CHAPTER 4
He was tapping his quill impatiently on the parchment so fiercely it broke the tip. Scorpius cursed and reached into his pocket for his wand.
"Reparo."
The quill mended itself and he returned to making sporadic dots on his paper in an attempt to stay occupied in the empty classroom and not think about how her absence that was overbearingly present.
He was split right down the middle on being worried and irked. She had said she would be here tonight, and Rose's word was as good as Godric's. Had she somehow gotten hurt on the trek down from her tower to Longbottom's classroom by the greenhouses? Fallen down a flight of stairs? Tripped on a rug? Gotten lost? Or perhaps she merely forgot...that seemed unlikely to him as well. She had seemed almost excited when they made the plan. Scorpius doubted it would have escaped her memory so easily.
He glanced at the watch his parents had given him for his birthday last month corner; she was over an hour late. Scorpius ran a hand through his hair and resolved that she wasn't coming for Merlin knows what reason. He stood up and stuffed the parchment and ink he had brought into his bag, stalking out of the abandoned classroom, consumed with confused thoughts of worry and irritation.
Perhaps he should check on her, make sure everything was all right. He figured he wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't. The Fat Lady might not let him in, but she'd tell him if Rose had left for the greenhouses or stayed inside. It was moments like these that he wished brooms were allowed to be flown inside, because his legs just couldn't carry him quick enough up to the Gryffindor Tower. After what seemed like ages, he had arrived, panting, as the Fat Lady gave him the stink eye.
"Is that a Slytherin badge?" she sneered, pouring herself some more wine.
"Well, yes-"
"Ah, a Slytherin out of bed past curfew. Shocking," she mused and gulped down the glass fiercely. "I'd call for Filch if you weren't so handsome."
Scorpius grinned uneasily, not knowing how to accept a backhanded compliment from a portrait. "Right, er, can you tell me if Rose Weasley has left this portrait hole in the past hour or so?"
She swung back another glass and nodded, wiping her mouth. "Yes, yes, the girl left around eight."
His heartbeat quickened. She hadn't forgotten after all, but where could she possibly be?
"Has she returned yet?"
"No."
"Thank you," he muttered and stalked off without saying goodbye, his mind warped with worry. Something had happened to Rose, he was sure of it. She had gotten hurt somehow on her way down to meet him. The only question was where she ended up.
He hadn't seen her on his route from the greenhouses to her common room, so chances were that she was in the infirmary, alone and in pain. His heart clenched at the thought. He ran his hand through his hair, nervously, and debated telling Albus. He deserved to know if his cousin was hurt, but what would he say? How would he explain to him what had happened without revealing the party?
Distant voices down the corridor broke him out of his frantic thoughts, immediately jumping to the conclusion that it was teachers making rounds. He ran to the nearest broom cupboard, the one he had pulled Rose into yesterday, and shut the door as quietly as possible. It still smelled of her perfume. As the muffled voices neared him however, they sounded less like teachers and more like students.
"…I think I might burst..."
"…Can only have so much cherry pie!"
"…Worth it, those House Elves know what they are doing. I need that cherry pie in my life more than I need my own family!"
He heard a laugh and it echoed in his ears as his heart stopped completely. It was a laugh that he was all too accustomed to. She was not hurt, she was not in the hospital wing; Rose had just blown him off. And of all people, it just had to be with-
"Lysander, you are awful," she giggled, and Scorpius rolled his eyes. Rose did not giggle and when she did it was sickening. "If your mother heard you say that she'd have a hippogriff."
"Well let's hope she never finds out about it then," Lysander replied, laughing himself. "We should make this a regular think, excursions to the kitchens. I had fun."
"Me too."
Her laugh echoed in his head long after they had disappeared down the corridor, long after he had stalked up to his dormitory, long after he had ignored Albus' greeting and fallen on his bed, and long after his watch reached three am and he had still not fallen asleep.
Scorpius woke up the next morning in a bad mood which persisted through most of the day. Albus never gave up asking what was wrong for he knew Scorpius was lying when he said he had a headache and inner turmoil was accompanied being a Malfoy. He was silent throughout breakfast, regardless of the countless attempts Albus made to include him in a quidditch conversation between him and their captain, Jacoby Flint. History of Magic and Astronomy passed by in a blur, and before long they were back in the Great Hall for lunch, Albus digging into his sandwich and Scorpius merely pushing his food around the plate, not exactly hungry but not exactly full.
