'Wake up! Scorp, wake up!' 'Scorp get up, Santa's been!' 'SCORPIUS WAKE UP YOU LAZY GIT.' Albus and Hugo pushed the poor boy off of his inflatable mattress, and onto the cold, wooden floor. 'mmmmm....gerroffff Al...!' 'GET UP, OR NO PRESENTS!' His eyes opened wide at that. 'Presents? I'm not getting any presents, Dad is sending my present to school..' It won't be anything decent anyway. Last year it was a pair of green socks and his Hogwarts school textbooks. Just what every nearly-11-year old boy wants. 'Not from him, from Santa!' Al said, winking. 'My family give anyone who's here at christmas presents. My Nanny started it.' He whispered, as Hugo was pulling on his slippers, on the other side of the room, gazing at a Chudley Cannons poster.
'LOOK WHAT I GOT! I GOT A BROOMSTICK DADDY LOOK!' Hugo waved his new plastic broom infront of Ron's face. 'I know, Hugo, it is right in my FACE!' 'Ronald, calm down, he's only little.' Hermione handed Hugo another present 'Open this one dear.' Scorpius looked on, feeling a little bitter. His parents were never like this to him. To his surprise, he had also received presents, more than he'd ever received from his own family.
'Dinner's ready!' Hermione called from the kitchen. The clan sat at the dining room table, all very hungry. Scorpius was sat between Albus and Rose. They ate noisily, chatting about everything and anything. Scorpius could see where Al got his appetite from, every serving plate was cleared within minutes, everyone with a mountain of food on their plates. Scorpius' appetite was even smaller than Lily's, Al's 8 year old sister, who had a huge pile of mash potato and turkey on her plate.
Rose finally finished her mound of food, feeling sick to the stomach. All of her family had overeaten, as a habit, except for Hermione, Fleur and Harry, the only non-Weasley-related family members. Scorpius looked slightly green, he had eaten so much. Rose giggled. Wait until he saw Grandma's chocolate Christmas cake..
'How can you eat any more?!' Scorpius blurted out, watching Al & Hugo arguing over the last bread roll. The rest of the family laughed, but neither boy moved, they were both determined to get the roll.
'Now, is that roll better than your ol'granny's famous chocolate Christmas cake?' Molly Weasley came out of the kitchen with a huge chocolate cake balanced on a serving trolley. 'CAKE!' Hugo bounced over to his grandmother, almost planting his face in the cake in the process. 'Slow it down, Hugh, you'll get a slice, theres plenty to go around, look at it!' Ron smiled. Everyone began to sit in the living room to eat their cake, and to listen to the Queen of the muggle world & the minister of the wizarding world's speeches on the wiz-vision. Scorpius took this opportunity to go and get the necklace, which he'd been putting off giving to Rose all day, in case he embarassed himself infront of his friend's family.
He returned with the necklace, just in time to have a huge slice of cake thrust into his arms. 'Here, you have to try Gran's cake, its INCREDIBLE.' Rose was grinning at him. 'Is there anywhere...quieter we can go to eat it? I need to give you something.' 'Sure...the garden?' They walked out in silence, Rose not realy sure what to expect. They sat on a pretty little bench, looking out over the valley.
Scorpius gulped. He had no clue what he was going to say, he didn't think he'd get this far. 'I..uhh...I don't really know what to say... but here, I saw this in a shop the other day & it reminded me of you. Merry Christmas.' He smiled wonkily. She opened the box and gasped. 'Oh, wow...and I didn't get you anything!' She hugged him tightly, then proceeded to try and put the necklace on, but she couldn't get the clasp. 'Let me help.' He took the necklace off her and put it on her properly. She thanked him, when suddenly they were coated in a thick layer of white powder.
'It's Snowing, It's snowing!' Hugo squealed excitedly. Him, Al and George, their uncle, were standing behind them, throwing handfuls of icing sugar in the air. Hugo resembled the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, his curly hair and his face were so white. Scorpius looked at Rose and began to laugh. Her curly hair was white with auburn patches, and her face was ghostly pale. 'What are you laughing at? You don't look much different really, you're so pale anyway!' She giggled. He looked down at his hands. They hadn't really changed a bit, but his coat was now almost white with icing sugar, and he could feel a mound of it gathering on his head.
'GEORGE WEASLEY WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING. EVERYONE INSIDE AND GET SHOWERED, NOW.' Rose's mum was stood at the back door, looking unimpressed. They all began to head inside, when they were stopped at the door by Ginny. 'Shake yourselves off first, you aren't trailing icing sugar all over my floor.' 'We aren't dogs, Gin.' 'George.' She gave him "the look", he chuckled and began panting and shaking like a dog, his shaggy orange hair flying everywhere. Hugo and Al followed suit, followed by Rose and Scorpius. Ginny began to laugh. 'I have 5 dogs shaking on my doorstep!' They all began to chuckle, and wandered inside to get cleaned up.
'Hey, can I sit here?' Rose was stood next to his large armchair, holding two steaming mugs. He had been sharing with Al, who had decided to run off to play with Hugo and George. 'Sure, pull up a cushion.' he squished up so she could sit down, and took one of the mugs off her. 'Thanks' He smiled. They talked sleepily for a while, their legs intertwined on the oversized chair. Then Al, Hugo and James had to ruin the moment.
'Shhh...don't make it obvious you're holding it, idiot!' Whispered Hugo and Al, who were crouched behind Scorp & Rose's seat. 'Hey, look who's sat under the mistletoe!' James said, clearly well rehearsed. He was sat on a beanbag, with Lea, his girlfriend, whom it appeared he had stopped sucking face with for two minutes to make things awkward between Scorp and Rose. George joined in with the fun. 'Kiss kiss kiss!' Scorpius looked at Rose, who was blushing heavily. 'It is tradition..' he shrugged, grinning. She began to protest, but the minute he held her back and leant in she forgot everything. He kissed her softly, and she let him.
'Hey, look, it's snowing!' Al shouted in their ears, from behind the chair. 'For real this time!' They parted for a minute and strained to see out of the window. Everyone else ran to the windows, covering their view. They looked at each other and laughed, then lent in and kissed again, smiling.
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Chapter 9: "you're like, awkward - magnets or something!"
The time flew by, and Christmas was fast approaching. Rose, Albus, Scorpius and their friends would soon be returning home for the holidays. Scorpius wasn't looking forward to seeing his parents again, they'd kill him if they found out about him and Rose...although, were they really anything? They hadn't kissed since that night, hey, they barely spoke for a week after, but maybe...no, its just false hope, Scorpius thought, he'd had enough of that in his life.
I can't wait to see everyone, thought Rose, but I am gonna miss Scorp...if he even cares..
Neither of them knew that the other still cared that much, but both were too embarassed to say anything.
'You need to say something before Christmas, buy her something from Honeydukes or something, we're going later. I'll lend you some money, if you don't have any.' Al told him over breakfast, a week before school finished for Christmas. He may not be the smartest, but he is good with girls, Scorpius chuckled. He had been smiling and laughing a lot these last few months, something he hadn't experienced for a long time before he started at Hogwarts. He leant over to grab some toast, when a black blur sat on his hand. It was his fathers owl, Blaze, with a letter for him;
"Scorpius, unfortunately you will not be able to return to the house for Christmas, as we are going to Egypt, to visit your grandfather in the asylum, who seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I have spoken to your headmistress, you can either stay at school or go to a friends, if you have any who'll take you, but your gift will be sent to school. -Father."
He almost choked on his tea. 'who wrote you, Scorp?' The letter was snatched out of his hands. 'what's an...as-ee-lump?' 'Oh Al, that says Asylum, its where people who are mentally ill often live. I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather, Scorpius.' Rose appeared behind them. Al's face suddenly lit up 'maybe Scorp could stay with us for Christmas, dad would let him, he can sleep in my room with me & Hugh, you can go in with Lily, as always, and James can stay on his own, being a moody teenager, as per usual!' Al shrieked. Rose sighed. Another two weeks of awkwardness. 'Well well, my little brother is growing a brain, that's not a bad idea! Come on you two, let's go write to dad and speak to old McGonagall, shall we?' James stood next to her, his hand on her shoulder.
'Come on Scorp, the shops will be closed by the time we get there!' Rose and her girlfriends had already left for Hogsmeade, and Albus was meant to be meeting Tilly for hot chocolate in an hour, to exchange presents, which only one of them, as of yet, had bought. At least it gave him the chance to buy his friends presents.
'Come in, come in, welcome to Weasleys Wizard Weezes, the greatest joke shop in the world, as approved by Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived himself!' Roses uncle is far too loud, thought Scorp, this explains a lot about Al...
He decided on a box of animal voice fudge for Al. Might be a laugh, especially if he forgets what they are, he chuckled. He was about to pay when a familiar voice shouted behind him, 'Hey, Uncle George, family and friends discount for this one, he's buying for your nephew, after all.' The lanky, messy haired man grinned widely. 'Rosie! I haven't seen you around here for a while! Introduce me to your friend then! Nice to see you mate, what's your name?' 'Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy, but the rest of your family have taken to calling me Scorp!' He grinned. This isn't like me...but I like it! This thought made him smile even more. 'A Malfoy? In Gryffindor? Well, I bet your father isn't best pleased, is he?' 'I don't really know if I'm honest, I'm spending Christmas with your family, thank God!' 'Haha! Well, I best give you a discount on that then, or I won't hear the back of it! A galleon and a sickle to you, my good man! Thank you very much. Oh, more customers, I'll see you at Harry's next week then!' 'Bye Uncle G!' 'Hey, you don't think you can get away without giving your old uncle a big, wet kiss, in front of all your friends, do you? MWA!' He grabbed Rose and squeezed her tight, planting a big, showy kiss on her left cheek. She wiped it off, faking disgust, but also kissed him. She saw Nymph and ran off, leaving Scorpius to wander around on his own.
He was walking down the main street, when he spotted something, in the window of a small, dust shop, that caught his eye. He entered the shop cautiously, to be met by a dark, musty room, which appeared to be empty. He walked over to the window, and picked up the small, violet box, which had caught his eye in the window. He opened it, to find a small necklace, a silver chain, on which a silver locket hung. On the locket, a small, pixie like figure was engraved, with copper hair, and emerald green dress. Her eyes were closed, she was smiling, her lips ruby red, and her feet were bare. It was perfect. 'What do you want!' A grumpy voice called from behind him. An old, hunched over man was stood by a spiral staircase. 'I was just...I mean, I would like to purchase this, please.' The old man hobbled over to him and looked at the box. 'You have good taste, in junk. 7 Galleons, to you.' He paid the man and left the shop. He'd found a gift for Rose!
'Come on, Scorp, we're gonna miss the traain!' Al had been acting like a puppy for the past two days, getting gradually more excited. They had recieved letters from their fathers, giving Scorpius permission to stay at Albus' for the holidays. What they hadn't told Mr. Malfoy, was that Al's (they didn't put his full name, they didn't want to race suspicion) father was Malfoy's childhood enemy, Harry Potter, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. Scorpius packed the last of his things into his trunk. Roses present, wrapped securely in an old jumper of Al's, a red jumper, with an 'A' knitted on the front, lay on top of his few belongings. He locked his trunk, picked up his owl's cage, and hurried down to the common room, where Al, Rose, James, his girlfriend Lea, and Professors Longbottom and Lovegood were waiting. The two professors would also be joining their family for christmas. 'I've never been in here before, it's quite lovely. It has a good atmosphere around it, and it smells like pudding.' Professor Lovegood was saying, as Scorpius struggled with the heavy door. 'Here, let me help you mate, thats it.' James held the door for him, and held his owl cage, regardless of the fact that the bloody owl was trying to eat his fingers. Rose was purposely looking out of the window. 'Hey.' He said to her, hoping to get a slightly less awkward reply. 'Hi, how are you.' He took this as a rhetorical question. 'Honestly, you two are like, awkward-magnets or something, just make up and come on, it's christmas!' Prof. Longbottom chuckled 'Let's not introduce him to that awful muggle song Ron likes, he'll be shouting that around the house all holidays!' He was talking about, of course, Wizzard, the old muggle pop group that wizards find rather endearing, if they can stand to listen to their "music" for more than 30 seconds.
