Note: I needed a break from my Dramione stories and Rose/Scorpius was a great outlet. This story alternates from Rose and Scorpius' point of view. One scene is in italtics, which is to represent a past memory. Enjoy!
Title: Another Game of Quidditch
Summary: Scorpius and Rose are not only the Heads of Hogwarts but also Quidditch Captains. The last Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor will determine which House wins the Quidditch Cup. Somehow, this event will change both their lives forever.
Characters: Using Wiki as my source, I'm trying to stick whole heartedly on the next generation. This is a list of characters I've derived from the previous generation. All Gryffindors are canon except 'Oscar Longbottom' (though Neville does marry Hannah), while the only canon in Slytherin is Scorpius.
GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM
Rose Weasley: 17, Head Girl, Quidditch Captain (plays Chaser), daughter of Ron and Hermione
Albus Potter: 17, Quidditch Seeker, son of Harry and Ginny
Hugo Weasley: 15, Quidditch Keeper, Rose's brother
Roxanne Weasley: 15, Quidditch Beater, daughter of George and Angelina
Oscar Longbottom: 16, Quidditch Beater, son of Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott
Lorcan Scamander: 13, Quidditch Chaser, son of Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander
Lysander Scamander: 13, Quidditch Chaser, Lorcan's twin
Note: In the previous year, James Potter was Captain and played Seeker. Therefore Albus played Chaser. Also, Fred Weasley (son of George and Angelina) played Chaser. This year, Rose recruited the Scamander twins to replace James and Fred.
Other notable characters in Gryffindor:
Lily Potter: 15, Gryffindor, Albus' sister
Lucy Weasley: 15, Gryffindor, Prefect, daughter of Percy and Audrey
SLYTHERIN QUIDDITCH TEAM
Scorpius Malfoy: 17, Head Boy, Slytherin, Quidditch Captain (plays Seeker), son of Draco and Astoria
Ivan Smith: 16, Quidditch Keeper, son of Zacharias Smith and Marietta Edgecombe
Helga Derrick: 13, Quidditch Beater, daughter of Millicent Bulstrode and Richardo Derrick
Sylvia Nott: 16, Quidditch Beater, Prefect, daughter of Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson
Gabriel Zabini: 17, Quidditch Chaser, Prefect, son of Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass
Celtus Bletchley: 15, Quidditch Chaser, son of Miles Bletchley and Elena Springwood
Arthras Flint: 15, Quidditch Chaser, son of Marcus Flint and Lydia Folan
Note: The Slytherin team has been unchanged for two years, this being the second year.
DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling!
Chapter One:: The Night Before
Rose
I took a deep sigh and stared fixatedly at my hopeless essay regarding the house-elves' one only rebellion in the 13th century. That would probably interest my mother. Actually, it was highly likely that she already knew about the rebellion. She seemed to know everything. Well, almost everything. Mostly, she couldn't read into my thoughts and I was glad.
Sighing in frustration once again, I looked back at my essay as if expecting words to magically appear and finish off the essay. Unfortunately, magic has its limits; it can't make up answers. Sigh. After five weeks into the term, I had regretted taking History of Magic for one of my NEWT subjects but it was too late to learn five weeks of information on another topic. Idiotic of me, I know. Even my father couldn't stop laughing when he learnt I had another year of History of Magic. He sobered up under one of mother's dangerous glares.
Accepting that I would not complete my essay tonight, I carelessly tossed it aside. Annoyed, bored and frustrated, I flicked my wand so that the dreaded essay would not be so darn close to me. I couldn't stand looking at it for a further few seconds.
It crumbled into a heap in front of the portrait and at that exact moment, Scorpius Malfoy decided to walk into the Heads' common room and – surprise, surprise – stepped on my essay. There was a satisfying crunch and Scorpius stood frozen, one foot on the essay and the other foot part way through the portrait.
For a few seconds, the two of us stared at one other and for some bizarre reason all I was conscious of was the hammering of my heart and the intensity of his grey gaze.
It has been like this lately. That I would feel completely out of sync when I was around him. It was as if something changed from the way we normally interacted in the last six years. Due to our families' history, we would always ignore each other and if forced to speak to each other, it would be politely civil with just the undertone of coldness.
