Disclaimer: As much as I love Scorpius Malfoy, I don't own him, or Albus, or anything else in the world of Harry Potter.

Chapter Eleven: Don't You Ever Say That About Yourself

Scorpius woke to find that Albus had fallen asleep with his head in Scorpius's lap.

"Er—Albus Severus?" said Scorpius, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He touched Albus's black hair. It was very soft. "Albus Severus, wake up." It wasn't that he didn't like having Albus close to him, he did, but this seemed a little too...intimate. Frankly, it made him nervous.

Albus blinked and opened his eyes to find Scorpius's deathly pale face starting down into his.

"Scor," he said, sitting up quickly. "H-how are you f-feeling?"

"Not quite so tired," said Scorpius, "though still not too good."

"Do you n-need anything?" asked Albus.

"What I'd really like is to take a shower," said Scorpius.

"I th-think we can ar-range that," said Albus.

Malfoy Manor had a very fancy shower tub with a raised seat. Albus wrapped Scorpius into a bathrobe and slippers and helped him down the hall to the bathroom and into the tub. It was slow going, since Scorpius could still barely stand, but it wasn't very far and they got there without too much trouble.

"C-can you m-manage?" asked Albus, not quite sure whether he wanted Scorpius to say that he needed help or not.

"Yes," said Scorpius.

He slipped off the bathrobe, pulled the curtain, and turned on the shower, letting the pleasantly warm water wash over him and he lathered his body and hair. Merlin but it felt good to be clean. When he was done he turned off the water, dried himself off, and then wrapped the towel around himself. When he pulled back the curtain Albus was right there waiting.

"Here, p-put these on," he said, handing him a fresh set of clothes.

Scorpius did and then let Albus help him out of the bath and back to his bed.

"Le't's t-take you're temp-perature," said Albus, handing Scorpius the thermometer.

Scorpius stuck it under his tongue and waited while Albus adjusted the pillows to make his friend more comfortable.

The thermometer beeped.

"38.1 (100.6). W-well, you've st-till got a f-fever. But it h-has gone d-down. Though you're obv-viously still s-sick.

"I would still like to go outside," said Scorpius, "if it's not too much trouble."

"Of c-course it's not t-too much t-trouble," said Albus. " As l-long as you're up t-to it. I'll b-bring you some b-breakfast first, ok-kay?"

Scorpius nodded. "Sounds great," he said, trying to sound cheery.

Albus went down and brought Scorpius some yogurt. After he had finished as much as he could, Albus helped him swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Brrr," said Scorpius. "The floor is cold."

"I f-forgot," said Albus. "You've g-got a f-fever. Of c-course you're g-going to be c-cold." He grabbed a sweater and a pair of socks. "Here, p-put these on."

Scorpius pulled on the articles of clothing.

"B-better?" asked Albus

Scorpius nodded.

"Alright, p-put your arm ar-round my sh-shoulders again. Th-there you go."

Albus wrapped his own arm around Scorpius's waist and pulled him to his feet. Scorpius swayed for a moment and then steadied.

"You alr-right, Scor?"

"Yeah."

Slowly, the two boys made their way down the hall, down the stairs, and out onto the terrace. Scorpius was very unsteady on his feet and leaned heavily on Albus, who could feel him shaking with the effort of staying upright. His breathing was a bit labored by the time he and Albus reached the terrace and took a seat on the bench.

"S-Scor?" said Albus, "you still ok-kay?"

"As okay as I'm going to get right now," said Scorpius. He turned his face toward the sun. "It's so nice to finally be outside."

Albus watched his friend breath in the morning air. Damn he was beautiful with the sun shining down on his pale hair, still slightly damp from his shower.

Scorpius shivered and Albus rubbed his arm.

"D'you w-want to g-go in?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Y-you can l-lean ag-gains me if you w-want," said Albus.

To his surprise, and Scorpius's as well, Scorpius did just that.

"I don't think my muscles are used to moving again yet," he said ruefully by way of explanation. "I still feel all trembly. Like jell-o."

"I'm j-just glad you're aw-wake," said Albus.

"Me too," said Scorpius.

They were silent for several minutes before Scorpius spoke again.

"The other day—there was something you wanted to tell me."

Albus's heart started pounding. "N-no—it w-was n-nothing."

Scorpius, leaning against Albus's side, felt the other boy's heart accelerate. "Albus Severus, what is it? Is something wrong?" He twisted to look into Albus's face. "Do you want something? Because I—"

"No, no!" said Albus, horrified. "S-Scorpius, y-you d-don't owe m-me anyth-thing."

"I owe you my life," said Scorpius quietly.

Albus shook his head vigorously. "You g-give me t-too much c-credit, Scor. I d-didn't d-do anything sp-pecial. I'm n-not anything sp-pecial. If R-Rosie had b-been there—"

"Rose couldn't have done any better than you did; you know how she gets under pressure. No one could have done any better than you did."

Albus shook his head again. "Y-you're wr-wrong," he muttered, almost inaudibly. "I'm useless. St-tupid and u-useless."

Scorpius gripped Albus's wrist. Even with all his force behind it his grip was weak. "Don't you ever say that about yourself, Albus Severus. Don't you ever, do you understand me? I'm alive today because of you. Not Rose, not anybody else, you. I don't know why you have this—this inferiority complex, and maybe I contributed to it without realizing and if I did I'm sorry, but goddamnit, Albus Severus, you are my best friend for a reason! I can always count on you to be there, whatever happens. How many guys really have a friend like that? How many guys would have done what you did these past weeks? How many guys have a friend who'll put aside their bravado and say, 'yes, I care about you'? You're not stupid and you're not useless, Albus Severus, and I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way."

Scorpius was panting by the end of this speech, but his eyes were flashing with passion. In a distant corner of his mind Albus couldn't help taking note of how sexy that was.

Albus blinked, trying desperately not to let the tears fall from his eyes.

"Sc-cor, it's n-not you, y-you never—"

"But I did, Albus Severus," said Scorpius. "I took you for granted. I acted like a prat. Like a—like a Malfoy," he finished defeatedly.

"Scor," said Albus, "I d-don't care wh-what your l-last name is. You kn-now that. I j-just care th-that you're my f-friend."

Scorpius buried his face in Albus's shoulder, suddenly exhausted.

Albus instinctively wrapped his arms around his friend. "Oh S-Scor, you're still r-really sick. I sh-shouldn't've..."

"It's okay," murmured Scorpius. "Though I'd appreciate it if you never told anyone how pathetic I am right now."

"You're n-not pathetic, Sc-cor," said Albus. "But I w-wouldn't dream of t-telling anyone." He felt Scorpius's forehead. "I t-think your f-fever's gone up ag-gain."

"I feel like a wrung-out washcloth," said Scorpius.

Albus bent and scooped Scorpius up in his arms. "I'll c-carry you b-back to your r-room."

"Oh Albus Severus, you don't have to—"

"I'll c-carry you," repeated Albus firmly.

He staggered only a bit under Scorpius's weight; the other boy, always slight, had become even lighter due to his illness, and Albus's years of playing Quidditch had made him strong despite his shorter stature.

Albus carried Scorpius, cradled against his chest, up the stairs and into the bedroom. By the time he laid him down on the bed Scorpius was fast asleep.

AN: Aw... And Albus gets a pep-talk. Will he now have the courage to tell Scorpius how he feels? Read on and see ;)

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-SQ