On the train, the mis-matched group were lucky enough to have a compartment to themselves, probably due to the fact that no one else wanted to sit with their teachers. As soon as they all sat down, Al brought out a large box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and asked 'Can we call you Uncle Neville and Aunt Luna now, or do we still have to call you Professor?' Neville chuckled. 'You can call us by our names now, unless other students come in, it is the holidays, after all, we're off-duty.' Al sat back, content with that answer, and threw a handful of beans into his mouth. He began to chew, then froze, horrified. He forced himself to swallow, and breathed out the word 'Earwax..' Scorpius laughed, as did the whole carriage, and his eyes met with Rose's. They stopped, and smiled faintly at each other. They were going to be just fine.
I can't wait to see everyone, thought Rose, but I am gonna miss Scorp...if he even cares..
Neither of them knew that the other still cared that much, but both were too embarassed to say anything.
'You need to say something before Christmas, buy her something from Honeydukes or something, we're going later. I'll lend you some money, if you don't have any.' Al told him over breakfast, a week before school finished for Christmas. He may not be the smartest, but he is good with girls, Scorpius chuckled. He had been smiling and laughing a lot these last few months, something he hadn't experienced for a long time before he started at Hogwarts. He leant over to grab some toast, when a black blur sat on his hand. It was his fathers owl, Blaze, with a letter for him;
"Scorpius, unfortunately you will not be able to return to the house for Christmas, as we are going to Egypt, to visit your grandfather in the asylum, who seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I have spoken to your headmistress, you can either stay at school or go to a friends, if you have any who'll take you, but your gift will be sent to school. -Father."
He almost choked on his tea. 'who wrote you, Scorp?' The letter was snatched out of his hands. 'what's an...as-ee-lump?' 'Oh Al, that says Asylum, its where people who are mentally ill often live. I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather, Scorpius.' Rose appeared behind them. Al's face suddenly lit up 'maybe Scorp could stay with us for Christmas, dad would let him, he can sleep in my room with me & Hugh, you can go in with Lily, as always, and James can stay on his own, being a moody teenager, as per usual!' Al shrieked. Rose sighed. Another two weeks of awkwardness. 'Well well, my little brother is growing a brain, that's not a bad idea! Come on you two, let's go write to dad and speak to old McGonagall, shall we?' James stood next to her, his hand on her shoulder.
'Come on Scorp, the shops will be closed by the time we get there!' Rose and her girlfriends had already left for Hogsmeade, and Albus was meant to be meeting Tilly for hot chocolate in an hour, to exchange presents, which only one of them, as of yet, had bought. At least it gave him the chance to buy his friends presents.
'Come in, come in, welcome to Weasleys Wizard Weezes, the greatest joke shop in the world, as approved by Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived himself!' Roses uncle is far too loud, thought Scorp, this explains a lot about Al...
He decided on a box of animal voice fudge for Al. Might be a laugh, especially if he forgets what they are, he chuckled. He was about to pay when a familiar voice shouted behind him, 'Hey, Uncle George, family and friends discount for this one, he's buying for your nephew, after all.' The lanky, messy haired man grinned widely. 'Rosie! I haven't seen you around here for a while! Introduce me to your friend then! Nice to see you mate, what's your name?' 'Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy, but the rest of your family have taken to calling me Scorp!' He grinned. This isn't like me...but I like it! This thought made him smile even more. 'A Malfoy? In Gryffindor? Well, I bet your father isn't best pleased, is he?' 'I don't really know if I'm honest, I'm spending Christmas with your family, thank God!' 'Haha! Well, I best give you a discount on that then, or I won't hear the back of it! A galleon and a sickle to you, my good man! Thank you very much. Oh, more customers, I'll see you at Harry's next week then!' 'Bye Uncle G!' 'Hey, you don't think you can get away without giving your old uncle a big, wet kiss, in front of all your friends, do you? MWA!' He grabbed Rose and squeezed her tight, planting a big, showy kiss on her left cheek. She wiped it off, faking disgust, but also kissed him. She saw Nymph and ran off, leaving Scorpius to wander around on his own.
He was walking down the main street, when he spotted something, in the window of a small, dust shop, that caught his eye. He entered the shop cautiously, to be met by a dark, musty room, which appeared to be empty. He walked over to the window, and picked up the small, violet box, which had caught his eye in the window. He opened it, to find a small necklace, a silver chain, on which a silver locket hung. On the locket, a small, pixie like figure was engraved, with copper hair, and emerald green dress. Her eyes were closed, she was smiling, her lips ruby red, and her feet were bare. It was perfect. 'What do you want!' A grumpy voice called from behind him. An old, hunched over man was stood by a spiral staircase. 'I was just...I mean, I would like to purchase this, please.' The old man hobbled over to him and looked at the box. 'You have good taste, in junk. 7 Galleons, to you.' He paid the man and left the shop. He'd found a gift for Rose!
'Come on, Scorp, we're gonna miss the traain!' Al had been acting like a puppy for the past two days, getting gradually more excited. They had recieved letters from their fathers, giving Scorpius permission to stay at Albus' for the holidays. What they hadn't told Mr. Malfoy, was that Al's (they didn't put his full name, they didn't want to race suspicion) father was Malfoy's childhood enemy, Harry Potter, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. Scorpius packed the last of his things into his trunk. Roses present, wrapped securely in an old jumper of Al's, a red jumper, with an 'A' knitted on the front, lay on top of his few belongings. He locked his trunk, picked up his owl's cage, and hurried down to the common room, where Al, Rose, James, his girlfriend Lea, and Professors Longbottom and Lovegood were waiting. The two professors would also be joining their family for christmas. 'I've never been in here before, it's quite lovely. It has a good atmosphere around it, and it smells like pudding.' Professor Lovegood was saying, as Scorpius struggled with the heavy door. 'Here, let me help you mate, thats it.' James held the door for him, and held his owl cage, regardless of the fact that the bloody owl was trying to eat his fingers. Rose was purposely looking out of the window. 'Hey.' He said to her, hoping to get a slightly less awkward reply. 'Hi, how are you.' He took this as a rhetorical question. 'Honestly, you two are like, awkward-magnets or something, just make up and come on, it's christmas!' Prof. Longbottom chuckled 'Let's not introduce him to that awful muggle song Ron likes, he'll be shouting that around the house all holidays!' He was talking about, of course, Wizzard, the old muggle pop group that wizards find rather endearing, if they can stand to listen to their "music" for more than 30 seconds.
On the train, the mis-matched group were lucky enough to have a compartment to themselves, probably due to the fact that no one else wanted to sit with their teachers. As soon as they all sat down, Al brought out a large box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and asked 'Can we call you Uncle Neville and Aunt Luna now, or do we still have to call you Professor?' Neville chuckled. 'You can call us by our names now, unless other students come in, it is the holidays, after all, we're off-duty.' Al sat back, content with that answer, and threw a handful of beans into his mouth. He began to chew, then froze, horrified. He forced himself to swallow, and breathed out the word 'Earwax..' Scorpius laughed, as did the whole carriage, and his eyes met with Rose's. They stopped, and smiled faintly at each other. They were going to be just fine.
Sunday 23 October 2011
Chapter 8: We'll Go Dancing..
'Rose, stay still, or your hair will be all wonky!' 'But mu-um, I can do it myself!' 'I have had curly hair my whole life, I know how to work it!' 'I don't have your frizzball on my head!' 'Oh Rosie, let your mum do it, you look lovely, now hold still or you'll have a mascara brush in your eye!' Rose crossed her arms and frowned. 'You have to go in ten minutes. Thank God.' Her deep green, satin dress still hung on her bedpost, whereas all of her friends were wearing theirs. Her mother & Aunt Ginny had been doing peoples' hair and make up all afternoon, leaving her until last, but refused to let her just get on with it herself. When did mum get all girly, she thought, she was the one who told me not to leave my homework, i could've done two essays today, instead of faffing.
'What the HELL is that?! Scorp's looks much better than this!' 'He hasn't done his bow tie up yet! Do you need some help, Scorp?' Al's father had taken to using Al's nickname for him. He nodded coyly & allowed Harry to tie up his bowtie. His father would have a heart attack if he knew Harry Potter was tying his tie, and talking to him like he was his closest friend. Harry & Ron soon had to leave, in order to not miss the train, leaving the boys to make their way down to the entrance hall, to meet the girls.
'Scorp!' Scorpius turned around, to be met by a flurry of deep purple. Nymph was dressed in a silk, purple dress, which sloped down at the back, with fishnet tights and black boots, and a black cobweb-pattern shawl. Her hair was black with purple highlights, dyed since the last time he saw her that afternoon, when it was blonde with teal. She looked beautiful in her dress, but he couldn't help wondering where Rose had gotten to. His question was soon answered, as Nymph gasped, and looked over his shoulder. 'She looks beautiful, bless her heart!' one of the second year Ravenclaws exclaimed. Rose walked down the stairs slowly, her satin dress swaying perfectly around her ankles. Her red hair danced in curls around her shoulders, and her chocolate brown eyes sparkled beautifully in the light. She looked perfect. He didn't even notice Tilly, stood next to her. They walked over to Al, Scorpius & Nymph. 'You look...b-' 'Hey beautiful!' Scorpius was interrupted by Jed. He put his arm over Rose's shoulders, and walked her into the Great Hall. Al & Tilly followed, giggling together. Nymph linked her arm in Scorpius'. 'Shall we?' She beamed up at him. 'You know, I know you like Rose. A lot. I can see it in your eyes, a mile away! I'll be honest, I kinda like Josh, you know, Josh Thomas. He didn't ask me though, I think him and a load of his friends are going alone anyway, too cool for girls, haha.' He could see she was upset about it, so he hugged her and smiled, before escorting her into the hall.
