"Scorpius. Scorpius, wake up."

Scorpius sat straight up with a ragged gasp. Around him, classmates were whispering, rising drowsily to their feet, and shuffling towards the Great Hall doors. Scorpius looked up into his dad's eyes, his heart stuttering.

"Did they come back? The dementors? Are we being evacuated? Where's Albus?" Scorpius looked around himself without waiting for his dad to answer, concern swelling inside of his chest, but he spotted Albus a moment later, standing tiredly beside Harry a few feet away.

"No, they've all been chased deep into the Forest. Everybody's going back to their dorms," his dad explained. He reached down and grabbed Scorpius's arm. He tugged upwards. "Come along."

"Come along? You're coming to the dorm, too? Dad, I'm sorry, but my bed is too small, and I don't think it will be comfortable—"

His exhausted, confused rambling was interrupted by his dad.

"No, I'm not staying in the Slytherin Dungeon, Scorpius. I'm escorting you and Albus to make sure you arrive safely."

"Oh," Scorpius said dumbly. He yawned deeply a moment later. He heard his dad give a light chuckle. He pulled on Scorpius's arm again.

"Up we go, Scorpius."

Scorpius stumbled half-blind wherever his dad pulled, his eyelids still heavy with exhaustion. Ginny might've hugged him—or it could've been Lily, Scorpius was too tired to focus correctly. Whoever it was had soft, floral-smelling hair. Albus leaned tiredly into Scorpius for support as they followed Draco down the crowded, sleep-soaked hallways.

"Do we have classes tomorrow?" Albus yawned.

"I'm not sure," Draco said. "I'm sure the Prefects will let you know come morning."

"But where are you going to sleep, Dad?" Scorpius wondered. He vaguely recalled his dad telling him he was going to stay at Hogwarts for a while, but in his drowsy state, he wasn't entirely convinced he hadn't made it up. "Are you going home?"

"Quickly, to grab my things, feed the peacocks, pay the house elves. The caretaker here is setting up living quarters for me."

As long as it's not in the Slytherin Dungeon, Scorpius thought. He yawned again afterwards and struggled not to stagger from Albus's leaning weight. He was so tired he felt as if his feet were gliding over the stone floors. He couldn't wait to get into bed.

He half-carried Albus down the Dungeon Corridor and down the next staircase, and it didn't occur to him that Albus's cane was missing until his dad was giving the password to the passage wall.

"Where's your cane?" he asked.

Albus gave a small start; he'd begun slipping off to sleep, his head against Scorpius's shoulder, as they waited for the passage to the Common Room to open.

"What?" he asked.

"Your cane."

"Oh...dunno...it was...I think...Slug Club..."Albus trailed off. His eyelids fluttered shut again.

"'Merlin'," Draco repeated, frustrated. He rapped hard on the stone wall. "Hello? That's the password. Why aren't you opening? Insolent piece of castle...Scorpius, you try, perhaps it's because I'm an adult..."

"'Merlin'," Scorpius tried hopefully.

Still nothing. Scorpius sagged underneath Albus's weight. He was considering sleeping in the corridor when the sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention. He saw his dad withdraw his wand on instinct. His dad straightened and stepped halfway in front of Scorpius and Albus.

"Lumos," he whispered. He directed his wand light down the corridor. "Who's there? Announce yourself or I'll stun. I'll give you three seconds. Three, two—"

"Stunning my students, Draco?" Professor Slughorn demanded. He shuffled into view. He had already changed into his dressing gown. "I'll have to ask you not to do that."

Scorpius's dad lowered his wand.

"I have to be cautious, Horace," he replied. "Did the password change?"

"Ah, yes. I tried to catch you to inform you of the changes, but I got distracted by an unexpected...discovery..." he trailed off. "Well, as I was saying. Flitwick placed new protections on all four House entrances. You must now place your wand against the entrance after giving the password. It will automatically scan through your past one-hundred spells. You will be barred entrance if it detects an Unforgivable."

Scorpius would've appreciated this new measure of security better if he weren't slowly slipping down, thanks to the now-dozing Albus and his own exhaustion. He shuffled backwards, leaned against the wall, and let himself and Albus slide down. Albus snuggled closer, his face tucking away against Scorpius's neck. The stone floor and walls were chilly, but Albus's sleepy affection made him feel comfortable despite. He let own cheek fall against the top of Albus's head with a soft smile.

