Chapter Nine

"And he just attacked you?"

I nodded at Rose, glancing over to where Michael sat with Evan and Milly. He hadn't spoken a word to me since the night before, nor had he looked at me. He'd been my best friend here, and for some reason, he now wanted nothing more to do with me. I didn't know what to do.

"I'm sure he'll settle down after a while," Rose continued confidently. "He's your friend."

"Not anymore," I mumbled, stabbing a sausage with some force.

Rose looked at me with an expression that resembled pity. "Well, you can spend the day with me," she said as if that solved everything. "I was planning on visiting Hagrid if you want to come. I'm sure he'll welcome you."

I highly doubted that – Father had told me stories about Hagrid – but I nodded anyway. What else was I to do?

"When are you going?"

"I need to spend the morning with my family, and then I'll go there. Al and Lily are coming, too, so I hope you don't mind. We're meeting in the Entrance Hall at eleven-thirty."

I nodded again. "I'll be there," I said, trying to sound excited about the prospect of visiting Hagrid. I'd barely said a word to him in my one and a bit years here. I doubted he'd even know my name; and then when he learned it, I doubted he'd appreciate my presence in his home.

I didn't want to go back to the common room at risk of seeing Michael there, so I went to the library, which was empty. Most people had gone home for Christmas, and it had me wondering why the Weasleys and Potters hadn't yet again. I'd chosen not to because I'd rather spend Christmas by myself than with my parents, but I didn't think that was the case with Rose and her cousins. Molly had thankfully left that morning – apparently her father was taking her somewhere fancy – but as far as I was aware, she and her sister were the only ones. I made a note to ask Rose why that was when I saw her in a few hours. She'd said something about spending the morning with her family. Maybe they'd come here instead.

I didn't know what provoked me to do such a thing, but as I was wandering through the empty aisles of books, I found myself stopping in front of the Transfiguration ones. I really didn't mind that subject, and I was okay at it, I supposed. I was better than most of my class, anyway.

I ran my finger along the spines, choosing one that read Transfiguration History. It was a very worn and tattered book, and looked to be a few centuries old, but I opened it anyway. There was a chair in the corner, and I sat down, reading the first page, then the second, and then the third. I was surprised at how different the teaching of the subject had been three hundred years ago to what it was now. Back then, teachers had really encouraged more theory than wand practice. Now, we learnt the theory then practiced it. I think I liked today's version better.

I'd never been so interested in a book since Hogwarts, A History, and the hours ticked by without me even realising it. I read through page after page of it, until voices nearby distracted me. I didn't recognise those voices – they were adult ones, and wasn't one of a teacher I recognised.

And then one very familiar voice appeared with them, and my ears pricked. Wasn't she supposed to be visiting Hagrid about now? Wasn't I supposed to be visiting Hagrid?

"I'm not sure what happened to him. He said he'd meet us there, but he never showed up. Oh well, maybe he changed his mind."

"Probably best he didn't show up," a man's voice said. "Not sure Hagrid would appreciate it."

"Oh, Ron, even Neville says Scorpius isn't so bad." A woman's voice this time, and I realised they must have been Rose's parents. Of course her parents would be invited to the school over Christmas. No one else's would.

Eavesdropping, I knew, was wrong. But slinking out when I knew they were in there probably wasn't a good idea either. I opened up the book again, trying very hard to not listen to what they were saying, but found it very difficult.

They were talking about me, after all.

"Hm, yeah. Like to meet him myself before I make that judgement."

"Well, he was supposed to come with me to see Hagrid today, so I really don't know what happened to him," Rose informed her parents matter-of-factly. "The ball last night didn't go so well for him, and I think he's still a bit upset over it."

It took all of my strength to not jump up and tell Rose that I certainly wasn't upset over what had happened – well not in the way she thought, anyway. Michael's friendship was nothing now.

"What could possibly go wrong with kids your age at a ball?" Rose's father wanted to know.

"It was with his friend, Michael," Rose continued. "I don't know the whole story, but they had a fight and aren't speaking to each other anymore. Michael's being really mean to him. He has been ever since he joined the Slytherin Quidditch team. That was why I asked him to come to Hagrid's today. I thought it might have cheered him up."