But somehow, it changed. And it wasn't a change I welcomed. I didn't know how to act around him anymore. Scorpius Malfoy. Since when did everything seem a lot more confusing that it should? That I was starting to care about what I said to him so he wouldn't think I was some stupid witch in Hogwarts. That I was starting to notice how...nice...his appearance was.
This was not the time to decipher my changing feelings towards Scorpius. Actually, there NEVER will be a time for me to work out how I now felt towards the Head Boy. I forbid myself.
Gulping and moving my eyes from those transfixing grey ones, I looked pointedly at my essay.
"That's my essay," I said coldly. It was a surprise my voice didn't tremble. I forced my eyes back onto his but his face was as unreadable as always.
"My apologies," he said stiffly. He removed his foot from my essay, stepped on another part of the maroon carpet and continued his way into their Common Room. There was a slight thud when the portrait closed and I nearly jumped. I had been so absorbed at looking at him that I'd forgotten about the loud noise the portrait made when it closed. It was one of the few malfunctions in Hogwarts.
Muttering a spell, Scorpius zoomed my essay back into my lap, where I was sitting a lot more rigidly than necessary. I was glad I had left my hair down so it concealed part of my face. Unexpectedly, I had flushed under the gesture and now felt somewhat stupid. Why did I have to land my essay at the portrait's entrance where Scorpius could so obviously step on it?
And somehow, I was imagining that the flutter of the essay lending on my lap was some sort of indirect touch from him. When the essay landed on my lap, it had smoothed itself out of the creases and I could feel the coarse parchment against my bared knees. We had never touched and now, thinking of any part of him touching mine, made me shiver.
Peeking at the Head Boy from the corner of my eyes, I saw Scorpius was heading towards the small table that was always filled with numerous healthy foods.
Oh, and he was also wearing Quidditch robes. Why would he be wearing those robes if he wasn't training? He was sneaking behind rules to gain some extra practice! That scum.
Forgetting about that awkward moment, I stood up (the essay crumbled back onto the floor) and marched over to Scorpius, who was leisurely taking a bite out of an apple.
It was infuriating that he was my rival for everything. He was just as smart, stealing my friends away due to his 'charm', invited to as many teacher functions as well as excelling in Quidditch.
Well, that was about to end. Quidditch season would end tomorrow after our deciding match and I was determined to outshine him for once. And to practice now, when the grounds were out-of-bounds the night before the final, was not only breaking school rules but considered cheating. Something I did not tolerate.
"I didn't think you'd stoop this low," I hissed, when I was within the blonde's hearing.
I had been speaking to Scorpius' back but now he turned around, a look of confusion and annoyance colouring his features.
"By doing what, exactly?" he asked, sounding extremely annoyed and bored.
Somehow this enraged me further. How can he not know what he had been doing? Judging from his dirty Quidditch robes and his slightly flushed face, had he not been practising Quidditch? How could he fail in acknowledging his actions for the past few hours? Did he expect me not to notice?
"Training for Quidditch!" I snarled, taking a step closer. Despite how I was a non-violent person, I wanted to hit him, to wipe that detached look on his face. "As Head Boy, you should be aware of how many of the rules you're breaking. Firstly, you're not allowed to be outside your dorms at this time and I'm sure you dragged your whole team with you. Next, it's unfair to practise the night before Quidditch as your team will be advantaged!"
Pausing to draw in a breath, I glared up him.
Scorpius Malfoy was the last straw and all my bent up frustration was unleashed upon Scorpius. I was strained under all the NEWT work, perfecting my duty as Head Girl and meeting the expectations of a Quidditch Captain after James Potter graduated last year.
Scorpius looked down at me coldly, which did not quell my anger. In fact, it did the opposite. How can someone be so emotionless?
"Head Boy privileges," Scorpius answered through gritted teeth.
He attempted to move past me but I grabbed a handful of his robe. He flinched and I immediately dropped her hand. Ignoring the fact that I had impulsively grabbed him after over six years of non-contact, I ranted on. Scorpius was scowling down at me and his eyes gleamed menacingly.
"And I'm Head Girl yet you don't see me running behind the opponent's back to sneak in some practises because my team's so pathetic!"
"Pathetic?" Scorpius echoed, looking disgusted and dangerous. "If my team's so bad, you have nothing to worry about, do you? So what if we get some extra training if Gryffindor's going to flatten us like they have for the past four years?"