"This brooding act has gotten old, Scorp," Albus told him with a look of disapprovement on his face after he finished swallowing a bite that wasn't humanely possible. Scorpius shrugged in response, making Albus roll his eyes and join in the conversation between some sixth years about convincing McGonagall to bring back the Triwizard Tournement.
Scorpius wanted nothing more that to tell Albus what had happened, how Rose had either forgotten their meeting or chose to blow him off in order to hang out with her ostentatious git of a boyfriend, but as they were meeting about his surprise birthday, he couldn't. He had to sit in silence and yes, mope over the fact Rose disregarded him- er, but mostly Albus- so absentmindedly. After all, it was his birthday they were planning! It was a slap in the face - to Albus, of course- for she had basically chosen Lysander Scamander over her own cousin. Her own flesh and blood! How could she be so shallow? And Lysander Scamander, of all people, one of the vilest people he had ever met. Albus had been right about him all along. He wanted to tell Albus all of this and more, but he didn't and he couldn't, so he just sat in silence and tried to get Rose's voice out of his head.
Meanwhile, Rose was sitting at the Gryffindor table desperately trying to finish her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework before lunch ended. She had planned to finish it last night, but she felt it was rude to excuse herself from her and Lysander's date early after their disagreement on her commitment. She kept tucking the same curl behind her ear as she smudged the ink on the parchment, writing fervently, the dread of not being able to finish hanging over her like a dark cloud.
"Merlin's bear, slow down!" Lily cried next to her, grabbing her hand and lifting it off of the parchment as she continued to write in the air.
"I can't this has to be done by next period and I've only got-" She checked her watch and gasped. "-Ten minutes left!"
"It's not even legible with all those smudges," Lily pointed out, holding the paper up to Rose. It was covered in fingerprints, ink spills, and messy scrawl that was almost unreadable. Rose felt like she was going to cry. "Besides, isn't this due Monday?"
Miracles came in many forms, but she had never experienced one so wonderful as extended homework. She broke out in a brilliant smile and sighed dramatically in relief. "You're right. I must have gotten the days mixed up."
Lily smiled back and handed the parchment back to her. "That's very unusual for Rose Weasley, the human file cabinet. Were you with Scamander last night? Love does make the mind wander."
Rose forced a laugh. "Yes, I suppose that's it. Look, I better go give this quill back to Albus, I'll see you next period."
Lily made a face at her hurried excuse but waved goodbye. Rose knew she saw right through her excuse as they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins next, too. But she wanted to escape any questions about her relationship before they arised - she just didn't feel like thinking about it at the moment. Rose weaved her way through the students and tables until she plopped down next to her cousin on the bench at the Slytherin table.
"Hey Al, here's your quill."
He turned to her and made a face similar to Lily's. "My quill?"
"Yes, I borrowed it and I wanted to give it back," said Rose.
"When did you borrow it?" Albus asked and took it by the feather. "This isn't mine, Rose."
"Fine, then take it as a present," she insisted, shoving it in his bag before he could protest. Rose looked up at Scorpius across from them, his shaggy blonde head seemingly absorbed in the book that was propped against his empty plate and bowl, knuckles white from clutching it so hard.
"He's not actually reading it," Albus said, aiming it more towards him than towards her. "He's been staring at the same page for ten minutes."
Scorpius looked up and glared at Albus, melodramatically turning the page and then returning to burning a hole in it with a blank stare. Rose laughed freely and nudged her cousin. "What's with him?"
"I don't know, Little Miss Silence clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Albus sneered haughtily and gulped down the rest of his pumpkin juice. "Was he this way last night?"
Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Last night?"
"Didn't you have your independent Herbology- bloody hell!" Scorpius had spilled his pumpkin juice over the table as Albus rescued his sandwich before it could get soggy from the sticky liquid. "Nice, Scorp, real nice!"
"Sorry," he muttered and reached into his pocket for his wand. "Scorgify."
"Right, well, your independent Herbology study, was he being a prat then too?" Albus reiterated to an unhearing Rose. She was too busy staring at Scorpius, realization that she had forgotten their party planning meeting dawning upon her like the crack of lightning. Guilt washed over at her as he happened to glance at her with a look that made her feel unpalbably guilty.
"Great, so now you're ignoring me, too?"
"What? Oh, no, Al, sorry. I just," she breathed, feeling horrible. "Forgot something, that's all."