'Woahhhh, we're halfway there, woa-oh, livin on a prayer, take my hand, we'll make it I swear, woa-oh livin' on a prayer!' A muggle rock song, Scorpius vaguely recognised blasted out through the speakers. 'I love this song!' Nymph squealed, and dragged him onto the dancefloor, into the middle of jumping teenagers. She began to join in with them, hair flying everywhere, so fast he couldn't see her face. He didn't know what to do, and so he just stood there, until Nymph grabbed his arms and began to sway with him. They danced for another 3 songs, jumping and swaying in time to the music, not caring who was watching, and went to get drinks with Al and Tilly. Scorpius was having fun with Nymph, she was a great friend. 'Hey, look over there!' Al pointed to a table a few metres away. Jed and Rose were sitting together, Jeds arm still over Rose's shoulder. She looked bored stiff. He asked her something, she shook her head and muttered something. Jed leaned over to kiss her, but she pushed him away, standing up in the process. He shouted then 'WHY NOT, FIRST YOU SIT THERE WITH A FACE LIKE SOUR MILK, WHEN I ASK WHATS WRONG YOU WON'T TELL ME, THEN YOU WON'T EVEN KISS ME. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.' She gasped and slapped him, hard. He was left with a bright red, dainty handprint on his face. 'Maybe if we DANCED at this DANCE I wouldn't be so BORED. And why would I kiss you, your a pretentious, arrogant SNOB.' She stormed over to where they were sitting, and sat down with a thump, stealing Al's pumpkin juice and downing it quickly. 'That felt good.' She sighed. Scorpius had an idea, this was his chance! 'Hey, everyone, why don't you go gather some of the others, we'll dance in a big group, all of us friends, hey?' Everyone stood up, except for Rose. He held out his hand. 'Care to dance?' he grinned. 'Here's hoping you're not as heavy-footed as your cousin, you'd have thought a giant was on the dancefloor!' She smiled, her eyes overflowing with tears. 'Hey, it's not all bad, ignore that jerk, he doesn't know anything!' He wiped a tear off of her face. 'He didn't even say I looked nice, other than calling me "Beautiful" infront of you. He kept asking why I was friends with you.' 'Well I think you look beautiful, even more so than ordinary.' The others returned with Josh, some of his friends, and some of the girls' friends. They stood in a circle and linked arms for the next two songs, swaying, laughing, and shouting out the words to bad muggle pop songs. The last song, the slow song, came on, and they separated, Al and Tilly, Josh and Nymph, most of the others got into couples. Rose stood on the sidelines, staring at her silver strappy sandals. 'May I have this dance, m'lady?' Scorpius bowed mockingly. She giggled 'of course you may, milord.' She curtsyed deeply, and they walked onto the dancefloor. She draped her arms round his neck, & he held her waist cautiously. 'This is nice,' she smiled, her eyes watery again. 'Yeah.. hey, why are you crying?' she hugged him closer. 'I...I just, my dad was horrible to you, and you've been nothing but nice to me the whole time we've been here. I don't mean to think it, but I find myself making these horrible presumptions about you because of your fath-' he held her chin, and kissed her gently, awkwardly. 'It's okay. I understand. You haven't met my father, he does that to everyone.' They laughed, still dancing in time to the music, another muggle song, one that they hadn't even heard of.
"Have I found you, Flightless Bird, jealous, weeping. Or lost you, American Mouth."
'What the HELL is that?! Scorp's looks much better than this!' 'He hasn't done his bow tie up yet! Do you need some help, Scorp?' Al's father had taken to using Al's nickname for him. He nodded coyly & allowed Harry to tie up his bowtie. His father would have a heart attack if he knew Harry Potter was tying his tie, and talking to him like he was his closest friend. Harry & Ron soon had to leave, in order to not miss the train, leaving the boys to make their way down to the entrance hall, to meet the girls.
'Scorp!' Scorpius turned around, to be met by a flurry of deep purple. Nymph was dressed in a silk, purple dress, which sloped down at the back, with fishnet tights and black boots, and a black cobweb-pattern shawl. Her hair was black with purple highlights, dyed since the last time he saw her that afternoon, when it was blonde with teal. She looked beautiful in her dress, but he couldn't help wondering where Rose had gotten to. His question was soon answered, as Nymph gasped, and looked over his shoulder. 'She looks beautiful, bless her heart!' one of the second year Ravenclaws exclaimed. Rose walked down the stairs slowly, her satin dress swaying perfectly around her ankles. Her red hair danced in curls around her shoulders, and her chocolate brown eyes sparkled beautifully in the light. She looked perfect. He didn't even notice Tilly, stood next to her. They walked over to Al, Scorpius & Nymph. 'You look...b-' 'Hey beautiful!' Scorpius was interrupted by Jed. He put his arm over Rose's shoulders, and walked her into the Great Hall. Al & Tilly followed, giggling together. Nymph linked her arm in Scorpius'. 'Shall we?' She beamed up at him. 'You know, I know you like Rose. A lot. I can see it in your eyes, a mile away! I'll be honest, I kinda like Josh, you know, Josh Thomas. He didn't ask me though, I think him and a load of his friends are going alone anyway, too cool for girls, haha.' He could see she was upset about it, so he hugged her and smiled, before escorting her into the hall.
'Woahhhh, we're halfway there, woa-oh, livin on a prayer, take my hand, we'll make it I swear, woa-oh livin' on a prayer!' A muggle rock song, Scorpius vaguely recognised blasted out through the speakers. 'I love this song!' Nymph squealed, and dragged him onto the dancefloor, into the middle of jumping teenagers. She began to join in with them, hair flying everywhere, so fast he couldn't see her face. He didn't know what to do, and so he just stood there, until Nymph grabbed his arms and began to sway with him. They danced for another 3 songs, jumping and swaying in time to the music, not caring who was watching, and went to get drinks with Al and Tilly. Scorpius was having fun with Nymph, she was a great friend. 'Hey, look over there!' Al pointed to a table a few metres away. Jed and Rose were sitting together, Jeds arm still over Rose's shoulder. She looked bored stiff. He asked her something, she shook her head and muttered something. Jed leaned over to kiss her, but she pushed him away, standing up in the process. He shouted then 'WHY NOT, FIRST YOU SIT THERE WITH A FACE LIKE SOUR MILK, WHEN I ASK WHATS WRONG YOU WON'T TELL ME, THEN YOU WON'T EVEN KISS ME. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.' She gasped and slapped him, hard. He was left with a bright red, dainty handprint on his face. 'Maybe if we DANCED at this DANCE I wouldn't be so BORED. And why would I kiss you, your a pretentious, arrogant SNOB.' She stormed over to where they were sitting, and sat down with a thump, stealing Al's pumpkin juice and downing it quickly. 'That felt good.' She sighed. Scorpius had an idea, this was his chance! 'Hey, everyone, why don't you go gather some of the others, we'll dance in a big group, all of us friends, hey?' Everyone stood up, except for Rose. He held out his hand. 'Care to dance?' he grinned. 'Here's hoping you're not as heavy-footed as your cousin, you'd have thought a giant was on the dancefloor!' She smiled, her eyes overflowing with tears. 'Hey, it's not all bad, ignore that jerk, he doesn't know anything!' He wiped a tear off of her face. 'He didn't even say I looked nice, other than calling me "Beautiful" infront of you. He kept asking why I was friends with you.' 'Well I think you look beautiful, even more so than ordinary.' The others returned with Josh, some of his friends, and some of the girls' friends. They stood in a circle and linked arms for the next two songs, swaying, laughing, and shouting out the words to bad muggle pop songs. The last song, the slow song, came on, and they separated, Al and Tilly, Josh and Nymph, most of the others got into couples. Rose stood on the sidelines, staring at her silver strappy sandals. 'May I have this dance, m'lady?' Scorpius bowed mockingly. She giggled 'of course you may, milord.' She curtsyed deeply, and they walked onto the dancefloor. She draped her arms round his neck, & he held her waist cautiously. 'This is nice,' she smiled, her eyes watery again. 'Yeah.. hey, why are you crying?' she hugged him closer. 'I...I just, my dad was horrible to you, and you've been nothing but nice to me the whole time we've been here. I don't mean to think it, but I find myself making these horrible presumptions about you because of your fath-' he held her chin, and kissed her gently, awkwardly. 'It's okay. I understand. You haven't met my father, he does that to everyone.' They laughed, still dancing in time to the music, another muggle song, one that they hadn't even heard of.
"Have I found you, Flightless Bird, jealous, weeping. Or lost you, American Mouth."
Chapter 7: Mistakes...
The days passed, and Scorpius' eye slowly returned to normally, getting less purple/red by the day. His feat against the 3rd years was soon forgotten, as the talk of the school turned to the upcoming celebration day, in remembrance of the Battle of Hogwarts, to which many ex-students and parents would make the journey to the school to celebrate. Scorpius planned to ask Rose to the dance, held in the evening, after the adults had gone, however he wasn't sure how. "Just..write her one of your letters or something.." Al advised him over dessert one evening, ladling neopolitan ice-cream into his mouth. 'Isn't that a little...corny?' Albus shrugged, stealing a profiterole off of his plate. 'Just ask her then, I'm going to ask Tilly, right to her face.' He was talking about Tilly Abbott, a mousy Hufflepuff girl, with limp blonde-brown hair, but beautiful sea-green eyes. Whilst Scorpius was busy trying to think of how to ask Rose to the dance, Rose was getting more invites every day. Of course all of the boys wanted to go with her, she's Ron & Hermione Weasley's daughter, Harry Potter's niece! She didn't reply to any of them yet though, she was still holding out for one certain guy to ask her.
'Look, I'll show you, wait there. Watch and learn.' Al strutted out into the open corridor, towards the gang of giggly girls, in which Tilly & Rose were stood. Scorpius waited by the door to the Great Hall, watching. 'Hey Tilly, can I talk to you a minute?' Al was good with the girls, Scorpius couldn't deny that. He took Tilly to the side, and whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle and nod. He strutted back to the door, looking proud. 'Your turn,' he grinned. Scorpius took a deep breath, and started over towards the group, to be pushed to the side by that bloody Hufflepuff, Jed Smith. 'Step aside, Malfoy.' He sneered, walking confidently over to the group. He took Rose over to the side. She hadn't noticed Scorpius. He whispered something in her ear, but Scorpius couldn't see her face. He walked off, head hung low. Of course she'd pick Jed, he's way cooler, smoother, better looking, and his family aren't evil. He looked back, before going through the heavy wooden doors. His dark hair was tickling her face now, he was so close, and his arm was round her shoulder. Scorpius had lost. Jed got the girl. End of.
'Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, there are other girls. Why not ask Nymph?' Albus was talking about Nymphadora Lovegood, their Professor of Divination, other than Firenze, Luna's daughter. She had cropped short hair, with rainbow streaks, and big, purple eyes. She was named after Al's cousin Teddy's mother. 'She is pretty..but I don't know her that well...' 'So? Now's your chance! Forget Rose, she's gross anyway, Nymph is something special, and I hear she's not been asked yet!' Scorpius sat down with a sigh, looking towards Nymph, at the Ravenclaw table. She was beautiful, and smiley, and sweet. He got up, gulped, and walked over to her. 'Uhhh...Hey, Nymphadora?' 'Oh hey there, Scorpius, right? It's just Nymph, by the way.' She grinned, her smile bright. 'Haha, ok, I was just wondering if, uh, you, uh, you wanted to go the d-dance with me?' He saw Rose & Jed walk in. 'Sure, I'll go to the d-dance with you.' She winked. He didn't see Rose look at him, disappointed, turn to Jed and nod. They were going to the dance with different people now.
'Dad, Dad!!' Al shrieked, running to greet his father at the platform, followed by a gang of gawping first-years, including Scorpius. Rose followed him swiftly, hugging her mother and father, then her uncle and aunt. Al grabbed Scorpius and dragged him forward. His mother had written to inform him that neither of them would be able to attend that morning, over breakfast. 'Dad, this is Scorpius, uh, Malfoy.. He's cool though, he's not like his Dad.' Harry chuckled. 'Nice to meet you properly, Scorpius, I apologise for leaving you to put up with Al.' He winked, his green eyes glittering. Rose's father, Ron wasn't so welcoming, and settled with what seemed to be an attempt at an evil glare, although he just looked like the sun was in his eyes. His brother, George, who had also come for the festivities, was also quite cold with him, however Hermione, Rose's mudblood mother was kind, and invited him to walk with them.
'Minerva!' The women of the group hurried up to their old headmistress, and greeted her with a warm hug. 'Miss us?' Ronald winked at her flirtatiously. 'Well, it's certainly been less exciting without you four around, luckily your children haven't picked up on your tricks!' Albus sniggered 'That she knows of, thanks to Grandad James' grinning happily. Him and Scorpius recently tested out the invisibility cloak and map, given to Al by his father, by stealing chocolate cake from the kitchen. 'Hey, look who it is!' 'Hi there, have you seen my wrackspurt syphon anywhere?' 'Neville, Luna, how are you both! They aren't driving you up the wall are they?' Hermione grabbed them both in a tight hug. 'Haha, not yet!' They both said at the same time, blushing and giggling. 'Lee! How are you mate, it's been a while!' George walked over to his old friend, now with his hair in tight, greying braids. 'Not bad mate, just here to show my respects, to y'know, Fred. How's the shop going, Josh bought some stuff from you the other day, I heard all about how your Nosebleed Nougat is fantastic, as usual!' They hugged and walked over to the lake together, where a simple memorial, of 2 crossed wands, was standing, as it had been for the past 20 years, in between the graves of the visitors' two headmasters.
