I have placed Scorpius at the end of his school year in age (an early July birthday) and Albus at the beginning of the year (a late August birthday). So Albus is almost a full year older than Scorpius. In this chapter, Albus is 14 and Scorpius 13, and they are third years.

I was told about a Japanese saying in regards to boys at the puberty age, how even dropping their chopsticks would turn them on. Don't know the official saying, but it made me laugh so I wanted to include it.

Another short chapter. Not sure how I feel about it; proceed with caution.

-o-o-

Albus slammed his newspaper to the kitchen table hard enough to topple Lily's orange juice, earning him a glare that he hardly noticed. His eyes were trained on the small report in the corner of the authority report section of The Daily Prophet – so small that he almost overlooked it: Aurors dispatched to Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire in response to commotion caused by unknown citizens; ministry officials to look into the possible provocations behind the disturbance. Initial reports confirm usage of dark magic.

Possible provocations? Albus re-read the sentences again, frustrated by the lack of information on the seriousness of the "commotion" and "disturbance," and whether or not Scorpius and his family were okay. He had forced a goodbye out of his classmate only the day before – well, more like first asked, then demanded, and eventually begged for the Slytherin to acknowledge his parting statement – when they exited the train at King's Cross Station for the winter break. In the two-and-a-half years since they met, it seemed that Scorpius's favorite pastime had become evading Albus's attempts at friendship with those secretive smiles and playful smirks. The fact that he wasn't completely ignored kept Albus's butterflies and urged him to continue the connection.

Jolting from his thoughts at the sound of the front door opening, Albus bolted out of the kitchen, not realizing that he was snubbing Lily who had begun to complain at him, and managed to catch his father before the Auror could leave.

"Albus!" his mother yelled from another room. "Don't run in the house!"

Harry Potter eyed his huffing, flustered son warily. "I know what you're thinking, so don't even ask. No, you can't come."

"Huh?" Albus cocked an eyebrow in confusion, finally regaining his breath and straightening.

"I know you're worried about your…" Harry paused with a twitch of the lips, "friend, but this is an Auror matter and you'd only be in the way."

"Be in the way? What are you – wait!" Realization suddenly hitting, Albus grabbed his father's arm and clung. "Are you going to Malfoy Manor right now? Is that it? That's it, isn't it?"

Understanding his own folly, Harry sighed and tried to shake his second son off, but the boy had a strong quidditch-playing grip. "Al, I don't have time to discuss this. It's confidential anyway."

"You always say that," Albus groaned.

"Because it's always true," Harry countered. He finally managed to pry the hand off, only to have Albus grab him with the other. Frustrated, he stared down his son with a stern expression. "Albus Pot–"

"Oh don't be so uptight, Harry," Ginny interrupted, appearing with a laundry basket floating next to her and hands full of fluffed blankets. "Of course he's worried. He's had a crush on the Malfoy boy for three years now."

"It hasn't been three years," Albus snapped, heatedly adding with blushing cheeks, "and I don't have a crush on him!"

Ginny only smirked, amused, before continuing up the stairs with the laundry and Harry took Albus's moment of distraction to slip out the front door, disregarding the, "Hey! Wait!" that followed him. Harry was barely five steps from the door when Albus grabbed his arm again, matching his stride to keep up. He sent his son a glare and received a defiant one in return, not for the first time making him understand the positions of a certain Potions Master and Headmaster in regards to his own rebellious teenage years. Albus had very much inherited Harry's determination even in the face of authority. James was a brat, sure, causing all sorts of mischief, but was generally friendly and warm and knew how close to the line he could walk. Lily was kind and sweet, albeit utterly spoiled, so she never even tried to challenge the rules. Albus though… Albus could win anyone over with his open-hearted innocence, but once he set his mind to something it was like trying to pry a bulldog's jaws open with a crowbar to get him to stop.

"You can't come," Harry repeated firmly, stopping as they reached the edge of the wards that prevented apparition directly onto the front lawn.

