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Chapter 11

I'm in Ancient Runes, and Professor Babbling is croaking on about Ramesses the Great (very interesting guy, by the way) and of the five or so people taking N.E.W.T. level Ancient Runes is - you guessed it - Scorpius Malfoy.

Ancient Runes has a weird class dynamic; there's someone from each House plus an extra Ravenclaw and we all sit spread out taking up two desks each. That's how it usually is, anyway, until Scorpius walked into class today and plonked himself down next to me. Now I'm distracted because I'm very much aware of his platinum blonde hair out the corner of my eye.

He hasn't really said much to me all lesson, except a "Hey" at the beginning. He is a strange one, that Malfoy.

I decide to try casually probe him about Penelope while Professor Babbling is facing the chalkboard.

"So… have you been hanging out with anyone recently?"

Scorpius frowns at me.

"Like…" I continue, "with a girl?"

"What's it to you?" he says stiffly.

"So there is someone," I say.

"I hang with girls, yeah. Girls who are my friends."

"Anyone in Gryffindor?" I say, raising my brows. I'm not sure why I'm so curious.

"You," he says.

And then my face flushes. Sometimes I really hate my Weasley genes.

"No- I didn't mean-"

"What are you trying to get at, Rose? You think I'm dating someone? You jealous?" he smirks at the last line, repeating my words behind the greenhouse back to me.

I turn around to face the front again. "Just asking," I say.

I can still see him wearing that stupid smirk in my peripheral vision.

"Well I'm not," he says finally, and turns back to the lesson, too.

Have you told Penelope that? I say silently.

"Heard you were at the Ravenclaw after-party," Scorpius says after a moment.

"Who told you that?"

Scorpius shrugs. "Someone. Heard you were getting pretty cosy with McLaggen."

"Pssh," I say. "We were talking. I didn't stay long."

I don't tell him about Andrew McLaggen and Dominique. I've already embarrassed myself in front of Scorpius enough as it is.

The rest of the lesson passes with Professor Babbling, a witch as ancient as the runes she lectures about, hobbling around the front of the class inscribing mind-boggling symbols on the chalkboard and making us copy them down to translate as homework for tomorrow. For tomorrow. So NEWT level really is as full on as Roxanne harps on about.

I hurry out of class after waving goodbye to Scorpius (he waves awkwardly back) to get to lunch early, so that I can eat quickly before Gryffindor table fills up with big-headed loudmouths, so that I can go to the library and finish my Arithmancy homework I abandoned last night.

I really should not have hurried.

When I sit down at Gryffindor table it's half empty, but still the food arrives on time. Just as I'm about to dig into a beef sandwich Andrew McLaggen comes along and sits down next to me.

"What do you want?" I say.

"Rose, I'm sorry about what happened last night. Dom- don't listen to anything she says. I'm not trying to make her jealous. Especially using you, you know that- Well, you wouldn't know that- Which is why I wanted to say how sorry I am about the misunderstanding, and-"

He's rambling now. I leave him to it, watching with detached amusement.

"-do you think you'd want to give me a second chance?"

"What?"

I stare at him in confusion.

"A second chance. I mean I invited you to the party because I liked you. But now you probably hate me… So this is me clearing things up and hoping for a second chance. Would you- er- want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

"Hogsmeade is the week after next," I say lamely.

"Oh, right. The week after next then."

I'm sort of speechless. No one's ever professed to fancying me before - not even the only two boys I've ever kissed.

So I just ignore the part where he says he likes me, and respond to his question instead. "Yeah. Okay."

Andrew nods. "Great."

Then we sit there for a bit, me holding my sandwich waiting for him to say something else, until he eventually says, "Well, I'll see you, then."

xxxxxxxxxx

By the end of the day Dominique has somehow found out that I'm going on a date with Andrew McLaggen. She's standing in front of my couch in the corner of the common room looking like a raging bull.

"Rose, he's just using you."

That makes me just as mad as her.

"Shut up, Dominique," I say, scowling up at her.

"How can you be so blind?" she says. "The guy was practically in love with me a month ago, and now he's going for my little cousin?"

"I am not little."

She ignores me. "He's an arsehole. You're only going to get hurt. Don't go out with him, Rose."

"So it's working then."

"What's working?" she snaps.

"You're jealous," I say mildly.

Dominique looks like she's going to keel over. "I am not jealous. I'm just worried for you, I don't want your first boyfriend to be a fake one. And besides-" she looks around the room, then lowers her voice and says, "-what about you and Teddy?"

I try to keep my face emotionless. But who am I kidding, I'm no Scorpius Malfoy. My face betrays the hurt I feel all over again as she says his name, and her eyes widen.

"So I guess that's a no," she says.

"You guess right," I say acerbically.

"Hullo there, lovely ladies," James says in his annoyingly cheerful voice as he comes over to us, having just entered the common room. He's all sweaty and in his Quidditch gear.