"And then what happens? Doesn't do much good if they're not restrained, does it?"

"I am immediately notified, as are the Head Boy and Girl, McGonagall, and Harry. It records the wand, so even if the student flees, we'll be able to quickly determine who it was. We've already caught four students and they're not even all back to their dorms yet."

"Who?" Draco demanded sharply.

"Ah, Draco, I'm afraid I am not permitted to share that information. Now, if you'll just repeat the password, press your wand here, and that should do it. Assuming...well. Assuming you haven't done any Dark magic recently?"

"Of course I haven't," Scorpius's dad snapped. "'Merlin'."

Scorpius rose tiredly to his feet as the passage opened. He reached down and hoisted Albus up, who groaned and mumbled: "What? Where are we going?"

"Bed," Scorpius said. "Lovely, lovely bed."

"Oh, good," Albus yawned.

Scorpius exchanged goodbyes with his dad at the passage opening and then they went their separate ways. Scorpius and Albus stepped into the Common Room. Scorpius didn't pay mind to anything but getting to bed, but Albus stopped.

"Oi," he muttered, his words still a bit slurred with exhaustion. Scorpius turned and followed Albus's line of sight. On the other side of the Common Room, in front of the carved fireplace, Caden Rowle was perched on a leather armchair, directly across from Evvie. Evvie appeared to be lecturing him. He was staring over her head at a point on the wall behind her with a bored, haughty expression in place. Albus was scandalized. "Boy! Lily—Lily's boy! What's he doing there getting lectured?"

"Probably got caught by the new wand checks, didn't he? Since he and Lily have been doing the Imperius Curse?" Scorpius replied. He paused. "Oh, that means Lily got caught, too. She won't like that."

He'd thought they were being quiet, but Evvie paused mid-scold and turned to look at them. Scorpius quickly pursed his lips.

"Continue up to your dorms," she ordered. "The password for the fifth year dorms has been changed to 'violets'."

Albus seemed reluctant to obey. He was still staring at Caden with an expression of decided dislike.

"Did you know he used the Imperius on my thirteen-year-old sister?" Albus finally demanded.

Caden rolled his eyes. Evvie nodded curtly.

"Yes, I'm aware of the specifics. Bed."

"Are you going to punish him?"

"I'm going to punish you if you don't get to bed!" she snapped. She pointed at the short stairway, her eyes narrowed warningly. Scorpius thought it best to listen to her; with her oddly disheveled hair and unyielding expression, he wasn't sure challenging her was the right move. He tugged on Albus's arm to communicate that, urging him forward.

"You're not my mum," Albus muttered underneath his breath, but he shuffled forward anyway. Scorpius helped him walk the short distance to the fifth year dormitory door.

"Violets," Albus snapped. The door clicked open, revealing occupied beds. Their dorm mates all appeared to be sleeping, most of them still in their robes and shoes, sprawled out atop the blankets. Scorpius and Albus tip-toed over towards their end of the dormitory. Scorpius immediately reached for King and Bathilda's cage on his bedside table; thankfully, both were snoozing cozied up together. Scorpius let out a relieved breath, sighed, and then pushed a few treats in there for when they woke.

Scorpius pried his shoes off and set them neatly beneath his bed, and when he glanced over at Albus, he saw he'd somehow already stripped down to his pants, clearly eager to be out of his dirty dress robes. Various family members had attempted to Scourgify all of Albus's blood from them throughout the night, but the fabric had still retained the strange stiffness of dried blood that would only be fixed by a proper washing. Scorpius allowed himself a moment's pause to study the slanting, green light against Albus's bare skin, the endearing freckles spanning his shoulders and chest, the slight jut of his hip bones, the faint line of hair dipping beneath the waistband of—

No, Scorpius scolded himself. He cleared his throat and looked back down at his feet, the back of his neck warming. He yanked one of his socks off. No, no, not the time. Get a hold of yourself, Scorpius.

Scorpius removed his other sock, his robes, his trousers and shirt beneath, and then he felt his mattress shake as Albus plopped down on it. Scorpius turned and glanced up at the top of the bed. Albus had already slipped beneath the covers. Scorpius beamed.

"Cuddle night!"

"Isn't every night cuddle night?" Albus pointed out. "Even if we don't plan it? I've got to talk to Madam Pomfrey about the sleep walking..."

