DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius, St Mungo's Hospital or trying to live without your parents or house-elves.
Conclusion to Getting it Right.
Blurb …
Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:
Chapter One: The First One.
(My first year out of Hogwarts, 2024)
(A life lesson from the girl who is trying to cook dinner)
(Oh, I'm so going to die)
My first night away from home and I'm going to be slaughtered by my best mate.
"Look, I'm sure you just give it a poke like this …" Bea was saying, hovering over the ham she was meant to be cooking, gripping her wand tightly. I just gave an exasperated sigh. I was actually going to be killed.
"Bea, please would you just wait until Scorpius gets here?" I asked, desperately. "You have no flipping clue as to what you're doing!"
"Rosie!" Bea turned to face me and I cringed back. I shifted one of the many boxes of our crap that we'd still not unpacked off a chair so I could sit down, warily. Geez, with her wand in her hand like that, I didn't particularly want to argue. "It's only our first night and you're already calling in the boyfriend! No, I won't let Scorpius have to deal with this! I can do it! I'm a Ravenclaw, for god's sake!"
"And I thought Ravenclaw's were meant to be smart?" I told her, eyeing her wand.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Bea, this is the stupidest idea you've ever had," I said, flatly. "Not to be horribly blunt or anything, but you suck at cooking. Or cleaning. Or basically anything house-holdy. Let's face it, traditionally, you'd be an awful wife!"
Bea just huffed and sat down at the table with me. "Ah, hell, you're right …" she muttered.
I just managed a shaky laugh, a lot more relieved now that the threat of exploding ham had receded somewhat. Ok, my life should be going brilliantly at the moment. I mean, I've finally moved out of home and I'm living with my best friend since we were eleven. I have a job and a boyfriend! I should be, y'know, living the dream as the Muggles say!
Except, there's considering that my job is at my uncle's joke shop and I hate my boyfriend half the time …
"Bea, what the hell are we doing?" I asked. Bea glanced up, confused.
"Trying and failing miserably to cook dinner?" she said.
I sighed. "We can't live by ourselves!" I said. "Neither of us can cook to save our lives! I had to send an owl to Scorpius so he could come and cook for us!"
"Yeah, it is weird that that bloke can make one hell of a roast …"
I rolled my eyes. "Point is we can't survive this, Bea! We're no longer at home where our mums look after us. Not even at Hogwarts where house-elves do all the cleaning! Think about it, we're going to have to do our own washing! We don't have a washing machine! How're we going to clean our clothes?!"
"Rosie, there's a Muggle launderette just down the road …" Bea put in, but I ignored her.
"I mean, just look at our flat!" I said, gesturing to the tiny lounge that came off the kitchen. Currently, it contained one beaten up sofa which I had taken the liberty of commandeering from my grandma's attic at the Burrow, a bookcase, a desk and a billion odd so boxes. "It's tiny! It's eleven thirty at night and we're still trying to cook dinner! I don't even know where to start looking for my pyjamas and I'm working at a bloody joke shop!"
Bea placed a hand on my arm, making me sit down. Oh right, I had apparently stood up during my rant. I hadn't even realised. "Rosie, you're not just worried about our inability to cook, are you?" she asked me.
"Oh, fine," I sighed. "No, Bea, of course I'm not. I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my life. No idea at all. I mean, you all know what you want to do! Bea Bowmen, writer for Witch Weekly!"
"Well, hopefully after a few years of hard slog, I won't have to write for that trashy magazine anymore," Bea put in. "But yeah … a writer."
"And Al Potter, International Magical Co-operation!" I said.
"If he decides to stay in the bloody country," Bea grumbled. "For god's sake, I know he'd be near his Uncle Charlie if he went to Romania, but do I mean nothing to him?"
"He'll stay in England Bea, I'm sure," I told her, soothingly. "If Auntie Ginny has anything to say about it. And then there's Scorpius Malfoy," I added. "Worker in Muggle Relations!"
"Yeah, I think Muggle Studies hit him pretty hard," Bea snorted. "I think that was the first time your dad ever looked at Scorpius without forcing a smile."
I grinned at the memory of Scorpius telling my mum and dad what he was going to do once he left Hogwarts. I had honestly thought that Dad was going to pass out from shock and that Mum was going to kiss him.
"And then there's me," I continued. "Rose Weasley. Working for her uncle at a joke shop in Diagon Alley? I love Uncle George, but I don't want to do that for the rest of my life, Bea!"
Bea sighed. "Look Rosie, you're not the only person who's ever left Hogwarts not knowing what they want to do," she said. "Look at Libby, she's working at that Muggle café down the road from the fruit and vege market!"
"To pay for tuition fees so she can become a Cursebreaker!" I said. "She starts training in September! Let's face it, an Obliviator, working in Control of Magical Creatures and a broomstick charmer," I said all of the hopeful professions of Jo, Trevor and Toby, respectfully. "All of our mates know what they want to do with their lives! They might have different jobs right now, but ultimately, they know what they're all working towards! I have no idea! I don't exactly want to be CEO of Weasley's Wizards Wheezes!"
"Rosie, we all know that you're not going to work at Weasley's Wizards Wheezes for the rest of your life–"
"How d'you know that?" I demanded. "That's how it always starts! I say I'm only working there until I find a proper job and next thing you know, I've been there for fifty years and I'm an old cat lady living by myself near the train station so I can make sandwiches and feed them to the homeless!"
"I can see you've put a lot of thought into this life plan of yours …" Bea muttered to herself. I just rolled my eyes; an unfortunate habit. "Rose Charlotte Weasley, you can do anything! You want to become an old cat lady, then fine! But if you want to get out there in the world and do something with your life, then you can!"
"But I don't know what I want to do …" I muttered. Bea sighed.
"Well, we'll figure that out eventually. In the meantime," she added, standing up and heading back towards the ham. "We can cook tea! I'm bloody starving and I bet if I give it a little zing this time, it'll work–"
"Oh, Bea, don't!" I yelled, but she just shook me off.
Yep, going to be murdered.
Thankfully, Scorpius chose that moment to finally show up. "Don't fret, my girls, Scorpius is here!" he yelled from the front door. "And before you go on at me about being very late, I'll have you know that had to file some papers an–"
"You took your bloody time!" I said to him and, as a greeting, I handed him a frying pan.
"Er, what's this for?" he asked.
"Duck and cover!" was all I yelled before diving underneath the table. Scorpius glanced at me confusedly while Bea said,
"Yeah, this'll do it … incendio!"
BANG!