Anger was bubbling inside of me, bursting to come out. She felt sorry for me. That was why she'd asked – only because she felt sorry for me, not because she liked me.

"Oh well, I'm sure they'll sort it out, sweetheart. It's good to know you're being a good friend to him when he needs you."

My book closed with a very loud snap, startling even me.

"What was that?"

"I think someone else might be in here without us realising," Rose said. There was silence, and then she said, "Sorry," which I thought might have been directed at me, or whoever she thought was in the library.

Then they were gone.

My good mood gone, I left the library to go back to the common room. Michael, thankfully, was going home for Christmas after he'd finished breakfast. I'd woken that morning to find him packing, and was glad the morning was all I needed to endure him for. He was probably on the train back to King's Cross now, which meant I wouldn't have to put up with his whining for a few weeks.

Evan and Milly had left, too, which just left me… and Isadora.

"Hi," she said the moment I entered the common room.

"Hm," was my only response.

"You know, I don't blame you for what happened with you and Molly last night." She followed me to where the boy's dormitories were, and I didn't really care in that moment if she walked right into my room.

"Good for you."

"No, I mean, she's my friend and all, but she did go a bit over the top with the whole thing about you. She gets like that. I've had to listen to her go on and on about you for the past year and a bit… ever since you got here, really. It's really annoying."

I stopped just before reaching the door to my dormitory. "She talks about me?" I asked.

Isadora nodded. "All the time. Her and Rose fight over you all the time when they're together. Rose says she should leave you alone, and Molly thinks that means she fancies you."

"But… it doesn't mean that, does it?" I asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

Isadora shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Well… that's good at least." I smiled slightly – a genuine smile. Isadora wasn't actually too bad when she was by herself. She did beat me to the Seeker position, and I wouldn't forget that in a hurry, but I liked her, I supposed. For a girl.

I didn't realise it until hours later, when the fire was blazing in the cold dungeon common room, that I never had actually gone to my dormitory. Isadora and I had sat in the large armchairs, talking about everything.

It turned out that even she was sick of Molly's antics, and we bonded (I guess you could say) over her behaviour. She was glad to be rid of her for a week or so, and so was I. The common room was virtually empty, and it was nice.

"Dinner will be ready soon," Isadora suddenly said, jumping to her feet. The big clock against the wall almost said six o'clock. "Let's go together."

I nodded, also getting to my feet. There would be no one else to eat with, with the twins being home for Christmas, and Rose with her family. Isadora was my only option, and suddenly, I felt rather cheerful to have a friend. Despite me accidentally forgetting my plans with Rose, and my fight with Molly and Michael the previous night, I never thought that on Christmas night, I'd be eating with the one person in the middle of the whole mess.

We went up to the Great Hall which was dead quiet. It had completely transformed from the dance floor of the Christmas Ball to the regular eating place. This time, though, there were no students lining the tables with watering mouths. There were only two tables in the whole room – one for the teachers, and one for the remaining students.

Rose was sitting in between two adults I assumed were her parents, and beside her father was another little red-haired boy. Hugo, I thought she had mentioned once or twice. He appeared quite overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, and I half felt sorry for him. He wasn't even of school age yet.

I tried to slide in unnoticed at the end of the table, but Rose had been looking out for me, it seemed. She stood, waving me over, and the expression on both hers and her mother's face lured me. She seemed delighted to have finally have seen me, and her mother just seemed kind and welcoming.

"Oh, you go," Isadora said uncertainly. "She's calling you, not me."

"You're her cousin's best friend," I reminded her.

"Yeah, the cousin who hates her."

I insisted Isadora join, and the Weasleys made room for us near them.

"We missed you today," Rose said.

"Yeah, sorry, I was in the library and forgot." After I'd said it, I wanted to take it back. Now she would know it was me who'd been eavesdropping on her conversation about me with her parents.

"I thought I heard someone there," she continued, seeming unfazed. "You should have said hello."

"I didn't want to bother you."

