Title: Heat
Author: lq_traintracks
Characters/Pairings: James Sirius/Scorpius (background Harry/Draco), plus Albus Severus and Rose
Rating: NC-17
Kinks/Themes Chosen: alpha/beta/omega dynamics
Other Warnings/Content: Alpha James (age 18), Omega Scorpius (age 16), mentions of Alpha Harry, Omega Draco, Alpha Rose, Beta Albus, and Omega Lily Luna; heat (including self-lubricating arses), rut (including knotting), first times, scenting, some brief armpit kink
Word Count: ~7,600
Summary/Description: James had always been miserable as an Alpha. Mostly because he was crap at it. Until Scorpius Malfoy went into an unexpected heat, that is.
Author's Notes: Omg, so I wrote this in two days. The idea came, and then it just rushed out of me. I've never done an A/B/O world before, so forgive any inconsistencies with how it might usually be crafted. For instance, there is zero talk of how people get pregnant, so just assume whatever you'd like in that regard. Huge thanks to firethesound for the speedy, last-minute, and super helpful beta!





James had always been miserable as an Alpha. Mostly because he was crap at it. He was pretty sure his Scenting was broken, since he had never attracted any Omegas strongly, and likewise he'd never got more than one whiff in with a few before he'd backed out too. And let's face it, if you don't even have to summon any willpower to back out, something's not right to begin with.

It had been like this for the two years since his first rut. He'd spent most of his ruts with his own right hand and about a thousand privacy charms up. Embarrassed about how soaked his sheets would get with his stupid Alpha pheromone sweats and load upon load of stupid Alpha spunk, he'd taken to doing his own laundry at home. A fact that his stupid Beta brother couldn't seem to stop taking the piss about.

It didn't help that he had a stupidly-good-at-it Alpha dad. Well, once the divorce was finalised, that is. James' mum, also inconveniently an Alpha, had found a nice Beta guy after the split, while his dad rutted his perfect mate in one go a month and a half after the separation.

Ugh. So gross.

Sometimes it really sucked being the son of Harry Potter. It really and truly sucked.

And that summer, the one before James' last year at Hogwarts, when his Dad and Mr Malfoy had announced that not only were they mate-bonded but that there'd be a handfasting and they'd be joining households… Well, James wasn't sure what made him more miserable, that Albus would be thrilled to get to live with his best mate year round, or that James would have countless holidays wherein he'd have to put up with the insufferable little shit that was Scorpius Malfoy too. At least the ceremony was a year away. James could have his own flat lined up by the time he left Hogwarts and he wouldn't have to endure both his Beta brother and his stupid Beta best friend both giving James crap for his repeatedly unsuccessful ruts.

That was the idea at least: live through this last year at Hogwarts and then go be a crap Alpha out on his own where no one could see or, Merlin forbid, smell the failure all over him.

That had been the idea. But just like all his plans seemed to do… well, that one turned to shit too.

*

It happened after supper one night. James had eaten his fill and yet there continued to be this wonderful smell, something delicious tantalising him even after the plates cleared from the Great Hall.

"What is that?" he asked Rose.

"Dunno. What are you talking about?"

"That," he elaborated. "Merlin, don't you smell it?"

"Smell what?"

James rolled his eyes. Sometimes his incredibly clever cousin, an Alpha herself even, could be really thick. "I'm not sure. Like… cinnamon buns maybe?"

Rose snorted. "Cinnamon buns. Are you high?"

They began walking out of the Great Hall, James sniffing the air all along the way. "Maybe not cinnamon buns. More like… dark chocolate? Or the forest after it rains."

Rose gave him a funny look. "How are those things even remotely similar?"

He returned her funny look with one of his own. "The notes of earth? The hint of salt overlaying the sweetness?"

"Oh, I see," she said then. "It's just time for your rut."

He stopped in the hall. "Not for another three days. No, that's not it. It's food-related, trust me. I mean, don't you smell that? Aren't you salivating?"

"Uh, no." Rose continued on toward the stairs, but when James neglected to follow, she stopped and turned. "Aren't you coming? We have to study for Runes, remember?"

James frowned. "I'll catch up with you. I think I'm going to go down to the kitchens and just…" He shrugged.

"Suit yourself," Rose sighed and headed up.

James followed his nose down toward the kitchens. But when he got to the part of the hall where it split off, Hufflepuff and the kitchens in one direction and Slytherin dormitories in the other, he found his feet taking him the wrong way.

He followed his instincts to the door of a bathroom, and when his hand simply touched the doorknob, he had to stifle a shiver. He cracked the door open and peeked inside. He couldn't see anything -- like a platter of cinnamon buns under the canopy of a rainforest, for instance -- but he heard something… a soft, plaintive sound.

"Hello?"

In response came a shaky groan. "Leave me alone."

James stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind himself. The scent was almost overwhelming in here, closed in with the tile and humidity. He had to ball his hands into fists as he continued inside, turning the corner of a row of stalls to find a boy curled up on the floor, his head buried in his arms.

"Are you… injured?" James asked.

"Ngghh…" came from the floor. And in the next moment, the boy's head lifted and…

Merlin, James would recognise that shocking blond hair anywhere. "Scorpius? Are you--?" He'd taken another step forward, and in that moment, Scorpius shuddered, curling in on himself again and moaning piteously.

The sound of it stopped James in his tracks. He inhaled deeply, trying to cleanse his lungs, and yet that only drew the enticing scent deeper, and on this whiff of it, his cock began to get hard.

Which didn't make any sense at all because…

"But you're a Beta." It was out of his mouth before he'd thought, and the sound of his own voice startled him, coming out low and rough.

"I…" Scorpius gasped. "I was. I thought… I was. This… first time. I've never… I've never…"

"Oh my God. You're in…"

Scorpius groaned and writhed before James could even finish his thought, but it came out on a breath anyway:

"...heat."

"Well, aren't you bloody brilliant," Scorpius spat. He'd come up onto his hands and knees and seemed to be attempting to crawl away. Though the position did nothing to help the growing problem of James' erection, nor did the look of disdain Scorpius cast back at him over his shoulder.

It took everything James had not to approach him. Not to rip into his clothes. Not to bury his nose in his neck, his armpit, his crotch, and then start licking.

To mount.

Merlin, it was a good thing he wasn't in rut yet.

"Um, can I get you some kind of… help?"

Scorpius' head dropped down to the floor and he let out a kind of sick laugh. "What are you doing down here anyway? Can't you piss up in Gryffindor like you're supposed to?"

"I… smelled something."

It sounded stupid the moment it was out of his mouth, and sure enough, Scorpius scoffed. "Did you now."

James swallowed the drool that had collected under his tongue. "I'm thinking I smelled… you?"

"You think?"

James cleared his throat. "You really didn't know you were an Omega?"

"Merlin, why you?"

"What?"

Scorpius sighed. "Nothing. And no, I didn't know. People can not know, you know. I'm only sixteen for bloody Salazar's sake. It's not like everybody always knows." Then he cringed, his hand dropping between his legs to squeeze himself hard. "Fuck."

James' heart pounded so hard in his chest, he could look down and watch it. "I, uh… "

"Look, if you're not going to do it, could you please, for fuck's sake, leave?"

"Do it?"

"Yes, do it."

"Do what?" It's not that James didn't know. It's only that… well, one wouldn't want to be wrong about such things. He gulped.

"Help me."

"I… You mean like…"

"Yes, I mean like," Scorpius spat, losing patience with him.

James bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, I'm… I'm not in rut for a few days."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean you can't still do it."

James swallowed. "I've… I've just, uh…"

"What?" Scorpius ground out.

"I've only ever done it with Betas," James admitted in a rush. "Just… two Betas. That's it."

Scorpius had managed to crawl to the sinks, and now he sat, pressing the side of his face against the cool porcelain. "Never with anyone like me?"

With anyone so disdainful, spoiled, and stuck-up? he wanted to say.

With my future step-brother? also seemed like a prudent topic.

With anyone so beautiful?

With such a beautiful, beautiful Omega?

James shook his head. "No."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Great."

"Look." James' jaw went stiff, and he ignored how his cock was now throbbing with need. "I can leave you here squirming on the bloody floor if you like and--"

"No!" Scorpius reached out a hand to him, his expression beseeching, almost panicked, and every cell of James' body yearned toward him all at once. "No." Scorpius swallowed. "Please. Please, James."

The sound of Scorpius Malfoy saying his name was maybe the most simultaneously soothing and arousing sound he'd ever heard.

"Okay," he said, taking two more steps forward. "It's okay. I'll stay. I'll…" James had to collect himself before he went on. "Have you ever… had an Alpha?"

Scorpius' pretty grey eyes blinked away from him, his cheeks staining a becoming pink. "I've never… been with anyone."

"At all?" James blurted.

"Shut up, alright?" Scorpius shouted, his cheeks reddening still further.

"No, I didn't mean. It's fine. It's good." I like it. Bloody hell did he like it. In fact, it was really difficult not to start stroking himself through his trousers.

As if he'd thought that aloud, Scorpius' gaze landed on the bulge there, and James watched his pupils dilate.

"So how do we…?" James began.

"Well, I'd rather not do it on the bloody floor my first time."

"Right. Well, we can, uh, go to my room?"

"Too far."

"Oh. Okay. Your room?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Too far."

James thought for a moment. He looked at the shower stalls. "In there?" he ventured, his cock pounding at the idea of having him under a deluge of hot water.

Scorpius blinked at him. And then he nodded. He began to pull himself to standing with the help of the sink, so James sprang forward and took his arm.

Scorpius groaned at his touch, and James wanted to press him against the sink right then and there and… and and… bite him maybe.

