This was written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) Demonology Task 3—Write about royalty

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All rights go to J. K. Rowling.

Word Count: 2349

"I'm glad to see that you were able to get away."

Panting, Scorpius brushed some of his blond hair out of his eyes. "How did you manage to get away so quickly?" he asked, ignoring Albus' statement.

Albus smirked slightly. "There are perks to having a prankster for an older brother," he replied cryptically. He reached forward and ran his fingers through Scorpius' hair, dislodging a leaf in the process. "I see that the forest attacked you on your way here," Albus teased.

Scorpius scowled. "You know that I had to climb down a tree from the third story window, right? Not all of us have the pleasure of donning a cloak and walking out through the kitchens! Father wanted to talk to me about—you know." Scorpius cut himself off and internally scolded himself for the sudden tension in the air.

Gentle fingers traced their way from the top Scorpius' head to his face, to his arm, and finally to his hand in a loving caress. "I do know," Albus murmured, albeit somewhat stiffly, "and I'm sorry." His brilliant green eyes seemed to see right into Scorpius' soul, just as they always did, and if he hadn't been sure before, he definitely was sure now that no other eyes could ever reassure him, could ever assuage his anxieties, could ever make him feel as unconditionally loved as Albus' did.

A small tug on his hand interrupted Scorpius from his thoughts. "Let's go now, Scorpius. The moon will start to set before we know it."

They started walking, hand in hand, toward the lake hidden behind the waterfall at the edge of the forest. It seemed to Scorpius like a truly magical place—he swore he even saw a fae once there, although Albus always vehemently denied it. As they travelled, they talked.

Albus was the only person that Scorpius could talk to as he did, and he knew that he was the only one Albus could talk to this way as well. Albus was the black sheep of his family, surly at times and more cunning than daring. Scorpius had only had a handful of conversations with Albus' family members, but he had spoken with them long enough to know that there were certain qualities that all in the Potter family had apart from Albus. And Scorpius could relate to feeling like an outsider.

When his mother Astoria died, Scorpius' father all but died with her. Draco Malfoy kept up a convincing facade to most people, but Scorpius knew better. All you had to do was look in his eyes—dead, devoid of what life and warmth there once was, pained—to know that he was only going through the motions. Draco had always been somewhat cold, but Astoria brought out the best in him; he was a different person when he was with her. When she passed away, Draco locked up that part of himself. Now his father was simply concerned with appearances and maintaining a good family reputation.

"So," Albus began, startling Scorpius from his thoughts, "have you finished that book you were reading? With all the poems and epics?"

Scorpius' grey eyes lit up. "Yes! You should read it, Albus. I think you'd really like it." Scorpius closed his eyes and squeezed Albus' hand, trusting his boyfriend not to let him bump into anything. "The language was so beautiful. God, what I wouldn't do to meet the author!"

Albus snickered beside him. "You total nerd."

"Yeah, but you love me."

"I certainly do." Scorpius opened his eyes in time to meet Albus' as he planted a kiss on his knuckles.

"You hopeless romantic," Scorpius teased, grinning.

"Don't tell James. He'd never let me live it down."

The sound of thundering water interrupted their conversation. The two lovers picked up their pace and promptly arrived at the entrance to their meeting place. The waterfall wasn't that big— Scorpius could probably reach the top of the rock outcropping if he stood on Albus' shoulders, and the stream that flowed through it wasn't very wide—but Albus and Scorpius had discovered that there was a narrow entrance to a cave behind it. Water from the waterfall had flowed into the cave and created a small lake. As Scorpius and Albus ducked behind the waterfall and into the cave, Scorpius thought about the day they'd first discovered it.

"C'mon, Scorpius!"

Scorpius laughed as he ran after Albus through the forest. They'd finally managed to sneak away from the diplomatic meeting their fathers were holding. Honestly, Scorpius would never understand how some people could be so invested in politics. It was exhausting. But this—running wildly through the woods with Albus—was living.

The two had decided to stay close to a small stream so they didn't get lost and would be able to find their way back in a timely manner to their responsibilities. But for now, Scorpius didn't need to worry about being the son of a lord or his father scolding him about spending too much time with the prince. He could just be Scorpius, and Prince Albus could just be Albus.

"Wait up, Albus!"

Albus slowed down just enough to let Scorpius catch up to him, and then they both slowed to a walk. Scorpius took Albus' hand in his own and started swinging their arms between them lazily. They walked in silence for a few minutes, laughing softly every now and then as they rode the high of life, until Scorpius spotted something in the distance.

"Do you see that waterfall?" he asked Albus. When Albus nodded, Scorpius yelled, "Race you!"

He pulled his hand from Albus' and started sprinting for the waterfall, ignoring Albus' startled shout behind him.

Scorpius made it to the waterfall first, whooping in victory. Albus barrelled into him seconds later, and they both lost their balance and toppled into the stream at the base of the waterfall.

Sputtering, Scorpius sat up and then pulled Albus up. "Are you okay?" he asked, laughing.

Albus groaned. "My father is going to kill me."

Scorpius glanced down at his soaked clothes. "Mine, too." Then he grinned mischievously. "But since we're already wet…" Scorpius trailed off as he splashed Albus.

Albus was quick to retaliate, and soon the two were engaged in a merciless war, getting closer and closer to the waterfall. Albus jumped on Scorpius, and they fell backwards into the waterfall. Scorpius braced himself for the feeling of his back hitting rock, but he ended up falling all the way back into shallow water. Albus was lying on top of him, chest to chest, and Scorpius watched him crane his neck upwards to peer at their surroundings.

Albus let out a low whistle. "We're right by the entrance to some sort of cave." He leaned down and kissed Scorpius on the forehead before starting to stand up. "Let's go check it out!"

