Chapter 11
mmmm…. Raining cannnnddddyyyyyyy…….. chocolate. Ice cream… I like this rain…. Mmm… hard candy…oowww…..hard candy! OW! STOP RAINING ON MY FACE! IT HURTS! It hurts it…
"…hurts…. Bad jawbreakers…" Scorpius opened his eyes to see Rose standing above him, poking his cheek to wake him up.
"Wake up, Scorp! Come on! Its Christmas! Everyone else woke up an hour ago! Well… except for you and Al." She gestured at the snoring lump of blankets on the floor by Al's bed.
Scorpius got up slowly and uncovered Al's face.
"I already got him a present… but maybe as something else we could get Molly to help get rid of these bruises…" he laughed a bit. The two identical, purple blotches on his face form Rose's rock throwing hadn't quite faded yet, and in all honestly, he looked ridiculous. He looked at Rose for a moment, and the both shook their heads in unison. It would spoil Christmas for everyone if the bruises vanished now.
Once Al was awake, the three of them headed downstairs to the tree.
"There they are! You two slept in! we've all been waiting for you!" said Molly Sr., giving the two, sleepy boys big Christmas hugs, stuffing presents into their hands as she let go. "Happy Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas" they muttered, giving everyone sleepy smiles. Scorpius's smile faltered slightly when he met Ron's cold gaze, but he recovered quickly.
"Um, I think you'd better open this first Al," said Ginny, passing Al a large box. "We all helped pick this one out! We know you'll like her."
Al tore through the wrapping and revealed a cushioned cage with a small kitten in it. She was sleeping, but woke up when Al let out a girly squeal. She stood, her shinny, silver fur glistening as though it had been expose to one of the twins firecrackers, and hits huge green eyes staring curiously at Al, who took it out and gave her a big hug.
"I'M CALLING HER MRS. SNUGGLES!" he announced proudly.
"How you managed to be placed in Slytherin, I will never know," muttered Scorpius, rolling his eyes. "Speaking of which, she's silver and green, your house's colors. I noticed that. That's why we chose her… and she reminded us all of you… she's completely mental…"
"OOOO! SHE IS MY HOUSE COLORS! IN THAT CASE I'LL NAME HER… Salizar? Salizar Jr….no she's a girl… salazina… Ms. Salizina! SALLY FOR SHORT!"
"…I rest my case," finished Scorpius, Al having just given perfect examples of being both crazy, and not a Slytherin.
The next present was for Scorpius, from Al. Scorpius unwrapped it enthusiastically, uncovering a small box.
"You mentioned that you wanted it," said Al as Scorpius opened the box, "but you said your father wouldn't allow it. AND I SAY FIGHT THE POWER THAT IS YOUR FATHER!" He punched the air with his fist. "Oh, and I think it will look quite nice on you." (a/n if I am hinting at any albusxscorpius shipping it isn't intentional. I do enjoy that shipping but it is not part of this fic. Al is straight in this fic…. For now!... I actually will probably keep him straight but no promises ((why does everyone think hes gay? Is it because there literally aren't any second generation girls who we know of hat aren't his sister/cousin?)) Maybe he'll marry his kitty… ((lost in thought)))
Scorpius grinned as he saw what was in the box. It was a small, gold earring. He had mentioned that he had always liked earrings but his dad disapproved. It seemed Al didn't care what his father thought. Looking closer, Scorpius noticed something very small engraved on the side, so small he could barely read it. He managed to decipher the words "Scorpy: the fairest of them all" (a/n I know I just mentioned how much I think I am hinting at this shipping but actually Al just really likes to mock him for how pretty he is because it makes Scorpius uncomfortable.) Scorpius immediately punched Al in the face, no doubt adding to his bruise collection, and thought thankfully that nobody would be able to see something that small unless they were actually looking.
"Thanks, Al," he said, "I'll get someone to pierce my ear later if anyone knows how," and before Al could say anything he said "ANYONE but you."
Next was Roses, from Scorpius. It was in a pretty bag, in blue, Rose's favorite color. James, who had bet on jewelry with some sort of heart somewhere on it, crossed his fingers, while Al watched calmly from his seat, having a pretty good idea of what it was.
Out of the bag emerged a book that looked far too big to have fit. The cover read "100,000,00 interesting facts about the wizarding world that you defiantly didn't know!" She flipped through it, a broad grin spreading across her face as she realized that it didn't merely mention each thing in a boring list, but had long, in-depth chapters about each one. The book was charmed to look shorter than it was, and even with that, everyone in the room except Rose, Scorpius, Louis, and Hermione looked shocked at the size.
"THANK YOU!" she shouted, giving Scorpius a brief, one-armed hug, while supporting the book with her other arm.
