Hey! So I want to start off with a reminder that this story is rated M. I know it hasn't seemed like that so far, but things are going to "heat up" a bit now...So be warned!

Thank you to the guest reviewer who gave me some feedback on Scorpius' personality! I hope you keep reading because I think you'll like where things are going.

Ch 11. Fireworks

Professor Goodwin stood at the front of the classroom, surveying the Sixth Year Slytherins and Gryffindors. The tension between the two groups was predictably tense. He waited for the class to fall silent before addressing them, "I have received a request from the Aurors staying at Hogwarts to teach you all how to perform the Patronus Charm."

There were a few snickers. Eva shuffled her feet awkwardly, she could literally feel everyone looking at her.

"Excuse me, professor, why would we learn a charm to repel a creature that has been extinct for years?" someone asked from the back of the classroom.

Marie smirked, "Well, because the angel of Gryffindor had a vision of danger."

More people snickered.

"Quiet. None of you need to know why I am asking you to do this, only that I am indeed asking, and you had better do it if you want to pass."

Despite having been assured by James that Crane hadn't told anyone about her visit, the entire school knew that she was the freak who had a 'vision in Divination class.' Thus, she was entirely to blame for everyone above fourth year being forced to learn an extremely difficult spell, which they would have otherwise avoided. She was by far the least popular person in school.

Rose gave her a look as if to say 'don't listen to them.'

Fat chance. I've already got Marie pretending to be a Dementor every time she sees me.

Professor Goodwin repeated the spell over a few times before directing everyone to think of something happy and give it a go. They were trying for the first time without any distractions, but he informed them that once they could all produce something he would find a boggart.

Eva took a deep breath, "Expeco Patronum."

Nothing happened.

Right, think of something happy first.

Eva shut her eyes and tried conjure up a happy childhood memory, but each one lead her back to the present.

Every memory I have is tainted.

She stood still for a few minutes, trying to think of a happy memory that didn't involve either of her parents.

Something with Al and Rose.

Eventually she settled on a memory from the summer before Third Year. Al and Rose had both come over to her flat for the first time, and they had watched the entire Alien Trilogy from start to finish. She smiled, remembering Rose screaming every time an alien appeared and Al throwing up in the popcorn bowl after eating two packs of Twizzlers by himself.

She tried again and the tiniest silver thread drifted from her wand.

"You're going to need to think of a stronger memory, Miss. O'Connor," Goodwin said, eyeing the pitiful mist that was already disappearing.

Sighing, Eva chewed the inside of her cheek and looked over at Al. His face was screwed up in concentration, but he had managed to produce a fair amount of vapour, though it seemed to be pretty directionless.

"Keep working on it. This is very difficult magic, but you should all be capable of it." Goodwin called to everyone.

"Eva! Al! Look!" Rose shouted excitedly.

Eva looked over to see the mist from Rose's wand solidifying into a large animal.

"Merlin, Rose. Could you be any more of a Gryffindor?" Albus laughed.

A lioness prowled around Rose, looking around the room a few times before disappearing.

Rose looked absolutely ecstatic. She was the first person to produce a distinguishable Patronus and few students were eyeing her irritably.

"Well done Miss. Weasley!" Professor Goodwin congratulated, "Ten points to Gryffindor. That was remarkable. Most people take more than a few tries to achieve a corporeal Patronus."

Rose beamed and turned to Al and Eva, "How are you two coming along?"

Albus scratched his head and sighed, "I had some silver vapour at one point, but I keep getting distracted and losing my memory."

Eva tried to look as exasperated as Al, "Yeah. Me too."

She was pretty sure she wasn't going to be able to conjure a Patronus anytime soon. Once her friends went back to their attempts at conjuring a Patronus, Eva looked around the classroom to see how everyone else was doing.

Marie was the only person other than Rose who had managed a corporeal Patronus. A handsome ram stood beside her, its head raised proudly.

I wonder what her happy memory is.

Probably the Dark Mark appearing in the sky.

Or maybe it's all the muggles being killed.

