as time went on.

Just as the bath had filled entirely, the door opened and Albus walked in.

"Good evening Scor," Albus grinned at him as he walked in, his tie already hung loose around his neck.

"Albus," Scorpius nodded his head in return, trying to ignore the way the boy's face lit up.

"Where did you end up going?"

"St. Mungos was having a conference for new advances. Professor Splint was able to get Higgs and I passes and excused us from out Friday classes. It was wonderful and..." Scorpius trailed off when he saw that Albus was looking at him oddly, "What?"

"Nothing," the boy shook his head and then went to take off his clothing.

"Can you promise not to splash me today?" Scorpius asked, taking off his robes as well.

"And why would I do something like that?"

"My eyes are tired. I'd rather not strain them more by taking off my glasses."

"I suppose I can try," Albus drawled out, "But I make no promises."

Scorpius let out a chuckled and kept his glasses on as he made his way over and into the tub.

"So how was the conference?" Albus asked after he settled in next to him.

"Oh it was amazing! There was an advancement on Alzheimer's that has successfully extended patients' lucid time so long as they took it as soon as they started coming back to themselves. You know, mind diseases are tricky, but I reckon there will be some form of cure by the time we're old and senile. Then there was this super effective acne solution that I've gotten the notes for. An update to the drought of living death that makes the potion much easier to brew and also have a quicker effect. They also brought in a couple muggle things for show. A bunch of the healers were muggleborn and were used to the devices, there were even two that actually went to muggle medical school! Anyway there was this thing there called and MRI that produced a stable picture of the brain! Can you believe that Albus? Muggles actually look at the brain and have also figured out a way to show where certain thoughts and feelings originate from. I've even got a picture of my brain up in my rooms. I should have..." He trailed off when he caught Albus looking at him again.

"What is it? Do I have something on my face?" Scorpius asked, his hands automatically reaching up to rub his entire face clean.

"No, no," Albus reached forward and grabbed both of Scorpius' hands, "You just, you light up when you talk about this stuff."

"Oh," Scorpius could feel himself going red again and attempted to pull his hands away from Albus.

"It's not a bad thing, I don't think I've ever seen you so," Albus trailed off, let go of Scorpius' hands, and shrugged, "It's just nice is all. Tell me more about it."

So Scorpius did. He started slowly, still a bit embarrassed at Albus' observation, but eventually regained his initial enthusiasm as he went on. He told Albus about all the advancements that happened in the past year. He talked about the people he had met and the likelihood about getting sponsors for a couple healer programs. He recounted jokes that Albus only halfway understood, causing Scorpius to laugh even harder as he tried to explain them. He told him that on his first day there he had been so nervous he just sat with the receptionists at lunch and was able to hear all the best stories they had. All the while Albus just listened and stared at him, occasionally adding in comments to things that did catch his interest. Sometimes Albus would flick small bits of water at him, but only when Scorpius' own hand movements caused Albus to get splashed.

"And that was my weekend," Scorpius finished a bit lamely, still smiling at the boy next to him. He couldn't remember the last time he had talked like that, with such abandon.

"A rather eventful weekend, and I'm sure that you've gotten notebooks full of things you haven't told me."

"Oh definitely," Scorpius nodded and then felt himself redden a little. "Did you find my notes useful then?"

"I did," Albus said honestly. "They were so useful I hardly had to look at my book at all as I wrote the two feet of homework. I might just stop taking notes all together and use yours from now on."

"Oh no you won't" Scorpius poked Albus in the chest, "The only way you'll get my notes is if I've seen yours first and deem them decent enough.

"Are you saying you'll show me yours if I show you mine first?" Albus asked innocently.

"Yes, wait, no, not like that you gutter brain!"

Albus just rolled his eyes and laughed with Scorpius, "But if we both take notes, that would just be a waste of parchment."

"No it wouldn't. You're notes would probably hold more big picture ideas and things one would certainly need to know, whereas mine would have the smaller bits that would help out a basic thesis. Besides, you can't rely on me."

