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Hello, friends! Welcome back. Thank you to catwomannnnnn1, BellaStoria (thanks! I really like pairing them up to use their skills too, it's so fun!), AMBERJANUS (good to see you back, thank you!), MLMarint (I hope school's going okay!) and Guest for your reviews. As always, I am eternally grateful for all your input so thank you to infinity and back!

Enjoy!


Chapter 11: The Slug Club

To borrow a muggle phrase, recently things had been coming up Scorpius. Or, maybe they'd been coming up Rose. Actually, he didn't really know and Joshua wasn't the best at explaining these things.

In Transfiguration, she helped him with an answer. In Potions she accepted the frog's eyes he leant her, and when they met eyes over the Great Hall - or rather, she caught him staring at her - she didn't give him a glare. In fact, things were going so well that when Thursday evening and the first Slug Club meeting of the year came, he wasn't utterly dreading it.

Usually, he and Al would go together - both alone. They hadn't got the memo last year that dates were preferred during the first and other such important events for upper years, and it's not like they could've got one easily. Together, they'd endeavour to keep themselves entertained, try not to act very drunk when they were in fact quite tipsy from James' secret firewhisky stash, and try not to laugh at the weirder things Slughorn said. Well, even if Al was otherwise occupied this year, at least he had Alfie.

Evening came quickly, sliding over the castle as the frosty mist slid over the highland hills. Scorpius and Alfie, clad in their finest dress-robes - deep crimson for Scorpius and a refined silver for Alfie - plodded over to Slughorn's spacious office, having watched a nervous Albus wander off to find Lydia some twenty minutes earlier. Even after having seen the headmistresses' office a few times, and the Longbottom's rooms at least once, Scorpius was confident that Slughorn's office was still bigger than either of theirs. Albus had put about the theory for years now that Slughorn had some dirt on McGonagall. As they stepped into the first of Slughorn's six adjoining dungeon rooms, Scorpius was again slightly inclined to believe him.

"Ah, Scorpius! And who've we got here?" Slughorn pulled a perplexed face at the tall boy standing completely unphased at Scorpius' elbow.

"Oh, this is my friend, Alfie. We've been dorm mates for years, and I didn't quite get around to asking anyone in time…"

"But my boy, I'm sure there's more than enough opportunities for you nowadays!" Scorpius laughed uneasily as Slughorn hauled an arm over his shoulders, leading him away from the gathering crowd. He looked back desperately to Alfie who was, unhelpfully, biting his lips to stop himself laughing. "Now then young man, that show at the Quidditch match! Rather outstanding, I should say."

Scorpius chuckled slightly nervously. "Well, I just played as normal."

"Yes, but the way you supported the other players!" Scorpius felt uncomfortable under the old man's glare. He had a fleeting sense of compassion for Albus' dad and his friends. He still didn't understand why it was such a big deal for everyone. Sure, he probably looked cool, but that's not enough to laud someone over. "My dear boy, you saved that poor girl's life!"

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Scorpius shifted a bit, casting an eye over to Alfie and giving a desperately pleading look. He usually didn't mind being taken off by Slughorn so much, but his heavy arm over Scorpius' shoulders and all his fawning on top of double potions this afternoon was simply too much.

"Professor Slughorn?" Alfie called, striding over to them. "More guests have arrived."

"Oh," Slughorn turned to face the door, looking at the new arrivals, "Yes, I see. Thank you — what was your name again?"

"Alfie Campbell, Professor."

"Yes, Campbell." He turned the word over like a coin on a dead man's tongue. "Related to, uhh… Douglas Campbell?"

"Yes, he's my third eldest brother."

Slughorn nodded, eyeing Alfie wearily. "He made the most explosive Exploding Potion I've ever seen."

Alfie was left at a loss for words as Slughorn pottered away.

"I sincerly have nothing to say." Alfie's as the pair watched Slughorn shuffle over to greet the two terrified looking first years who wandered in uncertainly.

"Isn't he the one who you said went on the days-long rave?"

"Oh, no. That was Alexander. Douglas is an accountant now."

They both burst into laughter.

If the night had begun strangely, it only got weirder from there. As time wore on, they were wafted into the dining room by Slughorn's house elf ushers. Scorpius didn't even want to think about where they came from or what Slughorn was bribing them with to do this. Sure, house elves didn't mind doing stuff that compariticly looked like slave-labour, but Slughorn was a notoriously 'old-fashioned' wizard, and that was putting it kindly. As Scorpius went to sit down, a small skirmish broke out amongst a few third and fourth year-looking girls.

"No, I want to sit next to him!" He was sure he had heard one of them whine, but Albus effectively cut off the arguement when he sat down on Scorpius' only unoccupied side without so much as a second glance.