Eva scuffed her foot on the ground angrily and looked away from Marie's success. It almost felt like a personal mockery that the person who had spent six years trying to make her miserable had a powerful enough happy memory to conjure a Patronus.

Eva jumped a little as her eyes met Scorpius'. He was watching her unabashedly while everyone else focused on their spell work. She had the feeling he knew why she had stopped trying. He almost looked as if he wanted to speak to her, but she knew that he wouldn't. Not in front of everyone. She pursed her lips and looked away, but she could still feel his stormy eyes somewhere on the back of her neck.

O

Rose exhaled, shuddering as Luka traced his finders up the inside of her thigh. They were lying on the grass beside the lake, enjoying the last few rays of summer sun. Or at least, they had been, until he'd started kissing her.

She eagerly pressed herself into his body, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing his neck. He slid his hand up until he was touching her though her panties, his breathing getting heavier.

Rose let out a little moan as he slid his hand into her underwear and up against her lips.

"You're really wet," he murmured breathlessly.

Rose felt herself blush. They had never gone this far before, and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next, or if she should be so wet already.

Sensing her embarrassment, Luka kissed her, "It's so hot. I can't stop touching you."

As if to prove his point he wiggled his finger, sliding it inside her a tiny bit.

She gasped and kissed him harder, pulling at his hair. She had meant to stop him before he got into her underwear, but now she couldn't remember why. There was a tightness in her abdomen, and all she could think about was getting his finger further inside her. She pressed her hips into his hand.

Luka pushed his finger all the way inside her and moved it back and forth, "Holy shit, Rose. My god, you're so sexy."

Rose took her hand off his shoulder and slid it down between them, finding the spot between his legs. She wrapped her hand around him through his pants. She had felt his penis before, but she hadn't seen it. And she wanted to. She fumbled with his pants, struggling with his belt.

Luka moaned and removed his finger, propping himself up on one arm so that he could undo belt for her. "Sorry, couldn't wait," he laughed breathlessly.

Rose reached into his pants and pulled him out. If she had been wet before, then she had to be drenched now. She ran her hand along the shaft and Luka gasped.

"Merlin, Rose. How is a guy supposed to control himself around you?"

Rose smiled cheekily and bit his lip, "Maybe you should stop controlling yourself then?"

Luka's eyes widened.

Rose ran her finger along the tip of his penis. She wasn't entirely sure what she was inviting, but she was so turned on that she could barely breathe.

Well, you did tell Eva that you wanted him to be the one you lost it to.

Luka groaned and began kissing her again. He reached his hand underneath her skirt again and began pushing it up. Then he was pulling her underwear down.

If you want to stop you had better tell him now.

He pushed his finger inside her.

"L-Luka, wait."

Luka looked at her, chis chest heaving, "Yeah?"

"I, I don't want to do it yet."

He withdrew his finger, "Do you want to stop?"

She bit her lip, "No… I just don't want to go all the way."

Luka grinned, "I can handle that."

Rose laughed a little before pulling him down for another kiss.

He slid his finger back inside and then pushed in another one. Moving them back and forth until she had to bite his shoulder to keep from crying out.

If his fingers feel this good then I can't imagine what his dick will feel like.

Shaking, she slid her hand down to where his fingers were, and rubbed some of her wetness on to her hand. She really was soaked. Biting her lip, she ran her wet hand over his penis.

Luka made a sound in his throat and stopped moving his hand still inside her. Rose realized that he couldn't focus anymore, and she felt drunk with the power she suddenly had.

"Do you like that?" she asked.

"Yes," Luka breathed.

She closed her hand around him and began to slide it up and down his length. He began to move into her with his hips, moaning and kissing her neck.

"Oh my god, Rose. You're going to make me cum."

Rose felt she was on fire, her whole body was humming with excitement.

"Rose."

She pushed up her shirt so his penis would slide along the skin of her stomach as well as her hand. She could feel him shaking.

I'm the one making him shake like this.

She kissed him fiercely, biting his lip and pumping her hand until his whole body stiffened and he gasped, pressing himself into her harder.

"Rose."

She felt a little pulse at the base of his cock and wetness spread all over her stomach.

"Oh," she whispered.

