Albus stared in surprise while Scorpius gamely tried to keep the smug smile off his face. He didn't succeed at all.
"You planned that?!"
"Of course. What else was I supposed to do? I'd been hanging around, flirting with you for weeks and you never responded. I was starting to think you were in love with that idiot."
"I wasn't! As if I could love someone like Josh!" Albus was indignant. "I just..." he hesitated.
"What?" Scorpius said as he caressed his boyfriend's cheek.
"Josh was my first boyfriend and...I liked him."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "He was a bit too full of himself, I'll admit," Albus said. "And he was a bit empty headed."
"Typical Gryffindor, in fact," Scorpius drawled.
"Hey! Don't knock Gryffindors," Albus said goodnaturedly.
"Fine. But I'll never understand what you saw in that guy."
Albus sighed. "Honestly, I didn't see much. He was good looking and he was nice. But I realised after the first few dates that I didn't really care about him. But I couldn't just dump him."
"Why ever not?!"
"Because you can't do that to someone. At least, not without a reason."
Scorpius rolled his eyes again. "Not caring about someone is a reason, you idiot," he said.
"I know. But he seemed to care about me and I didn't want to hurt him."
"And then he went and hurt you. How bloody perfect!"
It was Albus' turn to look smug. "He didn't hurt me. I was hoping he'd get sick of me and break up with me, but the dolt went and cheated. Not that I cared. I'd been doing my best to push him away."
"Didn't look like that to me," Scorpius grumbled.
Albus smiled. "I can be subtle, you know," he said, as he ran his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. "I stopped hanging out with him unless we were on a date and even then, I never let him get beyond a kiss. I told him I was shy," Albus said and then he laughed.
Scorpius stared, his eyes wide. "Shy, my arse! You're anything but. I can't believe McMillan bought that."
"It goes with the whole Hufflepuff persona, love."
"But...you were with him for six months! The poor bloke must have been so frustrated!"
Albus laughed again. "He was. Believe me, he was."
"Albus Potter, you are a wicked man."
"Just a little bit."
"Dumping him would've been kinder."
"Yes. But that would've hurt his pride and his image. The Gryffindor Quidditch captain being dumped by a lowly Hufflepuff like me...imagine the scandal. Now he's come off looking like a player and that suits him just fine."