Written for SnarkyAndProudHufflepuff for the Fic Exchange of Epic Proportions. I used the prompt 'midnight swim'
Written for lezonne's Duct Tape Competition: Dark Blue - write about something happening at night
Midnight
The whole castle knew that Potter had one of those Invisibility Cloaks. He bragged about it in the corridors on his way to class, in the Great Hall when he ate, and probably in the common room, too.
I would have killed for one of those, though, as I made my way quietly through the silent castle five minutes to midnight. I'd learnt the secret passages and where the prefects roamed five years ago when I'd first come to Hogwarts. I knew that in two minutes one would walk through the entrance hall, and that was why I stayed behind a large statue, waiting.
Sure enough, as the clock rolled over to three minutes to midnight a cloaked figure walked by, wand out and wearing a bored expression. I watched as she passed, and when I was certain she wasn't coming back, I crept further into the entrance, taking my own wand out.
"Alohomora," I whispered. The front door clicked open and before I knew it I was outside in the cool, fresh air of September.
Like I did every other night, I rolled my eyes at how easy it was to leave the castle when students weren't even supposed to be out of bed. Security at Hogwarts really had diminished compared to when my parents had attended. They seemed to think a simple Alohomora was enough to keep students in, and a slightly more complicated one to keep others out.
I'd worked out how to crack both three weeks into my first year.
Roaming the castle grounds at night was something I enjoyed doing. Being locked away in a dormitory with four other boys wasn't exactly the most fun one could have, and when I came into the crisp air there was something refreshing about being at school.
I would take a trip down to the Lake and just sit by the water with my feet dangling by the edge. Sometimes the Giant Squid would poke a tentacle out of the surface, and other times I would bring food to feed it. Tonight it was just me… well, at least I thought so.
A gentle light shone through the window in Hagrid's hut. As I quietly approached the water's edge I realised that tonight, I wasn't alone. The moon silhouetted the person's shape, but even then I knew it was a she. And was she… was she naked?
No, it was just the moon making it seem like that, I told myself. She couldn't be naked.
She was swimming in the water by herself, though, and I found myself blushing at the thought of finding a girl here… a naked one at that. Oh, the others back in the dormitory would hate me if they knew.
I approached carefully, not wanting to distract her. I sat on a rotting log and squinted through the night to see. And then her head turned to look at me and I almost fell off.
"What are you doing here?" snapped the girl's sharp voice. "Quit staring, will you!" She hopped out of the water, wrapping herself in what appeared to be a knitted sweater of some kind.
I turned my head, embarrassed, but it still didn't stop me from trying to catch another glimpse. It wasn't like I could see anything anyway.
"Get a good look, did you?" The girl moved closer to me and a flash of moonlight showed me the flaming hair of a Weasley.
"No," I said a little too quickly. "I didn't see anything." Now she was fully in my view, and of all the Weasley girls I could have caught swimming naked, it just had to be Rose Weasley, didn't it? The one girl I would have given my left arm to see like that, but she didn't sound too happy to see me there.
"Hm, of course you didn't. Not that there's much to see."
"That's not true," I answered stupidly.
"Ha! So you did see."
I didn't need to have seen anything to know that what was underneath that sweater was a pretty sight. She could have walked out in a hippogriff costume and looked good. I thought so, anyway. Apparently other boys at Hogwarts didn't agree.
"I sometimes come down here to swim. Not often… but it's nice."
"How come I never see you?" I asked as she sat beside me on the old log.
"You come here often?" she questioned.
"Almost every night."
"Well, maybe I just come every other night." She smiled wryly. For a girl who really wasn't that popular she did have a lot of confidence in herself. I liked that.
"Maybe," I answered, and I sighed.
"Am I disturbing you?"
"No… no… I just didn't expect to see you here, is all." I didn't particularly fancy sitting so close to a half-naked girl, either. Especially one who I thought was quite pretty. That was disturbing.
"I disturbed your privacy." It was a statement – as if she knew what I was thinking. "Well, I'm going back now before I get caught. I will be out of your way."
"You can stay!" I said just as she was about to get up from the log. I tried not to look as I caught some bare skin from the corner of my eye, but it was too hard to ignore. She glowed in the moonlight, and what I saw was beautiful.
Halfway up, she returned to her position, looking at me as if she knew. She always knew. She was so smart.
"No need to blush," she said humorously, not knowing that in the darkness I truly was blushing.
"Ha!" I tried to laugh, but it came out more as a nervous stammer. "In-in y-your dreams."
A silence befell us then. I had no idea what to say to her, and it seemed she, too, was lost for words. We'd never been alone before. We'd only sat beside each other in class when twenty or so other people had been surrounding us. It was strange when it was just the two of us. I strangely liked it.
I wasn't sure how long we had been sitting there for, but a beeping startled me from a reverie that oddly had Rose wearing a white wedding gown and me there as well.
"What's that?" I asked, jumping to my feet and staring around the empty lake. We'd been caught! I knew it! I needed one of those damn cloaks!
Rose burst out laughing, her whole body hunched over as she fought for breath.
"We'll have detention for the rest of our school lives!" I cried. There was no point keeping quiet anymore if we'd been caught now. Perhaps it was Professor Longbottom, and he'd go easy on us.
Rose doubled over now; she was practically rolling on the floor. Through breaths, she held up her wrist, and on it I saw a flashing green light that was coming from her watch.
"It's… just… my… watch," she breathed, stifling giggles. "Just my watch."
"What kind of charm is that?" I demanded, irritated now that I had once again made a fool of myself in front of her. I couldn't see why I cared so much.
"It's not a charm, Scorpius Malfoy," she said with a little more seriousness now. "It's battery powered."
I didn't bother asking her what a battery was. She already thought I was an idiot.
"It's telling us it's one o'clock," she continued. "Meaning we should go back before we really are caught. I don't really want a detention, do you?"
I shook my head, though if we had a detention together, that wouldn't be so bad.
We made to start walking back – together – until she suddenly stopped. My heart sunk. Of course, she was going to wait for me to go first so I'd get caught. I could see it on her face as she turned to face me. A mischievous glint in her eye, a sneaky smile that meant she was up to something. I don't know how I knew this, but I did.
"We should do this more often," she said.
"Do what?" I asked pathetically.
"Midnight swims," she answered as if it were obvious. "But I promise I won't be naked next time." She gave me a knowing smile, as if she knew that I didn't mind about that fact at all.
"Er, we'll see," I answered.
"Tomorrow night," she told me.
"Maybe."
"See you then."
I didn't have another chance to answer, because the night sky swallowed her, and finally – for the first time that night – I was actually alone.
I supposed I would have to wait until tomorrow night to see her again.
Apparently I like writing Scorpius in first person. This is also a bit different to my normal Rose, but this Rose just seemed to fit into this story better. I had a lot of fun writing this actually, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Your thoughts and reviews would be much appreciated. Snarky, I hope you enjoyed it, too!