"Merlin," he said.

"Look, I'll manage to walk better if you're not touching me, okay?" Scorpius said in a tight, embarrassed voice.

"Okay. Sure." James' hands dropped away from his body and immediately felt emptier than they had in the first place. Feeling foolish, he followed Scorpius into one of the shower stalls.

He turned to pull the curtain closed. "I suppose we should--"

When he turned back, it was to find Scorpius ripping his clothes off as quickly as possible and tossing them out of the stall.

"--take our clothes off."

"Salazar, why does it have to be you?" Scorpius complained under his breath. "All smoking Quidditch body and no brains."

"Oi!" James barked. Though smoking Quidditch body still rang through his skull rather pleasantly. "I have Outstandings in--"

"I'm sorry. Okay?" Scorpius was all but panting for it now, taking down his pants. "You're brilliant," he placated. "Forgive me if that's not what I'm interested in right now."

When he stood again, James' lips parted and he simply stared. It wasn't that Scorpius' cock was unusually large or anything; he was, in fact, on the small side. But it was so… pretty: curved a little and pink, rosy at the head, with this fine cloud of blond hair surrounding the base. And his hips looked like they'd fit perfectly in James' hands. His little pink nipples begged for his mouth.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Do Omegas undress the Alphas or something?"

Still stunned, James opened his mouth to speak but apparently not quickly enough.

"Fine," Scorpius huffed. And then he set about tearing James' clothes off his body.

Which was totally fine. More than fine. Extra fine really.

Once James' brain caught up with the moment, he set about helping, and between the two of them, they had James stripped naked in about twenty seconds.

Scorpius then laid his fine-boned, perfectly manicured hands against James' chest and groaned, "Bloody hell, why you?"

His touch set James' skin ablaze, and James subdued the possessive growl that wanted to rise up in his throat.

Scorpius lifted his gaze and James looked into his eyes, and then Scorpius fell against him, and they were kissing.

Scorpius' lips opened right away, and James plunged his tongue into his mouth. Scorpius groaned, and James yanked his body in so that they were flush. Scorpius wound his arms around James' neck, and James walked him backward until he could reach out and turn on the water. It struck their bodies, and Scorpius gasped. The sound of it tugged at James' cock, and the head of it pushed through the foreskin. He began to drip pre-come.

Leveraging himself on James' shoulders, Scorpius lifted his legs, wrapping them around James' waist as James pressed his back to the shower wall.

"I'm so empty," Scorpius mewled.

James heard himself growl in response but then gathered himself enough to Summon his wand.

"What are you doing?" Scorpius asked, moving a little in James' arms, against his body, like he couldn't help himself.

"Casting a lubrication charm," James replied.

Scorpius leaned in to nibble on his earlobe. "Why?"

"What do you mean?" Merlin, why were they talking? All James wanted now was to fuck. He'd never wanted to fuck so bad in his life.

"I mean," Scorpius murmured in his ear, "I'm already wet for you."

"You are?" James breathed.

Scorpius leaned back and nodded now, his body a writhing thing in James' arms. "I need you," he said. "Can you smell how much I need you?"

"Yes," James whispered.

Scorpius' blown eyes blinked down to James' lips. "Then give it to me."

James let his wand clatter to the floor, and he lined up his cock with Scorpius' dripping entrance. Far from being clenched tight, the way was slightly relaxed in readiness, and James took Scorpius by the hips, fingers sinking into the flesh of his arse, and thrust into him, his cock plunging into slick heat. He buried himself up Scorpius' arse, and Scorpius gasped at first. Then, once James had sheathed himself entirely and they throbbed together, Scorpius gave the most beautiful broken groan of a sound James had ever heard.

James felt a twitching at his hip and looked down to see come sliding down Scorpius' cock. Scorpius was coming. Just from that. From one deep thrust of James' cock into him.

"Merlin," James said in awe while Scorpius' arse clamped down on his cock in perfect little squeezes that had James' eyes wanting to roll back.

"Oh fuck," Scorpius gasped. "Oh fuck."

"May I?" James asked stupidly.

"Oh god yes," Scorpius cried. "Please, God, come in me. I need to smell like you. Fuck me full of you, James, please."

James reared back and began fucking him hard and fast, Scorpius' skin squeaking against the wet tile. Since he wasn't in rut, he knew he wouldn't knot, and so, bloody hell, this was going to be quick.

"Again," Scorpius gasped suddenly. "Oh fuck again."

And then his arse was massaging James' thrusting cock once more, though his cock spasmed dry, unable to produce any more ejaculate. Still, James was making him come. Again.

"Fuck," he growled, feeling his balls draw up. "Fuck yes," he gritted out, and then he was shooting inside Scorpius' arse, ribbons of it as he shuddered and shook and pressed Scorpius hard to the wall. James pushed in deep and took slow, grinding thrusts, feeling Scorpius' hot breath in his face, his own blood pumping hard through his body.

