Chapter Text
The following week, the Potter household was abuzz with excitement for the Wright Medal Ceremony. Ginny and Hermione were racing up and down the stairs making sure Lily and Rose were dressed properly and had everything they needed before the Floo to Oxford. Harry was in the living room helping Hugo and James smarten their dress robes up. Hugo had gone for a snow white ensemble and James was wearing the black robes with a white bowtie his father wore to the Yule Ball in his fourth year at Hogwarts. Ron, predictably, was in a food coma on the couch. Albus was up in his room, half dressed and desperately trying to tame the tangled mess that was his hair with a wet comb, but it stubbornly refused to settle. He grumbled in defeat and flung the comb down on his dresser. His bedroom door creaked open and Scorpius entered with a towel around his waist.
“Everything alright?” Scorpius asked as his eyebrows knitted together in concern.
“Ah, just…stupid hair won’t behave,” Albus said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Give me a moment and I’ll help you out.” Scorpius walked around to the back of Albus’ room, and when Albus caught his boyfriend’s reflection in the mirror, he blushed at the sight of Scorpius’ bare torso, and shut his eyes right as Scorpius dropped his towel. Albus rattled his fingers on the dresser nervously waiting for Scorpius to make himself decent. He heard a few soft pads across the floorboards and Scorpius gently tapped his shoulder.
“Okay, let’s sort this out,” Scorpius said. Albus opened his eyes and saw that Scorpius had only put pants on, like him.
“Um, what about your shirt?” Albus asked, unable to stop staring at his boyfriend’s porcelain smooth skin.
“Ah, I think it’s still downstairs getting ironed.” Scorpius shrugged, seeming to have completely missed Albus’ nervousness of the two of them being so close together without shirts on. Scorpius picked his wand up off the dresser where it laid next to Albus’, and conjured a spherical spray bottle into his left hand. Albus widened his eyes in amazement.
“How did you…?” Albus asked.
“When your father is a Malfoy, you’re forced to learn the finer arts of grooming,” Scorpius shrugged. “Okay, deep breath.” Albus inhaled as Scorpius flattened his hand and shielded Albus’ brow while squirting a pleasantly scented liquid onto Albus’ still damp hair. As Scorpius removed his hand, Albus could feel the solution soften and detangle his hair, and Scorpius picked up his personal brush before encouraging the Potter mop to settle down and gently brush Albus’ hair. Albus tensed up expecting the stray knot to snag on the brush but whatever Scorpius had sprayed into his hair made the styling an almost meditative experience. He closed his eyes in bliss as Scorpius carefully brushed Albus’ hair into a sleek comb over.
“Okay, there we go,” Scorpius said as he smoothed back the sides of Albus’ head. As Scorpius put his brush down on the dresser, Albus looked at himself in the mirror and smiled.
“Thank you,” Albus said softly.
“Anytime,” Scorpius whispered. Automatically, without any prior thought, the silver haired boy slowly crooked his fingers and ran his knuckles softly down Albus’ back. His skin bristled at the contact, but not in protest. Albus had sparks of electricity shooting up and down his spine as he slowly turned to face Scorpius who was eyeing him with an unreadable expression. Curiosity overtaking him, Albus trepidatiously reached his own hand up and gently brushed his fingertips across Scorpius’ collar bone.
“Scorpius…” Albus whispered. Their eyes were locked on one another as Albus continued mapping Scorpius’ collar and left shoulder with his fingers, while Scorpius reached up with shaking hands to settle on either side of Albus’ neck. With reckless abandon, the two boys threw their heads forward and kissed each other as if they’d been separated from each other for an eternity. Albus held his breath as their lips moved together, anticipating his anxiety to resurface, but it didn’t. He felt happy. Excited. Confident. He reached his left hand behind Scorpius and pulled him closer so they stood chest to chest. Scorpius responded to this sudden burst of enthusiasm by reaching around Albus’ back and pulling him impossibly closer as their kiss deepened. It was such an inexplicably wonderful feeling, being this close to Scorpius, finally letting out all their pent up feelings, and Albus felt a little tear trickle down his cheek as he tangled his fingers in Scorpius’ hair.