On earlier excursions to the caves, Albus and Scorpius had dropped off candles, which they lit now. Albus pulled out their maps from one of the corners of the cave and brought them over to where Scorpius was sitting. "So," he asked, leaning his head on Scorpius' shoulder, "where are we going?"

Scorpius sucked in a breath. "Do you really think it's a good idea?"

Albus turned his head and locked his piercing green eyes onto Scorpius'. "I think that depends on who you ask and who it's good for. Our parents? They'd undoubtedly say it's a bad idea, for us, for our people, for the future of the kingdom...But for us? I think it might be the best thing we could do for ourselves." Albus shifted so that he was sitting right in front of Scorpius. He grabbed Scorpius' hands and whispered, "We've spent our entire lives living for other people. We deserve to do something for ourselves. And I don't mean agreeing to sneak out from time to time and seeing each other in secret. This place has trapped us for too long." Scorpius bit his lip, and Albus pulled it back out from between his teeth. "I know it scares you, and it scares me too, but I think this will be a good decision for us. And if we decide that we made the wrong choice, we can figure it out from there."

"I'm not so worried about myself as I am for you, Albus," Scorpius confessed. "My father will be mad, but he can choose a new successor." Scorpius shook his head. "But I'm in line to be a lord, Albus. You're in line to be a king."

"But I'm not next in line to be king—"

"Will James really want to take the crown, though—"

"He'll want to please my dad—"

"And so do you!" Scorpius shouted. His eyes softened and he lowered his voice as he continued, "I know that you want him to be proud of you, Albus. If we do this…"

Albus' grip on his hand tightened. "I know exactly how my father will react, Scorpius. He'll be disappointed in me, will drone on and on about royal responsibilities and the same stuff he always does." Albus reached up and cupped Scorpius' face. "I want to stop being so concerned about him, though. And maybe...maybe I can be proud of myself out there, so much so that I don't need him to be proud of me anymore."

"I just don't want you to get hurt because of me," Scorpius murmured. "I don't want this to end up being a huge mistake, for both of us."

"I'm not going to get hurt because of you," Albus said gently, "but you're going to get hurt if you stay here."

"I…"

"Scorpius, do you want to marry some duchess or lady and spend the rest of your life pretending to be happy and enjoying life at court?" Albus was getting impatient.

"No!"

"That's the life Lord Malfoy is trying to push you into right now. But Scorpius...I couldn't stand to see you get hurt that way. I couldn't stand to see your...light go out. I want you to always be excited about the books you've read and the things you learned in them. I want to see you smile, every day. Mainly, I want you to be happy. And I don't want some uppity, prissy, lady of the court to drain that happiness from you."

"You're Lord Malfoy's son, aren't you?"

Scorpius turned around and came face to face with Lady Vane. "I am," he said curtly.

She batted her eyelashes at him. "I believe that my mother is talking with your father now."

Scorpius gulped. "Is that so?" This was not good. He'd thought he'd have a few more years at least before his father tried to start making arrangements, but he supposed he was wrong.

Lady Vane smiled flirtily. "I thought that since our parents are talking, we could talk too."

Scorpius was opening his mouth to respond when he felt a hand being placed between his shoulder blades.

"Lord Malfoy, Lady Vane. How are you enjoying the evening?"

Scorpius turned his head and saw Albus gazing heatedly at Lady Vane.

Lady Vane either didn't notice the prince's glare or she didn't care. "I'm enjoying it just fine, thank you, Prince Albus. Actually, I was asking Lord Mal—"

"Ah, I'm so sorry to interrupt, my Lady, but I'm afraid that I have important matters to discuss with Lord Malfoy."

Although she looked highly annoyed, Lady Vane obviously knew better than to argue with a prince. "Of course," she said stiffly, turning and very nearly stomping away.

After glancing around to make sure nobody was paying attention to them, Albus slid his hand from between the Scorpius' shoulder blades to the small of his back. "She's a real delight, isn't she?"

Scorpius bit back a laugh. "My hero," he teased.

"And I don't either, Albus! But if we need to make sacrifices—"

"Your entire life should not be one big sacrifice, Scorpius!"

"But what about your life? You'd throw everything away to save me from the prospect of ending up in a loveless marriage?"

"I wouldn't be throwing everything away. I'd have you. You're all I really need."

"Can I be honest with you?" Albus asked.

Scorpius turned to look at him from where he was lying on his back. "Of course."

Albus was still staring at the stars when he replied. "I hate it here. I hate being the disappointment of my family, I hate feeling like I need to change who I am to be someone my father can be proud of. If I could, I'd choose never to be born a prince."

Scorpius was quiet for a moment before he responded, "I hate it here, too. My father has been so concerned about our family's reputation ever since my mother died that I feel like I'm nothing more than some...pawn in his game. I guess I'd choose not to be born a lord if I could."

Albus smiled wryly. "If only, huh? But what can we do?"

"We could run away together," Scorpius joked.

"What?"

"We...we could run away together." Suddenly that didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Scorpius watched as Albus sat up. "But where would we go?"

"Anywhere."

"Are you sure?" Scorpius asked. "Because I need you to be sure, Albus. We could ruin our lives by doing this, and I don't want us to regret it."

"I would never, ever regret choosing to be with you, Scorpius. Never." There was nothing but absolute certainty in Albus' voice, and Scorpius found his protests dying in his throat.

"I wouldn't regret being with you, either." Scorpius took a deep breath. "All right, then," he laughed softly in giddy relief. "What's the plan?"

Albus pulled Scorpius into a searing kiss by the back of his neck. When they broke apart, he said, "We meet back here in a week, bringing only what we absolutely need and some money, and we catch the first ship leaving at dawn. Then—" Albus pecked Scorpius on the lips again and grinned, "—we go anywhere."