Chapter 2
Scorpius Malfoy had been in a foul mood all day. Rose Weasley had been avoiding him all day. And for good reason. He'd been awful. Merlin, he would avoid himself if he could. But he couldn't. Hence his foul mood. He was left with him and his wretched self.
"Scorp! I created a new move last night!" Albus Potter said, running up.
"Does it happen to involve getting your best friend back?" Scorpius asked.
Albus tilted his head. "No. I haven't heard of any Quidditch moves that do that. Why? Who is this best friend you've lost? I'm right here."
Scorpius sighed. "There are three of us, Albus. Rose feels abandoned. Like she's a second choice to us because of Quidditch."
"But she's not! Every year we tell her she should try out for the team! We want her to be there with us!"
"And every year she tries out. And doesn't make it. And then we ignore her while our worlds revolve around Quidditch." Scorpius leaned against a wall. "I'm beginning to understand her feelings more and more. We've been awful to her, Al."
Albus was silent for a moment. "I think you're right, Scorp. Let's go find her." They headed towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Lily!" they both chorused at the same time.
Lily looked up from the muggle fashion magazine she'd been looking at. "Oh wow. Albus and Scorpius off of the Quidditch pitch. Who'd have thought?" She turned back to her magazine.
Albus and Scorpius exchanged glances. It seems everyone had noticed the inordinate amount of time they'd been spending at the Quidditch pitch.
"Lil, do you know where Rose is?"
"Oh, I don't know. Probably off somewhere mending her heart broken by you two." Lily gave a dramatic sigh. "Just kidding. Don't look so offended. She's in the kitchen."
Scorpius gave a sigh of relief and headed for the door. Albus hesitated. Scorpius was already booking it down to the kitchen (well, booking as fast as he could on crutches), but Albus laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"I can't go down there, mate."
"And why ever not?"
"The houselves don't like me much after I flew into their carefully crafted Quidditch Snacks Stand."
"But that was first year!" Albus shrugged. "They remember. They haven't said anything, but their silent glares tell all. You've got to do this on your own. But tell Rose I love her. And that I'm sorry."
Scorpius nodded. "Will do."
Scorpius entered the kitchens and his nose was immediately hit by the the variety of dishes being prepared for dinner tonight. The house elves were scurrying around. Scorpius stopped to look for Rose, and one carrying a platter full of food nearly ran into him. The house elf let out a squeak before apparating to the other side of him. Finally he spotted Rose in a little corner, mixing something in a bowl. She was very focused on her mixing, and seemed to be in her own little world.
Scorpius walked up quietly and shouted, "Boo!"
Rose (along with several house elves) let out a little shriek. She turned and saw him.
"Scorpius Malfoy!" She gave him a whack on the arm.
"Oy! I'm already injured!" Rose smirked.
"Then don't sneak up on me." She turned back to what Scorpius could now see was cookie dough. "What are you doing here, anyways?"
"I came to apologize. Albus was going to come to, but-"
"The house elves hate his guts," Rose finished.
"Exactly." Scorpius freed both of Rose's hands from the mixing of the cookie dough. "Rose Weasley, I can be pretty thick sometimes. And for that I'm sorry. And I'm sorry it took an injury that won't be healed to make me realize it. Please give me the chance to make it up to you." Rose sighed, but he could see her smile.
"And I suppose Albus says ditto?"
"Exactly."
"I suppose I could forgive you… If you'll help me make these cookies."
"I suppose I'll have to work doubly hard as part of Albus's apology too?"
Rose smirked. "You're catching on already!" She passed him the bowl. "I'll keep adding flour and you stir."
Scorpius sat on a stool (because his legs were killing him after the long walk from the tower) and began mixing the dough.
"Merlin, this stuff is thick! And you're still adding flour?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "If the cookie dough is thin, they'll come out super flat. I want thick cookies for Lily's party tonight." Scorpius nodded, pretending he understood.
Rose added a bit more flour and lifted the cup as if pondering the density of cookie dough. Then she flipped the measuring cup and a dusting of flour came down on Scorpius's head.
"Oy! What was that for?"
Rose giggled. "You scared me, remember? Besides, you can't even see it! You're too white, Scorp."
Rose turned her back in an attempt to hide her laughter.
"Rose?" she heard hesitantly behind her. She turned just as Scorpius blew on the flour that was waiting to be mixed into the dough. It all flew right into her face. She blinked, surprised by what had just happened.
Finally, "Scorpius MALFOY!"
