Ah, yes. So it seems like someone has clicked forward and this story skipped an entire year. Well, yeah. It did. Can you blame a girl? It was dragging on! But, anyway. Before I reveal what I'm doing next, I'm telling you that the next chapter is the last one in their CURRENT age. Because, honestly? Too pure to mess with. Lol.
(:
Leave Out All the Rest
Chapter 9: Summer Flowers
POV: Rose
It had been months—eight to be exact—since the incident with Marcus Macnair and Vincent Flint had occurred. The two elder students had been expelled from the school, along with the snapping of Macnair's wand for using one of the Unforgivable curses. The Minster of Magic, Kinglsey Shacklebolt, had concluded that it was better that the boy didn't have his wand with him and that being banished from making magic was his punishment. (Which, accordingly to the school's rumors, the Ministry was just not willing to risk any dark magic from him, especially since the Macnair family had a bad history. Generations of Death Eaters.)
Liam's cousins, Darren and Abel Greengrass, had been severely punished by the Headmistress. Although they weren't the attackers, they were threatened with expulsion for such a cowardly act. They ended up with a year's worth of detention with the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures and Filch. Needless to say, they were scared and damaged to their wits-end from the time they spent in the Forbidden Forest—yet that wasn't enough punishment for them. Apparently Liam's father, Alec Greengrass, had been furious. He'd practically murdered his nephews and hexed his sister Daphne for teaching the boys to be cruel and not disciplining them when they tormented his son.
Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were relieved that James was completely safe. When they were owled to the Headmistress' office with nothing but a short note that read: 'Your son James S. Potter was sent to the Hospital Wing due to a duel provoked by two Fourth Years students.' They had thought the worst, obviously. But then after finding their son away from harm, Aunt Ginny almost hexed my cousin to the next century. (Professor Longbottom had to hold her down, keeping her away from her son.) After that scene, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny went to go find Emily. They thanked and thanked the American girl endless for taking the Cruciatus Curse for their son. Uncle Harry, from experiencing it, was glad his elder son didn't go through it, but was shamed and saddened the girl had.
James and his parents stayed at the Hospital Wing to keep Emily company the three days she was there. They were waiting to meet Emily's parents, but they never showed. An owl was sent to Headmistress McGonagall to excuse them and to assure her that Emily would be alright. Aunt Ginny, thinking that no parent could resist the urge to come and visit their child after being through such torture, waited longer to meet them, but they were a definite no-show. Emily had waved it off, telling Aunt Ginny that her parents were busy and that she was sure they knew she was fine. Since then, my aunt had taken a liking to the American girl and sent her owls the rest of the year.
After all that, James and Albus went back to treating each other like family, like brothers. James was extra teasing towards his brother, making them both agreeably satisfied. James had accepted the fact that Al was in Slytherin and friends with Scorpius Malfoy—which was a sort of understatement. The two were best friends now, having had grown inseparable over the school year. (Which, if I may add a little grudgingly, I felt exceptionally jealous. Al and I were best friends, but Malfoy had beaten me that.)
Our group from the very first day at Hogwarts was still intact. All of us became extremely close, more than we had in the first months. Nia and Emily soon became my best friends, along with Liam of course. Needless to say, you couldn't see any of us individually without someone else from our group of friends. We just belonged together. And I loved it that way..
"—Aunt Hermione's going to be shocked to see you again, Rose," Dominique said sweetly to me as I sat myself down at the Gryffindor table. We were having dinner in the Great Hall for the last time. It was the last day of the school term and the carriages were waiting for us to board in an hour.
"Why is that?" I asked my cousin, grabbing a plate from my right side where Emily sat talking animatedly to my cousins Freddie and James. I could hear her distinct giggles as the boys told her about the prank they had pulled on one of the Hufflepuffs.
"Well, dear cousin, you've grown at least another three inches from the last time she saw you." She handed me a goblet filled with Pumpkin Juice. "And the Christmas Holiday wasn't that long ago."
I grinned. "I guess dad's genes were dominate there, huh?"
"—I can't believe you!" Hearing a shrill voice, I turned to find Nia strutting through the entrance doors, pulling Liam by his sleeve. An angry look on her white face. "It's the last day here and you've managed to do something idiotic."
Spotting the two friends, Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Oi, what happened now?"
And almost like it had been a clear mistake to speak to her, Nia's raging anger shot towards the redhead boy. "All of you happened, that's what!" Nia huffed angrily as she let go of her friend's sleeve, pushing him down on the bench. "Sit, Liam."
At her order, Liam obliged without a retort.
"What did we do?" Freddie asked incredulously, sensing Victoire's disapproving frown from Ravenclaw table. Nia wasn't the quietest girl in Hogwarts, mind you. You could hear her scolding her friends throughout the corridors from the levels below and above. "—I swear I'm innocent, Vic!" He shouted towards our cousin.