Scorpius grasped onto James' shoulders as he came down, his blown eyes blinking. Merlin, James loved how he grasped onto his shoulders. He felt powerful and protective, a fierceness surging up in him he could control no more than any of the rest of it. He held Scorpius' gaze, and Scorpius gasped once, feeling it.

And bloody son of a troll, nothing ever went to plan, did it?

James let Scorpius down gently and then held him up against the wall a moment. "Can you stand?"

"Maybe."

Merlin, James didn't want to let go. He wanted to kiss Scorpius again. He wanted to kiss him a lot.

No sooner had he thought it than Scorpius leaned in and opened James' lips with his own, seeking James' tongue and moaning when James kissed him back. Lifting his hand, James stroked Scorpius' wet hair out of his eyes, smoothing his hand back over his head. It felt good, really good, so he did it again.

When the kiss ended, Scorpius' hands were once again pressed warm to James' chest. James felt his heart beating against the palm of his hand. "Thank you," Scorpius whispered. "Thank you for… this."

"Yeah," James said stupidly.

Scorpius looked into his eyes, and James saw a new sense of calm there, a deep and pervasive satiation. He'd put that there. He'd done this to Scorpius. Seeing the slight smile on his lips, the slow way Scorpius blinked, the healthy post-sex blush on his cheeks and chest, his quiescent cock… it stirred intense feelings in James, things he was hard-pressed to name but that made his heart beat strong and his palms itch.

He'd heard heats could go on for days… that the initial satisfaction might soon be eroded by a new and just as urgent need. He wanted to open his stupid mouth and ask if Scorpius knew any of this, since his first heat had come upon him so completely unawares. He wanted to ask if he might want to stick around to see if it was going to get bad again. Purely a magnanimous offer, of course.

James wanted to let Scorpius know that he'd do it again, if he needed to. That he'd be more than willing.

More than willing.

He bit his lip, took an inhale to speak...

But then Scorpius' hands slipped down his chest and away. Before James could force out anything like a syllable, Scorpius stepped out of the spray, past the curtain, and gathered up his clothes.

The moment lost, James braced a hand on the wall, ducked his chin to his chest, and let the water beat over his back, heaving a wordless sigh.

He stayed in the shower a good long while, long after he heard Scorpius open the door and leave. He washed himself, even though he never wanted to smell like anything other than Scorpius Malfoy's heat the rest of his life.

Merlin, the rest of his life.

James washed himself slowly, his mind full of everything that had happened -- and about a million questions Scorpius had not stayed to help him answer.

Chief among them, what the hell was he supposed to do when he went into rut?

*

Somehow he made it through the next morning without incident. Without much incident rather, since apparently the entire school could smell it, which was pretty incident-y really, if one chose to dwell on such facts. The looks were near constant, the laughing delight an extra special bonus.

Not even Rose was immune from comment and gleefully expressed herself with a rather too loud, "Jesus, mate much?"

"I showered," he whispered harshly.

To which she answered, "With what, Scorpius Malfoy's arse sweat? Because I'm telling you, his buns are not cinnamon."

James knew he looked sheepish and still he managed to say something to make it a thousand times worse. "They are to me."

"Awww," she cooed monstrously.

"Shut it, hag," he'd said and then tried to listen in Charms class like nothing was any different.

And at first he thought Scorpius was avoiding him. He hadn't seen or smelled him at breakfast. They were two years apart and so didn't share any classes, but neither did he see him in the halls, which was a bit odd considering he did see Albus, and you rarely saw one without the company of the other.

He tried to be nonchalant when he pulled Albus aside to ask. "So, uh, how's it going?"

But Albus was onto him and rolled his eyes at the pretense. "We had a free period this morning since Professor Lovegood's got Dragon Pox, so he's been in the Prefects' bath."

"Wha…? I didn't even…"

"I can't believe you fucked my best mate, arsehole," Albus groused. Then he sighed, "I'm late. Gotta go." He shoved James in the arm and then took off down the stairs.

After lunch, it became apparent that Scorpius wasn't avoiding him after all. He found James in the hall between classes and pulled him into an empty room.

And it was sort of horrible, how James' entire body lit up suddenly at being near him.

"So, I was thinking that, um…" Scorpius looked around, anywhere but at James' face. "I was thinking that maybe we could… help each other out again? I mean, I could really use… I'm still in," he gulped, "heat and… Well, I was thinking that if you were to, uh, help me, then when you, erm, go into your rut, then I could… we could maybe…"

"Yes," James said emphatically.

"Yeah?" Scorpius met his gaze now, wide-eyed and hopeful.

James reached out and laid his hand against Scorpius' hip and silently rejoiced when he shuddered hard at the touch. "Yeah."

"Fuck," Scorpius whispered. "I have Herbology, like, right now."

"Okay."

"It's just… Well, I'm wet." Scorpius gulped and looked away, blushing. "You've made me wet."

