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Most people think that Albus Severus Potter is cold.
According to Lily, Albus has what is known as a Resting Bitch Face. Scorpius hadn’t heard of the term until recently, but he has come to agree. Albus seems unapproachable, aloof, and often disgruntled. He’s famous in all wizarding circles – Harry Potter’s middle child, the singular Slytherin in a long line of Gryffindors – but he keeps to himself. While his siblings exude charisma and boldness, Albus is shy and only privately charming. He doesn’t loudly tell jokes like James, but will instead whisper dry commentary into Scorpius’ ear where no one else can hear. He doesn’t command a room like Lily, but he pulls focus anyway.
Mostly, Scorpius knows that Albus Potter is incredibly warm. And that is why he delights in shoving snow down the back of his robes.
Albus curses loudly and immediately retaliates by shoving Scorpius hard. They’d been walking back from the Quidditch Pitch, Scorpius swinging their hands together and analyzing the final few plays of the game, when he’d been inspired by the sight of a few first years having a snowball fight near the entrance gates. Albus’ shove is violent enough that Scorpius knows he’s down for roughhousing, and so he tackles his boyfriend into the snow. It’s not an easy task – Scorpius is not exactly known for his brute strength and Albus has grown stocky over their last year at Hogwarts.
They hit the snow in a wriggling heap, and Scorpius squawks as Albus quickly shoves some snow up his sleeve, direct payback. He shivers and attempts to pin Albus into the nearest snowbank, but Albus manages to escape his hold and stand up, beginning to gather snow between his palms.
“I did not mean for this to escalate,” Scorpius laughs, holding up his hands in surrender.
“You’re a filthy liar,” Albus smirks, launching a snowball at Scorpius’ head. It meets its target and Scorpius hisses, leaning down to cup some snow into his hands. He throws his snowball weakly, but manages to pull his wand from his pocket before it hits the ground, directing it to hit Albus in the forehead.
“Since when is magic allowed?” Albus gasps, affronted. He readies his wand and assumes a stance that would not be out of place in Dueling Club, bending his knees and preparing for a fight. Scorpius smiles widely. He loves when Albus gives himself permission to be silly.
Scorpius attempts to disarm him, but Albus has grown both quicker and more confident in his spellwork, and he blocks easily, giggling. When he molds a larger snowball with his wand and sends it in Albus’ direction, he doesn’t even have time to react before Albus is parrying away from the target and directly into his own space, smacking a snowball to the back of his neck.
“Albus!” Scorpius whines, and he can hear disembodied laughter as Albus casts a disillusionment charm and effectively disappears. He is beginning to regret this impulse decision, ice trickling down the back of his shirt. Scorpius is not built for the cold like Albus is.
Their snowball fight seems to have inspired some of the other students who had been walking back to the school, but they’re mostly ignored, everyone lost in their own worlds this close to Christmas. Once he can spot him, Scorpius manages to enchant a block of snow and pin Albus in place simultaneously, hitting him square in the chest. Albus seems more intrigued by the complicated wandwork than annoyed.
He then pockets his wand and settles for running full speed at Scorpius, knocking him down easily. What ensues is a frankly immature wrestling match that Scorpius knows he is destined to lose. He lands a single elbow to Albus’ stomach before his boyfriend has successfully pinned both of his arms, laughing delightedly. Scorpius frees one wrist, pushes up the sleeve of Albus’ coat, and attempts to gnaw at his forearm.
“Scorpius! No biting!” Albus warns, but he’s still laughing. Scorpius unlatches, effectively chastised, and gives an affectionate nibble to Albus’ wrist instead. Albus giggles and releases his hold on Scorpius’ wrists. Albus is still sitting on his thighs, but he’s free to sit up now if he pleases. He stays put. He’s quite cold, but Albus is warm and smiling at him. He reaches up to pull Albus into a kiss instead.
Albus makes a hissing sound against his mouth as he initially braces himself with hands plunged into the snowy ground. Scorpius laughs into the kiss and breaks it, easing Albus’ cold hands onto his waist instead. Albus brushes their noses together and reconnects their lips.