Albus's expression changed from insolent to apprehensive. "Did something bad happen? The Daily Prophet just called it a 'disturbance.'"

Harry sighed. "Al, you know I can't–"

"Can't talk about it," Albus finished for him with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, I know." Then, impishly, "I guess I'll have to ask Uncle Ron."

"Albus," Harry warned and they met each other's eyes with the same amount of willpower. Then Harry sighed again and placed his hands on his son's shoulders, gently pushing Albus back inside the wards. "Just stay here. It's your Winter Break, for Merlin's sake! Enjoy it while you still can. Before you know it, you'll be working a job, eight to five, with no holidays, and unpaid overtime." Then, seeing his son's still-firm glare, "I'll come back as soon as I can to let you know that Scorpius and his family are fine."

With that, he stepped back from Albus, relieved when the boy didn't try to grab him again. He gave a small, quick smile and twisted into apparition.

Only to feel two hands latch onto his front as Albus dove forward.

Panicking, Harry secured Albus against his side the best he could as he was already apparating to the drive in front of Malfoy Manor that he had, fortunately, come to know well enough that he didn't need to focus too much on it and instead could focus on keeping his son in one piece. The suction of the apparition almost made him lose his grip but he managed to keep hold, and Albus's own hands were gripping him hard enough that the fabric being pulled was practically choking him. Then, he popped in unceremoniously on his backside on the rocky, white drive, with Albus landing painfully on top of him, knocking out his breath.

After much gasping and coughing, Harry finally righted himself and glowered at his son with all of his fatherly might. Albus, for his part, was wide-eyed and looked completely shocked by his own actions and at least had the decency to look timid and apologetic as his father rose up over him, furious. "Albus Severus Potter! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you if I hadn't reacted fast enough? You could have been splinched into pieces!"

"It was an accident!" Albus answered quickly. Then, realizing how stupid that sounded, "I mean, I just did it on an impulse!"

"You're lucky that impulse ended with your head and body in the same place!" Harry roared.

Before he could continue, however, another voice piped in, "What's this now? Bring-your-kid-to-work day?"

Andrew Witherton, a young Auror that had recently started working in the field, watched Harry and Albus inquisitively from farther up the drive. He grinned against Harry's obviously irritated scowl and said, "Which one is that? Little Al? He sure looks like you. Not so little anymore, yeah? He's the problem child, then? Teenagers, man."

Harry snorted at the comment, but gave Albus a look that said they'd be discussing the matter extensively when they returned home and then grabbed his son by the arm and stormed toward the gate leading into the Malfoy estate, not one for audiences. Albus, despite being fearful as to the coming punishment that would most definitely ruin the rest of his Winter Break, curiously examined the ornate gate and the tall snow-covered hedges that guarded the drive, as well as the mansion that towered above them all against the blue winter sky. Rose had told him that the Malfoys were well-to-do, but Scorpius was always so reserved that Albus had never given much thought to the matter.

"Why don'tcha put him with Doeble's kid?" Witherton asked when they finally reached him.

Harry paused. "What do you mean?"

"Doeble brought her kid, too. Something about needing to take him to the wand shop once we're finished here and not wanting to make more trips than she had to. He's sitting on the benches in the front garden."

"I see," Harry murmured and dragged Albus the rest of the way to the gate. He lifted his wand, but then paused mid-incantation. Letting go of Albus, he reached up and easily pushed his hand through the gate like it were smoke, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Turning back to Witherton, he asked, "The wards are down?"

Witherton shrugged. "Been that way since we got here. Markl said he checked the lot and can't find anything out of the ordinary. Malfoys aren't talking either. That's why Markl asked for you, said you have a history with them."

Sighing heavily, Harry muttered, "Come on, Al," and walked through the smoky gate.

Albus blinked in wonder when he couldn't see his father on the other side, and then a hand appeared and grabbed the front of his robes, pulling him through as well. Once on the other side, the powerful, clean image of Malfoy Manor changed drastically: the hedges were patchy and obviously overgrew in the summer, the smooth walkway from outside the gates was un-shoveled and Albus's feet sank into deep snow, most of the mansion's windows were boarded and the walls covered in thick vines, and the air itself seemed to get colder. Albus shivered and hung close to his father's side.

