DISCLAIMER: i don't own anything! i'm still looking for a job
Chapter 9
Scorpius
Rose Weasley's been avoiding me more than usual since Saturday. No, I'm not 'taking notice finally'. I'm just being observant.
She didn't show up in breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Sunday. She's not at breakfast today, either. I don't know why but I have been looking forward to see her again. Anyway, there are always the classes. She won't be able to avoid me.
I catch sight of James Potter and Fred Weasley glaring at me from the Gryffindor table. I'm tempted to smirk at them but I want to live long so I divert my attention elsewhere.
Rose Weasley's cousins are behaving as though I did an Unforgivable on her. Lily, however, was very upset last night. Boris told me that Lily confessed about everything – the bet and about her seeing Boris. Apparently, Rose Weasley's ignoring her and her brothers are taking it badly. Boris, on the other hand, is having a sense of foreboding.
And here he sits beside me, gazing glumly at his breakfast.
"I think we'd better be off now," I suggest, "before Potter and Weasley are done."
Boris gladly complies.
We walk quietly towards our first class. I steal a sideway glance at Boris. Outwardly, he looks intimidating and somewhat scary because of the scowl marring his features. But I know better. He's as nervous as hell. I shake my head in the absurdity of as to why Boris feels that way.
"Come on," I say, trying to at least appease him, "They will just threaten you and all that stuff but they won't be stupid enough to actually do something against you."
Nothing.
Not even a grunt.
I know he heard me. The scowl on his face intensified. I sigh in defeat. I really don't get the Potters/Weasleys in all the fuss they make when it concerns a female relative of theirs being involved with other people. I mean, sure, I get that they are just being protective but in my opinion, it's too much and a load of rubbish. I smirk. Of course I wouldn't understand! I have no sister and no cousins to feel protective of.
"Hey, Scorpius."
I turn around. A beautiful, sultry lady is striding towards me with a seductive smile.
"Good morning," I respond. Good morning, indeed.
"Are you busy tonight?" she asks coyly.
I glance quickly beside me. What? Where the hell is Boris? I jerk around quickly. He's at the end of the corridor already. I doubt if he's noticed that I'm not with him anymore. What a bother…
"Uh, sorry, Yvonne," I apologize to the girl gazing expectantly at me, "I have to go now. What time tonight?"
"Eight," she pipes eagerly, "Same place."
"No problem," I wink at her before following Boris.
I run. Soon enough I manage to keep up with him.
"You idiot," I reprimand, "In times like these you shouldn't be strolling around on your own."
"Don't call me an idiot, idiot," he growls.
"Whatever," I retort in annoyance.
"And what do you mean by that? You just said that threats are all they're going to come up with."
"Yeah, but that was just my opinion," I mutter, "In case I'm wrong, you better stick with me. We both know what they're capable of doing."
Boris flinches slightly. Although we've never been in the receiving end of James Potter and Fred Weasley's hexes, we were witnesses to those who have fallen victim to them. It was not pretty. Not pretty at all.
We finally reach our Muggle Studies classroom. It's still early so the room's locked until the professor shows up. I lean against the wall to wait.
I smile slowly. This is going to be the first time that Rose Weasley and I will come face to face after The Night. Anticipation is building up. I'm positive that she will blush even more furiously. That'll be a sight to behold. I glance at my watch. A few more minutes left.
"You look excited," comes a dry comment from Boris who is standing at the opposite wall, looking relaxed.
"Am I?"
He grunts as I grin hugely. He looks away and immediately becomes rigid. I follow his gaze.
Albus Potter is marching purposely towards us. No, towards Boris. I straighten up but resume my position at the opposite wall. I watch Potter approach Boris apprehensively.
"My sister is fourteen years old," snarls Potter furiously without preamble, "Fourteen! If you even dare to think inappropriately about her, act improperly around her, do something that will tarnish her reputation in any way, I swear on Albus Dumbledore's grave, you will pay dearly."
I gotta give it to him. He sure is showing some guts. Not a lot of people would challenge Boris head-on, especially not someone like Albus Potter who is shorter than him.
