For Shay, who catches the Snitch every time.

Writing club - Blow Us All Away: (era) Next Gen


'Merlin, Albus,' Scorpius said, putting his book down to better stare at his roommate. 'You can't possibly go out like that.'

'Why?' Albus asked in a hurt tone. He looked back at himself in the mirror. 'I don't look that bad… Do I?'

Scorpius merely looked at Albus, pity evident in his eyes. His gaze slowly travelled down the length of Albus's body. Albus blushed, feeling somehow as though he was naked, though he was clearly fully dressed. He fought to stop covering himself with his hands, more fearful of Scorpius's biting wit.

I shouldn't have let him meet Lily, he thought. She's turned him into a monster.

For the first two years of their schooling, Scorpius had been the sweetest boy one could possibly encounter. Then Albus had made the mistake of inviting him home and introducing him to his sister. Lily's biting sarcasm had encouraged Scorpius to reveal his own sassy thoughts, thoughts that Albus was usually the victim of.

But this was the first time Scorpius had attacked his clothes.

'I realise that I've never really seen you in Muggle clothing before,' Scorpius said, swinging his legs over his green duvet and gracefully sliding off of his bed. 'First things first. You cancel your date.'

'It's not a date,' Albus mumbled sheepishly. 'It's only because her friends are all ill this weekend and she didn't want to go alone.'

Scorpius raised a blond eyebrow. Penelope Brown had been bragging all week about how she had won a date with the elusive Albus Potter. He opened his mouth to make another snide comment, but one look at his friend's wide green eyes made Scorpius believe that Albus really had no clue that he was supposed to be on a date. And that meant that his friend was more innocent than he thought.

'Well,' Scorpius said instead, a smile tugging at his lip. 'You won't mind cancelling it then.'

'But I gave Penelope my word!' Albus protested.

'Tell her it's an emergency,' Scorpius replied, fetching his green and silver scarf, wrapping it around his neck in one smooth motion.

'But there is no emergency, Scorp,' Albus reminded him, frowning.

Scorpius took another look at Albus's clothes.

'Oh, but there is.'


'What's wrong with my clothes, anyway?' Albus asked grumpily as they trudged along the path to Hogsmeade.

Scorpius glanced at his friend. How had he not seen it before? Then he remembered. They had only been to Hogwarts once before, spending hours upon hours exploring, but they had both had detention in the morning, and so had gone in their school robes. When Scorpius had come to visit, everyone had been wearing wizarding robes to put Draco and Astoria at ease. Now, Albus wore a very baggy brown jumper and green trousers that did not suit him in the least.

'Everything,' Scorpius replied.

When they got to Hogsmeade, Scorpius immediately pulled Albus into Gladrags Wizardwear, a shop that used to specialise in costumes, but had now branched into Muggle clothing.

'No, no, no,' Albus said when he saw where they were going. 'This is my day off. I don't want to spend it shopping for clothes. Come on, Scorp', don't do this to me.'

'This is for your own good,' Scorpius replied determinedly, taking Albus's arm and steering him into the shop.

Albus let him, albeit reluctantly. Still, he didn't put up too much of a fuss. A day spent shopping with Scorpius would beat going to Honeydukes with Penelope Brown. That girl could talk both your ears off and then keep talking.

'Honestly, Albus, your dad was practically raised a Muggle.' Scorpius disappeared into the clothing rack. 'How did he not teach you how to dress yourself?'

'Um...' Albus replied uncertainly, tilting his head to the side to keep Scorpius in view. 'I thought he did?'

'Not properly, apparently,' Scorpius replied. 'Even my father dresses better than you.'

Albus guessed that that was Scorpius's version of an insult. He did his best to look appropriately chastised, but in reality he was bemused. Who cared how he dressed? He was warm, his clothes were clean. Wasn't that enough?

Scorpius dumped a pile of shirts into Albus's arms.

Apparently not.

'Try those on,' Scorpius said, pushing him towards a cabin.

