AN: For Mary. This wasn't as ScoRose centred as I wanted it to be, but I hope you like it just the same :)
A Year in the Life... or Seven
1st Year
"Malfoy, Scorpius," Professor Mangle called.
Scorpius felt the room fall silent as he made his way to where Professor Mangle was picking the sorting hat from the floor where the previous student had dropped it. It wasn't unusual for a room to fall silent when he was there, and if he listened hard enough he could hear the whispers that were starting to spread.
"Malfoy? As in the Malfoy?"
"Did you hear about who his family really is?"
"I heard his family is dark, like really dark."
"I got told he's Voldemort's child."
Scorpius sighed and sat on the stool, trying to ignore the fact that every eye was on him.
Well, Scorpius thought, a smile settling on his face as he noticed Albus Potter purposefully admiring the floating candles covering the hall, every eye but his.
He barely registered the sorting hat talking to him before announcing that he'd been sorted into, "SLYTHERIN!"
Scorpius made his way over to the Slytherin table, a smile still plastered on his face as he waited for the boy, who he was sure was going to be his best friend, get sorted.
It turned out he didn't have to wait very long as there were only two students (Felicity Nantwich, Hufflepuff, and Francesca Newton, Ravenclaw) before Scorpius heard "Potter, Albus" being called up to the front. It seemed like the whole of the great hall was silent as they waited to see where the newest Potter would be sorted, but the silence that entombed the Great Hall was nothing compared to when the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"
It only lasted for a moment, but in that moment, Scorpius found himself glad that he was followed by whispers and not dead silence.
As the Slytherin table erupted into cheers, Scorpius stood up and wrapped Albus into a hug, grateful at finally having someone who may understand what he was going through and the insecurity that had come with it.
2nd Year
"You did what?" Albus yelled, causing the rest of their compartment to stop their conversation and stare intently at the scene unfurling in front of them.
"I may or may not have sent Rose an owl over Christmas asking her out," Scorpius said, a sheepish grin on his face.
"Are you an idiot, Scorp? I'm surprised she hasn't come in here to kill you yet."
Just then, the compartment door opened to reveal Rose, hands on her hips and a displeased expression on her face.
"Speak of the devil," Scorpius muttered.
"Oh, the devil, am I?" Rose asked, her voice full of arrogance. "Just last week you were comparing me to, oh what was it now?" Rose stuck a hand in the pocket of her robes and pulled out a sheet of paper. "'Rose, you are like an angel—your halo shines light over everyone you meat.' Okay, first, you've used the wrong 'meet'. Second, this is a terrible metaphor." Rose cleared her throat before continuing reading. "'Your eyes are like shimmering pools. Your voice as sweet as a bird.' Seriously, did you honestly think that was going to win me over?" She let out a sharp bark-like laugh which caused Scorpius to shrink even further back into his seat than he already had.
"I—" Scorpius started, but Albus cut him off before he could form a sentence.
"Do you have to be so mean, Rosie? I'm sure Scorp didn't want that being read out to the whole compartment."
"I'm sure Malfoy can fight his own battles, Al," Rose said with a sneer before heading back to her own part of the train.
Scorpius shook his head, trying to rid his face of the red flush that had taken over it.
"Is she still not over you being sorted into Slytherin?" he asked Albus, his voice wavering a little, but almost back to normal.
"Of course not. Uncle Ron kept reminding us as kids 'Gryffindor is good. Slytherin is bad.' Rose just got it more than the rest of us." Albus shrugged. "She'll get over it eventually."
Scorpius smiled. "Yeah, I suppose so."
They fell silent for a minute, the air around them seeming to crackle with tension.
"Hey, Albus. Thanks for not making a big deal about the letter."
Albus laughed. "I'm just saving the information for later. There's a reason I was sorted into Slytherin, you know." He winked and both boys fell into fits of laughter, clearing away all of the remaining tension.
3rd Year
"Why won't she even read the letters I send?" Scorpius groaned, falling face first onto his bed.
"Scorp, give it a rest. She doesn't like you, not even as a friend. Bombarding her with letters professing your love to her isn't going to work," Albus said, a sigh escaping his mouth.
"I know!" Scorpius said, shooting up and almost running to his desk on the other side of the room. "I'll write it in invisible ink."
"Yeah, because that's really going to work," Albus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Scorpius dug around in one of the drawers and pulled out an empty bottle of ink before dropping it immediately on the desk and wiping his hand on his trouser. "Shit! It's leaked everywhere. Everything's going to be ruined."
Albus glanced over at Scorpius' stricken face and started laughing.
"This is serious, Albus!"
"Mate," Albus said, still laughing, "it's invisible ink! You're not going to see it on anything."
"Unless I spill lemon juice on it," Scorpius retorted.
"Why would you spill lemon juice on it? When do you ever have lemons?" Albus laughed and threw a pillow at Scorpius. "Stop being so overdramatic. Invisible ink wouldn't have made Rose read the letter anyway—she probably wouldn't have even looked at it."
"Fine," Scorpius said, a sudden wave of determination washing over him. "I'll go and ask her in person."