They clomped through the snow until they came upon an opening in the hedge. Albus looked through and could see Frederick Doeble, a fifth year in Hufflepuff, making a large snowman on top of what was possibly a stone bench under layers of snow. He caught Albus looking and gave a half wave before his eyes traveled to Harry and he stared for a moment before returning to the snowman.

"Go wait with him, Al," Harry said, giving Albus a light push in Frederick's direction.

"But I'm already here!" Albus protested. "Can't I just go inside and see Scorpius?"

"You weren't invited," Harry said flatly.

"But–"

"I said no. You are to stay here, no accidents this time," Harry ordered resolutely with another threatening glare. After a moment of consideration, he added teasingly, "This is part of your punishment. So close to your boyfriend, yet so far away."

Predictably, Albus's face heated up, reddening his cheeks even more than they already were from the cold. "He's not my boyfriend! Man, why do I have to get that from you, too? One thing! I said one thing in first year and everyone took it the wrong way!"

Harry patted him on the back. "Maybe if you didn't talk about him all the time then no one would remember that one thing."

"Not all the time," Albus mumbled and started to stomp off to Frederick. He heard his name called and he turned just in time to catch his father's heavy outer robe. Harry nodded at him and then disappeared from the gap in the hedge. Albus gratefully slipped into the thick, warm robe, not having taken his own in his flight from the house. It was a bit big on him, but that made it all the easier to burrow into. Well, at least his father wasn't so mad as to let him freeze. Maybe he could play the innocent, puppy-eyed card and sidestep his way into a light punishment.

"Was that your dad?" Frederick asked when Albus stopped beside him. "We've started reading on the two Dark Wars, so his name comes up a bunch." He grinned broadly. "Course, with Jamesy and Freddy around, we don't really need the books, right? Can just ask them for all the fun facts."

"I wouldn't trust anything those two say," Albus cautioned humorously and Frederick laughed loudly.

"So, you here to see your darling Slytherin?" Frederick laughed again when Albus started sputtering. "Can't stand to be away, hm?"

"That's not it!" Albus denied, eye twitching in irritation. "I just came along is all! It's not like that anyway. Scorpius and I are just friends."

"Friends, uh-huh," Frederick teased. "That's why he never talks to you but you stalk him, yeah?"

"I'm not stalking him! I just– he's, well– I mean…" Albus struggled to find a way to describe his connection to the Slytherin. "We're friends," he finished lamely.

Frederick chuckled as he hefted the large ball of snow he rolled onto the one that was already waiting on the stone table. "Don't get upset. I'm just teasing you. Besides, all the girls think it's adorable, how you follow him around, trying to get his attention. You should play it up while you can. You want to get in good with the girls. It makes him less threatening, too."

Albus startled at this. "Less threatening?"

"Yeah, you know. 'Cause of his eyes. I remember when your year went through sorting," Frederick explained, starting on a new snowball as he did. "Everyone was talking about how scary the little ghost kid with Death's Eyes was, but with you around him all the time I guess we all just forgot about it, you know? I've only ever seen him smile around you, and the girls are even starting to talk about how he's kinda cute."

Albus stared in shock at Frederick. He hadn't heard anyone say something like that before now. It was always him defending Scorpius against the "Death's Eyes" whispers. But they had been at Hogwarts for more than two years and their underclassmen didn't seem as freaked out by Scorpius as the upperclassmen did. Was it because he was always there, with Scorpius? Making him "less threatening" to the others? Albus often wondered about the other Slytherins in their year and how they felt about Scorpius. Scorpius was surrounded by them constantly, but Albus rarely saw them talking to him. Did Scorpius really only smile around Albus? Did that make him Scorpius's best friend?

