A/N: This is a huge chapter. Lots of big things are going to happen for all the main characters. Hopefully I've done it justice. At the beginning of this story, I was having a lot of trouble getting inspired, but after the last two chapters, I've been feeling really good about it. Hope you like it!
Chapter 7
Als and Arses
Scorpius' POV
I slept better that night than I had since I came to school. I even woke up early enough to go for a fly before breakfast. There were no Quidditch practices scheduled, so I had the pitch to myself. I charmed a Quaffle and practiced my keeping, hoping to stay sharp for our first match of the season against Ravenclaw.
I'm not sure what time it was, but when the sun was fully up, and Hagrid was outside tending to his pumpkin patch with Fang, I headed inside.
When I made it back to the dorm, I could hear the shower running. Rose has always liked long showers, so I decided to finish the Potions essay I'd been putting off. Just as I was finishing the last sentence, the water turned off. Once I heard the bathroom door open, and Rose's bedroom door shut, I headed in to take my own shower.
By the time I made it to the Great Hall, it was fairly crowded. As I walked down the center aisle to where my friends and Thomas were sitting, I could hear all the gossip from yesterday's Hogsmeade trip floating through the large room. The funniest bit was definitely the young Hufflepuff girl trying to convince her friend that Alice and I were now engaged.
I sat down next to Alice, and across from Rose, something that would definitely help with my new plan.
"Morning Als, Rosie. How's everybody's morning going so far?" My seemingly innocent question caused quite a stir on our little area of table. Al and Alice whipped their heads towards me at the same time. I saw Thomas' knuckles turn white around his fork, clearly angry that I'd acknowledged Rose in front of him. I might as well make his anger worth it. I just hoped my actions weren't going to cause Rose any distress. I leaned across the table towards her, gesturing at our best friends.
"Have they always been this dramatic?" My question got a laugh from Rose, and it was in that instance that I realized just how much I'd missed my best friend.I returned to my side of the table and through my arm around Alice.
"Have you guys heard the news?" When my question was met with blank stares, I continued. "Apparently, Alice and I spent quite a romantic day together yesterday, and we're now engaged. I haven't recieved one congratulations yet, though. You'll be my best man right, Al?"
Rose and Alice started laughing, and Al shoved my arm off Alice's shoulder.
"You're a tosser, mate."
"So, is that a no, Albus? I could always ask Hugo." All I got from him was a standard Albus Potter eye roll.
The rest of breakfast went better than I expected, and a few minuted before the first class started, Andrew Thomas muttered something to Rose and stormed out of the Great Hall. An angry Thomas and talking to my best friend again was definitely going to make the Monday more bearable.
It's been two weeks since I decided to ignore Thomas' warning, and I haven't regretted a moment of it. We've had Head meetings, and planned the next Hogsmeade trip. We've even started patrolling together, something I'm extremely happy about. The fifth years were really starting to grate on my nerves. Patrols with Rose are probably the most fun I've had all year. If I could only get her to dump her daft git of a boyfriend, everything would be perfect.
The next Hogsmeade trip is in a week and a half, and Albus came to breakfast this morning with a daisy, looking like he was about to vomit. He sat across from me, and I could see the sweat on his forehead.
"Is that for me, Alby? You really shouldn't have. You know my favorite flower is a Rose." I winked at Rose and she laughed, but Al didn't respond. I shot Rose a look, but as our eyes met, I realized what was going on. I snapped my head around towards Al.
"Albus Severus Potter, you're going to do it! You're going to ask her!" Al nodded, if you could even call it that. It was more of an involuntary jerk of his head. I heard Rose gasp, in what I'm sure was happiness. I leaned towards him, and spoke quietly, because I still hadn't told Rose we'd overheard her conversation with Alice.
"Al, mate. You heard what Rose said in the hall. She loves you! Merlin knows why, but she does. There's no reason why she'll say no. If you wait any longer, some other bloke is going to realize what a catch she is, and you'll be all alone. You're a Gryffindor, mate. Use some of that courage."
