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[honourbyname]

Albus is not the sort of boy who would draw hearts around people's names.

First of all, things between him and Scorpius are something of a secret to most of the people he knows (Rose, back home, being just about the only exception of this - as there was absolutely no way he could ever keep such a thing a secret from her.

She knows him too well.

And his ridiculously happy expression was more or less a huge giveaway.) and drawing hearts like that would certainly be about as subtle as tossing fireworks up into the air and announcing the whole thing with a grand party.

Secondly, he'd probably die of embarrassment if anyone caught him writing hearts around Scorpius' name anyway.

Thirdly, he's really trying to be cool about this.

If all goes well and he doesn't bugger it up, Albus is quite sure he'll have a boyfriend.

It's a really strange, rather brilliant concept.

He's still in something like disbelief.


It's a bit hard not to want to do something about it, though.

So for now, Albus is just thinking up possible date scenarios (at a table, nibbling on a sugar quill), wondering what normal people with healthy relationships actually do on dates.

(He's never been on one. This stuff is all beyond him.)

Comments

[not_his_pa]

William's glad to see Milliways in the barn this morning as his knee is hurting and he slept in such a way that he's sore.

He's wincing and limping and he enters and stops to lean on a chair at Albus' table and stares, "Are you eatin' that poor quill?"

[honourbyname]

"Erm - yes?"

Albus laughs, embarrassed, before his expression quickly sobers.

"Are you all right?"

[not_his_pa]

"If I told you I was doin' much better than when it happened, would you believe me?"

He is healing, he just has lots of colorful bruises and a limp.

[honourbyname]

"Well, um. You might have to give some pretty good, conclusive evidence," Albus says slowly, "but I could be convinced."

He smiles kindly.

"Erm -" He quickly leans over to slide the empty seat across in invitation. "Have a seat. Please. It does look like it hurts to walk."

[not_his_pa]

William sits down and explains with a slightly apologetic smile, he is healing,

"When it first happened, I had trouble walkin' and my bruises ain't as bad."

[lilium_evansiae]

And Lily is not the sort of girl who draws hearts around people's names.

(Pay no attention to all the 'Jameses' on the the back page of her Transfiguration book, please.)

She is very glad to see her grandson, too.

"Hello, Albus."

[honourbyname]

"Lily!"

Albus' sugar quill nearly falls out of his mouth.

(He catches it in time.)

"Hi!"

[lilium_evansiae]

"Well, you don't look like you failed all your exams," Lily says, sitting down in the chair opposite his.

"How are you?"

[honourbyname]

"Good," Albus says.

He smiles.

A lot.

(He can't help it.)

"Um. Really good, actually. Exams were quite easy."

[crabbycustomer]

"OH LOOK, IT'S THIS GUY AGAIN, LOOKING A LOT LESS LIKE SOMEONE STOLE HIS LAST SLICE OF GRUBLOAF AND MORE LIKE THE FURBEAST THAT GOT THE... GRUBLOAF."

"WHY THE FUCK DO WE HAVE SO MANY EXPRESSIONS ABOUT GRUBLOAF I'M GETTING DISTRACTED."

"DID YOU DO SOMETHING TERRIFYING AND IT TURNED OUT TO NOT BE SUCH A FEDERAL FUCKING ISSUE AT ALL POSSIBLY?"

[honourbyname]

"- um. Yeah, actually," Albus says, a little surprised by Karkat's astuteness.

He offers the troll-boy something like a polite smile.

(He's still not quite sure what to think of him.)

"Exactly that. How did you guess?"

[crabbycustomer]

Karkat rolls his eyes. "WELL LAST TIME WE TALKED IN VERY VAGUE TERMS ABOUT HOW MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST SACK UP ABOUT YOUR MYSTERIOUS PRE-OCCUPATION AND SEE WHAT HAPPENED AND NOW YOUR MOOD HAS STRANGELY IMPROVED. YOU MIGHT HAVE MERELY DISCOVERED YOUR AUTOEROGENOUS SHAME GLOBES SINCE THEN BUT I TOOK A GUESS IT WAS SOMETHING MARGINALLY LESS DISGUSTING."

"I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF HUMANS HAVE SHAME GLOBES," he adds, ponderingly.

[honourbyname]

"Er - I wouldn't know," Albus says, shrugging.

He knows what 'shame' is and what a 'globe' is, but a 'shame globe'?

(He can only take a guess.)

"But - um. Yeah. I did that terrifying thing that turned out to be brilliant. And now everything's - well, really good.

"Erm. Are you doing all right?"

[missginnytonic.livejournal.com]

Ginny walks down stairs to get some breakfast then looks over and seeing him as she waves.

[honourbyname]

Well, there's someone Albus hasn't seen in a while.

Er - well, not this version of a someone anyway.

He waves back, not wanting to bother her or anything.

[missginnytonic.livejournal.com]

Ginny smiles then orders a coke as she walks over.

"Are you busy?"

[honourbyname]

Albus shakes his head.

"Oh - um. No. Not really," he says.

Because he wouldn't exactly call daydreaming about your possibly-boyfriend something to be busy about.

"Um. You can join me if you want," he offers.

[v-accidentprone.livejournal.com]

Alex is looking quite a bit better than the last time Albus saw him. Time has faded the bruises on his neck, and although he hasn't exactly been sleeping well still, staying with the Sandhus at least meant he was eating properly. All in all, not quite what you'd want your fourteen-year-old to look like, ideally, but reasonable for one that's in recovery from trauma.

He's also slightly more talkative and capable of interaction with other people now, which is why Albus gets a friendly hey, I recognise you smile. It's like magic!

[honourbyname]

It is nice, that's for sure.

Albus returns the smile.

"Hullo, Alex," he greets the other boy. "Are you all right?"

[v-accidentprone.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," he says - which, er, isn't entirely true, but it's not as if he's going to spout off at some innocent bystander about his life. It's only just starting to lose the Dickens novel-esque feel it's had lately.

"You look - " (cheerful? smitten? medicated?) " - happy."

[honourbyname]

"I am," Albus says, his smile widening a little. "Probably the happiest I've been in quite a while, honestly."

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius all but bounces into the chair he pulls alongside Albus' at the table.

He's just -


Happy to see Albus.

(He's looking at Albus like he'd draw hearts around his name, honestly.)

"I think I have nifflers living under my cottage," he says without preamble.

"Well, not my cottage, but the one I've been renovating? I keep hearing noises under the floorboards and just yesterday I found a box of old things in one of the cupboards and now they've gone missing. Even the box itself is gone."

[honourbyname]

Albus doesn't exactly start at the interruption, but he does make an effort to compose himself.

... so he doesn't look so incredibly - well, daft. Like he'd been daydreaming about a certain someone (who happens to be sitting right at his table now).

"You know," he says, "you sound a lot like my aunt Luna."

He smiles.

"Have you done any investigations yet?"

[alsoagreengrass]

"Are you suggesting I should crawl around under the floorboards?"

(He might do that. He's never been under a house before.)

"What if they kidnap me? Have nifflers ever taken a person before?"

[honourbyname]

"Er - I don't think they have? You could be the first," Albus says solemnly. "You know, if they want to take you.

"Maybe it might be good to gather a few more facts about them first."