Title: Reflection

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling (because God knows she could write better than this) and I do not own any of these characters. So no, no money for me here, I'm afraid.

Pairings: Albus/Scorpius. Background Draco/one night stands, Draco/Harry.

Rating: M for Mild. But if you don't like hints of sex, this isn't the fic for you.

Warnings: Awkward situations. Unfazed!Scorpius. Crack.

Summary: All Scorpius wants is the right to walk around the house shirtless, but no, his Papa just has to be the most unfair hypocrite in the world. Well, at least he has his good friend Albus Severus to help him out!

Author's Note: The battle of the Malfoys continues!

I blame Princess-Warrior 17 for putting shirtless!teenage!Scorpius in my head.

This is absolute crack and should not be taken seriously if you wish to retain your sanity.

Scorpius found himself facing his father's scowl across the table at breakfast.

"Son," he said tersely. "What in the world are you wearing?"

"Why, Papa, I'm wearing the trousers you bought me for Christmas, of course," was his clever and cheeky reply.

"Which is great, but why are you wearing nothing else?" Scorpius was wincing by the end of that sentence. His father really could get shrill when he wanted to.

"Papa," he said in what he hoped was a reasonable tone of voice. "I've seen you shirtless all the time. Sometimes even worse."

"Yes, in my bedroom. When I am…entertaining my guests." Scorpius grimaced. Yuck. Papa's guests. "But we are now in the dining room, and as you can see, I am always fully clothed in the dining room. I suggest you do the same."

"But Papa, it's so comfortable to walk around shirtless! Do you not see the benefits of walking shirtless around the house?"

"What benefits? Risking getting scratched by some random object? Having scalding bits of food splash onto my skin? No thank you. Now, go put a shirt on."

Scorpius pouted, but it had no effect on his father, who kept glaring at him and looking like he had sucked on a lemon. He left the room, resigned. After all, he had been using his trademarked Scorp Pout for sixteen years, and his father had probably built up some immunity to it by now. Thankfully, Grandpa Lucius saw him less often, so it still worked pretty well on him, but at present he had to figure out some new way to get around his father's commands.

Whatever. He was a Ravenclaw. He'd figure out something.

Scorpius sighed happily as he lay down on top of his bed sheets, naked. His father didn't want him to walk shirtless around the house. Fine. But Scorpius still wanted to be shirtless all day, and if he couldn't walk around shirtless, then the best compromise was simply to stay in his room all day.

He had no idea why he took off his pants, of course, but Circe, it felt nice. He rolled around on his satin sheets. Ahh.

Lately, he had been tired of being confined by cloth. It was understandable when one was outside, what with the prying and judging eyes of other people and the dangers of being a Malfoy son, but why should he have to be trapped when he was at home alone with his father, who he loved and trusted very much? Besides, Scorpius felt like he was getting fat, and wearing ill-fitting clothes did not help his self-esteem or mood. Perhaps he would go on a shopping spree once the snow let up outside. Maybe if he had new clothes that fit better, he would be more inclined to wear them, and he wouldn't have to deal with this conflict with his father.

The door flew open, interrupting his thoughts.

"Scorpius! Why do you insist on hiding away all da—ARRGGGHHH!"

He stared, fascinated, as his father flushed and covered his eyes. Papa rarely looked flustered.

"Put on some damn clothes," he screeched behind his hands, the visible part of his face still very red.

"But I'm in my room, Papa. You said it was okay to be shirtless in my room."

"That's not shirtless; that is nude, and that's not what I said, anyway! Put on some fucking clothes before I hex boils all over you!"

Scorpius sighed and picked up his neatly folded clothes from the chair by his bed, putting them on.

"I do not understand what the fuss is, Papa," he grumbled as he pulled his trousers on. "You've seen me naked before."

"Yes, when you were a baby and I had to change your diapers after your mother ran off! Otherwise, it is highly inappropriate for a father to see his son nude! I am going to have nightmares forever. How could you bring shame upon me like this, son? Why must it always be such an uphill battle just to get you to behave with the slightest bit of decorum? I raised you for sixteen years, all alone, without a single friend in the world…"

Scorpius sighed and sat back down on his bed, fully clothed. He had heard this speech before. Papa really did drone on and on whenever he got in a snit. From the way he carried on, one would think that Papa had actually given birth to him in a fit of asexual reproduction, but as it was, he felt Scorpius had caused him enough grief even without the pain of childbirth.

