Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a Slytherin shirt from Hot Topic…
A/N: Second installment in the "Havoc" twoshot…
So, yeah, hope you enjoy!
"Don't let him near the Astronomy Tower!" Liam whispered dramatically. "He may just jump off!"
Scorpius didn't even have a witty reply to his friend. He just continued stirring his cauldron desolately.
"Al! Help me out here!" He called straight across the room to Albus, who was working on the potion with his cousin.
"With what?" The young Potter paid no attention to Professor Slughorn's warning glance. He knew full well that, as Harry Potter's son, he wouldn't get in trouble.
Liam gestured toward Scorpius, who still hadn't looked up from either the textbook or the cauldron.
Al rolled his eyes, and pulled his wand out of the cauldron, wiping it off on his robes. "Take over, Rose,"
As Albus was walking toward him, Scorpius glanced up, and caught the object of his misery's eye. Rose squeaked, blushed crimson, and busied herself with the potion.
Scorpius groaned deep in his throat, and ran a hand through his hair.
"What ails you, mate?" Al leaned forward on his elbows at his friend's desk. He knew the answer as well as Liam did, but he knew talking about things helped Scorpius, if it was only two words from his mouth.
Scorpius glared at his friend. The bone-chilling look would have made anyone except for him, Liam, and Rose shrink away. "Guess."
"Oh Scorpy," He sighed, earning another glare for the use of the "nickname".
Liam grinned, unseen by Scorpius.
"Oh Scorpius," Al tried again, shaking his head pitifully.
"Go away, Albus," He said through clenched teeth.
"No sir, we're talking about this," With that, he maneuvered his body around, and hopped up, to where he sat on the desk facing Scorpius.
"We're in class," He hissed.
"We sure are," Al grinned at Liam, who was silently sniggering from behind.
"Professor Slughorn, none of these ingredients contains cyanide, do they?" Liam called to a very confused-looking Slughorn.
"And let's take this," Al pulled the wand out of Scorpius's hand. "I'm not sure if you can perform sectumsempra on yourself…"
Scorpius almost smiled at his friends' banter. "Albus. Go finish you potion with Rose," At that, he squeezed his eyes together, and groaned again.
"You're heartbroken, Scorpius. It's heart-wrenching, to see you like this," Despite his words, Liam's tone was bright.
A cauldron in the front of the room exploded. Al laughed aloud, but otherwise ignored the sudden commotion.
"Why don't you try to talk to her, Scorpy?" He asked.
Scorpius's eyes, rather than furious and freezing, were completely empty as he looked at Albus. "And you don't think I've tried?"
"Here, let me try that again." Al cleared his throat, sat straighter, and said, "Why don't you try to talk to her without being an arrogant, condescending prat?" Tough love. It actually worked with Scorpius.
He ran both of his hands through his hair, stopping at the back, where he gripped it so tightly that Al worried he was about to rip it out. "I… don't know how."
Liam looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. Though he sympathized with his friend, the idea of Scorpius Malfoy not being able to talk to a girl was hilarious. He just busied himself with finishing the potion.
"Just… just be nice to her!" Al didn't quite know how to instruct Scorpius, as he'd always been quite a hit with the ladies. "You must've done something right the other day…" A slightly devious smile played at the corners of his lips.
"Yeah. I took advantage of her," Scorpius grumbled.
"Oh, come off it. You know as well as I do that she wouldn't have done anything if she didn't want to." Albus felt like slapping Scorpius upside the head. He loved his best friend, but the whole pity-party was getting old.
"Albus, if you don't get back to your partner, it will be detention for a month!" Professor Slughorn yelled from the front of the room. The exploding cauldron situation seemed to be sorted out.
Al rolled his eyes and jumped off the desk. With a final pat on the back to his friend, he sauntered to his original seat. "Sorry, Professor Slughorn; I was trying to help a friend with something," The feigned innocence in his green eyes was always enough to win over the ancient teacher.
His whole figure seemed to jiggle in some way as he gave a hearty laugh. "No matter, m'boy!"
Al's sweet smile turned to an eye-roll as the professor turned his back.
"Right, so how far did we get?" He looked into the cauldron.
"What was that all about?" Rose's brow furrowed as she avoided the question.
Albus just looked at her.
Her face went pink. "What?"
"You know what it was about, Rose, don't act like you don't."
She went red this time, as she quickly glanced toward Scorpius. His shiny head was bent over the textbook, a crease between his brows as he read intently.
"You don't hate me, do you, Al?" She asked guiltily.
"No, I see your side of the story as well as I do Scorpius's. But, I do wish you'd swallow your pride for once and just talk to him," He shrugged.
Rose felt like she swallowed a ton of lead. Only Al could word things to make people feel so guilty…
"'Cause I know that the other day wasn't as 'caught up in the moment' as you're making it out to be," He whispered, so low that she had to strain to hear it.
She was so dark red that Al was sure she was going to explode.
He smiled at her blush, as he "absentmindedly" added an ingredient to the potion.
"Al, what did you just add?" She asked, panic slightly in her tone, as it began to bubble.
"Hm?" He looked to Rose from where he was having a silent conversation with Liam. "Oh, I… don't know." He grinned sheepishly.
"Al…" She looked at him dangerously.
"What?"
"You did that on purpose,"
"Did what?"
"Put that in here," She gestured to the cauldron, which was now at a rolling boil.
He looked curiously into the potion. "Sure didn't. In fact, I have no idea whatsoever what I added,"
His melodrama is what sold Rose on the idea that he planned this. "What. Did. You. Do?"
"ROSE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PUT THAT IN THERE!" He suddenly yelled, loud enough for the entire class to hear.
She looked confused and flustered at his sudden outburst. "Wha-wait, but I didn't—"
"Professor Slughorn specifically said not to put lavender root in there until after you stir it twelve times!" His eyebrows were about at his hairline in expertly faked surprise. He looked absolutely distraught.
