The Winter Holidays

The Hogwarts Express

As the massive scarlet train chugs quickly across the snow covered countryside, Albus sits uncomfortably in his and Scorpius's dedicated train car. He shifts his weight, trying to find a way to inconspicuously watch Scorpius, who was sleeping peacefully, his head on Albus's shoulder. Scorpius's blonde hair caressed the edges of his face, the slightly overgrown pieces of his fringe tickling Albus's cheek.

Though Scorpius was oblivious to it in his sleeping state, he was driving Albus mad. Every little thing he did seemed to set Albus off, setting thousands of little butterflies free in his stomach.

From the way his nose was tinted pink from the winter air's chill that had managed to sneak its way into their compartment, to the little sighs he would let out every once in a while, blowing a stray piece of overgrown fringe up and back down again shortly, bumping right back into his nose.

Albus knew that he couldn't take it any longer, so he pulled up his knee under Scorpius and let his silvery blonde head fall up against his chest.

He knew what this would look like to the outside world. Two wizards, practically on top of one another. But for Albus and Scorpius, this wasn't anything new.

They were each others best friend, and despite common Slytherin stereotypes, neither of them were conservative with their affection.

Both boys could often be seen play fighting around the Slytherin common room, flicking each other when the one of them dropped the wrong ingredient into a potion, or hugging with all their strength when they were really excited about something. They would even share a bed after a particularly bad time-turning nightmare from either party, though this show of affection wasn't known by the masses.

Albus shifted Scorpius to a more comfortable position as gently as possible, knowing how much the boy loved to sleep, and that if he were to wake the blonde, he would earn himself a nice punch in the ribs.

Scorpius fell delicately on to Albus' chest, thanks to Albus' soft grasp on his shoulders. He sighed in his sleep, blowing the small piece of hair away from his nose momentarily, driving Albus absolutely wild.

Albus had been driven up the wall by these little things that Scorpius did subconsciously since 4th year, shortly after the time-turning catastrophe. He thought about it a lot, probably more than he should. Every time Scorpius ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it a little bit messy, or when he blushed slightly from the attention granted by a teacher when he correctly answered question in class; even when he changed after a shower, still crouching down behind his bed on the side opposite from Albus, even though they had roomed together since first year. Every little thing that Scorpius would do would have Albus questioning his sexuality for the third time that day. Is it normal to feel that way? About Scorp of all people?

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard something below him and felt Scorpius stir.

"Al?" Scorpius muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and sitting up. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours at least. Merlin, Scorp! How can you sleep like that?" Albus replied in awe. Ever since he had met Scorpius in this very same train car in first year, he had been amazing at the latter boy's talent to fall peacefully asleep anywhere, in any given situation.

"Dunno." Scorpius grunted. He moved off of Albus' knee, much to his disappointment. It may have been a lot to ask, for Scorpius to stay awake just lounging easily on his chest. He tried to stop picturing it; Scorpius's warmth against his chest, pushing out the winter's chill from between them, Scorpius's soft grey eyes looking up into his own from an upside down perspective, the light blush painting his face from the cold, Albus' fingers in his hair, brushing along his lips, finding their way down to his-

"Al? You ok?"

Shit. Albus hadn't even noticed how long he had spent fawning over his best friend. Somebody else had apparently...

Albus pulled his knees up to hide his growing erection from Scorpius. Luckily enough, despite being the only two in the car, Scorpius hadn't noticed Albus' predicament. He was two busy gawking at the fresh snow that had begun to to fall while he was asleep.

If there was anything in the world that Scorpius loved more than snow besides a really, really good book and his best friend, Albus would have gone back in time again.

He climbed over Albus in a rush to watch the tiny flakes flurry outside the window as the train rushed through the hills.

He knocked Albus off of the seat in his hasty move to watch the snow, which didn't help Albus' situation one bit.

Before he even had time to appreciate how adorable Scorpius looked all bundled up, watching the snow like a 5 year old with a grin spread across his flushed face, Albus quickly got up to go to the bathroom.

"I-I'll be back in a minute Scorp," he pushed out awkwardly, silently cursing himself for insisting on leaving Hogwarts in Muggle clothes, leaving his bulge naked to the outside world without the safety of hiding it away beneath his cloak.

As he rushed to the small bathroom compartment, he did his best not to be noticed or make eye-contact with any of his fellow classmates. This wouldn't be especially hard for him, considering he basically lived on the down low.

As he slammed the bathroom door behind him, he locked it quickly before unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his jeans. He knew it wouldn't take him long, with the way Scorpius had already unintentionally taunted him.

He was right.

As Albus put himself back together, he turned on the tap in front of him to wash his hands and caught his reflection in the mirror.

A scrawny boy of about 5'9 and built of just skin and bones, Albus never thought much of his appearance. His raven colored hair almost covered his eyes at this point, and he knew he couldn't let that happen. Albus may not have thought himself very handsome, but if there was one part of his appearance that he did take pride in, it was his eyes. His iconic green eyes, passed down from his grandmother, to his father, who initially made them famous, and then to him.

He may be the ever forgotten middle child, but he was the only Potter child to inherit his father's notorious green eyes. Though he would never admit it aloud, he was incredibly proud of them. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing that put him into the spotlight amidst his Quidditch prodigy of an older brother, his brainiac little sister, his world famous Harpies captain mother, and his father, the boy who lived.