Care [PG-13]
Title: Care
Name: dorothy_in_oz
Prompt: #140: photo album, hot chocolate and adoption
Prompt given by: Anonymous
Word Count: 705
Betas: Toto
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Flangst. Character death (neither Albus nor Scorpius)
Summary: Albus has to face a new world but he is too battered to accept it.
The photo album rested on a table, open at the middle. Albus stared longingly at the Muggle pictures spread on the white sheet, three children playing in the snow, three children laughing together, three children smiling at the camera. Though as a child he had never liked his father's obsession with unmoving photography, he had grown used to it to the point of loving it as an adult. His thumb caressed the surface with a tenderness he wasn't sure of feeling anymore, and a tear fell down his cheek.
They weren't three anymore.
A cry ripped through the house, startling him and bringing him back to his new reality. He looked around, forgetting the wet pages on the table as he turned toward the door, only to be stopped by Scorpius. "Al, you need your rest," the blond said sternly. "I'll take care of her."
"But---"
"Don't but me, Albus Severus Potter. You haven't slept properly in four days; you go back inside the room and lay in our bed. If you don't, I will kick your pretty ass until you obey."
Albus just nodded and entered their room again, sitting on the bed and staring hopelessly at his hands. His life had broken down the moment his brother had called him, three hundred forty-five thousand sixty hundred seconds before, to announce the bad news.
Lily Potter and her husband had died in an accident involving a blast of a potion. James was broken, and Albus was also at the verge of craziness - they had lost their parents barely a year before in another accident.
Albus was sick of accidents and the consequences they brought to his life.
He never got to sleep. He just sat there, staring blankly at his fingers, until he heard the rustle of clothes and a soft voice whispering.
"Al, you need to drink something."
It was Scorpius, the same Scorpius he had relied on all those years, the same Scorpius he loved and who loved him back. He looked up at him and the mug of hot chocolate he offered, and took it with shaky hands. "There, there," Scorpius muttered, pulling him into a tight embrace without spilling the liquid, while Albus finally, finally, cried.
"It will be alright with time," Scorpius was saying. "It will be alright."
They stood together, rocking back and forth until Albus stopped crying and dried his eyes. "How's James?"
"He's James," Scorpius retorted. "He will get over this, as you will. Do you want me to bring the baby here?"
"No!" Albus exclaimed, his eyes widening. "No, not now, not here..."
"Albus, you have to see her some day."
"Yes, but not today," he refused stubbornly.
"Oh, but it's going to be today, Al. You cannot hide from the world, and from your niece, forever. She needs you."
"She needs her mother!"
"You are her mother, and her father, and her uncle, Albus!" Scorpius exploded. "You are all she has now! James already announced that he can't take care of a baby, so you and I are all this little girl has, and I won't let you reject that responsibility!"
"I cannot do this!"
"Do you think I can?" Scorpius' voice sounded weary and tired, thick with what sounded suspiciously like tears. "Do you think I can stand seeing you waste away, taking care of everything even though I'm breaking inside because my best friend just died, stopping myself from crying every second of the day? I can't, Albus, but I will! Because you need me, and that little girl needs me, and I cannot allow myself to stop trying!"
Albus blinked at him, speechless.
"You will do this, you will take care of that baby, because you are her only hope." Scorpius wiped a tear or two that threatened to fall from his eyes while speaking. "I know it won't be like adopting a child, the dream you and I always had, but she will be our little girl, Al. The only problem is that you won't even cast a glance her way."
Albus stared back at his hands, and Scorpius sighed. He turned around and walked away, almost missing the most important words Albus could have said.
"I will try."
Name: dorothy_in_oz
Prompt: #140: photo album, hot chocolate and adoption
Prompt given by: Anonymous
Word Count: 705
Betas: Toto
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Flangst. Character death (neither Albus nor Scorpius)
Summary: Albus has to face a new world but he is too battered to accept it.
The photo album rested on a table, open at the middle. Albus stared longingly at the Muggle pictures spread on the white sheet, three children playing in the snow, three children laughing together, three children smiling at the camera. Though as a child he had never liked his father's obsession with unmoving photography, he had grown used to it to the point of loving it as an adult. His thumb caressed the surface with a tenderness he wasn't sure of feeling anymore, and a tear fell down his cheek.
They weren't three anymore.
A cry ripped through the house, startling him and bringing him back to his new reality. He looked around, forgetting the wet pages on the table as he turned toward the door, only to be stopped by Scorpius. "Al, you need your rest," the blond said sternly. "I'll take care of her."
"But---"
"Don't but me, Albus Severus Potter. You haven't slept properly in four days; you go back inside the room and lay in our bed. If you don't, I will kick your pretty ass until you obey."
Albus just nodded and entered their room again, sitting on the bed and staring hopelessly at his hands. His life had broken down the moment his brother had called him, three hundred forty-five thousand sixty hundred seconds before, to announce the bad news.
Lily Potter and her husband had died in an accident involving a blast of a potion. James was broken, and Albus was also at the verge of craziness - they had lost their parents barely a year before in another accident.
Albus was sick of accidents and the consequences they brought to his life.
He never got to sleep. He just sat there, staring blankly at his fingers, until he heard the rustle of clothes and a soft voice whispering.
"Al, you need to drink something."
It was Scorpius, the same Scorpius he had relied on all those years, the same Scorpius he loved and who loved him back. He looked up at him and the mug of hot chocolate he offered, and took it with shaky hands. "There, there," Scorpius muttered, pulling him into a tight embrace without spilling the liquid, while Albus finally, finally, cried.
"It will be alright with time," Scorpius was saying. "It will be alright."
They stood together, rocking back and forth until Albus stopped crying and dried his eyes. "How's James?"
"He's James," Scorpius retorted. "He will get over this, as you will. Do you want me to bring the baby here?"
"No!" Albus exclaimed, his eyes widening. "No, not now, not here..."
"Albus, you have to see her some day."
"Yes, but not today," he refused stubbornly.
"Oh, but it's going to be today, Al. You cannot hide from the world, and from your niece, forever. She needs you."
"She needs her mother!"
"You are her mother, and her father, and her uncle, Albus!" Scorpius exploded. "You are all she has now! James already announced that he can't take care of a baby, so you and I are all this little girl has, and I won't let you reject that responsibility!"
"I cannot do this!"
"Do you think I can?" Scorpius' voice sounded weary and tired, thick with what sounded suspiciously like tears. "Do you think I can stand seeing you waste away, taking care of everything even though I'm breaking inside because my best friend just died, stopping myself from crying every second of the day? I can't, Albus, but I will! Because you need me, and that little girl needs me, and I cannot allow myself to stop trying!"
Albus blinked at him, speechless.
"You will do this, you will take care of that baby, because you are her only hope." Scorpius wiped a tear or two that threatened to fall from his eyes while speaking. "I know it won't be like adopting a child, the dream you and I always had, but she will be our little girl, Al. The only problem is that you won't even cast a glance her way."
Albus stared back at his hands, and Scorpius sighed. He turned around and walked away, almost missing the most important words Albus could have said.
"I will try."