Buckle Up Blondie

Chapter Eighteen:

Seven Years Later:

"Damn, it, Bek, no!"

Albus winced at Scorpius' sudden wail of pain, his eyes remaining firmly glued to the pages of his book, lest he be called upon to help.

The twenty-three year old dared a glance up as seven-year-old Bek suddenly sprinted past him and dived behind his garden chair to hide. "He's going to find you, you know."

"Not if you keep your mouth shut," the scarlet-haired child growled in response, her green eyes wide as she scanned the tree-line for approaching enemies. Harry emerged swiftly, Scorpius' arm firmly held between his fingers. He spotted his son hiding behind a book and glared at him. "You could help, Al!"

Albus grinned up at him, "but then you'd have nothing to do." He supplied simply, eyes straying to the enraged Malfoy as the boy pulled violently against Harry's hold. His green eyes were wide and glowing and his blood-red wings flared behind him threateningly as he hissed. "Let me go! I'll kill her!"

"Which is why I will not let you go." Harry said to the seven-year-old calmly, only to receive a growl in response.

It was to this that Lily walked into the garden, her eyebrow quirking as she spotted her daughter hiding behind her brother's chair. She took in Scorpius' straining form and bent low to level a glare at her offspring. The child was a near perfect copy of herself. Were it not for the sharpness of her chin and the natural tan of her flawless skin, Lily could have been looking at a young version of herself.

"What did you do to him, Bek?"

Bek raised sullen green eyes to her mother's at the no-nonsense tone and mumbled something incoherent. "What?"

Harry approached his daughter, flinging Scorpius at Albus to hold. The dark-haired man grabbed hold of the squirming child, chuckling. "You'll only get yourself into more trouble, Score, come on be smart, like I taught you." Scorpius settled on his lap, a pout pulling his bottom lip down as he crossed his arms. "She's stupid."

Bek, having been pulled from her hiding place, stuck her tongue out at him.

Harry frowned at her. "She only went and attacked the boy with magic again." Lily's green eyes widened and she bent down to wrinkle her nose at her child. "What is the matter with you that you cannot leave Scorpius alone for five minutes, Beka! And using magic again after I forbid you not to?"

Bek, formally known as Beka, sniffled at her mother's harsh tone. "He called me names!" she yelled out, lip trembling, "I only did it to show him he's not the only one who can do magic without an amulet!"

Bród watched the interaction in amusement from the hallway window, wings fluttering gently behind him. "What are you so happy about?"

Draco came up behind his mate, hoisting himself onto a ledge so that he could be eye level with the darker man. Bród's height was something which irked the blonde endlessly, much to everyone's amusement.

"Bek and Scorpius are still trying to kill one another."

Draco quirked an eyebrow at the man, nodding as Lae passed them holding a bulbous fruit in one hand and a potted plant in another. That alien was not all there. "And this is a good thing, because? I admit our son and Lily's offspring are hell raisers but I hardly which for them to eradicate each other."

Bród chuckled deeply, his arms moving to twine around Draco's waist. "Don't you see, Draco? They're trying to get the other's attention. It's become a focal point in their lives, they'll end up together." Draco glanced out the window doubtfully, scowling as he saw Bek aim a kick at his son's shin, only for the boy to tackle the smaller child to the ground. "I highly doubt that, somehow," he commented dryly.

"It's quite true," Ciúin approached the couple, his scarlet hair only degrees brighter than Bek's and secured in a braid, as it always was. "Láíd and I all but mangled one another as children. It wasn't until we came of age that we realised just how much we needed each other. I'll never know happiness like that I get from my relationship with Láid." He grinned at Albus out the window as the young man slouched in his seat, arms dangling in relief.

"But onto a topic that's been bugging me for the better part of seven years, when do you think Albus and Seanchaí will tell us about their relationship?"

Draco stretched his back slowly, shaking his head. "I don't even think it's a relationship. I mean the most I've ever seen them do is play with magic in the forest, or talk. Merlin, do they talk. I think they've discussed every aspect in your universe and my own and still they find more. I've yet to see them kiss, though Jamie says he caught them at it, years ago. Honestly, it's not a relationship I'll ever understand."

Bród nodded slowly. "It is because Seanchaí is an Elder and Albus is little more than a boy. He has no experience whereas Seanchaí has nothing but experience. The age difference is huge, however if anyone can spark the Elder's interest, it is Albus. I've seen him stare at the boy on more than one occasion, and not always in simple calculation. Albus is an enigma, the last great mystery."

Draco snorted, his eyes landing on Albus. The man had sprawled himself across the grass of the garden, his eyes closed as his fingers moved against the blades. "Oh, he's a mystery alright. Trust Potter to produce something so bloody complicated."

###

Albus grinned as the light in the back of his mind flared suddenly.

"You may as well come out, I know you're there."

Seanchaí strode from behind the foliage of the forest, his violet hair in an uncharacteristic braid. His wings were flared, something he refrained from doing around Albus. "That sense of yours is an annoyance," he spoke slowly, his pale blue eyes intent, "it outweighs the flattery of knowing that I am a precious presence in your life."

Albus smirked, watching as the man settled in the grass before him, "I assure you it was not something I scientifically designed just to make you complain. It's beyond my control, like the lights of my family."

"Do you still see your mother's light?"

Albus nodded slowly, focusing on the very faint glow that was Ginny Weasley. It moved as he tried to engage with it, forever out of his reach. "I just want to know what it means, to have her light still glowing in my head when she has been dead for so long."

Seanchaí 's eyes were curious, "perhaps she is a spirit. Perhaps she waits on Earth in the hopes that you all will one day return. Though I hope that is not the case. I hope she is at rest, and the light you see for her is merely your own denial that she is really gone." Albus shrugged, his eyes opening slowly to find that the Elder had moved closer, mere inches away.

"I wish to kiss you again."

Albus visibly startled, his tongue momentarily halted. "But the last time... there was nothing. You said it would be best to wait and see. We've become better friends." Seanchaí smirked at the word, drawing ever closer. "I am aware. But I have waited and you have grown. You were a lost child and now you know who you are. I wish to know you too."

When Albus simply stared at him, Seanchaí moved forward to press his mouth against the smaller male's. His lips were soft, bowed-shaped. The light in Albus' mind that would forever belong to the Elder flared brightly, rolling against his skin from the inside and causing a whimper to spill from his mouth. Seanchaí moved slowly against him, his body forcing Albus back against the trunk of a tree in a sudden and unexpected show of dominance.

"Oh yes," the violet-haired man growled as he pulled away, his eyes locked on Albus' flushed cheeks and heaving chest, "you're mine."