"You got that, Zabini?" asks Potter threateningly.
Well, Albus Potter's own interpretation of the word threateningly, at least. Like his father, he dislikes violence and he never takes on opponents he knows he is no match against. He's not that stupid. And he's definitely no match against Boris who is not only taller but more muscular than him. Boris won't be the best Beater for nothing.
I amble over to them with a sigh. Better be close to Potter to intervene before a duel ensues and his ass gets kicked. Boris is very skilled in Muggle fighting. He does this sport called boxing every summer. I fail to grasp the allure of the Muggle way of duelling.
"Y-yes, sir!" stutters Boris.
Wait. Stutter? Boris? There's no way in hell he'd do that. My jaw drops, nonetheless. And so does Potter's. Like me, he never expected Boris to react that way.
Potter recovers quickly and narrows his eyes at Boris. "Good."
He then stands over opposite us with his arms crossed, glaring at Boris.
I hear Boris sigh in relief.
"One down," I whisper to him, patting his arm, "one to go. You're doing well, mate."
I join Potter, leaning idly against the wall again. Deciding to take his attention off Boris, I ask, "Where's your cousin?"
"Which cousin?" he asks back without taking his eyes off of Boris.
That's the second question I hate to be thrown at me. The first is 'Which Weasley?'. In all my six years in Hogwarts, those questions are always the most-asked ones. Really annoying.
"Rose Weasley," I reply shortly.
Potter finally directs his attention to me. From the corner of my eyes, I see Boris visibly relaxed.
"She's not in this class," frowns Potter.
"What?"
Is he playing tricks on me? Of course I'd know if she's in my classes as well… Or do I?
"She's not taking Muggle Studies," sneers Potter, "But then again I'm not surprised you don't even know that."
"Watch it, Potter," I hiss at him, "I'm not dating your sister hence, I won't be as lenient as Boris. Provoke me and you'll suffer the consequences."
"Yeah, right," he scoffs, "I'd like to see you try. I'm not scared of you, you know."
"What are you going to do? Run off crying to big brother and your cousins?"
"I'll have you know, Malfoy," he strikes a weird pose, "I'm good at taekwondo."
"What the hell is that?" I see Boris's eyes widen a bit.
"It's a form of Muggle fighting," he says, finally dropping the really weird pose.
I snort. "Good thing I'm a wizard then. One flick of my wand and you can forget about that tak-whatsit."
"Taekwondo," he corrects, "If we're going to have a Muggle duel, you can't use wand. That's called cheating. And, I'd be useless against you if you have your wand."
"Exactly, Potter," I smirk, "Exactly."
"Git,"
"Prat."
We ignore each other for a while after that. Some of our classmates start arriving. They greet Potter and I a good morning. There are not a lot of us, just twenty all in all. So how come I never noticed that Rose Weasley's not in here?
"Tell me, Potter," I murmur, "why is it that you didn't bother to introduce Rose Weasley to me?"
"It should be obvious, Malfoy," says Potter seriously, "You're not worth introducing to her. I didn't bother to help her with her little crush on you, it's true. It's not because I can't help her but because I don't want to help her. Not with you, anyway."
The professor arrives and opens the classroom door. Potter goes inside after throwing a dirty look in Boris' direction. I don't know if I should be insulted by that but it's not like I care. With a shrug, I follow everyone inside.
The moment Boris and I take our seats at the very back, I whisper angrily at him.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me that Rose Weasley's not in this class?"
"You didn't ask," he retort softly, "Is that what you were excited about?"
"Shut up!"
Just then, Louis Weasley takes the seat on my left side. He always seats with us instead of with Potter. The four-eyed dork prefers the front seat. This is not even the best subject there is and yet he finds it so interesting.
"Hey," he greets.
"Hey," I greet back, taking out our textbook entitled Muggle Studies Huh?. Even the textbook's title is lame, "Are you going to say the 'Stay away from my cousin or you'll regret it' stuff?"
"Me? No!" he shakes his head, "But, you should tread with caution, Boris. If you hurt her, well, you already know what will happen."
