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Albus pulled the sticky note off the counter, cheeks growing warm at the affection he could feel pulsing from the little square of paper.
Don’t forget to do the laundry,
but if you do forget – I forgive you!
Love, Scorpius xxx
Scorpius’ magic tingled in the air around the sticky note, making Albus’ hand grow warm as he held it. Just as well his boyfriend had left the note there, because Merlin knew Albus had entirely forgotten about the pile of dirty laundry they’d created over the week. Looking up from the piece of paper shivering with magic, Albus noticed there were actually piles of all sorts of things scattered around their flat. To his chagrin he felt his face flush as he realised that most of the piles were made up of his things. He’d do the laundry, and then he’d try to clean up as much as possible before Scorpius came home.
Albus glanced at the clock; 10am. Plenty of time.
He carefully folded the sticky note and put it in his pocket. Albus quite liked the idea that he was carrying around a little piece of Scorpius with him; he could feel the soft electricity of his magic shimmering throughout his entire body.
Albus made a quick assessment of the living room, deciding to start with the laundry. He levitated the pile into the laundry room, lowering it into the washing machine. Naturally, Scorpius had done copious research on the best ways to wash clothing, because constantly using a quick Scourgify tended to make fabric stiff and rough over time. It had taken a while for Scorpius to reach a conclusion, but had finally informed Albus that they should invest in a Muggle washing machine. So, they had.
He put the powder in the machine and made sure it was on the right setting before heading back to the living room to begin cleaning up his mess. Upon discovering just how much of the mess was his, Albus was truly surprised that Scorpius had never told him to clean up some of his stuff.
He’d completed the living room and had moved on to the kitchen when he heard the door click open. Scorpius’ tingling magic wafted into the room ahead of him. Albus scrambled upright and shoved his wand into his pocket, running a hand through his unruly hair, possibly just making it worse. He leaned against the counter awkwardly, struggling to make it look like the kitchen had always been this clean.
“Albus, I’m home!” Came Scorpius’ voice right before he appeared at the door to the kitchen. “Al?” Scorpius eyed his boyfriend apprehensively. “Are you alright?”
“What- me? Yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I be?!” He ran a nervous hand through his hair again, still unsure why Scorpius had never told him to clean up after himself, and not wanting to upset the love of his life.
“Well, for one, you look like you’ve been electrocuted several times in quick succession- wait, the washing machine didn’t malfunction, did it?! I read the manual twelve times and it didn’t say anything about the wall socket converters being a problem! I really thought it would be okay this time-”
“Scorp.” Albus relaxed at the familiar rambling that meant everything was okay. When Scorpius didn’t pause, Albus said his name again. “Scorpius! It’s okay, I wasn’t electrocuted!” He walked over to the slightly taller man and wrapped his arms around him, cutting off the stream of words with a kiss.
“Mmm.” Scorpius relaxed into Albus’ arms. After a moment he pulled back and cast a curious glance around the spotless kitchen. “…Albus? Why is the kitchen so clean?”
“Hmmm?” Albus intoned innocently.
“And come to think of it, why was the living room so clean? Did you do something so horrible that the entire flat needed a scrubbing down?”
Albus snorted at that. What could he possibly do that would require the whole flat to be cleaned? Apart from just generally being a messy slob, that was.
“No, I didn’t do anything. I just noticed...”
Scorpius looked down at him with bright blue eyes and ran a hand through Albus’ on-end hair. “What did you notice?”
“Well, the place was a mess. And I noticed it was all my mess, but you’ve never asked me to clean up after myself aside from doing the laundry, but we’ve always shared that chore, and I just wanted to surprise you by cleaning up all my junk—”
“Albus, I think my tendency to ramble is beginning to rub off on you!” Scorpius laughed.
Albus looked up at Scorpius anxiously. “Why have you never asked me to clean up after myself?”
“Honestly, Albus, I like cleaning up after you,” a timid flush sought its way into Scorpius’ fair cheeks. “I like the feel of you around our flat; your magic in the air and on the things you’ve touched. It’s comforting and reminds me that- that you’re mine. And I’m yours.”
“Scorp,” Albus began.
“I know it’s weird, but I love you Albus, and you don’t have to clean up if you don’t want to.”
Albus squeezed Scorpius tight for a moment, at a loss for words. “I love you too. And I want to finish cleaning because even if you like my stuff around, I know you don’t like it being dirty stuff.”
Scorpius planted an enthusiastic kiss on Albus’ nose, leaving just a little more saliva there than strictly necessary.
Albus wrinkled up his nose. “Ugh, you’re like a dog,” he groaned, making Scorpius laugh.
“In that case, I’ll follow you around and help you clean.”
Albus smiled, “deal.” He pulled his wand out of his pocket again and gave it a final flick, cleaning dirt from the skirting boards. “Only the bedroom and bathroom left, now.”
Scorpius grinned, darting out of Albus’ arms. “Dibs on the bedroom!” He called over his shoulder.
“Ridiculous.” Albus shook his head at the retreating figure, heading for the bathroom.
Five minutes and several cleaning charms later, Albus heard a small yelp and the sound of cascading items from the direction of the bedroom.
“Scorpius?” He called, going in to investigate. He walked in to see Scorpius’ white blonde hair poking out of the top of a pile of various clothes, boxes and oddities; everything gradually being covered in a layer of colourful sticky notes fluttering to the floor.
Albus immediately felt his face flush a dark red at the sight of all the sticky notes he’d stashed in their wardrobe over the years.
“Albus,” came Scorpius’ voice once he’d popped his head up out of the pile on the floor. He awkwardly freed each limb in turn. “Did you really keep all of these?!” He picked up a pink sticky note and began to read it out loud. “ Good luck on your Potions O.W.L! I know you’ll do great! ” Scorpius looked up at Albus in disbelief. “Albus! This is from almost six years ago! From before we started dating! And you’ve kept it?! ” He picked up another one and read it out as well. It was a simple, “ don’t forget your lunch xx. ”
Albus could feel his face turning redder and redder with every word that came out of Scorpius’ mouth. “Of course I kept them. They’re little pieces of you. Little pieces of your love.” He had to force the last words out past the lump in his throat. He wasn’t used to such bald expressions of affection; that was Scorpius’ territory in their relationship, and it always had been.
“Al,” Scorpius stood up, still holding the pink note, and pulled Albus into his arms. “Sometimes I forget what a romantic you really are!” He laughed. “And I love you so much, Albus Potter. So much.”
Albus grinned into Scorpius’ chest, face still flaming. He knew he’d never hear the end of this, but maybe that wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It was evidence of Scorpius’ love for him. A love more sticky than any sticky note.
“I love you too.”