Author's Note: Scorpius's parents come home in this one...

-SQ

Disclaimer: Through I'm pretty sure it's implied by the fact that the story is on this site, I am not in fact J.K. Rowling, meaning that I do not in fact own Harry Potter or anything affiliated.

Chapter Sixteen: WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?

Albus and Scorpius spent most of their last full day together strolling hand in hand through Malfoy Manor's elaborate gardens. Part of Scorpius was appalled at this. We look like a cheesy romance novel! But when he looked into his best friend/boyfriend's face and saw the utter happiness that radiated from him, he decided he could deal with a bit of cheesy romance.

I don't think I've ever seen Albus so relaxed, he realized, even around me. Being gay is a big thing to hide, especially from yourself. No wonder he was constantly on edge. At least my feelings were buried so deep that I wasn't constantly battling with my subconscious. Poor Albus Severus...

Scorpius stopped underneath an arched trellis laden with climbing rose vines.

"Are you tired, Scor?" asked Albus, his handsome face creasing in a worried frown.

"No," Scorpius reassured him, anxious to erase the frown from Albus's features. "No, I'm fine, really." He took Albus's other hand and drew him closer. "How are you?"

"Wonderful," said Albus, pleasantly surprised by the gesture. He leaned his head against Scorpius's chest and the blond encircled him with his arms.

"I'm sorry," said Scorpius after a moment.

Albus raised his head to look at him. "What for?"

"For any pain I've caused you. For pushing you away when you first told me you loved me. For all the times I've been a right git. For every time I seemed to care more about being macho than about my best friend. For letting you idolize me, even reveling in it, when I didn't deserve it. For—"

Albus cut him off with a kiss. "Shhh," he whispered against Scorpius's mouth, shocked to taste tears there. "Shhh, Scor, don't cry. No one's perfect. I never thought you were, I never expected you to be. You don't have to be. I love you."

"I don't deserve you," said Scorpius as he returned the kiss. "You think you're a wimp, but I'm the real wimp, too afraid to let my emotions show."

"I always admired the way you could hide your emotions from the rest of the world," said Albus, as he let his hands rove over Scorpius's chest.

Scorpius laughed. "Really? I always admired the way you could let yours show." He stroked Albus's hair.

Conversation ceased for several minutes as the two boys lost themselves in each other's lips and hands.

"Are you scared about tomorrow?" asked Albus once they had once more set out on the garden path.

"A little," admitted Scorpius. "It's strange, I've always thought of my mother as the perfect mother; she provided me with everything I wanted and needed, stood up for me, listened when I needed to talk, took care of when I was sick... And yet, she's actually very manipulative; I never dated anyone unless my mother approved of them, I never wore anything my mother hadn't picked for me, she decorated my room, dictated my preferences, chose what classes I took for O. and N.E... she even decided who I was friends with, except for you and Rose of course. The only battle I ever won against her was my hair. She said long hair was too girly, but I refused to come out of my room so she could show me off to her friends until she promised to let it be."

Albus squeezed Scorpius's hand. "I like your hair. I don't think it's girly at all."

Scorpius smiled at him.

"It's okay if you don't want to go through with this," said Albus after another couple minutes of walking. "We don't have to tell them if you don't want to. I understand."

Scorpius shook his head. "No. I'm tired of being my mother's pawn. I'm my own person goddamnit! It's time she accepted that!"

Albus put a hand on his boyfriend's shaking shoulder. "What if she makes you choose?" he asked softly.

Scorpius slumped onto a bench and put a hand over his eyes. "If she'd rather lose a son than gain one, that's her problem."

Albus's eyes blurred with tears. "You don't have to do that for me."

"I'd be doing it for me," said Scorpius. "For us."

Albus put a firm arm around Scorpius's shoulders. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," he said. "Come on, love" he added, "I don't know about you, but I'm famished."

*****TWAMM*****

The majority of the next day was spent tidying up the manor. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had taken the house-elves with them on their vacation, claiming that looking after themselves would help the boys "build character" and two teenage boys alone for three weeks are not generally the neatest, especially when one of them is focusing on keeping the other one alive. There were dishes to wash, trash to take out, floors to sweep, beds to make, counters to dust, books to put away, clothes to hang up, and all manner of other things to do to restore the manor to the pristine condition expected by Astoria Malfoy. Albus, of course, was loathe to let Scorpius do any of the dirty work.

"No, Scor, let me take that, it's heavy."

"No, Scor, I can do that, don't worry about it."

"Oh no, Scor, here I can do it."

"Albus Severus, it's my house," said Scorpius finally after Albus had stopped him from doing something for the tenth time that day. "And I'm perfectly capable of putting the towels away."

Albus smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Scor," he said, handing said towels back to the blond. "I guess I'm just feeling a little protective."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Albus Severus, but I am no longer at death's door." He kissed Albus's forehead. "I don't even have a fever anymore. Honestly, I'll be fine."

"I suppose you're right," conceded Albus. "Just make sure to—"

"—tell you if I start to feel light-headed or dizzy or tired," said Scorpius, chuckling. "I know."

"I've already said that, haven't I?" said Albus.

"Only a half dozen times," said Scorpius with a smirk.

"Sorry," said Albus.

"Don't worry about it," said Scorpius fondly. "I find your concern endearing. Now, though, I think I'll go put these towels away."