The admission stiffened James' cock inside his trousers, and he cleared his throat. "You don't, uh, have five minutes?"

"I don't have one minute."

James let his hand drop away from his body, not wanting to make things worse for him. He shrugged. "Don't worry. It's Herbology. Your pheromones kind of smell like the forest anyway."

"They… I do?"

"Yeah. Like ferns," James heard himself saying. Then he added, "After a hard storm."

Scorpius shivered. "Salazar, what are you doing to me?"

"Making you late, looks like." James smiled.

"I have to go." Scorpius made his way to the door.

"Hey!" James called after him. "My roommate's sneaking out to be with his girlfriend tonight. If you maybe wanted to… come to my dorm?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, please."

The please made James' cock jump. "I'll see you later then," he managed.

"Okay." Scorpius blushed again.

"Have a good class."

Scorpius raised his hand in a little wave, and then he was gone.

James leaned back against the wall, letting all his breath out on a groan.

*

The knock came at his door just a little past eleven o'clock. James swished his wand to let him in, casting multiple privacy charms once Scorpius had shut himself inside. He hurried over on quiet feet to James' bed.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Get in," James answered, throwing back the covers.

He took his time, unbuttoning Scorpius' shirt and leaving little biting kisses on his collarbone, over his chest.

Scorpius squirmed against him. "James…"

"I like that," James admitted. "You saying my name."

"You do?"

James hovered over Scorpius' body as he revealed it, kissing down the tensing planes of his stomach. "Yeah."

"I thought you didn't like me… before."

James shrugged, slowly working on the flies of Scorpius' trousers. "I didn't." He unzipped them. "Thought you were a stuck-up brat."

"I am," Scorpius said so plainly it made James laugh.

"So," James said, pulling Scorpius' trousers and pants down to clear his arse and let his cock spring free. "Maybe I'm realising I'm pretty into stuck-up brats."

He took Scorpius' cock into his mouth and bobbed his head without hurry, taking more and more of his silky length with every pass.

"Oh my fucking God," Scorpius breathed, his head falling back onto James' pillow.

James lifted his mouth. "Merlin, you taste good." He stroked Scorpius' weeping cock in a loose fist.

"Why is this taking so long?" Scorpius complained, and James snorted. "No, I mean… Don't you want to just… fuck me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then…?"

James kissed the tip of Scorpius' cock. "I just figured that when I go into rut, I won't be able to… It won't be like this. You know?" He felt anxiety balling itself into a cold fist inside his stomach, putting words to it. "I'm pretty sure it will be the opposite of this actually."

Afraid of looking into Scorpius' eyes and seeing that he'd put fear there, James averted his gaze. But then a hand stroked through his hair and urged his face up.

"I want it," Scorpius said. "Whatever you need when you go into rut… I want it." He blinked at James. "I want it like that."

Blood pounded in James' ears and a mounting lust throbbed his cock.

Scorpius gave him a tremulous smile. "I want it like this too," he said. "I need it. So, if you wouldn't mind… you know…"

James smiled at him, sneaking his hand back between Scorpius' legs to feel for his slick opening. When he found it, he pushed a finger inside, thrilling to the sounds Scorpius made when he did.

Then he lowered his head once more, bringing him to the brink over and over with his fingers and mouth working in concert, never so grateful for his prowess with a privacy charm as when Scorpius finally came and wailed so loudly it seemed like he might take the whole castle down.

*

The first day of his rut came on like a fucking freight train. James had suffered more and more with each passing hour of the night until he'd woken in a terrific sweat, his rut having broken over his body before dawn. It was awful. Worse than before. He suspected that had everything to do with having a willing and attractive Omega in his life now. His body now knew what it could have, what it would have, and it no longer seemed content to suffer alone and in silence.

James got up that morning and dressed, his hands shaking. It was just his luck that he had a Quidditch match that day too. It wasn't so much that he couldn't fly like this, but he wasn't at his best under the circumstances. He tended to foul more often in rut, particularly if he hadn't been able to get off at all prior to the match. And Scorpius was nowhere to be found. Not at first.

James scented him before he ever laid eyes on him at breakfast. In fact, the note was dropped into his lap before he knew what was happening, and by the time he realised what was what, Scorpius' very fine arse was retreating from the room. James couldn't help but stare after it hopelessly until Scorpius and his incredibly distracting hind parts had left the Great Hall altogether.

Then James read his note.

Forbidden Forest, east side near that gnarled oak, tonight after supper. If you can make it that long.

Good luck at the match today.

S.

And then, written really quickly at the bottom, as though he'd warred with himself about writing it at all:

I miss you.

And then:

Burn this note!

James gulped and immediately looked around to see if anyone had read it over his shoulder. He blinked back down at the words. "Merlin."

*

Thankfully, James only fouled that arsehole Slytherin Beater once, and Referee Jordan didn't catch it.