His sentence trailed off as he let his eyelids fall closed. Scorpius rose and started towards his trunk, to pull a clean pair of pajamas from it, but Albus's voice brought him to a pause.

"Or not," he heard Albus say.

He glanced back at his boyfriend. "What?"

He assumed the statement was following up from Albus's comment about seeing Pomfrey for his sleep walking. He assumed incorrectly.

"Or not pajamas," Albus repeated. "Not for me. Pajamas."

What the...

"Are you all right?" Scorpius questioned, concerned. "You're not making any sense."

Albus—clearly half-asleep now—patted Scorpius's pillow weakly. "C'mon."

Scorpius parted his lips to argue—"I'm not dressed!"—but Albus kept patting the pillow over and over, and Scorpius couldn't help but think to the particularly nice snogging session they'd had before the party, and, well, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like the idea of being less-than-dressed in a bed with Albus, but did he trust himself to be? That was another question entirely...

"Scorpius," Albus said.

"O-okay. Right. Bed. Straight away! But. I'm...indecent."

"There's nothing indecent about you," Albus countered.

Sig's voice tore unexpectedly through the heavy silence of the dorm.

"Scorpius, just get into bed with him and shut up before I kill you," Sig mumbled. "Nobody cares if you're in your fancy, rich-boy pants."

Scorpius blushed. He lowered his hands over his privates as if he could hide his silver-threaded, silk boxers that way.

"They're not—rich-boy pants," he defended weakly. "They're the least expensive style at the shop."

"My point is that nobody cares. Omri sleeps naked every night and nobody says a damn thing," Sig continued.

"Omri sleeps naked?" Malcolm yawned. "Really? How'd I miss that?"

"Shut up, all of you!" Saul snapped from his bed. "I haven't even gotten an hour's decent sleep and we might still have classes tomorrow."

They all fell silent. Scorpius edged towards his bed, lifted up the blankets, and then practically dove beneath them, not wanting to be so exposed while Saul was angry. He shifted into his typical spot, smiled into the pillow as Albus immediately slid closer, and then he felt his skin tingle all over, in a way that was almost more alarming than nice, because he realized now what Albus had meant when he'd mumbled: 'Or not pajamas. Not for me. Pajamas.' Albus was in his pants. But...Scorpius was undressed, too. There was suddenly a lot more bare skin than Scorpius knew what to do with. More than he was equipped to deal with.

"Oh," he squeaked. He brought his hands safely to his own chest, though he supposed that was probably ridiculous; he had touched nearly every inch of Albus's skin by now. But this felt different. Lying beneath the covers like this felt much more intimate than sticking his hands beneath Albus's clothing did. With a surge of heat to his face, he was confronted with the frantic reality that he was here with his boyfriend, in this bed, with hardly anything between them. He could feel the unabated warmth emitting from Albus's skin, and if he wanted, he could reach across and hold him, could stroke the soft skin of his back, could set a bare palm against his bare thigh, could kiss over his funny heart...he wanted to do those things, and maybe Albus wanted him to, too...

His heart was racing nervously. He reminded himself that Albus was okay with this, because Albus had instigated it (as Albus and his smoldering eyes were great at doing), and that he wouldn't scare him off...and then he hesitantly slid over and took Albus into his arms. He felt his heart lurch in a way that felt almost like a somersault as their bare skin pressed together. He caressed his hand down Albus's back. He lowered his face to Albus's shoulder. He inhaled the scent of his skin and closed his eyes. Warmth from Albus enveloped him. Softness and warmth. Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump, thump. Albus seemed to sink into his arms further with each breath cycle, and when he felt Albus sleepily kiss his neck, he couldn't help but grin. Because he knew Albus liked this just as much as he did.

"I like this," he blurted, his volume dimmed to a whisper.

"Mmhmm," Albus agreed.

"You're warm," he continued.

Albus rubbed Scorpius's thigh affectionately in response. Scorpius's heart filled to bursting, and under the strain of that rampant emotion, he did what he always did: he began rambling.

"This feels...nice, in a different way, a...serious way. Proper boyfriend way. Like buying each other dinner or...or...chocolates or flowers or broomsticks or whatever. Like furniture shopping. Do you like furniture shopping? My mum and dad always went furniture shopping. And, you know," he let out a nervous laugh, "according to Professor Gantha we'll need furniture for our three-bedroom flat and our very own baby so—" he snapped his lips shut as soon as his mind caught up with his mouth, but it was too late. He couldn't push the words back down his throat; they'd already been spoken.

