It's Just A Dinner

It was a very bright day. The summer solstice had barely passed but already it felt as though it was the middle of August—or maybe someone had casted a Heating Charm on the Hogwarts Express. Or maybe the rumours of Muggles altering the ecology of the world were true. It was bright and fiery, period.

Scorpius felt far from it. He felt he was riding a train to his doom, actually.

The compartment was too silent. Rose had kicked Albus and the Scamander triplets out earlier, telling them to play Exploding Snap somewhere else or, better yet, give James a heart-warming graduating gift of the explosive and/or beastly kind. It had been a rather long time ago, so apparently they chose the former. A pity, because Scorpius did think that the eldest Potter deserved something for all the things he had put Scorpius through.

Scorpius lowered his book, supposedly to talk to Rose, but stopped when he saw her nodding off. Sunlight shone on her, and he thought she looked like an angel in a Muggle movie Teddy had shown him once. Except that the angel had been very short and cuddly, had a waist-length blonde hair, was constantly smiling, and had honey-laced voice.

In retrospect it might have been better, because Rose would just be his personal angel and he wouldn't have to worry about any competition.

Well, maybe except for Mr. Weasley. The way Albus had described him made it seem like the man had had lessons about guarding from a sphinx somewhere.

The mere thought of it brought back the listless feeling in him and not for the first time he wondered what the hell he was doing.

"You've been staring at me for five minutes now."

He blinked back to reality. Rose was staring back at him, completely awake, her head tilted slightly. He simpered. "Nothing. Just...are you sure it's going to be alright?" He averted his eyes to the window, pretending that the view was fascinating. He truly didn't want to see her being disappointed of him. He could practically see her rolling her eyes and giving him one of those Slytherin-only looks.

There was a brief silence before she replied, "My parents value honesty, Scorpius. They would be more incensed if I told them about us in about a year rather than right now. I still think that my dad's going to be slightly disagreeable because I've started it without his permission—"

"Won't it be better if it's later than sooner?" He turned back to her. "I mean, to show him that we are serious and this is more than just a crush."

She did give him that look of hers, the one reserved for ninnies. "There's nothing horrible about them. Upfront and blunt sometimes, but what you see is pretty much what you get. They're fair, really; they're all for giving people second chances." She rolled her eyes. "Look, they're Gryffindors, you should at least have an idea what they're like."

It was a bad analogy since nearly every Weasleys he knew had been in Gryffindor at some point and they were mostly twats, but then she knew that, so she might have been referring to Scorpius instead. It still made no sense, because Scorpius still felt he should have been a Ravenclaw, or even a Hufflepuff.

Rose crinkled her nose. "Don't give me that look. I should be asking you that—what about your father?"

He half-shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal. "Okay. I told him I'd be staying at Teddy's for the night—he's not exactly pleased, but." He smirked at himself. "It's really his fault he had to go all the way to Japan tonight." His smirk slipped off and he felt his face forming a frown again. "Though maybe I'm better off there—"

"—Really, now?" The sneer returned as Rose's tone descended into the one he had heard her use to boss the Slytherins around. "I'm beginning to wonder if you're as serious as I am."

His heart skipped a beat—how could she say that, after all this time?!—as he found himself blundering with words. "No! It's not—that's—Rose, I—"

"Low blow, I know." She huffed, though her expression softened. He still was a bit wary. "I'm sorry." She sounded sincere as she slouched slightly in her seat. He felt like the biggest Flobberworm on Britain. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure this is the right step either. So when you said..." She trailed off, though he knew what was meant. It made him ache that he had made her think he was bailing out on her.

Scorpius Malfoy was the biggest flea in the world, no question. Fix it, dummy.

"Rose." He was pleased that his voice was quite steady. She looked at him, mildly curious. Suddenly a lump formed in his throat. He swallowed. "It's probably just me overreacting, because your father can't be that bad, can he?" He tried to smile; hopefully it wouldn't come across as a wince. "I mean, you're far from bad."

She didn't look convinced, and neither did he, albeit for a very different reason. What if Mr. Weasley decided that he looked too much like his father and grandfather and therefore deserved a term in Azkaban for Imperio-ing Rose? What if Mr. Weasley wouldn't even talk to him, or sent him home just as soon as they reached platform 9¾? What if Rose was forbidden from talking to Scorpius for the rest of their lives?

The what-ifs lasted for the rest of the journey. Having a mind like his was truly more of a torture than a blessing at times.