O

By the time Eva got back from the library, Rose was in the shower. Eva sat on her four poster bed and scribbled some corrections on her History of Magic paper. Professor Bins was absolutely horrid, but she found the subject itself quite interesting. She had spent her primary years learning about the exploits of the British Empire, and Goblin riots were definitely preferable. After determining that her essay was completely factual, she pulled out Albus' and began to cross out dates.

How the hell does he write that the Goblin riots were in 1991? Good lord, Al. Did you even read my notes?

Eva worked her way through the essay steadily. Al's writing was good, his facts were just completely bogus. They usually spent Sundays in the library together, but when Cassie had showed up and asked Al to go down to the lake with her, Eva had practically shoved him out the door. It felt a little bit lonely sometimes, with Al off with Cassie and Rose spending all her free time with Luka, but mostly she was grateful for the time alone. She knew she wasn't as fun to be around lately, and she didn't want her friends to miss out because she was.

She saw James a few times throughout the day, usually in the corridors between classes, or outside the Gryffindor common waiting for Crystal. It still hurt to see them together, but she didn't mind the pain as much anymore. It was almost nice to feel something other than the absence of her family.

The sound of Rose getting out of the shower made her look up, "Jeez, Rose. You must have been in there for over an hour. The date with Luka that hot?"

Rose ignored her comment and began rummaging around for clothes. She seemed incapable of meeting Eva's gaze.

Eva widened her eyes, "Oh my god."

Rose was taking a very long time to choose her socks.

Eva threw Al's essay to the side and jumped onto Rose's bed, "You guys did it?"

Rose gave a shaky laugh and collapsed on the bed, "Um. Not quite, no."

"So what happened?" Eva asked, staring at the sheepish expression on her beautiful friend's face. Rose being embarrassed was not something that happened very often.

Rose laughed nervously, "I made him cum for the first time." Her hands flew up to her mouth.

"Holy shit. How was it?"

"Sort of amazing. I felt really… powerful. I mean, he's the one who knows what's going on. He had sex with Zoe in fifth year, so he's got a lot more experience than I do. But today… today I felt like I was in control."

Eva whistled, "Damn. So you're happy then? Al and I don't have to kill him?"

Rose leaned into her friend's shoulder, "Incredibly."

"Are you going to have sex?"

"I want to. I think," Rose looked up at Eva, "I think I'm in love with him."

Despite everything, Eva couldn't help but let out a very girly shriek.

All the desks in the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom were pushed up against the wall to make enough space for the sixth year Slytherins and Gryffindors to stand facing a rusty of lockbox. Professor Goodwin cleared his throat, "So, now that you've all managed to at least produce a force field with the Patronus charm, we are going to introduce a boggart. Who can remind us of the spell used to defend against a boggart?"

Al raised his hand, "Riddikulus."

"Very good. Five points to Slytherin." Goodwin surveyed the classroom, "However, this time we will not be banishing the boggart, but trying to produce a Patronus in its presence. While the boggart will be a lot more pleasant than a Dementor would be, it will still provide enough distress that producing the charm should be more difficult."

Eva heard Marie whisper to her friend, "And since we will never actually see a Dementor…"

She's probably right.

Eva was beginning to doubt her conviction. The Dark Mark had appeared in the sky less than 24 hours after she had seen it in the crystal ball, but her vision of the Dementor had happened almost a month ago. Halloween was just around the corner, and she hadn't had a flicker of any sort of 'sight' since mid-September.

Goodwin continued, "The Patronus won't have any effect on the boggart itself, so once your turn is complete you will simply go to the back of the classroom and allow the person behind you to take your place. Now, everyone in this classroom will be faced with something they genuinely fear, so I ask that you keep your opinions to yourself," his eyes rested on Marie, Jaqueline and Victoria, who were whispering and giggling.

"This should be interesting," Rose murmured, "I honestly have no idea what it's going to turn into. I mean, I don't like bats very much. Or spiders."

Al nodded, "I don't know either."

Eva chewed the inside of her cheek and said nothing. She wasn't entirely sure what the boggart would become for her, but she had a pretty good idea of the theme.