'You are now all welcome to make your way up to the Great Hall, where lunch will be provided for everyone, our resident house-elves have been working all morning to make it special. After this, you are welcome to tour the school and grounds, or take your family members out to Hogsmeade, provided they are back in plenty of time for the dance this evening.' Professor McGonagall didn't even need voice-amplification spells to make herself heard. Harry and George decided to stay behind, and, to his surprise, Harry asked Scorpius to join him.
They walked a little while, stopping at the black marble grave, Scorpius knew to be the grave of his father's favourite teacher, Severus Snape. George stayed at the memorial, sitting at the foot, talking to himself, to Scorpius, but Harry knew he was talking to Fred, as he often did when he was with family.
'He was a great man, Professor Snape. Only, I didn't know it. No one did. Except Albus Dumbledore, of course. I brought you here, because I think you need to know his story, I saw a look in your eyes, when you saw Hermione, that I recognise as one Snape often gave me.' Harry pulled a single white lily out of his coat pocket, and placed it on the grave. 'From the minute he laid eyes on her, Severus Snape was in love with my mother, Lily. He in turn watched her fall in love with my father, as he tried to please his family, instead of doing what he wanted. Of course, he got into Slytherin, and acted like the rest of his family, proud, sour, and solitary. This didn't stop her from being his friend, until one day, a slip of the tongue changed everything. She fell in love with James, got married, had me, and, well, you know the rest. He loved her for her whole life, and never told her, but eleven years after he death, he saw my eyes, exactly like hers, and gave me the look you gave 'Mione. I don't want you to make his mistake. If you like Rose, make sure to tell her, she won't mind, we've been hearing all about how she "can't believe she said yes to "Jed the Jerk", and that you didn't even ask her?"' 'but.. she said yes to him before I got the chance to ask, then Al told me to-' Harry chuckled 'Don't listen to anything my Al says, his intentions are good, but, well, he's one Snitch short of a quidditch match, if you get what I mean! Just ask her to dance tonight, see what happens. Now come on, I'm starving, we best get up there before Ron and Al eat the whole hall!'
'Look, I'll show you, wait there. Watch and learn.' Al strutted out into the open corridor, towards the gang of giggly girls, in which Tilly & Rose were stood. Scorpius waited by the door to the Great Hall, watching. 'Hey Tilly, can I talk to you a minute?' Al was good with the girls, Scorpius couldn't deny that. He took Tilly to the side, and whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle and nod. He strutted back to the door, looking proud. 'Your turn,' he grinned. Scorpius took a deep breath, and started over towards the group, to be pushed to the side by that bloody Hufflepuff, Jed Smith. 'Step aside, Malfoy.' He sneered, walking confidently over to the group. He took Rose over to the side. She hadn't noticed Scorpius. He whispered something in her ear, but Scorpius couldn't see her face. He walked off, head hung low. Of course she'd pick Jed, he's way cooler, smoother, better looking, and his family aren't evil. He looked back, before going through the heavy wooden doors. His dark hair was tickling her face now, he was so close, and his arm was round her shoulder. Scorpius had lost. Jed got the girl. End of.
'Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, there are other girls. Why not ask Nymph?' Albus was talking about Nymphadora Lovegood, their Professor of Divination, other than Firenze, Luna's daughter. She had cropped short hair, with rainbow streaks, and big, purple eyes. She was named after Al's cousin Teddy's mother. 'She is pretty..but I don't know her that well...' 'So? Now's your chance! Forget Rose, she's gross anyway, Nymph is something special, and I hear she's not been asked yet!' Scorpius sat down with a sigh, looking towards Nymph, at the Ravenclaw table. She was beautiful, and smiley, and sweet. He got up, gulped, and walked over to her. 'Uhhh...Hey, Nymphadora?' 'Oh hey there, Scorpius, right? It's just Nymph, by the way.' She grinned, her smile bright. 'Haha, ok, I was just wondering if, uh, you, uh, you wanted to go the d-dance with me?' He saw Rose & Jed walk in. 'Sure, I'll go to the d-dance with you.' She winked. He didn't see Rose look at him, disappointed, turn to Jed and nod. They were going to the dance with different people now.
'Dad, Dad!!' Al shrieked, running to greet his father at the platform, followed by a gang of gawping first-years, including Scorpius. Rose followed him swiftly, hugging her mother and father, then her uncle and aunt. Al grabbed Scorpius and dragged him forward. His mother had written to inform him that neither of them would be able to attend that morning, over breakfast. 'Dad, this is Scorpius, uh, Malfoy.. He's cool though, he's not like his Dad.' Harry chuckled. 'Nice to meet you properly, Scorpius, I apologise for leaving you to put up with Al.' He winked, his green eyes glittering. Rose's father, Ron wasn't so welcoming, and settled with what seemed to be an attempt at an evil glare, although he just looked like the sun was in his eyes. His brother, George, who had also come for the festivities, was also quite cold with him, however Hermione, Rose's mudblood mother was kind, and invited him to walk with them.
'Minerva!' The women of the group hurried up to their old headmistress, and greeted her with a warm hug. 'Miss us?' Ronald winked at her flirtatiously. 'Well, it's certainly been less exciting without you four around, luckily your children haven't picked up on your tricks!' Albus sniggered 'That she knows of, thanks to Grandad James' grinning happily. Him and Scorpius recently tested out the invisibility cloak and map, given to Al by his father, by stealing chocolate cake from the kitchen. 'Hey, look who it is!' 'Hi there, have you seen my wrackspurt syphon anywhere?' 'Neville, Luna, how are you both! They aren't driving you up the wall are they?' Hermione grabbed them both in a tight hug. 'Haha, not yet!' They both said at the same time, blushing and giggling. 'Lee! How are you mate, it's been a while!' George walked over to his old friend, now with his hair in tight, greying braids. 'Not bad mate, just here to show my respects, to y'know, Fred. How's the shop going, Josh bought some stuff from you the other day, I heard all about how your Nosebleed Nougat is fantastic, as usual!' They hugged and walked over to the lake together, where a simple memorial, of 2 crossed wands, was standing, as it had been for the past 20 years, in between the graves of the visitors' two headmasters.
'You are now all welcome to make your way up to the Great Hall, where lunch will be provided for everyone, our resident house-elves have been working all morning to make it special. After this, you are welcome to tour the school and grounds, or take your family members out to Hogsmeade, provided they are back in plenty of time for the dance this evening.' Professor McGonagall didn't even need voice-amplification spells to make herself heard. Harry and George decided to stay behind, and, to his surprise, Harry asked Scorpius to join him.
They walked a little while, stopping at the black marble grave, Scorpius knew to be the grave of his father's favourite teacher, Severus Snape. George stayed at the memorial, sitting at the foot, talking to himself, to Scorpius, but Harry knew he was talking to Fred, as he often did when he was with family.
'He was a great man, Professor Snape. Only, I didn't know it. No one did. Except Albus Dumbledore, of course. I brought you here, because I think you need to know his story, I saw a look in your eyes, when you saw Hermione, that I recognise as one Snape often gave me.' Harry pulled a single white lily out of his coat pocket, and placed it on the grave. 'From the minute he laid eyes on her, Severus Snape was in love with my mother, Lily. He in turn watched her fall in love with my father, as he tried to please his family, instead of doing what he wanted. Of course, he got into Slytherin, and acted like the rest of his family, proud, sour, and solitary. This didn't stop her from being his friend, until one day, a slip of the tongue changed everything. She fell in love with James, got married, had me, and, well, you know the rest. He loved her for her whole life, and never told her, but eleven years after he death, he saw my eyes, exactly like hers, and gave me the look you gave 'Mione. I don't want you to make his mistake. If you like Rose, make sure to tell her, she won't mind, we've been hearing all about how she "can't believe she said yes to "Jed the Jerk", and that you didn't even ask her?"' 'but.. she said yes to him before I got the chance to ask, then Al told me to-' Harry chuckled 'Don't listen to anything my Al says, his intentions are good, but, well, he's one Snitch short of a quidditch match, if you get what I mean! Just ask her to dance tonight, see what happens. Now come on, I'm starving, we best get up there before Ron and Al eat the whole hall!'
Saturday 22 October 2011
Chapter 6: Mudblood
He looked at his watch. 5.30. He had been waiting for 30 minutes, and it looked like it was about to rain. She probably forgot about me, he thought, she's probably busy talking to her girlfriends, or, he gulped, flirting with that awful Hufflepuff, who was checking her out in potions earlier. Scorpius almost retched at the thought, but was interrupted by the sound of clattering footsteps, and shouts behind him.
'SCORPIUS! HELP ME!' Rose fell into his arms, panting heavily '3rd years...Slytherins..chasing...mudblood..traitor...' Not much of what she said was understandable, until three oafish looking thugs, a few years older than them, in Slytherin uniform, just about, came running up to them.
'There you are, sweetie. What's the matter, you scared?' Scorpius pushed her behind him. 'Leave her alone.' he said, uncharacteristically authoritatively. 'She's done nothing wrong to you.' They smirked, and the tallest one, who had been stood in the middle, stepped forward menacingly, so close Scorpius could smell his onion-breath.
'Well, well, if it isn't Traitor Boy, sticking up for his little mudblood girlfriend. How...precious.' Scorpius smirked. 'Offending the girl who's parents are the reason you're even here..how...intelligent.' The boy grabbed Scorpius by the collar, pinning him against the closest wall. 'Her parents,' he pointed at her and spat, 'are the reason we are treated like criminals. She is the criminal, her and her muggle-loving family, without them, the Dark Lord would be here, and we'd be treated like the first-class pureblood wizards we are, and they'd be the half-muggle rejects they should be, at the bottom of the food chain.' Scorpius lost control, and kicked the thug hard between his legs. He stumbled back, and before he could straighten up, he was round-house kicked around his shins, knocking him to the floor.
'Don't you EVER, call my friends rejects, do you understand? She is twice the wizard you and your little friends will ever be.' He looked over at her to see the other two Slytherins grabbing her waist, and throwing her over one of their shoulders. He left the first boy on the ground, and went to her rescue, before suffering a nasty blow to the eye, causing him to black out. He heard them snarl 'keep your little mudblood, she's a no-good bitch anyway', and the sound of 3 sets of heavy footsteps moving away from him, before blacking out.
'I think he's coming to! Rose, he's waking up!' Scorpius heard Al's voice, before opening his eyes groggily. 'Mmhmm..wah huppened?' He sat up, one of his eyes still shut and throbbing, to be knocked down again by a flurry of red hair, hugging him tightly. 'You're okay! Oh, we were so worried! You fought 3rd years, 3 of them, single handedly!' She spoke so fast he didn't think she breathed for about ten minutes, as she recounted the events of that evening. 'You were unconscious for almost 24 hours, its half past four in the evening..on Friday!' He sat back. 'Woah..I've really been out for that long? I don't remember much. Al, can you get me a drink please?' Al nodded eagerly, and scampered off. Rose picked up Scorpius' hand, and held it in her lap. 'I missed you. Al isn't much fun when all he's talking about is how his best friend is unconscious.' She smiled. 'Best friend? When did this happen?' Scorpius was surprised, he'd never had friends before, let alone a best friend, and a..well, a Rose..