"Ask her what?" Albus asked Scorpius as he raced out of the dormitory.
"To Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day, of course!"
4th Year
"Come on, Rose. Please?" Scorpius asked, trailing after Rose like a lost puppy.
"Scorpius Malfoy, when will you get it into your head that no amount of begging is going to make me say yes?" Rose asked, not even glancing back at his as they made their way to Potions.
Scorpius tried to laugh, but he could tell that Rose knew he was faking it. "Yeah, Albus told me begging wouldn't work either, but neither of you can stop me!"
"I'm not so sure about that. Maybe I'll get Professor Mangle to approve some form of magical restraining order against you. Then you'd have to stop."
A frown appeared on Scorpius' face. "What's a 'restraining order'?"
Rose sighed. "It's something Muggles do. Basically, someone takes a restraining order against another person—usually, an abusive ex or stalker, something like that—and that person isn't allowed to go anywhere near the person that took it out. So I could get one against you, and you wouldn't be allowed any contact with me at all."
"So it's like magically enforced silent treatment?"
"I suppose so, yes. If it were a magical restraining order, of course."
"So I could get one again Albus for when he's being annoying?" Scorpius asked with a laugh.
"No," Rose said sternly, "because you need proof. Letters they've sent or video footage of them stalking you. Things like that."
"So," Scorpius started, a grin spreading across his face, "what you're telling me is that you couldn't get a restraining order against me?"
"I could!" Rose said indignantly. "You've sent me all of those letters and—"
"And you sent them all back to me still sealed."
A look of horror washed over Rose's face as she realised Scorpius had outsmarted her.
"One date," Scorpius said. "One date and I'll give you all the letters you need for your evidence."
"Fine," Rose said.
They rounded the corner to the Potions corridor which was empty apart from one figure standing in the doorway to their classroom.
"You can have that date," Professor Shelly started, "in detention on Saturday. In, you're late."
As Scorpius entered the classroom he sent a wink across the room to Albus that said, "You heard that right—my begging paid off."
5th Year
"So," Albus said, stroking Rose's arm in circular motions. "It's your birthday next week and I was thinking maybe we should do something to celebrate in Hogsmeade this weekend."
Rose smiled up at him from where she lay against his legs.
"That would be nice," she said, "but weren't you supposed to be going with Albus? You two have been planning this for ages since 'it's the last Hogsmeade trip of the year and you spend all your time with Rose now!'"
"That was a pretty good impression of him, Rosie." Scorpius laughed. "But he won't mind. It is your birthday, after all."
Rose rolled over onto her stomach and looked up at him. "Not until Thursday. Go and spend the weekend with your friends. I don't mind, honestly."
"Are you sure? I feel bad."
"Of course. We can celebrate on my actual birthday. I'll ask the Fat Lady to let you and Al into the common room for the party."
"Ha!" Scorpius barked. "Like that's ever going to happen. She hates me after I tried to bribe her in third year when I wanted to leave you that cake I'd got the house elves to bake."
Rose laughed. "I'd forgotten about that. Didn't is have me and you dressed as characters from Star Wars?"
"Han and Leia, yes!" Scorpius said with a grin. Any mention of Star Wars always reminded him of this first time Albus had made him watch it and he couldn't keep up with what was going on.
"You're such a dork," Rose said with a smile.
"I know."
Scorpius smirked and leant down to kiss Rose.
"Where the fuck have you been?" Albus' voice broke them out of their kiss almost as soon as it started.
"Um, here?" Scorpius replied, confused. "I told you I was meeting Rose."
"Yeah," Albus said, his voice dry. "And then you were meant to be meeting me an hour ago."
Scorpius looked at his watch. "Shit! I'm so sorry, Al. I don't know where the time went."
"In her pants, by the looks of it," Albus muttered.
"Albus Severus Potter, you watch your tongue!" Rose shouted, hastily adjusting her shirt which Scorpius now realised had come undone.
"Why? Is it not true? Look at the two of you. You barely spend a minute away from each other. I think I preferred it when you hated him and Scorpius actually acted like he was my friend!"
"Al, mate, it's not like. I am your friend," Scorpius said, his voice smaller than he'd expected it to be.
"No!" Albus roared. "Forget it. I have other friends, Scorpius. Just don't come running to me when she breaks your heart. Merlin knows she's going to."
Albus stormed off and Scorpius started at Rose in disbelief.
"What the hell was that about?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"Go after him, Scorpius," Rose said, her voice soothing and calm despite the crimson blush that had crept onto her cheeks.
"Why? What good is it going to do?" Albus asked. "Whenever I try to make a situation better it always turns out worse. It's not like I ever actually get anything I want."
"Oh, is that so?" Rose asked, her cheerful demeanour quickly dissipating. "Did you not want me then?"
"Rosie, no. That's not what I meant!" Scorpius said, alarmed. "See, this is what I mean about making things worse."
Rose sighed. "Just go and talk to him, Scorp. He'll appreciate it. Trust me."
"No!" Scorpius shouted in a sudden burst of passion. "Fuck him. He can wait. My weekend seems to have cleared up now, so how about that celebration?"
