A/N: hello guys, gals, and enby pals! welcome to the first chapter of this story! i had a very hard time finishing this chapter but i am very excited to finally be sharing some of my work. i hope you enjoy this!

also, please take some time to introduce yourself with your name, pronouns, fun facts, etc! i want to get to know all my readers!

Published 4/18/24 - Word Count: 1788

"Cory!" Albus yelled across the smoky, bright station that was Platform 9 3/4. He grabbed his luggage trolley by the handle, turned around, and ran in the direction of his friend. He had been anxiously awaiting this moment for the past two months, the moment when he would finally see Scorpius again. The summer was always torture for the young Potter boy. Now, obviously not in the way his fathers were, but they were still difficult to get through. Among the travel days to far-off places with his siblings and long summer afternoons with his cousins at the burrow, he longed for his best friend.

Or, he could say, his boyfriend.

At the end of last year, Albus had gone with his dad to the graveyard, and once his dad had successfully apparated away, he walked into his dorm to find Scorpius sitting on the edge of his four-poster bed. They talked and talked, the night ending in some light cuddles in that same bed, and from that point on, they had been secretly dating. The two had been sending each other letters almost every day over the summer, all ending with the same sentence. 'Sleep well, te amo lunam et rursus satyricon.' I love you to the moon and back, translated into Latin by Scorpius a few days after they started dating.

Scorpius turned his head at the sound of his name being called, breaking out into a huge grin at the sight of his brunette. They bolted towards each other and caught each other in their arms, Scorpius burying his head into Albus's shoulder. He smelled the warm apple scent of Albus's shampoo for what he felt was the first time in years. Albus could feel the boy's cool, fresh breath on his collarbone and reluctantly pulled away from the hug after a few seconds.

"Oh, Albus, I missed you so much!" Scorpius' hands caressed Albus's shoulders, looking straight into his emerald eyes, nearly getting lost in them.

"I missed you too, Cor. How was the summer?"

"It was great, I have so much to tell you!" The two boys smiled again and turned towards Mr. Malfoy, who was waiting patiently by the brick wall that they had both entered from. Scorpius said a heartfelt goodbye to his father, who apparated away once they had gotten settled with the Potter family. After being hugged by more people than he felt as though he ever had in his life, Scorpius spotted the oldest Granger-Weasley child rushing towards him. He picked up Rose in his arms as she jumped and spun her around, hugging her tightly.

"Wow, no hug for your favorite cousin, then?" Albus remarked seeing the two of them lovingly embrace. Rose scoffed and turned to her cousin, giving him just as big of a hug. Rose was the only one who knew that the two were dating, as she was Scorpius's best friend (other than Albus, of course), and Albus' most adored and trusted family member. She had found out accidentally during the last Hogsmeade weekend of the school year, when she caught the two kissing in the upstairs attic of the newest location of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She was incredibly accepting and overjoyed to find out that the two had gotten together, and graciously helped them keep their relationship a secret from the rest of the family.

The trio said their goodbyes to their family on the platform and boarded the train, finding a private compartment near the rear. Rose spotted some of her Gryffindor friends as they were shuffling inside the compartment and waved to them.

"Piper, Beth! Wait up!" She called out into the hall. "Sorry, boys, I'm gonna go sit with them. I'll be back in an hour or so," She informed the couple as the train started to move. They both nodded and said their goodbyes. Once she was safely out of the room, Scorpius locked the door and closed all the blinds, ignoring Albus' confused expression.

"Oh Lord, I missed you." The blonde grumbled, shoving Albus against the compartment door and sealing their lips with a rough, passionate kiss. Albus gasped in surprise but moaned softly into the kiss, enjoying the feeling of his boyfriend's hands on the back of his neck. He melted softly into the blonde's arms, wrapping his arms around the other's shoulder blades. After a while, they separated and sat together softly, never breaking eye contact. The taller one ruffled the brunette's perfectly brushed hair lovingly, to which Albus scoffed.

"Dam, you messed it up! It took me 15 minutes to get it right this morning!" He said, playfully annoyed. He swatted the boy's hand away and tsked as he looked at his reflection in the glass window. Failing to fix his hair, Albus decided he might just take advantage of his messiness and lay in his boyfriend's lap. He put his feet up on the long couch-like seat and rested his head over the blonde's knee. He sighed contently as Scorpius bent down to place a light kiss on his forehead, which was laying staring up into the gray moons that were his eyes.

"Hmm...y'know I spent, like, all summer waiting for this moment? When I could finally be back with you after months of not seeing each other?" Scorpius said softly as Albus smiled up at him, his green eyes crinkling. "I've dreamed every night for the past few weeks of this, of you." Albus sat up quickly, curling his legs in so he was sitting extremely close to the blonde.

