Chapter 10
It only occurred to me the next afternoon that it was strange that Rose's parents had come to visit her at Hogwarts, yet they had not bothered to take her back with them when her birthday was two days later. We still had another week and a bit of holidays left. Surely she could have spent at least one week at home.
I asked her why over dinner that evening – the day before her birthday – and she merely blushed, then turned a very deep shade of red.
"I… I want to stay on top of the work." It seemed a struggle for her to admit, and even more of a struggle for me not to roll my eyes.
School work over the holidays? Why?
"And did the others agree to come for your birthday?" I then asked as a way to ease her embarrassment. But if it were at all possible, she turned even redder.
"Oh… they're busy," she said, and in that moment I realised that the reason she sat with me during meals was not because she liked me best. I, of all people, knew what it was like to be friendless.
"Well, it'll just be you and me," I said with fake cheerfulness. "Where would you like to go?"
"Scorpius, you know we don't have to do anything. I don't mind. I might just sit in the common room with a book or –"
"No! We're doing something!" I insisted. "Whatever you want."
"I don't want to do anything."
"Too bad."
Her blue eyes looked at me with sadness, and it was obvious she appreciated the gesture, though I guessed she was hurt by the other girls' rejection. I wondered absently if they were friends with Molly.
"What do you want to do?" I repeated, more bravely than I felt. I hoped it didn't feel like me forcing her to answer me. I hoped I wasn't frightening her.
"I'd like to… I'd like to maybe visit Hagrid," she said after a moment's thought. She smiled. "Yes, that'd be nice."
My heart sunk. Of all the things….
"Oh, don't look at me like that," she said. "We'll go together and maybe have some tea and some rock cakes and it'll be a really nice day. Maybe we can even persuade Hagrid to show us some of the creatures he cares for in the forest. I heard some only obey him."
My heart sunk even further. Only Rose would think that spending her birthday in the Forbidden Forest with a teacher was a good day. Didn't she know how birthdays were supposed to be celebrated? Before coming to Hogwarts, my birthdays had been filled with presents and birthday cakes and then more presents. It was one of the few things my parents had managed to do right. Almost every other day they ignored me.
"Er… sounds good," I said, gritting my teeth to keep me from saying anything stupid. "What time?"
"I'll send Hagrid an owl tonight to let him know we'll be there by ten," Rose informed me matter-of-factly. "Don't get distracted in the library again, either."
It was my turn to blush. "I'll try not to," I mumbled. I'd probably never set foot in that stupid place again, if I had my way.
Rose beamed. "Oh, it'll be such a great day!" she exclaimed, and then she began to prattle on about how she was going to spend her birthday. Oddly, I didn't mind it. Prattling Rose was a lot better than sad Rose.
OOO
So much for hating all the Weasleys, I thought bitterly to myself as I dug out some of my finest robes from the bottom of my trunk. Not only did I not hate any of them (except maybe Molly), I was spending a birthday with one of them, and I was fretting over whether or not I looked good enough to impress her.
Mum and Father would be ashamed to call me their son.
I eventually settled on some dress robes which weren't too fancy, but looked nice enough. Rose would laugh at me if I dressed up too much; I'd seen what she wore when classes weren't on. She looked like a Muggle.
I'd managed to scrape together a birthday present for her. It wasn't much, nor was it really a present, but at least she would have something.
The yellow card sat on top of my trunk, sparkling under make believe sunlight. I'd made it myself, and when she opened it she would hopefully get a nice surprise. It had been difficult writing in it, though. I was even unsure of how to sign my name, and eventually just settled with From Scorpius.
How cheesy and boring.
Once I was sure I had everything, I set out to the front entrance where I would be meeting Rose. I still had fifteen minutes, but I didn't want a repeat of Christmas day. Even if we were meeting Hagrid, and I was almost positive he would throw me out on my butt the moment he saw me, I was still going to give it a damn good go at making the day enjoyable.
With her parents not there, and her 'friends' declining her offer, I was all she had. Even thinking about that sounded pathetic on both our parts. She was all I had, too.
With my card in hand and my robes straightened, I waited by the doors, waiting for her to show up. After five minutes of standing by myself, I tried to avoid all the negative thoughts in my head, wondering if she'd changed her mind. My watch said she still had ten minutes, but that included actually getting to Hagrid's.
Maybe the other girls had changed their minds and she was enjoying her birthday with them instead. Maybe I was standing there looking like an idiot for nothing. Maybe they were all back in the common room, having a good laugh at my expense.