"Is that so?" Albus asked, raising his eyebrows, "Are you going to betray me? Is all this a ruse?"

"NO!" Scorpius said a bit too loudly and a bit too quickly. "I just mean that you shouldn't rely on others ever. My father says that if someone can't fend for themselves then they are useless. I think he's a bit wrong, of course, but his words do have some merit. If someone chooses not to fend for themselves then there is a difference. But that's beside the point."

"Are you close with our father?"

Scorpius paused before he answered. He could hear something more behind the words there, especially as it was a tangent topic. He answered honestly, wondering why Albus was curious about this. "Yes, we talk often. Most of the time we have debates, though half the time I think my father chooses the other side because he likes arguing and wants to see if I'll fold under his ideas." He let out a small breath that could be mistaken for a laugh. "Are you close with your father?"

"Of course," Albus said rather defensively, "I don't debate with him, he doesn't talk much. Mum does though."

Scorpius brushed his hand lightly against Albus' once, "Tell me about your family."

This seemed to be the wrong thing to ask, however, as Albus pulled away from him slightly and looked at the water.

"I've got a lot of family." He said eventually, pushing off the tile and moving deeper into the tub. "And it's getting late. Perhaps another time would be better."

"Albus, you don't-" Scorpius broke off and sighed as Albus dunked himself under water. Scorpius didn't understand. The Potters and Weasleys were supposed to be the perfect family. He had heard his father rant about it, had read the prophet, had seen the ones that were at school meet up once a month for a giant picnic. He had seen the way Albus talked to his sister with nothing but love and care in his voice.

Albus emerged from the water then. Much closer to the taps than from where he went under. He had a passive look on his face, as if he were trying his best not to think as filled his hands with soap and started washing his hair.

Scorpius didn't know what to do, so he made his way over to the taps as well, took off his glasses, and washed his hair as well. He watched Albus, looking for any sign of what it was about his family that closed him off.

"Stop it," Albus breathed out.

"What?"

"I'm not a," Albus sighed, "I'm not a problem that you can study and attempt to solve."

"That's not-"

"Yes," Albus' tone was flat, "Yes, you are." He dunked his head underwater to clear the suds.

Scorpius rose an eyebrow, but turned away from him. He supposed it wasn't his problem anyway. If Albus wanted to tell him, he would. Scorpius felt odd as he washed and rinsed his hair and as the two dried off. There had been little pause in talk during their bath, now it was basically silent.

It was Albus who spoke first as they started to pull on their robes, "You had a couple of scratched out notes."

"Yes?" Scorpius faltered slightly with his buttons.

"Well what were they?"

Scorpius could feel his face going red again. He really needed to learn how to control his blush, especially around Albus "Just observations about the class."

"Odd, as there were many of those that weren't scratched out. And because you're going red again."

Scorpius looked up at Albus. There was a small hint of the usual Albus there, trying to get out of whatever it was that had clouded him earlier. He blamed that for what he said next.

"They were observations about a particular person in the class."

"Oh," Albus grunted and attacked his hair again with a towel.

"Yeah," Scorpius fiddled with his glasses, attempting to clean them with the sleeve of his robes. "They were about you."

"Oh?" Now it was the Slytheirn's turn to blush. Then out of the corner of Scorpius' eye he saw the boy smile, "And just what was it that you had written that you felt the need to scratch it out."

"Nothing."

"I think you're lying."

"I don't care what you think." Both of them grinned as they remembered the last bath they shared.

"I think you do."

"I only care about what I think."

Albus smirked at Scorpius' response, "Well I certainly care about what you think as well, though I wouldn't say it's the only thing." Albus paused for a moment, pulling at the sleeves of his robes, "Would it be too much to ask for another bath this week?"

Scorpius reached forward and grabbed one of Albus' hands. "No, it wouldn't be."

"Good." Albus squeezed Scorpius' hand, " Friday?"

"Friday." Scorpius squeezed back.