A surprise and a teddy bear

‘Jamestoldthem, sonowtheyknowandI’mmovinginwithyouguys.’
‘What?’ Albus asked in confusion. He had been sitting in the library, peacefully reading a book, until Scorpius interrupted the silence with that sentence - which sounded more like one word, actually. Albus decided to start with trying to make some sense of the first part - he was quite sure he had heard a mention of his brother. ‘James did what?’
Scorpius seemed to be in a hurry. He looked as if he wanted to sigh in frustration when his boyfriend didn’t understand immediately, but didn’t have time to do so. ‘He told them!’ he repeated, somewhat slower, clearly strained.
Albus still didn’t get it. ‘He told who what?’
Scorpius’ answer was impatient, almost as if Albus should have known what he was rambling about. ‘James told everyone - everyone - that we’re dating.’
Albus grinned broadly. He’d always wanted to come out to the world, instead of only to a select group of trusted people. Even though this might not have been his dream scenario to let the world in on their secret, at least it had finally happened. ‘Great!’
‘No,’ Scorpius nearly growled. ‘Not great.’
‘I’m sorry, not great,’ Albus said obediently, doing his best to tone down his smile in an attempt to keep the blonde from getting even more upset. He remembered Scorpius had been talking about a problem. ‘So, what’s wrong?’
‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong?’ Scorpius seemed near to hysterics, which made it excruciatingly difficult for Albus to hide his laughter. Not that he usually laughed while the other was clearly having a crisis, but he was just overly happy because of the good news and however he tried, he could not really hide his glee. ‘My parents know!’ Scorpius finally exclaimed, one hand tugging at his hair nervously. Albus wanted to tell him not to pull so hard at his beautifully soft locks, but he was distracted by the boy’s next words. It was only then Albus actually understood what his words were implying. ‘They know, Albus, they know. In the very best case scenario, they will disown me.’
So this was what Scorpius kept going on about. Albus suddenly didn’t need to try so hard not to smile. He became rather nervous, in fact, but nevertheless tried to sound confident and comforting. ‘Come on Scorpius, I’m sure they wouldn’t do that. They’re not like that.’
Scorpius shook his head fervently, a wild look in his eyes. ‘You’re not the one that has lived with them for years. You don’t know what they’re like, you’ve never even met them.’
‘True, but from the stories my dad told me your dad didn’t seem homophobic.’
Scorpius started talking very fast again, getting up from the seat opposite Albus and pacing restlessly. Albus had to listen closely to be able to follow the fast flow of words coming out of the other’s mouth. ‘He might not be homophobic, but I am the only heir to the family. And he wants the Malfoy bloodline to continue, which means I have to impregnate some girl. And you are not a girl, which means you can’t get pregnant, and neither can I and I don’t have any siblings which means all his hope will be shattered if he finds out I’m gay. And he will be furious which means he will hate me for the rest of his life, and he’s my father which means I don’t want him to hate me. Albus, what do I do?’
Scorpius’ grey eyes looked positively desperate, and Albus suddenly felt very, very guilty. He had a confession to make. ‘Er… What if I told you your parents already knew?’
‘Albus, don’t go off topic. It wouldn’t matter what I’d do if they did, because they don’t!’ Albus was suspiciously silent. ‘Albus? They don’t, do they?’ More silence. Scorpius sank down in his seat again. ‘Do they?’
Albus didn’t raise his gaze from his apparently very interesting nails and his voice was quiet and filled with guilt. ‘I sent them a letter explaining the situation at the beginning of the year. I didn’t think it was fair my parents and our friends got to know, but your family was left out from the truth.’
For a brief moment, it was eerily silent between them. Albus glanced at his boyfriends’ face, which had an incredulous look on it. ‘You - You sent them… O Merlin, o sweet Merlin. How did they react?’
Albus shrugged, but he got a glimmer of hope that maybe Scorpius wouldn’t yell as much as he’d expected him to. He seemed reasonably calm right now, though shocked. ‘They were okay with it. I don’t think they were particularly happy, but then again, my parents weren’t either when we first broke the news to them, were they?’
‘You - they - I…’ All of a sudden, Scorpius’ amazement faded and his volume doubled. ‘Albus Severus Potter! You are an arse! My parents know, and you knew they know, and you didn’t bother to tell me? Hell, you actually told them at the beginning of the year and you still haven’t told me? It’s three goddamn months from the beginning of the year and you know perfectly well how afraid I was to tell them, especially my father. So you just went and sent him some stupid letter, saying “Hey, I’m the child of the person you hated since you were eleven years old and I’m dating your only son. By the way, I’m not Potters daughter, so Scorpius is gay.” What on earth were you thinking?’
‘I suppose I, er, I wasn’t.’
‘I can only agree to that, you idiot. Why didn’t you tell me? You could have told me! They are my parents, and it was my responsibility to tell them, and now you did! I hate you! I- I- Oh, Merlin.’ Scorpius pulled Albus in a tight embrace, which Albus quickly returned.
‘I take it this means you don’t really hate me?’ Albus asked tentatively.
‘No, of course I don’t hate you, idiot,’ Scorpius mumbled into his shoulder. ‘I can’t hate you, I love you.’
Albus grinned and drew Scorpius even closer. ‘I love you too.’
A comforting silence settled around them, until Scorpius broke it. ‘But just so you know, this doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.’
‘Oh, you will.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘Scorp, I know you. You’re less vengeful than a housefly.’
‘I don’t know if I should be flattered or insulted. A housefly, Albus, really?’
‘It was the least threatening thing I could think of!’
‘How about a teddy bear?’
Albus took a moment to think about this concept, but then he nodded. ‘My teddy bear.’
Scorpius tried to look serious, but he couldn’t fight back a grin. ‘I hope you didn’t write my parents that.’