I could sense that Rose was happy to have me there, and it made me feel a little more relaxed as the food appeared on the table. Her mother seemed nice enough and was asking me and Isadora all kinds of questions about how we liked school and why we weren't home for Christmas. Isadora said her family was away, and although they'd wanted her to go with them, she decided against it. I made up some excuse that my parents were on holiday, too, but I could tell Mrs Weasley didn't believe me. She even appeared slightly concerned, and that expression was odd to me. The most my mother was concerned about was whether or not I dirtied the house the house-elves had just cleaned.

I'd only met her father once for five minutes at that Quidditch match, and he said as little to me as he did back then. I didn't think he disliked me as such, I just thought he wasn't sure what to say to me. And I had absolutely no idea what to say to him either. He liked Quidditch, I knew that, but I wasn't even sure if that would spark a conversation between us.

"Dad, can we go now?" Rose was explaining to her mother how Charms had changed since they were at school when I caught her little brother whispering to his dad. He hadn't even eaten much of the feast, apparently too terrified of the school to care about much else.

Rose stopped mid-sentence, turning to face him. "We can show you around the school, Hu," she said kindly. "That way when you come here it won't be as scary."

It was such a logical statement, but one that was filled with warmth for her younger brother that it made me wish I had a younger sibling to show around Hogwarts. My parents had always said that they were happy with one child, though, whenever I'd asked them why it was just me.

"That sounds like a good idea," her mother said. "You four go, and we'll stay here. I'd like to say hello to Professor Longbottom."

Rose got to her feet, and Hugo followed. "You can come, too, Scorpius," she said. "And –" She looked to Isadora as if contemplating, "– you, too."

Isadora didn't appear too impressed in being a last thought and it appeared her mother didn't approve either.

"Rose," she said with a warning tone. "All four of you take a tour of the castle and we'll meet you back here in an hour and say goodbye."

Rose nodded, placed her arm around her brother's shoulders and left the Great Hall, leaving me and Isadora to follow behind her.

"Well, that was the Great Hall," she said waving her free hand back behind her. "That's where we eat. It's normally really full when school is on, but because it's Christmas there's only a few people there. We all sit at our House tables mostly, but sometimes we sit with other Houses." She stopped just in front of the staircase leading to the next floor and faced me and Isadora. "I sit with Scorp sometimes." She gave me a smile which I returned, nodding. Especially lately, I wanted to answer, but I didn't.

Rose took us all along each floor, pointing out to Hugo where each class would be. She showed him the Charms corridor, the Transfiguration one, and the ones such as Muggle Studies and Arithmancy, even though we weren't old enough to do any of them.

Isadora was making it very obvious she was bored senseless, and even my mind was starting to wander as we looked into all the classrooms I wanted to forget about for two weeks. Though, I'd never say anything. I'd never admit that I was only here in the first place because the highlight of every day was spending time with Rose. Even if that meant being dragged into every single room in the school, it was still a better Christmas than it would have been had I spent it with my parents.

"And this is the Gryffindor common room," Rose said as we approached the portrait of the Fat Lady I had seen the night before. She looked around at us again, seeming to debate with herself, and then shrugged. "Have a look, Hu," she said. "You might be here next year."

"And what if I'm not?" Hugo asked as softly as he had asked his father if they could go home. I heard the familiar panic in his tone, the gnawing worry of disappointing the family if he didn't live up to their expectations. I knew that very well, except in my case it would really have been a disappointment. Hugo's parents would have been proud of him even if he was put in Slytherin and became the next Dark Lord.

Not wanting anyone to know the disappointment and worry I grew up with, I stepped forward and placed an arm around his shoulders as well. "Don't worry," I said to him, and Rose looked at me curiously. "It doesn't matter what House you're in, it's all about who you are."

Hugo frowned up at me. "But… this will be the only place I know," he said. "What if I'm in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw or… or Slytherin and I can't find my way there?" This seemed to be such a concern for him that Rose pulled him closer to her.

"We can show you the other ones, Hu," she promised him. "Scorpius and Isadora can even show you inside the Slytherin common room if you like." She looked to me as if asking if that was okay. I nodded. Of course it was okay. Was this what having a little brother was like?