His main problem was the half-hard cock and his propensity to scan the crowd for Scorpius' face. It was probably best he never saw him, though, since he may have just veered into the stands, ignoring the game completely while he humped Scorpius' leg to completion.

Instead, James made three goals, and when Chang caught the Snitch for them, they won the match.

He was plenty hungry at supper but found it difficult to eat. All he could think about was what was going to happen afterward. He forced each bite down as it wasn't easy to enjoy the taste of even really good food with Scorpius' scent distracting him from across the room.

Merlin, he smelled even more heavenly than before.

Tonight, he smelled… irresistible.

James stole looks at the Slytherin table to watch Scorpius laughing with Albus as though blissfully unaware of James' suffering, or his own. Rose had snuck over to Ravenclaw to eat with Lily and so James was left alone with his brooding. He sighed, unable to think of anything except what had already happened between them… all that had already happened between them… but also what hadn't yet.

James had never felt afraid of himself before. But now, as he stared at his plate of half-eaten food and then once again glanced up to spy Scorpius' smiling face, he felt an exhilarating and terrifying combination of intense anticipation and sickening anxiety.

He swallowed it down, or tried to, and watched Scorpius say something to Albus that had Al laughing again. Then Scorpius blinked, looked down, and when he looked back up, it was to see James there, watching him. His expression sobered. He dabbed his lips with his napkin. He gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.

James watched him rise from the table and excuse himself, cutting only one last look at James before he walked out of the hall entirely.

James took a long, shaky breath, waited precisely two minutes, and then rose from his table too.

*

The night was cool, which suited James fine because his skin felt like it was on fire. He used Scorpius' directions less than his own nostrils in order to find the spot where he waited.

When he found him, Scorpius was leaned against the gigantic gnarled oak he'd referenced. It was a very small clearing, not wide and open enough to feel like a stage. It was secluded, the night cloudy and obscuring the moon's light.

"Hey," Scorpius said as James approached.

James opened his mouth to give an answering salutation, but what came out instead was a deep exhaling growl.

Scorpius gasped, a small excited smile lighting his beautiful face, and he began to hurriedly strip. James noticed, as he neared, that his hands were shaking a little. His robe was already on the ground, his jumper discarded, and he was trying to work the buttons open on his shirt, his tie already loose.

James walked in close, took the shirt in his hands, and rent it, peeling it off Scorpius' pale shoulders and ripping it from his wrists. He unbuckled Scorpius' belt and withdrew it quickly with a loud hiss, letting it drop.

"Off," he managed, lifting his chin toward Scorpius' trousers as he ripped at his own clothes.

Scorpius hurried to comply, his breath loud and shuddering in the air between them. When they were both naked, James pressed Scorpius back into the tree and kissed him hard. Scorpius wilted against him, sighing into his mouth as James bit his bottom lip and then licked over it hungrily before delving his tongue back inside his mouth.

He took Scorpius' wrists and pinned them over his head, breaking the kiss to drop his face into Scorpius' lightly furred armpit where James took a great inhale, shuddering. Scorpius grasped the trunk of the tree and mewled, and when James licked under his arm, Scorpius gasped, turning his head and mussing his hair against the bark.

James reached around and felt for his hole and found the entire crevice sloppy wet, Scorpius' arousal dripping down his legs. Dragging his fingers through it, James then leaned back, looking into Scorpius' dark eyes as he tugged at his own cock, smearing the slick down his shaft.

A quick and dirty war happened inside him in that moment. He at once wanted to plead -- Please, Scorpius. Pleeeease. -- while at the same time the words, "Bend over," were right there in his mouth, waiting for the demand of his own body to force them into the air.

It was only one breath -- and he saw it register in Scorpius' eyes. They blinked at him, and Scorpius' Adam's apple bobbed once, and then he slid to his knees on the ground, onto his spread-out robe, and planted his hands, widening his knees and giving a small arch to his back. He glanced back over his shoulder, his whole body racked with small shivers.

"James…" he breathed.

James fell to his knees behind him. He held his cock and brushed it over Scorpius' ready hole. Scorpius dropped his chin to his chest, waiting for it, and James pushed inside him, hard and quick. An animal sound came rumbling up from his chest, and he gasped in air in the aftermath, cock throbbing deep in his mate's quivering body.

He wrapped his hands around Scorpius' hips, fingers tightening.

"Yesss," came Scorpius' whisper-tight moan, and it was all James needed as he hauled his arse back onto his cock with every brutal thrust forward.

Scorpius dropped onto his forearms, his little groaning sounds of pleasure punctuated by how James bottomed out in him time and again. His arse was so tight and soft and warm, almost hot, and James wanted to tell him… wanted to tell him all of it… how grateful he was and how overcome by it, by him. But his rut had stolen the words from him, robbed him of speech and sentiment. He was all body, all want. All skin and scent and need. He was a hard cock fucking a slick hole, and even the night disappeared around him becoming nothing but blurred pinpoints of cloud-covered light behind the echo of rustling leaves. And even that became his breath. His and his Scorpius'.

