Gasp. I got reviews. :D I feel loved...thanks a bunch, guys. (But it's actually a bit depressing when I get an email and it's not from Pottermore. It seems like everybody who registered for the beta has already gotten a welcome email. Except for me. Has anyone else not gotten theirs either?)
Anyways, I really have nothing much to do today, so I might as well just post the next chapter. For some reason, I'm really proud of this one. At least, I'm proud of the plot. I dashed it off really quickly, so I'm not sure about the grammar, etc.
After this, it'll be one of three: Albus in the hospital wing, Rose and her first detention, or James and the Forbidden Forest. Tell me which you'd prefer in a review, 'kay?
Dear Dad,
Please don't tell Mum - she'll harp on about chivalry, of all things - but I need advice on ditching a girl. It's my first-ever Hogsmeade visit next Saturday, and I've somehow managed to get a date. The problem is, I'd rather be eaten by an Acromantula than go with her. She's psychotic...creepy...not normal. I suppose you'll need a bit of background before you can tell me what to do. Granted, it's a very strange story, but I promise you it's the truth. And without your help, I'm completely lost.
I met her in the girls' lavatory. Yeah, I know that I shouldn't have been there in the first place. But I was checking Potter's Herbology essay against my own, and then Professor Longbottom appeared in the hallway, and he would think I was cheating, so what could I do but hide? (No, Potter and I aren't friends, not by a long shot. You see, I let the Weasley girl - yes, that Weasley girl - borrow my Transfig. notes when she lost her own last month. I just felt sorry for her; she was literally hyperventilating. And after she copied them, she wouldn't pay me back, let alone thank me. I tell you, she has stubbornness issues. So Potter, in exchange for helping his cousin, let me see his essay. I accepted, but only because I was losing sleep from that horrid Ancient Runes project and had practically no time for any other homework. Weasley slapped Potter and punched me, but I was still grateful. I swear, though, that it's only a temporary truce. Potter and I are still enemies.)
So, anyways, I resumed comparing the essays while sitting on a toilet seat. I was too scared to leave, lest I run into Professor Longbottom. Getting into trouble for cheating would have been bad enough, without adding to it the penalty for being in the wrong bathroom. It was absolutely disgusting and smelled foul; if Filch saw it, he would've had a fit. And in the middle of this, she popped up. You know the type: rather ugly, pigtails, horrendous glasses, and a tittering laugh that sounded like it originated in the depths of hell. She stared for a few seconds, then immediately told me that I reminded her of someone and asked who I was. In shock, I blurted that I was Scorpius Malfoy, third year Ravenclaw, and begged her not to tell anybody about the Herbology essay. She gave a hiccuping giggle before telling me that I was "absolutely adorable" and that she would snog me ten times over if she could. Obviously, I immediately ran to the door handle - but before I could turn it, she stopped me and asked me out. I declined with revulsion, but she claimed that she would snitch on me to my head of house if I didn't say yes. So what could I do? Professor Flitwick doesn't like me much at all, and would readily believe anything negative against me. If someone told him that I jumped into the Black Lake and murdered the Giant Squid with the Sword of Gryffindor, I'm afraid he'd believe that too.
So...that's it. Talk about a dilemma. Hurry up and give me an answer, Dad, because I can't follow through with the date. And I can't go back and refuse without her telling Professor Flitwick that I was "cheating", and thus losing a million points from Ravenclaw. I really don't know what to do. Is it even possible to go out with a ghost, anyway?
Sincerely,
Scorpius
P.S. - Moaning Myrtle told me to give you her regards, and that she's always there if you ever again need a shoulder to cry on. I don't quite get her reference, but you should.