When there were only three minutes remaining, I was ready to vanish and discard of the card I'd spent all of the previous night getting right. But then she appeared, dressed too casually compared to me. She smiled, looking me up and down.
"We're going into the forest, you know," she said. "And to Hagrid's."
I was never going to win with what I owned, so I chose not to answer her. Instead, I handed her the card. "H-happy birthday," I stammered as she took it.
"Oh, thank you, Scorpius!" she exclaimed, and she seemed genuinely happy that I had given it to her. It made me feel slightly better. "This is wonderful. Did you make it?"
"No, I bought it." What would she think if she knew how much effort had really gone into it?
"It's lovely." And then she opened it, and was sprayed with glitter, and the card started to sing Happy Birthday Dear Rose to her. Her cheeks turned rather purple and she closed it quickly to avoid the attention of anyone who may have been passing by. "Thank you," she mumbled, shoving the card into her bag.
I knew it had been a stupid idea.
"So, are you ready to go?" she then wanted to know. "Hagrid says he made me a cake, but… well, Hagrid's not a very good cook."
"I'm sure it'll taste fine!" I told her hopefully. Something about today had to be enjoyable.
"No, it won't, but pretend you like it anyway," Rose said.
I nodded. Pretending was something I was getting good at. Or had become good at. I wasn't really sure.
We walked together down to where Hagrid's hut sat. I'd seen it often enough, but I had never been this close to it before. It lied just beside the Forbidden Forest, and as the forest was just that – forbidden – I really had no desire to ever go there.
Cheerfully, Rose knocked on the rather large door, and soon footsteps could be heard from the other side, along with some grumbles and other words I couldn't quite make out. Suddenly, just as I was contemplating whether to turn around and make a run for it while I still had the chance, the door opened and I was greeted with the smiling face of the half-giant, Hagrid.
My palms became rather sweaty at the sight of him, but not because I was scared. Standing there just had me thinking what my parents would say if they found out I'd volunteered to spend the day with a Weasley and a half-breed.
"Come in, come in!" Hagrid beckoned, holding the door wide open for us to enter.
Rose entered happily, but I hesitated at the door. From where I stood, I could see that it was just one room. A table, a fireplace and huge bed was all that really occupied the area. I suddenly felt rather cramped just looking at it.
"Happy birthday, Rosie!" Hagrid beamed, clunking down in a massive chair around the table. "Yeh mum wrote to me earlier and said yeh might like to come down here. I was going to invite yeh meself, but you got in first."
Rose smiled, sitting in the chair beside Hagrid. "Hagrid," she began, "do you know Scorpius?"
There was no mistaking the look of contempt that flashed across Hagrid's face as he looked at me. I had expected it, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. There was almost as much history between him and my family as there was with the Weasleys and my family. I, of course, hadn't known him in my parents' time, but I doubted anything much had changed.
"O' course," he said. "I've heard of yeh." He patted the empty chair on the other side of him. "Sit down."
I obliged, and the moment that I did, I was forgotten.
"Rosie, I made yeh a cake. It's not my best work, but I'm sure it tastes alrigh'." With a heavy scrape, Hagrid pushed the chair back to go to a small bench. Sitting on it was a rather large, lopsided cake with some birthday candles sticking out the top.
It looked delightfully unappetising, and from the look on Rose's face, she was thinking the same thing. Though, rather than gagging like I felt, she only looked up at Hagrid and smiled.
"Thanks, Hagrid," she said. "It looks great."
Hagrid beamed. "I'll just get summat to cut it with, then." And he busied himself in what I now thought to be his kitchen.
Rose sent me a look across the table, a look that told me I'd have to eat it. I sent her one back that asked if I really had to. She gave a short nod, then smiled as Hagrid returned with three largely cut slices of the chocolate cake.
"Ea' up, you two. Once we finished this we can go an' visi' the unicorns."
That was going to be a while judging the size and awful taste of the cake.
I nibbled on the edges, trying my best to stomach it, but it was just too difficult. Rose, who was probably more accustomed to Hagrid's cooking, managed half before telling Hagrid she couldn't eat anymore.
Hagrid didn't seem offended as he cleared the plates, grabbing his crossbow in the process.
"You need one of them?" I asked. I'd heard there was some pretty awful creatures in the Forbidden Forest, but I'd also heard Hagrid was friends with most of them.
Hagrid only smiled, patting the weapon as if it were a pet. "Can never be too sure when yeh go in there," he said.
