Falling for You: A New Generation Harry Potter Fanfic

5: Someone's Sick

This dude has like exactly Scorp's hair so yea just for reference

THREE YEARS EARLIER
Scorpius stared down at the dusty charms book, his cheek scrunched up into his hand as he propped his elbow on the arm of the chair. The book could easily be his weight, the creme pages weighing down on his outstretched legs, which wasn't something to be taken lightly anymore. Scorpius had grown over the summer between second and third year. Like, really grown. He had sprouted the way all boys going through puberty did, fast and without warning. One day, he was all bones and flushed cheeks, now he was a good six inches taller, his face had grown into his body, his hair had turned the color of golden wheat in the sunlight, and, while his chest still wasn't buff, actually quite lean, roughly four abs (six if he flexed) had appeared out of no where. Needless to be said, all of the girls had grown a clingy attachment to him, which Scorpius didn't quite know how to react to. Instead of parading out in the open like a raging lunatic, Scorpius preferred to remain inside the dorm room, away from the crush-controlled girls, and just hang out with his best friend, Albus. It seemed to be the best situation, mainly because in this one Scorpius didn't get all flustered as another unfamiliar girl batted her eyelashes at him. But unfortunately for Al, Scorpius liked to hang around the boy's dorm with only a pair of plaid pajama pants that rested low on his golden hips, doing nothing to stop the out-of-control crush Al was developing. Sure Al had sprouted a few inches too, leaving the two boys about the same height, but nothing like the utter transformation of Scorpius. That left Albus in the dust, in the horrible sort of love where you're not sure if its admiration or hormones or actually real. Meanwhile, Scorpius remained completely oblivious, studying for that test with his nose all scrunched up in adorable concentration, his hair still messy from his late-morning Sunday wake up, and shirtless as ever. And everything was completely genuine, Scorpius truly didn't realize Al's infatuation and he really was studying his charms. He didn't even realize Al was in the room until he heard it.
Sniff.
Scorp's eyes flickered up to a horribly blushing Albus, standing in the middle of the dorms like he had just walked in with a tissue shoved up his right nostril.
"Albus!" He said ecstatically, but his eyebrows furrowed once they saw the tissue box in one hand and coffee in the other. "Al, are you...sick?" His pink, pink lips curved into a smile, one Al saw everyday but everyone else considered foreign.
"No." Albus replied, but the powerful sneeze that came directly after deceived him.
Scorpius cooed. "Aw, does Mr. I-never-ever-get-sick-sure-I-can-practice-Quidditch-when-it's-raining have a head cold?" He threw the huge charms book off of his legs and stood up, making his way over to Al. Originally, Scorp's plan was to make Albus so embarrassed he'd be blushing for the whole week, but once he saw how truly sick Al was his joking smile disappeared.
"God, Albie, that cold really hit you hard, didn't it?" He announced, peering at the way Al was shivering and the flushed cheeks. So, nonchalantly, Scorpius yanked Albus, snot and all, into a tight hug and mumbled into Al's shoulder, "Now I'm not very warm either but I figure it might help a bit."
Albus just sighed happily and snuggled further into Scorpius' bare chest. It acted like a heater, somehow producing an undeniable warmth and causing Al to feel toasty even though he was racked with chills a couple of seconds ago. After a few second of comfortable silence, Scorp pulled out of the hug and yanked Al's ear in a tight grip.
"Ow, what the-" Al began, only to be interrupted by Scorpius.
"Dude, I told you you were nuts for staying out there!" Scorpius scolded as he forced Al onto his bed and finally let go of his ear. He bumbled around the empty dorms and continued. "I told you, 'Al, don't stay out, you'll get a cold' and YOU SAID, 'Nah, I don't get sick' and just kept on practicing!" Scorpius picked up a sweatshirt. "What kind of nutball stays outside in the cold rain to just practice Quidditch for a few more minutes!" Scorpius pulled a blanket off of one of the other beds. "I mean, I know Quidditch tryouts are soon, but GOD ALBUS why couldn't you just come inside." Scorpius mumbled a spell to his cold hot coco that made it steaming again and walked over to Albus. He pushed the mug into Al's hand, yanked the sweatshirt on him, and wrapped the blanket around his body. Scorpius kneeled down to Al's level and sighed. He put both of his hands on Al's cheeks and mumbled, "So fucking stubborn." before angrily sitting down next to him.
Immediately, Al leaned his head into Scorp's shoulder and pitifully whispered, "I'm sorry."
Scorpius started to run his hand through Albus's soft raven hair and sighed out, "It's okay." He leaned down a bit to kiss the top of it and then rested his head on top of his head, stroking circle patterns into Al's shoulder with the arm he wrapped around him.
Yeah.
This definitely wasn't helping with Albus's crush.

