Disclaimer: Nothing here is mine. Well, a little bit, but nothing important.

Pairing: Albus Severus/Scorpius

Rating: PG 13

Author's note: I can't keep away from them. I wrote this in a few days, as opposed to a few months like my other HP stories. So naturally this is a less thought out and deliberated over story than them, and is probably less than perfect. But I like it. So hopefully you do to :)

Brilliance

"You hurl yourself at things, you know."

Scorpius smiled across the room at the dark-haired boy who sat on the bed next to his. The night filtered through the window, darkening the room and making sharp points out of their lamps. Other boys lay sleeping, snoring, but a few weeks back Albus had decided that midnight was the perfect extra meal time, and Scorpius was not one to argue over what he saw as a fruitless cause.

"You always have. Like a Gryffindor, really," Scorpius concluded, rolling onto his stomach.

Al bit into a chocolate frog and flopped backwards, ignoring the shavings of chocolate that had fallen on his pillow and now lay squashed beneath his thick black hair. "What do you mean?"

"Remember in 2nd year, when Will Mayflower was being beaten up by Laurence Goyle from 7th? You dropped all your stuff and ran at him without saying a word. You broke your wrist."

Al smiled sheepishly at the memory; his left hand unconsciously fingered the small white scar that ran down the back of his thumb.

"And the time," Scorpius continued, "when that Hufflepuff girl got her broomstick caught by the Whomping Willow, and you didn't even know her but you tried to get it out-"

"I did get it out, remember?"

"Yes, but you spent a week in the hospital wing for it. Oh, and how can I forget the time you tried to take on my father over his stance on computers and got yourself banned from visiting me for a years worth of holiday breaks? Or when Hugh dared you to sleep in the Forbidden Forest, and of all the things that could hurt you it was posion ivy."

"Yeah, that was-."

"Or when you got 2 weeks worth of detention because you told Professor Bones she was a dementor-"

"An overweight dementor."

"- for putting Harriet Fletcher on the spot and making her cry. And those are just random examples from a lifetime of this kind of stuff. It's like you have a weird addiction to…to not thinking things through," Scorpius said with a laugh, and Al grinned at him.

"I guess so."

"And one day it's going to get you in trouble."

"Scorp, it's always getting me in trouble, as you yourself have just illustrated. So logically speaking, one day it's going to turn out brilliantly."

Scorpius laughed, and reached for a licorice wand. "If you say so, Al."

The mistletoe had been hanging in the common room for a week, and no one knew who had put it there. While speculation raged around the prefects and the heads of houses, Scorpius was of the opinion that it was probably a house elf.

"They like doing this kind of stuff," he said airily, lounging back in his sofa. His quill made overtures in the air. "I know it."

Al shook his head without looking up from his parchment. "You're wrong."

"How so?"

"Scor, as much as I'd love to enlighten you, I need to work. So unless you want to finish this essay for me, I suggest you shut up."

Scorpius, though fond of Charms, did not want to finish the essay for him. So he closed his mouth, stifled the desire to debate, and closed his eyes.

The common room was unearthly quiet. Aside from the crackling of the dying fire and the scratching of Al's quill, nothing could be heard.

Scorpius loved silence. It was akin to the peace of being alone, but he preferred it because one could have silence while still having company. However, he was not really in the mood for it right now.

"One day," he took up again suddenly, "you're going to finish your essays before the clock strikes one."

"A leopard doesn't change it's spots, Scor. Don't hold your breath," Al said with a laugh, unable to resist the brief distraction but still writing all the same.

"Like I'm holding my breath waiting for you to prove me wrong about the house elves?" Scorpius replied cheerfully, and got up to examine the mistletoe itself. He made a show of it, just to annoy Al. "Ah, yes, yes I see. Definitely house elves."

Al sighed. "Will you stop being so loud and…and happy?"

"What, afraid I'll usurp your normal role?"

Al was quiet for a few moments, and then put his quill triumphantly down. "There!"

"Finished?"

"No. But I'm bored." Al stretched his arms wide, looking like a caricature of someone just waking up.