I even saw Rose shudder slightly.
"Nah, but hopefully we'll just be payin' a visi' to the centaurs," Hagrid continued. "If Firenze is there, he'll talk to us."
Oh, if only my parents could be here. They'd disown me. Talking to half-breeds?
"Oh, Uncle Harry has mentioned him!" Rose exclaimed cheerfully as we walked the short distance from Hagrid's home to the forest.
"Yeh uncle knows Firenze very well," Hagrid agreed, stepping in front so he could lead the way. "Yeh parents do, too."
"He was a teacher here once, wasn't he?" Rose continued.
"Yes, retired just a year before the two of you came here, matter-o'-fact. Very popular with the students if yeh like Divination."
Rose scoffed at the mention of the class, but I couldn't imagine why. We wouldn't even start Divination until next year.
"Mother bin in yeh ear, I see," Hagrid almost chuckled. "Well, a little tip for yeh both: don' offend the centaurs." He looked directly at me as he said this, as if he didn't trust me to listen to him.
But I had never planned on it.
"An' you'll be lucky to get a straigh' answer out of them, too," Hagrid added, as if that were something we really needed to know. "Don' be too alarmed."
And we were on our way, following a narrow path, passing thick trees and shrubs. We'd only been walking for ten minutes and already we were covered in scratches from sticks and branches. It wasn't exactly how I would have liked to have spent my birthday – a nice trip down to the lake would have been nice – but we were here now. If Rose and I were still friends next year, I'd make sure to convince her of something different.
Although the Hogwarts grounds were covered with snow, the trees were so thick here that it was freezing cold. Water had been turned to icicles in some places, and a little stream was frozen over, but at least we weren't trekking through snow as well. My shoes were still wet from the trip to Hagrid's.
"Here, take this." Rose passed me a blanket I hadn't seen earlier and I wondered if she'd summoned it, which was odd, because we hadn't learnt that kind of magic yet. But then I saw her closing up her small bag and thought maybe it had some extension charm instead.
"It was always going to be cold," she added. "It always is on my birthday."
I didn't want to accept the offer when she didn't appear to need one herself, but my mouth could barely form the right words to say so from the cold, so I wrapped it around my back without saying anything. It did little to ease the chill.
"So, Rosie, did yeh enjoy having yeh mum and dad here fer Christmas?" Hagrid asked after further silence. "It was good to see them again. It's bin a while."
"I wish I could have gone home," Rose answered sadly. "But it was nice that they came anyway."
"I don't think your brother wants to come next year, though," I said, stepping on a loose branch which flew into the air and almost hit me in the face.
"He does," Rose said. "He's just scared. Weren't you scared?"
"I think we were all scared on our firs' day," Hagrid mused. "An' in a way, I think growin' up knowin' about' Hogwar's is more terrifyin' than not knowin'."
Now that Hagrid put it that way, I decided that he was right. In a way, Muggleborns probably had a better end of the deal. They were only told less than a year before coming to Hogwarts that magic existed, there was no pressure from their parents to be in any House (they probably didn't even know), and there was definitely no family name to embarrass. Even Rose, who had a respected name, probably felt some pressure.
People like Michael, though… no wonder he showed no fear. He had no expectations to live up to.
"I wasn't scared," I lied.
"I was terrified," Rose said. "I didn't sleep the night before, or anything. My mum sat up with me for a while and she told me it was okay, that there was nothing to be scared about, but I still was. I was worried I wouldn't make any friends, but that's okay now, because I do have friends."
As she turned around to look at me, I diverted my eyes. I didn't like it when she smiled at me the way I knew she was smiling at me. It was very off-putting, and sometimes I wondered if she knew.
Eventually, with cross-bow drawn, Hagrid led us into a clearing. I was just about to ask why we had stopped when a man (well half a man) joined us. His bottom half was exactly like a horse's, and although centaurs were quite common magical creatures, I couldn't help taking a step back in awe. I'd never actually seen one before, and they were a lot bigger than I had expected.
Rose and Hagrid appeared undeterred. In fact, Rose was smiling up at the creature in front of us.
The centaur's eyes moved from Hagrid, to Rose, and then to me – I thought they lingered on me for just a moment longer, but maybe that was my imagination. It then bowed its head.
"Hello there, Firenze," Hagrid said cheerfully. "We though' we'd pay a visi'. It's young Rose, here's, birthday." He pointed to Rose with the cross-bow.