"Um, excuse me," said the quiet, dainty voice of Victoire, her mild French accent audible in the silence. "Me and Teddy have an announcement!" She grinned a brilliant grin and looked at Teddy, whose arms were around her waist.
"Yesterday night, I asked Victoire to marry me," he said, also grinning. "And she said yes!" Everyone cheered loudly, giving hugs and kisses. Scorpius had actually grown quite close to Teddy in the last week or so, and he got up and gave him a hug. Under normal circumstances he would've been skeptical because she was only 17, but he knew better. They had since Teddy started at Hogwarts, when he was 11 and Victoire was only 8. She had told him that she had a crush on him when he left for Hogwarts, and, four years later, she admitted that she still liked him, and they started dating. They had only told their family a year ago, but everyone had always wondered.
Everyone was happy. The excitement of Christmas plus this exciting news made it one of the best holidays ever. And everyone was very excited about Scorpius. He got along well with most of them, particularly Dominique, Louis, Teddy, Hermione and Harry. The only one that didn't seem to particularly enjoy his company was, of coarse, Ron.
Ron had been avoiding Scorpius. He could tell that he wasn't a bad guy, but wasn't quite ready to let go of the old prejudice. It also seemed to bother him that Hermione got along so well with him, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Hermione is basically an older version of Rose.
It was 6 days after Christmas, and the two nerds were still lounging on the couch, reading their books. Rose had given Scorpius a book as well, which surprised no one. He was sitting on the couch reading his brand new copy of "A wizard of Earthsea." Rose had gotten him five books, knowing one would only last him a week, and he was already half way through his second. She was only about an eight through her book, though she had read more than Scorpius.
She was leaning on the arm of the couch, while he leaned slightly on her arm. She glanced at him, noticing something on his new earring.
"'Scorpius: the-'" Then she noticed what she was reading. He leaped off the couch and she followed. When it was clear that he was faster than her, she just immobilized him.
"No fair!" he tried to say. "You aren't supposed to use magic!"
"'Scorpius: The fairest of them all!'" she read, laughing. "That's why Al's got a new bruise. Well you are quite pretty." He glared at her as best he could without actually moving. She just giggled at him and released him with a flick of her wand.
"That cousin of yours drives me crazy!" he shouted, which only increased her giggles. "And so do you!"
"Sorry 'bout that, Scorp. But it really is quite funny… and fitting. You do have that evil queen look to you." She just kept laughing hysterically, falling back onto the couch. He looked at her angrily for a moment, but then started to chuckle to.
"I've been compared to a gorgeous vampire and a the fairest evil queen of them all. I'm recognizing a pattern," he said, still laughing a bit.
"Shut up!" she laughed, throwing a pillow at him, "or I'll give you more bruises than Al!"
"Don't worry, Rose. You aren't the only one who can't resist my unbearable charm. All the girls notice it… and I think Al does too," he smiled to himself in an I'm-so-popular-everyone-loves-me kinda way.
"Ha! Don't be so full of your self! Anyway, Al's dating that Annabelle girl or whatever her name was…"
"Annabeth, I think…"
They laughed, remembering how Al had had 5 girlfriends since school started. He was probably the only guy in their year that was already dating.
"You know, I think he might really like her," said Rose, smiling.
"Yeah, well if he doesn't like me, Dominique defiantly does," said Scorpius in the same, boastful voice.
"Eeew! She's, like, thirteen! She's two years above us!"
"Not as bad as Teddy and Victoire ," mused Scorpius, with a thoughtful look.
"Do you like her?" said Rose, in a surprised and, if you listened closely, slightly jealous voice. Scorpius was listening closely. He smiled a smile that greatly resembled his father's old sneers, detecting the subtle jealousy in her tone.
"I don't know. She's quite pretty."
"Duh! She's part veela!"
"And very nice…"
"I don't think she likes you."
"What makes you say that?"
"She's dating someone."
"Well in that case, I defiantly don't like her, but that was worth it just to make you that obviously jealous," he said, now defiantly sneering.
"WAS NOT!"
"Was too"
"WAS NOT!"
"You two act like five year olds, you know," said Teddy from where he had been drawing, completely forgotten. Drawing was a hobby of his. "You're honestly worse than Al."
"That's an exaggeration!" said Rose.
"AM NOT! AM TOO! AM NOT! AM TOO!" said Teddy in a mock baby voice.
"Um, I think I'll call her Mrs. Snuggles?" said Scorpius in a stating-the-obvious way.
"Whatever. How 'bout you continue reading? You two looked adorable all cuddled up on the couch together," said Teddy, in a mocking voice.
"WHAT!?!?" they said in unison, blushing intensely.
*New Years Eve*
"FIRECRACKERS!"
"FIRECRACKERS FOR EVERYONE!"
"ONLY ONE GALLEON!"