Scorpius couldn't take the guilty looks Rose was giving him. He stood up and forced a smile onto his face, though it came out looking more like disappointed smirk. "We better get to class, then."
"He speaks!" Albus cheered at stood up with him, Rose following in suit. The three wandered towards the class as Scorpius and Albus resumed conversation, Rose silent, wondering how she was going to make it up to him. Did he know she had been with Lysander? He couldn't be angry with her if he just thought she forgot, right?
Class had never felt longer and Scorpius was fed up with Rose's pathetic glances, filled with mercy that made him sick to his stomach. At last the bell rang and Albus ran out, realizing he had forgotten his Charms textbook back in his dorm for the next class. Scorpius strode out of the classroom, counting down from ten under his breath. He felt a tap on his shoulder at six.
"Scorpius-"
Scorpius turned around to face her. "Save it, Rose. It's fine."
But of course it wasn't, not to the Crown Princess of Stubborn. Her face remained pointed and her eyes hard. "No, I want to apologize."
He snorted. "That's a first." Scorpius was surprised when she didn't send a harsh rebuke back at him and instead looked at the floor, the surest sign of shame for a girl who always insisted on looking him right in the eye whenever they had a row.
"I deserved that. I am sorry, though, I completely forgot about our meeting. Please believe me when I say I wish I had never forgotten."
Something about how she said it was so genuine that it made his glare fall. Any anger she had harbored towards him began to sail away when she peeked up at him with her gunmetal blue eyes through dark lashes. "It's all right. It wasn't that big of deal." He couldn't help but smile when her relief became apparent, but managed to transform it into a smirk. "Besides, I love to see you beg."
Rose frowned with a playful look in her eye. "Don't get used to it."
He chuckled. "Well, we're still on for this Saturday, right?"
Her smile fell as quickly as it had appeared. He felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Actually..."
"Let me guess, you're choosing Scamander over your own cousin again?" Scorpius sighed, spitting out the name like it was poison.
"That's not true."
"I know the water's sweet Rose, but blood is thicker."
"This has nothing to do with Albus!"
"His birthday party was your idea and yet I'm doing all the work!"
"I forgot once- hang on, how did you know I was with Scamander last night?" Rose chided, crossing her arms suspiciously.
Pink tinted his cheeks as Scorpius exhaled sharply out of his nose. "Where else would you be, with your friends? Oh wait, you're a bit lacking in that department, aren't you?"
Compared to his blush, Rose flushed profusely as she narrowed her eyes. "Like you're one to talk. Is that why you are so obsessed with this birthday, so you can make sure your only friend doesn't ditch you for someone else?"
"How is this now about me?"
She smirked maliciously. "Oh, I'm sorry, isn't everything?"
"I have friends, Weasley. All you have is your have your cousins and an ostentatious ignoramus as a boyfriend! It makes sense, of course. Who else would be able to put up with you all day and not want to Avada themselves?"
If there had been a horrible moment for Albus to walk in on their row, it would have been that, and Scorpius wasn't exactly experiencing a felix felicies day. He stepped in between them and glared at Scorpius. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I absolutely despise you," Rose seethed, ignoring Albus' appearance and staring Scorpius down with squinted eyes as if she were Medusa and he would become stone in a matter of seconds.
"I'll get over it," Scorpius shot back, rolling his eyes and making a nasty face. She gave him once last scoff before hurrying off to class as the bell rang, indicating they were very late on top of being very, very upset.
"What was that all about?" Albus demanded. Knowing he couldn't reveal the whole story without ruining Albus' birthday but also couldn't say nothing without getting hit, Scorpius adjusted the strap on his bag and lead the way to Charms on the other side of the castle.
"If I ever see Scamander with her again, I think you'll have to restrain me," he muttered.
"Why?" Albus asked. "What did he do to her?"
"Nothing, if you don't count turning her into a selfish banshee."
"Then why are you so angry?"
"Am I not allowed to be!?" Scorpius shouted, his vociferous retort echoing off the empty corridor walls, making Albus step back from him. He regretted his acerbity instantly and shook his head. "Sorry. Let's just get to class."
But why was he so angry? A part of him knew, a small part that was often eclipsed by stronger, more defensive emotions knew exactly why, but he didn't want to admit how horrible it felt knowing that Rose had forgotten him and chose to hang out with Scamander. Because saying it would only mean one thing, something that terrified him into shouting and saying things he didn't mean just to convince everyone otherwise. Maybe in the process he may just convince himself it wasn't true.
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