Unconsciously, I took a step back, staring up at him with wide-eyes. My heart was still beating erratically but this time it didn't have anything to do with anger. It was more along the lines of disbelief and incredulity.
I couldn't recall the last time Scorpius had ever yelled at me. In fact, I couldn't recall him ever yelling at me or me yelling at him. And to add to all this confusion, I was not one who loses my anger easily. Tonight was becoming a lot of firsts.
"That was when James was captain," I muttered with a sigh. I no longer felt angry but tired. I couldn't wait for all this to be over: exams, the anticipation of Quidditch's final, graduating.
And at the same time, I was terrified. Hogwarts had been a sanctuary, where my main concern was passing exams with commendable results. What was I supposed to do in the real world?
Taking another deep breath, I looked back into those storm grey eyes. Scorpius was just as unreadable as always.
"I'm sorry," I heard herself mutter, my cheeks colouring at the words. I was apologising to Scorpius. Another first. "Slytherin is not pathetic; I have never seen your team in such a fine form."
Another awkward silence.
"Uh, so good luck for tomorrow's match," I added quickly. Unable to look at him, I made my way back to the sofa and picked up my useless History of Magic essay.
After a few seconds, Scorpius had tentatively taken a seat next to me. I immediately stiffened and pretended to scan my essay for errors, even though there were only four lines written.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about practising tonight," Scorpius murmured so quietly, it was difficult to hear. "I should've told you about my intended training as you could also have trained tonight if you wished."
I waited to see whether he would continue to talk but he had stopped talking. I shifted uncomfortably on the plush sofa, careful not to look at him.
The tension and awkwardness between us increased ten-fold. Since when did Rose and Scorpius ever apologised to one another?
"I'm heading for the showers...so if I don't see you until the match, good luck also," Scorpius said quietly.
I continued to stare at my essay, thoughts whirling around in my head and colliding with one another. Was I supposed to thank him, even though the following day, we'd be snarling at each other above the grounds? Ignore him like I had been for the past few years, even though in the last five or so minutes, I had spoken to him more than I had my whole life?
Deciding to choose the nobler path, I turned to thank him, only to find that he had gone.
Scorpius
I wondered whether it would be considered cowardly to go straight to my room after the shower. That way if that red-haired wonder was still in the Common Room, I would not have to face her.
Truth be told, I was starting to fear her. She was practically level with me in everything and now...I had an unpleasant feeling that she was imprinting my whole mind and body under her command.
Lately, I have started to notice things about her that would disgust my fellow Slytherins. How her laugh sounds sweeter than any song, how a small dimple forms when she smiles, how she would tug unconsciously on her hair when she was worried, how she looked hesitant and would bite her lower lip before discharging detentions.
Merlin have mercy upon my soul. I sounded like some obsessive, creepy, pathetic Hufflepuff. I wasn't Sorted into Slytherin only to act like an inexperienced teenage boy in front of a Gryffindor.
Glaring at my reflection in the mirror so I could wipe away that dopey look that did not suit my face, I decided to go back into the Common Room. To be honest, my shower had only lasted approximately five minutes and I spent the next twenty minutes deciding whether to return to the Common Room or not. Pathetic, I know.
The Head quarters considered of the Common Room and a long staircase that lead up to the bathroom, which unfortunately we had to share. Halfway to the bathroom, was a flat platform with two doors facing one another; one for the Head Boy and one for the Head Girl. And like the House quarters, the Head Boy was not allowed in the Head Girl's Room without permission.
Cautiously descending down the stairs back into the Common Room, I wondered what I would find. Would Rose go to sleep early to prepare for the match tomorrow? Would she still be attempting to take another jab at that essay? I had glanced at her open text books and it seemed like she was writing for History of Magic. Go figure.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I realised Rose was still awake as I could see her head barely peeking from the sofa.
Like all Weasleys, Rose had a trace of redness in her hair. But hers was unique. It wasn't dark carrot-red like her brother's so that it looked like a dark orange carpet plastered on top of his head. Rose was a light strawberry blonde so that sometimes her hair looked more blonde than her family inheritance of carrot-red hair.
It also made it easier to identify her when she was surrounded by her red-haired cousins.
