Chapter Text
“Rise and shine, little brother!!!” James shouts as he bursts through Albus’ once-locked bedroom door.
An unintelligible sound responds from within the blankets on the bed.
“Today is a big day, and I’m here, bright and early, to get you in tip-top shape for Mum’s event this afternoon.” The bastard sits on the edge of Albus’ bed and starts to bounce.
Albus Potter begrudgingly sits up and glares at his brother who only grins.
“I have your robes picked out, no suits this time—Mum’s orders. You have one hour to muck about. Another hour to get ready, have a quick lunch at noon then a portkey to Wiltshire at 1 p.m on the dot. Rose and Franky will meet us there…”
“Wiltshire?” Albus interrupts.
James rolls his eyes. “Yes, Wiltshire! Have you forgotten the date? It’s May 2nd, you wanker!”
Albus’ face drops. Oh fuck, the Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Every year it’s the same thing, a massive party at Malfoy Manor—part fundraiser for war orphans, part commemoration of his dad’s underdog win. One hundred percent political wankers being political wankers. And his dad… He hated those things and always threw his mum at people who wanted his attention. No wonder she’d become Minister of Magic. No wonder they’d gotten divorced.
“That’s right, Alby, it’s the big one. We can’t fuck this up for Mum. She’s counting on winning over some of those Sacred Values prats for her re-election so we have to be perfect wizard sons today, got it?”
The brothers’ eyes meet and too many stories cross in their gaze. Before James had decided to follow in their mum’s footsteps, the Anniversary party had been a free-for-all. Their dad would sneak the kids off to play Quidditch on the Malfoy pitch or go peacock chasing through the grounds. When they came of age, they’d sneak off to the stables and share bottles of fire whiskey with the abraxans. Mum had refused to take them along when she first ran for minister. Now, with James on her heels like an eager puppy and Lily off with Uncle Charlie in Romania, only Albus and Harry were left as potential liabilities. Liabilities that James had been clearly made responsible for.
Albus rolls his eyes and gets out of bed.
“Alby, one last thing…” Albus turns to make a bored face at his brother. James bites his lip. “Scorpius Malfoy is back from France, he’ll be there today. I need you to keep your cool, alright?”
“Me!?” Albus says indignantly. “I am nothing but cool, he’s the problem!”
“Al…” James tries.
“I’m serious Jamie,” Albus cuts in. “The bloke has the personality of a NEWT — the exam, not the animal.”
“Just, stay away from him alright?” James says, exasperated. “You have until one o’clock to do whatever you need to do to be on your best behavior at the manor.” The sound of the front door distracts him from his monologue. “Oh good, Dad’s here. Time to give him the spiel,” he grins. “If you’re not ready by…”
“One o’clock yeah yeah,” Albus interrupts. “Go get Dad before he runs off to the studio.”
“Good call,” James says as he gets up from Albus’ bed and jogs out of the room, leaving Albus standing awkwardly by the door.
With a sigh, Albus makes his way down the stairs and to the shed that serves as his dad’s gym and testing facility. He strips out of his pants and rummages through the testing racks and shelves, selecting a pair of skin-tight… tights? He swears, it’s like his dad’s making his designs tighter on purpose. He shimmies into the tights and finds he’s surprisingly well covered and comfortable. Next, he takes a pair of PotterPro trainers and jumps on the treadmill his dad and grandad charmed to function at Grimmauld place.
Scorpius sodding Malfoy, he thinks. It wouldn’t be such a thing had the Prophet and Witch Weekly not pinned them against each other practically since they were born. Which was, of course, both of their dads’ faults when that legendary rivalry of theirs turned into a full-on family affair. Draco Malfoy, the unofficial head of the Sacred Values party, used to make headlines tearing into Ginny at the Ministry for years. Harry had been a Quidditch player at the time and made headlines himself for leaving Falmouth Falcons matches to get in screaming matches with Malfoy on the Ministry steps. Their screaming often came to blows and duels, but Harry always made it back in time to catch the snitch.
As they got older, Scorpius went to Beauxbatons and filled the pages of the French and English tabloids with his academic prowess, philanthropy, volunteering, and increasingly good looks. Meanwhile Albus became a tabloid favourite for his refusal to smile for their cameras, earning him the moniker ‘The Sulky One.’ They painted a picture of the two as night and day, and the fact that both were near replicas of their feuding fathers only added fuel to the media fire.
Then the Scamander twins visited with their mum to shoot product for Harry’s new line of athleisure—a stark departure from his well-known re-imagined Quidditch gear. Hence the LooneyTunes being called in for ‘creative direction.’ Albus got wasted with the Scamander twins and ended up in the studio barefoot, in only a neon pair of joggers that hung dangerously off his hips. They’d taken turns with Luna’s professional camera, every pose and photo a form of foreplay. The night had ended with all three of them naked and sated on the studio floor. Though Albus had deleted the evidence, little did he know that the camera was charmed to automatically send photos to the offices, and the staff, of The Quibbler.
By the evening’s issue of The Prophet, Albus was on the cover with the headline, 'NOTHING COMES BETWEEN AL & HIS POTTERPROS.'* The photo they’d chosen clearly showed Albus’ choice to forgo underwear— dark curls trailed from his belly button to his nether regions, his thumbs artfully tucked into the waistband of his joggers right near the v of his abs as his fingers framed his half-hard cock. All delivered with Albus’ signature frown.
The public went mad. Sales for PotterPro athleisure went through the roof. Ginny nearly had a heart attack, and Harry just laughed. The next day, Scorpius Malfoy was on front covers negotiating some sort of peace deal between Merfolk and wix attempting to create an underwater observatory or something equally dull. His platinum locks gleamed in the photo in The Prophet.
It was inevitable really, that they’d latch on to Scorpius’ beauty and goodness and Albus’ morose demeanor and unapologetic sex appeal. Though it wasn’t Scorpius’ fault per se, Albus would always resent him for it. The Malfoy Prince didn’t live with his father’s overwhelming shadow looming over him or his mother’s not-so-subtle nudges to figure his shit out already. Albus had no idea where Scorpius lived or what he was up to, but it certainly wasn’t crashing with his divorced dad at age twenty-two.
A peek at his watch reveals he’s been running for almost an hour, and yet he feels as gloomy as he did when he started. The last time he saw Scorpius was… seven years ago. At this same Merlin-forsaken event. It didn’t go over well. He’ll just have to keep Jamie’s words in the back of his mind—his mum needs this. When she’d first gotten elected, wixen had been eager for change. Now, groups like the Sacred Values party, named after the Sacred 28, were pushing to slow reforms on the basis of ‘traditional wizarding values’ and quickly gaining traction.
His mum needs to change their minds, to prove that the evolution of wizarding society is necessary and doesn’t threaten what everyone in their world holds most dear: magic. She also desperately needs their funds–though they are surrounded by well-off people, campaign rules capped individual donations for elections. So far she has the monetary support of all of their friends and tiny organizations like Justice for Elves, a group focused on ensuring elf welfare in wizarding society. How they scrounge up the money to donate to the cause is something Albus will never understand.
But what is blatantly clear is his role in her success. For his mum, he can stay away from Scorpius Malfoy. For his mum, he’ll behave.