Scorpius loves doing anything with Albus, whether it’s homework or napping together, but kissing Albus might just be his favorite. Albus is often the slightest bit hesitant, like he still can’t believe he’s allowed to initiate a kiss, even though they’ve been together for over a year now. He’ll also often laugh or smile against his mouth, something that Scorpius can feel all the way down to his toes. He makes contented little noises too, ones that both ground him and make him feel dizzy. Mostly, he’s very warm. And his lips are soft.
“Oi, stop it with the public indecency!” Lily’s voice comes from across the grounds.
Albus groans and pulls away, helping Scorpius sit up. Scorpius frowns. They were just kissing, for Merlin’s sake. It hadn’t even been heated.
“Aye, get it Al!” says one of the Scamander twins, both of them at Lily’s side. Albus flips them off, refusing to move from Scorpius’ lap. Scorpius is grateful for that, as he’s really starting to get cold.
“Go study for your fucking O.W.L.s or something,” Albus mutters, and Scorpius laughs. He can feel one of Albus’ hands moving from his waist to his cheek.
“Are your teeth chattering?” Albus asks in disbelief, and Scorpius smiles with all of his teeth, which are indeed knocking together.
“No,” he lies.
Albus rolls his eyes and immediately climbs off of Scorpius’ lap, standing and hauling his boyfriend up to his feet. Scorpius pointedly does not swoon at how easy it seems to be for Albus to lift him. He grabs Scorpius’ hands between his own and breathes on them, rubbing to create some friction. The concern makes Scorpius’ chest feel tight with affection.
“How are your hands colder than mine when I had mine on the ground?” he muses. Scorpius just shrugs, already feeling warmer, and moves further into Albus’ space. Albus rolls his eyes, but lets Scorpius drop his head down into his neck, pressing a kiss to his temple.
“I can’t believe you started this whole thing and now you want me to warm you up,” Albus complains, and Scorpius just giggles as they walk back to the castle, wrapping his arms around Albus’ middle and trying to discreetly press his fingers up underneath Albus’ jumper.
“Scorpius,” Albus warns, as Scorpius presses cold fingers to Albus’ warm stomach. His boyfriend groans and tries to wriggle away, but Scorpius knows that he’s won.
“Why don’t you ever just cast a warming charm?” Albus sighs, as they finally make their way back inside the school.
“You’re my warming charm,” Scorpius grins, his smile widening when Albus rolls his eyes at the cheesiness.
“Alright, you dork,” Albus snorts, taking Scorpius’ hand in his own again as they head down to the dungeons. “Time to warm you up, I guess.”
“That sounds incredibly suggestive,” Scorpius says.
“I meant wrapping you up in blankets!” Albus laughs, giving Scorpius a shove into the common room. It’s always a bit colder in the dungeons than it is in the rest of the school, but it’s significantly warmer than outside. When they enter their dorm, Scorpius immediately pulls off his coat and robes, the material cold and wet, and after kicking off his boots, he dives underneath the covers of Albus’ bed.
“Rude,” Albus remarks, kicking off his own shoes. “You could’ve waited for me.”
Scorpius just smiles, the green comforter pulled up to his chin. He slips his hands out from under the blanket only to grab at Albus’ arm while he’s kicking off his jeans, pulling him off balance. He watches as Albus huffs and finally manages to get under the covers, his jeans deposited on the floor.
“You have no patience,” Albus snarks, and Scorpius immediately curls up against Albus’ chest. He’s still wearing his jeans, but he can feel Albus’ body heat through the denim.
“Says you,” Scorpius snaps back, but he’s cut off by a yawn. Cuddling with Albus is amazing, but it almost always puts him right to sleep.
“Take advantage of your space heater and be quiet now.”
Scorpius snorts and bites at Albus’ shoulder, but he barely reacts, just hums and starts playing with Scorpius’ damp hair. His eyes flutter closed immediately.
It continues to snow outside, the lake frozen and silent, though Scorpius can faintly hear Slytherin students beginning to gather in the common room. He’s still shivering slightly, but Albus minutely tightens his hold, and there’s a warm kiss pressed to the middle of his forehead.
It barely takes a minute for him to warm up enough to fall asleep.