Both Dominique and I ignore him.

"What's going on?" he says, looking between the two of us, noticing the tension in our little corner of the room.

"Rose is going on a date with Andrew McLaggen," says Dominique, glaring at me.

"You're what?" exclaims James.

"And Dominique is jealous because she used to date Andrew McLaggen," I shoot back.

"You what?" This time James gapes at Dominique.

Dominique crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. "It wasn't even dating, we were just shagging."

"You what?" both James and I say.

I feel sick all of a sudden. I stand up and mumble something about Ramesses the Great waiting for me upstairs.

"This is all your fault," I hear Dominique snap at James as I troop upstairs.

xxxxxxxxxx

As you've probably guessed by now, I have horrible luck with guys. That makes me sound like a right tosser, I know, being all 'oooh, I have so many guys after me, poor little Rose Weasley'. But no.

Let me break it down for you: My first kiss was with my cousin's best friend whom I was well acquainted but not friends with, and later I find out it's because I was 'available' and he felt like a snog. The second was a drunken pash (drunk on his part, foolishness on mine) with my cousins ex-boyfriend, who happened to still be in love with her. And thirdly (thank God I didn't snog him) there's Andrew McLaggen, who I can hardly include as one of my guy problems because I've known him for all of half an hour, but whatever, it's causing me grief right now so I will. He has also been associated with a cousin (associated being a euphemism in this context).

Moral of the story: Don't get involved with anyone my family knows. Or get a new family.

I'm lying in the dark under my sheets, pondering such deep things, trying to block out the Terrible Three having a gossip session from their beds.

"So I don't know," I hear Cynthia whisper. "They're both so cute."

"Well, James is older," Penelope whispers back.

I roll over and put my face in my pillow.

"Yes, he is. I mean, I like Albus. But I need a man," Cynthia says.

I bite back a snort of laughter. James Potter is many things, but a fully-grown man is not one of them. At least not maturity-wise. And I'm pretty sure he's casually snogging Greta Longbottom at the moment.

"Albus is better looking, though," Penelope says.

"His eyes are gorgeous. That green," Cynthia gushes.

"Me ma' says the eyes are the window to the soul," says Sally.

"Well then he's got a fit soul," cracks Cynthia, and they all burst into giggles.

"So who, then?" Penelope says. I can almost see her eyes twinkling in the dark, taking wicked pleasure in choosing one of the Potter boys to face their doom in the form of Cynthia Earl.

"Mmm, actually, I think Albus," whispers Cynthia.

I roll onto my back again so I can breathe, and murmur to the draped canopy above, "In your dreams."

A silence follows my comment. Whoops.

"What was that?" calls Cynthia across the room.

"Bananas," I mumble, turning over and pretending to sleep talk.

"If you have a problem with your cousin and I being together, then do say so now." She sounds oh-so polite, but I know better than to take the bait.

"I think she's asleep," Sally says.

"Merlin she is such a bitch," Cynthia whispers, and I stiffen.

Whatever. What do I care about what pig-headed Earl thinks of me?

"And what about you and Scorp?" Cynthia continues.

My ears prick up at that.

"What about it?" Penelope hisses. I can tell she doesn't want to talk about it with me in the room, even if I am 'asleep'.

"Your next move?"

"I got partnered with him in Potions. You can swap with me," offers Sally.

"Sally, you genius," Cynthia says.

I think this must be the first time Sally Hicks has ever been called such.

"You would do that?" says Penelope.

"Of course. He's a great Potions tutor, too, always teaching me stuff during the lesson."

"Sally that's brilliant," says Cynthia, and she sounds like she's almost peeing with excitement. "Just pretend you have no idea what you're doing, Pen, he'll lap it up. Blokes love a damsel in distress."

"Mmm, I don't know, I kind of want to do well in NEWTs…"

"Merlin, you are such a dweeb. You don't have to fail the class. Just act like Sally."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. But honestly, it'll go down a treat."

"You think so?" Penelope still sounds doubtful.

"Definitely."

"Girls," I hear Melody's voice call out loudly from her bed. So she's been privy to this most fascinating conversation this whole time, too. "Please. I need my beauty sleep. Scorpius seduction can start tomorrow."

"Oh, my God, Cynthia, I told you they weren't asleep!"

The Terrible Three finally shut up, and no doubt drift off into boy-obsessed dreams.

xxxxxxxxxx

The seduction of Scorpius Malfoy begins first thing the next morning. I watch the whole affair unfold in front of me (well, listen to it, because they're behind me).

Sally initiates the plan, making some lame excuse that consists of having to sit next to the wall because of her 'allergies'. Scorpius doesn't quite understand (neither do I), and says, "Err… okay."

Then Penelope saunters over. "Hey, Scorp."

"It's Scorpius."

"Oh! Scorpius." I almost feel sorry for her.

