"So if the object contains chemical energy, it cannot be transfigured or made to appear out of thin air" I recite from our Transfiguration textbook, while Rose lies on the grass next to me. It's cloudy, yet not so cloudy that you couldn't sit outside. A soft breeze rippled the water of the Black Lake and a group of Slytherin first years were playing dome Muggle sport, called 'football' where you basically kick a ball around on some grass to try to hit it into a large net at the end of the field. Muggles are so inventive. Apart from them, we are the only ones down at the Lake.
"Ugh." Rose put her arm across her face, blocking her brown eyes. "Why do Muggles use these stupid words? 'Chemical energy'. What is that anyway? It sound like some line out of that Muggle television show my Granddad Arthur watches, 'Grey's Atanomy', or whatever it's called" she pauses for a breath "I don't get that show. The doctors are always sneaking off into cupboards together. They could just apparate back home and do whatever there."
I laugh at this. Oh, Rose, always questioning things. "Well, I would imagine that considering that Muggles are non-magic, they might have a hard time apparating to get back and wander off into a cupboard there. And chemical energy is things like food, which gives you energy."
She groaned and sat up. "How do you do it, Scorpius? How do you understand half this stuff?"
"Easy. I have absolutely nothing else to do."
We smiled for a second when the bell rang.
"Oh, that's me, I have Care of Magical Creatures and If I'm late again, I'm sure Hagrid will set his skrewts on the girl's dormitory, and Dom will KILL me." She rushes up, spilling her books on the grass and I pick them up and hand them to her.
"Well, good luck with the Hippogriffs, and always remember to bow; they get angry if you don't." I tell her, handing her the books. She grins at me, turns and makes her way up to Hagrid's cabin. I lean against the tree, and watch her go. As she is about to go behind, she turns and smiles at me, then disappears out of sight, her long read hair flying after her.
I had been surprised as to how much she'd changed. She used to be a little, awkward looking fourteen year old with limp, thin ginger hair, had gone away for a fishing trip during the summer and had turned into a…
Girl.
I didn't think that I could ever be thinking of my best friend like this. She had always been the little one, scrawny and pale, always needing help with her homework. Sure, she's still small, but not mouse-like. It's strange to think about just how different she was. How I thought of her differently.
What had the world come to?
With one last fleeting glance at Hagrid's cabin, I picked up my books and stumbled back up to the castle, the prospect of Charms homework in the back of my mind.
What a fun afternoon this would be.
I've never liked dinners in the Great Hall. The other Slytherins have never accepted me for being friends with a Gryffindor, and while I had friends, I was never as comfortable with them as I am with Rose. I felt like I should have been put in Gryffindor instead. I can still remember the day I was sorted…
"Slytherin!" the hat screamed, echoing off the walls of the Great Hall. The Slytherin table erupted in cheers and shook my hand as I took my place on the bench.
Other students got sorted, Albus Potter in Gryffindor, Dominique Weasley in Gryffindor.
"Weasley, Rose" McGonagall called out. I held my breath as my newest friend went forward and sat on the stool. She put that hat on her head. The Hall was silent in anticipation of which house Ron Weasley's daughter would get put in.
"Slytherin,Slytherin" I prayed under my breath. The hat stirred.
"Have to be… Gryffindor!" its voice rang out, the Gryffindor table adding to the noise. My heart sank as I watched Rose pull the hat off her red hair and trot over to join her family at the Gryffindor table. She gave me a small smile as she sat down next to Dominique, who got her engaged in an intense and heated conversation.
I never bothered to make many friends that year, for Rose was always there. She cheered the loudest when I got on the Slytherin Quidditch team and I was in the front row when she played Keeper against Ravenclaw. We ignored the hateful glances left to us from Albus, Dominique and Hugo. We spent every minute together, just us two.
Ever since that first dinner, I have hated any gatherings in the Hall because we couldn't be together. I occasionally caught a fleeting glance, only for her to be pulled away by some antic of her cousins. In time, James began to warm towards me, but Albus never budged. He still walked away whenever I approached him, never looked me in the eye, never smiled at me…
Sitting in the Great Hall, watching Rose talk to James made me feel like an eleven year old again, small and powerless. She flipped her red hair over her shoulder and looked at me with a grin. It was not unusual to find me looking at her. Albus sees that we are silently communicating and shoots me a murderous glance. Rose, noticing this gesture, tiltes her head quickly towards the door and, understanding what she means, I stand up from the table, abandoning my dinner and move towards the enormous double doors that lead out to the corridor. Rose rises, mimicking my movements.
We walk simultaneously out into the Entrance Hall and silently move down to the courtyard, where only a week ago I was once again rejected from Rose's friends. We went and sat down against the wall, side by side and look up at the dark, cloudy sky.
"You okay?" her voice breaks the silence, slightly making me jump. I sigh, and she takes my hand, sending warm volts through my hand, up my arm.
"Yeah" I reply after a minute, looking down at her. "I'm fine". She breathed out what seemed like a held breath and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Just ignore Al." She whispered, yet her voice rang clear and strong. "He's worried that you'll become my favorite instead of him" she joked, louder this time, yet there was still a note of tension in her voice.
We didn't speak after that, only sit there, looking up at the threatening sky, both submerged in our own little, insignificant thoughts. Gradually she became heavier on my shoulder and her breathing became rhythmic and deep. I looked down and, sure enough, her eyes were closed, fluttering with a dream. I put my arm around her, letting my robe cover her like a blanket and went back to my dark brooding.
I don't know how long we sat there, only dragged from my thoughts when the clock struck ten and I realized that Filch would skin us alive if he found us out of bed. I looked down at Rose, blissfully sleeping, and gently shook her. Her eyes opened slowly.
"What time is it?" she asked groggily, looking around for some clue as to where she was. Seeing the Transfiguration corridor, she seemed satisfied.
"About ten" I tell her. "Here, let me help you up"
We get up together, me half-pulling her and begin to make our way through the corridors, towards the Gryffindor common room, one eye open for Filch or Mrs Norris. Despite being able to walk on her own, a step higher from me when I'm woken up, she is remarkably quiet as I lead her by the hand up the changing stairs to the sleeping portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Here you are" I say, letting her hand go.
"Thanks, Scorpius." She replies, a grateful smile on her face. She turns to the Fat Lady. "Buckbeak" she calls out, interrupting her sleep. The Fat Lady wakes up with a jolt.
"Do you mind? I was having a perfectly wonderful dream there." She says irritably.
"Buckbeak" Rose replies calmly and the portrait gradually swings open. She turns to me. "Good night, then." She says quietly.
"Night. " I reply gently.
She looks at me for a moment, puts her arms around my neck, pulls me down to her height and kisses me.
I had only ever been kissed once before, by Alisson Bluefarm, a Hufflepuff, when I was in my third year, over a game of Truth or Dare. Yet Rose's kiss was so different. So much nicer. Her lips are cool and soft, yet her embrace warm and gentle. She pulls away for a moment to look at me and darts through the portrait hole.
The Fat Lady swings shut, with a mixed look of triumph and amusement. She had obviously quite enjoyed the show.
"Interesting tactics there, darling" her voice seemed dangerously close to laughing. "I would go for someone a bit taller than me, which is why I have my eye on one Phineas Nigellus" her dark eyes gleamed as I leaned against the landing railing. I had just kissed my best friend. I had just kissed Rose. And I liked it.
I must have had far too much Pumpkin Juice this evening.