Albus returned with a jug of pumpkin juice, which he had splashed most of onto the floor, and a glass. 'Here you go mate, we missed you y'know, I had no one to talk to, I had to talk to Finnegan about bleedin' quidditch! He thinks I'm a raging fan, just cos of dad, but i'm not, it's not THAT interesting, it's only good when dad plays, and he only plays occassionally.' Scorpius smiled, sipping his pumpkin juice. He finally felt like he fit in somewhere.
'SCORPIUS! HELP ME!' Rose fell into his arms, panting heavily '3rd years...Slytherins..chasing...mudblood..traitor...' Not much of what she said was understandable, until three oafish looking thugs, a few years older than them, in Slytherin uniform, just about, came running up to them.
'There you are, sweetie. What's the matter, you scared?' Scorpius pushed her behind him. 'Leave her alone.' he said, uncharacteristically authoritatively. 'She's done nothing wrong to you.' They smirked, and the tallest one, who had been stood in the middle, stepped forward menacingly, so close Scorpius could smell his onion-breath.
'Well, well, if it isn't Traitor Boy, sticking up for his little mudblood girlfriend. How...precious.' Scorpius smirked. 'Offending the girl who's parents are the reason you're even here..how...intelligent.' The boy grabbed Scorpius by the collar, pinning him against the closest wall. 'Her parents,' he pointed at her and spat, 'are the reason we are treated like criminals. She is the criminal, her and her muggle-loving family, without them, the Dark Lord would be here, and we'd be treated like the first-class pureblood wizards we are, and they'd be the half-muggle rejects they should be, at the bottom of the food chain.' Scorpius lost control, and kicked the thug hard between his legs. He stumbled back, and before he could straighten up, he was round-house kicked around his shins, knocking him to the floor.
'Don't you EVER, call my friends rejects, do you understand? She is twice the wizard you and your little friends will ever be.' He looked over at her to see the other two Slytherins grabbing her waist, and throwing her over one of their shoulders. He left the first boy on the ground, and went to her rescue, before suffering a nasty blow to the eye, causing him to black out. He heard them snarl 'keep your little mudblood, she's a no-good bitch anyway', and the sound of 3 sets of heavy footsteps moving away from him, before blacking out.
'I think he's coming to! Rose, he's waking up!' Scorpius heard Al's voice, before opening his eyes groggily. 'Mmhmm..wah huppened?' He sat up, one of his eyes still shut and throbbing, to be knocked down again by a flurry of red hair, hugging him tightly. 'You're okay! Oh, we were so worried! You fought 3rd years, 3 of them, single handedly!' She spoke so fast he didn't think she breathed for about ten minutes, as she recounted the events of that evening. 'You were unconscious for almost 24 hours, its half past four in the evening..on Friday!' He sat back. 'Woah..I've really been out for that long? I don't remember much. Al, can you get me a drink please?' Al nodded eagerly, and scampered off. Rose picked up Scorpius' hand, and held it in her lap. 'I missed you. Al isn't much fun when all he's talking about is how his best friend is unconscious.' She smiled. 'Best friend? When did this happen?' Scorpius was surprised, he'd never had friends before, let alone a best friend, and a..well, a Rose..
Albus returned with a jug of pumpkin juice, which he had splashed most of onto the floor, and a glass. 'Here you go mate, we missed you y'know, I had no one to talk to, I had to talk to Finnegan about bleedin' quidditch! He thinks I'm a raging fan, just cos of dad, but i'm not, it's not THAT interesting, it's only good when dad plays, and he only plays occassionally.' Scorpius smiled, sipping his pumpkin juice. He finally felt like he fit in somewhere.
Friday 21 October 2011
Chapter 5: Well, this is awkward.
'Scorpius, wait!...Scorpius!....MALFOY STOP.' Rose lost it. How could he ignore her? She's done nothing wrong! He froze and turned around, frowning. 'Just leave it Rose, I get it, it doesn't matter how friendly you are to the Slytherin-reject at first, because what your family think will always come first, and they can't stand me. Well guess what? I rejected my family, I told my father I didn't mind not being in Slytherin, and if that wasn't enough for him to hate me, I told him about sitting with you on the train, which, in retrospect, I shouldn't have done, I should've listened to my gut and gone and sat with Kia and Luke Zabini, then I would have gotten into Slytherin, kept what little respect my father had for me, and whats more, I wouldn't have met you or your goddamn, pretentious little family!' He was shouting at her, for something he didn't really believe she'd done, about something he didn't really regret doing. He started to walk away, faster now, to be grabbed by the shoulder and spun around briskly, met by deep chestnut, watery eyes. "Don't you ever talk about my family like that. That letter this morning from Harry was NOT what you think it was about. You want to know what he REALLY said? He defended your father and told me to "go easy on you, you're under a lot of pressure", well tough, Malfoy, I've been nothing but nice to you since I met you, despite your family's past, hell, I thought you were different, I thought maybe you cared about me, but obviously not you foul, evil, loathsome little cockroach!" She punched him in the eye, as she repeated her mothers words, not that her mother had told her them, of course not, it was her father that told her, the evening before she left for Hogwarts, they were sat in the garden of the Burrow, watching Hugo and Al chase gnomes, when he told her that if she ever had a run-in with a Slytherin, those were the words she was to use. He staggered back, shocked at her reaction, then began to follow her, as she stormed off to their next lesson, Potions with Professor Cauldron (real name, ironically), but was stopped by Albus. "Leave her to cool down, talk to her later. And you might want to go get some ice on that, she packs quite the punch, she broke James' nose last summer. Of course, he told everyone it was a rogue quaffle at his try-out for the Junior England Quidditch Team, which he never had. Albus winked. Why was he being nice to Scorpius, who just offended his entire family, including Al himself? Then again, he looks like he has the brains of a sieve. Scorpius smiled faintly, and they walked to the hospital wing together, to see Madame Pomfrey, who, although she must've aged in the last 20 years, hadn't changed a bit since their parents were at school.
When they finally stumbled into potions, Scorpius with ice over his eye, the only two remaining seats were the one next to Rose, and the one behind. Albus slid into the one behind her, mouthing the words 'Sorry, bro' at Scorpius, who sat down timidly beside her. They didn't speak whilst Professor Cauldron gave out instructions, and the only words Rose said whilst preparing their potions were 'pass me a knife, please.' Scorpius began readying his potion, but his mind kept wandering to thoughts of Rose. How upset was she? Should I apologise now, or wait until later? Does she ever think of me like this? Not anymore, I guess. He glanced over at her briefly, to see a curtain of auburn curls, covering her face. He took a deep breath and swivelled so he was facing her. 'I'm sorry, Rose. I didn't know.' 'It doesn't matter, Scorpius, get back to your work, your potion is about to bubble over.' She didn't even look up at him. She doesn't care, he thought, and that hurts. He felt a pain in his chest, and he knew it was her fault. He spent the rest of the lesson absentmindedly stirring his potion, it's a miracle it didn't explode, and thinking of how to make it up to Rose.
It took him approximately a day and a half to figure out what to do, in which he was not sent any letters from his father, and only one from his mother, saying that she was disappointed that he had gotten into Gryffindor, and he wasn't friends with any mudbloods, was he?
Rose sat down at the Gryffindor table at lunchtime 2 days later, feeling very hungry. She hadn't eaten much that morning, due to rising worries about a homework she wasn't sure she had done correctly, and was ready for a large lunch. In fact, she was so busy piling her plate with food, she didn't notice Scorpius' absence from the table, until he barged in ten minutes later, and sat directly opposite her, next to Al, without saying anything. 'Well, this is awkward..' Al said, cheerfully, like his input might help. They both ignored him, her eating a huge chunk of bread, him nit-picking at a small plate of food.
As soon as she finished, Rose made her way to Gryffindor tower, to get her gloves and book for her next lesson, Herbology with her Uncle Neville, or Professor Longbottom, here at Hogwarts. She opened the door to the dormitory and spotted something on her bed, which had definitely not been there when she left that morning. A small envelope, with her name on in deep purple, was lying on her pillow. She sat down and opened it carefully, hoping it wasn't one of her Uncle George's 'Fred's Fabulous Fireworks!' in an envelope, her cousins and brother posted her one of them on Valentine's Day last year. She took out a note, written on a crisp, new piece of parchment;
Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't know what awful things your Uncle would have to say about my father, or me, for that matter. My family, we're..different to yours. I don't have any Uncles or Aunts, I'm the only child in the family, and because of this I'm expected to be the perfect Slytherin, a loyal and honourable pure-blood, and faithful to the family, regardless of what I want. And up until I walked onto the train, I thought that was who I am, and what I wanted to be. That was, until, I bumped into this girl. She wasn't insanely beautiful, and most definitely wasn't graceful, but she gave me the warmest smile I'd ever seen, regardless of the fact our families should be mortal enemies. Since then, I haven't stopped thinking about her, and my eyes haven't left her when we're together. But I screwed up big time, and for that I am truly sorry. If she forgives me, and I'm lucky, she'll meet me outside of the Fat Lady's porthole, so we can talk, after lessons have finished? Until then, (or not,) Scorpius. P.S. If she doesn't forgive me, I'll have to sneak into her room and leave her notes more often.
She sat for a minute, speechless. He'd never even said more than a few sentences to her, let alone let all of his feelings out. She quickly pulled out a spare piece of parchment and scribbled a few lines on it, before hurrying down to the greenhouses, where she sat down next to Scorpius and slipped him the note, which read;
What if she likes getting notes like that?
He smiled, and wrote on the back;
Then I'll break my fingers and never write again!
She read it, grinned widely, and simply wrote;
:( Wait, won't that hurt A LOT? Genius. ;) R
They continued to pass notes all lesson, the last one being from Scorpius, saying; So you'll come later? Rose looked at him wistfully, and replied 'We'll see.', before walking off to their last lesson of the day.
When they finally stumbled into potions, Scorpius with ice over his eye, the only two remaining seats were the one next to Rose, and the one behind. Albus slid into the one behind her, mouthing the words 'Sorry, bro' at Scorpius, who sat down timidly beside her. They didn't speak whilst Professor Cauldron gave out instructions, and the only words Rose said whilst preparing their potions were 'pass me a knife, please.' Scorpius began readying his potion, but his mind kept wandering to thoughts of Rose. How upset was she? Should I apologise now, or wait until later? Does she ever think of me like this? Not anymore, I guess. He glanced over at her briefly, to see a curtain of auburn curls, covering her face. He took a deep breath and swivelled so he was facing her. 'I'm sorry, Rose. I didn't know.' 'It doesn't matter, Scorpius, get back to your work, your potion is about to bubble over.' She didn't even look up at him. She doesn't care, he thought, and that hurts. He felt a pain in his chest, and he knew it was her fault. He spent the rest of the lesson absentmindedly stirring his potion, it's a miracle it didn't explode, and thinking of how to make it up to Rose.
It took him approximately a day and a half to figure out what to do, in which he was not sent any letters from his father, and only one from his mother, saying that she was disappointed that he had gotten into Gryffindor, and he wasn't friends with any mudbloods, was he?
Rose sat down at the Gryffindor table at lunchtime 2 days later, feeling very hungry. She hadn't eaten much that morning, due to rising worries about a homework she wasn't sure she had done correctly, and was ready for a large lunch. In fact, she was so busy piling her plate with food, she didn't notice Scorpius' absence from the table, until he barged in ten minutes later, and sat directly opposite her, next to Al, without saying anything. 'Well, this is awkward..' Al said, cheerfully, like his input might help. They both ignored him, her eating a huge chunk of bread, him nit-picking at a small plate of food.