A ball of cold ice suddenly covered Albus's face. He quickly brushed away the offending snow and coughed out the ice that had hit him in the mouth, glaring at Frederick who was laughing madly from the other side of the table. "What was that for?"

"Had to get the conceited grin off your face somehow!" Frederick chocked out between laughs. "Inflated that ego of yours, didn't I? Didn't know you were so in love. Can't wait to tell Jamesy!"

"It's not like that!" Albus howled and scooped up his own handful of snow, launching it at the still-laughing Hufflepuff.

Frederick easily dodged and both boys began crazily making snowballs. In just a few moments, they had an all-out war going, each having his own self-created mound-fort on either side of the half-finished snowman. Then Albus's immediate supply was depleted and before he could ball up another round, Frederick came flying over the top of his mound, arms full of snowballs. Albus took off, abandoning his mound, and fled through the opening in the hedge, a snowball barely missing him. He could hear Frederick running and laughing behind him, but ducked quickly under the hedge through a gap that wouldn't have existed had the estate been properly cared for.

A few more turns later, he slowed to a stop, his lungs hurting from huffing and laughing in the cold air. He expected Frederick to be on his heels, but when he turned around he couldn't see Frederick anywhere behind him. Giving another laugh, he called, "Come on! Don't be sneaky about it! I know you're there!"

His response was just the wind blowing over the tops of the hedges. Albus quickly dropped down and made a few more snowballs, gathering them up in his arms when they were ready. He cautiously began easing around the corners of the hedge, feeling as though he were in a maze – and very well could have been. Another couple of long minutes of silence had Albus shifting uncomfortably. He frowned and yelled again, "Hey! It's no fun if you're just gonna wait for me to come to you! Let's go already!"

"Yeah, let's go."

Albus barely had time to turn at the deep voice behind him before he was hit with a blinding white light.

-o-o-o-o-

"–of your mind?"

Albus groaned as he woke up to the two yelling voices.

"Look, he was there, so I grabbed him."

"Yes, you idiot, I can see that. Do you have any idea who that kid is?"

"Of course I do! I just figured we could get something for him, too. You said the guy who wanted the Malfoy brat was still pissin' about the war, so I thought he might also want the Potter kid, you know?"

"The Malfoys are sealed, they can't follow us, but Potter is an Auror! Not to mention most of his relatives are hardcore Order members! We're gonna get locked up in Azkaban!"

"What the hell is Order?"

As they continued arguing, Albus groggily pushed off of the tile floor and slowly sat up, dizzily taking in his surroundings. He was in someone else's kitchen except something felt off about the kitchen, aside from that it wasn't his. He blinked at the two men standing near the door, not recognizing either one of them. He didn't remember going anywhere; he didn't remember much of anything actually. Where had he even been before this? Shouldn't he at home? Winter Break was just starting, right?

"Hello, Albus Potter."

Recognizing that quiet voice instantly, Albus snapped his attention to the table, immediately regretting the action when his head throbbed. But even through blurry eyes he was able to make out the thin form of Scorpius Malfoy, hair that fell over the midnight blue, short sleeper robe shining like moonlight. Albus closed his eyes for a moment but when he reopened them, Scorpius was still sitting before him. Scorpius smiled softly at this and Albus smiled dopily back, still quite confused. He then realized his eyes were level with Scorpius's barely covered and rather nice legs and, blushing, he quickly looked away, again regretting the action when another headache welled.

It's not like that. It's not like that. It's not like that, Albus repeated over and over in his mind. I'm just at that age, he told himself, Even dropping my chopsticks would… He blushed even redder and rubbed at his eyes, trying to force that line of thinking from his head.

"All right, you're awake. Come on, stand up."

Albus felt a strong pair of hands take hold of his arms and he was lifted to his feet, nearly losing his stomach in a wave of nausea. The hands guided him to a chair at the table and he appreciatively slumped into it.

"Hands face down on the table, please."

