Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda...not mine...
A/N: This'll be the last purely Rose/Scorpius chapter for a long while, if not the last one. The stories will start to mesh! Things will get more interesting! I swear! And in the next chapter, I'll be clarifying a little bit as far as the whole trial thing goes. If the next chapter doesn't come up for a while, my school year is starting next week, so I'll need to be cut a little slack. Thanks Nikki and Nick (yes, I know, my betas have the same name...practically) for checking this over for me, you guys are awesome. also, major love to the readers! I know (at least you loyal readers, who are awesome also) you've been waiting on this chapter for a while, but you're great. Thanks so much. :)
Yesterday
all my troubles seemed so far away
now it looks as if they're here to stay
oh, I believe in yesterday...
-Yesterday, The Beatles
She said you hurt her so
She almost lost her mind
But now she says she knows
You're not the hurtin kind
She says she loves you
-She Loves You, The Beatles
Things between Rose and Scorpius had been more than awkward for the last couple of days. Scorpius's inner battle was obvious on his face- he loved her, that was true, but was her love worth the struggle and pain? Probably not. And Rose, through the past week, had been coming to terms with her own feelings. But Rose was an extremely private person, and Scorpius always wondered what was on her mind. The expression on her face wasn't easily read.
Rose came to visit him every day in the hospital wing during her healing class (and then again at the end of the day), toting along his work for the day that she'd collected from their professors. It wasn't difficult; she didn't have to go out of her way. He only had one class that she didn't, and that was Muggle Studies. And Rose had no problem with Muggle Studies. Those lessons she could teach on her own- she didn't need class notes or a textbook. Besides, it was hard to believe that "Understanding Muggles: The Curious Witch or Wizard's Guide" would be all too helpful. The air was always tense when she came to bring him his schoolwork, but Rose felt she owed it to Scorpius to keep him caught up with his lessons. Scorpius heartily disagreed. He thought he would be able to catch up without Rose's aid, and if it weren't for the fact that he enjoyed her company, he probably would have refused the help entirely.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon when Rose arrived at the hospital wing that Friday, grateful that she didn't have to work on her own homework yet. She slung her shoulder bag onto the floor next to his bed and sat on the edge of it, having to push herself up a little bit- the bed was high up. "Hey," she greeted, gently as she could manage. It was all she could ask for, to have one relaxed day. "How're you feeling?" His bruises seemed to be clearing away, she noticed.
Scorpius chuckled quietly and managed a smile. "I've been better. But Madam Pomfrey says I should be out by Monday. Apparently it takes longer for Skele-Gro to grow back ribs." His smile quickly changed to a grimace as he remembered the awful potion he'd had to take in obnoxious amounts twice a day. "What did you bring me today?"
Rose shifted to face him, trying not to concentrate on either his scrapes or his eyes for too long. Staring at either one would bring her guilt to the forefront. "Ummm," Rose stalled, as she flipped through a stack of papers, "Muggle Studies. It's what I understand best. And there aren't any spells to teach. Do you mind?" She was afraid that if she had chosen something else, like charms, she would add insult to injury and accidentally remove a vital body part or make his voice come out like that of a frog's, or worse, Madam Pomfrey's. He at least would get a kick out of sounding like a frog for a bit.
"Mind? Why would I? I have to go to that class anyway. What's on the agenda, professor?" He smiled and tried to move a little to sit up, but it ended in an uncomfortable shift and a quite obvious wince on Scorpius's part. "Ow," he whispered, trying not to show the pain on his face but failing miserably.
Rose reached out to him as she saw his pain, practically as a reflex. Her hand rested gently on his chest, and she could feel his heart pound. "You all right?"
He nodded, but swallowed back a knot that was forming slowly in his throat. Rose watched his Adam's apple bob up and down. "Nah, I'm fine. Go- go 'head. What were we learning in class?"