When Papa had finally run out of air, Scorpius pasted on an apologetic look and guided him out the door.

"Good night, Papa!"

"Whatever, you insufferable little…"

Scorpius shut the door on his father's ranting.

Scorpius was scowling at the breakfast table the next morning, scratching at the stiff collar of his button-down shirt. He really missed being shirtless. It was so unfair.

Papa nibbled serenely on his toast, not giving a damn about his son's terrible, awful plight.

Then Scorpius remembered something his father had said about his own moments of undress.

Yes, in my bedroom. When I am…entertaining my guests.

Hm. Perhaps, if Scorpius were to entertain a guest, it would be okay for him to be shirtless?

The logic was not exactly fail-proof, but surely his father could not complain about his own unfortunate wording. Besides, the reason why he was so upset the last time was because Scorpius was naked and because he was spending his time unproductively in his room. If he was merely shirtless and had a guest, he would at least be socialising, which Papa had always told him was an important thing to do. If one had social connections, one had a better chance of succeeding in society and in life.

"Papa?"

"Yes?" Papa did not look up from his partially-nibbled toast.

"May I invite Albus Severus over today? I have not seen him in a while."

Papa growled, which was expected, since he never seemed fond of the Potter children. "You see him every day at school!"

"So? He told me to keep in touch, Papa. I do not wish to be rude."

Papa set down the toast and rubbed his temples. "Fine. Whatever. But don't make too much noise."

"We won't, Papa."

Scorpius really liked Albus. He was so nice. Whenever he was stuck with a homework problem or felt like exploring an idea further, Albus was always there for discussion. In addition, Albus liked to bring Scorpius candy, and Scorpius liked to eat his candy. So they had a simple, easygoing relationship, built on intellectual discussions and sweets.

Lately, though, their relationship had not been quite as simple. Scorpius had noticed Albus looking over at him from time to time, only to turn away with his face flushing like he was angry. Yet why would he be angry at Scorpius?

It was this question that had made him invite Albus over today, rather than any of his other friends. Although this current shirtless battle with his father took up most of his concentration, he had other problems in his life, so if he could find a way to tackle more than one problem at once, then why not?

Albus sat on a chair, looking around at his bedroom with wide eyes. Scorpius preened. He really did have an impressive bedroom—all the walls were fitted with bookshelves, and the shelves were full of a large variety of books. One could probably spend a whole year trying to read through them all. In addition, every single item in this room was made of the finest quality material, including the delicate stained glass lamp and the ornate mahogany bed. Albus wasn't exactly poor, what with being a Potter, but surely even the great Harry Potter didn't have Papa's impeccable taste.

"Thank you for coming over today on such short notice, Albus," Scorpius said after a while.

Albus looked at him, and his face flushed again. "Er, yeah. I don't mind at all. It's not like I had anything planned for today, anyway."

"Mm." Scorpius began to unbutton his shirt. "How was your Christmas? Did you get a lot of presents?"

"U-Um yeah—why are you taking off your shirt?"

Scorpius blinked. Did Albus have the same beliefs as Papa? Jeez. What was everyone's problem? He just wanted to be shirtless in peace!

"Well, Albus," he said slowly, "you're my guest, and we're in my bedroom. I just want to entertain you properly."

He had expected Albus to nod and finally be on the same page as him once he was offered this perfectly reasonable explanation, but he flushed even more and even choked a little.

"Albus? Are you okay?"

He was looking away, breathing heavily, his hands trembling.

Scorpius frowned. Why was he so angry about this? Maybe he felt awkward because Scorpius was shirtless and he was not? Maybe he was jealous!

"It's okay, Albus," he reassured him. "You're my guest. You may take off your shirt, too, if you'd like."

Albus made a strangled noise, which was really worrying.

Scorpius huffed. "God, you don't have to be so stubborn. You obviously want to take your shirt off, but instead you're just going to sit there and be angry at me for no good reason. Fine, I'll take it off for you."

He leaned in and yanked off his T-shirt, before folding it and placing it on an unoccupied chair (for a proper bedroom must have more than one chair in the case of guests).

Before he could turn back around, though, he was suddenly tackled.

"Oof! Albus, what are you—"

Suddenly he found himself roughly turned onto his back and thoroughly snogged.

Scorpius squeaked in consternation, but Albus did not relent, licking and sucking at his lips and grinding his hips. Hesitantly, Scorpius brought his hands up to grab his shoulders, closing his eyes and trying to move his lips in response. Scorpius had never kissed anyone before, and he had never really thought about the process, so he wasn't sure what to do with his lips. He stuck out his tongue a little and licked Albus's tongue, trying to see if it tasted any different. Nope, tasted just like a tongue. Interesting.