Obediently placing his hands on the table in front of him, Albus watched as a wand was tapped to each hand, a warm feeling spreading from the taps. When he tried to lift his hands to look at them, they wouldn't budge from the surface of the table. Confused, he glanced over and saw that Scorpius's hands were on the table as well and Scorpius gave him a sad smile in response to his questioning look. Then he felt a tap on his legs and when he tried to scoot in the chair, he found that he was stuck to it, too.

"Here, drink." A glass was held to his mouth. "Water will make you feel better."

Another alarmed, questioning look at Scorpius had the other boy nodding comfortingly and Albus carefully began to drink the water. From the first sip his mind instantly started to clear and the more he drank the more he felt like he was waking up from a hazy dream. As soon as he finished the glass he remembered everything, from the newspaper he'd been reading at his home to the snowball fight with Frederick at Malfoy Manor. He twisted around as best he could with his hands and bum stuck to look at the man giving him the water.

"What is this? What's going on?" Albus demanded. "Where are we?"

The man sighed and set the now empty glass in the sink. "It doesn't matter where we are. Just sit tight and you won't get hurt."

"We've been abducted again," Scorpius explained quietly. His smile brightened a bit. "This brings back memories, hm?"

Albus swallowed against the butterflies that the smile brought back. It's not like that. It's not like that. It's not like that! "What for?" He asked, turning back to the kidnapper. "What's the point of taking us?"

"Look, kid, I don't know," the man groaned. "It's just my job to work these shady deals. I don't know what the guy wants with your friend here. It's your own fault for running straight to my moron of a partner. Just shut up and don't cause me any more problems than I already have."

Albus glared at the man but he only dropped into another chair at the table, pulling out a crossword puzzle to work. With an angry huff, Albus started to look around the kitchen, trying to find a clue to their location. Something about the kitchen still felt off to him… Was it even a kitchen? Maybe it was only magicked to look like a kitchen, to confuse him.

Scorpius noticed him looking and said, "It's a muggle's house."

"Really?" Albus now looked around more curiously and did indeed notice things that weren't normally in his kitchen while several objects that were in his kitchen were missing from this one. "Huh. I wonder how they make toast without a goblin-grabber."

"They use a toaster," the man said gruffly, using a pen – Albus was surprised he had one – to point at a shiny object on the counter. "Now, shut up."

Albus glared again but didn't say anything else. His legs were starting to go numb so he stretched his feet out in front of him. As he did so, his feet brushed against something that he soon realized was Scorpius's leg and he jerked them back against his chair, glancing at Scorpius to see if the other boy noticed. There was a twitch of a smile and Albus felt himself blushing again.

"All right, I'm stuck again," the man said. He looked expectantly at Scorpius. "What's a three letter word for 'poetic your'?"

"Thy," Scorpius answered.

"Thigh? Like your legs?"

Albus, as per usual, was entranced by the way Scorpius's soft hair moved when he shook his head (this often led to his distraction in classes, earning him more than one poor mark because of a botched spell). "No, as in, 'Where are thy allies?' T. H. Y. Thy."

"I see. What about a five letter word for 'raises children'?"

Scorpius considered this for a moment. "'Rears.'"

"Ahh, yeah," the man scribbled the answer in, "That make sense. I kept thinking it was a variation for mother or father."

Albus cocked an eyebrow. "Have you two been doing this long?"

Scorpius gave a slight nod. "It helps pass the time."

"Pass the time? How long have we been here?" Albus asked. Surely no more than an hour could have passed since they were taken from Malfoy Manor.

"I have been here since yesterday evening. You have been here for half an hour," Scorpius informed, biting his lip to keep from grinning at Albus's flabbergasted expression.

"Yesterday evening? You mean, you weren't at your home this morning, when I was there?" Albus's confusion grew at Scorpius's head shake. "But… but the Aurors were there, and Dad and I saw Andrew Witherton and he said that the place had been checked and everything was fine, so if you weren't there then how could everything be fine? Weren't your parents the ones who notified the ministry that something was wrong? You mean, you've been here all night? All by yourself? With this guy? How come my dad didn't know about this? Andrew Witherton didn't look alarmed at all, even Frederick Doeble's mum brought him along! Shouldn't they've known that you weren't there?"