*****TWAMM*****

Scorpius and Albus finally finished putting the manor back into shape at five o'clock, an hour before Scorpius's parents were scheduled to arrive home. The two boys flopped down on the living room couch, exhausted.

"How are you feeling, Scor?" asked Albus, stroking the blond's head, which was currently pillowed in his lap.

"My head hurts a little," Scorpius confessed. "But I think that might just be stress."

"You do look kind of pale," said Albus, switching to massaging Scorpius's temples.

Scorpius closed his eyes and sighed with pleasure. "You should become a masseuse," he murmured.

"Then you'd have to share my skills," Albus teased.

"On second thought..."

He sat up and began nuzzling Albus's neck. Albus squirmed and gripped Scorpius's shoulders tightly. Scorpius moved his lips up Albus's neck until they met Albus's own, supporting himself with his hands on Albus's shoulders. Albus moaned and laced his fingers through Scorpius's hair, lips desperately searching for a way to bring him even closer to the other boy.

They were interrupted by a shrill scream.

Both boys jerked up. Scorpius lost his balance and fell off the couch, hitting his head against the corner of the coffee table. Albus immediately dropped to his knees beside the blond, cradling his head in his arms and staring up into the irate blue eyes of Astoria Malfoy.

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE!"

Scorpius winced. The fall had not helped his headache.

"Mother...you're early..."

"And a good thing too! If this is the kind of thing that goes on behind my back!"

"Mrs. Malfoy," said Albus, "I can explain..."

"There is no need for an explanation," she said, her voice deathly cold. "It is perfectly obvious what is going on here. You have forced yourself and your dirty ways on my son and made him participate in your vulgar, unnatural actions!"

"That isn't true, Mother!"

Scorpius was on his feet now, glaring daggers at his mother. "Albus Severus didn't force anything on me, he didn't make me do anything. You're the only one doing any forcing around here! I've always lived my life the way you wanted me to, according to your rules! I am not a doll, Mother, and I refuse to be treated like one any longer! I love Albus Severus, and nothing you can do or say is going to change my mind!"

Astoria's eyes were nearly popping out of her head. "How can you betray your own mother like this? After all that I've done for you? You love some...some fagot more than you love me?"

"Don't call him that," said Scorpius in a voice that was pure steel. "Leave Albus Severus out of this. I love you, Mother, you know I do, the question is, do you love me enough to accept me for who I am?"

Astoria opened and closed her mouth several times, but no words came out. Finally she burst into tears and buried her face in her husband's chest.

"Where did we go wrong, Draco? Our son...our only son...where did we go wrong?"

Draco patted his hysterical wife on the back. "I assume this wasn't the way you intended for us to find out," he said, addressing the two teenagers.

"No, Father," said Scorpius.

"But you were going to tell us?"

"Yes, Father."

"How long...?"

"Only a few days, Mr. Malfoy," said Albus, forcing himself to meet the elder Malfoy's eyes, which were so like Scorpius's, only without any of the warmth.

"You must have known what this would do to your mother," Draco said to Scorpius. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," said Scorpius.

"Wait here," instructed Draco in a voice that was not to be disobeyed. "Both of you."

He steered his wife upstairs, leaving the two boys alone together once more.

Albus immediately embraced Scorpius. "Scor...Scor, I'm so sorry..."

"It isn't your fault," said Scorpius.

"If I hadn't told you I loved you—"

Scorpius gripped his wrists. "Then I'd still be missing a part of myself I never even knew was there. Don't blame yourself for my mother's bigotry."

Albus looked up and noticed a glint of crimson in Scorpius pale hair.

"Scor! You're bleeding!"

"It must be from when I hit my head on the coffee table," said Scorpius.

Albus sat Scorpius on the couch and ran into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a damp cloth, which he pressed to the cut on Scorpius's head.

Scorpius winced. "That hurts."

"I'm sorry, love," said Albus, inspecting the cut. "It's not deep, thank Merlin. Are you dizzy at all?"

"Maybe a little," said Scorpius. "My head hurts something fierce."

"No wonder," said Albus, "with the fall and then all that yelling."

Draco reappeared at the foot of the staircase.

"What are you doing?" he asked, glaring at Albus.

"Scorpius hit his head when he fell," said Albus, trying desperately to keep his voice from quavering. "It was bleeding and I—"

"You're not a healer!" growled Draco.

"Father, he knows what he's doing," said Scorpius.

Draco turned his glare on his son and noticed for the first time his pale, sunken appearance. "Scorpius, are you ill?"

"Not really, Father," said Scorpius, "that is, not anymore. I was, perhaps deathly so, but Albus Severus took care of me." Scorpius laid his hand over Albus's. "He saved my life, Father."

"You were ill?" said Draco, color seeping out of his cheeks. "Deathly ill? Why didn't you contact us at once?"

"I didn't think it was such a big deal, I told Albus Severus not to owl anyone. By the time we realized how serious it was the owls were gone, and we were out of Floo Powder. Albus Severus was amazing, Father. I could never have done what he did."

Draco pursed his lips. "First thing is to get you to Saint Mungo's, I won't trust that you're alright until a trained professional tells me so. As for you," he said, turning to Albus. "I am not finished with you. You will accompany us to Saint Mungo's and then"—here he glared first at one boy and then the other—"we have a few things to sort out."

AN: Well...that could have gone better...but at least they got some adorable time in before it was ruined, right? The review button is right down below, just in case you've forgotten ;)

-SQ