The smell of pumpkin filled his lungs, the sticking strands clung to his glasses causing his hair to clump. There were many reasons that he could not wait to get back to the castle, but the number one reason was the fact that he was a complete and utter mess.

He was glad that he had the foresight to pack a spare set of robes before heading down to lunch to meet with Albus. He wouldn't have to swing by his common room afterwards and wouldn't have to deal with Juno forcing him to take pictures in such a state. Looking over at his boyfriend, who was just as messy as he was, Scorpius didn't doubt that he would help Juno in such efforts. It was honestly a very good thing that Albus thought Juno was a stick in the mud. Once he found out how she really was, Scorpius saw his life becoming nothing more than one haphazard moment blending into the next.

Reaching forward, Scorpius picked a few pumpkin seeds out of Albus' hair and wondered just what it meant that the two people closest to him were this hyperactive about getting him into situations that ranged just outside his comfort zone. Sure, he had been the one who had technically casted the first spell that started the pumpkin war, but in was inevitable and seemed to be the quickest way to get Lily to like him.

"I think we should get going," Albus eventually sighed out and picked himself up. He offered out a hand to his sister, yanking her up swiftly before offering to help Scorpius up.

"Good. My skin is practically crawling."

"For how many reasons Scorp?" Lily winked at him.

"Oh, not you too!" Burring his head in his hands, Scorpius rubbed at his eyes. Maybe getting Lily to like him wasn't in his best interests. He really didn't need three people constantly teasing him.

Hagird let out his own laugh as well. "Alright you three, get back to the castle."

"Awe, you're no fun!" Lily pouted and threw herself back into the large pile of pumpkin guts.

"Unless yer want to help me clean that is."

"Oh would you look at the time!" Lily said, exaggerating a look at a watch that she didn't have, "and I've got so much homework to do." She jumped back up, orange stings clinging to her red hair, "I simply must go. I'll see you love birds later and we must do this again Hagrid!" Then she was dashing up the hill.

Albus rolled his eyes, "Do you need any help cleaning up or were you just trying to get her to leave?"

"Nah, I've go' it. You two get cleaned up now. And yer best not have missed any classes to do this."

"A little late for that warning now isn't it?" Albus smiled up at the half giant, "But I can assure you that I at least, didn't miss a class. "

"Nor I," Scorpius put in. As much fun as this was, he would have made Albus reschedule or wouldn't have gone had it interfered with his class work. It was, after all, N.E.W.T.s year and he wasn't going to mess anything up.

"Good, not get!" he waved them away with his hands, smiling as he did so.

They turned and made their way back to the castle. Scorpius smiled as Albus immediately grabbed his hand, even if it was sticky. The smell of pumpkin followed them all the way up and into the castle. Occasionally they would see orange strands scattered about along the path, presumably from Lily.

There were a scattering of people in the hallways. Most of them stared, some rolled eyes. It wasn't everyday that people walked about the castle covered in sticky orange pumpkin guts after all. Scorpius just hoped that they wouldn't run into Tally at all on their way to the bathroom. She might not be that lenient on their particular mess.

Scorpius was ready for the bath, ready to get the slimy orange stings off of him and out of his hair. Albus' was also a mess, the hair clumping together in awkward chunks and sticking out at odd angles. He could only imagine was his hair looked like as it was longer than Albus'.

"Well that wasn't too bad then, was it?"

"Were you expecting it to be bad?" Scorpius asked, looking over at the boy. He seemed relaxed enough.

"Not bad," Albus shrugged, "but I don't know."

Scorpius did know, however. He had, after all, seen the way the he had tensed up when Lily had almost called him Malfoy a couple of times. He had watched as Albus gotten defensive over Hagrid's comments, seen how he had zoned out afterwards. Scorpius didn't entirely understand where it came from and he wasn't about to figure it out or ask about it in the hallway.

"No, It was fun," Scorpius nodded, "Lily is... she's something else really."