All three of us yelled as the ham exploded. Everything in our tiny kitchen was soon covered in the remaining bits of what was supposed to be our tea. Bea stood in the middle, completely unrecognisable as she was also covered. I glanced behind me to see that Scorpius had managed to save his face from the ham, though that couldn't be said for the rest of him.
"Oh …" he said, glancing at the pan I'd given him as I crawled out from the table. "That's what that was for. Thanks."
"Well …" Bea said, wiping ham from her eyes. "I think that did it!"
There were a few moments of silence. Then,
"Anyone for pizza?" I asked.
Scorpius grinned. "You read my mind."
Rose: 1, Scorpius: 0.
(So sue me, I can't help but turn this into a competition).
(My cousin cracks his head open)
(And I somehow find out what I want to do with my life)
"I'm starting to regret your decision to stay in England, mate!" Scorpius forced out, attempting to drag Al's desk down the corridor to his, and now Al's, flat.
"Well, I'm not," Bea put in, throwing her arms around my cousin's neck. Al grinned at her. "Besides, I knew he'd stay."
"Because you would've killed me if I didn't." Al said.
"Would you two stop revelling in the fact that you're both in the same country and help us move all of your crap?" I huffed, carrying a large box full of Al's clothes. "Hi!" I hastily added to a pair of Muggles who passed us in the hallway.
It was flipping typical that Al had to choose today of all days to move in. Magic was pretty much non-existent right now, thanks to some sort of event that was going on in the street below. I wasn't even sure what it was, could've been a street circus for all I knew. But what I did know was that it caused the Muggles who lived in our flat building with us to swarm all over the place! Our block of flats was on a corner and there were three large balconies attached to our building, one on each floor at the end of each hallway, over-looking the street. The doors to our building were around the corner, facing the other street. Muggles ran back and forth between flats and up and down levels, trying to watch whatever was going on outside. With so many people about, we were forced to resort to manual labour to lug all of Al's belongings into Scorpius's flat and him and Bea being all Mr and Mrs PDA was not helping matters.
Scorpius and I exchanged exasperated looks when all Al and Bea did was continue to kiss each other. "OI!" I eventually yelled. "Stop snogging and help us!"
"Fine, fine!" Al said, as he and Bea finally broke apart. Eventually, we managed to get the desk and box of clothes into the second-floor flat, right next to the balcony and two doors down from mine and Bea's.
It was just so odd that Al was moving in with Scorpius of all people. In fact, it was weird to think he was even in the same country. Seventh-year had, of course, made us all think about what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives and Al had decided that he wanted to spend his working for the Department of International Magical Co-operation. He applied for several different positions and, despite his constant worrying, he got offered a job. The only problem was that the job was in Romania.
Since none of the Potter children can ever do things halfway, Al had made the hard decision to take the job and move to Romania after Hogwarts. Naturally, there had been a lot of conflict and disagreements over Al's decision. While Uncle Harry had encouraged Al to take all opportunities he was offered, Auntie Ginny was a little harder to convince, since she had refused point-blank to let her youngest son go 'traipsing around Europe and ending up murdered in a ditch somewhere', in her words.
Bea had been rather torn between being the supportive girlfriend and trying to get him to change his mind. By this point, Bea had already been offered a job here in England, so it was obvious that she couldn't go with him. In the end, it had all come to a head last week during a rather large family argument, though Auntie Ginny still insists that it was a 'family talk'.
Basically, James and Lily had sat in the background, making a list of all the things they wanted their brother to buy them in Romania for Christmas, while there had been a lot of screaming, crying and the occasional hex between Al and his mum. It was only when wands came out and Lily ended up with a third hand that Al had finally admitted that he was terrified at the thought of leaving his family and said he would talk to his boss at the Ministry to see if he could get a job in England. His boss hadn't been happy, but he'd agreed and Al had one week to try and find somewhere to live. Luckily, Scorpius hadn't found a roommate yet.
"Thank – Merlin!" I dumped the large box onto Scorpius's sofa. "That's about, oh fifteen boxes down, another bazillion to go. You haven't even said thank you for our slave labour!"
Al laughed and came over to hug me tightly. I hugged him back. I had never wanted to admit it, but I had cried the night Al had said he was leaving and I couldn't have been more grateful for the fact that he was staying. "Thank you Rosie, my absolute favourite cousin!"
I just rolled my eyes. "Scorpius, you keep an eye on this one." I said, pointing resolutely to Al's back as he swung me around.
"Oh, I will," Scorpius said, moving over to punch Al on the arm. Unfortunately for him, this got him a smack from Bea. "Ouch! That hurt!"
"It was meant to." Bea sniggered.
I rolled my eyes. Ok, so while they'd gotten slightly better over the years, Scorpius and Bea's relationship was one that was still yet to change. While most of our immediate friends and family had gotten used to the idea of being friendly with the Slytherin's (though like Libby said on occasion, it was still kind of weird), Bea found it was a lot more fun to tease Scorpius and pretty much act like we were still fifteen. Sometimes I didn't know who was in a relationship with him, me or Bea.
Al and Scorpius were another story entirely, a story that once we were told, we'd nearly collapsed from shock. It was one day, during sixth-year, when Bea and I had gone to Hogsmeade together without the boys to go Christmas shopping and to get some time away from the idiots in our lives. We'd been a bit apprehensive about leaving Al and Scorpius together, since alone, the two had still yet to see eye to eye and I think we'd been half-expecting the castle to blow up or something. However, we had come back to find Al and Scorpius sitting in the joint common room together, completely covered in black paint and laughing their arses off.
Apparently, they had accidentally gotten stuck in the cross-fire of one of the Idiot Twins' crazy plans and both had blamed the other for getting caught in the middle of it. But, apparently, running around the castle all day, trying to escape the teachers was enough to make any two people become the best of friends; and, well, the two have been inseparable ever since.
I swear, Uncle Harry nearly cried when he found out. I'm still not sure whether it was in happiness or in desolation.
Then as it turned out, two solid relationships with Scorpius Malfoy from two different Potter/Weasley's was enough to bring our two groups together. While there was often a lot of yelling, teasing, hexing and occasional tears, it was quite common to see Al, Bea and I, along with Libby and Jo, and Geraldine occasionally, sat together with Lucas Nott, Danny Parker and (god forbid), Lucy Harley. Apparently, it had been the weirdest bonding experience between two groups that Hogwarts had ever seen.
"C'mon, another trip!" Al said enthusiastically, bounding for the door. "There's not much left! One more load should do it!"
