Even though they had met on the train in the fall, Albus would always equate the Scorpius with summer. He would always think of him in the way he was now, first and foremost. Happy, sunburt, and smelling of coconut sunscreen. Drenched in sun and shining like a fucking angel of Muggle religion – halo and all.They met on the train, but they grew closest in the sun. In the summer air, being reckless children together. Living up to their Gryffindor title by creating all sorts of havoc on both their households. But mostly, lying in the grass behind Scorpius' home – a cottage by the sea – making shapes out of clouds and whispering secrets. They could be themselves with one another.And they could slowly fall in love.Albus wasn't even really sure how it happened. He hadn't given all that much thought to Scorpius being anything more than a friend to him. What they had was just…what they had. It was normal for them, even if they were a bit closer than maybe some friends should be. They held hands and shared beds, but for the first few years that was all it was. It was friendly.And then in the summer before fifth year, something broke. It broke slowly, like a rising sun. Consuming them in a light over time and before they even knew it, they were in bright and shining daylight. Before they knew it, they were linking their fingers a little tighter than usual and waking up in the morning with limbs entwined. Just like that…. They never even had a conversation about it. One day, they both just seemed to know what had shifted in their relationship and went along for the ride.The aroma of Scorpius in the summertime changed then, too. He started to savor the warmness of the boy's sun-kissed skin. He started to take longer pulls of his coconut sunscreen. And after they finally had that first real, intimate kiss under the clear and bright stars, he started to savor that too. The chapped feel of Scorpius' lips and the way his body arched in like he was giving every bit of himself over to Albus.Being close to Scorpius took on a whole new and secret meaning. Sneaking off with him behind the broom shed began to feel forbidden instead of a silly game of hide and seek from Lily. Touching his leg under the table at Sunday dinner was exciting where it had once felt so normal. What they had was suddenly so exciting, even though most of what they did was the exact same as before."You know…I like kissing you," Scorpius whispered on one of their last nights cuddling under the moon.Albus went a bit red, not realizing that was something that had to be said. Maybe he should have been the first to say it. There was a little nugget of worry fluttering in his belly telling him Scorpius must be upset he hadn't. "Um…I like kissing you, too," he said quickly, rolling a little closer into Scorpius' arms. "A-and just being with you, really. I like you. A lot. And I really like this summer. I don't want it to end….""It's not going to end," Scorpius laughed and Albus could feel him smiling into the mess of his hair.It was only half a thought, but Albus very nearly made him promise him of that. He almost made him guarantee forever before letting that be all they said on the matter. But that felt so…firm. It felt like a push into a direction they might not be fully ready for.
As he awoke in Scorpius' arms but so far removed from him, Albus found himself wishing he had. If he had made Scorpius promise, maybe his heart wouldn't hurt this much every morning. And maybe everything in the world would be completely different. Maybe that could have even been the key to saving Lily. Maybe that was the one catalyst that sent their current reality spiraling out of control.
Pushing the thoughts of summer kisses and warm skin from his mind, Albus gently pried himself away. Forcing himself back into the current reality of his life and vowing to try and forget all about that summer completely. This was the beginning of their last and most important school year and he wasn't about to ruin that with wistful dreams of coconut sunscreen.