"Culture," Rose murmured, perusing the sheet of notes she was given by the Muggle Studies professor. "You know, music, literature, art. You apparently did a pretty thorough going over of the British artists, obviously, but you did touch on some other famous people. Your class had started studying this, I guess, at the beginning of the month. Am I right?"
"Mhm, yeah, but I wasn't paying much attention. I had my mind on other things." This comment brought on an awkward pause. Rose's brain was able to fill in the blank. By "other things," he meant her.
"Well, somehow that doesn't surprise me."
"If you were to teach me, I would pay attention." He grinned slyly and Rose had to resist a strong urge to smack him playfully on the arm. Regardless of the intent, smacking him now would hurt him too much. He was still discolored from his fall.
"You would? Oh, good. In that case, I will spend the rest of the afternoon telling you every boring detail of the cultural history of England. And the world over, too."
"Sounds thrilling."
"It does, doesn't it?" Rose smiled. If there was one thing she appreciated about Scorpius, it was his ability to keep his sense of humor despite his situation. "I thought we'd start with music. The more recent things first. Uhm...your class briefly touched on "Pop Idol" and "X-Factor" and their counterparts across the world...basically, it's a singing competition, and people across the nation use the telephone to call in and vote for their favorite contestant. America had a pretty successful version."
Scorpius looked puzzled. "Why on earth would you do something like that? What's the point?"
"Don't you ever get tired of hearing old Celestina Warbeck warbling on the radio?"
"Merlin, do I." He rolled his eyes and looked pained, and Rose couldn't tell if the pain was from a bad Celestina memory or from his own physical pain. It was sort of a secret of hers that she always loved the oldies, especially Celestina Warbeck. She shared a similar fondness for older Muggle music. Rose settled with a giggle.
"Well, it was basically to pick the next big radio star."
"Ah. Interesting."
Rose checked the notes again briefly. "Anyway, you have to know that it was a worldwide thing, and it revolutionized the music industry, and got Muggles further involved with the media."
"Got it," Scorpius answered, taking some of the notes from the pile into his own hands. "What's this?" he questioned, gesturing to a diagram of an iPod. Along with it were very technical diagrams of CDs, CD players, and cassette tapes.
"That's how Muggles listen to music. This is an iPod, and you insert it into a computer- I'm assuming you know about computers." Scorpius nodded. "There's a computer program that takes files of music and puts it onto this device."
"And that circular thing?" He seemed genuinely interested.
"That's a CD."
"A 'seedy'?"
"Yes. It stands for 'compact disc'. It's falling out of favor with the Muggles. They find computers to be far easier. My grandparents- my mum's parents- they got me an iPod once. I should have my parents send it, you'd probably find it very interesting. This other one, here," Rose added, pointing to the cassette, "has fallen out of fashion entirely. It was more commonly used in the nineteen-eighties and nineties."
Scorpius nodded again. "So what's going to be on the exam?" The more technical things about Muggles bored him, or at least, the technical terms. He wanted to see it used, to hold it in his hand.
"A little bit about how everything works, what you use it for, what sorts of music are popular with Muggles now, famous Muggle musicians...but that'll only be part of the exam. We haven't even covered literature yet- there's so much more to go!"
"Then why are you wasting my time with what'll be on the exam? Carry on!" He laughed at Rose, knowing full well why she was telling him what was on the exam. She scowled.
"Right, well, I suppose I should touch on The Beatles, and The Stones. They were both famous worldwide in the sixties and seventies, The Beatles more so. They have the most number one hits of any famous musical artists. I'm quite fond of them, myself."
Scorpius couldn't help but gape at her a bit. "But...they're so...old!" he settled with, not sure what else to say.
"So? Here- I'll get mum to owl me my music, and then you can see it. I'll show you. And then you'll agree with me."