"Ms. Weasley, Mr. Potter, do we have a problem?" Slughorn soon found his way towards the sudden outburst.
"Sorry Professor Slughorn, I'm just truly disappointed that our potion is ruined due to Rose's negligence."
Rose's mouth was in a perfect "O".
"Ms. Weasley, is this true?"
"Sir, I didn't—I swear, I don't know… what?" She was so confused that she thought her head was going to implode.
Behind Slughorn's back, Albus shot Liam a grin and a nod.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Weasley, but I believe that this can only be justified by a detention. Tonight, at eight, I think." The professor shook his bald head in blatant disappointment while cleaning out their cauldron with a wave of his wand.
Rose only stared. All of the students were staring at her in disbelief, except for Scorpius.
"SCORPIUS! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Liam's voice broke through the ringing silence.
"Not you too, Mr. Malfoy?" Slughorn began to sound like the tired old man he really was.
Comprehension dawned on Rose, and panic began to rise. "Al, no, please," She tugged on her cousin's sleeve desperately. He ignored her gladly, watching his entire plan pan out perfectly.
Scorpius's head shot up, sheer puzzlement taking over his features. "What?" He asked the professor and Liam, a crease becoming deeper in between his eyebrows.
"Why would you add that? Did you not just hear Professor Slughorn give Rose a detention for the exact same thing?" He was over-doing it. Slughorn was buying straight into it.
"Lavender root before stirring? Must be a pattern today, eh? You'll join Ms. Weasley for detention, then. Eight tonight." He tapped their cauldron, and it was suddenly empty.
Only Scorpius could manage to look dumbstruck at the same time he was giving a professor a razor-sharp glare.
Dread filled the pit of Rose's stomach like a splash of freezing water.
Scorpius glanced at Rose, and, for the second time, their eyes met. Rose and Scorpius both felt their hearts skip a beat. For the second time, Rose blushed and looked away.
Al and Liam exchanged a mental high-five.
"Al, why would you do that?" Scorpius demanded, pacing around their dorm that night right before his detention.
He grinned at his nervous friend from his spot lying on his bed. "'Cause I'm sick of seeing you all curled up in your sock drawer, mate,"
Scorpius paused momentarily to give his friend a "what?" kind of look, before he went back to pacing. "You just couldn't let her come around on her own time, no, you just had to not only ruin my potion—"
"Technically, that was Liam," He interjected cheekily.
"—but you had to get me a detention!"
"Exactly! It's just a detention! There's nothing to worry about,"
"She's going to try to curse me,"
"Merlin, you're a drama queen!"
A razor-sharp glare from Scorpius didn't even cause the other boy to flinch. "Albus…"
"Scorpius, listen. Though some… things… might have happened to, erm, complicate your relationship with Rose, you were friends before all of this." He sat up on the bed, and looked his friend straight in the eye.
"If by friends, you mean I was an arse to her and she still tried to talk to me…" He was disgusted by himself.
"Exactly. That's how you are with everyone, if you haven't noticed," He paused, with a affectionate grin, "And it's part of the reason people love you. Well, at least Liam, me, and Rose,"
Scorpius looked both touched and offended.
"Scorpius, my best advice is to just be yourself."
He looked skeptical.
"Your real self, not the one behind the front," He clarified.
Scorpius suddenly felt shaky.
"Don't worry, it's just Rose," Al hopped off the bed and slung his arms around the taller boy's shoulders with a slight bit of difficulty.
Scorpius scoffed. "'Just Rose'…" He repeated.
"I'll walk with you, come on, you're going to be late."
With that, they wordlessly made their way to the Potions classroom. With a final "Good luck" from Albus, Scorpius walked into the empty room, and took a seat at a table readily equipped with ingredients and a cauldron.
"Just the girl I was looking for!" Al's voice rang through the hallway.
Rose groaned. She was still quite angry at the boy, not to mention anxious that she was going to have to be in detention with Scorpius for however long it took to finish a potion. "Al, go away,"
"Is that any way to treat your flesh and blood?" He faked hurt as he walked towards her, and threw his arm around her shoulders. It was much easier to do this with someone shorter than he was.
She sighed. "What do you want?"
"To tell you to relax with Scorpius," He didn't beat around the bush. "He's not going to try anything, because, believe it or not, he's quite a shy bugger,"
She rolled her eyes at this proud tone.
"But seriously, he only wants to talk to you. He misses you," Al looked straight into Rose's eyes intently.
She felt guilty again. "Damn it, Al, you always make me feel so guilty," She grumbled.
"Sorry, love," He said, perfectly chipper again. "Now, you go… potion your heart out!"
She had to laugh at that. Al was completely insane sometimes.
He grinned, looking quite like a less-creepy Cheshire Cat. He dropped his arms from her shoulders as they reached the classroom.
"See you later, Al," She smiled at her cousin. Though she didn't know when it started, her hand was shaking as she opened the door.
Her heart, against her mind's wishes, skipped a beat as she saw Scorpius sitting at a table, reading the textbook again.
Feeling oddly numb, she sat down in the seat next to him.
He glanced up at her, with an anxious sort of look in his eyes. Rose blushed again, but this time couldn't find the will to look away. He had such pretty eyes…
"Both here, then?" Slughorn's booming voice cut through their strange electric current.
Rose sat up straighter, and looked at the teacher.
"Well, this should be quite straightforward. You can work together, but you need to re-make the potion you both managed to spoil earlier." He looked disappointed again. "Now, I trust you both to behave, so I'll be in my office if you need anything,"
Rose nodded. Scorpius just glared.
He was almost to his office door, the tension steadily increasing with every echoing step he took when he said over his shoulder, "And lavender root goes in after you stir." With a jovial laugh, he closed the office door behind him.
Rose was feeling incredibly squirmy and uncomfortable just sitting there awkwardly. She reached for a small silver knife, and began chopping up their first ingredient, which was a strange-smelling, bright yellow-green herb of which she couldn't pronounce the name.