At this Albus actually stopped walking because he was laughing so hard. His hands wrapped around his stomach and he leaned back with his eyes closed. Scorpius wondered just how many stories Albus had to inspire such a carefree laugh like that.

"You've got no clue, " Albus shook his head, still laughing lightly. "I swear she's got," Albus shook his head, still laughing, "Like all of the best and worst qualities of James and I."

"Well that's certainly interesting then," Scorpius grinned. He hadn't actually had any real conversation or interaction with James Potter. If Lily was a mix of the two of them, then he supposed that James wouldn't be that bad either. He didn't worry about it too much. It would be a while before he had to interact with Albus' brother.

They finally made it to the prefects bath, Albus still laughing to himself every so often as he remembered something or whenever Scorpius shuddered and tried to pick some of the pumpkin off himself. Scorpius hardly waited for Boris to open all the way before rushing into the room, pulling Albus after him.

"Someone's eager" Albus said, chuckling as Scorpius yanked off his shirt and pants.

"Shut it," Scorpius said, pointing his wand at the taps. Immediately they started filling the tub with water and his preferred soap mixture. He was desperate now to get the slime off of his skin and out of his hair.

He didn't get how Albus could slowly take off his clothes and set everything aside properly as if everything wasn't covered in orange goop. In the time that it had taken him to get his shirt off, Scorpius was already completely undressed and making his way towards the other end of the bath to run his head under the hot water. He just wanted it off his skin.

Scorpius held his head under the running tap for a couple minutes, sighing in relief as he felt the smile wash off his skin. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to get as much of it out as he could.

"Scorpius," Albus laughed from the other side of the tub, "Do you not liking being dirty?"

"Merlin no!"

He heard Albus laugh some more as he continued to scrub at his hair. Finally, he was able to pull away his hands and not see any more of the orange strings clinging to him. Stepping out of the spewing taps, Scorpius stopped to find Albus standing right in front of him.

"You- you gonna wash that off?"

"Maybe," Albus shrugged, looking innocent. He reached forward and grabbed Scorpius hand, pulling him close.

"Al, you're still-" Scorpius was going to say dirty, but the word got swallowed up as Albus pressed his lips to his.

"Still what Scor?" Albus purred against his lips, not giving him any time to answer as he kissed him again.

Albus didn't pull away and after a moment, Scorpius reached his arms up to rest on Albus' shoulders. He felt a hand slid into his wet hair and grinned into the kiss. He let Albus take control, tilting his head and moving closer. Albus' hand moved to rest on his back and he let out a small gasp at the touch.

Not wanting to stop, Scorpius let the moment last. This was a kiss that he wanted, one that he was glad to have held out on until they were properly together. He was glad that he didn't succumb into temptation the first bath or the second bath. He was glad that even after the first kiss they shared the didn't delve into anything like this, but held out for this moment.

For this kiss was a tease in all ways possible and Scorpius knew it. It was a tease for how close they were, for how opportune the moment was, for how easy it would be to give into more. Mostly, it was a way for Albus to tease him about how eager he was to be clean. Scorpius could still smell the pumpkin, could feel the stings that still clung to Albus' hair brushing against his arms with every move.

Slowly he moved his hands down Albus' chest, grinning as Albus sighed at the contact. He slid his hands down the other boy's sides to rest at his hips. Relishing in the moment as long as he could, Scorpius lightly nipped at Albus' lower lip. He savored this moment for another second longer, his hand running back up Albus' sides.

Then he pushed Albus into the pouring water.

As he broke away, Albus lost his balance and went splashing into the water, arms flailing. Scorpius let out a laugh as he emerged glaring from the water.

"That wasn't nice Scor."

"You," Scorpius tried to get out, "You were trying to dirty me up again!"

Crossing his arms, Albus shook his head, "No, I'm pretty sure I was just trying to take advantage of you."