But gosh, Rose was absolutely tiny; it was sometimes hard to spot her if she was standing with her cousins. I was around six feet and Rose barely reached my shoulder. Somehow her smaller frame made me feel...no, I was not going to analyse my feelings over Rose. It could jeopardise the match tomorrow and I had enough of Gryffindor winning Quidditch Cup, since James Potter was made Captain in his Fourth Year.
Frankly, I thought there were too many Potters and an unhealthy amount of Weasleys in the school. It made it difficult to work out which 'Weasley' one was talking about not to mention all the confusion in commentating in Quidditch. Differentiating from A. Potter to J. Potter was annoying enough but by saying either 'R. Weasley', 'H. Weasley' or 'F. Weasley' (Fred, who had graduated the same year as James Potter as Fred 'intentionally' repeated his Seventh Year to further promote his father's merchandise) was simply overkill in terms of confusion, as sometimes it was hard to distinguish them from their red robes to their red hair. To make matters worse, James Potter recruited Roxanne Weasley into the Gryffindor Team, adding another 'R. Weasley'.
But soon, Lily Potter became the commenter and decided to call her cousins or her brothers by nicknames, rather than surnames. It eased a lot of confusion but it still annoyed me quite a fair bit.
During last's year final where Slytherin lost to Gryffindor by almost 200 points, there was one memorable commentary by Lily Potter that was still etched in my brain...
"Oh, there goes my brother! Um...James, not Al. He must've spotted the Snitch! But Malfoy had spotted it first, James must hurry to catch up...Both teams are watching their Seeker – wait, except for Zabini. He's attempting one last throw of the Quaffle...Nott trailing close by to – WATCH OUT, ROSIE!"
My fingers were merely brushing the Snitch and I could feel the powerful gush of winds, indicating that James Potter was closing in quickly.
But when I heard Lily's scream, I turned sharply on my broom to watch the hassle, all thoughts on the Snitch disregarded. James, who was hurtling at top speed towards the Snitch, ran into me and we collided heavily, both of us swearing fervently.
As my broom was spinning wildly, the whole stadium was catcalling.
For a split second, I had thought it was due to the collision between me and Gryffindor's Seeker but Lily's urgent, tearful voice was louder than the crowd's.
"Even both Seekers look baffled as Rose lies on the ground...Oh, I can't stand to watch...Thomas please take over commentating..."
Ignoring the painful throb in my forehead and how my vision was spinning unpleasantly, I strained my eyes onto the bottom of the grounds.
I had realised other Quidditch players had paused in the game and were diving to one particularly spot. Rose.
I couldn't see her as her team circled her and my team watching (quite pleased) from above but I needed to have a closer look. Gritting my teeth against the last echoes of pain in my head, I dived towards the Gryffindor team.
I was immediately blocked by Roxanne Weasley and Oscar Longbottom. Both were white in the face but looked furious.
"Sod off, Malfoy," Roxanne hissed warningly. "This is none of your business."
At that moment, James Potter was heading towards us, finally recovering from our collision.
"What happened?" James asked frantically. His hair looked wild and his face was also white except for the red mark on his forehead, where our heads had banged.
"It's not good," Oscar said grimly.
Roxanne and Oscar parted to allow room for their Gryffindor Captain to survey Rose.
And I caught a glimpse and my face was surely as white as Gryffindor's team.
Rose was moaning unconsciously on the green grass, her small frame sprawled in an unnatural position. And the blood. So much Merlin-damned blood. Some part of her face was spurting blood that even when the Medicinal Witch used 'Scourgify' on her face, it was covered in blood once again after a few seconds.
Thinking I would be sick and the image scarred into my memory, I flew back to my awaiting team. All of them looked quite pleased – especially Sylvia Nott – except my cousin, Gabriel Zabini. He looked slightly disturbed.
"Was it you?" I demanded my girlfriend, Sylvia.
Sylvia tossed her long mane of black hair behind her, a look of triumph on her features.
"Of course," she said in a sugary-sweet voice. She blinked her pale blue eyes at me (a completely different shade compared to Rose's) as if expecting praise.
"That's a foul," I heard myself splutter incredulously. "You cannot hit a player in the face!"
"Actually, it isn't," Gabriel said from my left. "Beaters can hit any player from the opposing team."
I glared at my favourite cousin, despite how he was only telling the truth. Every time I blinked, I could see Rose's helpless bloody body.