He looked at her from the side, chancing a small smile as he watched her chop the herb with unnerving concentration.
Sighing inaudibly, he used what Albus told him as an opening line, if you will. "So, are we going to talk or not? Because, if you can recall, we were friends before…" He let the statement hang.
It took all self-control she had to keep a squeak from jumping out of her throat at the sound of his voice. It was cold, as always, but not as cold as it used to be. "What is there to talk about?" She asked, trying to keep things as casual as possible. She took Al's words to heart about him not trying anything.
He shrugged, relief washing over him as she actually responded. "Are we friends, then?"
She took a while responding. Scorpius, to try to distract himself from the fact that his heart was steadily dropping, busied himself with the potion.
"I… don't think we can be," Rose finally replied in an unsure tone.
He squeezed his eyes together. "Why not?" He shot, more sharply than he'd intended.
She didn't seem affected. "Well, because it's kind of like Lysander and me. We've been through too much for us to really be friends again," Her ears reddened, and she avoided his eyes.
"But I'm different than Lysander," He pointed out, pouring the next ingredient into the cauldron.
"Well yes, but not really,"
"I am," He said defiantly.
"Give me one reason why, other than the fact that we never dated." She paused, "And I swear if you say you're better looking…"
He smirked. She knew him well. "Oh, I am. But that's not a main reason,"
After rolling her eyes, Rose waited patiently for his explanation.
"You were bored with him," He said pulling his wand out of his sleeve and stirring the contents three times counter-clockwise, "You're not bored with me,"
These words both surprised and angered her. He was annoyingly blunt, but it was true.
"Plus, you'd do anything to be near me, even if it means tainting your perfect record with a detention," He smirked again, glad that he could stand to joke around her again.
"Oh, please," She fought back a smile, "That was all Albus,"
"Of course," He looked back into the cauldron.
There was another moment of silence, still tense, but more comfortable than before, now that they were speaking again.
"Will you smile?" She asked suddenly, breaking his concentration.
He looked at her, confused.
"I mean, you used to smile, after, well…" Her eyes darted anywhere but his. Swallowing her embarrassment, she continued, "If we're friends again, will you smile?"
He looked straight into her eyes, and fell in love over again when he saw all the bright, expressive emotions swirling around.
"I can try, if that's what it takes," His lips barely moved. The sight of her rendered him almost completely useless.
A soft smirk played at her lips, and she looked back at the textbook.
His heart pounded, as he felt the corners of his mouth stretching upwards again, unseen by her. He drank in her appearance, which was more comfortable than he'd seen it in a while. Her hair was falling like a curtain around her face, obscuring her view of the book, so she impatiently tucked it behind her ear. After a few seconds, it fell back down. Scorpius smiled at her frustrated expression.
Before he could stop himself, he reached his hand out, and pushed it behind her ear, as gently as he had the day he decided to finally kiss her.
Her heart pounded as she looked up at him with a slightly panic-stricken look.
He withdrew his hand, panic rising in him as well. "I—sorry," He bit his lip and began reading the pages, heat rising to his cheeks.
To his great surprise, she laughed quietly.
Face still tinged pink, he shot her a glare. "What?"
"I don't think I've ever seen you blush," She cocked her head to the side, a smile still on her face.
His racked his suddenly-Confunded-feeling brain for the proper way to speak. "Well, don't get used to it,"
"It's almost as nice as your smile,"
Although she said that with the same tone and grin as before, he could have sworn that there was a hint of pink on her cheeks as well.
"Why don't you believe me?" He blurted out, without really meaning to.
"About what?" Dread prickled her skin.
"About everything I said that day," He hated bringing it up when they were just becoming friendly again.
"Like which things?" She was just prolonging it to avoid answering.
His heart pounded again, as he readied himself for letdown. "Like that I love you,"
Her heart skipped a beat. The way he said that was so sincere, almost hurt-sounding. "I…" She bit her lip and looked down as she finally gave in to her conclusion, "I do believe you,"
His entire person brightened at these words. He sat up straighter, and he gave a wide, genuine smile. It didn't even matter that she didn't feel the same way he did, as long as she knew it was the truth.
When she glanced up, the expression on his face did nothing less than melt her.
"Don't think much of it," She grumbled, trying to get her pulse back to normal.
"I won't," He lied happily, turning the contents of the cauldron twelve times and then adding lavender root.
"How was detention?" Albus asked eagerly as his friend slipped into the dorm.
"Yeah, how was detention?" Liam suddenly piped up.
Al looked at him strangely. He'd been positive that his other best friend had been sound asleep until now.
A smile slowly stretched onto Scorpius's face.
"Good, then?" Liam asked carefully.
"Or are you being masochistic?" Al tried.
"She said that she believes me, you know, that I love her," Scorpius had an almost dreamy look in his freezing eyes.
"That's it?" Liam asked incredulously.
"No illustrious love confession?"
"No snogging until old Sluggy had to literally rip you two apart?"
"She just believes you?" Al looked disappointed.
"It's enough for me." Scorpius was still smiling the night's easy conversations replaying in his head.
"So," Al began, looking from Liam to Scorpius in slight disbelief, "All it took was you two talking in a detention for you to become friends again?"
"Well, she doesn't think we can be friends, because we've been through too much, but we're at least on speaking terms again, and she said we could try." He was perfectly happy about this.
"She's so easy!"
This received a slightly amused, slightly dangerous glare from Scorpius. "Superb choice of words, Albus,"
Al seemed to retract a little once he realized just what he said. Liam sniggered.
"That would be less creepy if I wasn't talking about my cousin," He explained.
Scorpius actually laughed.
"Scorpy, you're scaring me," Liam gave him a strange look.
"Is it so strange that I'm happy?" He asked, exasperated. He thought that this was what his friends wanted.
"Yes, it is," They bluntly replied in unison.
