the portkey had been incinerated in the battle, and albus’s only thought had been to grab scorpius and apparate away from the location. the first place he’d thought of, the place that had popped into his brain almost instantly, was a small neighborhood in surrey. panting, albus dropped to his knees, checking his friend to ensure that he hadn’t splinched him in their abrupt departure. “we should get moving,” albus said, frowning as scorpius walked away from him, as the other tipped his head towards the sky, his blonde hair reminding albus of a halo. “scor? i’m sorry — i know i really fucked it for us,” he said, slowly getting to his feet, tongue darting out to lick blood off his lip. a twinge in his side told him his ribs had been brusied, but albus trudged on towards scorpius regardless, one arm folded around himself, fingers lightly pressing over the ache in his body. “what’re you — ” albus fell silent at the peaceful expression on the other’s face, and it was with parted lips and confusion that he looked towards the sky, the crisp air stinging his cheeks. not moments later, it began to snow, the flakes coming down in gentle flurries. the corner of albus’s mouth twitched up into the beginnings of a smile, a sparkle returning to the green hues. “scor, look, it’s snowing!” albus said, excitement exuding from his form as he rounded on his friend. but scorpius had known that, albus realized, he had felt it coming and he had waited for it to cleanse him from the bloodshed. his tongue was out to catch the flurries as they fell, crystals of varying size and shape dissolving the instant they hit. albus watched his friend in silent awe, admiring the way the flakes clung to his lashes, the way the snow began to wet his skin. his hands falling straight at his sides, albus shifted and mirrored scorpius, parting his lips to catch the flakes on his tongue, taking a moment of peace in the dark night.
"i don’t get the point of these watches,” albus murmured, stifling a yawn, his eyes tearing up faintly. he sniffled, wiping at the corners of his eyes with his gloved hands, hunkered down by a tree, a warming charm the only thing keeping him from shivering. “nobody even knows where our safe houses are. my dad just can’t help his own bloody paranoia,” he added, cupping his palms in front of his mouth and blowing, the warm air stinging his cheeks. the cold, despite the warming charm, was still beginning to bite at his skin, causing his nose and cheeks to grow pink and his lips to chap. “mum was right, i should’ve brought lip balm.” green eyes flitting around the field, albus was too distracted to notice the movement behind him until — splat! he blinked, the sudden cold beginning to seep into the back of his neck, dripping down his sweater. “what in merlin’s name — ” albus turned, his focus settling on scorpius and the wicked smirk on his face, the snowball in his gloved hand. “oh, you think you’re gonna one up me while my back is turned, huh?” albus challenged, digging into the snow by his feet as quickly as he could, rolling out of the way of scorpius’s next attempt at pelting him with the snow. “you don’t know what you’ve started, malfoy!” albus shouted with a laugh, rising to his feet, the snowball held aloft in his mitten-clad hand.