"Yeah, another trip, another blister on my hands …" I muttered, darkly. Scorpius only snorted with laughter; however, it soon turned into a sympathetic ouch as my idiot cousin smacked straight into one of the million boxes we'd trekked in here. Good ol' Al always did have co-ordination problems. As a result from walking into the box, he tripped and, of course, whacked his head on the coffee table that we had moved so that we wouldn't hurt ourselves tripping over it.
"Oh, this is just typical!" Bea huffed as Al hit the floor without so much as a yelp of pain. "C'mon Al, don't you believe for one second that you hurting yourself again will get you out of having to move all of your crap …"
The three of us all made our way to crowd around my cousin on the floor. The reasons for Al not shrieking like the little girl that he can sometimes be became apparent almost immediately. There was a lovely red gash on his forehead from where he hit the coffee table and he was completely out cold.
"Oh, Al, the grace with which you do things astounds me all the time …" I said, shaking my head. Pulling out my wand, I poked the gash on his head and the blood zoomed back inside his body where it belonged.
"He'll be alright, won't he …?" Bea asked uncertainly, prodding Al's shoulder. "Al, it's Bea! Wake up!"
"Try rennervate?" Scorpius suggested, but after several rounds of this and getting no response whatsoever, Bea only grew more and more panicky.
So, of course, we ended up in St Mungo's.
"My boyfriend won't wake up!" Bea practically screeched at the front reception. One of the three ladies, who's name badge said Catie, nearly swallowed her gum in alarm when Bea hurtled herself up to her desk, slamming her hands down.
"Er …" Catie said, looking slightly frightened. I just sighed. For god's sake, you'd think she'd be used to this!
"Look, hi," I said, tugging Bea out of the way and shooing her to stand with Scorpius, who was currently floating Al several centimetres off the floor in the waiting room. "My cousin went and knocked himself out and now we can't wake him. Could you please tell us which floor we need?"
Suitably calmer, Catie said, "G-ground floor …"
"Thank you very much!" I said as sweetly as I possibly could before shepherding the others off to the accidents wing.
Oh my god, this place was amazing.
"Rosie, Al's going some sort of green colour … d'you think the Healer should be taking this long finding a way to wake him – Rosie?" Bea turned around, apparently confused to see I that wasn't anywhere in sight.
Last time I had been at St Mungo's hospital, I was three years old and it was when my youngest cousin, Roxanne, was born. I had completely forgotten what this place was like. It was just so …
Oh my flippin' god.
"Rosie, what the hell're you doing?" came Bea's voice and I turned to see that she had followed me from where I was wandering around the ground floor accidents department. Al was currently still lying comatose on a bed in one of the cubicles, waiting to be seen by a Healer. "Scorpius went to go get tea, but you were right here! What the hell are you doing?"
"Bea, look!" I said, completely ignoring her words as I grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the waiting room of the accidents department. Here, there were a few kids no older than five, playing happily in the corner. "These kids were mucking about and accidentally fell on their dad's wand, right, and they ended up stuck together – like they were literally stuck, their bodies got fused together! Mum was hysterical, but this Healer fixed it, no problem!"
"That's great, Ro–"
"And that guy over there–" I pointed out a bloke whose beard only a short while ago had been smoking. "He owns that apothecary shop in Diagon Alley and was mixing up a new potion when it just blew up in his face! Set his beard on fire with all these little fire pixies or whatever the hell they were, but look, he's fine!"
"Yeah, Ro–"
"And they're all just so lovely!" I kept on going, looking around the room in amazement. "I was talking to this one Healer, right, 'cause they had this patient that was sneezing bubbles and I got curious. In the end, when they realised that I wasn't going to go away, they asked me what I thought might be wrong with the bubble-sneezing patient, so I guessed a simple spell for cleaning that went a bit wrong and they said I got it in one!"
"Well roll out the flippin' bridal train, why don't you just marry the place?" Bea cut in over me before I could start rambling again, sighing and rolling her eyes. I shot her a look.
"Bea, was that sarcasm?" I asked.
"Oh, no …"
"Miss?"
I turned and saw the young Healer who I'd been talking to before. He was carrying several pamphlets as well as a clipboard. "I've just spoken to Healer Pallenson," he said, consulting the clipboard. He turned to Bea and added, "Your partner is going to be fine."
"Oh, thank Merlin …" Bea sighed.
"But I found these in our staffroom and I thought you might be interested," the Healer said, handing me the pamphlets. "You sounded like you might have a knack for this and we could always do with more Healers. Talk to main reception, they'll be able to help you out."
"Oh – yes – thank you!" I stammered, staring at the six or so pamphlets, the first of which that said, So you want to be a Healer?
Bea was grinning as the Healer moved away. "There you go," she said. "CEO of Weasley's Wizards Wheezes, my arse."
Later, while Al was currently being discharged, I found myself talking to the three ladies at the main reception desk.
"So you're not accepting at all?" I said, my face falling. I realised that I was actually disappointed when the lovely Catie told me the deadline for new applications closed a week ago.
"Well, no, we still receive late applications," Catie said, sliding her glasses up her nose and eyeing me over. "And while by policy, we do accept them for up to three weeks, they generally have to work harder to get in. We basically never choose the late ones–"
"But there's still a chance?" I cut in.
Catie exchanged a glance with her fellow reception workers. "It's quite intense," she said, in a way that made it sound like I wouldn't be up to it. "It's five years of training and you have to get through interviews first, then the on-job experience, but … well … there's a possibility."
Right.
"Give me an application."
Five minutes later, Scorpius turned up with a very groggy Al in tow. When he noticed that I was hunched over a coffee table in the main reception, he asked, "Er … what's going on?"
"Forget Weasley's Wizards Wheezes, Rosie's going to be CEO of St Mungo's." Bea said in answer.
"Ah," Scorpius said. "The entire wizarding world's going to die, isn't it?"
Rose: 2, Scorpius: 0.
(Shut up, I know what I'm going to do with my life!).
(It's going to be me and Gerald versus the vultures)
(I want to be a Healer why again?)
Good Merlin, this had to be the most terrifying moment of my life.
I never actually expected to get accepted into the Healer programme this year round. They take new applications each year but since I had passed the application date, I was one of the last to be interviewed and, of course, I stammered and forgot everything I was going to say about how I would make a good Healer. But for some amazing reason, I got an owl stating that I passed the interview and that they wanted me to complete what they called an OJE, or an 'on-job experience'. Basically, I was assigned to a Healer along with a bunch of other potential applicants and told to help out. I think it was mainly to find out whether you were going to get along with the other potential applicants and that you didn't faint at the sight of blood.