Scorpius smiled. "I'm sure I will. Can you hand me that, please?" he added, and pointed as best as he could to a roll of gauze on the table. "Sorry to interrupt the study session, but I need to re-wrap my hand." He slowly peeled off his current gauze, and more of his battered skin was revealed with every layer he took off. "And that potion, too- I need to put that down first. I have to change 'em every couple of hours. It's a pain, really."
The sight of his injury made Rose worried and a little sad. It looked worse than she had first believed and it didn't seem to be getting better. From her classes in healing, she recognized the fizzing, bright blue potion as a disinfectant. Watching Scorpius remove his bandages made her realize how incredibly inept he was at anything related to his own physical well-being. "Here," she said, moving so she was sitting right next to him, his knees directly to her left. Rose took his hand in hers and slowly, gently unwove the bandage. He gazed at her for a long moment, watching her fingers move expertly back and forth to remove and replace the dirtied cotton.
"Rose," he began, as he suddenly felt a need to speak, "I-I..." And then he couldn't think of why he wanted to talk to her. She was the reason he was in this hospital bed having his fingers wrapped, after all. "Just continue, will you? Go on about literature or plumbing or whatever unimportant thing comes next." Scorpius couldn't easily let on that he was interested by this- not only would he be teased by anyone who knew, but his father would about have his head.
She couldn't help but feel a little wounded herself as she kept wrapping and disinfecting his injuries. It surprised Rose how uncaring he could be sometimes. His mood swings often seemed worse than hers. "Well, you're also studying Shakespeare and Austen and Bronte. You're supposed to read the sonnets and Romeo and Juliet. It's his most famous play. Written around the late 1500s." She tried to keep her speech as short as possible- not only did Rose have a fondness for popular Muggle music, but also older literature. With Hermione Weasley, finest and most well-read witch of her age, as her mother, it was hard not to be fond of literature- Muggle and wizard alike. She would have gone on for hours if Scorpius wasn't so bored. Although he hadn't seemed bored before...
"Late 1500s...wasn't Quidditch invented around the same time?" Quidditch. Now Scorpius would pay attention.
"Oh...well, I used to know, but I don't remember." He was probably right. "Anyway," she added, and tapped his fully-bandanged arm for effect, "that's what you need for your next quiz. Basic musical devices, British musicians, and classic literature. That's all."
Try as he might, Scorpius couldn't abandon his curiosity. "Sonnet?"
"Love poetry, or others, but usually about love. And nature. Fourteen lines, usually, the last two rhymes are a couplet...He wrote loads, Shakespeare did. They're beautiful. Your professor handed them out the other day, and I was only able to get a few...here...um..." Rose shuffled through her stack of papers until she found one with 'Sonnet' written across the top. She handed it to him.
Scorpius read aloud:
"Shakespearean Sonnet 133.
'Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
For that deep wound it gives my friend and me!
Is't not enough to torture me alone,
But slave to slavery my sweet'st friend must be?
Me from myself thy cruel eye hath taken,
And my next self thou harder hast engross'd:
Of him, myself, and thee, I am forsaken;
A torment thrice threefold thus to be cross'd.
Prison my heart in thy steel bosom's ward,
But then my friend's heart let my poor heart bail;
Whoe'er keeps me, let my heart be his guard;
Thou canst not then use rigor in my gaol:
And yet thou wilt; for I, being pent in thee,
Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.'
I don't get it," he finished, not sure what else he could say. Rose, who was staring at him, wasn't sure what else to say either.
"Well, that's- that's Shakespeare, I suppose," Rose said, still unable to move her eyes from him.
"I suppose so." Scorpius took her hand in his good one, lacing his fingers through hers. She swallowed but didn't pull away, and he concentrated on her for a moment. "I think we're..."
"...done with our lesson," Rose finished, biting her lip.
"Are you really going to tell everyone?"
"Saving that for Christmas. You?"
"Long as you're willing."
"Guess I am, then."
"That was a love poem."
"I know."
"I know what it meant."
"Thought you might."
"I love you."
"I- I know."