Work Text
Friday, 1st August, 2025
Scorpius.
Scorpius was not coping with the finality of the situation. He was one week away from starting his new job and he was worried he had made a terrible mistake choosing history over healing. His home situation with his dad was getting intense because he was about to move out for good and he knew that Draco wasn’t coping. To top it off, his owl was on strike because he had sent too many anxious messages to Albus so he had nobody to rant to. He always missed living with Albus over the summer, but the stress of looking for somewhere to live together and there being no guarantee that it would work out had been making it difficult. Not to mention they were both already stressed about the end of an era.Albus was being intentionally difficult about it, with his usual truculent attitude. Scorpius could usually read him, but he was too stressed to be patient and he didn’t understand why Albus was being so particular about kitchen cabinets and having to climb up one flight of stairs when he would be using the floo to get to and from work anyway. And there was that promise that this step meant something more than just keeping their relationship the way it was.When he really thought about it, Scorpius knew Albus was being angry at everything as a coping mechanism. It was irritating but it was very Albus. Just like Scorpius knew he was being erratic and talking too much and overworking his poor owl to help him cope. How do you move on from years of doing the same thing every day? If he has learnt anything about his friend, it was that he did not cope with change well and at this point, Albus had nobody to take the stress out on than his soon-to-be housemate.
Breath.
He still wanted an Albus hug more than anything and he was sure he was going to get one as soon as he pulled himself together. He allowed himself to take some comfort in that, tied his tie and got into the floo.
Albus.
His fucking shirt was already creased. His hair was doing something very weird. And not even the usual weird where his fringe flicked in an odd way, it was sticking up at the sides. It never did that. He should ask his dad for the spell that flattened hair, but he was not asking for help. He would just go about his day looking like one of those penguins with the yellow hair and a wizard who clearly doesn’t know how to do ironing spells. Scorpius was good at those so he hadn’t bothered to learn properly.Albus felt no shame in loving the co-dependence.Albus grumbled to himself. He felt bad for snapping at Scorpius last night, but Albus could feel his anxiety through the pages of his letter and his friend must know that he was feeling like that too.The lack of routine was freaking him out. He was actually really sad about leaving Hogwarts and he was focusing really hard on not letting that sadness spiral out of control.He was pissed that Scorpius couldn’t understand that and send him something soothing. Like cakes or a joke. Or imaginary exam results in which they do very well and all their dorm mates fail. He just wanted to snuggle and not think about what that meant, because that was just something they did now.Shit, at that moment he realised that this is probably freaking Scorpius out too.Why was he so thoughtless? Although Albus did silently congratulate himself on this eventual realisation.That’s why Scorpius is anxious.Now he felt really bad. Again.He needed Scorpius right now, and he was pushing him away.The destructive cycle continues.He needed to figure out how to tie his tie. He’d had countless lessons with Scorpius but in the end Scorpius just did it for him every morning, it wasn’t worth the time they wasted. He was determined to get it right today, to show some level of personal growth.Albus starred in the mirror. Its three steps. Loop around, thread up, thread through. Nope, it still didn’t look like a tie. What’s the fucking spell for this? Loop around, thread up, thread through.“You bitch.” He mumbled, frowning at it.
Breath.
What was wrong with his fingers?
Hogwarts.
There was something beautiful about Hogwarts over the summer break. The building was never completely empty but the lack of noise from thousands of teenagers made the place feel quite still. The first Friday of August was right in the middle of the summer and the day where Hogwarts felt alive again. They didn’t actually call it graduation, and there wasn’t a ceremony- this is a British school, after all- but the final year students and their parents were invited back for the day to collect their exam results, have a feast and say goodbye to their classmates.The Potters had made a point of going alone with Albus, so he knew the day all was about him, but as soon as they entered the building it became very clear to them that they wouldn’t be seeing him all day, as he sped off in the direction of the tiny blond family at the other end of the entrance hall.Draco rolled his eyes dramatically and walked towards the Potters, leaving the boys alone.“Ok, Draco?” Harry asked, shaking his hand.“Yes. Amused. They’re adorable.” Draco replied, with a smirk.Ginny nodded. “Albus has been stressed. He keeps shouting at inanimate objects. I hope they can have a good chat today. They need closure.”“Why in Merlins name does Scorpius want to live with someone who shouts all the time?” Draco joked.“Are you ok, Draco?” Harry questioned gently.Draco smiled and sighed. “Shall we go and sit?” “Hey.” Scorpius smiled.Albus breathed, grabbing his arm and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. “I missed you.” He mumbled into it.It had been three years since Albus had started to be emotionally honest with him, and it still took Scorpius aback because he was so closed up to everyone else. He was quite honoured.“Better?” Scorpius asked.“Better.”They pulled away. Albus was grinning at Scorpius, cheeks wrinkled and eyes twinkling in the summer light.“Your hair is weird.” Said Scorpius, in a matter of fact tone.Albus raised his eyebrows. “Bit rude.”“No, you look lovely but are you aware that you look like a macaroni penguin?”“Yes, Scorpius. I look fine.” He scowled. “You are the only teenager on the planet who knows the names of specific penguins.”Scorpius giggled. “Aw, you’re sensitive today.”“Shut up.”Scorpius kept giggling, looking at Albus’s scowl. “Come on, there’s a smile behind that prickly exterior.” He kept laughing, the giggles spreading down into his belly. “Come on, don’t be a git.”“I am not a git! Since when do you say words like that? Swearing is my thing.” Albus complained.“Is it, bitch?” Scorpius whispered.Albus couldn’t help it, the word sounded so wrong falling from Scorpius’s mouth, and joined in the giggling.