(Like one girl who was in my group; she was fresh out of Hogwarts and I recognised her from Hufflepuff in my year. She had apparently wanted to be a Healer all her life. I felt a bit put out since I had only decided that this was what I wanted to do a few weeks ago, but that changed when the first patient with his arm turned inside-out came through and she promptly keeled over).
Exactly a week ago, I got the owl saying I was in.
Naturally it was all jumping up and down and screaming in celebration, then, of course, running down to the boys' flat to scream and jump up and down there. Luckily, Al and Scorpius's flat was at the end of the corridor and the flat opposite them had no one living in it yet, so we only had one potential neighbour to worry about pissing off.
But today was my first official day of work and I was bloody terrified.
Walking into the trainee staffroom, I didn't know whether to be nice or act hostile towards my fellow trainees. There were thirty of us in total, however the selection process wasn't over yet. Going into this programme every single one of us knew that one day, five years from now, the Head Healers and CEO of St Mungo's would be deciding which half of the thirty new trainees they wanted to cull and which they wanted to keep. Only fifteen actually made it to become full Healers. Oh, we get paid for our five years of training (my mum made sure of that; she doesn't work in the Law Enforcement department for nothing), but there's a very good chance that at the end of five years, I'm going to come out with five years' worth of experience and still not be able to call myself an official Healer.
Naturally, it was hard to guess whether making friends was a good or bad thing, since we'd all be competing. One girl with a long, brown pony-tail was obviously going for the 'hostile' approach, as she turned her nose up at anyone who caught her eye.
Oh, blimey. I went to sit down next to another girl, far away from the brown-haired swot, only for her to say, "Er, this seat is taken."
I glanced around the staffroom. There were still about ten people yet to turn up.
"There's no one else waiting for a seat …"
"Ok, let me re-phrase," She gave a smile that was obviously fake, flicking back her blond hair. "I don't care who this seat is taken by, so long as it's not you."
She and the brown-ponytail girl on the other side of the room shared a laugh and the brown-haired girl beckoned the blond over to sit next to her. I was so shocked, I just backed away without saying anything.
Bloody hell, I wasn't expecting this. I mean, I was expecting some sort of I don't want to get too close since we will be competing for a spot as a full-Healer but not this!
While some of the other trainees were giving me sort of pitying looks, no one offered up any chairs around the giant table. Eventually, a burly bloke with sandy hair and lots of freckles grabbed my arm as I hesitantly walked past and practically threw me down into the seat next to him.
"Don't listen to the vultures," he said, grinning at me. "They're bitches and they know it. They only got in because their daddies are rich."
"Ah," I said, not entirely sure where this bloke came from, but grateful at any rate. "Thanks. I guess. Erm, I'm Rosie."
"I know," he answered. "So does everyone else. That's why none of them will talk to you. We all heard that a late application got accepted and that she was a Weasley. Late applications never get accepted. We all assumed that you either bribed the bloke who did the selections, or was sleeping with the CEO."
I blinked at that. Seriously? What was wrong with these people? "Well, not only am I completely broke to begin with, but my boyfriend would be very pissed off if I was sleeping with the CEO." I answered.
The bloke snorted with laughter. "I'm Gerald," he said. "Gerald Brown. I didn't believe for one second you were sleeping with the CEO."
"And why's that?"
"The way you walked in here!" Gerald said, grinning. "It was like you were being sent to the gallows! If you'd got it on with the big boss, you'd have to at least have some sort of confidence."
"Like the vultures, you mean?" I asked.
Gerald shrugged. "I know the sort, they come through every year," he said. "Have rich families and their dads put in a good word for them so they get accepted. Half of them make it to full-Healer and don't even know the difference between a switching spell and a spell to stop bleeding."
"And you do?" I asked in horror. Bloody hell, I was going to have to comb over every single one of my many text books when I got home; I knew I should've memorised them all before today!
Gerald snorted again. "Only because I've done part of the training before," he said. "Applied straight out of Hogwarts for two years before I got accepted as a trainee. Last year I didn't make the cut, so here's hoping that this year they screw the vultures and actually take the decent ones who know what they're doing for a change."
"Wait, you have to do all the training again?" I asked. Good god, I couldn't imagine going through five years again!
"Oh, no!" Gerald shook his head. "They sort of cull over the five years so it's not such a hard decision at the end of it. Loads of people drop out when they realise the work is too hard and most get kicked out in the first year. That happened to me and only because the Healer in charge was the uncle of one of the vultures. So I'm one of the oldies coming back, like Ally over there," He nodded to a girl reading one of their text books intensely. When Gerald called out, she looked up and waved shyly. "She got cut halfway through last year too. I mean, you at least get paid during the training, but still. You're rather young," he added, glancing at me. "I take it you came straight from Hogwarts?"
I nodded. "Um, yeah. I had no idea what I was going to do when I left. Then, when he was moving into his flat, my cousin cracked his head open and I decided I wanted to be a Healer."
Gerald snorted. "I like you, Rosie," he said. "I hope you get in. I'd hate to have to sabotage you so I get your spot instead."
My eyes widened. "People actually do that?"
He nodded. "Oh, you should hear the stories from the fifth-year trainees!" he said. "Apparently once, a trainee was supposed to be treating Dragon Pox, right – simplest thing in the world – and one of the others screwed up the potions so the Healer ended up with the disease instead!"
"And I want to do this why?" I mused out loud.
"I was like that," Gerald said, shrugging. "But at the end of the day, it's the job I want, even though getting there is hard."
I actually understood that, as I felt the same. Just as I agreed with him, the last two members of our trainee group came in through the door. One of them I didn't know, a curly-haired girl who kept her head down and tripped when she didn't see a chair coming. The other, however, I knew quite plainly. I hadn't seen her since I had left Hogwarts and was bloody glad for it. Of course she flipped her hair before sitting right down next to the vultures.
I swore loudly, causing Gerald to give me a questioning look.
"Lucy bloody Harley!" I snarled.
Rose: 2, Scorpius: 1.
(Ok, technically Harley should get this point, but she's not in this competition so screw her).
(God, if this is what he does every time …)
(He should prove a point more often)
"No bloody way."
"Rosie, it's not like she's moving in with me!"
"Don't even joke."
Scorpius gave an exasperated sigh. "Well, what d'you want me to do?!" he huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Tell her 'no sorry, you can't move in across the hall from me! Why? Oh, it's just because my girlfriend is being a jealous bitch, nothing really'!"
