Chapter 9

Wishful Thinking

He was staring out the window, look at the countryside. Yet his mind was elsewhere. He was in a compartment, in the Hogwarts Express, alone. But not for long, as the door to the compartment slid open.

In came Loreli, his girlfriend. He glanced at her. Her hair was silvery yellow that shone like a jewel in the sun. Her complexion, ivory white, was obviously inherited from her father. Her body was to die for, at least that is what a girl would think. Any hot-blooded male would be crazy not to be aroused by her. She was curvy on the slim side. He knew he was the envy of all blokes. Yet even with all her perfection, she didn't appeal to him; she wasn't his Roza. Countless girls have flirted with him, but none were his Roza; so none of their flirtations were tempting him.

Loreli swayed her hips towards him, and sat on his lap; she wrapped her arms around him and looked directly at him, trying to get his attention. If there is one thing in Loreli that would make boys run the other direction, it was her eyes. They were black. Really, really, black. Like there is nothing inside them. No reflection or sparkle. Like a bottomless pit of total darkness and silence. If eyes were the windows to a person's souls, then she had none. Her eyes never revealed anything, as there was nothing to reveal. If it was possible to live on after a dementor's kiss, then Loreli would be the prime example.

"Scorpy, darling. Why aren't you being attentive," said Loreli, in her silky voice.

Scorpius winced. He hated being called 'Scorpy'. It sounded like a name that would be given to a dumb villain.

"Nothing. I was just thinking of what to get you for our four month anniversary. It's next week right?" said Scorpius.

Loreli's full lips turned up in a smile, that didn't meet her eyes, as she said, "Really! You remember. Oh, Scorpy!" Then she kissed him.

Scorpius parted his lips and deepened the kiss. He had to admit, Loreli knew how to kiss. He felt her hands travelling south. He stopped her hands from traveling farther. It wasn't that he wasn't experienced or ready for sex. He already shacked up with Keely Smith, during their fourth year. But Loreli was different. He had no intention of moving forward in their relationship.

Their kiss ended as they came up for air. Then, Loreli said, "Sometimes it feels like you don't want us to deepen our relationship. You know, it's been four months and all we've done is kiss."

"Do you want this relationship to be based on just sex?" asked Scorpius.

"Of course not!" gasped Loreli.

"I want ours to be special, Loreli. Anyways, a train compartment isn't really ideal for these sorts of things," said Scorpius, feeling the lie drip through his mouth.

"You are so thoughtful," said Loreli. Then she got up from his lap, and sat next to him. She tugged his arms, and then laid her head on his shoulders.

"Just remember, Scorpius: never let me doubt you," said Loreli, in the same silky voice. Scorpius felt the warning that came along.


"Hey! Watch it, git!" barked Scorpius, as a fifth year tripped and fell over him.

The perk of being a Slytherin is that you don't have to find an excuse for being rude. It's expected from you.

Scorpius continued to walk down the slender corridor of the train, and track down the Lady with the trolley. Loreli was hungry so he volunteered to get some food for her; it also gave him an excuse to get away from her.

A soft musical laugh issued from the compartment he just passed. He backtracked and found Rose occupying the compartment, along with Albus, Longbottom and Wolfe.

Ah, his Rosa. With her flaming red curls resting peacefully on her shoulders, and her fair skin, with a hint of rosiness on her cheeks, it's a wonder he wasn't already on his knees professing his love for her.

Mia cara Roza...

She was different from Loreli in every way possible. Everything about Rose spelled warmth and compassion. She radiated with a glow, that he never saw in Loreli. But the biggest thing that set them apart were their eyes. Whereas Loreli possessed soulless, pitch black eyes, Rose's eyes manifested life and warmth. He loved those twinkling brown eyes. Yet, he envied that the twinkle was never directed to him.

He watched her laugh at something Wolfe, and the jealousy returned. He kept on looking intently at her. She must have felt something, because she suddenly became aware of his gaze. She directed her eyes at him, locking their gazes. He felt the warm sparkle fade away from her eyes. Instead, something else took its place: fiery boldness. He immediately drowned in those eyes.

Sei bella...

"You are drooling, Score."

Scorpius snapped out of his thoughts and broke eye contact with Rose. He knew of only one person who called him that. Sure enough, as he turned, he saw Sheherazade.

"You know, it isn't good to drool over another girl, when you already have a girlfriend,"said Sheherazade.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows, as he walked towards her, and looked at her pointedly.

"I never told you to start dating her," she whispered her reply.

"It was that or be dead," said Scorpius.

"Ah, Score. She would never kill you. She enjoys you too much to kill you," said Sheherazade.

Silence.

"You know, Zade. There are other ways to do what you want," muttered Scorpius.

Scorpius saw a flicker of emotion sweep over Sheherazade, as she heard her nickname. It seemed like so long ago that were creating nicknames for each other...

"No. Please Scorpius, don't do anything stupid," begged Sheherazade.

Scorpius felt anger take over him as he witnessed his mate begging him.

"How is your mum, Zade?" asked Scorpius, cynically .

"Fine," answered Sheherazade, stiffly.

"Does Loreli know that she is fine?"

"No! And I have no intention of informing her either."