As soon as she finished, Rose made her way to Gryffindor tower, to get her gloves and book for her next lesson, Herbology with her Uncle Neville, or Professor Longbottom, here at Hogwarts. She opened the door to the dormitory and spotted something on her bed, which had definitely not been there when she left that morning. A small envelope, with her name on in deep purple, was lying on her pillow. She sat down and opened it carefully, hoping it wasn't one of her Uncle George's 'Fred's Fabulous Fireworks!' in an envelope, her cousins and brother posted her one of them on Valentine's Day last year. She took out a note, written on a crisp, new piece of parchment;
Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't know what awful things your Uncle would have to say about my father, or me, for that matter. My family, we're..different to yours. I don't have any Uncles or Aunts, I'm the only child in the family, and because of this I'm expected to be the perfect Slytherin, a loyal and honourable pure-blood, and faithful to the family, regardless of what I want. And up until I walked onto the train, I thought that was who I am, and what I wanted to be. That was, until, I bumped into this girl. She wasn't insanely beautiful, and most definitely wasn't graceful, but she gave me the warmest smile I'd ever seen, regardless of the fact our families should be mortal enemies. Since then, I haven't stopped thinking about her, and my eyes haven't left her when we're together. But I screwed up big time, and for that I am truly sorry. If she forgives me, and I'm lucky, she'll meet me outside of the Fat Lady's porthole, so we can talk, after lessons have finished? Until then, (or not,) Scorpius. P.S. If she doesn't forgive me, I'll have to sneak into her room and leave her notes more often.
She sat for a minute, speechless. He'd never even said more than a few sentences to her, let alone let all of his feelings out. She quickly pulled out a spare piece of parchment and scribbled a few lines on it, before hurrying down to the greenhouses, where she sat down next to Scorpius and slipped him the note, which read;
What if she likes getting notes like that?
He smiled, and wrote on the back;
Then I'll break my fingers and never write again!
She read it, grinned widely, and simply wrote;
:( Wait, won't that hurt A LOT? Genius. ;) R
They continued to pass notes all lesson, the last one being from Scorpius, saying; So you'll come later? Rose looked at him wistfully, and replied 'We'll see.', before walking off to their last lesson of the day.
Chapter 4: The Future is Uncertain..
Rose entered the divination classroom with a bang, slamming the door behind her. She had been trying to find the divination for ten minutes, before her cousin Victoire showed her the way, then ran all the way up, after realising how late she was, and so walked in with her clothes and hair in disarray, panting, and almost dropping her books. She apologised to Firenze, her teacher, and slid into her seat next to Al. She looked up and saw that everyone was staring at her, except for Scorpius, who was staring so harshly at the crystal ball in front of him, his eyes could've bore a hole in it.
"Right now, thats enough, she's a girl, not a juggling monkey. Miss Weasley, if you would like to turn to page 394 in your book, we are looking at using crystal balls. Everyone read the incantation on the page aloud, whilst gently moving your hand over the surface of the ball, and write down what you see."
Al chuckled, putting his cousin's robe sleeve back over her shoulder, and reassuring her that she didn't miss much, just Firenze moaning about how he'd rather show us how "us centaurs" see the future, than teaching us the wizarding way. Rose thanked him & smiled, and began to do the incantation, but all she could think about was Scorpius. Why was he determined not to look at her? What had she done wrong? Then she remembered his reaction to the letter this morning. She hadn't even opened it, but he presumed it was something bad. She finished the incantatin and looked into the crystal ball, to see a mountain, tall and snowy, which a figure was standing at the top of. A figure, in a familiar black coat, with familiar blonde hair. She then noticed another figure, at the bottom, a woman, she presumed, with long red hair, in a white dress. She began to climb up, following a ragged, rocky trail. The picture then rewinded itself, with the woman standing at the base of the mountain, this time taking a smooth, flat path going around the mountain. "Aah. You have a big decision to make, Little Red." She was so absorbed in the image in the ball, she barely noticed Firenze look in on the other side, and almost flew off her chair when he spoke. "You can either ignore the mountain, and take the easy route to your goal, or take the path less followed, and reach, not only your goal, but find your inner desires aswell. It's up to you," he rose, and began to walk away, "but remember me this; if you were to take the easy road, what of those you leave behind? Would you not still think of them? Although you are yet to make this decision, they may already believe you have. Try reminding them you're here." he walked over to Scorpius, leaving Rose to answer Albus' questions, making up the answers, of course, and to stop herself blushing. Scorpius had been listening to Firenze speaking to Rose, and had been wondering if he was talking about him. Surely not, Rose doesn't care, all she cares about is pleasing her precious famous uncle, Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, and the rest of her mudblood-blood traitor family. Not that I care anyway, thought Scorpius, She can do whatever she wants, its none of my business, I'll be in Slytherin next week, thats where I belong, not in Gryffindor with these losers, what was I thinking?! He gazed back at his crystal ball, which showed two images, one of a figure all in black, another all in white. Firenze stood behind him and peered at the image. "Looks like you're having a bit of an identity crisis, my friend. We centaurs like to meditate in situations like this. Obviously we don't cross our legs in odd positions or anything like you humans, so instead we go off to a quiet place in the forest, lie down, and let nature take over us, we forget everything except the grass on our bodies, and the sounds of the forest. Or, thats me, anyway. Don't worry, you'll find yourself." He blushed faintly and left quickly, making a point of ignoring Rose, who was trying to reach him through the crowd of students.
"Right now, thats enough, she's a girl, not a juggling monkey. Miss Weasley, if you would like to turn to page 394 in your book, we are looking at using crystal balls. Everyone read the incantation on the page aloud, whilst gently moving your hand over the surface of the ball, and write down what you see."
Al chuckled, putting his cousin's robe sleeve back over her shoulder, and reassuring her that she didn't miss much, just Firenze moaning about how he'd rather show us how "us centaurs" see the future, than teaching us the wizarding way. Rose thanked him & smiled, and began to do the incantation, but all she could think about was Scorpius. Why was he determined not to look at her? What had she done wrong? Then she remembered his reaction to the letter this morning. She hadn't even opened it, but he presumed it was something bad. She finished the incantatin and looked into the crystal ball, to see a mountain, tall and snowy, which a figure was standing at the top of. A figure, in a familiar black coat, with familiar blonde hair. She then noticed another figure, at the bottom, a woman, she presumed, with long red hair, in a white dress. She began to climb up, following a ragged, rocky trail. The picture then rewinded itself, with the woman standing at the base of the mountain, this time taking a smooth, flat path going around the mountain. "Aah. You have a big decision to make, Little Red." She was so absorbed in the image in the ball, she barely noticed Firenze look in on the other side, and almost flew off her chair when he spoke. "You can either ignore the mountain, and take the easy route to your goal, or take the path less followed, and reach, not only your goal, but find your inner desires aswell. It's up to you," he rose, and began to walk away, "but remember me this; if you were to take the easy road, what of those you leave behind? Would you not still think of them? Although you are yet to make this decision, they may already believe you have. Try reminding them you're here." he walked over to Scorpius, leaving Rose to answer Albus' questions, making up the answers, of course, and to stop herself blushing. Scorpius had been listening to Firenze speaking to Rose, and had been wondering if he was talking about him. Surely not, Rose doesn't care, all she cares about is pleasing her precious famous uncle, Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, and the rest of her mudblood-blood traitor family. Not that I care anyway, thought Scorpius, She can do whatever she wants, its none of my business, I'll be in Slytherin next week, thats where I belong, not in Gryffindor with these losers, what was I thinking?! He gazed back at his crystal ball, which showed two images, one of a figure all in black, another all in white. Firenze stood behind him and peered at the image. "Looks like you're having a bit of an identity crisis, my friend. We centaurs like to meditate in situations like this. Obviously we don't cross our legs in odd positions or anything like you humans, so instead we go off to a quiet place in the forest, lie down, and let nature take over us, we forget everything except the grass on our bodies, and the sounds of the forest. Or, thats me, anyway. Don't worry, you'll find yourself." He blushed faintly and left quickly, making a point of ignoring Rose, who was trying to reach him through the crowd of students.
Chapter 3: Letters
3. Letters
Here it goes. You have to tell him. Scorpius thought to himself, staring at the blank parchment in front of him. The feast had ended ten minutes ago, and while all the other Gryffindor first years were eagerly scribbling notes to their parents on crumpled parchment, waiting for their owls to take the message of their triumphs back to their parents, Scorpius was sat at a small table in the corner of the common room, trying to word his own letter. He was already on draft number 6. ‘Ok, here goes nothing’, he whispered aloud.
Dear Father,
You may not agree with me, and you won’t like what I am about to say, but please read this.
I have been sorted in to Gryffindor. I know I should be horrified, what with coming from a long line of Slytherins, but I’m not. It’s only a house, and it is a good house, too. I’ve already made friends with some of the boys I live with, and everyone was chatting at the feast. They aren’t that bad, you know, not even the Potter/Weasley clan. James is a bit stuck up, but Rose, his cousin, said that it’s only because he’s showing off in front of his family. Albus is a bit.. simple, but he’s nice enough, we swapped chocolate frog cards on the train, he has a huge stack of them, compared to my 4, but I had a rare one he’d been looking for, so he swapped it for a signed Harry Potter one, one of granddad (he looks very sophisticated, have you seen them?) AND one of Albus Dumbledore! You have probably already thrown this in the fire or destroyed it some other way, but in case you haven’t, I’ll sign off.
I hope you aren’t too angry,
Your Scorpius.
A little way off, Rose was helping Albus write their first letter home. They decided to write a joint one, as their families were both staying at the Burrow for a few days, and it would save the owls’ energy. As she was dictating to Albus, correcting his spelling every few words, she had other things on her mind, and her eyes drifted towards the lanky, pale figure in the corner, hunched over some parchment, surrounded by several screwed up pieces.
"Trying to tell your dad? I know it's hard, I can't begin to think what my Dad would say if I told him I was friends with a pureblo-" She stopped, blushing faintly & staring at her stripy socks. He looked up, and for the first time in, well, a while, he smiled, an awkward, yet oddly attractive smile. "Are we.. friends?" She looked up, grinning, "well yeah, ...if you dont mind?" He grinned broadly then, something he'd never done, and never thought he'd do. "Sure! But.." His face fell. What would his family say, first he's sorted into Gryffindor, then he becomes friends with a mudblood? His father always detested Rose's family, as did his father before him. "Your father." She understood, she was dreading telling her grandad Weasley that the first friend she made at Hogwarts was Lucius Malfoy's grandson. They walked to the Owlery together and sent their letters, Rose using her family's old, run-down, yet still energetic little owl, Pig, Scorpius using his new, raven-black owl, his father had named Sal, secretly short for Salazar.
The next morning, the first-years tumbled out of bed and into the great hall, many still full from overeating the night before. Unfortunately, thought Rose, this didn't stop Sean Finnegan from trying to talk to her and Albus about quidditch, until the noise of hundreds of flapping wings and owl squawks sounded, announcing the arrival of the morning post. Rose gulped. What would Dad have to say about Scorpius? At this thought, she looked over to Scorpius, who was sat next to Albus, right on the corner of the bench. The (small amount of) colour had drained from his face, and he was sat rigidly in his seat, not moving a muscle. She noticed a small cut, just above his left eyebrow. Sal flew in then, and dropped a small, green envelope on Scorpius' plate. He was quite relieved, at least it wasn't a Howler. He opened the envelope with shaking hands, as Rose's own post was dropped on her lap, narrowly missing the bowl of porridge Al had pushed towards her. She had received a copy of the day's Daily Prophet from her mother, with a reminder to do her homework, a short note saying "Glad you're having fun, don't listen to mum! Love, Daddy xxx P.S. check out the 7th floor sometime, think of something you require, and watch what happens! P.P.S, say hi to Al, James & Neville for me!" in her father's scrawling, smudged handwriting, and a letter from her uncle Harry? Why was he writing to her? She tucked it inside her robes and went up to gryffindor tower, so she could read it before her first lesson. Scorpius, on the other hand, was not so pleased with his letter;
"Scorpius, I am writing to inform you that Grandad is not to hear of this. Not a word. It will not be known that a Malfoy is in Gryffindor house. Believe me, it will not go down well. I am disappointed in you, but I am not angry. The Hat knows which house is best for each student, and so maybe Gryffindor will prove to be the correct house. If this does not appear to be the case, don't hestitate to contact me & I will write to your Head immediately and ask for a re-sorting. Just because you aren't in Slytherin, doesn't mean you can't live up to Slytherin policies and ideas. Be a good student. Expect to hear from Astoria soon, she wanted to write now, but I told her to wait until you were settled. She is, and will remain, unaware of this letter. Also, if you are going to reply, do so using the envelope inside this one, or your mother will become suspicious. ~Father."
