Taming

After their encounter, Scorpius and Albus had spent the next few days literally unable to keep their hands off each other. It distracted them from their classes, although the professors knew not to expect too much from students about to leave for their hols, anyway. Fortunately, it also distracted Scorpius from his Christmas plan. At least a little.

On Friday afternoon, they packed their trunks and Scorpius checked about a hundred times to make sure that the little box he’d sent away for was safely inside. He was checking one last time when Albus complained, “Hurry, or we’re going to miss the train!”

“Fine, fine! I’m coming. Keep your pants on.”

“Don’t tempt me. Then we’d really miss the train.” Scorpius rolled his eyes at Albus, but he dutifully headed for the stairs, levitating his trunk behind him.

They sat with Rose and Lily on the train, and luckily everyone was in the holiday spirit, since the girls’ laughter and chatter covered the fact that Scorpius was a bit more quiet than usual.

At the station, both his parents and Albus’s parents greeted both boys with hugs and kisses. Scorpius was also able to meet Rose and Hugo’s parents for the first time. He liked Mrs. Weasley immediately since she reminded him strongly of Rose. He was less sure of Mr. Weasley at first, since he was more like Hugo, and a little imposing with his tall frame and broad shoulders.

However, he quickly realized that Ron Weasley was in fact quite funny, and had them all in stitches, mostly teasing Scorpius’s father. Harry laughingly took Draco’s side, even though Scorpius knew that Mr. Weasley was Harry’s best friend in the world, and made some rather pointed comments about someone named Lavender Brown that caused Mrs. Weasley to laugh nearly to the point of tears.

With much hugging and kissing, both generations separated themselves into family units, Scorpius taking Albus with his family, and they split up. Harry called that they would see the Malfoys on Christmas Day, and he winked at Scorpius. Scorpius winked back, feeling nervous but excited. He didn’t know how he’d wait until Christmas.

***************

Scorpius had decided not to tell his own parents about his plans beforehand because he knew that his mother would cry every time she saw Albus from that point forward, which would certainly arouse suspicion. However, that meant that she couldn’t understand why he didn’t like her idea of having a big Christmas breakfast with the Potters before opening gifts.

On Christmas morning, he and Albus tumbled out of bed. Scorpius was nearly wriggling with excitement and Albus laughed at him. “You’re so excited! Are you always this excited on Christmas morning?”

“Not since I was about ten. But this is our first Christmas together.”

Albus melted at that, as Scorpius knew he would. They began to kiss, but Scorpius had to disentangle himself. “Stop, stop, or we’re going to end up back in that bed!”

“So?”

“So, your family is going to be here any minute, and my mom has that elaborate breakfast planned. Someone is liable to come up and see why we’re not attending.”

Albus laughed. “So let them wait out in the hall.”

“With my luck, they’d send Lily and she’d insist on staying to watch.”

Albus blanched at that and tugged his jumper over his head. “Okay, the mood is gone now, thank you very much.”

Scorpius laughed and finished dressing. When Albus sat on the bed to tie his shoes, Scorpius was able to subtly fish the little box out of his trunk and slip it into his pocket. Grinning, he waited for Albus to finish and then grabbed his hand.

They walked downstairs hand-in-hand and found Albus’s family already there. Harry, Ginny, and Lily greeted them warmly. Albus’s older brother James had even come along. He and Scorpius knew of each other, of course, but hadn’t been formally introduced. James Potter seemed a little leery, but the look on his brother’s face when he proudly introduced Scorpius as his boyfriend seemed to soften the older boy.

James was a Quiddich commentator on a popular radio programme, as well as a play-by-play announcer at live games. Scorpius wasn’t the biggest Quiddich fan, but out of politeness he asked James about his job and found his answers quite interesting. He was vastly relieved that James didn’t seem to be holding his previous knowledge of Scorpius against him.

Scorpius had unfairly pegged James as a dumb jock, but as he explained some obscure rule that had recently come up in a game, Scorpius realized that he must have to know quite a lot for his job. “Jamie, enough with the Quiddich, please!” Lily begged. “It’s Christmas!”

Scorpius grinned at her. She looked adorable. Her green velvet dress coupled with her red hair made her look like a walking holiday decoration. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction to his announcement.

Finally, when everyone was stuffed with breakfast, they went into the parlor where a grand Christmas tree took up an entire corner of the room. It was entirely surrounded by gifts, and all the young peoples’ eyes lit up. The adults exchanged gentle smiles. Even children who were nearly grown themselves had a special magic to their parents when it came to Christmas.

Lily appointed herself as gift fairy and made endless trips back and forth from the tree, passing out gifts to their recipients. Scorpius had chosen gifts for his soon-to-be new family members with great care. Lily squealed and tackled him when she opened the necklace that he’d chosen for her, a delicate gold chain with a lily pendant that had mother of pearl petals.

He’d found a book on the history of the Auror program at a vintage bookshop that Harry had immediately begun pouring over, pointing out facts to Ginny. For James, Scorpius had also chosen a book, this one called Racing Brooms Throughout History, which listed details on just about every racing broom ever created.