Thankfully, my words seemed to perk him up a touch, but at that exact moment, Alice was suddenly next to him, lowering herself onto the bench. I could see him visibly tense, and next to me, Rose was trying hard not to laugh. I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she cracked up. Al seemed to be doing his fair share of cracking as well, only his was in the mental capacity. He had hidden the flower under the table, and I could see him bouncing slightly, which I knew to mean that his leg was bouncing uncontrollably.
Rose had stopped laughing, and started a conversation with Alice. They were in the middle of a discussion about an essay I'd just finished, when out of the blue, Al stood up quickly, and practically ran out of the hall. At the sudden movement, Alice broke off her conversation and looked in the direction that Al had just vanished.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know Allie Bean, he's been quiet since he got here." Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes at me.
"And of course you didn't think to ask him, did you? Typical male." I pretended to be offended, but she wasn't buying it. "I'm going to go find him. Actually make an effort, you know?"
"You wound me Alice. I don't know how I'll ever be able to forgive you." That earned me a smack on the arm, and she stood up and made her way out of the hall. Once she had gone through the doors, I looked at Rose.
"This could be the moment. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to miss it. You coming?"
Rose didn't give it a second thought. As I got up, she mumbled something to Thomas, who looked pissed, as usual. Leaving the git, we followed Alice, but from a distance. It was a few minutes before she found him by the Black Lake, sitting on the dock, staring at his flower. We found a spot on the grounds where we could see them, but they couldn't see us. As we watched, Alice settled herself down next to him.
"I'd kill for a pair of extendable ears!" Looking down at Rose, she looked like she'd been hit with multiple cheering charms. She was bouncing up and down from her spot in the grass.
"Easy there, Princess." She smacked my arm and then grabbed it as Al seemed to realize who it was sitting next to him. After a moment, he lifted the flower to Alice, who turned a pretty shade of pink as she accepted it. Neither of them said anything, though.
"Come on, Al. Make your move, mate." I knew he wouldn't hear my words, but I figured he could use as much good energy as possible. Rose must have heard me, though, and gave my arm a quick squeeze.
"Give him time, Scorpy. You know he's a chicken." I didn't miss the fact that she was getting me back for calling her Princess, but I knew I deserved it. When I looked back at the dock, I was happy to see that they were talking. Al nudged his glasses up his nose, and I could practically see him forcing his hand down so he wouldn't mess his hair up even more than it already was.
"So what do you think, Scorp? Is he just going to ask her to Hogsmeade, or what?"
As I thought about Rose's question, I realized I had no clue. I still hadn't told Rose that we'd overheard her conversation with Alice. I also wasn't sure how much courage he'd be able to muster.
"I think just Hogsmeade for now. Hopefully if it goes well, then he'll ask her to be his girlfriend. You know your cousin. He's a Gryffindow, but he's not very smooth with the ladies."
We sat there for a while watching our best friends. It was almost like a Muggle silent film, and we had to fill in the blanks with our own words.
After a few more minutes, Al ran his hand through his hair, and I knew him well enough to know that it was time. He was going to make his move. Rose saw it, too, and in unison we both leaned forward, as if a few inches would magically allow us to hear their conversation. I'm sure we looked ridiculous, but this was a big moment.
Al said something and Alice's eyes got wide. The color raced to both their faces. For a moment, neither of them moved, or even blinked, and then finally a bright smile bloomed on Alice's face, and she threw herself into his arms. I heard a small sniffle next to me. Looking down at Rose, I saw her trying to discreetly wipe a tear away without me noticing. I slung an arm around her shoulders.
"Give it up, Rosie. I know you're a sucker for all things romantic." She looked up at me, a watery smile plastered on her face.
"Sorry, Scorp. I'm just really happy for them."
"Me too, Princess. It's about time, don't you think? Why don't we give them a minute of actual privacy? Al will kill us if he knew we were watching."
