Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest, final chapter. Thanks for sticking around till the end.

Glad To Be Alive

Eyes all but rolling back in his head Albus arched into the next thrust while desperate, pleading cries escaped his swollen and bruised lips. With his legs braced up and over his lover's shoulders he could only dig his fingers into the rumpled, sweat soaked sheets beneath him, helpless to control their lovemaking and the reaction he was having as his attempts not to plead for more failed horribly. If Scorpius didn't let him come soon Albus was fairly sure he was going to start begging.

And judging from the grin on the blonde's face Scorpius knew it too.

"Hurry up or the next time we get naked I'm going to tie you to the bed and you are going to suffer." Albus managed to pant out, glaring up at his man.

And seeing that this had no effect on the level of penetration he was getting, dammit, Albus reached up and grabbed his partner's head, forcing it down so that he could snog the hell out of his man in a bid to bring Scorpius as close to the edge as he was. Crying out as his climax came that much closer to happening Albus could see in his lover's eyes that he was just as wanted. Just as needed.

So close. So close, Scorpius chanted over and over in his head, sucking on the other man's tongue in a demand for more.

"Albus, Scorpius, hope I'm not interrupting."

The kiss ending with a loud pop both men automatically turned their bewildered, shocked faces in the direction the voice had come from.

Both were insanely thankful that it wasn't Albus's father standing in the doorway, but his stag patronus.

"I would appreciate it if you both would drop by my office at your earliest convenience. I have some news for you that I think you'll appreciate hearing sooner as opposed to later. If for some reason you can't make it just send me a message and let me know what your plans are so we can meet up."

Scorpius waited until the patronus had faded away into mist before he turned his attention back to the man he was buried deep inside, starting to draw out as he spoke. "So I guess we better get to the office and see what he wants, huh?"

"FUCK ME NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU, MALFOY!"

Chuckling Scorpius thrusted back inside hard, watching the man's reaction through hooded eyes. "Guess we better hurry then, so we don't keep him waiting."

"Thank Merlin."

Drawing the man back down to him Albus hungrily kissed him some more as Scorpius started to thrust deep and hard inside him once more, the Slytherin deliberately putting his total focus on bringing his partner to orgasm as he abandoned his attempts to draw it out for them. There was always next time, he thought as he lost himself in Albus's heat and love.

They had all the time in the world now.

)

It took extreme effort on Albus's part to walk a straight line as they headed up the hallway towards his father's office. Only pride and wishing to shield his father from traumatizing mental images kept him pulling off the façade that he wasn't feeling the effects of their lovemaking with every step he took. They'd had every intention of continuing to investigate the crimes of their would be murderer, but once they'd gotten through the door to his place Scorpius had pounced on him and had pretty much been screwing his brains out ever since. And they'd been out of the hospital for almost two days.

Nearly losing him had definitely put his Slytherin into an amorous frame of mind and boy was he not complaining. Much.

"You okay?" Scorpius asked, trying to be a little sorry at the occasional hitch in the man's usually smooth stride. It was hard though, seeing as it was being overrun by smugness.

"I think you put my back out. And let's not even discuss my ass."

Since they were alone in said hallway the blonde put a hand high on Albus's back and then slowly dragged it down his partner's spine, ending with a quick rub over his man's ass. "I'll kiss them better for you when we get back to your place."

"That's what you said the last time and look what happened."

The man had a point, Scorpius silently admitted with a barely disguised grin.

Grabbing hold of the hand moving so lovingly over his ass Albus laced their fingers together to insure there would be no more of that until they were out of the building. "My dad didn't say what this was about, did he?" He'd had a bit of trouble remembering exactly what his father had said after his climax had pretty much wiped his mind clean. He was still a little vague on the details.

Truth be told it had been pretty damn hard for him to process what his boss had been saying at the time too. But he was pretty sure the man's father hadn't been specific about the reason why they needed to come in and said so.

Arriving at their destination the two were fussed over by their boss's secretary and then headed in to find Harry coming around his desk to greet them.

After they assured him that they were still fine and more than capable of coming back to work if necessary Harry assured them that that wasn't why he'd asked them to come in even though they were technically on medical leave.

"Santana is willing to plead guilty to trying to kill you two and Louis. So far he's refusing to admit he's responsible for the politicians. You want my take, he doesn't see killing them as murder, but his mother managed to get through to him enough to see that the three of you had done nothing to justify what he tried to do. I think she's going to keep working on him about the others, she's the Spanish equivalent of an Auror herself and comes from a long line of law enforcers. The law means almost as much to her as he does, and she wants him to recognize what he's done and pay for them now, as opposed to the next life. I might have mentioned what I saw Voldemort becoming when I temporarily died, and it seemed to strike fear in her, which is not an easy thing to do." Under any other circumstances he would have offered the woman a job.