Head Girl Victoire glared once, and then turned around quickly; continuing to talk to her Ravenclaw friends. "I don't think she believed you, Freddie." James grinned.
"She's mental. You watch her tell mum something bad about me when we arrive at King Cross." Cursing, Freddie looked at my blonde friends; scowling. "You better have a good reason for accusing me, Harper."
Nia narrowed her eyes at him, not moved or shaken by his glare. "I didn't just say you, did I? I meant you and Potter."
James stopped his conversation with Emily. "How am I involved in this?"
Nia took a seat next to me, maybe not even realizing I was there. "All of you are a bad influence on Liam," she scolded. "I don't know who suggested it, but one of you mentioned to Liam how 'wicked' it would be to levitate Mrs. Norris around the grounds and give Filch a heart attack!"
"Tell me you didn't mess with the man's cat, Liam." I frowned too, looking at the brunette boy sternly. "You know you don't mess with Mrs. Norris!"
Liam looked down at the tabletop, not meeting anyone's eyes. "…How was I supposed to know Mrs. Norris didn't know how to swim? She's been around for so long, you would assume she floated."
"What?" Emily gasped. "Liam, you did not drown Mrs. Norris, did you?"
Liam coughed. "…Not exactly."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"—He means," arriving with the deepest silver eyes I'd ever seen, Scorpius Malfoy interjected. Al and Lucas Zabini right behind him. And before he could continue, Malfoy looked at me quickly, flashing me a small smile. A gesture that we'd developed between us—sly smiles and respectful smirks that were shared throughout the year. "Molly had to stun a group of mere-people that were dragging Mrs. Norris down."
Looking back at us as more gasps broke out, Liam shook his head defensively. "I thought she knew how to swim! How was I supposed to know she would have landed in the Black Lake? I can't control my wand."
"He was lucky Filch panicked and went straight to the cat," Al laughed. "It gave him a chance to run for it."
"—He's a danger with his wand." Zabini smirked.
"—Merlin, Greengrass," Dominique shook her head.
"—Honestly, Liam," Freddie copied the action.
"We said levitate her over the Astronomy tower!" James shouted. "Not drown her! What are you a cat slayer now?"
Automatically, Nia's eyes began to glow with anger. "I knew it was you, Potter!" As those furious eyes started looking for something to throw at my cousin, I snatched my goblet before it became her weapon. "How many times do I have to warn you not to involve Liam into your damn rubbish?"
X
Fidgeting on her spot on the dried grass, pulling and fluffing her dress with an uncomfortable expression on her face, Nia cursed to herself. Muttering things that were too colorful to say or think as she scowled, scowled, cursed, cursed, and glared. "…Bloody dress," she huffed, tugging at the ends again. "Mother's a complete…." Another colorful curse word.
Giggling softly—because through her very clear uneasiness, Nia actually looked quite beautiful—I tried smiling big at her. "Looking forward to the holiday?"
She scoffed, crossing her arms in disgrace as she gave up trying to feel comfortable in it. "I rather be having a sleep over with Peeves," she snapped. "Or jumping out the Hogwarts Express before we get to Platform 9 ¾."
"Why's that?" I asked her, a little distracted now as I spotted Zabini and Al looking extremely annoyed and uncomfortable as Belinda Rookwood, a fellow Slytherin of theirs, batted her eyelashes at them. I frowned a little—I could sense the evil off that girl from here.
"Etiquette lessons," Nia said like it was something foul. "My Grandmother Brocklehurst—my mum's mother—thinks it's about time I'm showed how to be a proper lady." She kicked a pebble with her ballerina-flats, cursing again. "I think she's trying to torture me the muggle-way."
I rolled my eyes, turning to her once more. Looking at her blue eyes scowl and her rosy cheeks get redder with anger. "You can't be one of the boys forever, Nia."
She sighed in frustration. "I like being one of them. It's better than being the girl friend. I prefer Liam to see me as someone he can talk and relate to." She pulled her luscious blonde hair back. "I like to be dominating."
"You're twelve." I replied.
She smirked. "And one day, I'll be a strong, not easily-manipulated wife who calls the shots. Why can't my grandmother be—Oh, for Merlin's sake!"
Snapping my attention to where she was frowning and got distracted to, I saw Liam, Freddie, Louis and James walking towards the waiting-line for the carriages. Looking remarkably suspicious as James handed a paper-bag to Liam while Louis looked like he was pep-talking him. "They have that look again," I mentioned as their eyes were all on the lookout.