"Well, how'd you expect me to react?!" I said, outraged.
"For god's sake, you hung out with her at Hogwarts!" Scorpius yelled. "How is this any different?!"
"I only did that because she was friends with you!" I yelled back. Honestly! Lucy Harley moves in across from him and he thinks everything's going to be just hunky-dory?! Not bloody likely! That flat's been un-occupied ever since we moved in, did they seriously have to let someone live there now?
Scorpius rubbed his forehead warily. "Y'know, sometimes I really don't know what to do with you." he said, eventually.
I scoffed at that. "Do with me?" I repeated. "Do I look like a dog to you?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Don't answer that," I added hastily and he snorted. "Oi, no!" I said as he started to laugh. "This isn't funny! It's not because I don't like her, cause I … well ok, scrap that, I don't like her. Sorry, but I never have, don't think I ever will, but it's not that – it's just the fact that it's her …" I ran a hand through my hair, distractedly. "She's your ex. Isn't that weird?"
"She's my best friend, Rosie!"
"So?! Al's my best friend, but he's not my ex!"
"You have no idea how relived I am to hear that."
I ignored that. "Look, I'm not being the bitchy, jealous girlfriend …" I trailed off. Oh, bloody hell I can't find any other words to describe me. Great! Turns out I am the bitchy, jealous girlfriend!
"Could've fooled me." Scorpius muttered.
I groaned and smacked my head against the wall behind me. Stood in the tiny hallway to my front door, there wasn't much room for me to get away from him, but I did my damn well best. "Look, it's bad enough that she's on the same course as me!" I yelled. I remembered my ever-fateful first day of training quite plainly. She fit in perfectly with the vultures and didn't give any indication that we'd attempted to be civil during our final few years at Hogwarts; of course only because I was going out with one of her best mates. Now, it appeared that the gloves were off and we were going back to how we were before: bitchy and hostile. "Now I have to live in the same building as her?"
"Rosie, she has a boyfriend!" Scorpius burst out, smacking his own head against the opposite wall. "Remember? Trevor Moyle? Was in our year? You used to go out with him? Remember that bloke?"
"But – hang on, I thought they broke up again?"
"Oh," Scorpius thought. "Yeah, they might have done. But in the end, you know it's always going to be Lucy and Trevor."
"Yes, yes, all right!" I huffed. "But that's not the sam–"
"How is that not the same?!"
"Cause I was thirteen when I went out with Trevor and I only did it to piss you off!" I yelled, gesturing wildly with my hands. "You actually liked Harley; you even asked me for advice!"
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Right, so a crush I had when I was fourteen justifies you getting all pissed off at me for something I haven't even done?"
"Yes!"
Apparently the wall wasn't good enough for him. He ended up whacking his own head with his palm. "That's it! Rosie, YOU are my girlfriend, not Lucy!" he yelled, leaning away from the wall. "Her living across the hall isn't going to change that at all! Yes, she's my best friend, just like Al and Bea are your best mates, but that doesn't mean I'm going to dump you for her!"
"I know that!"
"THEN WHY'RE YOU YELLING AT ME?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!" I roared back.
"Fine!" Scorpius drew himself up. "You want me to prove who I'm in love with?! FINE!" Within three seconds he had launched himself from the opposite side of the hallway, practically threw me against the wall and crushed his lips to mine.
Christ on a bike, if Bea came home right now …
I found myself not caring as I threw my arms around his neck. He seemed rather reluctant to remove his lips, so eventually I was the one who forced him away enough to mutter, "I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you – mmpft!" I got cut off as he forced his mouth back to mine.
"Shut it," he said against my lips, causing me to shudder slightly. "I'm proving a point, here."
"Prove away." I said back, grinning into his kiss.
Rose: 2, Scorpius: 2.
(Ah … crap).
(Oh, Libby)
(I have insane friends)
Since our block of flats only had three floors, it was rather common to see someone you knew going down to check the mail, drinking on the balcony or generally just yelling between front doors. Sure enough, as I clattered down the stairs onto the first floor, bleary-eyed and irritable as I headed to work, I heard Libby's voice cry, "Rosie! I take it you got the early-morning shift too?"
I just shot her a look. "Whoever decides to get hurt at six in the morning is an idiot," I said. "Why're you up?"
"Work as well!" Libby said brightly, practically skipping along beside me as we headed out the front doors and started down the street into the cool, London-morning air. Ugh, it was far too early for this. I don't know how the bloody weirdo, does it. Sure enough, Libby was wearing her dark green, Café Julio t-shirt.
"Oh, right," I said, shaking my head. "Sorry, I haven't exactly woken up yet. I don't officially start functioning normally until I get my cup of tea."
"Like any good person," Libby answered. "Although, I must admit I've been severely deprived of my tea lately, considering Joan used up all the tea-bags the other day."
"I'm sorry, Joan?" I asked, wondering if that was the name of her new pet dog or something.
"My flatmate!" Libby said, as if it was obvious. Oh, of course. Libby goes through flatmates like tissues when you have a cold; she and Jo originally moved in together, but after living together for seven years at Hogwarts, they soon decided that they wanted to get away from each other for a bit. Jo now lives up on the third floor with Toby. I know, who the hell wants to live with their twin brother? Either way Libby, as we found out, simply couldn't hold down a flatmate to save her life; all the ones she found were either crazy or thought Libby was crazy.
"Ah, right," I said. "So … how did Joan end up using all the tea-bags in one go?"
Libby looked completely serious. "She had a tea-bath."
I blinked. "Sorry, a tea-bath? As in–?"
"–as in she drew a bath, put all the tea-bags in it and then had a bath in the tea? Yeah," Libby gave me a look as she paused before we crossed the street. "It's as weird as it sounds."
"You really do attract some humdingers, Lib."
"Got to make rent somehow!" Libby said, cheerfully. "Cursebreaker training doesn't pay itself!"
"So you're still doing it then?" I asked.
"Of course! I flipping love it," Libby said, grinning. "Just annoying how I have to go through several years of training before I can actually get paid as a cursebreaker."
"At least you get to go through all your training without worrying if you'll be kicked out after one week."
"You've survived so far, haven't you?" Libby asked.
"Well, I suppose it's been a month and I'm still in it, so yeah. Six people have been cut or chose to drop out already. Unfortunately not Harley."
"Merlin, is she still the bitch she was at Hogwarts?" Libby asked, snorting.
I sighed. "She wasn't bad sometimes, but now that she's joined the vultures, every time I see her I want to rip her head off. It doesn't help that she lives opposite Scorpius. Now I see her around the building, too!"