"Sorry, then," He unbuttoned and shrugged off his shirt, didn't bother changing his pants, and lay down in his bed.
"Liam, I think he's possessed. Did you hear about Voldemort coming back at all?"
"Al! I know what it is! The Polyjuice Potion!"
"Yeah! We just have to wait an hour, and we'll see who it really is!"
"Goodnight, Al, Liam," He fluttered his eyes closed, and went to sleep with a small smile on his face.
Rose Weasley, what is wrong with you? She asked herself, fuming. Though she'd been lying down in her dormitory for nearly an hour, she still felt wide awake.
This was so irrational it wasn't even funny. It was just scary.
Why couldn't she be one of the people who just left Scorpius alone after the first glare she received from him? Why did she have to view him as a challenge to overcome?
Why did she fall for him in the process?
She wanted to hate him so badly. There was nothing kind or sweet or charming about him… he was all haughty looks and freezing glares.
But there was something electric about his touch… something strangely warming in his frozen eyes when he looked at her…
And that smile…
She'd given in to him way too easily that day. She knew that. She gave him exactly what he wanted.
Because Malfoys always get what they want.
She thought she had been in love with Scamander. He was safe, and comfortable, and she knew that he would be there when she needed him. But she never felt fireworks when they kissed. She never got gooseflesh when he pushed her hair out of her face. Her heartbeat never raced hazardously whenever he simply smiled.
When they broke up, she felt a strange sort of high. Not an entirely good one, though. It was sort of like an upper-downer deal. On one hand, she was unattached. It was almost like stretching, when you've been lying down for hours. On the other, she felt like she must've done something wrong, that she was boring, or useless, or not good enough.
Scorpius helped to bring the good feelings above the bad ones. Even with simple, mundane conversation, he pushed over any negative feelings, leaving room for the positive ones.
Lysander was like a routine to her. He was someone that she saw every day for almost three years. Rose did care about him, still. She just found that she didn't much miss the feeling of him kissing her, or trying to pressure her into something she wasn't ready for. He was just something she was used to. Not having him around, she was sure, would be scary.
The day she went to his dorm, the day that changed everything, she had been crying because she felt like nothing. There was a strange void in her, where about a week previously, comfort in habit had been.
Scorpius kindly reminded her why she wasn't useless.
He wasn't nice; he never was. But he spoke the straightforward truth. As soon as she sat on his bed, and began to speak, never getting around to what she really wanted to confide, she knew it had been a mistake.
Just being near him caused her thoughts to run wild.
His words were double-sided. She could tell that from the beginning. The way he looked at her was different than he'd ever looked at her. But his gaze wasn't full of hungry lust, which she'd seen with Lysander many times before. It was something different, something more than just want for something.
When he asked how anyone could love her, she planned to take the opportunity to run away, before she fell completely.
The look in his eyes was what made her stay. It was so incredible, so raw, nothing like anything she'd ever seen in Lysander's eyes. She didn't want to put a word with the emotions she saw in them. She only wanted to think of them as a whole, as a look that somehow completely filled every crack in her heart, every void in her world.
The words he spoke hardly registered in comparison to the way he was looking at her.
Her skin tingled when he touched her. She felt gooseflesh when he pushed her hair out of her face with the gentlest of touches. When he leaned down and kissed her, Rose finally got her fireworks.
Even the simplest of kisses thrilled her more than Lysander's frantic ones could.
His mouth felt so nice on hers, all soft and warm. The shivers going up and down her spine felt wonderful. Rose knew that feeling could only be labelled as perfection.
That's when she had decided. The haze of teenage hormones helped sway her vote, of course, but when he was willing to stop for her, Rose could tell he actually cared, if only for that moment. She wanted more than she ever did with Scamander. The way Scorpius spoke, the way his hands were careful, as if she was made of porcelain, the way he would look into her eyes for approval every few seconds…
The almost sickly feeling of pleasure that coursed through every nerve in her body…
The way he whispered "I love you, Rose," right before she drifted into sleep…
The way she woke up to the sight of Albus's face, and realized just how big a mistake it had all been…
There was nothing concrete about Scorpius Malfoy; he had shown her that quite well. He could be freezing one second, and have that perfect expression the next. Honestly, this was probably just another mark on his bedpost.
The feeling of nauseating hurt that she felt was what kept her away for the next few days.
It was hard to ignore all of the beautiful smiles, the ones that caused her heart to split straight in two, but she somehow managed to stay away.
He lured her into the classroom, and all of the suppressed hurt surfaced again. She said things she didn't mean, things that she didn't want to believe were true. Rose didn't want to love him.
But all he wanted to do was talk to her. And from the time the first few words came out of his mouth, she knew it was hopeless. She couldn't stay away, physically or mentally. He was the only one, other than Al, of course, who could make her smile, or blush, or feel unmodified happiness.
The touch of his hands sent shivers down her spine, the kind that completely gave her away. The blush on his cheeks caused his handsome face to become almost inhumanly adorable.
Then he said that he loved her again. It hadn't just been something that he said when he was caught in the moment. It was true. Every letter he spoke rang with honesty.
And that's when she knew there was no turning back.
They talked about mundane things. School, Quidditch, friends, family…
It was the most exhilarating conversation Rose ever had.
The image of his face in her mind, his gorgeous smiling, blushing face, finally lulled her to sleep.
Scorpius woke up from a restful, dreamless sleep to the sound of hushed voices conversing frantically.
"… right, then after the Three Broomsticks…"
"… we just have to see if she'll go…"
"… you have your dad's cloak…"
"Good morning," Scorpius mumbled as he sat up. His back muscles felt tight, so he stretched in a theatrical manner.
"Oh, hello," Liam wasn't as good at playing innocent as Albus.
"What's this I hear about Rose, Hogsmeade, and an Invisibility Cloak?" He eyed his friends suspiciously. Both looked dead tired, and had dark circles around their eyes.