"Wow, Cory, always the sap," Albus whispered, cradling his face with his hands and kissing him softly. They both leaned into each other, pushing the taller back onto the lower part of the seat. They made themselves comfortable; Albus laying on the other's chest, lovingly playing with the hem of his shirt. They stayed like that for the next hour or so, simply enjoying each other's company (exceot for an occasional break to eat the snacks they had purchased.

There was a quick rap at the compartment door, and they both looked up at it. That's strange, Albus thought, the trolley witch was here a while ago. Who could that be? They both sat up and Scorpius wriggeled himself away from Albus' loving grasp. He stood up and fiddled with the compartment door, being greeted by a short, South Asian teenage girl with short dark hair. She smiled at them and glanced down at her shoes. She glanced back up and smiled once again.

"Hey, um... I'm Theodora Thomas, people call me Theo. Uh, I'm a transfer from Ilvermony, the American school? I'm coming here for 6th year, and I was wondering... could I possibly sit with you? Everywhere else is full and they wouldn't let me sit in the hallway." She said in an American accent, flashing big mocha brown eyes at the two. They both smiled and opened the compartment door wider, allowing her to stand on the other side.

"Nice to meet you, Theo, you're welcome to join us. I'm Scorpius Malfoy and this is my friend, Albus Potter." He said, holding out his hand to shake. The newcomer had a soft grip but still gave the two boys a very respectable handshake. They all sat down and engaged in some meaningless small talk until Albus spotted a spider on the window and practically shrieked.

"Spider! Big spider! On the window!"

Scorpius took a Bertie Botts' box from the designated trash seat between the two and caught the spider in it. "Albus, it's actually tiny, you're such a Weasley." Scorpius scoffed with a soft glance to the boy. He opened up the window and chucked out the minuscule spider, box and all.

"Thanks, Cory," Albus said softly once he sat back down.

"So, um, I'm guessing you don't like spiders?" Theo questioned.

"No, I despise them. They're absolutely disgusting, with those beady little eyes and–"

"Yeah, I think I get the picture, thanks." Theo chuckled.

"So, what brings you here from Ilvermony?" Scorpius asked, tilting his head slightly to lay closer to his brunette.

"Uh, my dads used to go here when they were kids, but they moved to the states because of the anti-gay stuff that was happening here. I really hated Ilvermony though, so we thought I could try out Hogwarts."

Her dads, Scorpius noticed, she has two dads. That means she's got to be accepting.

"I'm sorry you didn't like your old school, but you'll make lots of friends here at Hogwarts!" Albus said kindly.

"Thanks, I guess... I just hope people aren't mean to me because of my dads again."

"They won't be, I haven't seen any real homophobia here at all." Scorpius reassured.

"Well, thank you guys for letting me sit with you. I didn't want to be sitting with some random kids or hiding in the bathroom for the rest of the ride, and you guys were the only ones who let me in."

"Of course, Theo. And now you can say that you made two friends at Hogwarts!" Albus grinned, flashing his pearly teeth. The girl looked overjoyed at that, and they continued having lighthearted conversations for the rest of the train ride, Rose rejoining them a few minutes later.

"Oh, in America, we have different Chocolate Frog Cards!"

"I went to Egypt over the summer to visit my uncle, it was lovely!"

"My dad's friends came over, we had this muggle board game night that had us absolutely dying!"

When the train pulled up to the familiar platform, the four grinned at each other. They had changed to put on their robes; Theo in black, as she had yet to be sorted, Rose in scarlet, and the boys in emerald green. The four hopped onto the platform, feeling the cool night air against their skin. Scorpius grinned at his boyfriend and was met with an even bigger one back. Rose had gone to rejoin her friends, so the trio trudged along the lantern lit path to the carriages.

"Woah, what are those?" Theo exclaimed as they came close to the dirt road where the carriages were.

"What?! You can see them?!" Scorpius exclaimed. "Those are the Theastrals, but they can only be seen by those who have seen someone die!" Theo went silent at that. She looked downwards and simply shrugged.

Albus noticed this and quickly switched the conversation. "So, what house do you want to be sorted into?"

Theo smiled softly at him, mouthing 'thanks' and replying politely. "Oh, I'm not really sure. Probably just one where people aren't too cocky."

"That's fair," Scorpius said while smiling. They all hopped onto a carriage and made their way to the castle without many more words being said, just the three of them enjoying the exciting atmosphere.

A/N: so thats it! i hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the gates are open! i plan to update again as soon as i can!

peace and love y'all!

<3 ayden