Just as Scorpius was about to explore his mouth further and take more notes on the kissing experience, however, Albus suddenly pulled his head away and started kissing lower, sucking on his neck. Scorpius gasped and bucked his hips. That felt nice. He could get behind this neck-sucking action. He clutched at Albus, writhing beneath him.

Then Albus seemed to get tired of his neck and moved down to latch onto a nipple.

"Oh," moaned Scorpius. So that was what nipples were for! He had always wondered.

Then the door flew open, and Papa's rapid-fire words were flying in. "Scorpius, do you and your guest desire something to dr—ARGGHHH!"

Albus tore his mouth away from Scorpius's nipple and rolled off, his face flaming. Scorpius noted his reddened cheeks with fascination. Perhaps all this time, Albus was not angry—maybe he was embarrassed. Of what, he did not know. His apparent sexual desires for Scorpius? Well, he'd have to teach him not to be embarrassed about that anymore. But for now, he had a rude father to deal with.

"Papa. I am entertaining a guest. You can't just barge in like that without knocking! What are you, a barbarian?"

Scorpius could see a vein threatening to pop in Papa's neck. "You insolent little—ugh! There are no words to describe exactly what sort of miscreant you are! Consorting with a Potter! And you!" He hissed and jabbed his finger at Albus. "Your father will hear about this!"

He stormed off, slamming the door shut. Albus groaned and hid his face in his hands.

Scorpius leaned over him and pulled his hands away, wishing to see those lovely red cheeks. "Well, I apologise, Albus. My father and I have been…having a few disagreements lately. I'm sure he's not actually angry at you, and if he was, he's a hypocrite. I've caught him in more…compromising positions before. Now…where were we?"

Without giving Albus a chance to splutter, Scorpius brought their lips together, and they were snogging again.

After a very thorough discussion and exploration of the joy of male sexual intercourse, Scorpius left Albus to nap in his room, feeling dazed. He had heard of sex before, of course, but he had never particularly desired to experience it until now. Albus seemed to know a lot about it, if the pleasant burn in Scorpius's arse could be believed. Perhaps he would try to convince Albus to do it again sometime, maybe with their positions switched. Whenever Scorpius picked up a new subject, he wanted to know everything there was to know about it.

For now, though, Albus was physically spent and incapacitated, and Scorpius still had the issue with his father to deal with.

He walked up to his father's bedroom door and wondered if he should knock.

Nah. His father had set the rude precedent of not knocking. He might as well follow it.

He turned the knob and flung the door open.

"ARRRRGGHHHH!" yelled two voices.

Scorpius stared. Then he blinked and stared again.

Papa was pressed against the wall by a very amorous Harry Potter, who had his hand down Papa's trousers. Well, alright, so Mr Potter was more shocked than amorous now, but the hand did not leave the trousers.

Scorpius did not care about the trouser-housed hand, of course. What really upset him were the fact that the two men were shirtless and the fact that one of the men was indeed a Potter.

"Papa, you are the biggest hypocrite I've ever had the displeasure to meet! That's it! I'm never listening to a damn thing you say again!"

With that, Scorpius tore his shirt open, not caring that the delicate buttons were torn off and sent flying into the air. Then he yanked it off his body, crumpled it, and threw it onto Papa's bedroom floor.

He stormed off into his bedroom, rousing Albus. He was going to need some physical comfort.

The next morning, the four of them sat together at the breakfast table, awkwardly eating while trying not to look at each other.

Scorpius was still upset at his father, and his father was undoubtedly still upset at him. Each of their respective Potter partners stared at their plates, not wanting to be the one that set off the inevitable explosion.

Finally, Papa sighed and spoke up.

"Scorpius…I apologise. I wanted this to be a happy holiday break for the two of us, but that didn't really happen, did it? I picked a quarrel with you over something that really didn't matter, and I regret it now. You may walk around shirtless in the house; I suppose it's not a big deal. But in exchange, let us both promise to knock before entering each other's rooms, okay?"

Scorpius smiled, all the upset feelings melting away at the sight of Papa's repentant face.

"Deal. All is forgiven, Papa."

Mr Potter smiled and leaned in to kiss Papa's cheek, and Scorpius felt Albus squeeze his hand.

It was going to be a happy new year.