Rose let us into the Gryffindor common room again, and even Isadora gasped at the warmth it possessed the moment we entered. There was a fire blazing brightly, and the armchairs were all unoccupied, looking very welcoming. Once again, a feeling of regret washed over me as I looked around. If I hadn't been so determined to be placed in Slytherin to please my parents, being here would have been really nice.

"And we get dungeons," I heard Isadora scowl as she climbed through the portrait.

"Is this the common room that you and Albus and Lily and James and Mum and Dad and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and everyone else live in?" Hugo questioned, looking around.

Rose nodded, smiling brightly at her brother. "Yes."

"Cool."

"And maybe you'll be here, too, but if you're not that's okay, too. You will have someone in every House."

"I don't want to be in Slytherin, though," he said quickly, then seemed to realise what he had said. Isadora scowled, though I pretended not to have heard, admiring one of the portraits on the wall.

"You probably won't be," Rose assured him, moving further into the room. "Did you know Mum and Dad and Uncle Harry used to sit here a lot? And your room next year, if you're in Gryffindor, will probably be the same one Dad and Uncle Harry had. That's what Al says anyway."

Those words seemed to brighten Hugo quite a bit, and after having a quick look around, he gladly followed his sister to the Ravenclaw Tower – where he expressed he wasn't smart enough to be there – and then Hufflepuff common room by the kitchens. He seemed quite interested in this House, and said that although Gryffindor was his first choice, if the Sorting Hat decided to put him in Hufflepuff, he wouldn't care. He said something about liking his cousin Lucy who was in there, and thought he was a Hufflepuff anyway.

Our next stop was the Slytherin common room.

"Gryffindors aren't allowed in here," Isadora said simply, looking at Rose, all hint of her nicety to me gone all of a sudden. Apparently speaking about Rose was one thing, but obviously being in her presence was a completely different story. Molly's opinion had influenced her more than I had thought.

"I let you into mine," Rose shot back unkindly. "My brother just wants to look."

"It's okay, Rosie," Hugo said, his voice returning to the quiet whisper he'd used all through the Christmas feast. "I won't be in Slytherin anyway."

"So? I still let them into Gryffindor's common room when I shouldn't have. I was just being nice."

"You were doing what your mum told you to do," Isadora shot back, folding her arms over her chest. "If you had it your way, you would have left me behind."

"That's not true!" Rose said, and her voice had returned to her normal, gentle one. "I try to be nice to everyone I meet. And Molly is your best friend, and she's not here, so I thought you would like to come with us as you're Scorpius' friend, too."

"Oh, so you felt sorry for me?" Isadora demanded, glaring at Rose.

"No, I didn't."

I moved to step between them, because it seemed Isadora was ready to take out her wand. I didn't want them getting into a fight. Rose was a talented witch and knew spells I'd never even heard of. And I'd seen Isadora on the Quidditch pitch. She wasn't afraid of a fight.

"Let's all just go back to the Great Hall," I said, my hand resting on Isadora's arm.

Appearing hurt all of a sudden, Rose looked at Isadora with teary eyes. "I do like you," she said softly. "I didn't mean for you to think I hated you."

I let go of Isadora, who seemed to relax at Rose's words. She shrugged. "I don't hate you either. I barely know you. Sorry. I guess I've just been listening to Molly too much."

Rose's eyes darted to the ground at the mention of her cousin. "Oh."

"And she doesn't really hate you, by the way," Isadora continued quickly, noticing Rose's expression. "It's not really your fault that Scorpius likes you more than her… I mean… when I say like, I just mean… well… Molly thinks it's more, but it's not. At least I don't think. Maybe Scorpius does fancy you and you fancy him, I don't know. Molly thinks you do, though."

Just stop, Isadora, I silently begged. Just shut up now. Rose was looking at me with quite a bewildered expression, and I knew I'd turned a furious shade of red. Why would Isadora say something like that? And with Rose's parents here and everything. From what I'd seen and heard, I didn't think her father would be too impressed to learn that I fancied his daughter.

Not that I did.

"Molly hates you, too?" she asked.

"No, she likes Scorpius. She hates you because he spends more time with you, and he ditched her at the ball last night because he saw you leave and he thought that MacMillan boy had upset you again."

Rose's blue eyes looked solely into mine. They were so sincere, so innocent, I couldn't look away. "I didn't know that," she said.