The two younger men mentally acknowledged that their boss had skills.

"If it weren't for the fact that it would make him look like a complete idiot he probably would have only admitted to the attempts on Al and Psycho Blonde." Scorpius drawled out, the rueful look his boss gave him confirming that fact.

"Thanks to his plea we'll be able to keep him behind bars for decades, and there isn't a chance he'll be granted parole given who he almost killed so he's in there for the full stretch. By the time he's carried out his sentence I'll be retired and you two will be running this place so he'll be your headache." Harry's smile turned a little feral. "Or better yet we'll be able to prove the other murders by then and he'll just never get out, period."

Scorpius's smile was just plain feral in nature. "I prefer that ending as well."

"If it weren't for the fact that it would be incredibly insensitive of me I'd send his mother some token of thanks for her help." Albus didn't have to wonder how the woman had gotten her son to confess to as much as he had. He had a mother of his own after all. The power of a mother's wrath was both powerful and permanently scarring.

"She's holding up, but this is weighing on her." Harry agreed, sorry for the woman. The man's father had yet to show up and he got the definite feeling that the man might be to blame for some of the misconceptions David Santana had about his right to be judge and executioner. But the mother was taking her son by the ear now and hopefully he would start listening to her and her alone.

"Have you told Louis yet?" Albus asked, willing to bet some serious money that his cousin was disappointed not to get his day in court. It went without saying that his best friend would have enjoyed every second of it, especially since it would have allowed him time to convince the jury that Santana was practically the reincarnation of the Lord Voldemort and deserved life imprisonment.

Face damagers were pure evil in Louis's books.

Having a good idea what his son was thinking, he'd thought the same, Harry lips curved into a crooked smile. "I sent him an owl letting him know. I figured it would be better if he has his initial temper tantrum somewhere else, and then comes to me to bitch and complain afterwards."

"Sorry I'll miss it." Scorpius drawled out, raising an intrigued eyebrow when the other two men gave him looks that suggested he couldn't be more wrong about that.

"Anyway, aside from wanting to tell you that in person I thought you'd like to know that I've cleared your schedule and shifted your remaining workload onto other shoulders. You have the next two and a half weeks off and I don't want to see either of you around here unless I call you in." Harry glanced over in Scorpius's direction. "Oh, and we sent a fruit basket to your grandfather thanking him for saving Al, so you might not want to visit him for the next little while until he gets over that trauma. Molly even signed the card."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem."

)

Standing with his elbows braced on the railing two weeks later Scorpius stared out towards the setting sun, enjoying the show. He thought about going to see what was taking his partner so long with the drinks but couldn't quite get himself to move. It had been a very long time since he'd felt this relaxed and sluggish, the Slytherin thought absently to himself, it was probably a good thing that he and Albus were due back in two days. Though they were definitely going to have to actually start keeping more usual hours so that they could actually have a life together outside the job, he silently mused. Thank Merlin they were partners at work though, since breaking themselves of their workaholic natures was not going to be easy once they were back in the office.

Sensing that he was no longer alone Scorpius remained where he was with a smile on his face, reaching out to accept the glass held out to him. Bringing it to his lips the blonde took a healthy couple gulps before turning his attention to the man resting with his back against the rails. "You're missing the show." And making him feel like a total girl for watching it in the first place.

"I'd rather watch you."

Okay, now he really felt like a girl, Scorpius thought as he went all mushy inside over the words and more, the fact that Albus's love for him was reflected in the man's soft eyes.

Setting his glass down on the railing the Slytherin moved to draw Albus into his arms, the kisses they exchanged slow and easy as they held each other close.

When they finally drew back Albus smiled and then pressed their foreheads together, his voice barely above a murmur. "I have something for you."

Scorpius's laugh was low and laced with erotic meaning. "Bet I can guess what that something is."

"Bet you can't." The Gryffindor grinned as he said it, though there was a hint of nerves in his eyes that betrayed the fact that Scorpius had been wrong to think that the something was sexual in nature.