"They'll get a penalty and we're already losing by sixty," I said darkly.
"How can they if I didn't commit a foul?" Sylvia asked sweetly.
I had looked at her pretty face – yes, she was incredibly pretty like most Purebloods – and wondered how I could have seen something in someone who was so obviously callous.
I scowled at Sylvia Nott, who looked the least bit affected; in fact she was giggling and whispering animatedly into Ivan Smith's ear, which caused our Keeper to smirk.
Yes, Sylvia was a flirt.
Ignoring my team, I flew to Madam Hooch to ask what would happen. She was snapping furiously over the Gyrffindor's demands for a penalty. When I neared them, it sounded like the Gryffindors were pushing for five penalties.
Those savages.
But when I thought about Rose, and I was sure I could hear her whimpers, I immediately sobered.
"What's going to happen?" I asked quietly, when I neared them. The Gryffindors who were shouting at Madam Hooch – Fred Weasley, Roxanne Weasley, Albus Potter and Oscar Longbottom – all turned their heads and simultaneously scowled at me.
"Nothing," Madam Hooch simpered, turning her hawk-eyes sharply at the Gryffindors who started to voice their anger once again. "Miss Rose Weasley will be taken to the Hospital Wing and we shall resume the match."
Somehow this news must have reached the crowd because the red and gold were roaring with displeasure until McGonagall threatened to have them thrown off the pitch. They quietened down but hisses were still heard from their side.
Meanwhile, my crowd was cheering so damn loud that McGonagall had to threaten the sea of silver and green too. The Slytherins were still gloating – probably believing that we will win after dispatching one of the best Chasers in the Gryffindor Team.
We didn't. Gabriel and Arthras Flint managed to shoot in two more goals, before James Potter caught the Snitch.
The crowd in the stand seemed to reverse roles; the Slytherins were swearing while Gryffindor erupted in cheers, though not as passionate as normal probably due to their concern over Rose. The Gryffindor Team acknowledged their House's support before flying towards the Hospital Wing. They were stopped midway when Madam Hooch told them they could not travel any further with brooms.
Sullenly, while most my teammates were spitting angrily onto the ground, I went back to the change rooms. It was at that moment that I realised the slim chance that I would ever win the Quidditch Cup as Captain. I was also aware all the grief my House will give me.
I returned to the Slytherin Quarters late that evening, hoping most people will be in bed as there was nothing to cheer about. I was right. Those who were still awake shot me looks of disgust.
I asked Sylvia whether I could speak to her privately. She agreed although there was a slight sneer on her face as if it was my fault we lost.
That was when I broke up with her. Ever since that day, I've been single.
Rose
For the past half hour or so, I had concluded that there was something completely wrong with me.
Reason? Ever since I had thrown my essay aside I knew that there was no possible way that I could finish it. So why was I still sitting here aimlessly?
Well, because some part of me wanted to see whether Scorpius would return. I told you there was something wrong with me.
Glancing at that clock, I deduced that I waited long enough and that Scorpius was probably already in bed if he hadn't return. After all, what guy needs to take a shower for that long?
With a flick of my wand, all my books closed and stacked themselves on top of another. Grimacing at the thought of carrying all those books, I decided to take the first two books and grabbed unused parchments and the quills.
When I turned around from the sofa, I almost dropped all that I was holding. Scorpius was leaning on the wall at the foot of the stairs with a slight frown.
And dear Lord, I was blushing. I didn't know how long he had been standing there and suddenly I was conscious of how much of a mess I must look.
My hair was surely messy from all the times I ran an impatient hand through it. I was sure my mascara was smudged (I have never mastered the make-up spells and since mum never uses them, I felt a bit silly asking her), probably making my eye looked more bunged than necessary.
In contrast, Scorpius looked...perfect. His hair was still damp, appearing a light brown compared to his usual white-blonde hair. His hair was sticking up in directions as if he had just ran a towel in it, yet he still looked like some runaway model.
He was wearing black tracksuit pants and a pale blue tank top that not only displayed his wonderful muscular arms but brought out the flecks of blue in those grey eyes, which were only visible under certain light conditions. Like now.
My gosh, he was incredibly good-looking. And I was starting to sound like those girls who swooned in his presence.
