Author's note: Hi guys. This chapter,I'm sorry to say, will be the penultimate one. I hope you like this chapter. Once again thank you so much to all those who reviewed, you are brighter than sunshine:) Disclaimer: The following story is not intended for profit. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.
"Mr Zabini...Mr Zabini..." called out Madam Pomfrey, shaking the tall, muscular figure lumped in a chair by the side of Scorpius's bed.
Neime, who had fallen asleep in his chair, woke up suddenly to see Madam Pomfrey looking at him, worriedly.
"Mr Zabini. I think you should go to bed now. It might be another few hours before your friend wakes up," she said warmly.
"No, its okay. I'd like to stay with him for a while," he replied weakly.
"Fine. But I can only let you stay for another hour, after which you'll have to leave," she said, sternly.
Neime gave a stiff nod, and Madam Pomfrey, after giving him a scrutinizing look, left for her office.
Neime rubbed his eyes and looked down at the pale-decrepit figure of his best friend. His stomach cringed, every time he recalled Madam Pomfrey's words. He was lucky to have escaped. Neime clenched his fists and wanted nothing more, than to rip the person who had done this to Scorpius, limb from limb.
"How long has he been sleeping?" asked a voice from behind, which made Neime snap out of his thoughts and jump a little. He turned around to see Anna Peterson standing in the doorway, looking concerned.
"Since I got here. Madam Pomfrey said she fed him a sleeping potion. He was having trouble sleeping, because of the pain," replied Neime, looking away from Anna and back at Scorpius.
"When did you get here?" she asked, conjuring a chair from near by and sitting down.
"Two hours ago," he replied while checking his watch.
For the next few minutes, neither of them said anything. They sat there in the infirmary, maintaining enough silence, to ensure Scorpius wouldn't be disturbed.
Anna couldn't help but notice, how devastated Neime looked. It seemed as though he had lost a considerable amount of weight and was lost deep in thought most of the time.
"I heard your boyfriend, Edward, got injured during the match. Is he alright?" asked Neime, as the silence between them got uncomfortable.
"Yeah he's fine," said Anna and Neime noticed that she seemed slightly somber as she said it.
"We broke up," she added, upon seeing Neime's expression.
"I'm sorry," he replied and Anna shook her head as if to say it was nothing.
Anna looked at her watch and said, "Its late. I guess I'll come back later, when he's awake."
She was about to get up from her seat when Neime said-
"Wait.What about...Rose? How is she doing?" he asked hesitantly.
Anna, who had half risen from her chair, sat back down and looked away from Neime.
"She is fine," she answered gloomily, looking down at Scorpius.
Silence crept in between them again and Anna realized there was no point in staying there any longer. But once again, as she made to get up, Neime spoke out,
"Its my fault. Its all my fault. If only I had stayed with him, I could have perhaps prevented this," sighed Neime, his voice almost breaking.
Anna, instead of sitting back down, went over and and sat on the bed, by Neime's side.
"Did you guys do everything together?" asked Anna in a serious tone.
Neime startled by this sudden questioning said -
"Well...Yeah. Sort of," he replied, not knowing what Anna meant by her question.
"Really? Are you telling me that when Scorpius went to take baths, you followed him to the bathroom," she asked, causing Neime to look at Anna as though she was mad.
"And that when you attended different classes, you missed your own, so that you could follow him around. If you did, well then I would have to presume that you were lovers," she finished, in a mocking tone.
Neime was lost for words as Anna finished. He had never been spoken to like this .Although he was slightly stunned at the way Anna presented it, he knew what she was aiming at.
Anna's expression softened a little as she continued-
"You couldn't possibly have done anything. Do you think the person who did this, would have been foolish enough to do this, with you hanging around? They would have managed to do this anyway. Probably, on one of those occasions when he was alone," she said condescendingly.
Neime looked at Anna and despite being annoyed by her boldness, felt slightly comforted by her words, considering what she said was true. He gave her a weak smile and bent forward in his chair.
"Rose is a very cynical person. She tends to see the worst in people. It takes a lot to impress her. And I've heard her say nothing but good things about you," she said softly.
"And as for him..." she said, nodding towards Scorpius. "I believe things happen for a reason. If this is what it takes, for two people who love each other, to realize what they mean to one another, then I'm glad he's lying here, like this," she finished, not daring to look at Neime.
"She came to see me yesterday. She told me of her decision. Sometimes, I feel like it was all my fault. If I hadn't stepped in between, none of this confusion would have arisen," he said desolately, burying his face in his hands.
"If you hadn't got in the way, Rose would never have realized, how much she liked Scorpius." she said sternly.
"Sometimes, it takes for us to lose something, to realize just how precious it really is. You played that part. Rose was planning on never telling him how she felt, for fear of their families. You made them both realize what they were missing. I would go as far as saying, you were the reason Rose and Scorpius got together," said Anna with a wide smile.
Neime was surprised at how comforting, the Gryffindor sounded. Every negative, guilty feeling, he had been carrying inside of him, which none of his friend's pithy comments could help him with, evaporated easily at her words.