Back of the line it is.

There was a general scuffling as the students pushed backwards, all fighting for the back of the line. Eager to watch other people face their worst fear, but not interested in being the spectacle.

"Alright, that's it. I know this is not the most appealing exercise, but I urge you all to be a bit more mature and stop scuffling like children," Goodwin snapped. "I will be calling names."

Eva groaned and sat down on top a desk with Rose and Albus, both of whom looked equally as grim.

"It's not that I'm afraid, I just don't want everyone watching," Rose grumbled irritably.

"We did Boggarts in third year," Albus commented quietly.

"Yes but I was thirteen and we were with the Hufflepuffs. The stakes are a lot higher now," Rose snapped, looking at Marie and the other Slytherins.

"I haven't done this before," Eva whispered.

Rose looked at her, "That's right! You were sick."

Eva nodded, she had come down with the flu for almost two weeks at the start of term. By the time she was better, Goodwin had just let her skip it.

"Miss. Carrow," Goodwin shouted, "up you go."

Victoria Carrow paled slightly but set her jaw and marched forward, squaring off with the rusty lockbox. Goodwin flicked his wand and the box opened.

Hundreds of tiny centipedes poured out of the opening, streaming onto the floor and towards Victoria. The girl stood completely frozen for a few seconds before holding up her wand, "Expecto Patronum!" A silvery shield erupted from her wand.

"Very good! Tara Boot!"

Tara stumbled forward from her place between Charlotte and Becky.

"You can do it, Tara!" Rose shouted at her terrified looking house-mate.

Tara gave Rose a weak smile and faced off against the centipedes, which instantly turned into a huge bloody troll.

Tara shrieked and fell backwards, tripping over her robes and making Marie laugh loudly.

"Shut it, Zabini!" Goodwin shouted. "Up you go Tara, come on now."

Tara climbed to her feet, "Exp- Expecto Patronum!" A silvery shield erupted from her wand.

"Good!" Goodwin congratulated. "Zabini, it's your turn!"

Marie narrowed her eyes and walked confidently towards the troll, which turned into a pack of snarling wolves.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Her ram Patronus formed instantly, lowering its horns and charging the wolves.

"Good," Goodwin barked. "Rose Weasley."

"You've got this, Rose." Eva said with a smile, giving her friend's hand a quick squeeze.

Rose practically ran forward, clearly ready to get it over with.

The wolves transformed into an iron cage.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery lioness leaped forward, letting out a silent roar.

"Well done! Albus Potter!" Goodwin shouted.

Albus groaned but jumped from the desk and walked towards the cage, his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

The cage transformed into his father, crouching on the ground and looking defeated.

Albus stopped dead. His wand hand shaking.

You can do it, Al.

"Is that Harry Potter?" someone murmured from the crowd.

"Shut it!" roared Goodwin.

Goodwin's shout seemed to break Al from his trance, "Expecto Patronum!"

Mist poured from his wand, slowly forming a raccoon.

"Yeah Al!" Rose shouted.

Eva beamed. It was the first time Al had managed a corporeal Patronus. She gave Albus a tight hug once he got back to them, his chest heaving.

"I didn't… I didn't know it could do that. Really look inside like that. I thought," he ran his fingers through his messy black hair, "I thought it would be rats or something."

Eva bit her lip, she was dreading her turn more and more with each second.

"Scorpius Malfoy!"

Eva found Scorpius in the crowd. His face was blank, but there was a tightness to the corners of his grey eyes.

He's afraid.

"We don't have all day, Mr. Malfoy. Let's go."

Scorpius looked at Professor Goodwin for a few moments, before grabbing his jacket and walking out of the classroom.

"Didn't expect that," Rose murmured, her eyebrows raised.

I did.

"Very well," Professor Goodwin said, turning to face the crowd of students again, "Eva O'Connor."

Eva felt like the ground had dropped out from beneath her feet. She could hear Rose and Al saying something to her, but she couldn't make out the words. Taking a deep breath she slowly approached the boggart, which was flickering between different shapes after being left alone.