"See something you like?" I shot out without thinking. Somehow realising he looked too damn perfect had made me tarty.
Scorpius raised an eyebrow, an incredible feat I wanted to learn. But right now, it was an annoying one.
"Need help with those?" he asked back, jerking his head at the remainder of books on the table.
I looked at him incredulously, my fingers curling tighter over the books I was currently holding. Since when did he ever try to help me?
"No," I replied coldly.
I hesitated. Scorpius had not moved from his spot and neither had I. There was no way I could get to my room with half his body blocking my way. And judging from his expressionless face, I doubted he would move any time soon.
"Are you still mad because of the extra training?" Scorpius asked, only the slightly crease appearing between his eyebrows.
No. I had forgotten about that little dilemma. Instead, I was thinking about how strange it was that Scorpius and I had apologised to one another, the time I was wasting on my essay and, when I just saw him after the shower, how...good-looking he was.
The last thought was what made me mad. Not that he needed to know.
"Among other things," I replied. It wasn't completely a lie.
"If it makes you feel any better, we only trained for half an hour," Scorpius added.
I looked up at him accusingly. Yes, even though he was a few metres away, I still had to look up because I was that short.
"Then why did you return so late?" I asked sceptically.
And I swear on Merlin's beard that Scorpius turned the slightest pink. Suddenly, I felt as though I was thrown into ice-cold water, eliminating any anger I had. Scorpius was with a girl. Enough said. Enough known.
"Never mind," I said frostily. I was cold now; very, very cold. "Excuse me."
But Scorpius did not budge and I was not going to move towards him if I was going to face him where he would be invading my personal space.
"Before my team arrived for the scheduled training, I was practising alone. I was thinking about last year's match. Between Slytherin and Grffindor."
Every retort was on the tip of my tongue but being brought up with precise etiquette, I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. He could be telling the truth.
"What about it?" I asked nonchalantly.
What part about it? How Gryffindor won by 190 points, guaranteeing us not only winning the Quidditch Cup but also the House Cup? How his ex-girlfriend smashed a Bludger into my face and therefore, I probably only played for less than ten minutes? Actually, as if he was thinking about me. Just because I was thinking of him.
"It was memorable," Scorpius said grimly. He looked down, his long eyelashes shielding his emotions. But then again, I could never tell what he was thinking.
"Really?" I said sarcastically. "The match was one of the shortest matches in the year; I don't know what would make it stand out that much."
"Yes, you do."
I hesitated as he raised his eyes back to mine. He had the same intensity as always but there was something else in those fathomless grey eyes. Pain.
Was he thinking what I was thinking? How I ended up in the Hospital Wing half-conscious? That was what my House was mostly remembered aside from our thrashing over Slytherin about but why should it matter to him?
"Oh well," I said coolly, ignoring the irregular beating of my heart. After all, Scorpius and I could be talking about completely different topics. "It was last year. Long gone and forgotten."
I grinned up at him; pretending that I was saying some sort of witty joke. But the smile felt forced and I was sure I was just stretching my mouth unattractively.
"I haven't forgotten and I doubt anyone has," Scorpius replied. He straightened up and walked past me, grabbing at the remainder of my books before I could utter a word. "What Sylvia did was uncalled for."
I was speechless and I watched Scorpius stride past me with my equipment. He made his way to my room without making another word. Gulping, I followed him.
"It was within the rules, I mean, there's a possibility she just can't aim," I called after him. I had no idea why I was defending Sylvia but I felt like I was on the verge of discovering something. And if I keep prodding Scorpius, perhaps I'll find out why...
"You and I both know that's not true," Scorpius muttered.
True. Sylvia has never missed a target. Ever.
I nearly ran into Scorpius' lean back when he suddenly stopped outside my door. I frowned, confused and a bit flustered at our close proximity. I wondered what would have happened had I not stopped in time...
"I can't go in," he said, a slight annoyance colouring his tone. "The rule about boys unable to go into girls' room."
"Unless I invite you in," I pointed out. I went to open the door handle but realised I wouldn't be able to without brushing up against him. "Uh, Malfoy? Can you – "
I froze when Scorpius looked over his shoulder so that our faces were inches away. And he was still impossibly perfect up close. Damn him. Did he not know what he was going to every girl's heart? Mine included?