Scorpius was surprised. His father didn't fight against the hat's decision much at all, not for him, anyway. But why? He has always hated Gryffindor, he rarely even spoke the word, so why is he not angry? He thought of this all the way up to Gryffindor tower, where he almost bumped into Rose, who was struggling to remember the password. "Pig-no...Petunias!" "No!" "Penelope?" "Wrong again!" The Fat Lady was mocking her, as she often did to new students. "Paraphernalia." said Scorpius, sternly. Rose smiled gratefully "thanks." They walked in to the common room together, to find that they were the only ones around. Rose sat down in the biggest armchair, right next to the fire. It was cold that morning, the wind was blowing ferociously outside, causing the windows to creak under the pressure. Scorpius sat by her, on a not-so-lavish wooden chair, watching her as she pulled a letter out of her robes. "It's from my uncle Harry. I didn't think he'd write so soon, I think it might be about you." She was nearly whispering. "It's ok, Rose. You don't have to have anything to do with me. It's better that way, that way you don't need to hide anything from your family." Scorpius stood up, his icy eyes filling with tears. Rose started after him, but he made his way up the stairs to the boys' dormitory before she was halfway across the large room. She sunk into the nearest chair, and opened the letter. Maybe Scorpius was right, she thought, pulling the parchment out of its envelope. "Or not.." she said happily, reading just the words she needed to hear;
"Rosie, you made a very brave decision, letting the Malfoy boy into your carriage. Although the rest of them may not agree, don't forget - You aren't your Mum or Ginny, and he isn't Draco. Our own opinions shouldn't get in the way of yours. Draco wasn't that bad, in the end, and so give Scorpius the chance to show his true colours. Remember the pressure he'll get from his father, particularly if he isn't in Slytherin, I'd bet my broomstick he gets ten times as much as your Dad gives you.
Go easy on him, Uncle Harry, xxx"
Maybe what she feels for Scorpius won't be so bad, after all, she thought, walking happily up to her dorm, to fetch her things for her first lesson - Divination with Firenze the Centaur.
Here it goes. You have to tell him. Scorpius thought to himself, staring at the blank parchment in front of him. The feast had ended ten minutes ago, and while all the other Gryffindor first years were eagerly scribbling notes to their parents on crumpled parchment, waiting for their owls to take the message of their triumphs back to their parents, Scorpius was sat at a small table in the corner of the common room, trying to word his own letter. He was already on draft number 6. ‘Ok, here goes nothing’, he whispered aloud.
Dear Father,
You may not agree with me, and you won’t like what I am about to say, but please read this.
I have been sorted in to Gryffindor. I know I should be horrified, what with coming from a long line of Slytherins, but I’m not. It’s only a house, and it is a good house, too. I’ve already made friends with some of the boys I live with, and everyone was chatting at the feast. They aren’t that bad, you know, not even the Potter/Weasley clan. James is a bit stuck up, but Rose, his cousin, said that it’s only because he’s showing off in front of his family. Albus is a bit.. simple, but he’s nice enough, we swapped chocolate frog cards on the train, he has a huge stack of them, compared to my 4, but I had a rare one he’d been looking for, so he swapped it for a signed Harry Potter one, one of granddad (he looks very sophisticated, have you seen them?) AND one of Albus Dumbledore! You have probably already thrown this in the fire or destroyed it some other way, but in case you haven’t, I’ll sign off.
I hope you aren’t too angry,
Your Scorpius.
A little way off, Rose was helping Albus write their first letter home. They decided to write a joint one, as their families were both staying at the Burrow for a few days, and it would save the owls’ energy. As she was dictating to Albus, correcting his spelling every few words, she had other things on her mind, and her eyes drifted towards the lanky, pale figure in the corner, hunched over some parchment, surrounded by several screwed up pieces.
"Trying to tell your dad? I know it's hard, I can't begin to think what my Dad would say if I told him I was friends with a pureblo-" She stopped, blushing faintly & staring at her stripy socks. He looked up, and for the first time in, well, a while, he smiled, an awkward, yet oddly attractive smile. "Are we.. friends?" She looked up, grinning, "well yeah, ...if you dont mind?" He grinned broadly then, something he'd never done, and never thought he'd do. "Sure! But.." His face fell. What would his family say, first he's sorted into Gryffindor, then he becomes friends with a mudblood? His father always detested Rose's family, as did his father before him. "Your father." She understood, she was dreading telling her grandad Weasley that the first friend she made at Hogwarts was Lucius Malfoy's grandson. They walked to the Owlery together and sent their letters, Rose using her family's old, run-down, yet still energetic little owl, Pig, Scorpius using his new, raven-black owl, his father had named Sal, secretly short for Salazar.
The next morning, the first-years tumbled out of bed and into the great hall, many still full from overeating the night before. Unfortunately, thought Rose, this didn't stop Sean Finnegan from trying to talk to her and Albus about quidditch, until the noise of hundreds of flapping wings and owl squawks sounded, announcing the arrival of the morning post. Rose gulped. What would Dad have to say about Scorpius? At this thought, she looked over to Scorpius, who was sat next to Albus, right on the corner of the bench. The (small amount of) colour had drained from his face, and he was sat rigidly in his seat, not moving a muscle. She noticed a small cut, just above his left eyebrow. Sal flew in then, and dropped a small, green envelope on Scorpius' plate. He was quite relieved, at least it wasn't a Howler. He opened the envelope with shaking hands, as Rose's own post was dropped on her lap, narrowly missing the bowl of porridge Al had pushed towards her. She had received a copy of the day's Daily Prophet from her mother, with a reminder to do her homework, a short note saying "Glad you're having fun, don't listen to mum! Love, Daddy xxx P.S. check out the 7th floor sometime, think of something you require, and watch what happens! P.P.S, say hi to Al, James & Neville for me!" in her father's scrawling, smudged handwriting, and a letter from her uncle Harry? Why was he writing to her? She tucked it inside her robes and went up to gryffindor tower, so she could read it before her first lesson. Scorpius, on the other hand, was not so pleased with his letter;
"Scorpius, I am writing to inform you that Grandad is not to hear of this. Not a word. It will not be known that a Malfoy is in Gryffindor house. Believe me, it will not go down well. I am disappointed in you, but I am not angry. The Hat knows which house is best for each student, and so maybe Gryffindor will prove to be the correct house. If this does not appear to be the case, don't hestitate to contact me & I will write to your Head immediately and ask for a re-sorting. Just because you aren't in Slytherin, doesn't mean you can't live up to Slytherin policies and ideas. Be a good student. Expect to hear from Astoria soon, she wanted to write now, but I told her to wait until you were settled. She is, and will remain, unaware of this letter. Also, if you are going to reply, do so using the envelope inside this one, or your mother will become suspicious. ~Father."
Scorpius was surprised. His father didn't fight against the hat's decision much at all, not for him, anyway. But why? He has always hated Gryffindor, he rarely even spoke the word, so why is he not angry? He thought of this all the way up to Gryffindor tower, where he almost bumped into Rose, who was struggling to remember the password. "Pig-no...Petunias!" "No!" "Penelope?" "Wrong again!" The Fat Lady was mocking her, as she often did to new students. "Paraphernalia." said Scorpius, sternly. Rose smiled gratefully "thanks." They walked in to the common room together, to find that they were the only ones around. Rose sat down in the biggest armchair, right next to the fire. It was cold that morning, the wind was blowing ferociously outside, causing the windows to creak under the pressure. Scorpius sat by her, on a not-so-lavish wooden chair, watching her as she pulled a letter out of her robes. "It's from my uncle Harry. I didn't think he'd write so soon, I think it might be about you." She was nearly whispering. "It's ok, Rose. You don't have to have anything to do with me. It's better that way, that way you don't need to hide anything from your family." Scorpius stood up, his icy eyes filling with tears. Rose started after him, but he made his way up the stairs to the boys' dormitory before she was halfway across the large room. She sunk into the nearest chair, and opened the letter. Maybe Scorpius was right, she thought, pulling the parchment out of its envelope. "Or not.." she said happily, reading just the words she needed to hear;
"Rosie, you made a very brave decision, letting the Malfoy boy into your carriage. Although the rest of them may not agree, don't forget - You aren't your Mum or Ginny, and he isn't Draco. Our own opinions shouldn't get in the way of yours. Draco wasn't that bad, in the end, and so give Scorpius the chance to show his true colours. Remember the pressure he'll get from his father, particularly if he isn't in Slytherin, I'd bet my broomstick he gets ten times as much as your Dad gives you.
Go easy on him, Uncle Harry, xxx"
Maybe what she feels for Scorpius won't be so bad, after all, she thought, walking happily up to her dorm, to fetch her things for her first lesson - Divination with Firenze the Centaur.
Thursday 20 October 2011
Chapter 2: Home
2. Home
'First Years please stand to the side whilst the other years enter the hall, first years to the SIDE please!' A very elderly, withered old woman shouted, with a high pitched, faintly scottish accent. As the older years bustled in to the infamous Hogwarts Great Hall, Rose, Scorpius and Albus were pushed against the old stone walls, still faintly scorched from the battle, 19 years previously. Rose recognised the woman as Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, and the whole school, at one point, from the descriptions her parents gave; "She seems like an old bat at first, all shrill & Scottish, but she's okay after a while" "Ronald. She was perfectly fine with me always, she didn't like you or George because you caused trouble!" "Of course she liked you, you were a goody two-shoes, but it was the cheeky ones she had a soft spot for, she always liked Fred.." Her father stopped then, walking away, not wanting to show his hurt. They rarely discuss uncle Fred, unlike her Grandmother, who always tells them of the twins' brave feats. After what seemed like an hour, the last of the older students made their way into the great hall, and Rose, who was pressed against Scorpius' torso, could breathe again. Scorpius, who had been standing rigidly against the wall, clearly uncomfortable about having Rose touching him, seemed to relax slightly.
They were paraded through the crowd of students, an extremely pretentious act, thought Scorpius, to the front of the hall, just in front of the teachers' table, where a rickety old stool sat, with a weathered, well-worn hat on top. The old woman, who Rose told him was called Professor McGonagall, the old witch, as she was known in his house, began to call out names; "Tilly Abbot" , a small mousy girl, who, as soon as she lifted the hat, was sorted into Hufflepuff, "Zach Bruno", a huge Slytherin boy, "Riva Charleston", a Ravenclaw girl, the list goes on and on. As he began to stare at the house banners, his worries from the night before began creeping up again. I don't want to be a loser Hufflepuff, what are they anyway, or a Gryffindor, I'd be disowned, and I guess Ravenclaw would be ok, but father wouldn't like it. Then again, do I really want to be in Slytherin? He thought, watching the gruff, oafish boys, in mucus green jumpers, cheering and grunting like neanderthals, whenever someone was sorted into their house. 'Scorpius Malfoy.' .... 'Scorpius Malfoy?' .... Scorpius felt a sharp pain in his side, and snapped back into it again. 'Wah?' 'You're up!' Rose had jabbed him with her elbow, grinning cheerfully. He walked up to the stool, feeling himself getting green. He had made his decision. His father wasn't going to like it, but he wasn't going to be in Slytherin. There'd be no way Rose would ever speak to him again, and he wasn't going to ruin what could possibly be his only chance at friendship.