In the few seconds that followed that slip-up, his heart stopped, his face seared in embarrassment, and Albus leaned back from him. They locked eyes in the darkness for a moment but then looked away in embarrassment. Albus seemed much more awake now.

"Er..." Scorpius said. "I...er. Sorry. I wasn't going to...ever mention that. Ever. Unless you did. But then. You rubbed my thigh. And I liked that, a lot, you know, and I guess...I said all of that...instead of just saying...I like that a lot, do that again...and..."

"Erm..." Albus said.

Silence settled back over them, heavy and uncomfortable. Scorpius hesitantly met Albus's eyes. Albus did the same. Scorpius had no idea what to say, but luckily, it appeared as though he wouldn't need to say anything just yet. Albus's eyes were turning smoldering. Because he'd gotten so great at reading the signs, he wasn't surprised at all when Albus suddenly leaned over and pressed his lips to his.

"So we're—" Albus leaned in and kissed Scorpius again, deeper this time; the end of Scorpius's sentence fell messily into Albus's mouth. Scorpius lost his train of thought for a few moments. "We're not—going to—" Albus's hand had found Scorpius's thigh again. He gave a delighted shiver in response. "Talk. We're not going to talk about that prediction?"

"No," Albus said. He leaned back and met Scorpius's eyes with the cheekiest grin Scorpius had ever seen gracing his features. He lowered his voice to something almost fainter than a whisper, his eyes burning into Scorpius's. "I'm going to touch you again instead."

It was a wonderful trade-off. Scorpius gave a gleeful laugh.

"Okay," he said happily. "Me too. If that's okay."

"That's always okay."

They'd been dead on their feet ten minutes ago, but both Scorpius and Albus seemed to find new energy in the warmth beneath Scorpius's blankets and the softness of each other's skin. In the midst of kissing the freckles dashed along Albus's shoulders, Scorpius could hardly remember the fear and pain he'd felt only hours ago underneath the dementors' influence. And he hoped he'd never have to again.

He woke what felt like minutes after he and Albus had given into their exhaustion. He recognized Omri's voice as the thing that had woken him. He snuggled closer to Albus.

"Evvie Wilson said that Slughorn said there are no classes today, because none of the professors had any sleep last night," Omri explained. "But breakfast is served at the typical time."

"Good, I'm starving," replied Sig. "All those sweets last night have me craving something savory. Let's go."

Scorpius was becoming aware of his own hunger pangs, but he didn't want to move. He decided that where he was, right in that moment, was the best place he'd ever been. And Albus must've agreed, because Scorpius felt him wake two or three times over the next half-hour, but each time he merely shifted closer, kissed Scorpius's shoulder or arm, and stretched his legs before falling back asleep. Scorpius drifted in and out in a similar manner until nearly two hours had passed and they were both well aware that they were both forcing sleep at that point—and well aware that they were both aware of that fact.

"We should get breakfast," Scorpius finally said, after Albus's stomach gave a particularly angry grumble.

Albus groaned unhappily in response.

"If we wait long enough, my mum'll send your dad to check on us, and I bet she'll send food with him," Albus pointed out.

"Yeah...but do we really want my dad finding us like this?"

"...No, you're right, we don't," Albus agreed quickly. "Great Hall it is."

"Look on the bright side! We can always come right back to bed! Slughorn said there's no class," Scorpius beamed.

Albus smiled so brightly that it left Scorpius grinning like a lovesick idiot.

It took them a bit longer to clean up and dress than Scorpius thought it would, so by the time they were entering the Great Hall, breakfast was nearly over. They were in such a hurry that, upon first entering, they failed to notice the new addition to the room. They made their way towards the Slytherin table...only to realize there was an extra table squeezed in between Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

"What?" Albus said blankly.

Scorpius and Albus came to a stop. They stood side by side and examined the fifth table. At first, Scorpius thought it was a Sevens table because nearly every Sevens member sans James and Evvie was at it. Nora and Roxanne were laughing with Ben, Louis and Clementine Clearwater were reading a book together, Jacques was fiddling with a broomstick servicing kit...but then Scorpius saw Lily, Aster, Caden, and the usual posse of third year boys. Further down, Hugo was talking happily with Iset (Rose appeared to be asleep at Iset's side; her head was resting on the table). So it