"Well… y-you're my f-friend," I stammered. "Of course I was going to see if you're alright." I tried to shrug it off, but failed miserably. What I wasn't expecting was for Rose to let go of her brother to wrap her arms around my neck, placing a kiss on my cheek.

"That's really nice of you, Scorpius," she said.

"Rosie!"

I pulled away from the hug so quickly that I almost pushed her to the ground in my fright. I turned my head, and coming down the corridor was Rose's father, closely followed by her mother.

"We're going now, sweetheart," her mother said before her father had the chance to say anything to either of us. What did he expect we were doing? Snogging in front of Hugo and Isadora?

"Okay," Rose answered, apparently undeterred by what had just happened. While I stole glances at her father, who appeared slightly confused, Rose and her mother completely ignored him as they said goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you, darling," her mother said to her, hugging her tight. "I wish we could be here for your birthday as well. We'll make sure all your presents arrive by when you wake up, though," she added, and I was curious as to when her birthday was. She'd never mentioned it to me, though I did know it was in December.

Rose hugged her dad, and then her brother, and when they were just about ready to leave, her dad asked what had obviously been bothering him since he'd joined us.

"Er, so you two are really friends, huh?" he asked. Rose's mother rolled her eyes, encouraging him to leave, but he stood his ground.

Rose nodded.

"You do know Rose's cousin has a big thing for you, right?" he then said, looking to me.

"Ron!"

"No, I'm just saying just in case."

"Er… I know," I answered, feeling quite embarrassed by all of this. First he saw Rose and I hugging, which he obviously thought was more, and now was he trying to tell me that he thought I was better suited for Molly?

How old did he think I was?

"Rosie's only twelve," he said. "Only twelve."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," Rose's mother said. "Ron, let's go. Hugo, come on. Rosie, we'll see you soon, okay? Love you."

Rose smiled as her family walked away, and then turned to me, grinning. "That's just my dad," she said. "He doesn't mean anything by it. He likes to interfere a lot."

"I wish my dad cared enough to interfere," I mumbled, then blushed. "I don't want your dad to hate me, though."

"He doesn't hate you," Rose assured me. "He just thinks that because I hugged a boy it means something. He also thought that because James made his friend take me to the ball that that means something, too. Mum says he forgets that he was once my age and that that's not the case. He and my mum were just friends for a very long time."

"But then they got married," I reminded her, and she shrugged.

"When's your birthday?" I then asked her.

"In two days," she said. "Why?"

"Your mum just mentioned it so I wanted to know." I didn't really have enough time to get her a present, then. I was hoping I'd be able to order something via owl post and give it to her.

"Does it suck having your birthday only two days after Christmas?"

She shrugged. "No, not really. There's always a really big celebration at my grandma's. For Christmas and my birthday. It's always really fun."

"But you're here this year."

"Yes, I know. Mum and Dad were invited by the school to come. They needed to do something, or something. I don't know. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were here earlier, too, but they left and took the others with them."

"So no one's going to be here for your birthday?" I asked her.

She shook her head.

"I'll do something with you," I told her, beaming. The thought of us being alone together was very appealing to me, and I was beginning to think that maybe… just maybe… Molly's suspicions were actually right.

I was now thirteen, after all. Maybe that was an okay age to like a girl.

She smiled at me. "That'd be lovely, Scorp. I'll see if some of the other girls want to do something, too. You're welcome too, Isadora."

There came no reply, and when I turned my head, it was just me and Rose. I shuffled my feet uncomfortably.

"Can I ask the other girls?" she asked me.

"Of course," I replied, trying not to show my disappointment.

She beamed. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun." And like she did last time, she wrapped her arms around me and placed a kiss on my cheek.

It was safe to say that when I went to the boys' bathroom that night, I didn't even wash my face.

I am soooo sorry this took such a long time to get up. I was busy, then when I finally had time to write, Maya, who betas this, was busy. That's Christmas for you!

A big thank you to Kelly who quickly looked over this chapter for me this time round. And a big thank you to Maya who has beta'd every other chapter, and all future chapters. Let's hope her life will ease up for her just a little bit.