"They just don't learn, do they?" Nia pulled out her wand from somewhere underneath her dress. "Everything's got to be the hard way with these boys. And I warned him, didn't I? Potter." She pulled her hair back, quickly tying it. "Potter better run. I learned the Oppugno charm and my birds are not gentle."
And just as I was about to protest, Nia took of with a wave and telling me that she'd see me on the train. I sighed. It's not like my cousins didn't deserve what was coming towards them, it was just that as much as Nia didn't fancy herself a girl, neither did them. If she hexed them, they'd hex back.
And before I could assume that I was going to be spending the next few minutes alone, I saw the shadow of a figure stop next to mine. Both shadows of body blending in together on the board that the grass and sun made. "Hello, Rose," Lorcan Scamander said gently. "Why so alone?"
I smiled at the Ravenclaw. "I can say the same thing, Lorcan," I gave him a playful nudge. "Where's Lysander, huh?" (Lorcan and I had met through our lessons together, and we formed a friendship instantly. The boy was impossibly intelligent. And because we both were smarter than the rest of our year, it led to frequent get-togethers at the library. We never ran out of things to talk or debate about. Though, if I may say, sometimes his eccentric views on things annoyed me.)
"My brother was helping Saar Finnegan clean up the little explosion he caused," Lorcan said with an ease. "They told me to meet them at the train."
Exchanging a roll of the eyes, Lorcan and I laughed. "Al and Zabini are busy chatting up with Belinda Rookwood, and Nia went to go murder James."
With his white cheeks turning a little pink, the Ravenclaw boy said, "…Nia's sort of amazing, isn't she?"
I smirked. "Yeah, she is." And the rest that Lorcan Scamander could say between his sputtering and blushing was faded from my ears as I picked up some giggles and voices that I was so attuned to now.
"You cant honestly expect me to believe that?" And turning in a small angle, squinting through the sun's rays, I spotted them. Scorpius and Emily.
"I'm serious, actually," the American girl smiled gently at the Slytherin. Both walking calmly, slowly, like they had ages to get to where they wanted to be and didn't want to waste a second of being together. "I honestly think I'm going to spend the majority of my time in my room."
"Your parents don't take you away for the holiday?" Scorpius asked, staring into the girl's glittering emerald eyes like nothing existed around him but them.
Looking into his eyes as well, but only for a few moments as her eyes landed on the grass. Her expressions changing quickly, looking like she wanted to hide that change from Malfoy. "Yeah, well, they're really busy most of the time." She shrugged. "I'm sure I'll be fine. It's just a few months, anyway."
"But it's the summer," Malfoy interjected. "You can't possibly spend an entire summer holiday bottled up in your bedroom."
"I enjoy my time alone," her eyes remained on the floor.
"You should talk to your parents about it," the boy continued determinedly. "You mustn't spend your time locked in your house. The holiday lasts a couple of months, and then it's back to Hogwarts for the remainder of the year. You need an escape."
Emily gave a small, humorless laugh. "I wish I could….I wish I could talk to them." She paused, still gluing her eyes to the ground. "I hope you have a great summer, Scor," she spoke lightly. "Enjoy time with your family, because you never know…" She shook her head. A small movement that went unnoticed by Malfoy, but not by me. Emily always saddened quickly when the topic about family came up. She was one of my best friends, but she never spoke about anything outside of the castle walls. It seemed that everything that was in Hogwarts was only important to her.
And before it could be clear that the girl was about to head away, the platinum-haired boy bent towards the grass, yanking a Daisy off its roots. The brightness of its color gleaming in the sun, the petals glowing beautifully. "…Maybe I could ask my mother if you could spend some afternoons with us."
My breath caught on my throat, my eyes completely zeroed in on them now.
"What?" Emily asked, looking as taken aback as I was.
He smiled at her surprise. "Well, the manor is always really quiet in the summer. Liam's always with his father. And when he isn't, he's mostly with Nia. I only get a couple of days with him if I'm lucky." He twirled the flower in his fingers. "I get along with Harper now, but I rather not impose on their time." His gaze remained on the flower. "…And, well, it would be nice to have some company. You're….you're one of my best friends, after all."
Not helping herself, Emily flushed pink. Her eyes appeared hesitant, however.
"Think about it." He looked up at her. "I'll owl you after a couple of days." He handed her the yellow Daisy, making a part of me want to cry for some reason. There was always this way that Scorpius Malfoy always looked at Emily Taylor. Almost like if when he stared at her, he was staring at her with different eyes. His silver orbs grew tender, caring when they looked at her. It was such a peculiar way, but that was completely clear it was only meant for her.
And what did the rest of us get? Well not a whole lot, that's for sure. His eyes were always unfocused and distant around me. Never did he manage to show…warmth around me. A year of sharing classes, friends, passing-times and free moments together hadn't changed the way he acted towards me. I was lucky if Malfoy shared a conversation with me. He always seemed willingly to take off running. (All that I had was those secretive smiles that meant more to me than they did to him, obviously.)
