Haste Ye Back (Scorbus)

Hame

It wasn't long before Scorpius slowed to a halt in front of a large, nondescript tenement building. The yellowing paint on the front of the building was peeling and the security door was conspicuously broken. Albus hesitated before entering.

"You live here?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yup," Scorpius replied brightly, pushing the broken door open and beckoning Albus in from the cold. "I know what you're thinking; it doesn't look much, but I promise it's not that bad. Besides, it's one of the few flats that Rose could afford."

"Yes, but..." Albus didn't know how to put it delicately, so he just came out with what was on his mind. "You're not poor, Scorp, you could easily afford something a lot nicer than this. Merlin, your dad could probably buy you a house somewhere."

"I know," said Scorpius, ascending the stone steps towards the flat at the uppermost floor. "But I didn't want preferential treatment for a change. I wanted an authentic student experience."

"You wanted to slum it?" asked Albus skeptically. "Live in a shit flat with no gas heating and have a diet that consists primarily of cheap noodles?"

"Exactly!" replied Scorpius keenly. He paused outside of flat number seven, pulling out his keys to open the heavily-bolted door. "All I ever wanted was to be like everyone else. This is my chance to do it - to get away from the Manor and my shoddy reputation for a while - and just be normal for once."

Albus said nothing. He understood now why Scorpius had chosen to study so far away from London - it gave him the long-sought after respite from everyone who knew him (or thought that they knew him), to have a break from judging eyes. A pang of sympathy laced with jealousy struck Albus then; he empathised completely with how Scorpius felt - the weight of a father's legacy on your shoulders was quite a burden to bare - particularly with their father's. He wished he had joined Scorpius in Scotland instead of going to London; he wouldn't mind a break from being Harry Potter's son for a while.

Scorpius unlocked the door and pushed it open with some difficulty before ushering Albus inside, "Come on in, make yourself at home."

Albus took in his new, cramped surroundings; the long, narrow corridor had several doors on either side. Scorpius marched up the corridor pointing things out to Albus, "These are all bedrooms. Down here on the right is the kitchen and the living room's on the left. Bathroom's next to my bedroom here."

He stopped at a door near the end of the corridor, threw it open and strode inside with a dramatic flourish.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" he declared, arms outstretched and face beaming. Albus stepped inside the room and bashed his knee against a desk. Suppressing a wince as his leg began to throb with pain, he straightened up and took in what would be his home for the next four weeks.

Humble was a generous description for the cramped bedspace - a table sat directly behind the door, laden with course books and piles of parchment. The computer chair had a mountain of washing balanced precariously on top of it. Scorpius tossed his coat on top of the pile and it swayed dangerously before gradually coming to a standstill. Albus sidled passed it carefully, taking note of the books piled on the windowsill, blocking out much of the sunlight. Even the bedside table was covered in books and - to Albus' surprise - an ashtray. Scorpius dived on to the unmade bed in the corner of the room and bounced on the springy mattress. He pulled a packet of cigarettes from his jeans pocket and lit one with a lighter before beckoning Albus to join him. Scorpius may have grown up surrounded by grandeur and excess at Malfoy Manor but he looked strangely at ease with his modest surroundings. Discarding his bag on the floor Albus crawled along the bed and collapsed next to Scorpius, looking around the room with increasing bemusement.