Around one in the morning, after a dinner that helped with the cold and after going to sleep in a bed that wasn't Scorpius', Al woke up suddenly, from yet another dream about Scorpius. It was always the same; about four years in the future, they were finally together, and Scorp was asking him to move in with him. Something so simple, yet it meant so much. They were going to move in together, pick out stupid pieces of furniture, get a pet maybe, sleep in the same bed, be frightfully and wonderfully domestic. And every time he woke up it hurt so much.
But then he thought of today.
He thought about the worry and strain in Scorp's voice. He thought about the hot coco. He thought about the kiss in the hair and the stroking. He thought about the ghosts of Scorp's fingers that felt like they were still drawing circles into his shoulder.
And Albus knew this wasn't going away soon.
Not for him, anyways.
So, quietly, he snuck out of the bed and tiptoed out of the dorms, his noises subdued by Dave's snoring. His heart thrummed like a bass drum as he crept down the stairs, heading for the communication box down in the dorms. Around 2010, Hogwarts realized that they could use new technology to their advantage and installed "Communication Boxes" around the school, with a horribly outdated phone in it, in an attempt to let kids call their parent back at home. All it was actually used for was first years so homesick they were desperate, for boys to draw unfortunate doodles on, and teenage couples wanting to make out (the boxes were soundproof). But today Albus was actually going to use it to call home. He crammed into the narrow, wooden box and picked up the phone, his hand shaking. Al said his parents names when it told him to, surprising himself at how level his voice was.
"Hello?" Harry's voice cracked through the phone. He sounded tired, he'd probably been sleeping.
"Dad. It's Al." Al replied, a few stray tears trailing down his cheeks. Al tilted his head back, a silent yearning for the God he didn't believe in to stop him.
"Yeah, son?" His father's voice began to sound worried now, not unlike Scorp's voice earlier that day. The tears flew faster and snot dripped, yet his voice was still level. Al took a deep breath and calmly let the words he had tried not to believe for so long pour out of his mouth.
"I have a crush on Scorpius Malfoy." He paused. "No, no. Never mind. It's so more than that. Crush doesn't describe this. I'm in love with Scorpius Malfoy. I'm in love with the dorkiest guy ever who has a scary family and a perfectionist attitude and is completely oblivious and is so, so beautiful. Dad, I am in love with Scorpius Malfoy. And I know that it's stupid and who knows if he likes guys and it might be the hormones and I'm only thirteen and it's so stupid and why would he even like me, but I love him. Dad, I love him so, so much."
An uncomfortable pause sat in the air for a couple seconds before Harry Potter coughed. Al's father sighed and then took in some breath.
"I'm so proud of you son. And I know, someday, he will come to his senses. You are my son, Albus, and you will never be stupid in my eyes."
A pause, where Al could do nothing but silently cry. And then his dad added something else.
"Also I think you two would be really cute together."
"DAD."

A/N: So I finally updated.
Yeah somEBODY (cough Wattpad cough) kept on losing my work and I kept on having to start over. So finally, I had enough time to write in all in one sitting.
Yeah about that if this has like a bunch of grammar mistakes plz ignore thank.
I have a rlly awful head cold right now just btw so that's why Albus has a cold. Hey, might as well make a character understand what you're going through Unfortunately I do not have a shirtless thirteen yr old Scorpius to nurse me back to health
ALSO FINALLY MADE ALBUS DO THE THING WHERE HE REALIZES HIS LOVE
But Scorpius is still like completely ignorant so yea
Ummm
IDEK I think that's it
Oh but also sorry if it's too short or too long I really can't tell
Much love,
Caitlin