Constellations

Chapter 38

***Scorp's POV***

Anna and Rose didn't stay for long. I was filled with more hope than earlier but I was still tired and devasted. I really didn't want to see anyone so when I heard a knock on my door, I debated pretending to be asleep.

"Scorp?" A familiar voice sounded through the door. "Can I come in?"

I sat up, my heart racing at the sound of Al's voice.

"Yeah," I said, my voice hoarse.

The door opened and a blushing Albus came in. He shut the door behind him but didn't move too far from the door. He looked extremely uncomfortable and started wringing his hands.

I crossed my legs so I was sitting cross-legged on my bed. "You don't have to worry about me kissing you again," I said, quietly. "That is if you don't want me to."

The blush spread down to his neck and he swallowed tightly. "That's not—" he cleared his throat. "My parents told me what I don't remember."

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"I, uh, they thought it would be useful for me to talk to you. Maybe you can refresh my memories."

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. That makes sense."

"For what it's worth, I am really sorry."

I smiled, softly. "It's not your fault. You're the one that got caught up in my family's problems. I should be the one apologizing."

Al stepped closer until he was standing in front of my bed. "It's not your fault that Cath's family are a bunch of crazy wankers."

I couldn't help but laugh and some of the tension in Al's body receded.

"Fair enough," I said and stood up. "Let me show you a few things and we'll see if it helps jog your memory."

Al nodded and sat on the edge of my bed while I went over to my desk. I pulled out the notebook that Al and I used to pass notes, the leather bracelet and a few notes I had from him. I wish I had pictures of us.

I brought them over to the bed and laid them out. "Don't panic if I start crying. I am an emotional wreck, right now. So, bear with me."

Albus nodded but his gaze was fixed on the items in front of him.

I lifted up the bracelet. "This is the gift you gave me for Christmas." I slipped it onto my wrist and watched as these words appeared on it: Everything will turn out all right. I love you. I swallowed hard and showed Al the words. "You enchanted it to detect my mood and portray a message to go along with it."

Al stared at the words and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

"I had said..." His finger hovered over the words I love you.

"We both had. It had slipped out of me after we had gotten in a bit of an argument." I explained. "I was frustrated that our relationship was still a secret and you had explained to me the pressures you had felt. I thought I understood but, in your words, because I was the 'golden boy' I wouldn't understand."

Al's lips twitched. "You are a golden boy."

My heart tugged and I tried to keep control of my emotions. "Debatable."

"And what's this?" Al asked, lifting up the notebook.

"This was my Christmas present to you." I opened it in his hands. "If I wrote a message in this, it would appear in your own notebook and vise versa. It's like muggle instant messaging."

Albus flipped through the pages, reading through the notes. Tears filled his eyes and I put my hand over his.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "Are you remembering anything?"

Al shook his head. "No, and I hate it. Obviously, I cared a lot about you and we had a lot of great memories together but I don't remember. Even staring at my own handwriting doesn't spark anything!"

I took his hands in mine as he started to tremble. "Al, it's okay."

He kept shaking his head. "It's not okay. None of this is okay." Tears spilled out his eyes. "Do you know how much I wanted this? How much I had hoped for us to be together? And now to find out that we had and what we had had was something even better than I could have imagined."

Al got up on his knees, causing the notebook to tumble to the ground. He let go of my hands to cup my face. I froze, afraid to move or breathe.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked, more confident than he was when he first walked in.

I swallowed hard and nodded. He leaned forward, slowly. His lips hovered over mine and it took all my self-restraint not to close the gap between us. He brushed his thumb over my cheekbone once before he kissed me. I gripped his hips in my hands but didn't push him. I gave him full reign of the pace. He kissed me as he had never kissed me before. As if this was his first time kissing anyone. And I thought that this wasn't so bad. If he never remembered our year together, it would be okay because we'll always make our way back to each other. One way or another.

Albus pulled back and there were tears in his eyes. I lifted my hands up to his cheeks and wiped a stray tear away.

"Do you remember anything?" I asked, gently.

Albus shook his head. "No. I thought maybe I might. Kissing you..." he blushed. "It felt right but I don't remember anything. There were sparks of something but nothing concrete."

Al leaned back on his heels and our hands fell away from each other's faces.

"Can you tell me how it happened?" He asked. "What was it that got us together?"

I smiled. "Of course. I can tell you the whole story."