“Do we have a few minutes to go for a walk? Just while we can’t get our results and our parents aren’t proud slash disappointed.” Albus asked.Scorpius sighed. He had given up telling Albus that he was going to do well. His grades had always been more consistent that Albus, but they were both talented in their own rights.“Favourite staircase?”Albus smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling through the crowd, up to the second floor. There was a staircase in the charms corridor that had become a safe space for them. You had to go looking for it, but it wasn’t so far out of the way that teachers ever made them move and there was a really pretty view of the lake at an angle that didn’t remind them of the time-turner.Scorpius had had no less than six panic attacks here in fifth year before he learned to deal with his exam anxiety, and before Albus learnt to deal with his panic attacks.Scorpius dragged Albus up here at the end of the week in sixth year when he’d looked like he wanted to cry for three days and gently pushed a confession that he had somehow kissed both Alice and Ethan at James’s birthday party and was very confused about his feelings. Scorpius cheered him but by deeming him “beautiful bisexual Albus” and vowing not to let this news spread because he could see “Potter’s son is a slut” plastered all over the Daily Prophet.Every year, on the sixth of October, they came up here to celebrate Astoria’s birthday with tears, cuddles and pepper imps.They had never been picked on here. It was safe.Albus spoke first, making Scorpius jump. “I’m terrified.” He paused. “I’ve hated most of my time here but I don’t know anything else.”Scorpius nodded. “It will be lovely not to get bullied as much, and I’m excited about the next chapter. But the security of knowing Hogwarts is waiting at the end of summer is just suddenly going away.”“I miss it.” Albus turned to face Scorpius. “I’m sorry I’ve been so grumpy.”“Its ok. I love you for being grumpy.” Scorpius nudged him.“Are we even ready?” Albus whispered. “How do we even know that.”Scorpius shrugged. “We have to be. And we have each other.”There was a silence.“It’s still just us?” Albus asked.“What?”Albus sighed. “I’m ok with one thing changing at a time. I think.” He took a breath. Scorpius prepared himself for a very well-calculated speech that would take Albus a while. “I can deal with school ending and I’m so excited to get a flat with you and start my job. But. You’re always talking about all the people you want to date and all the parties you want to have.” He paused, trying to stay calculated. “I don’t want to be selfish. But I want you all to myself. All these people who could be coming in and interrupting things?” Scorpius was thinking about what he had said, but Albus spoke again. “I’m just not ready for that.” He trailed off.“Ok?” Scorpius questioned, knowing there was something more.“I just need it to be just us for a while longer. I want to hold onto what we are. Whatever we are. Maybe I want to explore that? Maybe I’m happy with being best friends who sometimes hold hands for extended periods of time. And people make me anxious and then I get angry and I want you to enjoy being with me.” Albus spat out.“There was a lot of stuff in that.” Scorpius pondered everything. “People also make me anxious. I do want to explore dating people. You’ve done that, I haven’t.”Albus nodded.“I also think I want to explore whatever we could be.” Scorpius continued, careful not to let that thought linger. “And I want to focus on my studies and learn every inch of modern wizarding history. You being super introverted works well in that sense. I don’t think you need to be so stressed about it right now, we haven’t even figured out where we’re going to be living.”“Sorry I just had to get all of that out.” Albus said under his breath.“Don’t be embarrassed! I already feel you relaxing. Stop holding onto all your stress.” Scorpius slipped closer to him, nudging his arm. “I like knowing what’s going on inside your head.”“I like your head too.” Albus smiled, nudging him back.“Anyway, I can’t be bringing boys back to my dads, or to our place until it’s tidy. And until I’ve met boys who don’t think I’m related to the dark lord.” Scorpius joked.“Maybe there are people out there who are into you being evil.” Albus shrugged. “I found the moody look worked well for me, particularly on boys.”“Albus!” Scorpius went red.“No, you’re right, they wouldn't make it back to the flat still thinking you’re evil. The disappointment would be almost immediate.” Said Albus, edging closer still. “Bad tactic.” “I don’t have tactics, I just go red.” Scorpius grumbled.“I think you’re adorable.” Albus smiled at him.“Maybe I’ll start with you then.” Scorpius said, very quickly.This wasn’t the first time either had mentioned “exploring” what they could be and at Hogwarts there was never really the place to do that. Recently some people had opened up to the fact that Albus was quite good looking and not too weird, so he had pretty much been dating someone all year, plus they didn’t exactly get privacy. Albus had, however, decided that the best way to get Scorpius out of his flirting shell was to flirt with him almost constantly. This prompted a very understated coming out, where Scorpius had just started using male pronouns to talk about people he fancied, and Albus hadn’t mentioned it and kept flirting before falling into this cycle of promises of more but no real intention. They were both aware that they were about to have lots of time alone together and Scorpius had decided to be a bit brave.Apparently, Albus had got the telekinetic message. “Yes.” Albus took one of his long pauses. “I think that would be an interesting subject to explore.”They sat there, in an almost comfortable silence, aware that they should probably head back, but that some things had been left unsaid. Albus was the first to stand, but Scorpius pulled on his arm to sit him back down.“Albus. Do you think we really need Hogwarts anymore?”Albus frowned, aware that his friend could be suddenly very reflective, so not taken aback by it. “Not really.” He rested his head on Scorpius’s shoulder. “I think the love we found together is home.”Scorpius nodded, putting his arm around Albus’s shoulder. “Nothing is really going to change. Having comfier beds in a nicer house isn’t going to change this friendship.”Albus sighed, snuggling in, allowing himself to fully relax in a way he didn’t with anyone else. “What we have is pretty beautiful, isn’t it? Whatever it is.”“Yeah.” Scorpius took in a deep breath. “I’m so ready for the next chapter.” He smiled, relaxing into the hug and taking in the view one last time.
Fin.