With that Sheherazade marched away from her best friend.


"Hey Scorpius!" yelled a thirteen-year-old Sheherazade. They were at Malfoy Manor, racing with their broomsticks.

"What ?" Scorpius yelled back.

"Get your arse here and race like a bloke!"

"Of course, because you are one as well, right Shehera-zade."

"Nope. Because I'm better than one." Shehera-zade gave him a dazzling smile. "You know, Zade is a bloke's name. I had an uncle called Uncle Zade. It means 'stylish'. The name was very misleading, though."

"Why?" inquired Scorpius.

"He wore a teapot as a hat and had sliced carrots as buttons of his shirt." Both of them burst out laughing.

"Where is he now?" asked Scorpius.

Suddenly, the smile on her face was wiped out. She mumbled, "Dunno."

Scorpius cursed himself for asking the whereabouts of her relatives. He knew Sheherazade was always reluctant to discuss her family. She probably had some secret issue with her family that she didn't want to reveal. That was fine by him. He didn't want to pressure his friend, as he was glad she came to visit him. It always gets lonely and depressing in the Manor, especially when his grandfather's health was deteriorating. He also needed someone to distract him from an agonizing and humiliating event that occurred a few months ago.

"You were saying something about losing to an amazing bloke like me," said Scorpius, humorously, hoping this would distract her.

"You wish," sneered Sheherazade.

"Are you hungry, Zade?" asked Scorpius.

"Zade?" said Sheherazade.

"Yeah. I always thought 'Sheherazade' was a mouthful. Now, 'Zade' is easy to say and sounds cool. You are right, the name is very misleading," said Scorpius, giving her an all-over look.

"Hey! I can be stylish!" protested Sheherazade.

"Now say that with a straight face," said Scorpius, laughing. Sheherazade joined. True. Sheherazade was the least stylish person. Whatever she wore was either torn or loose, or both. It could also be because she didn't have the financial support he did. He had a suspicion that her school supplies were being funded by the school, but he never asked as she had too much pride and tenacity to admit it. He knew that the only reason the rest of the Slytherins respected her was because of him.

"So, are you hungry?" he asked again.

"Why?"

"Because, get ready to eat my dust! Er, figuratively speaking."

"Don't count on it."

And the duo zipped across the valley. Scorpius was flat across his new Italian-made broomstick, L'inferno (the fastest broom in Europe), as he flew over Lake Mala Fides. Let's see whether it can beat Sheherazade's Firebolt, which is more than a 20-year-old model but was one of the best designed brooms. He gained speed and overtook Sheherazade. Through his peripheral vision he saw Sheherazade slow down. Confused, he turned around. But Sheherazade was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Scorpy! Looking for me!?" yelled her voice, behind him.

He turned around to see Sheherazade zoom ahead.

"That's cheating!" yelled Scorpius. Then he regained his speed, and tried to catch-up with Sheherazade, but in vain. He saw her reaching their favourite spot: a tiny island with a singular oak tree in the middle of the Lake. He landed expertly, and trotted towards Sheherazade.

"You cheat," said Scorpius, playfully.

"Hey, nobody told you to stop. You need to stop getting distracted, Scorpy," said Sheherazade.

"Zade, please don't call me that," said Scorpius exasperatedly.

"Well, I need a nickname for you. If u are gonna bug me with'Zade', I need to bug you with something."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, and laid on the grass. He felt Sheherazade do the same thing.

"I almost forgot! How was Italy?"

"Okay," said Scorpius, nonchalantly. "I scored an Italian girlfriend."

"Scored ?" asked Sheherazade. Then she sat up abruptly,then said, "That's it! Score! That's your nickname!"

"No," said Scorpius, quickly. "No,no, no.."

"Oh come on, It's a cool name! That's it. I have decided your nickname will be Score. Just imagine: The Amazing Duo Zade and Score!" Scorpius burst out laughing at the hilarity of the superficial title.

"Yeah, sure."

"Now that we have decided our names. Tell me why is the 'girlfriend' in past tense?"

"I broke things off. It was getting too serious."

Sheherazade looked at him intently, and then asked, "What did she look like?"

Scorpius looked away, feeling his cheeks go red, then said, "Fairly tall. Tanned complexion. Somewhat slim... Has red curls... "

Sheherazade rolled her eyes.

"Come one let's go back. The sun is setting and your Mum is going to blame me if her precious son isn't returned to her. By the way, I don't think your family like me much."

"My mum likes you just fine. It's my grandparents who don't like you."

"Imagine if you introduced Weasley as your girlfriend. They'll have a heart attack..."


Scorpius watched Sheherazade's retreating figure, as he heard a compartment door open with a bang. He felt someone staring. He turned to Albus Potter, standing just outside their compartment, also gazing at Sheherazade. Then he looked at Scorpius, with a quizzical expression. Scorpius shakes his head and walked past Albus, resuming his search for the Lady with the trolley.


He was the first to break their connection. As he did, she felt something churn inside her. Why did he do that? She saw his attention focusing something else in the corridor. Must be Loreli, she thought.

And that brought her back reality.

After that everything turned dark and gloomy, and Rose lost her humorous self to the gloom...