"Not Slytherin eh? Well your father was in Slytherin, he was a great man, you know. Still no? right then, lets stir things up, I've not seen much happen since your father's year left, GRYFFINDOR." The hat's words were ringing in his ears. He had done it, he wasn't in Slytherin! He walked to the table proudly, but not met by loud cheers, as the others had. The hall were all shocked. A Malfoy. In Gryffindor?! Not to mention, looking happy about it?!! They soon forgot though, and he was congratulated by his new classmates, and offered a space on the creaking bench, next to a short, dark haired, Irish wizard, who was babbling quite loudly about Quidditch. “FINNEGAN BE QUIET OR MISS THE FEAST!” McGonagall boomed across the hall. A scrawny, yet quite handsome professor, in moss-green robes chuckled and whispered to the professor on his left, a slim, blonde woman, with blue robes with rather peculiar symbols on them, who smiled broadly and nodded.
The sorting carried on, until Rose and 3 other students were left. “Weasley, Rose.” Rose trotted up to the stool happily, she already had a lot to discuss with her family, a Malfoy, getting into Gryffindor! Albus had groaned at this, he wanted to be in Gryffindor, but he didn’t want to bunk with Scorpius Malloy, or whatever his name was, he wasn’t good at retaining much information. “Gryffindor!” Her stomach flipped, she got in to Gryffindor! She ran to her cousins to a large applause, although not as large as the raucous caused by Gryffindor when Albus got sorted into it. She didn’t mind though, she was in a house with Albus AND Scorpius! Wait, what? She didn’t care about Scorpius. How could she, he’s a pure-blood wannabe Slytherin!
'First Years please stand to the side whilst the other years enter the hall, first years to the SIDE please!' A very elderly, withered old woman shouted, with a high pitched, faintly scottish accent. As the older years bustled in to the infamous Hogwarts Great Hall, Rose, Scorpius and Albus were pushed against the old stone walls, still faintly scorched from the battle, 19 years previously. Rose recognised the woman as Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, and the whole school, at one point, from the descriptions her parents gave; "She seems like an old bat at first, all shrill & Scottish, but she's okay after a while" "Ronald. She was perfectly fine with me always, she didn't like you or George because you caused trouble!" "Of course she liked you, you were a goody two-shoes, but it was the cheeky ones she had a soft spot for, she always liked Fred.." Her father stopped then, walking away, not wanting to show his hurt. They rarely discuss uncle Fred, unlike her Grandmother, who always tells them of the twins' brave feats. After what seemed like an hour, the last of the older students made their way into the great hall, and Rose, who was pressed against Scorpius' torso, could breathe again. Scorpius, who had been standing rigidly against the wall, clearly uncomfortable about having Rose touching him, seemed to relax slightly.
They were paraded through the crowd of students, an extremely pretentious act, thought Scorpius, to the front of the hall, just in front of the teachers' table, where a rickety old stool sat, with a weathered, well-worn hat on top. The old woman, who Rose told him was called Professor McGonagall, the old witch, as she was known in his house, began to call out names; "Tilly Abbot" , a small mousy girl, who, as soon as she lifted the hat, was sorted into Hufflepuff, "Zach Bruno", a huge Slytherin boy, "Riva Charleston", a Ravenclaw girl, the list goes on and on. As he began to stare at the house banners, his worries from the night before began creeping up again. I don't want to be a loser Hufflepuff, what are they anyway, or a Gryffindor, I'd be disowned, and I guess Ravenclaw would be ok, but father wouldn't like it. Then again, do I really want to be in Slytherin? He thought, watching the gruff, oafish boys, in mucus green jumpers, cheering and grunting like neanderthals, whenever someone was sorted into their house. 'Scorpius Malfoy.' .... 'Scorpius Malfoy?' .... Scorpius felt a sharp pain in his side, and snapped back into it again. 'Wah?' 'You're up!' Rose had jabbed him with her elbow, grinning cheerfully. He walked up to the stool, feeling himself getting green. He had made his decision. His father wasn't going to like it, but he wasn't going to be in Slytherin. There'd be no way Rose would ever speak to him again, and he wasn't going to ruin what could possibly be his only chance at friendship.
"Not Slytherin eh? Well your father was in Slytherin, he was a great man, you know. Still no? right then, lets stir things up, I've not seen much happen since your father's year left, GRYFFINDOR." The hat's words were ringing in his ears. He had done it, he wasn't in Slytherin! He walked to the table proudly, but not met by loud cheers, as the others had. The hall were all shocked. A Malfoy. In Gryffindor?! Not to mention, looking happy about it?!! They soon forgot though, and he was congratulated by his new classmates, and offered a space on the creaking bench, next to a short, dark haired, Irish wizard, who was babbling quite loudly about Quidditch. “FINNEGAN BE QUIET OR MISS THE FEAST!” McGonagall boomed across the hall. A scrawny, yet quite handsome professor, in moss-green robes chuckled and whispered to the professor on his left, a slim, blonde woman, with blue robes with rather peculiar symbols on them, who smiled broadly and nodded.
The sorting carried on, until Rose and 3 other students were left. “Weasley, Rose.” Rose trotted up to the stool happily, she already had a lot to discuss with her family, a Malfoy, getting into Gryffindor! Albus had groaned at this, he wanted to be in Gryffindor, but he didn’t want to bunk with Scorpius Malloy, or whatever his name was, he wasn’t good at retaining much information. “Gryffindor!” Her stomach flipped, she got in to Gryffindor! She ran to her cousins to a large applause, although not as large as the raucous caused by Gryffindor when Albus got sorted into it. She didn’t mind though, she was in a house with Albus AND Scorpius! Wait, what? She didn’t care about Scorpius. How could she, he’s a pure-blood wannabe Slytherin!
Chapter 1: Those Eyes
1. Those Eyes.
"Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood." Her father's words ran through her head as she made her way through the busy train, to the compartment her cousins had occupied. Why would she marry such a snob? Scorpius Malfoy was the only first year on the platform who looked like he didn't want to be there, like he was too good for the greatest wizarding school on the planet! (it was in the world, then i remembered pigfarts ;)) She would not get along with the likes of him, she thought stubbornly, dodging a group of gossiping 3rd year Ravenclaws. She could see her cousins now, James was sat coolly in his seat, surrounded by Gryffindors, all of whom were gawping at her Uncle Harry, waving at her other cousin, Albus, who's dark head was sticking out of the window. Rose giggled and started walking faster, so she could say goodbye to her family before the train left. She was a few paces away when she bumped in to another first year. 'Sorry.' He muttered, his white blond head hung low. He was taller than her, but just as skinny, with long, lanky arms and legs. 'S'ok...you're Scorpius, right?' She replied, looking past him at her cousins, who were signalling her to come in. She smiled a little, and looked back, to be met by astonishingly bright, ice cold eyes. 'How do you know my name?' he frowned slightly, taken aback. Someone knew who he was, acknowledged him! 'Oh, my parents went to school with your parents..they, uh, they didn't exactly get along..' it was then that he realised exactly who he was talking to. 'You're a Weasley.' he looked down slightly, trying to hide the disappointment in his eyes. 'Yeah, I'm Rose. But don't worry, I won't judge you by your family, you can't choose them, right?' She smiled sweetly, trying to cheer him up. His only chance at a friend, and his family ruin it, she thought, sucks to be him. His mouth twitched a little, but his face remained neutral. The train jolted, and she desperately wanted to be back with her cousins, waving to her family, but she couldn't leave him looking so disappointed. 'Hey, why don't you come sit with me and my cousins? The other apartments are pretty much full, and they won't mind.' I hope, she added in her head. He looked up in surprise, a wannabe Gryffindor mudblood, asking him, a pureblood practical Slytherin to sit with her? 'Uh, yeah, sure, it does look cramped in the other ones.' They entered the compartment, to be met with groans and complaints from the boys. 'Ugh, why'd you let him in, he's practically a you-know-what!' 'Albus shut up, there aren't any more Death Eaters, why are you scared to say the words? Uncle Harry isn't.' With that, she remembered her family on the platform, and went to the window. Scorpius followed her, meeting his fathers eye just in time to see the disappointed look on his face. He turned and looked at Rose instead. Her Uncle Harry, "the saviour of the wizarding world" was smiling at her, with a wistful look in his eye. 'We'll be sure to write lots, to all of you!' Rose's mother and aunt shouted to them, as the train drove off. They all waved until their family was out of sight, giggling at Ron, who was waving a pumpkin pasty, which he'd managed to blag off of the trolley lady, at them. Scorpius had never experienced a family like this before.
"Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood." Her father's words ran through her head as she made her way through the busy train, to the compartment her cousins had occupied. Why would she marry such a snob? Scorpius Malfoy was the only first year on the platform who looked like he didn't want to be there, like he was too good for the greatest wizarding school on the planet! (it was in the world, then i remembered pigfarts ;)) She would not get along with the likes of him, she thought stubbornly, dodging a group of gossiping 3rd year Ravenclaws. She could see her cousins now, James was sat coolly in his seat, surrounded by Gryffindors, all of whom were gawping at her Uncle Harry, waving at her other cousin, Albus, who's dark head was sticking out of the window. Rose giggled and started walking faster, so she could say goodbye to her family before the train left. She was a few paces away when she bumped in to another first year. 'Sorry.' He muttered, his white blond head hung low. He was taller than her, but just as skinny, with long, lanky arms and legs. 'S'ok...you're Scorpius, right?' She replied, looking past him at her cousins, who were signalling her to come in. She smiled a little, and looked back, to be met by astonishingly bright, ice cold eyes. 'How do you know my name?' he frowned slightly, taken aback. Someone knew who he was, acknowledged him! 'Oh, my parents went to school with your parents..they, uh, they didn't exactly get along..' it was then that he realised exactly who he was talking to. 'You're a Weasley.' he looked down slightly, trying to hide the disappointment in his eyes. 'Yeah, I'm Rose. But don't worry, I won't judge you by your family, you can't choose them, right?' She smiled sweetly, trying to cheer him up. His only chance at a friend, and his family ruin it, she thought, sucks to be him. His mouth twitched a little, but his face remained neutral. The train jolted, and she desperately wanted to be back with her cousins, waving to her family, but she couldn't leave him looking so disappointed. 'Hey, why don't you come sit with me and my cousins? The other apartments are pretty much full, and they won't mind.' I hope, she added in her head. He looked up in surprise, a wannabe Gryffindor mudblood, asking him, a pureblood practical Slytherin to sit with her? 'Uh, yeah, sure, it does look cramped in the other ones.' They entered the compartment, to be met with groans and complaints from the boys. 'Ugh, why'd you let him in, he's practically a you-know-what!' 'Albus shut up, there aren't any more Death Eaters, why are you scared to say the words? Uncle Harry isn't.' With that, she remembered her family on the platform, and went to the window. Scorpius followed her, meeting his fathers eye just in time to see the disappointed look on his face. He turned and looked at Rose instead. Her Uncle Harry, "the saviour of the wizarding world" was smiling at her, with a wistful look in his eye. 'We'll be sure to write lots, to all of you!' Rose's mother and aunt shouted to them, as the train drove off. They all waved until their family was out of sight, giggling at Ron, who was waving a pumpkin pasty, which he'd managed to blag off of the trolley lady, at them. Scorpius had never experienced a family like this before.
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