"Sorry?" The dark Slytherin's eyes went wide.
"You must be hearing things, mate. Want to go to the hospital wing?" Al stood up in an offer.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Just don't screw anything up, all right? We just started speaking again,"
"If I knew what you were talking about, it would be different," Al was scarily convincing. If Liam didn't look like a deer in headlights, he would have almost believed them.
"One: I heard you. Two: Al, you're too bloody good at looking innocent. Three: Liam, you can't act to save your life."
They both smiled at their friend. Al's was proud, drenched in mischief. Liam's was small, and sheepish.
"Well, shall we go to breakfast?" Scorpius got off his bed, and walked to his dresser.
The other two still weren't used to his abruptly good mood.
Suddenly turning towards his friends, he asked, his eyes slightly narrowed, "What day is it?"
"Saturday,"
"Is it, by any chance, a Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Sure is,"
"You know what?" He buttoned up his long-sleeved black shirt, leaving the top one undone, and smoothed out the collar. "I trust you guys not to mess this up," He met Al's eyes through the mirror at which he was standing.
The two scheming Slytherins exchanged a look, their eyebrows nearly to their hairline.
With a smirk, Scorpius proceeded to change into his black uniform pants behind his modesty screen, and ran a hand through his hair. It fell perfectly into place.
The other two looked at him with envy. Al miserably touched his own hair, which was sticking up in all different directions, per usual.
"So, are we going to breakfast or not?" His demeanor suddenly got frosty around the edges, as he began to put up his front.
"I suppose," Al mumbled, and quickly, with a lack of propriety, threw on his white shirt, Slytherin tie, and dark jeans. Liam went to the bathroom to change into his clothes, which exactly matched Al's.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Scorpius asked quietly as they walked through the halls. As usual, the three were some of the first ones up on a Saturday.
"Hogsmeade," The two chorused. Excitement and mischief were plastered all over their smiling faces.
"And you're 'not' coming with me, right?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I am," Liam's grin widened.
"Al?" He humored the two.
"Of course I am,"
Scorpius smirked knowingly. "Of course,"
The other two exchanged a slightly worried look.
Trying to keep his limbs from trembling with nerves at whatever they'd planned, Scorpius steered them towards the Slytherin table, where they sat down. The table was vacant except for the three and maybe ten others.
"Heads up, Scorpius," Liam muttered as he spotted a head of red hair standing up at the Ravenclaw table.
Self-consciously, he ran a hand through his hair. Al sniggered to the left him on the bench. He shot the young Potter a death glare.
"Move down," Scorpius commanded Liam, pure icy demand in his voice.
"Why can't Al?"
The deathly look on the Malfoy's face spoke more words than his mouth could.
Rolling his eyes, Liam scooted down the bench, leaving enough room for a relatively small person not seconds before Rose came bobbing up to them.
"Hello," She greeted them warmly, looking tired and lively at once.
"Hello," Scorpius said with a cold smirk at the same time Al grinned, "Hey," and Zabini grumbled, "Sure,"
"Can I sit here?" She gestured to the space on the bench.
Trying to keep his pulse normal, Scorpius only nodded as he reached for his goblet of pumpkin juice.
"You look tired," Al pointed out, spreading butter on his toast.
She blushed. "Didn't sleep well,"
"Studying?" Liam suggested.
Her cheeks became even redder. "No, just… couldn't sleep,"
Al smirked at Liam from across the two.
Scorpius took his opening. "Are you sick? You look feverish," He lied frigidly, and pressed his hand to her forehead. It was hot, but he knew full well that it was just from her blushing.
"No, I'm all right," Her eyes widened. Scorpius fought the smile that was pulling up the corners of his mouth.
His hand moved to her cheek, where he pretended he was still feeling her temperature. His pulse was racing.
She only looked at him. A strange sort of energy passed between them. Al and Liam could feel the tension, and only silently laughed at it.
"If you say so," Scorpius concluded disinterestedly, dropping his hand lightly back to the table.
Another smile was exchanged between the two Slytherins.
"So, Rose, are you going to Hogsmeade today?" Al picked up after the edgy silence began.
She looked at him, as if she wasn't sure what he just said. When realization came upon her, her glazed eyes brightened up. "Oh, I'm not sure. I may just go pick up some new things… quills and ink and such…" She shrugged.
Scorpius was hyperaware of the fact that her elbow touched his forearm as she reached for a slice of bacon.
"You should come with us, we're going," Liam attempted to make this sound conversational. It sounded awful and scripted.
This made her slightly suspicious, but she didn't say anything about it. "Sure, why not?"
Her warm smile, directed deliberately towards him, almost made Scorpius choke on his juice. If he wasn't so well-rehearsed at covering up his emotions, he might have had death-by-pumpkin-juice.
He stood abruptly, almost scaring the other three. "Right, well, I guess I'll see you later, then." He clenched his fists to keep his hands from running through her hair. It was particularly bouncy today.
Sparing no glance at his friends, he began to stalk out of the Great Hall.
Hearing quick steps behind him, he slowed, but didn't look back.
"Where are you going?" Liam asked, puffing up next to him.
"You two are obviously planning something, so I might as well be properly groomed if 'somehow' I end up alone with Rose," He shrugged, and did his public version of a wide, excited grin: a bitter smirk.
Liam, on the other hand, grinned widely beside him. "Of course. I'll leave you to that, then," Clapping his friend on the back, he headed back to the Great Hall.
Scorpius's heart was nearly bursting with excitement.
"You're watching him leave!" Al whispered scandalously to his cousin.
Rose, who was too preoccupied with the sight of Scorpius swaggering away, mumbled, "Hm?"
Albus smirked, and bumped her elbow, causing her hand to drop from where it was cradling her face.
Her reverie was broken. "Albus!" She said in a scolding tone.
"Don't stare at him if you're trying to make it seem like you're not interested," He advised her, one eyebrow raised.