Libby shrugged. "Don't worry, I know how you feel!" she said as we reached an intersection. St Mungo's was further on, whereas the muggle café that Libby worked at was down a different block. "Y'know, to work with an idiot."
"Aw, working with James isn't that bad, is it?" I asked. I'd been rather amused when James came storming into the Burrow during a Weasley Sunday Lunch one week, complaining about one of the waitresses at his new job who kept flinging screwed up paper at him. Turns out, that had been Libby. Ah, James. Got high hopes for that boy.
Libby rolled her eyes, pausing on the edge of the street. "I know he's your cousin Rosie, but god he's stupid!" she said and I laughed. "Well, I've got to go, but I'll see you around! We're having a balcony party this Saturday, so if you're not working, you have to come!"
"Sounds great Lib, see you later."
I waved as Libby turned and skipped across the street, nearly running into a jogger and having to hastily give an apology. Ah, Libby. It was weird at first when I first moved in and kept seeing old Hogwarts mates, but now it just seemed natural. I couldn't imagine my life without Libby, or Trevor, or even Harley in it.
Is that sad?
Rose: 2, Scorpius: 2.
(Neither of us really gets a point here. We're both mates with Libby, after all).
(Sharing is caring)
(When does that become borderline-creepy?)
"BALCONY PARTY! WOO-HOO!"
"Wha–?" I woke with a start, my text book, A Thousand and One Healing Spells to Know, flying to the floor with a loud thud. Rubbing my eyes, there was suddenly a lot of blond hair in my face and pain in my legs as someone jumped on top of me.
"C'mon, Rosie wake up!" Bea's excited voice came from where she was practically straddling me. "The Balcony Party has already started!"
"Oh, Merlin, is it eight already?" I asked, glancing at my watch as Bea made to hop off me and only succeeded in toppling over and onto the floor. I watched in amusement as she cried,
"WOE!" She shook her head slightly as Al and Scorpius entered our flat, Al looking concerned and Scorpius outright laughing. Bea checked her own watch. "Actually, it's nine thirty!" she said.
"Bea, are you drunk?" I asked, snorting with laughter.
"What? Noooooo, just a bit tipsy 's all!" Bea said, all with a huge grin on her face. Yeah, ok, she was definitely drunk. Bea hardly ever drinks, but when she does, she became the loudest, giggliest person in existence. Scorpius loved it when Bea cracked out the Firewhiskey, mainly because they could have a conversation where teasing each other was not only ok, but also encouraged.
Sure enough, Scorpius was the one who shot me a look before bending down and helping Bea to her feet, slinging an arm around her waist. "C'mon, Bea!" he said, cheerfully. "Al'll get Rosie, the party's waiting! I think I heard Libby starting up a game of 'Hands in the Middle' just before …"
"Brilliant!" Bea cried, completely forgetting about me and the two of them left the flat.
It was suddenly a lot quieter now that they'd left. I let Al help me haul myself to my feet. "Sorry I fell asleep," I told him. "I have to basically memorise that entire text book and it's the dullest thing in the world!"
"Doesn't help you've been awake since five this morning." Al added, giving a slight smile as we headed for the door.
I shrugged. "That too. How much has Bea had? I know she has just about zero tolerance for alcohol, but even for Bea, nine thirty isn't exactly pacing yourself!"
Al gave a sigh, which made me pull him to a halt. I gave him a look that plainly said, tell me what's wrong. Al always was the quiet one of the family and was never exactly skilled at expressing what he felt. Y'know, if the amount of time it took him to admit he fancied Bea was anything to go by. He wasn't normally skilled in the art of telepathic conversations, but Bea and I had had so many over the years, he'd eventually caught on to our every glance, so I knew that he knew exactly what I meant.
"Noth–"
"Oh, don't you dare give me that crap," I said, looking him straight in the eye. "C'mon, I know something's up, I'm not your cousin for nothing," He was still silent, trying to avoid my gaze. Eventually I got sick of waiting and cracked out the big one. "I'll call you Albus all night until you tell me …"
Al shot me a hard look. While he wasn't fiercely opposed to his full name like Bea was to Beatrice, he never was a huge fan of Albus. "Oh, fine," he eventually said. "But only because I know you'd beat it out of me anyway and you're Bea's best mate …"
"This is about Bea?" I asked, surprised.
Al nodded, leaning against our kitchen table. The dull thud of music could just be heard from the balcony at the end of our corridor, the one that overlooked the street and could house about twenty people. Balcony parties were a common occurrence and I had promised Libby that I would go this Saturday; though I didn't count on falling asleep halfway during studying.
"She's been having a bit of trouble at work," Al said, shrugging as I frowned. "Her boss just retired and the new one taking over has just started. Monica Dodge, only she's an absolute bitch who hates anyone who is lower down than her and for some reason, especially Bea."
"I'm sure she's just exaggerating–" I began, but Al was already shaking his head.
"I thought she was too!" he said. "But I went in one day to walk home with her and I arrived just in time to hear Dodge just screaming at her because apparently, she accidentally filed something incorrectly! The other journalists do that all the time and she wasn't screaming at any of them …"
"Shit," I said, clutching my hair at the roots, something I found that I was doing rather often lately when I was worked up or stressed. I have no idea where I got it from, but this seemed like a hair-pull moment. "Is Bea not ok then?"
Al shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "She says she's fine and that it doesn't bother her, but the only reason she told me was because I overheard it. She wasn't planning on telling anyone, not even me or you!"
"That's not like her. Bea tells us everything, even the things we don't want to know." I pointed out, remembering all too vividly the time Bea had rambled about the time when she was five and got some sort of toe-fungus.
"Exactly. It's like she doesn't want this to get to her, because she seriously loves her job, despite it being at Witch Weekly," Al rolled his eyes. "She doesn't want to admit that Monica Bloody Dodge is upsetting her."
"Is that why she's hitting the booze a bit too hard?" I asked, still tugging at my hair nervously.
Al shrugged. "I suspect so. Yesterday was pretty rough, apparently. Wouldn't say anything about it, but she just fell into bed and started crying. You can't tell anyone about this, by the way," he quickly added and I snorted at the thought that I might. "She'd kill me if she knew I was telling even you and Scorpius!"
I glanced around in confusion. "Er, Al, it's just me here …"
Al rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but telling you basically equals telling Scorpius," he said. "You tell each other everything."
I opened my mouth to argue, but found that he had a point. Damn. "Fair enough," I said. Then I considered. "… is it weird that we tell each other everything?"