Knock knock!
The spell was suddenly broken and the boy's eyes snapped open.
“Uh, who is it?!” Albus nervously coughed.
“Just me!” Harry called from the other side of the door.
“Just a second!” The boys reluctantly dislocated and quickly scrambled to look presentable. Scorpius was in trouble because his shirt was still downstairs so all he could do was look for his pyjama top while Albus grabbed his shirt off the doorknob where it was hanging and fumbled with the buttons as he rushed to dress himself. “Come in!”
Harry slowly opened the door and smiled knowingly at the two boys before he spoke. “Just dropping off Scorpius’ shirt.” He held out Scorpius’ black dress shirt which had been smoothly ironed.
“Oh, thank you!” Scorpius said, stepping forward to retrieve it.
“Right, so we’re planning on leaving in about fifteen minutes. Scorpius, I’ll leave you to get dressed, Albus, could you come downstairs for a moment?”
“Yeah, sure,” Albus said. He walked over to the wardrobe where his robes were hanging and slid into his black/green coat before putting on his pre-knotted tie and following Harry down the stairs.
“Blimey, Al, you scrub up nice!“ Hugo roughly said as he was wriggling against Hermione’s fidgety hands which were desperately trying to affix a white linen necktie.
“Hugo, the more you struggle, the harder you’re going to make it for yourself!” Hermione huffed. She had foregone her purple ministry robes for a sparkly black gown. Albus chuckled and turned to his father, who was looking rather handsome in a midnight blue suit with black lapels.
“I’ve got a little extra gift to go with your suit, Albus,” Harry said expectantly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hinged box, which Albus took and opened.
“Oh, are these cufflinks?” Albus asked upon examining the contents within.
“Yeah! They’re little golden snitches. Your Grandma Molly got me them for your Mum and I’s wedding day. I thought you might want to wear them tonight.” Albus smiled. They did look rather smart.
“Thanks Dad,” Albus said while nodding. He looked down at his sleeves and realised he wasn’t sure how to apply them.
“Do you…want some help?” Harry hopefully asked.
“Uh…yeah, please,” Albus said, slightly embarrassed.
“Don’t worry Albus, it took me a little while to get the hang of them myself,” Harry chuckled. Albus held out his wrists and Harry showed him how to properly put them on. Before long, there were little glints of gold peeking out from behind the cuffs of his black robes, and Harry gave his son’s shoulders a quick sweep.
“Very handsome,” Harry said proudly. Albus smiled.
“Thanks Dad.”
“Okay, now where’s—Ron? RON!”
Ron started awake and sat bolt upright on the couch.
“Oh, uh, I’m up, what did I miss?”
“You ready, mate?” Harry asked pointedly.
“Oh yeah, uh, just gotta…where are my shoes?”
Harry rolled his eyes and looked upstairs.
“James! Scorpius, you boys all ready?!”
“Coming!” James exploded out of his bedroom door and ran down the stairs barefoot, evidently looking for his shoes as well. Ginny and Lily entered from the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. Ginny was wearing a lime green dress with gold heels as a fitting homage to her days in the Holyhead Harpies, and Lily was in a shimmering pearly pink dress with an enchanted monarch butterfly clip affixed to her gorgeously curled red hair.
“James, find your shoes quickly!” Ginny called out over the hubbub before looking upstairs. “Scorpius, you ready, love?!”
“Yeah, coming down now!” Albus looked back up the stairs and he quite forgot how to breathe. Scorpius was descending in billowy black robes, not unlike the ones he saw him wearing when he returned from the dark reality, but a lot less menacing. More…distinguished. The black leather lapels glinted against the hallway light, and Scorpius smiled lovingly down at Albus as he kept walking. He was too shy to say it out loud or act upon it, but he really felt like pinning Scorpius against a wall and kissing him senseless. He settled for returning Scorpius’ smile as he held out his hand to help Scorpius down to the ground floor landing. They whispered hi to each other before Ron entered the huddle with a film camera.