The centaur looked at Rose, and her smile widened. She took a step forward, then another, until she was standing directly in front of him. Firenze towered over her, and I wanted nothing more than to drag her away. I'd heard centaurs weren't overly friendly to humans.
"It's nice to meet you," Rose said, holding out a hand for him to shake.
The centaur accepted, and I even saw a hint of a smile on his face. "It is a pleasure, Rose," he said. "I believe humans such as yourselves say happy birthday on this occasion?"
Rose seemed positively delighted, and gave a shy thank you as Hagrid beamed. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I really needed to teach Rose a thing or two about birthdays.
At that moment a second centaur came into the clearing, and I knew immediately that this one was not as friendly as the one named Firenze. He looked disapprovingly at me and Rose, and then gave Hagrid a very indignant look.
"You brought children, Hagrid," it said.
"Yes, young Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy," Hagrid said, pointing to us each in turn. Why he had to mention my last name, I didn't know. He probably wanted them to eat me.
"Weasley, you say," the centaur said thoughtfully, looking at Rose.
"Her mum is the one who kept yeh in this fores'," Hagrid said, as the centaur approached Rose. "Yeh know… Hermione Weasley." He seemed to hope that this was enough to stop the centaurs from doing anything rash.
Rose didn't flinch, but instead stuck out her arm like she had to Firenze. This centaur didn't accept, but only looked at her with contempt.
He then looked at me. "I do not believe the name Malfoy had much to do with that, though, did they?" A nervous knot formed in my stomach as he drew nearer. Why… why were we here? It was called the Forbidden Forest for a reason. Centaurs were dangerous beings, and I was taught early on to never mess with one.
"Leave him be," Hagrid growled. "He's jus' a child. You don' hur' children."
The centaur pulled back at Hagrid's words, and I hadn't realised that I'd unceremoniously backed into a tree upon its approach. When he turned his back, Rose hurried over to me. "He won't hurt you," she said confidently.
I wasn't so sure.
"Well, it was nice seeing yeh again," Hagrid said, looking at Firenze, rather than the other centaur. "We'll be on our way again."
With the cross-bow in hand, he turned to leave the clearing, finding the path that had led us here in the first place. I hurried to keep up, but Rose insisted on saying proper goodbyes to each of the centaurs.
"Not in a friendly mood today," Hagrid observed.
"Are they ever?" I asked, trying to hide the fear from my voice. Hagrid seemed more angry than afraid, while Rose looked pleasantly satisfied that she had met them.
"I though' they'd be friendly to you two," Hagrid admitted. "Ah well, Firenze was alrigh'."
On the way back to Hagrid's we passed some other creatures – harmless, according to Hagrid – which I actually found quite fascinating. At one point, I even thought I felt a Thestral brush up against me, which was confirmed when Rose jumped out of the way suddenly, crying out.
"Won' hurt yeh," Hagrid said, smiling as he ran his hand over what appeared to be thin air. "Count yehselves lucky you can't see 'em. Though, this one is a bit far from home."
"Um, Hagrid, can we go back now?" Apparently centaurs were okay, but when Rose came face-to-face with something she couldn't see, it frightened her.
Hagrid looked between us and must have noticed something, because he nodded. "Yeah, yeah, les keep going," he said.
It was mid-afternoon by the time we got back, and I couldn't help but think that this was the worst birthday ever (even if it wasn't my birthday). But when I looked at Rose, who was using her wand to dry out her coat, the smile on her face told me that she thought otherwise.
To our dismay, Hagrid gave us each another large slice of cake, and after our goodbyes, we were on our way back up to the castle. The snow was a few inches deep as we trudged up, but neither of us noticed, too focused on making it back to the nice, warm confinements of the castle.
Rose nibbled on the cake in her hand, lost in thought. I wanted to say something, to talk to her about anything, but I wasn't sure where to begin. She didn't seem inclined to say anything, and by the time we reached the entrance hall, we hadn't so much as acknowledged each other.
My shoes were covered in snow, my pants wet up to my ankles, and I was starting to grow cold. Looking at Rose, I noticed she was much the same.
"Thanks for coming today, Scorpius," she said. "I really appreciate it."
"The others don't know what they're missing out on, right," I replied, smiling at her. She didn't find that amusing, though. "Er, sorry."
"No, no, it's okay," Rose said. "You're a better friend than any of them, anyway. I'm glad it was just us and Hagrid. It was a fun day."
I was glad she thought so.
