By the time Albus stirred and woke, the sun was already setting. Even in his grogginess he could sense they were close to Hogwarts, and when he looked up at Scorpius, a book in his hand and square, thin-rimmed glasses on his nose, he realized that for the first time he was truly happy to be going back to school.

He watched Scorpius' eyes dart from one edge of the page to the other, quickly. Methodically. He always envied the way Scorpius could devour books - textbooks and novels alike. It appeared, though that all that reading had caught up to his eyesight, however.

"Hey," Albus said, his voice scratchy from sleep. Scorpius moved his book away and smiled down at him, using his free hand to brush his hair back.

"Hey, you. You've been asleep for a while."

"These are new," Albus said, reaching up and touching the edge of Scorpius' glasses before lightly touching his cheek. "So are the freckles, though."

Scorpius smiled and took the glasses off. "I finally couldn't read without them. So stupid, reading all those years in the dark. They look silly."

"Oh, leave them on. They're cute."

Scorpius put the glasses back on before looking out the window.

"We're almost there," he said. "Maybe another twenty minutes."

Albus groaned. "I don't want to get there just yet," he said. "Can't we stay on the train?"

"Sadly, no," said Scorpius. "We've got to go in and face another year. Hopefully another relatively quiet one."

"I don't know," said Albus, sitting up, and in the action disturbing the cat who had barely moved. Freya hissed and jumped, running across the compartment to the other side. "I remember the last few weeks of the year being pretty eventful."

Scorpius blushed and tucked his book back in his bag.

"You scared my cat."

"I don't think your cat is going to like me much," said Albus. Scorpius got up and scooped Freya into his arms, where she contentedly curled into his chest, purring as he scratched her head.

"Nonsense," he declared. "She'll like you just fine. She just needs to get to know you is all."

Albus watched as Scorpius swayed back and forth with Freya and frowned deeply. How many more moments like this would he get? If they weren't going to tell people they were together - if this was even together - would it just be like it was before?

"When am I going to get to see you?"

"What?" Scorpius looked down at him, perplexed.

"You said you don't want anyone to know we're... whatever -"

"What?" Scorpius sat Freya back down. "What do you mean, whatever?"

"Well, I said I didn't need public validation, and -"

Albus was cut off. Scorpius knelt down in front of where he was sitting and took both of Albus' hands in his own.

"Just because I don't want people to know doesn't mean I'm ashamed, Albus," said Scorpius. "Don't ever think that. I'm just trying to work a few things out first, is all."

Albus nodded slowly. He wasn't sure what to say - what the right thing would be or where his boundaries were anymore. This was uncharted territory. He hadn't even had a real girlfriend before, so how was he supposed to know what to say or do in a relationship? James hadn't exactly set a good example - none of the Gryffindor girls from his year would even speak to him anymore.

"And don't think that because I want to be quiet that I don't care about you." Scorpius ducked down a bit to see through Albus' hair where it had fallen forward. "I care about you very much."

"I care about you too." Albus looked back at him, meeting his eyes which were pleading, afraid, and urgent all at once. Scorpius had lost so much already, and he couldn't bear to burden him. "I'm not letting this go just because other people are around. There's nothing wrong with us being together."

"And that's what we are," said Scorpius. "I mean, if that's what you want."

"Yes," Albus smiled. "That's what I want. And if we don't tell anyone or act like it in public until you're comfortable and I'm comfortable, that's fine."

Scorpius smiled, took Albus' face into his hands, and kissed him gently and slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, until the train began to slow down. Scorpius tried to ignore it and pretend that they had more time, but when the brakes began to squeal, he had to admit the truth.

"Time's up, I guess," said Scorpius, standing, but once again, Albus didn't let go of his hand.

"We'll find time, right?" Albus asked.

"Of course we will. We're together all the time, right? Some of it's bound to be alone," Scorpius chuckled. Albus released him. and the boys stood up, adjusting their ties and pulling their robes back on. Albus reached over absently and straightened Scorpius' collar as he picked up their bags and handed Scorpius' over.

"Here," said Albus. "I guess I can't be seen carrying your books for you."

Scorpius pulled his bag on and put Freya back in her cage, picking it up too.

"It'll be fine, Albus. We're always fine."

The feast was as it always was - loud and boisterous, and Albus and Scorpius both ate too much. They greeted the new Slytherins as they were sorted, watching as they made their way across the great hall and to the table with shaky knees and nervous smiles.

Scorpius leaned back and muttered to Albus: "We were never that small."