Eva blinked, and when she opened her eyes a hospital bed stood in the middle of the room. Her mother was lying on her back, with her eyes closed. Her cheeks were hollow and her skin had a sort of transparent bruised look. The heart monitor sent a soft beeping noise through the silent classroom.

My worst fear is a memory.

Eva had completely forgotten what she was supposed to be doing, all she could do was stare down at her mother's thin face. This was the bed her mother had died in, the one they had in the flat when she had become so ill the doctors stopped chemo. The hospice equipment was the same. The sheets were the same. It was like going back in time.

"Is that piss in a bag?" Marie laughed.

Eva felt vomit rise up in her throat.

Everyone can see her.

She whirled around and ran from the classroom, her feet pounding against the stones until she found herself on the battlements overlooking the lake. She grabbed onto the stone barrier and vomited over the side. Eva heaved until there was nothing left, her legs shaking fiercely.

Eva sat on the battlements between Al and Rose as the wind that howled around them. Her friend's had found her almost immediately, and stayed with her while she cried herself out. Now the three of them sat in silence, listening to the storm on the horizon. There wasn't anything they could say, and Eva was glad they didn't try. It was enough that they were here with her.

After a while Eva pulled herself to her feet, "Class has got to be over now."

At her signal, Al and Rose both climbed to their feet.

"Yeah, probably just ended," Al said, rubbing the stiffness out of his legs.

"I should try and catch Goodwin before he leaves, I don't want him to tell McGonagall I lost it. She's constantly trying to send me to Madam Pomfrey as it is," Eva sighed. The headmistress meant well, but no amount of calming draught was going to make being an orphan feel better.

Rose nodded, "Do you want us to come with you?"

"No, you go on to Charms. Let Flitwick know I'm going to be late?"

Rose nodded, "Sure."

Eva gave both her friends a hug and then made her way back inside. There were a few people in the halls still, so class had probably ended in the last five or ten minutes. Eva reached the classroom and pushed the door open.

There was someone still in the classroom, but it wasn't Professor Goodwin.

Scorpius stood at the front of the classroom, with his back to her and his wand dangling by his side. The tin box lay open on Goodwin's desk.

You wanted to know what you'd see, you just didn't want everyone else to see it to.

Eva felt her lungs constrict as she took in the scene before her. The Dark Mark drifted in the air above the tall blonde wizard like a thundercloud. The earie green light cast wavering silhouettes along the walls and the snake had stopped only a few inches from Scorpius' upturned face.

Oh, Scorpius.

She approached him slowly, not trying to be quiet, but not trying to be loud either. By the time he noticed her, she was beside him. He didn't say anything, but his eyes flickered around the classroom as if to make sure they were alone. She leaned into him slightly, her head falling a few inches short of his shoulder.

The boggart must have sensed her because the dark mark collapsed into the ground, forming the familiar hospital bed. It had appeared in a way that they were both left standing a few inches from the side of the bed. The heart monitor beeped quietly over the sound of their breathing. Eva looked down at her mother's face.

Hi mum.

"This is your mother." Scorpius whispered, looking at the skeletal woman nestled among snowflake patterned sheets.

Eva reached out her hand, but stopped a few inches short of her mother's fingers. "I don't know what would be worse," she whispered letting her hand drop to her side, "being able to touch her, or passing through."

Scorpius took her trembling hand.

I should say good-bye. I never got to.

Eva felt her throat closing around the words, but Scorpius must have understood because he stepped forward, returning the boggart's focus to him.

The Dark Mark crackled above their heads, sending greenish shadows along their skin.

"Scorpius, if this is what you fear…" she didn't need to finish. She knew he understood that she was asking why he was aligning himself with the kind of people who prayed for what hovered above them. For what he feared.

Scorpius let out a soft exhale and then raised his wand, "Riddikulus."

Red and yellow fireworks exploded above their heads, showering them with tiny, heat-less sparks.

"I've always loved fireworks, even the muggle ones," Scorpius murmured quietly.

Eva knew he wasn't going to say anything else, so she didn't push. The two of them just stood under the small explosions, holding hands and pretending they were somewhere else.