More Than Friends | Albus x Scorpius

Part Eighteen: Portrait

Albus woke up and lifted his head up slightly, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He breathed in deeply, remembering that he was in Scorpius' bed. He rolled onto his side, gently holding Scorpius up so that he didn't accidentally hurt him. Scorpius leaned against him in his sleep and Albus leaned into him.

He held him close, letting Scorpius hold onto him. Scorpius sighed against him and Albus smiled. Albus stroked his fingers up and down Scorpius' back, closing his eyes, releasing a sigh of his own.

"You're awake?" he heard Scorpius mutter against his chest. Albus stopped and Scorpius added quietly, "You can keep doing that if you want to. That feels nice."

Albus continued to trace Scorpius' spine lightly, with a smile. Scorpius tugged his blanket up to his chin, moving as close to Albus as possible, shivering a bit. Albus gave Scorpius a kiss on the forehead.

He felt happy and asked, "Did I wake you up?"

"No, " Scorpius responded. Albus knew he was lying and twisted his face dramatically.  "You didn't wake me up!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, " Scorpius answered. "My father actually woke me up earlier."

"Why?"

Scorpius laughed into Albus' sweatshirt, holding onto it. "He came in and told me that he was proud of me, that he's not homophobic, and that..." Scorpius suddenly got very sad, tears filling his eyes. Albus pushed his boyfriend's blonde hair out of his eyes, calming Scorpius down a little bit. "And that Mum would be proud of me."

Albus noticed that Scorpius was trying to hide his face and to keep Albus from seeing him so upset. Albus acted like he couldn't see the tears, stretching his arms and holding him closer.

When Scorpius got his emotions in check, he said, "Want to get some breakfast?"

"Well, " Albus stated, "It's three o'clock in the afternoon."

"Darn, " Scorpius mumbled as he sat up. "I was in the mood for pancakes."

"You're rich. You can eat pancakes whenever the fuck you can."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and said, "I don't want to, uh, gain weight "

"You're a twig, Scorpy."

Scorpius laughed and hugged Albus. He gave Scorpius a kiss on the cheek before suggesting that the two get somewhat dressed for the remainder of the day. Scorpius even suggested going outside in the snow for a little while.

Albus left Scorpius' room to the guest room to get dressed in warmer clothes: a thick, but light, dark grey sweater, dark skinny jeans, and tennis shoes. He brushed his teeth in the bathroom and waiting for Scorpius in the corridor.

He stuffed his hands awkwardly in his pockets and looked at the moving portraits of the Malfoy generations. He recognized Draco as a teenager with Lucius Malfoy and his wife. He then noticed Scorpius, Draco, and his mother, Astoria. Portrait-Scorpius waved excitedly to Albus while Portrait-Astoria straightened his hair. Draco was basking in his late wife's loving eyes.

Albus thought of when they would be older and wondered if he would be in a Malfoy portrait. He genuinely wanted to be with Scorpius when they were older and possibly live together later on. He smiled when he imagined older versions of him and Scorpius together. Laughing, joking, smiling, kissing, and hugging.

Albus started when Scorpius' door clicked open. He leaned against the wall casually, smiling at Scorpius as he walked out. "Were you here for long?"

"No, " Albus lied smoothly, though he made it obvious for Scorpius. In his hand, he held a tube of gel eyeliner and rumpled his hair a little bit at his bangs.

Scorpius walked to the bathroom and Albus followed like a lost puppy. Scorpius hopped onto the table-sized counter, crossing his legs and leaning close to the mirror, checking out his face and hair.

Albus rested his elbow against the counter and said, "You're pretty, stop checking yourself out so much."

Scorpius blushed and opened his tube of eyeliner, holding it like a knife in his hand, looking at Albus in the reflection of the mirror. "You check yourself out all the time. I saw you checking yourself out in the tiny mirror in my room."

Albus laughed because he knew it was completely true. "Maybe it's, like, a gay thing."

Scorpius laughed and closed one of his eyes, applying the eyeliner to one of his eyelids carefully. Albus watched, resting his head in his palm.

Scorpius was truly one for fashion; he was wearing very tight black denim jeans, black boots with silver fur, and a black pea coat with a grey turtleneck under it.

Albus placed his hand on Scorpius' thigh, sticking his lower lip out and pouted. Scorpius looked at him and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Why are you pouting?"

" 'Cuz you're too sexy for your own good."

Scorpius smiled and finished applying his eyeliner before hopping down and standing next to Albus.

"Let's grab some food and go outside."

Albus nodded and held Scorpius' hand as they walked out of the bathroom. Scorpius made a detour to his room and grabbed a miniature backpack, putting a couple of fifty-pound notes in the bag. Albus asked, "What are you doing with muggle money?"

"There's a muggle village a few minutes away and I thought we could walk over there. There's also a coffee shop that has good coffee."

Albus said, "Only if it's okay with your dad."

Scorpius blushed faintly and grabbed hold of Albus' hand again. "Whatever, Albus."

The two walked down the staircase, Scorpius leading the way with Albus right behind him. Scorpius and Albus went into the kitchen to get food, only to find Draco sipping coffee at the table. Albus saw Vimy and asked her for something for him and Scorpius to share while Scorpius asked his father, "May we go to the muggle village for a little while? I have some muggle pounds in my bag."

Draco folded his hands and thought for a moment. "Will you be back before sunset?"

"Yeah, " Albus answered, but he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, um, yeah, sir. Yes, sir?"

Draco smiled and said, "Just be back before sunset."

Vimy handed Albus a package of cookies and the two left after thanking Draco and Vimy. Albus opened the front door for Scorpius with a sweet smile. When they stepped outside, they were hit by a wave of crisp, frosty air. Albus kicked a bit of snow from the pavement as they walked.

Along the way, Scorpius was admiring frozen water on a leaf, Albus silently made a snowball and said, "Scorp, can you look at this...acorn?"

Scorpius turned around and Albus threw the snowball at his chest. His aim was true and Scorpius was shocked as the snowball exploded. He wiped his pea coat off and looked angrily at Albus, who had his hands on his knees, laughing so hard that he wheezes, "I - can't - breathe!"

Scorpius took advantage of Albus' condition and made his own snowball, throwing it at Albus' back. Albus stopped laughing instantly and whined, "What was that for?"

Scorpius laughed and Albus wrapped his arms around his waist and lifted him up from the ground, laughing himself when Scorpius gasped. To get back at him, Scorpius bent his head down and kissed Albus on the lips. Albus parted Scorpius' lips with his own and threaded one hand into his hair while Scorpius held Albus' face in his cold hands.

Albus thought to himself, I love him.