"Bored of writing about the social effects of the invention of the Amico charm in the 1950s?"

"Funnily enough, yes," Al said with a grin, getting up. "I'll do it at breakfast. Now tell me why you know so conclusively that the mistletoe is the work of house elves." He perched on the side of an armchair that sat beside where Scorpius, and the mistletoe, stood.

"Well," Scorpius began, "observe the colour of the mistletoe."

"Green."

"Yes, green, the exact same shade as Cuppy's skin."

"Cuppy the kitchen elf."

"Yes," Scorpius said with a bow. "I rest my case."

"What, she rubbed off on it?"

"Yes."

"Scor, I actually can't tell if you're serious or not."

Scorpius smiled widely. "Wow, you must be tired then." He burst into laughter. Al grinned.

"It's late, I'm having trouble thinking."

"You always have trouble thinking, Al."

"I know, trouble magnet." He stretched again, and when he opened his eyes he caught Scorpius staring at him with an unfamiliar expression. He could have sworn that was a look of…

"What?"

"Nothing," Scorpius replied, a little too hasty. Al shook his head, and stood up.

"No, really, what was that?" Al asked, and noticed with a sense of triumph that Scorpius was blushing. Scorpius too noticed his own blush, and decided to change the subject.

"So, do you have a good enough rebuttal for my mistletoe argument?" he asked.

For a few seconds, Al appeared to be undergoing a process of epiphany. When he looked up, Scorpius recognised the familiar flame of recklessness flickering in his eyes. "Mistletoe," Al said, excitedly.

Scorpius took a step back cautiously. "What are you-"

He didn't get to finish, for Al had covered the gap between them, and without breaking their mutual stare had pressed his lips to Scor's, his expression an odd combination of amusement and challenge. Scorpius felt his eyes close, felt himself responding without meaning to. He leant into Al, breathed him in, and then felt Al pull away. Al's detached, experimental expression had vanished; instead, he looked bewildered, like he had been struck by a bludger. Scorpius wondered if he looked the same.

"Oh," said Al unsteadily. "That was a…I didn't think that would…"

Scorpius shook his head, trying to clear it. He stared at Al. "You were joking, yeah?"

"Yeah, I was joking around. Yeah," Al affirmed quietly.

There was a brief pause as they stared at each other, breathing unevenly.

And then Scorpius moved forward, his hand curling around Al's neck, pulling him closer. Their lips met roughly, and he felt Al pushing hungrily against him. They moved in unison backwards, and Scorpius felt himself pressed hard against the wall. Al's left hand steadied them, his right moved across Scorpius' waist, slipping just under his shirt as they sank deeper into the delicious heat of one another.

It was Scorpius this time who broke it, forcing himself back, blinking wildly at the boy in front of him.

"We can't…"

"No, of course not."

"That was just…"

Scorpius tried to think of a reason, an excuse, but his mind was filled with the touch and taste of Al Potter.

"That was just…" he repeated, hoping it would spark something. Nothing was forthcoming, and he glanced at Al, whose brows were furrowed.

"Brilliant," Al muttered, and his wide eyes flicked up to meet Scor's gaze.

"What?"

"It was brilliant, wasn't it." His expression was slowly changing from confusion to wonder. "It happened, Scor!"

"I…what?" Scorpius was having a hard time thinking.

"I knew something brilliant would come of me not thinking." He stared at Scorpius with an expression now almost like hunger; his tongue ran over his lower lip.

"I don't suppose," Scorpius said slowly, his brain still addled by the kiss of the boy in front of him, "we can have this conversation again in say, 20 minutes?"

Al grinned at him. "Sure." He pushed his body against Scor's, ran a hand behind his head and brought their faces closer together. "But you should know," he said quietly, seductively, "that I am a genius."

"For not thinking?" Scorpius all but whispered, his heart rate increasing rapidly as he felt Al's ragged breath on his cheek.

"For exactly that," Al affirmed, and brought their mouths together.

"So, who's going to tell them?"

"I will." Al grinned, an almost manic look of excitement in his eyes as they stood on the doorstep of his home. Scorpius shook his head.