Scorpius waited until Albus stopped to take a breath, accustomed to the Gryffindor rambling when flustered, before explaining, "The ministry is notified any time a certain level of magic is used through a proper wand at the manor. The spell is similar to that of the underage trace. My parents will not speak to anyone they do not trust, so the Aurors that were at the manor when you arrived would, most likely, be uninformed of the situation. And, yes, I was here all night with this gentleman and his accomplice."

Albus stared in shock, mouth open, but the "gentleman" grumbled, "Hey, shut it you two. I can't concentrate with you yapping."

Ignoring him, Albus asked, "They kept you in that chair all night?"

"Don't be a fool," the man snapped, interrupting Scorpius. "I'm not that much of a jackass. Just tied him to one of the beds. Now shut up before I magic your mouth away."

Images of Scorpius tied to a bed wearing nothing but that short, completely leg-revealing night robe were in Albus's head directly, causing him to stir awkwardly and blush so hard he thought his ears might catch on fire. I'm just at that age! That's all it is! It's not like that or anything! He shot a sideways glance at Scorpius like before, only this time Scorpius met his eyes with a perceptive smirk and Albus quickly focused on the table in front of him. Oh Merlin, he knows! He so knows what I was thinking of! But it's not like that, I swear! It's his fault for wearing that anyway! Can't he wear something longer like my old Harpies T-shirt?

The images flashed through his mind again, this time with Scorpius wearing his shirts, and Albus smacked his forehead to the table surface, earning him a glare from the kidnapper and a quiet half-laugh from Scorpius. Albus knew, then and there, that it is indeed possible for ears to catch on fire.

Maybe if his hands sweated enough, the sticking spell would break.

Suddenly, the whole room shook as if something lifted and dropped it quickly. All three bounced in their chairs, Albus and Scorpius finding the jolted movement extra painful as they couldn't brace themselves away from the chairs. The kidnapper dropped his crossword immediately and gripped his wand, standing to his feet so fast that the chair toppled over backwards. There was the sound of someone running down the hall and then the other kidnapper appeared in the doorway, breathing quickly and starting to sweat, clearly panicking.

"What? What is it?" the first demanded, wand raising up defensively. "What the hell was that?"

"There are Aurors outside!" the other choked out. "That was my outer ward! They've already gotten through it! The inner one's next!"

"What?" the first bellowed, starting to panic himself. "How did they find us so soon?"

"Oh, that would be because of me," Scorpius piped in, smiling his secretive smile that had Albus wanting to bang his head on the table again. "I sent a spell-message to my father a little while ago."

Another powerful shake of the house had the two kidnappers stumbling. The crossword one held onto the counter for support and yelled, "And how did you do that, with your hands stuck to that table?"

"Well, the binding spell…"

"Yeah?"

Scorpius lifted his hands freely off the table, holding them up for the two to see, and said with a jaded sigh, "I de-magicked it."

The kidnappers both stared in astonishment. Then the first gave a sigh himself and barely had time to mutter a dejected, "Aww, popcorn whistles," before Aurors burst into the room.

-o-o-

Albus fully expected to never walk again once his father got a hold of him and beat his butt black and blue, but as soon as the "villains" were incapacitated, Harry Potter flew to his son and pulled him in for a hug so tight it made Albus cough and gasp for air. Then he drew back and clasped Albus's face in his hands with a vice-like grip, saying, with a little bit of shaking, "This, this, is why you stay home when I tell you to! This is why you stay put when I tell you to!" And then Albus was drawn in for another air-stealing hug, much to his embarrassment.

"Come on, Harry, let's get the paperwork out of the way so you can take him home," Markl said, appearing next to them. "If you take those idiot snatchers, I'll ask the compulsory questions for these two."