"You can most certainly do that," Scorpius said, crossing his arms as well, "after you've gotten all the pumpkin off you."

"Is that a promise?" Albus asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Y-yes." Scorpius cursed himself for stuttering, but he couldn't help it with the sly look that Albus was giving him. Once again he found himself questioning what it was exactly he had gotten himself into. Albus was going to tease and torture him until they parted, Scorpius already knew.

"I'll hold you to that." The Slytherin grinned before stepping back under the spray of the water. Scorpius watched as Albus raised his arms to wash. He saw the boy's muscles flex with movement. He had been careful not to look before. Before they were not dating, before he had wanted to be a gentleman, wanted to know that he already had what he was going to see. If he had looked at Albus with anything more than an attempt to study the boy before this point, it would have only been to tease himself.

This was a different study all together. Not to learn, but to appreciate and to anticipate. This was a way to see everything with little interruption, only water and suds blocking his view occasionally. His eyes trailed the tan lines on his brown skin, the clear sight where his jersey ended on his arms and neck and then the even fainter line of where his pants rested on the days that Albus didn't wear a shirt outside.

"I thought we agreed that you weren't going to study me anymore."

"We agreed to nothing of the such," Scorpius smiled. Albus hadn't even opened his eyes to catch him, "I'm making sure you get completely clean before you step out of the shower. "

"Right." Albus stepped out of the shower, "Who am I to think that I would be able to keep a Ravenclaw such as yourself from trying to stud everything in our eyesight." He rolled his eyes and stepped closer to him. Albus wrapped his arms around Scorpius' waist. "But I do believe that I am clean enough."

"In the hygienic way, yes." Scorpius grinned as Albus rolled his eyes yet again.

"Why do I put up with you again?"

"Probably because of this," Scorpius leaned close and pressed his lips lightly against Albus'. He had planned for it to be just a small peck of reminder, but Albus held him close. His arms wrapped around him and Scorpius was pulled as close to Albus as he could get. He felt Albus twitch against his leg and he grinned at the thought of what could happen in this bath. It wouldn't, Scorpius wouldn't allow it to happen so soon, but the thought of it was enough for now.

His own arms warped once again around Albus' neck. This kiss was much nicer, especially since there wasn't anything sticky or orange interrupting his thoughts. This kiss was nice, because for once he was able to turn off the constant babble in his mind. He didn't worry about how long the kiss would last, how long they would last. He didn't worry about the approval of families or what they would do over breaks. He didn't worry about his N.E.W.T.s or the transfiguration essay that he was only halfway though. No, the only thing that was going through his mind was the feeling of the chapped lips against his and the anticipation of just where Albus was going to rest his hands, of where he was going to let his own hands wander.

Scorpius began to move his hands down to Albus' sides again, grinning as the boy sighed against his lips. Fingered laced in his hair and Scorpius grinned more, letting his tongue dart out to lick at Albus' lips.

Scorpius had never given much thought to the kisses he would have in his life. He wanted them, yes, but he didn't think about when or where or with whom they would happen with. He never would have guessed that his first kiss would have taken place in a bathroom. He never would have thought that his first real makeout session would happen in the same bathroom, only this time in the bath.

The water was a distraction as well. everything below his waist was warm, everything above slightly colder. As Albus' hand fisted in his hair, Scorpius couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like when they were dry.

He continued to follow Albus' lead, not questioning it when they started moving. Albus pushed him back towards the end of the tub with the sitting bench. He didn't pull away when Albus sat down, pulling him onto his lap. Scorpius just adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. Scorpius kissed Albus and Albus kissed back until Scorpius felt like he had enough for the moment and needed to pull away to properly breath.

Resting his head on Albus' shoulder, Scorpius didn't move off his lap. "I think you've taken advantage of me enough tonight."

"Not nearly," Albus breathed out.

"Greedy Slytherin."

"You like it."

And Scorpius did. He liked it a lot.