"You're mental."

"You love it."

Scorpius laughed, and reached out to take a handful of Al's shirt, pulling him closer. "You're right, I do." He pressed his lips to Al's, quickly and deftly, pulling entirely away just as the door opened.

"Welcome home, boys!" Harry Potter cried, enveloping his son first and Scorpius second, apparently counting them both as part of the family. Scorpius felt a surge of warmth at being back in this house.

As Harry hurried inside to find Ginny, Al caught Scor's gaze and waggled his eyebrows. "You're not worried about telling them about us, are you?"

"I'm…no, I'm not," Scorpius said, smiling at the boy beside him.

"Because this is the one."

"The what?"

"This is the one that turns out brilliantly. You said it had to happen. I charge in head first, we come up laughing."

Scorpius rubbed his nose thoughtfully. "I thought that had already happened, with the mistletoe and all. Last Christmas."

Al shook his head. "No, no, they're both to do with us so it all counts as the same."

"This isn't a universal law, Al. There aren't rules."

"Oh no? I'll prove it." Al reached out to grab Scorpius' face, who ducked.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought about it," Al said gleefully, lunging at his companion. Scorpius sidestepped.

"Al, you can't just attack me on the doorstep and hope they'll see."

"Attack?"

"Yes, this is assault!" Scorpius said with a laugh, continuing to duck and weave around Al's advances. "We need…to talk to…them…about us…"

"No!" Al cried giddily, flinging himself forwards, and the two fell backwards into the snow. Al rolled himself over onto Scorpius, pinning him down, a look of absolute victory on his face.

"Now I have y-" he began, but Scorpius shoved a fistful of snow in his mouth and squirmed away, dragging himself out of Al's reach.

"You've made my clothes all wet!" Scorpius flung a perfectly formed snowball at Al, who lay on the snow-covered ground shaking with silent laughter. He crawled over and flopped beside Al, allowing himself to sink into the cold sheet of white beneath him. "Am I safe from your advances?"

He felt Al move beside him; the boy propped himself up so that he could see Scorpius properly.

"Fine, we'll do it your way."

"Thankyou," Scorpius said. "I just-"

He was cut off as Al swooped down, capturing him mid-sentence in a somewhat forceful kiss. Scorpius couldn't help but smile into it, but after a few seconds drew away. He glanced at the open doorway of Al's house.

"Nothing happened," he said with a sigh of relief. "The universe doesn't want us to do it your way."

"Ok, nothing happened," Al affirmed somewhat distractedly, staring down at Scorpius with a look less playful and more affectionate. "You know I love you, right?"

He leant down again, brought their faces together, and this time Scorpius returned the kiss fully. He felt Al's hand move over his cheek, Al's tongue press against his own, and heat surged through him despite the freezing cold of his surrounds.

"Um…"

They drew apart, and looked up. On the doorstep stood Al's parents, identical expressions of surprise upon their faces.

There was a moment where nobody moved. Al was rigid, staring, clearly waiting for one of them to make a move. Scorpius felt his cheeks burning, and wished they wouldn't.

Ginny cleared her throat, and said in a surprisingly cheerful voice, "Would you boys like some tea?"

"Er…" said Scorpius.

"Yeah, thanks Mum," Al replied stiltedly. Ginny nodded, smiled at them, and retreated inside.

"I'd better…" Harry muttered dazedly, waving his hand vaguely behind him. "Ginny…I'll just…" He turned and vanished after her.

Scorpius stared after them. "That wasn't what I was expecting." He looked up at Al, who was beaming down at him. "What?"

"Say it."

"No.

"Go on. It was, wasn't it. It was brilliant."

Scorpius allowed his head to fall back onto the ground, suddenly noticing just how cold and wet he was. He rolled out from under Al and got to his feet; Al followed suit, still grinning, and Scorpius wondered if it was infectious. He felt the smile pushing at the corners of his mouth, slowly breaking over his face.

He looked at Al, who had moved to stand properly before him, arms wrapping themselves around Scor's waist. Scorpius beamed.

"Yeah, OK Al. It was brilliant."