Rose just stared at him in disbelief, but Scorpius was certain he wouldn't let Albus bring his mood down.
6th Year
"Albus, wait," Scorpius called.
If Albus heard him, he didn't show it. His figure kept moving through the corridor away from where Scorpius was standing.
"Al, please!" he called again, starting to run after the other boy. "Albus! Just hear me out, please!"
Scorpius was sure he'd never sounded so desperate, but that's what he was. Spending the whole summer not speaking to his best friend had been agony, and it hadn't helped that his parents wouldn't allow him to see Rose at all because they still didn't get on with her father.
Maybe it was the desperation in his voice, or maybe it was something else, but Albus finally stopped and turned towards Scorpius.
"Two minutes," he said. "Talk."
"Albus, I'm so, so sorry about last year. I guess I just thought… well, I don't know what I was thinking. You're my best friend—" Albus tried to cut in, but Scorpius kept on talking. "No, you are, even if we haven't spoken for a while. I hate this, I really do. You know I'd never put Rose above you intentionally, not now at least, and the fact that doing so meant I lost you just cements that in my head."
Albus held up a hand to stop Scorpius from talking.
"Mate, what you did was shitty. It really was. But I was acting shitty too. I shouldn't have blown up at you for wanting to spend time with your girlfriend, even if it did mean I had to hang out with Connor and Caspar, and you know how dull those two can get when they're together. 'Did you listen to that football match at the weekend?' 'Yeah, that goal in the second half sounded so great. I wish I'd have seen it!' How can they be so invested in such a dull Muggle sport?"
Scorpius laughed and threw and arm around Albus' shoulder. "I've missed you, mate."
"Yeah, same. Now get off me before someone thinks I'm gay," Albus said with a laugh.
Of course, that had the opposite effect on Scorpius who leant in closer and planted a kiss on Albus' cheek.
"Where to next, sweet cheeks?" he asked with a wink.
Albus shrugged out from under Scorpius' arm and punched him lightly in the side, a smile plastered on his face.
7th Year
"Albus, can I ask you something that may be kind of mad?" Scorpius asked, wringing his hands together as he spoke.
"Of course, mate."
"Well." Scorpius dug around in his pocket and pulled out a small box and opened the lid. "What do you think?"
"I'm flattered, but shouldn't you be asking Rose, not me? I'm not even into guys, although if I were I'd totally marry you," Albus said with a wink.
"Be serious!" Scorpius scolded, punching Albus lightly on the arm.
"I think it's a very beautiful ring and Rose will love it."
Scorpius looked down at the ring in his hands. It was a silver (Rose hated gold jewellery. Apparently it clashed with her hair.) band with a swirling pattern around it, and on the top was a rose made out of diamonds, but with an emerald and a ruby in the centre to represent their two houses.
"Are you sure? It's not too cheesy? Or too tacky?"
"Look, mate, I'm really not the best person to be asking, but I think it looks great. I'm sure Rose will love it. Just, maybe wait to propose until after exams. You know how stressy she gets this time of year."
Scorpius shuddered at the memory of fifth year when Rose decided to make revision timetables for the three of them (something she'd learned from her mother) and spent more time making sure he and Albus were following them than she did actually studying.
"Of course. I'm not going to ask until summer. I just, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect first."
"Mate, you haven't just come to me for ring advice. If that's all you wanted you'd have gone to Lily." Scorpius blushed at this. "You already did, didn't you?" Scorpius nodded. Albus shook his head but continued anyway. "So, what is it? What did you really want to ask? What's all this secrecy for?"
"Will you be my best man?"
Albus laughed. It was the longest laugh Scorpius had heard ever some from him.
"Is that is? Is that what you were so worried to ask?"
"Um, yeah…" Scorpius said shyly.
"Of course! Who else are you going to ask, Connor? You two barely speak anymore."
Scorpius smiled. "That's true. It's just, she might not even say yes. She probably won't now. We're only eighteen, and we've only been together for three years, and who'd want to marry me anyway?"
"Scorp, chill. I'm going to be your best man at your wedding whether Rose says yes now or whether she says yes in five years. I've known her long enough to know that she really likes you. And, don't tell her I've told you this, I actually heard her planning your wedding with Lily one time. She'll say yes. Trust me."
Scorpius sighed. "You're sure?" Albus nodded. "Great. Well, here goes nothing." Scorpius smiled, wishing he had a drink to toast with before hastily adding, "Well, in a couple of months, anyway."
Word Count: 2,876.
AN: This was originally meant to be more centred on Scorpius and Rose, but as I started writing I decided I wanted to intertwine their relationship with Albus and Scorpius' friendship. I hope I did this justice, especially since it's the first thing I've written in a few months.
This is for:
Hogwarts Assignment 5 – Arithmancy Task Two;
Write a story featuring 7 years of a character's/couple's life. (This can be about 7 years at Hogwarts; about what happens in 7 years of a relationship, etc… just make sure to write sth for each year.)
Prompts;
Characteristics: pessimistic, sarcastic, insecure
Object: invisible ink
Word: secrecy