As we made our way back into the school, we made small talk about things that had been going on, and Rose reminded me that we had rounds tonight. Luckily, the four of us, and Rose's wanker of a boyfriend had finished all our homework last night, so we had an entire day to do whatever we wanted. We decided to wait for the Als in the Head's common room. They knew enough to know where we'd be, unless of course they were too busy snogging, but seeing as it took Al years just to ask Alice for a date, I highly doubted that.
Sure enough, half an hour later, we heard Aberforth's voice.
"Mr. Potter and Miss Longbottom are here." Rose told him they could come in. We were sitting on the couch, and my back was to the portrait hole. Rose wiggled her eyebrows at me as the portrait swung open, and I turned around to see Al and Alice, both looking exceptionally pink and sheepish, standing in the door way. They were also holding hands. Across from me, Rose let out a tiny squeal.
"Alice! What about me? We're supposed to get married! First, Rose deserts our love for Andrew Thomas, and now you're ditching me for my best mate? Don't I deserve love, too?" All three of my supposed friends snorted at me, but when I looked at Rose, she winked. We were such good actors, pretending we had not a clue they'd show up all blissed out and lovestruck.
Before the Als could even sit down, Rose had leapt up from her side of the couch, and was dragging Alice towards her room, screaming something about girl talk over her shoulder. When they were safely in Rose's room, Al flung himself onto the couch, and rubbed his hands up and down his face. I nudged his leg with my foot.
"Way to go, mate. When should I expect to be a godfather?" Al snorted behind his hands, but I could see the corners of his mouth turned up. "So, spill. I've been waiting years for you two to get your heads out of your arses and realize you both felt the same way. I want details."
"Not much to tell, really. When she showed up on the dock, I almost fell into the lake. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but thankfully, she didn't realize anything was wrong, and once we started talking, I realized that it wasn't like I was asking McGonagall on a date. It was just Alice. Then, I was all set just to ask her for Hogsmeade, and the next thing I know, I asked her to be my girlfriend. I guess sometimes word vomit can be a little helpful. I'm just glad it's over, and she said yes, to tell you the truth, mate."
"I'm so proud of you. My little Alby is finally growing up!"
"Shut up, you tosser."
Once the girls came back from their gossip session, we had a really fun day together, only interrupted after lunch, when the git of the century decided to join us in the Head's dorm. When Al and Alice went to take a walk before dinner, I went to my bedroom, because I wasn't about to be a third wheel to Rose and Thomas. Even if I was finally talking to Rose again, I couldn't deal with him for long periods of time.
Rose and I had only been doing round for about half an hour of our two hour shift, and we had already caught four different couples snogging in broom closets and the Astronomy Tower.
"So I guess it wasn't just Al and Alice having good luck with love, today. Everyone's going crazy tonight. Must be a full moon."
After my comment, we had an entire hour of no interruptions, other than a nice chat with Nearly Headless Nick. As he floated away, we heard an unnaturally high pitched giggle from the broom closet at the other end of the corridor. Unfortunately, I had heard that giggle more than I cared to, and knew who it was straight away.
"Do you want to predict who Finnigan is slagging around with this time?" It felt like I had caught her once every time I had rounds. Rose just rolled her eyes, and we headed towards the heinous noise, which grew louder and more annoying, the closer we got. Finally we were in front of the door, and I reached out to open it. The moment the door opened, I wish I could have closed it and used a Time Turner so that we'd never have stumbled upon what was in front of us. I had been correct in my assumption that Finnigan was the girl in the closet. What I never expected was to open the door and see her shirtless, wrapped around Andrew Thomas. I could hear Rose next to me draw in a breath, and I saw red. How someone could cheat on Rosie, with Finnigan no less, I had no idea. Thomas really was a fucking nutter. A strangled sob came next, and that was when Finnigan and Thomas finally broke apart, and realized someone had interrupted them. Violet seemed more upset about the interruption, rather than the fact that the sod she was hooking up with had just been caught by his girlfriend. Thomas' eyes seemed to widen only slightly, but he made no move to untangle himself from Finnigan. It was only when Rose took off running in the direction of our dorm that it seemed to dawn on him what had happened.