She reddened. "I wasn't staring at him!"
"I must be seeing things, then, huh?"
She was suddenly very flustered, no intelligible words coming from her mouth.
"Rose, it's okay if you like him. Just don't lie about things," He shrugged.
"But I don—"
"Listen, Rosie Posie…"
She cringed, and narrowed her eyes at her abhorred childhood nickname.
"… He loves you. If you like him, you should at least give him a chance,"
"So maybe I fancy him… just a tad bit." Rose said this as if it were all hypothetical.
Al didn't expect her to come around so quickly. It took a lot of weight off his shoulders. "Do something about it,"
"No,"
"Why not?"
"You know what happened last time I 'did something about it'."
"He'd be willing to go slow with you."
"Yeah right, he's Scorpius Malfoy."
"He also loves you."
The finality in which he said this closed off Rose's throat from any retort she was going to make. She bit her lip, and flushed.
"What made you change your mind, anyway?" Al asked after a few seconds of silence.
She looked almost ashamed. "He… his smile is nice,"
Al couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"It's inhuman, the way your hair just falls perfectly in place," Al grumbled from the doorway of the dorm. Through his bitter tone, the hint of a smile came through. It was hard not to smile when you saw your best friend, the calm, cool, and collected Scorpius Malfoy, naked except for a pair of green boxers, having a near heart attack because suddenly none of his clothes looked good enough. He went through his wardrobe twice after he'd gotten out of the shower, his rejected clothing strewn across the room.
"Al, I have bigger problems than just my hair, right now," His icy façade was completely erased.
"Like what, your expensive, designer clothes that aren't good enough for humble old Rosie to see you in?" He plopped down on his friend's bed, having to move a pile of shirts out of the way.
"Yes." He said through clenched teeth, holding up two shirts.
Al smirked.
"Which one?" He thrust out the two shirts for Al's inspection.
Albus rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just wear what you had on earlier?"
"Because it looked weird," He dejectedly began rummaging through his full-to-bursting wardrobe.
"Well, it obviously got her attention, because she was staring at you all the way out the door,"
Scorpius straightened up, a small smile on his face, a new sparkle in his eye. "Really?"
"Yes, so unless you're looking for a pair of leather trousers or something, I'd recommend that you calm down. It's just Hogsmeade." Rolling his eyes again, he added, "It's just Rose."
Scorpius scoffed. "'Just Rose'…"
He pulled on the same clothes that he had on earlier.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, would you stop fidgeting?" Liam grunted to his friend, who was walking beside him.
Scorpius glared.
"I agree. I mean, if people would see you right now, they may think that you actually have feelings or something!" Al patted his shoulder playfully.
He glared more sharply. It might have chilled Albus and Liam's very bones if they hadn't been roaring in laughter.
"Uh oh," Liam's laughter was suddenly cut short as he saw Rose approaching.
Scorpius's breath began to catch.
"Hi guys," She greeted with a smile. She'd done something different in the time they'd been apart: she looked fresher, brighter. Her fringe was pulled backwards to a small bump, which caused the rest of her face to be more visible. Her eyes were lined on top with a dark, complimentary color that opened them up, and her eyelashes were darker, longer. The clothes she was wearing were simple, casual as usual, but they seemed to hang on her a different way. Her white button-up seemed to fit closer to her body, hugging her nice curves; her dark-washed, tight-fitting jeans seemed to somehow shape her legs in a way Scorpius never really realized. Above all, she was slightly taller, wearing short, simple black heel shoes. Though she might look a little dressy, the small touches she added made her outfit inexplicably Rose Weasley: the Ravenclaw tie, tied loosely around her neck, and the striped socks that peeked out underneath the hem of her jeans.
"Hi," Scorpius breathed.
Liam and Al smirked at each other. At Rose's blush, and Scorpius's breathlessness, they took their opportunity, and began prodding at the blond's side, saying low "oohs" in the most immature way.
Rose grinned and rolled her eyes, though her blush grew darker. "Al, Liam, really?"
"So sorry, dear Rosie," Al stopped immediately, much to Liam's disappointment. He walked up and looped an arm around her shoulders. "To Hogsmeade?"
Scorpius looked on enviously.
Rose nodded, and the two began walking toward the village.
They all walked easily across the grounds, Rose and Al and Liam all talking easily, Scorpius silent and broody as usual around people. He glared a hole in the back of Al's head. He still hadn't taken his arm off her shoulder. Damn touchy arsehole.
"Albus!" A familiar voice caused them all to stop and look around.
A pink-faced Professor Longbottom was bustling towards them.
"Oh great," Al said under his breath.
"Mr. Potter, you're coming with me," Neville had a stern look on his face, but, for some reason, his eyes kept darting to Rose then Scorpius, and back again.
"Why, Neville?"
"That's Professor Longbottom to you,"
"Why, Professor Longbottom?"
"I understand that you're trying to live up to your brother's good name, not to mention that your father had quite a disregard to rules, but de-potting all of the mandrake roots is completely unacceptable! If they were only a few weeks older, you realize that you could have killed me, or, even worse, one of the students?"
Albus smiled guiltily. "It was only a joke, Professor,"
"Either way, you're coming with me." He said this only a little too loudly. Scorpius immediately became suspicious, and locked his eyes on Albus.
"But Professor, we're going to Hogs—"
"I don't care where you're going!" Professor Longbottom was even redder in the face than before. "Sorry, Liam, Scorpius, and Rose, but I'm a few you're one down in numbers today."
That's when Al completely gave himself away. His eyes widened as he deliberately sent a warning look to Professor Longbottom. Neville's eyes went slightly wide as well, and he nodded only the slightest bit. Rose, of course, didn't note any of this, but Scorpius suddenly realized that this was all part of him and Liam's plan. Dread filled his stomach.
"Let's go, Mr. Potter. Don't think that I won't be owling your parents about this either," Neville put a hand on Al's back, and led him back up towards the castle.