Roxanne and Fred were wandering through the house where everyone, including Hagrid, the Lovegoods and Professor Longbottm, were gathered for a new years party. They were handing out festive firecrackers that they had recently perfected, to anyone who would take them. They new edition made party hats or masks appear out of the smoke. Soon everyone was glittering, coughing and wearing ridiculous hats. They all corresponded to the person who exploded them, so Scorpius was wearing a mask that was covered with enchanted, dancing scorpions, and Rose was wearing a tiara of roses that kept blooming, dying and blooming again, spreading rose petals everywhere she went.
The party was tons of fun. The adults were all drinking champagne, and the kids got butterbeer as a treat, excepting, of coarse, Lorcan, Lysander, Lily and Hugo, who settled for pumpkin juice. There was confetti everywhere, only this confetti was enchanted to sing random songs quietly, also courtesy of the twins, until there was an annoying, indistinguishable humming noise everywhere anyone went, and Angelina banished it. That made the singing louder. This and April fools day were the twins favorite days of the year.
Al was enjoying himself, too, having abused the buttebeer privileges horribly. He and James were in the living room, plotting something with the twins. As Rose and Scorpius entered the room, James turned around, smiling at them in a horribly suspicious way.
"Another butterbeer?" he said, offering them each a glass. They normally would've said no, but decided it was fine on new years.
As they walked away, sipping their drinks and talking, James gave Al the thumbs up, and the twins high fived.
It was almost midnight, and Lorcan and Lysander were peacefully sleeping on the couch, while Lily and Hugo protested to their parents telling them to go to be, hiding yawns poorly. The parents allowed them to stay up till midnight, but no later.
"Hey Scorpy. Do you know that thing about counting down on new years and you have to kiss someone?" asked Al innocently, making Scorpius blush (A/N AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IS STARTING TO WANT AL AND SCORP TO FALL IN LOVE!?!?!?!? SERIOUSLY!) "When the clock strikes 12 you have to kiss someone or you'll be lonely for the whole year… which would suck. I've arranged to kiss Annette," so that's her name "by … um, flu powder!"
"Really?" asked a skeptical, and still blushing Scorpius.
"No, but I can wish, can't I?" said Al, pouting. As if on cue, several of the people started counting down.
10
Rose was right next to him.
9
He had never kissed anyone.
8
The confetti stuck in his ear was singing "Kiss the Girl" loudly
7
Rose was seriously right next to him
6
And looking really, really pretty
5
He was only 11!
4
He seriously didn't need to have his first kiss yet
3
He really liked Rose
2
People were hugging! Married couples and Teddy and Victoire were getting ready to kiss!
1
He had had enough loneliness to last a lifetime
0
Scorpius reached over and gave Rose a small kiss on the lips. It was really quite awkward but he didn't regret it. She blushed, but looked very happy. He too blushed, and looked a bit more embarrassed than Rose.
The people around them were cheering, but only some of them were cheering for Rose and Scorpius. Al and James and the Twins were cheering the loudest, happily drinking their butterbeer.
Something shattered on the other side of the room, but nobody heard except Ron. He was standing there, hand bleeding, with several shards of a wine glass in his hand. He looked positively murderous.
*Next Morning*
Rose awoke sleepily in her bed, being shaken by the shoulder. She looked up sleepily and saw Scorpius. She wondered what was wrong before she remembered the previous night. She blushed bright red and her eyes widened.
"Al," was all Scorpius offered in explanation She was puzzled for a moment, before she remembered the marauders plotting and offering them drinks. Spiked drinks.
"WHA-" exclaimed Al as the two pushed him off the bed, but he stopped, seeing the looks on their faces. James and the twins were woken up in the same manner.
They were all gathered around the kitchen table. Nobody else was up yet.
"What. Did. You. Do?" said Rose, forcing each word through gritted teeth.
"You would've done it anyway!" said Roxanne.
"Honest! There wasn't any love potion or anything in the butterbeer! Just a bit of stuff to help you with the whole coward thing!" said Fred defensively.
"Really?" asked Rose, unable to hide the very slight hint of hopefulness with her inquisitive voice.
"Well," said James, shifting around uncomfortably. "There might have been a drop of love potion… but seriously only a drop!"
"It was pretty much to make sure you liked each other enough to actually kiss," continued Al. "I mean, everyone with eyes knows you two like each other," they blushed, "But in all seriousness, you guys are the densest people in the school."
"Aunt Ginny," said Rose.
"And Angelina," added Scorpius.
"Are going to ground you," growled Rose.
"Permanently," finished Scorpius.
"That was even creepier than when we do that," said the twins in perfect unison.
Rose and Scorpius ignored them and left to get the adults.
"We never have to speak of this again, right?" asked Scorpius, cauciously.
"Right," answered Rose with finality.