As Albus pulled the curtain closed, he heard a mumbling. He stuck his head back through the gap. 'What did you say?'

'I said they'll go well with your eyes!' Scorpius replied angrily, his face flushing pink.

'All right, all right. Sheesh.'

Albus raised his eyebrows and withdrew his head, not wanting to provoke his friend further. He didn't even know what he had done wrong.


Half an hour later, Albus was trying on the last of Scorpius's recommendations: some dark blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a checked shirt that was mostly dark green. The T-shirt was tight compared to what Albus was used to - mostly because he wore James's old shirts and James was taller than him - but he found that he liked it.

However, he hated the shirt. It buttoned up right to his neck, digging into the hollow of his throat uncomfortably. Plus, it restricted his movement, stopping his arms from moving the whole way.

'Not sure about the shirt,' he called out.

Scorpius had been leaning against a rail of clothing, but he shot to his feet when Albus pulled the curtain back. He fought to bite back a laugh, not wanting to hurt Albus's feelings. But in the end, he couldn't help it, and an ungainly snort burst forth.

'Oh, Albus,' he said, rolling his eyes good naturedly. 'You weren't supposed to button it up!'

'I wasn't?' Albus asked, puzzled. He looked down. 'But isn't that what buttons are for?'

Scorpius felt a fond smile touch his lips. He couldn't help it. Albus was just so helpless and his bewildered expressions were just so cute and un-Slytherin-like that he couldn't help but love him in that moment.

Wait, what?

'Look,' Scorpius said to distract himself, shaking his head. 'You're supposed to wear it over the T-shirt, with just the sleeves. Buttoned up is too formal for you. Casual would suit you better.'

'All right,' Albus replied dubiously, following Scorpius's instructions. 'Do you mind helping me out with this one?' He motioned to the topmost button. 'It's really stiff and I can't see what I'm doing.'

'Of course,' Scorpius replied, but his breath hitched in his throat the minute his fingers brushed against Albus's skin.

Get a grip, Scorp', he told himself firmly. Still, when he felt the soft touch of Albus's breath against his wrist, he couldn't help but notice how shallow his own breathing became. He fumbled with the button for a second before he finally managed to get it undone.

'There,' he said with a sigh of relief and disappointment, stepping back to survey his work. 'Much better.'

Albus had to agree. He felt like he could breathe again, though for some reason his skin burned where Scorpius had touched it.

'Well,' Scorpius said, something in his eyes distancing itself. 'We should try this out.'

Albus didn't know what that meant, but as he paid for his new clothes, he shivered. It sounded ominous.


'Scorpius,' Albus said tiredly, unable to keep up any longer.

'Yes?' Scorpius replied sweetly, about to walk into the Three Broomsticks.

'Can we please stop?'

Albus's defeated tone made Scorpius stop in his tracks. He had been going around, mentioning that Albus had new clothes, to all of the third and fourth years in sight, dropping subtle hints about Albus's celibacy to encourage the compliments. His friend needed the confidence boost, and he would dismiss anything positive Scorpius had to say as being "because you're my friend".

Albus complained so much of being in his brother and father's shadows that Scorpius had thought it would do him some good to get some attention on his own merit.

He hadn't thought that Albus wouldn't enjoy it.

Albus must have noticed his deflated look, because he instantly rallied, standing straighter, ruffling his thick black hair.

'Look, Scorp', I realise what you're trying to do, and thank you, really. But...' Albus trailed off, before gathering the courage to say what he really thought. 'Look, let's go and find some owl treats, they're the last thing on our list. But this time, let's go just the two of us, yeah?'

'Just the two of us?' Scorpius's voice rose an octave and he hated himself for it.

'I just don't really want to spend time with anyone else anymore today. Is that all right with you?'

Scorpius beamed, feeling a fire blossom within his chest and flowing out to the rest of his body.

'Yeah,' he replied, giving Albus a genuine smile. 'It really is.'