Scorpius felt Confunded.
"… You still want to go?" Liam asked after a moment's silence.
Rose seemed to snap out of some kind of trance. "Sure, if you both want to." She shrugged, looking pointedly at Scorpius.
He eyed Liam with an I-know-exactly-what-you're-doing type of look. "I want to,"
"Off we go then," The should-be evil boy wrapped an arm around both of his friends, and they, suddenly less tense than they should be, headed off to the beautiful village.
Now that he knew exactly what they were planning, there was no more worrying for Scorpius. He felt completely natural again… or as natural as he could possibly be with Rose Weasley around…
They went to Zonko's, where Liam picked up a few things essential for him and Albus's daily lifestyle, and Honeydukes, where Scorpius was nice enough to buy Rose a pack of strawberry-flavored Sugar Quills that she loved so much instead of plain ones from Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.
"You lot want to go to the Three Broomsticks for a little?" Liam asked as they exited the magnificent candy shop.
Scorpius's heart stuttered a little as he remembered his friends' conversation from earlier that day:
"… right, then after the Three Broomsticks…"
"All right," He responded, his voice sounding strangely distant. He wasn't sure whether to be excited or nervous.
Liam grinned a little too wide to not take note of.
They ordered the tradition: butterbeer. The place was rather empty, as it was a fairly nice day out, and most preferred to spend it outdoors.
They sat in a way that caused the least awkwardness: at a square table, with Scorpius and Liam across from each other, Rose on the side of them. They sat in a comfortable-for-the-other-two-but-borderline-torture-for-Scorpius silence, sipping at their butterbeers, occasionally sending each other small smiles. In Scorpius's case, he only sent glares. And he only sent them towards Liam.
After their drinks were nearly half-empty, there was a sudden movement across from Rose. The chair moved backwards, seemingly leaving just enough of a gap for a rather thin person…
"Sorry, I moved it," Liam addressed the issue with a smile.
Rose just nodded, but Scorpius glared at the space. Though he couldn't see through it, he knew Albus had to be there with the Invisibility Cloak.
"I have to go to the restroom," Liam announced happily, standing up and walking away.
Tension in the air was thick. Scorpius glared at where Albus should have been, and Rose slurped the remains of her butterbeer, stealing glances at Scorpius whenever she could.
"Scorpius?" She said after a few seconds.
Looking away from "Albus", he gave her his attention.
"Thanks, again, for the quills," A small blush swept across her cheekbones.
He smirked, but tried to make it seem like a half-smile. "Don't worry about it; they're you're favorite, right?"
She smiled — Merlin, she's beautiful… Thought Scorpius — and nodded. "It was still a nice thing to do," She paused, and looked down for a moment.
Scorpius watched her curiously.
"I'm glad we're friends again," Rose was still smiling sweetly.
Half-smiling like her, Scorpius looked down into his butterbeer, then back up at her. He shook his head, looking amused. "Friends," He mused, his grin growing. "Rose, I love you, whether you want me to or not," He declared, with confident finality. He expertly masked the fact that his heart was beating a mile a minute.
She smiled into her butterbeer, too. "Scorpius, I—"
"Guys!" Liam suddenly bounced right up to their table, looking excited beyond words.
Scorpius withheld a groan, and let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Yes?" His tone was stone-hard and cold as ice.
"You'll never guess what just happened," He didn't sit down, but leaned forward on his palms. He was still fidgeting with happiness.
"No, I doubt we will, so why don't you just tell us?" Scorpius cut across him.
"Okay, so I was on my way to the bathroom, and I ran into Lila Brown!"
"And?" Rose asked politely.
"Well, as Scorpius knows, I've had somewhat of a thing for her for about two weeks now, and I asked her if she wanted to go to Zonko's with me, and she said yes!" He was bouncing again as he spoke so fast it took them a few seconds to process everything he said.
"Liam," Scorpius began, sounding tired, "You've already been to Zonko's,"
"I'll go again, if it's with her," He grinned proudly, and suddenly turned toward Rose, with a pleading expression on his face, "You don't mind, do you?"
She smiled up at him. "No, it's fine, go have fun!"
"Thank you!" He hugged both of them briefly, Scorpius rolling his eyes towards Rose over his friend's shoulder, causing her to giggle.
In record time, Liam was out the door.
Rose giggled as she heard the bell on the door chime. Scorpius smirked warmly at the sound of her laughter.
"Are you done with that?" He gestured towards her mug of butterbeer.
She looked down at it, like she'd forgotten it was there. "Oh, yes,"
"Do you want to go, then?"
She shrugged. "All right," Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a handful of money and began counting out coins.
"No, I'll get it," He suggested, reaching into his own pocket.
"It's okay, you bought me Sugar Quills, remember?" Her warm smile was enough to strike him immobile even she had been asking him to do something.
"Right," Nodding, he stood up, and pushed in his chair. Deciding to give Al a bit of a laugh, he pulled out the "empty" seat, gave him ample time to stand up, and pushed it back in, all without Rose noticing.
"Albus Severus, don't do anything you'll regret," Scorpius hissed threateningly.
"I'm not here; I don't know what you're talking about," Al's laughing voice came out of thin air.
Scorpius smirked in spite of himself.
Rose set down the money on the table, and stood up as well. They both stood awkwardly for a moment, before he gestured toward the door, and they began walking, the same safe distance between them as always.
"Where to?" She asked pleasantly, once they were out into the breezy outdoors.
He shrugged. "Shrieking Shack?" He saw the dilapidated house in the distance.
"Okay," They began walking again, in silence that was more comfortable than he thought it would be.
"It's not really haunted, you know," Rose chimed after they were about halfway there.
He looked at her peculiarly. Of course she would know this… "It isn't?"
"No," She shook her head, looking proud. The usual know-it-all tone she took in conveying information was replaced with a nice, conversational one.
"Then why do they say it is?"