Scorpius gave an innocent shrug. "I was hoping that flour would mix with the color of your hair and it would turn the color of your cheeks."
"Hey, Scorp?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you trying to start a food fight?"
Scorpius grinned. "Is it working?"
Rose gave a curt nod. "It's on." Rose turned and began consorting with a house elf. He brought her a bowl of mashed potatoes. They would match Scorpius quite nicely. She turned to find that Scorpius was no longer in his seat. Rose looked around the kitchen before she spotted him moving between carts of unbaked bread. She took aim hit his arm with a handful of (cooled, luckily) mashed potatoes.
"She found me! I thought you said I'd blend in here!" The house elf near him shrugged, and handed him something.
"The crutches kind of give it away." Rose was trying to figure out what it was, and she figured out pretty quick once it flew into her open mouth.
"You're throwing jello!?"
"I'm just talented! I'm winning a food fight and creating an art masterpiece at the same time."
Rose shook her head. "You're not winning this food fight." She chucked a large handful of mashed potatoes and ducked under the counter. She peaked up in time for another clump of jello to get in her hair. She countered with a handful of potatoes. But Scorpius was moving closer, hiding behind racks of uncooked bread (which was now potato bread) and inching his way towards Rose's hiding place (inching because crutches take forever). She continued her throw and duck technique. There was quite the pile of jello growing on her and the surrounding surfaces.
Scorpius was now dead ahead and he threw a large chunk of jello. Rose tried to lean back far enough that it cleared her head. The jello by her feet had other ideas, and she felt herself following.
Scorpius abandoned his crutches and rushed to keep her from falling. He did so successfully, but then Rose was leaning on him, and his weak body couldn't keep upright. The jello underneath them did not help. They ended up falling in a mass on the ground.
Scorpius groaned.
"Scorp! Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Are your legs broken?"
"They were already broken, Rose. My pride's a little wounded. But I'll live. Your hair though… With the amount of jello it took, well, good luck getting it out." Scorpius smirked. "Good thing I asked for red jello."
"It seems like your hair didn't fair much better." Rose moved forward and Scorpius stilled as Rose's hand moved to his hair. She began picking out bits of potato out of it. Scorpius's arm (which was longer than Rose's) went outside of hers to pick jello out of her hair.
"So, we're monkeys now, I guess?" Scorpius asked. Rose giggled. She made a monkey sound that had Scorpius laughing. He moved closer to work on her hair easier. He realized very quickly that it was, indeed, hopeless. A hot shower would probably do a much better job than he could.
He moved his hand through her hair, until it was cupping her face. She froze and looked at him.
"Rose, I-" Scorpius wasn't sure exactly how he was going to finish that. He only knew that he was leaning forward. Rose didn't seem entirely interested in his response as her gaze flickered from his eyes down to his mouth. Scorpius took that as a good sign and moved closer still.
"Rose! Where are you? And why is this place such a mess?"
Scorpius groaned and moved away. He loved Lily Potter. She was like a sister to him,
but at the moment he felt a bit like hexing her so that he could get back to his moment with Rose. He knew Albus would not approve of any hexing of his sister. On the note of Albus, Scorpius was suddenly grateful for the house elf's beef with his best friend which prevented him from coming.
Rose was sure her cheeks matched her hair and the jello. What just (almost) happened? She tried to keep voice even as she said, "Over here, Lil."'
Footsteps approached them. Lily gasped. "What happened."
"The house elves just started throwing food at us. Acting like monkeys, they were," Scorpius said with a serious expression. Rose busted up laughing.
Lily joined and shook her head. "I highly doubt that. Rose, I've got bad news." Rose looked up. "Mark is sick and won't be able to come tonight."
"Oh. Well, that's alright. You take Lysander, and I can skip. Or go without a date."
"I can go as your date," Scorpius volunteered without thinking. Rose and Lily looked at him.
Rose made a face. "Not with potatoes in your hair, you can't." Scorpius laughed and stood up. He made sure he was stable on his feet before helping Rose to hers. She handed him his crutches.
"I can clean up. And I would love to be your date tonight."
Rose grinned shyly and nodded. "I'll see you tonight then?"
Scorpius nodded and hobbled out of the room.
"Madam Pomfrey, please consider healing my injuries!"
"And why should I do that, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Because it's not for Quidditch. It's for a girl."
AN: I'm excited for the response I've got for this! I had this in my head for a while. Thank you for all the reviews! Let me know what you think of this update. I'm excited for what's in store. Also, these chapters are turning out way longer than I expected. I suppose you don't mind though, do you?