Picking up on that fact Scorpius was silent as he held the Gryffindor against him, trying to think of what the other man might have gotten for him. Nothing was coming to mind. They hadn't spent their whole vacation in bed, they had gone out, but he hadn't seen anything in any of the shops they'd walked past or into that he'd particularly wanted. He wasn't the knickknack sort. And a simple present wouldn't make the man nervous unless whatever he'd bought was a tacky souvenir shirt, cause there was no way he was wearing one of those things.

At least not in public. And even then Albus would have to give the sexual performance of a lifetime to get him to don it even in private.

Leaning forward Scorpius gave the man's bottom lip a nip, trying to erase that slight unease from his partner's eyes. "Okay, I'll bite, what did you get me?"

One hand dropping away from the blonde's waist Albus stuck his hand into the pocket of his loose trousers, retrieving the lone item there. Wrapping his fingers around it tightly for a moment it took more courage than the Gryffindor would have imagined to bring it into view, uncurling his fingers so that it simply sat open in the middle of his palm as he held it out to his partner.

Surprise on his face Scorpius's eyes narrowed in confusion as he studied what was obviously a jewelry box intended for rings or earrings. Albus had bought him jewelry? No wonder the guy looked nervous. The man wanted him to start-oh.

Lips forming a silent 'O' Scorpius couldn't have said how long he just stared dumbly at what he was being offered, every brain cell malfunctioning.

"You don't want it?" Fingers clenching around the box once more Albus started to lower his hand, thinking to put it away before trying to deal with Scorpius and his own reaction to the fact that the man wasn't even willing to take the box from him.

Reaching out automatically Scorpius wrapped his hand around Albus's, holding it in place. "Is…are you…there's a ring in there?"

Weasley humor had Albus smiling just a little in spite of himself. "No, I'm giving you a hand buzzer to use on your grandfather the next time you see him. I just thought it would be funny to put it in a jewelry box."

Shaking his head over the response, which thankfully calmed him down enough for him to think somewhat clearly, Scorpius looked Albus dead in the eye. "Hand it over."

A number of responses came to mind but Albus forced himself to keep silent as he handed over the box as asked, his heart beating like mad in his chest as he set it in his partner's hand. And it only got worse as he watched Scorpius flip up the lid, revealing the matching rings that lay inside on their satin cushion. They were braided silver and gold, a green stripe through the silver and a red one through the gold.

Running his fingers over the tops of the rings Scorpius stared at them, knowing from the design that they must have been made for them. "How long have you had these?"

"About two years ago Louis broke up with this guy he was involved with and Domi and I came over to his place to cheer him up, getting more than a little tipsy in the process." Albus began softly, watching the pale fingers as they continued to stroke the cool metal before forcing himself to meet Scorpius's stormy gaze. "I don't remember how we got on the topic, though jewelry making is her profession, but we got to discussing what kind of wedding or engagement rings we'd buy or want bought for us when our time came. I…I already had an idea what I would want and being drunk I described it to them. The day before we left to come here…Domi dropped by with them. She made them for me and has just been holding on to them, waiting for me to need them."

Scorpius went back to staring blindly at the rings for a few more moments before meeting Albus's eyes again. "Since you're the one with the rings…you have a question to ask me, don't you?"

It occurred to Albus that the average Malfoy was evil enough to get a man to get down on one knee just to add insult to the injury of being rejected, but he had faith that his heart was in good hands so the Gryffindor took another deep breath and then reached out to frame his beloved's face between his hands, letting everything he was feeling show for this moment. This question, that was simple and to the point.

"You're my other half. Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

The two grinned at each other like idiots for a heartbeat and then they wrapped their arms around each other, hugging their lover as they held tight to the one they loved the most.

A great deal of kissing followed, the jewelry box never leaving Scorpius tight grasp as the snogging got hotter by the second. And when Albus broke off the kiss to suggest that they head on inside to properly celebrate Scorpius nodded and followed his fiancé into the villa they'd rented.

"I hope you appreciate the great sacrifice I'm making, marrying into your family." The Slytherin informed his partner as they walked with fingers linked. "I mean I'm going to have to admit to people, in public, that I'm related to Louis through marriage. The burden of that knowledge, well you're really going to have to devote yourself to me heart, body and soul to make it up to me."

"You already have my heart, body and soul." Albus drawled out, giving the other man a teasing hip check. "And on the bright side, you'll be related to Rory through Louis if they keep spontaneously combusting with heat every time they come into contact with each other."

Scorpius was not amused. "You're lucky we're getting married or I'd have to curse you for putting those thoughts in my head again."

Albus's laughter rang out, and both thought that was a damn good sound to ring in the new chapter of their lives they were starting.

The End