"Well, there were screams coming from it, a long time ago, but they weren't from ghosts," She let her sentence hang mysteriously.
"Who were the screams from?" He pressed, enjoying the fact that she was speaking more than the actual words she was saying.
"A werewolf," She paused for effect. "Remus Lupin, to be exact. He was sent there for his monthly transformations when he was at Hogwarts, so he wouldn't hurt anyone, you know?"
He nodded in understanding. They reached the fence around the grounds of the shack. He leaned forward against the top rail, as Rose leaned backwards against it. They were closer than they had been when walking.
"People just assumed it was ghosts, and Dumbledore just encouraged the rumor, since he didn't want anyone knowing Lupin's secret."
"Because people wouldn't want there kids at school with a werewolf?"
"Yes, exactly," She nodded, and glanced over to him. Her heart skipped a beat. "But he actually came back to Hogwarts, years later. He was a teacher, when our parents were at school,"
"Really? My father never mentioned him,"
She smiled. "Your father probably hated him. Didn't he hate every teacher?"
Scorpius let a full smile break his front for the first time that day. "Yeah, all of them, except for Snape, of course,"
"And that's the one that my father hated,"
"Our folks are quite a depressing bunch, huh?"
"Not my mother. She had just about every teacher at one point or another," She rolled her eyes at her mother's overachievement.
"It must be hard, trying to live up to her name, huh?"
"Probably about as hard as it is for you to escape yours," She shrugged, but looked at him empathetically.
"It's why I'm like this, you know." He scowled, to reiterate his point, "Because it's what people expected of me,"
"Too bad," She sighed. "The real you is nice when he wants to be." She said jokingly.
He couldn't hold back another full smile.
"It's also quite funny, though," Rose began again, a grin on her face, "It's almost like an exclusive 'I Know the Real Scorpius Malfoy' club,"
He laughed aloud. Rose closed her eyes warmly at the sound. It was beautiful to her.
Suddenly, Rose felt some invisible force push her suddenly forward, causing her to stumble into Scorpius's front.
Scorpius barked another laugh, but still took his wins and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Really, Al? This is the best you've got?" He asked the general area over her head. His heart was pounding again.
"We only had one night, mate!" Al's voice came from somewhere to their left.
Rose finally understood the situation. She grinned at the thought of her cousin watching them the entire time.
He grinned. "Well, if you think this is going to work, then you're really as daft as I thought you—"
"Scorpius?" Rose asked, cutting his insult off. She abruptly had the ridiculous urge to do something…
He looked down at her, confused.
And that's when she stretched upwards on her tiptoes, one hand cupping his face.
And she touched her lips to his.
And he was so shocked that he stood static, all thoughts flying out of his head.
She pulled away, blushing crimson, her eyes wide as saucers. "Sorry, I—"
Scorpius blinked a few times, his expression completely blank. As soon as he realized what happened (which was an excruciatingly long moment for Rose), he blushed, and reached up to touch his lips.
He was inwardly laughing at himself. You git, you've gone all the way with her, and you're mesmerized because she's kissed you…
"I'm sorry, Scorpius, I'll just go back to—"
She was cut off as his warm lips pressed down onto hers. She wasn't sure if she was surprised or not, or if what she was feeling was just nervousness. Either way, she let whatever emotion was upon her guide her movements.
Their kiss wasn't as simple as the one before, but it wasn't as passionate as the ones they shared that fateful day. It was comfortable, and slow, and all-around amazing. All of their feelings were communicated through their lips, which were moving slowly together in unison. It seemed almost effortless for them.
They broke apart, both beet-red, when they heard a triumphant yell from someplace away from them.
Scorpius grinned again. It was, above any of the other ones he'd ever shown her, the most amazing smile Rose had ever seen.
Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around him, and laid her head in the crook of his neck.
"What made you change your mind?" He asked her quietly, the smile still in his voice.
"I was bored with him. I'm not bored with you," She whispered into his collar.
Scorpius's heart stopped completely before racing again. Those words filled his heart with a type of warmth that he could only describe as love.
She backed up from him, to look at his smile, and his mercury eyes.
He sighed contently, and ran a hand through her hair, the same way he did the day everything changed. She closed her eyes comfortably, the simple touch making her heart race.
And then he kissed her again, in the same tender, weak-knee-causing, electric way as he did before.
"I love you, Scorpius," She whispered, her breath fanning against his mouth as they broke apart briefly for air.
He pressed his smiling lips to hers quickly. "I know,"
"Liam!" Al whispered, motioning for his friend to come towards him.
"I can't believe you had to bribe Professor Longbottom, and I had to fake a date with Lila Brown for the two bloody—"
"Look!"
Zabini's jaw dropped open, before he began to chuckle and shake his head at once. "So how come he gets the girl he wants?"
Al smiled widely, before turning away from the intimate scene in front of him.
"Because Malfoys get everything they want."
A/N: It was almost two times as long as the first chapter… oops :D
That first line was something that I actually told my brother… he asked me why I was on my computer again, and I told him, "I have to finish the story quickly, before Scorpius throws himself off the Astronomy Tower!" Having never read the books, he had no idea what I was talking about. :D
"Curled up in your sock drawer"… watch "A Very Potter Musical"! It will change your outlook on Voldemort forever! (In the best way possible… he's quite gorgeous :D)
I didn't mean to make Scorpius half-naked as much as I did… and it took great restraint not to go into pages of detail… but come on… he's drool-worthy!
I hope this didn't seem to drag on… it was long, but not excruciatingly… I think a good bit of humorous banter from Liam and Al brightened things up a bit.
I also hope that the ending didn't seem too corny… but, really, I couldn't leave them all sad!
Thank you so much if you've read this far, as I am full aware that my A/Ns are ridiculously long…
PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review! Even if it's one word, or a novel, or a very descriptive death threat, they make my day :D
Stay classy XD
KitKat Pyrophobia