"That's the same thing," I point out.
Boris gives him a stiff nod. Louis seems satisfied with that as he starts to open his textbook.
"Oh, and I'd like to congratulate you two, by the way," Louis says, chuckling in amusement, "I never saw James that flustered before. You know how he rarely ever shuts up but last night, he was in complete shock. Same thing goes for Al."
He laughs quietly.
That's what I like about Louis Weasley. He's not as fussy as his cousins. I get along with him much better than anyone from their family. I don't really know why. I suppose it's because we're both blondes. We also have the same temperament. We don't fly off the handle easily and would rather flirt with pretty girls than be as immature as James Potter and Fred Weasley.
"Uh, Scorpius?" Louis whispers hesitantly.
I glance at him curiously. He sounded nervous, which is weird.
"Yeah?" I frown.
"You dated Simone Davies, right?"
"Right," I nod, "A couple of years ago. Why?"
"So," he says softly, "is it okay with you if I ask her out?"
"You and Simone?"
"Yeah,"
I laugh. "Sure, mate! I don't mind. It was two years ago."
Simone Davies, the long-legged blonde who took my virginity. For the short time that we dated, I deluded myself into thinking that I was in love with her. We were together for two months but we were not a couple, more like friends with benefits. While she was with me, she also dated other guys. I had no problem with it because I saw other girls too. I don't really know what happened to us. One day we just stopped seeing each other.
"But," I wonder aloud, "You have a girlfriend, who I remember was still your girlfriend yesterday when I saw you at lunch. Or did you break up with her already?"
"I did," he mutters.
He looks miserable. I raise my eyebrows. "And? Are you regretting it now?"
"No," he sighs, "it's just that… I hurt her really bad. And I'm feeling guilty because next month is Vic's wedding and she was supposed to be my date. She already bought a dress."
"Well," I say in what I hope is a comforting tone, "that's not your problem anymore, is it?"
Boris nudges me. I look at him questioningly. He signals for me to quit talking.
"Speaking of the wedding," Louis whispers, "I take it, you'll be Lily's date, Boris?"
"We talked about it," Boris mutters hesitantly, "But I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be there."
"Of course you should be there!" I whisper back, "You're Lily's boyfriend."
"But all her family is gonna be there," he argues, "Her parents will be there."
"So?" snorts Louis, "They won't eat you. They'll just be… the concerned parents."
"And," I put in, "I'll be there! So there's no need to worry."
Boris looks surprised. "You are?"
"Yeah. Teddy sent me the invitation the other day. He said it'd be nice to have another relative there aside from Aunt Tonks."
"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Zabini," a voice calls out. Louis, Boris and I look up to see the professor glaring at us, "will you please refrain from chattering? Class has already started."
"Sorry," Louis and I mutter. Boris said nothing as usual. With a heavy sigh, I lounge back in my seat.
Man, this class is so boring. The professor is talking about something in front but I'm not paying attention. I never do in this class. I let out a yawn. I swear this class is going to be the death of me. But Muggle Studies sounded like a lifesaver as opposed to Divination at that time. And, to my astonishment, I received an Exceeds Expectations in Muggle Studies in O..
Boris is writing on a parchment. Maybe he's taking down notes. Good, I can copy his later. My eyes drift over the opposite side of the room. Two Ravenclaw girls are staring at me. I wink at them. They giggle in that typical girly way.
"That was easy," I snort.
"Stop that," chides Boris, "and pay attention."
"I'm bored," I whine like a spoiled child.
"Take notes then," he suggests.
I didn't bother to respond. Instead, I just stare up at the ceiling.
To think I was actually excited today.
what's up? it's been a long time. i feel like it's been months instead of a few weeks since i last updated. i've been very laidback (lazy) these days. i'm afraid the enthusiasm's not as strong as it used to. but no worries! i'm not going to abandon this ship. i'm just taking my time.
i was supposed to have the scorpius/rose interaction in this chapter but i got a little carried away. please review. i'm not so sure about this chapter. i feel like the whole thing's a little... messy. oh, thanks to those who reviewed! really appreciate it.
