AN: In case no one's been paying attention or they've forgotten, Scorpius has a natural charm and people seem to instantly 'take' to him. The same is true of a friend I once had and I was always somewhat envious, which inspired this chapter. How might Albus feel about having to work harder for people to like him?

Oh, and once again, I warn you: This is a fucking slash! I thought that might be apparent by now, and yet there are STILL people messaging me, complaining about it. For God's sake, people. IT'S A SLASH!

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters or anything even remotely related to the Harry Potter Franchise, except my own copies of the books and some merchandise.

Disagreement

Neither Scorpius nor Albus knew how their fathers would react to the news that they were together. Albus wanted to tell them; Scorpius didn't think it was anyone else's business.

"We shouldn't have to sneak around, like criminals!" Albus argued. "We have every right. . . We have something beautiful and everyone should know"

Scorpius shook his head, playing with a quill he was using to scribble down notes. The boys were sitting in the attic (which was clean and airy). The blonde sat huddled around a tiny cauldron in the centre of the room, while Albus paced around in circles. Scorpius enjoyed making potions in his free time, especially ones that weren't on the school syllabus.

"No one needs to know the details about our relationship, Ally. The can see that we're really close. Why tell them how close?" Scorpius replied, putting the quill down and giving the simmering potion a stir.

They'd had this argument a few times before over the holiday, and reached no consensus. Lily poked her head above the trap door from the room below. She smiled at the sight of the two boys and clambered up the rickety stairs.

"Hi, guys. What'ya making, Scor?" she said brightly.

"Felix Felicitus. It has to brew for another six months" Scorpius replied, staring at the bubbling golden potion that was dancing about within the tiny cauldron. "We're going to hide it here and retrieve it in the summer break"

"Why such a small quantity?" Lily asked, taking a seat on the floor opposite Scorpius.

"It's horribly difficult, and possibly dangerous. I don't want to get in over my head by making a huge amount" he replied.

"Not to mention, it uses really rare ingredients that are expensive" Albus added, ceasing his rounds around the small room.

"Sit down, Ally" Scorpius gestured the space next to him. Albus gave in and took a seat beside his blonde beauty.

"I think you should come out" Lily commented, indicating that she'd been listening in before she showed her face.

"We don't know how my dad or your parents will react to the information that their sons are fags, Lily" Scorpius said, eyes not moving from the golden potion's uneven surface.

"Do you have to say it like that?" Albus asked, annoyed. "Are you ashamed of me or something?! Or ashamed of us?"

Scorpius rubbed his eyes. They were burning slightly from the invisible fumes of the potion. "You know it isn't like that" he responded quietly.

"Then what is it?" Albus said angrily. He inhaled and exhaled after hearing his own tone of voice. He was calming down.

"Your family likes me, Ally"

"Not Uncle Ron! And not Rose" Lily interrupted. Albus shot her a death-glare.

"And I don't want to jeopardize that. If I had to spend my holidays away from you, I would suffer. Is that what you want? Me to agonize and pine for you, all summer? All Christmas?" Scorpius said softly. He looked into Albus's eyes.

"You're emotionally blackmailing me" Albus said sulkily. "And anyway, my family would still like you. Everyone does" there was a hint of jealousy in the last part, as well as the weight of a thousand words unsaid.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Scorpius asked, slightly aggressively. Lily looked about awkwardly. She felt out of place now, and she didn't like the open air of hostility that was filling the air.

"Nothing. I'm going to go for a fly on my Viper. See you later" Albus got up and descended the steep, narrow stairs hurriedly, leaving Lily and Scorpius sitting there to stare at the golden potion.

"He'll freeze out there" Lily commented after a minute of painful silence.

"Let him freeze" Scorpius said. Lily looked at him and noticed tears brimming to his eyes. The normally pale grey irises were brightened by the redness that surrounded them.

"Scorpius?" Lily said gently, wanting to make him feel better but not knowing how. She knew that her brother never did find her comforting, but she hoped she could at least be of use to her brother's boyfriend.

"I'm sorry Lily! I'll. . . be back for dinner" he said, and rose gracefully to his feet.

"Where are you going?" she asked, concerned. She'd never seen Scorpius lose his composure.

"To lock myself in Al's room until he comes back" Scorpius left in a dramatic swirl of his cloak.

AN: Oh dear, an awkward dinner coming up. Dudes, I was really disappointed with the lack of enthusiasm in the last chapters. . . I even posted them together for you! Please review! I've written up to Chapter 38, so I'm really eager to post, but I'm not going to if no one likes my story anymore

Next Chapter: Problem

Lily looked at Scorpius, and then Albus, and back again, trying to see a trace of communication –an unspoken apology- but saw only two boys trying really hard to avoid each others' gazes.

. . .to be continued!