“Okay, all the kids, budge up! Wanna get a photo before we head off.” Albus and Scorpius centred themselves between the other kids with an arm around each other’s middle, and Lily cuddled up to Albus with James on her outside, while Rose and Hugo put arms around each other alongside Scorpius.
“One, two, three!” The kids smiled as a flash went off and Ron’s eye remained fixed to the viewfinder, which was enchanted to show what the photo would look like before he got it developed. It was quite adorable. “Okay, brilliant! Now Rose and Hugo with Mum?” The Granger-Weasley kids cuddled up for a photo with Hermione in the middle, then Ron took a photo with the Potters and Scorpius. The Malfoy boy didn’t want to intrude but after Harry and Albus’ insistence he jumped in next to his boyfriend.
“Ah what the hell, let’s do all of us!” Ron declared. He produced his wand from the breast pocket of his red robes, and cast Wingardium Leviosa on the camera before levitating it across the room so the entire family was within frame. “Okay, everyone ready? One, two, three!” Ron flicked his wand and quickly put it back in his pocket as the timer on the camera counted down, and the entire family was engulfed in a blinding white light.
“Okay, wonderful, now let’s go!” Ginny said impatiently. Ron walked over to the camera and placed it on the coffee table before everyone lined up in front of the fireplace. Due to her role as Minister for Magic, Hermione and Ron would go first, quickly followed by their kids, then The Potters. Hermione took a large handful of Floo Powder before casting it into the grate and emerald green firelight flickered around the living room.
“Oxford Botanic Garden!” Hermione shouted before she and Ron stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a giant blaze of flames. Everyone else followed suit and soon it was Albus’ turn to enter the fire. He shouted the destination as clearly as he could before stepping into the fire, and suddenly felt like his body was twisting in all different directions before landing on solid ground. The flames subsided and he took a step forward onto a large red carpet that led towards a large white marquee in the middle of the gardens. As he looked closer at the carpet, he could see the logo of the Quidditch World Cup, a flying Golden Snitch with the three hoops standing behind it’s spherical body, printed into the fabric. He glanced back up and saw there were already a lot of people on this carpet. Quidditch players from all different countries and local teams, their partners and children, photographers from the Daily Prophet and undoubtedly other wizarding publications, and Madam Malkin who was interviewing the wives of players about their fashion choices for the occasion. He heard the fire erupt behind him and Scorpius appeared, looking a little dazed from the Floo.
“Wow, look at this!” Scorpius said. “Wizzo!”
“Double wizzo!” Albus agreed. He glanced around looking for Harry who was chatting to some players from the Harpies with Ginny at his side. His hand instinctively found Scorpius’ and they made their way across.
“We made it, Dad!” Albus said. Harry turned and smiled.
“Brilliant! Ah, here comes James and Lily!” Albus’ siblings walked over towards him and Harry quickly did a head count.
“Okay, kids, your mum and I will be pretty busy for a bit with interviews and whatnot, so go enjoy the festivities and we’ll meet you at our table in the marquee, alright?” All the kids nodded and broke off to enjoy the walk. Albus and Scorpius traipsed along the red carpet, bumping into a few familiar Quidditch players from the British League and meeting the members of the Australian Quidditch team, who were evidently wide awake due to the time difference and Scorpius wondered how they’d go for the rest of their visit.
“Mr Potter! Mr Malfoy!” A voice shouted from the right side of the carpet. Albus jerked his head trying to find the source of the voice, but it was hard to see anything behind the wall of flashing lights and camera lenses. “Look over here please?” Other voices suddenly joined in and clamored to get the boys attention. Albus glanced sidelong at Scorpius who was looking overwhelmed, and he reached out a hand.
“You okay?” Albus asked.
Scorpius nodded and meekly smiled at the paparazzi who were snapping away at the couple. They posed a bit longer before Albus spotted Rose beckoning them over towards her and a brunette middle aged woman in a green dress.
“Oh my God, Scorpius!” Rose gushed. “This is Gwenog Jones, former captain, now coach of the Holyhead Harpies!” The woman smiled warmly at Scorpius and held out a hand. Albus watched the exchange unfold and started to wonder if his cousin and boyfriend were in the middle of a geekiness quivering match.