Only the slightest stiffening in his back indicated that he noticed that our situation was not entirely pleasantly. Wordlessly, he turned back around and took a few more steps on the stairs to allow me room to open the door.
Glad to do something, I hastily opened the door, walked in and dumped my books on the bed. Then I remembered that Scorpius was still outside.
Swallowing, I poked my head out the door and saw that Scorpius was still in the same position except he had turned back around so I could see his face.
"Come in," I invited before going back to me room. In a few seconds, Scorpius entered looking the slightest uncomfortable.
"Just put them anywhere," I called out, while Scorpius did a quick scan of my room.
Scorpius had never seen my room before and somehow I felt conscious once again. Being Head Girl, my room was already decorated with the school's finest furniture but we were always given options to make the room however we wanted it.
Hence, why I had various photos – both Muggle and Magical – plastered on the wall alongside three different Quidditch Team posters as I had three favourites instead of one. Also, I had a few plush Muggle toys on my bed, presents from my Muggle relatives and friends.
And probably extremely strange to a Pureblood as Scorpius was frowning at my plush puppy.
"What did you do to that dog?" he asked, sounding slightly shocked.
"It's a toy," I explained, hoping I was not blushing. From dad's side, I witnessed how different Wizarding toys were. "It's not real. Just made out of cotton batting and material."
Scorpius was looking at me as if I had declared I wanted to marry Filch.
"Muggle stuff," I mumbled. I picked up the plush dog toy and held it out to him. "It's soft and cuddly. Not that I cuddle it anymore...or ever. It's just decorative stuff."
Scorpius was eyeing the toy with great distrust. I just hoped he didn't understand any of my rambling.
"Look," I said impatiently. Without thinking, I threw the toy at him.
Several things happened. Firstly, Scorpius was still holding my books so he dropped them heavily to reach for his wand. With the skills of a Seeker, he had his wand in his hand and cast Deprimo on my poor plush toy. It burst at the seams and the two of us were suddenly covered in cotton batting.
Scorpius made an uncharacteristic sound – somewhere between a squeak and a squeal – and was trembling as he looked at all the white cotton covering him.
Realising he was panicking and would probably Curse me if I didn't resolve the problem, I cast Scourgify on his clothing so all the cotton vanished. All that remained was the brown cotton material made from the toy and the remainder of the cotton padding on me and on various articles in my room.
Scorpius had calmed down in a few seconds but in the next second, he looked furious. He glared at me with such intensity all I could do was stare at him in shock. I had never seen Scorpius angry and he had never shown so much anger in his life.
"You must think you're so damn hilarious," Scorpius hissed, his pale cheeks colouring. "Let's see who's laughing after our tomorrow's match."
I stared gobsmacked. Of course the situation was quite funny to anyone watching. Scorpius had looked ridiculous covered in white fluff yet endearingly...cute. But I hadn't laughed as I was too concerned trying to calm him down. And apparently, that was one correct choice as if I had laughed, who knows what he would've done.
"It was just an accident," I replied, still slightly wounded at the anger flaring out of him.
"Just like it was an accident when Sylvia smacked that Bludger into your face," Scorpius spat. With a venomous glare, he strolled out of my room, slamming my door so loud, the sound vibrated through the walls.
I stared at the closed door confused, shocked and in disbelief. All those times I wished Scorpius would show some sort of emotion, I take it back. It was frightening. The way his grey eyes blazed up in a storm. All directed at me.
And for some reason, a small tear trickled out of the corner of my eye and down my cheek.
Scorpius
I was furious. I felt utterly and completely stupid and foolish.
Under Merlin's unwise name, I had decided to apologise to Rose for Sylvia's action like it was my fault.
And I walked into her room only to find she was unleashing some sort of Muggle artefact on me. How did she expect me to react? Overjoyed that she was throwing a motionless dog at me? My grandparents were right in saying that Muggles were savages as even though Rose was a Halfblood, she was definitely tainted by Muggles.
Not to mention her witnessing me in a once-only vulnerable state. Urgh. Even the word 'vulnerable' made me feel pathetic. She had reduced me to a state that I was actually afraid of those white cloud-like substance.
As I laid in my bad seething and staring at the ceiling, I vowed that Slytherin will win tomorrow.
And I will finally beat Rose Weasley and get her out of my system.