"No, not at all."

They laughed, and dived into the next round of mashed potatoes and chicken legs.

When the feast broke up, the pair took their time walking down to the Slytherin common room, talking about what the new year might bring. Before turning into the dungeons, Scorpius looked up and saw Rose climbing the stairs towards Gryffindor tower with Lily in tow.

"Do you ever wish you'd been sorted into Gryffindor?" Scorpius asked as they turned the corner into the dungeons. "I mean, that's where the rest of your family is."

"No," said Albus without hesitation. "At first I thought I would hate being in Slytherin but it's been much better than I thought. Maybe I just got lucky with the people that are in our year. They don't fit that stereotype."

Scorpius looked ahead of them to the other boys of their year - Flint, Farley and Pucey were all decent young men performed well in class and just happened to come from some of the oldest wizarding families.

They also all happened to be in love with Maggie Goyle, who walked between them, which had led to some tense silence in the evenings last year that Scorpius had monopolized on for quiet reading time.

Maggie had somehow escaped her father's genetics and took after her mother, a German witch who, Scorpius assumed, had married Gregory Goyle for his money.

"But sometimes I think I don't belong down here," said Albus. Older students ushered the first years to the front as this year's Slytherins gathered around the dormitory entrance. "I mean, I'm not particularly talented. Not like you. You're great in all your classes."

"Not true," said Scorpius. The first years began filing into the common room, and the appropriate oohs and aahs could be heard at the back of the line. "I mean, you're right that I'm good in all our classes, but you're great in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. And sometimes in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Okay, well Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology don't require any magical talent, and I was being taught defense before I was five because of my dad's paranoia, so I'm not sure that counts as talent."

"But you're still really good at them, and you get by at everything else."

"I'm going to have to try harder this year," said Albus. They entered the common room and Albus breathed in the scents of leather, black tea, and oak. The dark glow from the lake windows made Albus feel like he was somewhere else - entirely removed from Hogwarts, his home, and everything he knew, and it was exactly what he needed.

"Hey, Potter! Malfoy!"

The boys looked up to see Flint and Pucey already reclining by the fireplace couch, making it known that this was their spot and no one else's before it could be contested. Albus and Scorpius walked over to them and sat down on the nearby coffee table. Scorpius gave Pucey a quick whack on the head as he passed by, as was their custom.

"So did everyone have a good summer?" Albus asked. He pulled off his robe and Scorpius noticed that the back of his shirt was untucked and had to check the reflex to fix it.

Pucey nodded. "Went to Australia for most of it. Thought of you, Malfoy - I got stung by a scorpion. Hurt like hell."

"Ugh," said Flint. "That sounds awful. I actually wound up in America for a bit. Dad had some business with the Magical Congress, so we were in New York for most of it. Went hiking a bit south though, in the mountains. Found a Wampus cat."

"Those are pretty rare," said Albus.

"Yeah, and they're mean," said Flint.

"Dad and I went around the world touring some magical monuments and such," said Scorpius. "We went to Egypt, Paris, Australia, China, Japan, and Russia."

"I hung out with my sister."

The other three boys looked at Albus.

"Yeah. I know. Clearly, I win."

Pucey laughed. "It's ok, Albus. You can't win 'em all."

"I don't win any of 'em," said Albus. "The farthest I've been out of the country was when dad went with the Minister to Germany a year ago and I complained until he took me with him."

"But you had a good time, remember?" Scorpius nudged him. "You went to Berlin."

"For a day."

"Well, it's something." Scorpius looked down, somewhat ashamed. He knew the Potters were well off - they had a nice house and never really wanted for anything, but Harry and Ginny were dedicated to supporting their family instead of living solely off of the money James and Lily had left behind, meaning long vacations were few and far between.

"At least we're back here now," said Pucey. "I was actually starting to miss this dungeon."

"I miss it when we're on break," said Scorpius. "It's funny. I didn't really like Hogwarts too much for the first few years. Now I wonder what life will be like when we're gone."

"No time to worry about that now," said Farley as he approached. "We've got a whole year of Quidditch and parties and Hogsmeade visits to look forward to."

Albus smiled to himself and looked at Scorpius beside him as he and Farley began talking about their course schedules. He had an entire year stretched ahead of him with his friends and Scorpius - his best friend? No, his person. And he couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Author's Note: Please let me know if there are any errors or typos - I don't have a beta reader at the moment and I'm writing a lot for work and just don't see them after a while.