Harry nodded with a sigh and released Albus, giving one last firm hand squeeze on the shoulder. "Yeah, I imagine Mr. Malfoy is ready to go home, too. Al, you know the drill. Just answer everything you know and, for Merlin's sake, don't go anywhere. Just stay in the kitchen."

"Yeah, I know," Albus mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"All right then," Markl started as soon as Harry left. "Give me a moment to fix this place up so the muggles won't come back to a wrecked kitchen, and then we'll get down to the questions, okay?"

Albus nodded and Markl set to work fixing the damage. There was a gentle tug on Albus's sleeve and he glanced back to find Scorpius standing directly behind him, eyes focused on him in that intense way and yet were somehow uneasy at the same time. It gave Scorpius the rare appearance of simply being a young teenager rather than the adept wizard that out-spelled everyone in their year and the two years above. When Albus fully turned to face Scorpius, he expected Scorpius to let go of him, but instead Scorpius slipped the hand down his sleeve till the opening, almost holding hands with him. Albus felt the butterflies start to choke him again.

"Questions?" Scorpius asked, evidently uncomfortable with the idea.

"Ju-just the s-standard questions," Albus stuttered, practically feeling the warmth of Scorpius's hand so close to his. "Things like where we were taken from and how we were treated. Simple questions."

"Oh? Is that all?" Scorpius took a step ever so slightly closer and Albus's knuckles brushed – just lightly – against his bare thigh.

"You know what?" Albus said, voice strained and little high-pitched, as he jerked back from Scorpius. He quickly and clumsily began unfastening his dad's outer robe that he still wore. "You're probably freezing! Only wearing… that… Uh, yeah, you're definitely freezing!"

Peeling the robe off, Albus held it out for Scorpius to take, not meeting the other boy's eyes.

"No, it's okay," Scorpius said, watching him questioningly. "I'm fine. I have warming charms–"

Albus forced the robe into Scorpius's hands. "You're freezing!" he insisted, voice so high-pitched now it was unrecognizable. He didn't even have to look to know that Scorpius was smiling brightly, knowingly, at him.

"Thank you, Albus Potter," Scorpius said warmly, humorously, as he pulled on the robe.

"All right, that's the last of it." Markl walked over to the two of them again, having finished the kitchen repairs. "Just the usual hoopla and then we can get you two– You okay there, Al?"

"I'm fine," Albus muttered, eyes trained on the tiled kitchen floor.

"You sure?" Markl was starting to sound worried. "You're awfully red. Feeling sick?"

"I'm fine," Albus repeated with a little more force.

"If you're feeling sick we can always–"

"I'm fine!"

-o-o-o-o-

"Saw in the Prophet that you had a fun Winter Break."

Scorpius looked up from the textbook he was reading at his three fellow Slytherins entering the train compartment. They were in his year and more or less always stuck nearby to catch any extra notes or essay tips he was willing to share. Not that he minded; it merely displayed their cleverness. After all, keeping on polite terms with the professors' favorite earned them goodwill points, as well as intimidated the students too afraid of getting close to the "ghost Slytherin with Death's Eyes." Though initially this image was depressing, Scorpius had noticed that, recently, the other students seemed to be relaxing in their unjustified fear. The two years under him oddly didn't even appear to notice him.

"I suppose," Scorpius answered, knowing they weren't too interested in details. The Daily Prophet had only mentioned his name just once, focusing entirely on a brave father's rescue of his damsel-in-distress son – Scorpius was positive that Albus was mortified as soon as the owls landed with that one. The thought brought a smile to his face.

The other Slytherins were still sorting their luggage onto the racks when the compartment door slid open again, revealing a determined-looking but pink-cheeked Albus Potter.

"What do you want now, Gryffindor?" one of the Slytherins sighed. Albus hanging around all the time was an accustomed tradition from their first year.

"Uh, hey, yeah…" Albus mumbled, shifting on his feet nervously before saying his usual, "Can I talk to you, Scorpius?"

"Why'd I even bother asking," the same Slytherin muttered.