“Pleased to meet you, Scorpius,” Gwenog said as they shook hands. “Hi, Al.”
“Hey Gwen, good to see you.” Albus replied with a wave.
“YOU know Gwenog Jones?!” Scorpius practically screamed.
“Yeah! Mum used to play for the Harpies, did I never tell you that?”
“Um, NO!” Scorpius took a deep breath and collected himself before he’d make any more of a spectacle of himself. “Pleasure to meet you too, Ms Jones.”
“So what are you kids doing here? Is Gin with you?”
“Yeah, Aunt Ginny is interviewing and covering for the Prophet tonight,” Rose explained while pointing back down the carpet where Ginny had her notepad out and was frantically transcribing a conversation between herself and the captain of the English Quidditch Team, who was the top pick for the medal this evening.
“Are you gonna be presenting tonight, Gwen?” Albus asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be presenting the vote counts for America v China and Australia v France. Both games went on for an eternity so I wouldn’t be surprised if it took the voting committee too much time or even didn’t care to pay attention to the game to decide who actually did a good job or not.”
Albus politely nodded and noticed a bunch of clamoring Harpies fans behind Gwen begging for her autograph.
“Anyway, we’ll leave you to it,” Albus said. “Great to see you.”
“You too. Oh, Scorpius?” Gwen said before she turned to address her fans.
“Yes?”
“Rose tells me you’re starting to get into Quidditch. Both of you, come find me at the afterparty and I’d love to talk to you about training camps.” Scorpius’ eyes lit up but he remembered to keep his cool and took a deep breath.
“That’d be great, thank you!” Scorpius said. “But don't the Harpies only take female players?”
“Only for the main team but we run training camps for all genders over the school holidays. We’ll talk later, okay?” Scorpius nodded and Rose stepped between the two boys, linking her arms through theirs before returning back to the shooting gallery and the three friends happily posed for more photos. The nearby clocktower’s bell chimed 7pm which meant it was time for everyone to make their way into the marquee for the ceremony itself. The kids passed Madam Malkin on their way in and she sent them an excited little wave which they returned. The marquee had a wide piano black stage, with enchanted fairy lights illuminating it from above, and the floor had hundreds of round ten seater tables furnished with white cloths and placards for the guests. Albus, Scorpius and Rose were the first of their family to enter the tent, and quickly found a table with a card reading “POTTER/GRANGER-WEASLEY FAMILY”. At each seat was a beautiful crystal glass, waiting to be filled with a selection of ice cold drinks already on the table; Butterbeer, Firewhisky, Wine, Beer and Champagne. The three of them sat down and filled their glasses with Butterbeer to sip while they waited for everyone to turn up. Soon afterwards all the tables filled up quickly and the rest of the Potter/Granger-Weasley party, except for Hermione, found their way over to the table. Lily climbed into Rose’s lap and helped herself to a glass of Pumpkin Juice and a tray of hors d'oeuvres which had appeared out of thin air as soon as the whole family was seated. When all the attendants made their way inside, music started playing from a small band in a pit at the front of the stage, and a voice boomed out all over the audience.
“Welcome, one and all, to the 20th Bowman Wright Medal Ceremony, where we recognise excellence, skill, and sportsmanship in the Quidditch World Cup of the year past. Please welcome our first presenter of the evening, the British Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger.” Everyone broke out in thunderous applause as Hermione took to the stage with a blue velvet box under her arm. Her dress seemed to sparkle like a million stars in the night sky and Albus beamed for his aunt. She stepped up to the podium at the front of the stage, produced her wand to her throat and said “Sonorus!” Her voice projected to ten times it’s organic volume and she pocketed her wand before continuing.
“Good evening, I’m so pleased to see so many here to celebrate with us tonight. Forty years ago, the International Quidditch Committee introduced this prestigious award as a reminder of the spirit that resides in every Quidditch player, no matter who they are, or where they come from. Bowman Wright, the inventor of the Golden Snitch, was the epitome of innovation, forward thinking, and showmanship within Quidditch, so it only seemed fitting that his legacy live on with the recipient of this award, past, present and future, for they set the benchmark of what Quidditch is all about. Tonight, I am pleased to announce the vote counts for rounds one through to five of this year’s Quidditch World Cup.” Hermione cleared her throat before reading from a roll of parchment that had been affixed to the podium before the show started. Albus reached under the table for Scorpius’ hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze before downing the rest of his Butterbeer. Scorpius turned in his seat to give Albus a quick peck before settling in for the voting tallies which would determine the winner of this year’s ceremony.