Anna flashed another smile and bid goodbye, asking him to tell Scorpius that she had come to visit.
"And it would be better if you didn't tell him about Rose. I think its time they sorted things out by themselves," she added, before leaving the room.
"I've got your potions notes over here. I had to borrow some from Rene, coz she's the only one who seems to pay any attention in class and here are the Charms notes you asked for," said Neime pouring out parchments and notebooks from his bag.
"Gosh Neime. My headache is bad enough without all this," gulped Scorpius, wondering how he was going to make up for all the lost days.
"Well since you're gonna be in here for a while, I figured we could study together," said Neime, flipping through his potions textbook.
So far, both Neime and Scorpius had avoided straying near anything, that related to Rose. The closest they had come to talking about her, was when Neime mentioned Anna having come to visit him yesterday.
They sat there studying for a while and soon, it was time for Neime to leave. This prompted Scorpius to ask him about something.
"Did Anna say anything, when she came by yesterday?" asked Scorpius, treading a dangerous territory.
"No, nothing in particular," he replied and in order to revert back to a lighter mood, he added-
"No wait...She did say she had reason to believe we were lovers," he said, jesting.
Scorpius raised an eyebrow and upon realizing that Neime was joking, played along with it.
"She found out already? I thought we were doing a good job of covering it up." he remarked, winking.
"In your dreams, Malfoy!" said Neime, while Scorpius laughed out loud. Neime stood up to leave, relieved at having managed to dodge his earlier question about Anna.
"I'm off to have dinner. I'll see you tomorrow," he said picking up his bag.
"Wait. Aren't you going to give me a good night kiss?" asked Scorpius, playfully.
Neime replied with a rude hand gesture, while Scorpius kept laughing.
"Good night, Scorp," said Neime and as he was about to leave the room, Scorpius realized he couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Neime. Wait," he said, at which point Neime stopped and turned back to face Scorpius.
"What is it?" he asked, noticing the difference in Scorpius' tone.
"I told her. Right before I fainted. I told Rose everything," he said, looking down.
The air between them, which had been light and playful until a second ago, soon turned tense, which made Neime look nervous.
"But don't worry, Neime. I swear I won't come in the middle of your relationship. I just wanted her to know, even if she didn't feel the same way," he said, trying to sound apologetic.
"Did she tell you, she preferred me?" asked Neime, raising an eyebrow.
"No, I fainted before I could hear her reply. But there's no doubt she prefers you. I mean she hasn't even come to visit me yet. I must have freaked her out, pretty bad," said Scorpius, dolefully.
Neime didn't know how to respond and wondered whether he should end his best friend's misery and tell him the truth.
"But don't worry, I don't mind. You are my best mate and I'm really happy, that of all the people, its you," he said, trying to look cheerful.
"There is an old Muggle saying. Don't count your chickens, before they hatch," he said smiling and left the room, leaving Scorpius looking confused.
A whole month had passed since then, during which Scorpius had managed to somehow wade through all his exams. He had also recovered almost completely and could even walk on his own, no longer needing his crutches. But Rose had still not visited him, which extinguished even the tiniest hope he had been harboring, since hearing Neime's advice.
Before they knew it, it was time to board the Hogwarts Express again. He kept looking for Rose among the crowd. He wanted to assure her, that he was okay with her relationship with Neime, and that he wasn't going to stalk her , in case that was why she stayed away from him.
Just when Scorpius gave up looking for her, a bushy-brown haired girl materialized, right in front of him, taking him by surprise.
"Whoa..Rose..Didn't see you there..." he said, unable to speak coherently, being taken by surprise.
"Here, let me hold that for you," said Rose kindly, and despite Scorpius's protests, took his owl's cage from his hands. Scorpius was barely keeping it above the ground, due to the pain in his wrists, which hadn't fully subsided.
"How..how are you?" asked Rose, her voice barely audible, amidst the sounds of the boisterous children, all around them.
"I'm fine," he replied , wondering what he should say to her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't come visit. I just thought...it would have been awkward. Besides, Anna kept filling me in on how you were doing and..."
"Rose, I know I freaked you out," he burst out, before she could finish her sentence. "But I promise you once again, I will not interfere in your's and Neime's relationship. He's my best friend and I assure you, I'm nothing more than happy to see you two together."
Clang!! The cage dropped from her hands and in a split second, Rose plunged her arms around Scorpius's neck and planted a full kiss on his mouth. Scorpius was so taken aback by this gesture, that he couldn't get himself to respond. It was only when she drew back, still clinging onto his neck - with her face resting on his chest, that he came to his senses and hugged her back.
They stood there for what seemed liked ages, holding each other tightly - as if never willing to let go of one another, oblivious to all the stares and wolf whistles they were receiving. Scorpius meanwhile thought joyfully - Perhaps, not all my eggs had hatched after all, and held her even tighter in his arms.
Authors' note: As you can see I have a drawn a parallel between Rose and Hermione once again.:) Thanks so much for reading. Hope you liked it. One more chapter to go. :)