"Sally took my seat. Guess you're stuck with me now." She titters nervously.

Scorpius doesn't reply. I imagine he puts on that pained grimace that is his version of a polite smile.

Professor Ang then claps his hands together and everyone settles down. "Today we will be studying, and brewing, the Draught of Living Death. Can anybody tell me what the main ingredients are?"

The class is silent. I know the answer, I just never speak in class. Everyone looks at you and I get this weird nervous shaky feeling that I hate.

Professor Ang looks exasperated. "Did no one do their readings? Someone must have. You- Er- Miss Montague? What're you doing there? Never mind, tell me."

"Infusion of Wormwood, valerian root, sophophorous bean," she rattles off, "sloth brain, and, um… marshmellow extract."

Professor Ang raises a brow. "Marshmellow extract?"

A few students giggle.

"I'm disappointed in you, Miss Montague. Sounds like you did half your readings," says Professor Ang. "All those ingredients are correct, if you replace your marshmellow with powdered root of asphodel."

"Oh, that's it," I hear Penelope murmur.

"We get to use brains?" Darius Flint whispers to me.

I cringe back from him. "Wonderful."

He grins ecstatically.

After a little introduction by Professor Ang ("You are not allowed to taste test during this class - unless you want to stay asleep all the way to failing your NEWTs") we get right into it. Darius offers to retrieve the ingredients, most likely because he wants to choose the most succulent-looking sloth brain.

When he eventually comes back with a particularly juicy one, I've already got the water boiling and the mortar and pestle all set up.

"Boiling the water already, Weasley?"

"You're supposed to for this draught."

"Right on," he says. He flops the brain onto his chopping board and it lands with a 'splat'. "Brain time."

I've never seen him so excited during a class before.

"Eugh!" Penelope shrieks from behind me.

I turn around to see her mass of blonde hair ducking away from the brain Scorpius has put in front of her. Scorpius grins at me and I smile lightly back before turning to Darius, who has started enthusiastically mashing up his one. Well, at least he's following that step properly.

"Calm down, Miss Montague, it's just a brain," says Professor Ang as he comes over to our side of the room at her yelp. "You might discover you have one, too, if you cared to use it to do your readings."

Ouch. Professor Ang is really a little teenage bitch in disguise.

Potions today actually chugs along quite well; Darius is doing something for a change, and our draught looks the way it's supposed to at each step. Throughout it I catch snippets of the conversation behind me:

"Oh, Scorpius, how do you cut the roots diagonally?"

"Oh, Scorpius, can you help me grind this?"

"Oh, Scorpius, what does 'masticated' mean?"

Penelope really is laying it on thick. I'm not quite sure she's getting the result she's hoping for, though, as most of his answers consist of grunts, or a "Give it here".

Darius turns around in his seat. "Masticate means to chew." Then he promptly turns back to the brewing of our draught.

I hold in the urge to burst into laughter. Even Darius Flint seems to be exasperated with Penelope's supposed cluelessness.

"We have to chew the beans?" Penelope exclaims.

"They come pre-chewed by Wumbernickles," Scorpius says flatly.

"Oh. Phew."

By the end of the lesson I can tell Scorpius is at the end of his tether.

"The draught should now be clear with no tinge of lilac," Penelope reads from the textbook. There's a pause. "I think I still see lilac."

"We didn't chop the valerian root finely enough," Scorpius says.

And judging by his tone, what he really means is, 'You didn't chop the valerian root finely enough, you dumb cow.'

Penelope giggles. "Oh. Whoops."

I'm glad to say that my Draught of Living Death is crystal clear, just as it's supposed to be.

"Well done, Weasley. We make a great team," Darius says. Then he holds a hand up for a high-five. I oblige.

Scorpius snorts from behind me, and I smile at him over my shoulder. I also catch Penelope's eye as I turn back and the scowl she gives me is positively Cynthia-esque.

Darius gets out a small glass vial from his robes and scoops some of the boiling draught into it. He sees my questioning look, and says, "I suffer from insomnia."

"That'll knock you out for days."

"The longer, the better."

I shake my head. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Darius quickly tucks the vial into his pocket as Professor Ang comes to inspect our cauldron. "Nicely done, Miss Weasley. Mr Flint. The second pair to get it right so far."

He moves on to Scorpius and Penelope. "What's this? I see it hasn't turned clear… I expected more from you two. In fact, I thought the two of you together would be an unstoppable combination. Strange how, individually, you are brilliant Potions students…"

With that he leaves them, no doubt with Penelope red in the face.

"Well, I'm off, Weasley," Darius says as we pack up. "Don't miss me too much."

"Promise I won't," I tell him.

I leave Potions strangely giddy. My first elated thought is: Scorpius and Penelope are never getting together. But then I realise I'm being foolish, of course it's not that, why would that affect me at all? It's because I've brewed an excellent Draught of Living Death.