"I dunno," Al shrugged. "Probably for some people. I mean, the four of us hardily keep any secrets, but there are even some things that I don't tell Bea, simply because they're blokey stuff and she'd kill me! But even though he gets punched by you for it, Scorpius still can't seem to keep his mouth shut around you."
"Oh, come off it," I scoffed, but Al just shot me a look. "Nah, we don't share everything–"
"Rosie," Al cut me off. "This morning he came home wearing your fluffy-duck slippers and complaining that you ate his toast. You share everything."
Damn. I didn't even realise, but now that Al's pointed out, I could see where he was coming from. It just seemed natural for us to share everything, even clothes and food. Sure, it'd often end in an argument, as seen with the aforementioned toast example, but we still kept doing it. I never even realised it was weird …
"Still," I said, letting go of my hair so I could tug Al towards the front door and the balcony party. "I'll look out for Bea. If she seems strangely depressed, I'll tell you."
"Thanks, Rosie," Al said, grinning as we headed for the party. The music was even louder out in the corridor and I could see the shapes of people laughing and moving about on the balcony. "You're a brilliant cousin. Have I ever told you that?"
"A few times," I said, smiling. "But it's ok, you can tell me again."
Al laughed, pulling open the door to the balcony. "I love you, Rosie," he said. "You're a brilliant best mate also."
"Love you, too," I said, slapping him on the arm. However, the sight of Bea sitting on a chilly-bin, clutching a bottle of Firewhiskey and chattering away happily to Jo made me frown slightly and clutch at my hair again. No one would've guessed that she'd been having a rough time and I wouldn't have either, despite being her best mate. However, now that I knew, I could just see the way her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
Al went over to her immediately and I called out a hello to Trevor as he waved, but that's when I spotted Scorpius, also keeping a close eye on Bea. What got me was that he also had his hand fisted in his hair as he frowned.
Oh crap, I knew I got that from somewhere.
"We really do share everything, don't we?" I asked the second I was in earshot.
Scorpius gave me a questioning look. "What're you on about?" he asked, letting go of his hair to lean against the balcony rails.
"Yesterday you borrowed my slippers!" I cried. "And I ate your toast! We don't keep any secrets, even the ones we really should keep! For two weeks when your flat flooded and you had to stay with us, we shared a bloody toothbrush, for god's sake! We even do the same hand-in-hair thing!" I demonstrated to prove my point.
Scorpius just blinked. "Er, did I do something to piss you off?" he asked, looking wary now. "Did I leave the lid off the butter again? I told you I'm sorry I keep doing that …"
"No, for once, the bloody butter-lid isn't what you've done wrong!" I said.
"Then what the hell're you harping on about?" Scorpius asked, irritated now.
"Oi, don't get mad at me–!"
"You're the one who's mad at me!"
"Oh for Merlin's sake–! Look, never mind that," I said, hastily. "Bea's been having a rough time at work and that's why she's going off the rails. Al told me just now that she's been crying and stuff but refuses to talk about it, so just look after her, yeah?"
Scorpius looked slightly shocked, but said, "Of course I'll bloody look after her. I love her, just like I love you and Al. Even when you decide to go crazy and yell at me because I borrowed your slippers."
I smiled slightly at that. Even though Scorpius and Bea teased each other to no end, it was still obvious that they cared about each other. We stood together for a few moments, watching Al mutter something to Bea and she nodded, smiling in answer. Then, Scorpius turned back to me and said,
"… seriously, you're freaking out because we shared the same toothbrush?"
"Well, yeah!" I said as he snorted, throwing an arm around me. "I mean, a toothbrush, isn't that weird?"
"Rosie, we're the two weirdest people I know," he said. He then eyed Libby and Trevor apparently having a grape-toss competition, trying to catch the grapes in each other's mouths. "Or well, besides our mates," he added. "Sharing a toothbrush is nothing compared to them."
Hell, why does he always have to be the rational one?
Rose: 2, Scorpius: 3.
(One point. I can so catch up).
(Letters from Lily)
(Once upon a time, LL did believe in true love …)
Dear LL,
You're seriously asking me for relationship advice? Me? The girl who fell in love with the bloke she hated and went to her little cousin for help? I don't see how I could possibly help you, but I'll give it a go.
I'm going to be blunt here: there's a fine line between 'playing the field' and becoming a bit of a slag. LL, I love you, but this is what, the fourth boyfriend you've had this year? You're seventeen, for god's sake! I heard from Hugo that your last one survived all but two weeks. Is this because I'm no longer at Hogwarts to keep you in line anymore?
But either way, I'm not here to judge. This Ben sounds like a nice enough bloke and from the sounds of things, worships the ground you walk on, but I have to ask: do you actually fancy him? Because if this is just another way to prove to Mark that you're over him, then you need to tell Ben now before he gets in even more deeply. That's all the other two blokes were about, weren't they?
I know cheating sucks and that you probably still want to rip the bloke's guts out – seriously, I want to as well for doing that to you – but you can't just bounce from guy to guy. That's not what I'd call 'handling it'. I know you, little cousin, you did believe in true love at one point.
I asked Scorpius what he thinks, coz Merlin knows I'm probably just talking a load of shit here and let's face it, he's had more relationship experience than me, but he agrees with me. So I'm afraid you're out-numbered, LL!
Don't forget that I love you, cause I honesty do. Work is still scheduling me to start at five in the morning, so if I sound at all incoherent, it's probably because I'm half-asleep. We've all had a rough few weeks. Scorpius got into a fight with his dad over how he treats their house-elf (working with my mum is converting him, I swear). Al has been short on money recently and Bea's still got the boss from hell, but at least she's talking about it now. Be glad you're still at Hogwarts, LL! Even though I know the Easter holidays suck, the real world sucks more.
By the way, is it weird to share a toothbrush with someone?
I miss you heaps! I hope my 'advice' (for the want of a better word) has helped at all and I'll see you at Christmas.
Lots of love –
– Rosie. xox
Dear Rosie,
I chucked Ben. You're right, it wasn't fair on him and I didn't really fancy him at all. He'd just always been keen and I wanted to prove a point, but thanks for telling me to pull my head out of my arse. I needed that.
So Hugo's been telling you all my secrets, huh? I'll have to smack him one! Nah, I kind of expected you to find out through him, he is your brother after all. And since when were you the one to keep us in line while you were at school? As I remember, it was you who organised the yearly night-time Scavenger Hunt that nearly got us all expelled!