*
Four hours later, the Potters and Granger-Weasleys spat themselves out onto the Potter living room floor from the fireplace, absolutely exhausted from the night. The captain of the English team had predictably won the medal after his extraordinary broom work in the final match of the cup against South Africa. Once Ginny had stretched and shaken her writing hand, she called from the living room floor, not even bothering to stand up.
“Everyone. Bed. Sleep. Now.” The kids didn’t bother to protest and slowly walked up the stairs to get ready to go to sleep. Rose would share with Lily and Hugo would share with James whenever the Potters hosted Hermione, Ron and the kids. Albus was a bit wobbly on his feet and had to lean on Scorpius as they crossed the threshold to his bedroom.
“Well that was…boring,” Albus admitted in a lackadaisical fashion. He was blinking slowly as he removed his robe and replaced it back on its hanger. Scorpius eyed him curiously before taking a step forward and sniffing.
“Albus…are you drunk?” Scorpius whispered. Albus giggled and held out his thumb and forefinger.
“Maybe just this much,” he said with a mischievous giggle.
“But, how? There’s not that much alcohol in…oh, how many Butterbeers did you have?”
“Ahhhh, either four or forty?” Albus guessed with an exaggerated shrug. Despite himself, Scorpius couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re really taking advantage of your Mum’s temporary lifting on the sugar ban, aren’t you?”
“You better believe it, Scorp!” Albus declared before descending into a fit of laughter as he unbuttoned his shirt and put it on another hanger. Scorpius was laughing before but as soon as Albus shed his garments, Scorpius was transfixed by his boyfriend’s beautiful skin. Albus turned, about to ask if Scorpius was okay, but quickly realised what had reduced Scorpius to silence.
“Um…you know…” Albus started shyly. “We never got to finish what we started earlier.”
“Um…no, I-I guess we didn’t,” Scorpius nervously replied. Despite this, he strode over to Albus and held his hands out. “Can I…?” Albus smiled and silently gave permission for Scorpius to touch his chest, and start mapping his shoulders. Then Albus giggled.
“What, you okay?” Scorpius asked, suddenly stopping.
“Just a bit ticklish…wait, no, you didn’t hear me say that!” Albus said frantically.
“Oh, you are, are you?” Scorpius said slyly. “Better make sure I don’t–” he reached down and brushed his fingertips against Albus’ belly, which set off a bark of laughter.
“HA, Scorpius! I swear, if you-AH, DON’T!” Albus hastily retreated backwards, and the back of his knees buckled as they collided with the side of his bed. Scorpius fell with him and straddled him as he went to work on Albus’ tummy and underarm.
“Ha, Okay, ha, that’s it!” Albus laughed. He reached up under Scorpius’ arms and tried tickling, but Scorpius wasn’t ticklish. “No!”
“Afraid so, Potter,” Scorpius teased. “Gonna have to keep going for your attempt on me,” he declared before resuming. Albus shrieked and cried with laughter until eventually, he cried ‘yield!’ and Scorpius descended over him with a tender kiss.
“Hey, you gotta even things up,” Albus said.
“Oh, yeah,” Scorpius made quick work of removing his robe and shirt, and Albus placed a hand over Scorpius’ heart, which began to drum rapidly, but gradually settled and even fell in rhythm with Albus’ own heart. They looked into each other’s eyes with such tenderness that so many unspoken words passed between the two, before they embraced chest to chest, skin to skin, and kissed each other deeply before they were eventually both consumed by sleep. Albus had felt so much love for and from Scorpius over the last few years, but this week was undoubtedly the happiest he’d ever been in his life. Gone were his worries of never being able to love or be loved, because he had Scorpius. He’d always have Scorpius. Always.