"But I'm going to get changed now," Rose continued. "We can have dinner together, if you like."
I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good," I answered. "And… I hope you had a good day."
"It was the best," Rose assured me, and before I could say another word she was gone, making her way back up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.
I headed down to the Slytherin one.
"So, where've you been all day?" I barely had time to get into the common room before Isadora was upon me, staring me in the face. "I went to find you at breakfast today, but someone told me you'd left. So, what got you up so early, huh?"
"I spent the day around the grounds," I informed her, not really lying.
"In the snow?" She looked me up and down, noticing my wet shoes and pants.
"I got bored?" I shrugged, trying to leave, but Isadora wouldn't hear of it.
"I saw you, you know. Coming back. You two went on a little date, did you?"
"It was her birthday!" I snapped. "And no one else wanted to do anything with her, so I did."
"The best opportunity to get her alone," Isadora mused. "Good plan."
"I didn't want to!" I insisted.
"Yes you did."
"It was a really boring day."
"Oh, but who cares about what you did. You got to be alone with her."
"Shut up!"
Isadora laughed at my obvious embarrassment, but she dropped the topic after that. "So, what are your plans for the rest of the holidays then?" she wanted to know.
"I don't know," I admitted. "You?"
"Well, the next Quidditch match is soon, and most likely we'll have to play in the snow, so I want to get some practice in. If it's snowing, it's always harder to see the Snitch, you know."
"Hm," was all I said.
"You want to practice with me?"
"What, and carry your broom around for you and dry your robes?" I snapped.
Isadora bit back a smile. "No," she said. "I thought you wanted to be Seeker?"
"I did, but then you got it anyway."
"So, you're just going to give up, then? Just because I'm Seeker this year doesn't mean I'll be every year. They choose the best each year. Maybe you'll be the best next year."
I couldn't help but stare at Isadora, knowing my expression would probably have her bursting out laughing any moment. "Really? So, Michael mightn't be Beater next year, either?"
Isadora shrugged. "Come on, let's go," she said. "If you can catch the Snitch in the snow, you can catch it in any weather. Anyway, maybe I don't want to play next year."
Suddenly feeling hopeful – like I wasn't a useless player that Michael had made me out to be – I ran up to my dormitory to change out of my wet clothes and put on something warmer. We trudged down to the Quidditch pitch where I saw some of the Hufflepuff team already practicing, but they ignored us like we ignored them.
After a while, Isadora stopped me. "There's your problem," she said.
"What's my problem?" I asked somewhat defensively, though I didn't think she was being mean. She was just trying to help.
"You lean too far forward on your broom," she explained.
"That's how you go faster."
She ignored me. "Pull back a little, and you'll probably go a little faster. Leaning that far forward tips your broom, and you'll miss the Snitch every time. Give it a go."
Uncertainly, I tried to do as she suggested. I'd caught the Snitch many times before without her help, but I tried it anyway. It felt weird doing it after Father had taught me something different, but with direction from Isadora, my fingers closed around the little gold ball.
Isadora beamed. "See!" she said. "It's a little trick I learnt. I know it's not the normal, but it's easier because you're upright when you're taking it."
"You missed it in the last match, though," I reminded her.
"Yeah, because the other Seeker was closer to it," Isadora said. "Not because I lack the ability."
"Father always taught me the other way, though. It feels strange."
"Your father's old," Isadora replied. "And why do you call him that, anyway?"
"Call him what?"
"Father? Everyone else in the school calls their fathers dad or something. Father is so formal."
"Oh, I…." Truthfully, I wasn't sure why I called him that. It was just what I had been taught and what I had always called him. I never really thought much of it.
"You call your mum, Mum," Isadora continued. "It's weird."
"It's not!" I snapped, suddenly defensive. What right did she have to question what I called my parents? "Come on, let's keep practicing." I flew away before she had the chance to reply, and for the rest of that evening, we kept practicing until our fingers became too cold to feel the Snitch anymore.
When we entered the Great Hall together for dinner, it took me only a few moments to remember that I had promised to eat with Rose for her birthday. But apparently, I wasn't welcome anymore. By the time I'd spotted her across the table from me, all I caught was a flash of her red hair whipping away from me, her eyes not looking at me.
I looked to Isadora, who looked as guilty as I suddenly felt.
"Sorry," she said.
Thanks for all your lovely reviews so far. I'm glad you're enjoying it. And a big thank you to Maleday for beta-ing this chapter :)