"Rose!" He made a move to follow her, but I wasn't about to let that happen. I grabbed him by the collar, and turned him around to face me. I was extra glad in that moment that I was much taller than he was.
"There's no way you're going after her, Thomas. How could you? What, did you just happen to forget about your girlfriend? The one who is far too amazing for you in the first place? You should have been greatful she was even willing to be with you in the first place, not worrying about hooking up with slags in broom closets." He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, all I could think about was making him pay for what he had done to Rose, and I brought my fist up and with a sickening crunch, it connected with his nose. Violet let out a shriek that would wake the dead, but I couldn't even be bothered to care.
"Don't even think about trying to talk to her. If I hear you spoke to her, wrote her, or so much as look at her, it's not just going to be your nose that's broken. You stay away from her, Thomas, or it'll be your bollocks."
I left the two of them, half naked in Finnigan's case, and bleeding in Thomas' and took off running towards the Head's dorm. Aberforth didn't even ask for the password when I made it to his portrait. He just swung open, mumbling something about teenagers and hormones. Even from the portrait hole, the sounds of Rose's sobs were clear. I hated him even more for what he'd done to her, because this wasn't Rose. Rose was a strong girl who didn't let things bother her. She cried only when things were sappy and romantic. Her sobs made it feel like someone was squeezing my heart. I needed to fix her.
As I came to her room, I saw that the lights were off, and the only thing I could see was a lump on Rose's bed, which I took to be her. I didn't want to turn on the light, so I conjured a jar, and a blue flame that Mrs. Weasley had taught me, and placed it on her bedside table. When I finally saw Rose, it filled me with so many conflicting emotions, I wanted to explode. My heart broke at the sight of her, curled up and sobbing, but at the same time, the anger from before came back, and I wanted to find Thomas and hurt him some more. I knew that Rose needed someone now, I just hoped I'd be able to help her. I sat on the edge of the bed, and Rose looked up at me, her eyes red and swollen, tears streaming down her cheeks. She sat up for a second, and threw herself into my arms, sobbing into my shirt. I wasn't sure exactly what to do, because I'd never had to deal with a heartbroken Rose before, but I wasn't going to leave her. I wrapped my arms around her and stroked her hair. Her tears didn't stop, but they didn't get harder, which I took to be a good sign. After almost half an hour of continuous sobs, I heard her speak into my neck. It was quiet, and even though her face was close to my ear, I had to strain to hear her words.
"Is there something wrong with me Scorpius?" It was just like Rose to think that something like this was her fault.
"Of course not, Princess. You're perfect. He's the one with something wrong. He's a prick for doing this to you."
"It's because she's prettier than I am, I know it." I couldn't help but scoff at her statement.
"Rosie, that's the farthest thing from the truth. You're more beautiful than her, without a doubt. He doesn't deserve you. I know that you're hurting now, and I know it's not going to just go away, but you need to know that none of this was your fault. This was his fault, and he should have known how lucky he was to be with, and not have been jumping into broom closets with the Super Slag."
Even though it was late, and there was class in the morning, it took me almost two hours to finally get Rose to understand that none of what had happened was her fault. In the end, she was so exhausted from her emotional night that she fell asleep in my lap. When I tried to lay her down, she wouldn't let go of me, but I finally managed to manuever us both into a comfortable sleeping position.
I was awake all night, all different thoughts running through my head. I was going to do whatever it took to protect Rose from that cheating sod, and I would do whatever I had to, to ensure that she would never cry again like she had tonight.
A/N: Thanks for reading! The next chapter is going to be a little different. There's going to be a completely new POV, which I'm hoping will give a nice perspective about Rose and Scorpius' relationship. Starting next chapter, there's going to be a drastic change, though not in the way you might think.