(Though I admit, those we're bloody brilliant. We tried to start up another one this year, but it wasn't the same).
I've decided that Mark isn't worth my time. If he wants to go and sleep with bloody Diana Mathews, I don't care! So long as he isn't still going out with me at the time. Blokes just aren't worth it! You're lucky you've got Scorpius, but what're you on about, 'more relationship experience than me'? You had one boyfriend before him and he had, what, two girlfriends before you? One of those was for like a week, I seriously don't think that counts as a 'relationship'!
I'm sorry your lives all suck at the moment, I hope things are going better now. I don't know whether it's because it's nearing the end of the year or not, but I seriously don't see the point in coming back to Hogwarts next year. I mean, I've got my OWLs and you can still get brilliant jobs without NEWTs! And besides, I'd love to just go travelling for a bit, see what's outside of England, y'know! But Mum would bloody kill me. So I suppose it's back for seventh-year, but I honestly don't see the point. Everyone else feels the same, so it's not just because of the shit year I've had either!
And as for sharing a toothbrush, I'm not surprised. You do everything else together anyway.
I miss you, too! I'll see you amazingly soon.
Love –
– LL. xx
Rose: 2, Scorpius: 4.
(Damn it, I was so close to winning the toothbrush-argument until now).
(Note to self)
(Do not argue while cooking).
"What the hell is that?"
I paused in my chopping of the broccoli, turning to give Scorpius a look. "What?" I said. "It's broccoli!"
"I can see that," Scorpius said, eyeing it with distaste. "But why does it seem like you're going to put it in our stir-fry?"
"Because it tastes good?"
Scorpius scoffed as I simply went back to chopping up the broccoli. Al and Bea were out for the night, off having dinner at some restaurant that they rather liked, so it was up to Scorpius and I to make ourselves dinner. Considering we'd been surviving most of the year off food my Grandma Molly makes for me, we were trying to go for something simple.
Apparently, I'm not even doing that right!
"Broccoli," Scorpius began. "is the foulest-tasting vegetable to ever be discovered."
"Oi! I like it!" I said, making it very clear that I was the one with the knife here.
Scorpius rolled his eyes, poking the pan that held the rest of our stir-fry with his wand. The oven underneath sparked red and the food crackled. "Well, of course you do." he muttered, poking the pan again a bit too hard.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, abandoning the broccoli for now and turning to face him, hands on hips. He winced slightly, but that was probably because I was still holding the knife.
"It means that you've always gone out of your way to like anything I hate!" he said. "Oh, and vice versa."
"I do not!"
Scorpius snorted. "Come on, you decided to fall in love with strawberries the minute I told you I was jealous of anyone who ate them, because I was allergic," Scorpius pointed out. Behind him, the pan sparked again as I scowled. "And you hate all of my favourite songs!"
"I did not just decide, I've always liked strawberries!" I said, smacking the knife back onto the bench in irritation. "And let's face it, Scorpius, The Weird Sisters are not a cool band. They were popular when our parents were our age!"
"Well, you hate my hat!"
"Scorpius, a fluffy rabbit with ear-flaps does not count as a hat …"
"And you hate Shakeswotzit tragedies!" Scorpius yelled. "I mean, come on Rosie, all of his plays were classics, not just the ones with happy endings!"
"Well, sorry if I don't want to read a play in which only one person ends up surviving!" I yelled back, completely ignoring the stir-fry, now sizzling in the background, as Scorpius advanced on me. "Bloody hell, that's just depressing! I mean, hats off to the bloke for writing all of that, but Romeo and Juliet could've ended so much better if Juliet had just flipping told Romeo that she was going to pretend to die!" Scorpius didn't bother grace that with an answer, just scoffed and raised his hands in a defeated manor. "Besides, it goes both ways! You hate my favourite Muggle P.V. programme!"
"Rosie, a bloke with a box for a spaceship and flying around fighting aliens is not the basis of a good P.V. show …"
I rolled my eyes. Neither of us noticed the chopped up ingredients in the pan starting to turn black. "And for some reason, you actually like singing in the shower! D'you realise how bloody annoying that is?!" I added.
"At least I can sing!"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"That's right! You can't sing!" Scorpius said, sounding triumphant.
"But …" I gaped at him for a moment. "You always said that you loved my voice!"
"Yeah, well, I was lying!" Scorpius said. "You sound horrible when you sing! It's like a cat being strangled!"
"I don't believe you!" I yelled. For a few moments, I gabbled, trying to find something that would match this injustice, but all I could come up with was,
"Well, you hate broccoli!"
Even I heard the pathetic-ness of this statement and as Scorpius actually burst out laughing, I ended up giggling too. That was when he moved forward and suddenly kissed me, taking me off guard, but it was still great nonetheless. This continued for several moments as I wound my arms around his neck, not having a clue that the pan was emitting a lot of smoke. Suddenly–
BANG!
Scorpius and I yelled, pulling away from each other in shock as the blackened contents of the pan were splattered everywhere. I hid my face in Scorpius's chest and let him get the worst of it as sauce covered my hair and back. Eventually, we both glanced up to see my kitchen a complete mess.
"Ok, lesson learned." Scorpius said, shaking sauce off his sleeves.
Conclusion to my first year out of Hogwarts:
-While an essential life-skill, none of us can actually cook to save our lives.
-The real world is bloody hard.
-Even though Hogwarts was a lot more convenient (clothes washed for you, rooms cleaned for you, food cooked for you, it's not a bad life!), the real world isn't actually too frightening.
-Just, y'know, avoid the vultures and don't be afraid to live life on the balcony.
Rose: 3, Scorpius: 4.
(Oh, come on, he's just as bad as me when it comes to cooking!)
A/N: Ok, so apparently, I have no idea how to write something SHORT anymore. I swear, not every chapter will be this long! I decided to follow the same format as GIR, so the first four chapters will summarise Rose's first four years living out of Hogwarts. The real story starts in 2028, during her fifth year out of Hogwarts when Rose is 22.
Thank you so much for your response so far! I'm glad that those lovely people who have reviewed have expressed their excitement for CGIR. Thanks again!
From now on, I will be going back to my old update system. Basically, I will do my best to update this story weekly on Saturday's (New Zealand Time). While I have practically written this story already, please bear in mind that I am a university student, currently on summer holiday. In February, I will go back to study and will have a part time job so from time to time, something unexpected will probably happen. Do not panic if a chapter doesn't arrive when it is supposed to.
Thank you for your patience and understanding! Remember, reviews are always appreciated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Until next time -
- Moon. :D