Scorpius stood and slipped around the other Slytherins so that he could talk to Albus without having to look around the bodies fighting against the luggage, responding in his usual, "Is there something you need, Albus Potter?"

Albus opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by someone shouting, "Oi! Potter, you're blocking the hall!"

With an irritated glare at the offending person, Albus took a couple of steps forward halfway into the Slytherin compartment to make room in the narrow hallway, but Scorpius couldn't take a couple of steps back due to the other Slytherins behind him, leaving them uncomfortably close. Albus felt his palms start to sweat from the closeness, and Scorpius frowned at being trapped.

"Anyway," Albus started again, "About The Daily Prophet, I'm sorry they made it sound the way they did, like it was all about me or something. My dad told me about the seals on your– ow!"

A sharp trunk edge in his back had Albus glaring over his shoulder again as the other person shouted her apology.

"Anyway," Albus continued, "I just want you to know that I've decided I'm going to get all those seals removed. It's just not right!"

"Albus," Scorpius said kindly, and Albus immediately recognized this as the you-are-wrong-and-I-am-correcting-you-gently tone, "there are people in the ministry who would rather die than ever allow that to happen. You'd have to become the Minister of Magic to ever have any sway over changing those laws."

"Then I will become Minister of Magic!" Albus claimed, shooting a, "Shut up!" and the snickering Slytherins in the compartment. He jolted as he was shoved from behind again, having to brace his hands on either side of the door to keep from falling into Scorpius.

"You're in the way, Potter!" came the subsequent excuse.

"I've already made room!" Albus snapped back. As soon as the danger of the latest trunk was gone, he lowered his hands. "Anyway! I'm saying that I'll do it because it's not right and you and your family have just as much right to live freely as everyone else."

"Albus," Scorpius sighed, shaking his head.

"No, I'm serious!" Albus insisted. "You just watch! I'll do so well on exams that I'll rival even you! And I'll keep doing well so that I can get an internship in the ministry, and once I do, I'll–"

"Move it, Potter!"

Albus didn't have time to brace himself against the shove this time and flew forward, right into an unable-to-escape Scorpius, their noses bumping and lips crashing together awkwardly and painfully. Everyone in the crowded hallway and compartment gasped and Albus froze, staring into Scorpius's bright, wide eyes. Then, for a moment, Albus was tempted to really lean in and truly kiss the other.

The sound of someone dropping their trunk in shock snapped Albus awake before he could do so and he shot backwards, bumping into the students behind him. Scorpius's hand flew to his lips and he was still wide-eyed and completely stunned. Albus opened and closed his mouth, barely making noises as he tried to think of something to say. Naturally, someone else beat him to it.

"Great Merlin's pink panties! Albus Potter just kissed Scorpius Malfoy!"

And the message shot off toward both ends of the train faster than fire on oil.

"Potter finally did it! He went for it!"

"Did you hear? He said he was serious about Malfoy!"

"Do we have to worry about chastity-stealing if it's a Slytherin?"

"What took Potter so long? He confessed years ago!"

"Must be puberty! The hormones totally got to him!"

"NO!" Albus bellowed, but everyone ignored him as the gossip continued. "That's not it! Stop saying that!"

A sharp finger poking him in the shoulder had Albus turning back to the compartment that Scorpius was in, except now one of the other Slytherins had stepped in front of Scorpius protectively. Said Slytherin was already a beater for their House and he cracked his knuckles together and stared Albus down threateningly. He didn't say anything, but after a moment of intimidation, he stepped back into the compartment and slammed the door shut in Albus's face.

"Nooo," Albus groaned, knowing that he had just lost his immunity from the Slytherin House and would now be treated like every other Gryffindor, meaning talking to Scorpius would become quite a bit more difficult than it already was. "It was an accident!"

Then someone shouted, "Wait till Jamesy hears about this!"

Albus spun in the direction of shout with a terrified, "No, no, no, no!" and he tried to shove his way through the crowded hall to stop whichever person had the intentions of telling his brother.

"You can't tell him! You can't tell him!"

-o-o-

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