After a moment of my mental ranting, I focused once more on my two friends ahead and was right on time to see Emily and Malfoy pulling away from a hug. And after she told him she'd see him on the train, she hurriedly walked towards my direction.
Quickly turning around again, trying to act like I hadn't been eavesdropping, I was about to begin to talk to Lorcan Scamander when I noticed I was alone. (Well, that's certainly rude.) And I shyly looked to my side again, Emily was a few inches from me; spotting me. "…Hey, Em."
"See you on the train," she whispered without stopping. She headed away from me hurriedly, but I was still perceptive enough to catch her glistening green eyes and saddened expression.
And as I looked on in the American girl's direction, another shadow stopped and met up with mine on the grass. "Weasley," Malfoy's voice rang.
I inhaled once, trying not to feel the awkwardness. "Scorpius," I replied in his same tone. "Ready to go home, I assume?"
"I suppose so," he said nonchalantly. "I haven't seen my parents for quite a long time."
I nodded, remembering Al mention that Malfoy was staying in school for the Christmas holidays because his parents were off in an urgent business meeting. "Well," I cleared my throat, "I hope you have a lovely time. I'm sure you and your parents have a lot of catching up to do."
"Yeah. I expect my father wants me to tell him everything." He turned to stare at me. "He'd want to know every detail about my year here since we've hardly had a chance to properly speak to one another. I don't blame him, though. The company he's running had a huge success this year. Apparently the Wizarding World has learned to trust him after all this time. And all it took was twenty years."
I stared at him, shifting uncomfortably on my feet as I watched the air blow through his white-blonde hair. "That's great." I smiled. It was the first time he had mentioned something personal to me. Our small conversations always consisted of the topics of school, always academic conversations. And at times, at very random times, we both complained about the things Al did one of us. "Will you be seeing Al during the summer?" I asked.
He remained gazing at me. "It would be brilliant, but I'd first have to speak to my father about him. He just knows that I made friends with him, but not that we're best mates now." He stuffed his hand inside his pocket. "But I'm sure I'll be able to. "
"Uncle Harry's going to shocked when Mister Malfoy schedules a play date," I managed to tease, giggling lightly.
And to my surprise, Scorpius laughed as well. "Perhaps he will. It'll be something peculiar to witness. The Malfoys and Potters interacting with each other. We might even have tea."
"That'll be the day," I continued to laugh. Not realizing how comfortable it felt not speaking about educational subjects. Finally feeling like Malfoy and I could be friends. Like we possibly already were. "I wish I could see it."
His smile grew larger. "I'll ask my father to schedule another play date, then. I would like to meet Mister Ron Weasley. "
My heart leaped. "You'd want to see me over the summer?"
He shrugged. "Why not? We Malfoys must patch up old wounds with every Wizarding family."
"Don't do it out of obligation." I stopped laughing. "I'm sure Emily would love to spend the summer with you. You two are getting to be quite the best friends. Inseparable, even."
He raised his eyebrow. "I expect so. I feel like she is. My best friend, I mean."
I nodded, tightening and fixing the strap of my carry-on on my shoulder. "Well, erm…Have a nice summer." The previous heart beating seemed to sink lower in my chest.
"Can I owl you over the summer?" He blurted before I could turn my heels on him.
"What?" I gasped.
"I'd like to write to you over the holiday….If you wanted."
Holy mother of Merlin. What the hell's my heart doing right about now? Oh, God. I hope I don't look like an idiot. There's this struggle with my inside for me not to smile in an embarrassing way. "Sure," I gave him a tiny smile, trying to settle down. "I would like that."
And as he smiled at me, not quite letting that be that, he called, "Rose, I got this for you." He pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing a single red rose. "I thought of you when I saw it. I'd thought you would like it." He handed it towards me. "A rose for Rose."
I couldn't help myself. I felt a strange happiness flow around me. "It's lovely. Thank you." I threw my arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug for the first time in this entire year. (Now I see why Emily loved to do it. It was bizarre, how warm he was.)
I felt his arms hug me back after a few seconds. "…You're welcome."
I pulled away from him, finding my balance as I still held on to the red rose. "What's your favorite flower?" I questioned as we began to walk towards the carriages. Students all boarding, all waiting excitedly to arrive to the train that would take them all home. "Roses or Daisies?"
He took the bag from me, leading me towards the carriage that held all of our friends. Where my cousin James sat next to Emily Taylor, rubbing his bruised cheek. Where the two best friends, Nia and Liam, laughed along with Al at James. Malfoy turned to me, extending a hand to help me up the step. "Definitely roses."