And that's when it happened.

He pushed in once, and suddenly it was harder to pull back out. He pushed in and his cock throbbed and sort of ached and there was this resistance and…

"Oh God," Scorpius whined, dropping his face onto the ground between his arms. "Oh James, yes."

His voice anchored James in a way nothing else could have at that moment. Because this had never happened before. He'd begun to knot. And the pleasure was so biting and new and foreign and so right and perfect at the same time that tears sprang into his eyes. He looked down at where they were joined, at how red the base of his cock was and how swollen he looked and felt.

He found himself wanting to fold his body over his mate's, to touch skin to skin, to pin him down. James moulded himself along Scorpius' back, whining at the change in angle. There was an undeniable urge to keep fucking, but in shorter, deeper rutting thrusts. His voice shook horribly as he managed to ask first, "Are… y-you… o-kay?"

Scorpius sighed brilliantly beneath him. "More than. James, you're knotting me."

He said it with such wonder, such uninhibited arousal. James thrust his knot experimentally inside him, and the great gasping sighs of Scorpius' pleasure soared through his body and over his skin. He did it more. He did it faster, their bodies tight together on the ground, and Scorpius whispered, "Oh James, I'm so full."

James growled as he fucked him, his hands wrapping under Scorpius' shoulders for leverage, and Scorpius shuffled his knees as wide as he could.

It wasn't long before the familiar tightening took hold of his bollocks, before he felt his body coiling, readying for orgasm -- but when his orgasm hit, it was like nothing he'd ever felt. He cried out with it as his cock released warm semen inside Scorpius. But just when he thought it would stop, it kept going. His prick jerked, swelling and coming still more, and his cries turned to small moans and whines as each wave overtook him.

His hips made involuntary little thrusts, and he felt his overstimulated cock still hard inside Scorpius' arse, stroked again and again to climax. He came until only a small amount of come was dribbling out, and still the shudders wracked his body.

It was minutes, he didn't know how many as time had seemed strangely to warp. He clung to Scorpius beneath him until finally the orgasm slowed to a stop, releasing his exhausted body from its grip. But he remained large and stuck inside Scorpius' arse. He felt like he might pass out. The night wobbled around in his vision.

"James," Scorpius murmured beneath him. "Come on. Let's get you onto your side." His sweet hands stroked over as much of James as he could reach, and together, very slowly and carefully, they eased over onto their sides on Scorpius' now hopelessly bunched up robe.

James shivered, curling into Scorpius' body from behind. "I'm still so hard," he said, so tired it felt like the greatest effort to speak.

"It'll go down," Scorpius reassured him. "Just rest. It won't be long."

"Are you okay?"

"Mmm," Scorpius hummed. His hands stroked up and down James' arms. "It's a little uncomfortable, but even that… I love how you feel."

"You do?"

"Mm-hm."

Suddenly, it occurred to him. "Did you…?"

"Three times." There was a lazy smile in his voice that warmed James to hear it.

James yawned and then buried his face against the back of Scorpius' neck. He felt the knot shrink, just a little, and sighed.

"See?" Scorpius reached back and ran his hand along James' hip, his thigh. Like a lover.

Merlin. Scorpius Malfoy was his lover.

It was his last thought before he glided into a shallow sleep.

*

The hills softened outside the train window, going from sharp inclines to rolling foothills that would soon transform to farmland, and then, inevitably, the city.

"I can't believe this is my last time on this train." As he spoke, James' breath fogged up the glass.

A hand laid itself on his arm and gave a squeeze. "Unless I smuggle you aboard next year."

James turned his gaze on Scorpius and gave him a wistful smile. "How are you going to manage that? Shrink me down and stuff me in a bottomless bag?"

Scorpius scoffed. "No, my pocket."

James gave him a gentle shove just as Albus blundered into the compartment and sat heavily across from them. "Chocolate frog?"

"What are you, twelve?" James asked.

Albus pulled a face at him even as Scorpius took a frog and unwrapped it.

"So, are you ready?" Albus asked, leaning back, his arms ranging out along the back of the seat, an ankle settling on his knee.

James sighed.

"They might kill you," Albus speculated. "I mean, they may actually kill you both."

"They'll be fine," James insisted.

"I dunno," Albus mused. "There might be vomiting. I've never seen anyone vomit on the nine and three-quarters before."

"They are not going to vomit." James raised his voice, leaning forward in his seat.

"You do realise he's winding you up," Rose said from the doorway. "Does anyone want actual food product or are you all happy with your sugar comas?"

"Food product, please," Scorpius said, holding out a hand for the sandwiches she had on offer.

"Where's Lily?" Rose asked.