Currently, Harry and Draco were arguing over it while James laughed at them. They seemed to be having a vehement disagreement over which had been better, the Nimbus 2000 or Nimbus 2001. James kept rolling his eyes and saying things like, “Those antiques?” Which caused both fathers to scowl at him.

Ginny’s present had gotten the best reception, however. The last time he and Albus had been together at the Potters’ house, Albus had shown him a bunch of old family photographs. There was one that Scorpius had just loved, which showed Albus at about three years old, sitting on Ginny’s lap. They were both smiling and waving at the photographer, and the similarity of their smiles was quite pronounced.

Scorpius has purchased a frame for it, which he’d had engraved with the words, “Good Things Come to Those Who Are Willing to Wait.” It had made Ginny and Albus both cry, but in a good way, thankfully.

For Albus, he’d bought a beautiful sweater the exact shade of emerald as Albus’s eyes. Although he hadn’t given him his real present yet. Albus’s gift for him had made Scorpius tear up, which he would normally have been embarrassed by, but he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be the only time that he cried that day, so he hadn’t minded.

Albus had gotten him a silver identification bracelet that was engraved on the front with a geometric pattern, but on the back in delicate script it read, “Every day for the rest of our lives,” the words he’d promised Albus in the library the night they’d begun dating. He’d ended up kissing Albus so enthusiastically after that that finally Lily had to hit Scorpius on the head with an empty gift box to get him to stop.

When Lily announced that the gifts were all distributed and opened, Scorpius knew it was time. However, he was suddenly scared shitless. He looked over and saw Harry looking at him. Harry smiled at him encouragingly and gave a little motion with his chin as if to say, “All right, get on with it.”

It was enough to buoy him, and Scorpius said, “Actually, there’s one more gift. I have something for Albus.” Albus, who had been sitting on couch with Astoria admiring the earrings she’d gotten from Draco, looked up in surprise. Scorpius was standing in front of the Christmas tree, and he beckoned to Albus, “You have to come and get it.”

Albus walked over to him excitedly. Scorpius cleared his throat nervously. “I know we haven’t been dating for very long, but it feels like it’s been forever. I feel like there have only been two parts to my life, before you and after you. And nothing before you seems to matter to me any more. It took me over six years to see you, but it took me about six seconds to fall in love with you, completely, totally, and irreversibly. I promised you ‘every day for the rest of our lives,’ and I don’t intend for you to have anything less.” He pulled the box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a simple silver band. He dropped down on one knee, and in a voice that was suddenly quite unsteady, he asked, “Albus will you marry me?”

Immediately, all three women and Albus burst into tears, but Albus managed to say, “Yes. Yes!” Scorpius was crying himself now, but he stood up and put the ring on the correct finger. Albus leaned close to him and said, “Of course, you git. But only because I love you.” Scorpius threw his arms around Albus and lifted him off his feet.. Behind them, all hell broke loose.

They turned around and both grinned. Lily and Ginny were both crying and hugging and jumping up and down like little girls.
Astoria was weeping into a handkerchief so loudly that Scorpius feared she might make herself sick. James was laughing at Harry and Draco, who were congratulating each other as if they’d each done something wonderful. Then, rather without warning, they were hugging each other as well, and Scorpius thought he must be imagining the tears sparkling in his father’s eyes.

Turning and seeing that Albus and Scorpius were now watching them, Ginny and Lily came running over to hug both of them. Ginny and Albus immediately clung to each other, and Lily put her arms around Scorpius’s neck and leapt on him, wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed and spun her around until he was dizzy. “I love you, brother,” she whispered in his ear.

Touched and teary yet again, he whispered back, “I love you, too, sis.”

At some point, their fathers had stopped hugging each other and they came over to join the celebration. Astoria seemed unable to leave the couch, so Albus finally went over to check on her and ended up on the couch in her arms while she sobbed all over him.
“Why do I get the idea that I’m no longer the favorite child where my mother is concerned?” Scorpius asked his father wryly.

Draco laughed. “Because you’re not. But you don’t care a bit, do you?”

“Not at all. But she can’t keep him.”

“Don’t feel bad, Scorpius. If anything, James should feel bad.” Lily remarked.

“Me? What do I have to do with anything?” James protested.

“Well, he used to think he was my best-looking brother…”

“Why you little…” James began to go after Lily and she squealed and ran off towards the dining room with James on her heels.

“Come back here you brat!”

“I’ve never been more glad that Scorpius is an only child,” Draco teased Harry and Ginny.

Harry sighed. “You have no idea. They’re supposed to be adults now, too. Or nearly. Try to imagine when they were six, five, and three. It was like working in a zoo.”

“I can see that.”

“Yes, well, your son has chosen to marry into that zoo, so every one of your stodgy Malfoy Christmases from now on is going to be trampled on by these monkeys and their sure-to-be equally untamed offspring.”

James returned from the dining room, carrying Lily upside down over one shoulder, while she tried in vain to kick him.

A huge grin spread over Draco Malfoy’s face. “I can’t wait.”

Ginny grinned at him. “Me either.”