"Are they even going to let you graduate tomorrow?"
Albus shrugged, avoiding Scorpius' look. Avoiding his judging stare. He didn't have the right to look at him like that. He didn't have the fucking right. For months he didn't seem to give a single care what Albus was doing with his time. But now that it was over for him, he suddenly had concerns? "They're not going to kick Harry Potter's son out of Hogwarts on graduation day. Of course they'll let me. I just won't be able to get a decent job anywhere…. Then I'll really be a disappointment to my dad. I'm rather looking forward to it."
He'd taken his N.E.W.T.s. Since he hadn't attended a single class from second term, however, his scores were likely to be low. Lower than low. Most of his answers were bullshit, as he didn't really care anyway. A break from the wizarding world was starting to seem like a refreshing possibility, anyway. If he could escape his name for even a day….
"So…I guess you've given up on all of our plans." Scorpius' voice was tight, like he was holding back an intense emotion. It was the only reason Albus looked up at him. Some part of his perfect put-upon exterior was crumbling. The tension between them had definitely let up over the previous few months. They were on better terms. But conversations still felt tight and uncomfortable. And things they used to do seemed forbidden. Even sitting this close to Scorpius felt like a bad idea. It was their last night at Hogwarts and they were taking full advantage of the relaxed rules. Just like old times, they were sitting under the stars – only this time it was up in the Astronomy Tower. Just like old times, Scorpius searched the sky for his constellation and pointed it out to Albus like an elusive treasure. Just like old times, Albus found his wonderstruck grin infectious.
Unlike old times, things returned to awkward before that constellation even reached its peak in the sky. "Why do you care?" he snapped, shifting his position so they were no longer hip-to-hip. "It's not like you want to live with me anymore, anyway! Don't you still hate me for breaking your heart…?"
Scorpius' kiss caught him completely by surprise. One moment, Albus was doing everything he could to keep his knee from touching Scorpius' thigh. The next, Scorpius was kneeling in front of him with a fistful of his hair, pulling him in to a deep and anger-fueled kiss.
It only lasted a few seconds. Just long enough for Albus' stomach to drop, but short enough that he couldn't comprehend kissing back. "I do hate you," Scorpius said as he pulled back, his fingers still painfully tight around Albus' messy locks. "Being around you still hurts. Because I want you…but I know I shouldn't go down that road again. I don't think we can ever go back there, Al…. And watching you fuck up the rest of your life because you don't know how to process my very real feelings makes me only hate you more.
"But I love you, too, Albus." Scorpius' voice broke, but he kept a straight face. Albus supposed he had a lot of practice by now. The fingers relaxed in his hair as Scorpius settled back on the stone. So close, yet so far away. "And I care. And…I do still want the future we planned together. The one we planned before we started dating. Get an apartment, make our own way in the world, away from our parents' reputations. Sharing a career path may be out of the question now, but it doesn't mean we have to throw it all away. We'll figure it out.
"If you still want to, that is."
"More than anything," Albus whispered, feeling a wave of unidentifiable peace settling inside of him for what seemed like the first time in the last year and a half.