"Oh Lily," Albus said, snapping his fingers. "I take it back. You two aren't the ones in trouble. Merlin, Dad will kill, will actually AK whichever Alpha comes sniffing at her door, let me tell you. I mean, dead." He made an ominous hand gesture. "Splat."

"That's sexist," Scorpius offered. When everyone looked at him for more, he shrugged. "I mean, my father's not going to off Jamie now is he?"

Albus smirked at Rose and tiled his head at Scorpius across from him. "'Jamie'," he whispered.

"Your dad's going to off me?" James asked.

"No, I said he's not going to off you. Pay attention."

"Who the bloody hell told them anyway?" Rose asked.

At that, James speared his brother with a look.

"Hey," Albus said in wide-eyed defence. "They would have known anyway. This way, they're prepared at least."

Prepared. James turned his gaze back to the outside world again, the green hills dashed with purple shadows of clouds, sheep grazing in fluffy white pods, dots of houses becoming more dense as they edged closer to home.

"Hey, guys, can Scorpius and I have a minute?"

"Oh," Rose startled. "Yes, of course." Then, "Albus," when he didn't seem inclined to move his arse.

"Fine," he finally said, rolling his eyes. But before he left the compartment, he leaned down and murmured in James' ear, "I've got your back, you know." He laid a hand on Scorpius' shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. He departed whistling a Weird Sisters tune.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked. "It's not our parents, is it?"

"No, it's not that." James sighed. "It's just… I'm eighteen, and you still have two years left at school. You know?"

Scorpius suddenly tensed beside him. "Is this…? Are you breaking up with me?"

"No!" James exhaled sharply. "No, Scor. I… No." He took his boyfriend's hand. "It's not that at all. It's only that, you'll be there and I'll be so far away and… Have you thought about that at all?"

"Well, of course." Scorpius shrugged. His pale hair fell into his eyes, and James fought the urge to sift it back behind his ear before he realised it was perfectly fine to do such a thing. And so he did. It was soft in his fingers, fine and shiny and it smelled so bloody good and…

"James."

"Mm, yes?"

Scorpius' silver eyes sparkled at him. "Are you listening again?"

"Sorry. Yes."

Scorpius brought their hands into his lap. "You'll visit me. And I'll visit you. We'll make it work."

"What about the summer?" James asked. "I mean, you're sixteen. Do you think your dad would… I mean, if I get a flat, could you…?"

Scorpius leaned in and kissed him, long and slow and sweet. When their lips parted, Scorpius murmured against James' mouth, "We'll make it work." He leaned back some. "Besides, I'm not staying in that house twenty-four seven with them. I mean…" He shuddered violently. "When they forget the privacy charms?"

"Right?" James joined in Scorpius' obvious revulsion. "And Merlin, those people really need to learn to check that they're alone in the house before they… do things. Uck!"

"Yes, please save me from that, will you?" Scorpius laughed.

James smiled at him. "I will most certainly save you from that." He squeezed Scorpius' hand.

Scorpius laid his head on James' shoulder, and James turned his attention back out the window again. He watched the scenery flash by until finally the train began to slow as it neared King's Cross.

James felt his stomach twist with anxiety at the sound of the train braking to take a turn. Then the station was in sight, and students in nearby compartments were standing and gathering their things -- their robes and trunks and owls -- things James would never gather again. The sudden sadness struck him behind his ribs and pushed moisture into his eyes.

"Hey," Scorpius said softly, placing the palm of his hand against James' face. "It doesn't have to be the last of anything."

"It doesn't?" James asked, cursing the tremor in his voice.

"No," Scorpius said with a slight shake of his head. "It's only the beginning."

"Yeah, the beginning of freaking out." James slanted him an ironic smile.

In answer, Scorpius leaned in and pressed himself tight up against James' body, his arms encircling his waist, face resting against James' neck. James sighed and pulled him in, breathing deep and letting the thrumming connection between them soothe him down to his soul. It still sometimes surprised him how effective it really was, just this, just holding him. That it was this way every time with Scorpius, whether in rut, heat, neither, or both.

They departed their compartment and waited in line to exit the train. James felt all the fear he'd tried to quell about what his dad would say, what Mr Malfoy would say, surge up into his chest as they took slow steps forward.

Scorpius stopped before the steps down to the platform to say goodbye to one of his Slytherin friends, promising to make plans for the summer. James stepped past him, peering out onto the platform to see their dads waiting at the back, Mr Malfoy's hand in his father's, their fingers intertwined. They looked anxious, but no one looked like he might actually throw up. Thank Merlin.

His dad looked around, worried gaze finally landing on James, his shoulders visibly relaxing when their eyes met. James gave him a beaming smile and stepped off the train. He turned then to see Scorpius at the top of the steps, that shining blond hair dropped down into his pretty face again. He gave James a smile, and in his eyes were all the things James had longed for and all the things he'd resigned himself never to have.

James took a breath. He held out his hand to help Scorpius down. And when their fingers met, they linked.