"Alright?" He asked, with a punch-drunk smile on his face. Lydia was sitting next to him, dressed in silky pale red dress robes with a thick green brocade and red lipstick. She looked so pretty that Scorpius wasn't surprised Albus looked to be away with the fairies. Nor why they'd both been the last to turn up, to Slughorn's disapproval. No matter how early the last one to arrive was, it was always too late for him.

"I love your dress robes, Lydia." Alfie commented, breaking the short silence that had settled over the four as Albus and Scorpius grinned at each other in silent coversation

"Oh, these? Thank you." She flushed. "They were my mother's old ones. She said her mother made them, before her."

"Vintage. They've worn very well."

"For someone with no sister, you really are attentive to fashion." Albus quipped.

Alfie bit back a reply, but they all knew what had been coming - for someone with a sister, Albus really was inattentive.

Scorpius caught sight of Rose, not for the first time tonight, and his breath caught in his chest again. She was wearing deep emerald, almost black robes and her hair had been sleeked back into a soft updo. She looked beautiful to his eyes no matter what, but this was really something. He tried his best to tear his eyes away.

"Well before we start, I would like to introduce our two newest additions: Lacey Wood is the younger sister of our Daniel, and Elizabeth Black I happened to catch performing the finest levitation charm I've ever seen from a first year."

The small, pale girl with mousey hair squirmed under the weight of Slughorn's praise. Lacey, the girl who looked the unnervingly similar twin of Daniel, just smiled widely next to her. There really are two kinds of people.

Dinner proceeded on in a typical affair and circled back around to Scorpius' quidditch success more often than he found necessary. It was like the atmosphere had been in the Slytherin common room for a week after the game; people recounted it everywhere, and the stories slowly went from Scorpius saving Isla as she almost wobbled off her broom, to him swooping down and catching her out of the air. He even swore he once heard a group of third years arguing over whether she dropped one hundred or two hundred feet before he caught her. But what made it even more awkward was that Daniel Wood was sitting just next to Scorpius' eye line, and he could see the Hufflepuff's face drop every time the topic came up. All the students heard what had happened in the Great Hall just before the game, after all.

"And are you at liberty to discuss any of your mother's recent work, Miss Granger-Weasley?"

Rose swallowed her mouthful of ice cream with a mildly pained look on her face. "Well," she spoke with a hand covering her mouth, "I'm afraid there is a lot I can't say - and even more that I don't know - however, I do know that she is currently working with the Minister for the Magical Environment on a bill to swap the use of parchment for paper, Professor."

"Paper? What is that?"

"Oh," Rose put down her spoon, watching the ice cream melt a little mournfully, "it's a material made of wood pulp which is used all over the muggle world as a writing and printing material."

"And why, praytell, is parchment not good enough? I seem to remember your mother using rather a lot of it whilst she was at Hogwarts." Slughorn really could get offended over the slightest of things, Scorpius acknowledged as he took another bite of chocolate-fudge ice cream. Oh, but he did have excellent food...

Rose looked briefly flustered, but regained her composure quickly. "That isn't to say that parchment isn't good, but that paper is, all things considered, a superior material. It's been muggle standard centuries, and considering that the muggle world is pushing for environmental care, it only seems fit that we do our part for the earth, too."

"It appears that we have our very next minister amongst us, students."

Rose smiled uncomfortably. "Well — that's all what my mother believes, anyway."

Slughorn sighed heavily, pushing his empty bowl away from himself, seeming not to have heard what Rose said at all. "Well, how times have changed. Now we're cow-towing to the standards of a muggle world!"

Scorpius could barely believe it when Slughorn caught his eye, nor when he gave a look that suggested he and Slughorn shared a complaint there.

"Not that I dislike them, of course, I have several muggle-friendly friends myself." Alfie shifted uncomfortably next to Scorpius and a few seats down, James disguised a laugh with a poorly-timed cough.

"Now then," Slughorn continued on, as though nothing had happened, "shall we mingle?"

"Merlin," Alfie sighed when Slughorn was out of earshot, "that's the equivalent of 'I'm not a homophobe, I have gay friends'."

Scorpius snorted. "You know, now that I think about it, I actually don't think I do have any gay friends."

"Yes, yes you do." Alfie replied with raised eyebrows and a tired look. "Well, it's just a mathematical certainty."

Scorpius frowned and simply nodded as Alfie walked off, presumably to the bathroom or maybe to talk to one of his thousands of friends, and Scorpius made his way over to James Potter, hoping that he had at least brought a bit of firewhisky this time.

"Looking for drinks?" James asked, flashing the bottle out of his robes with a cheeky grin.

"It's like you read my mind."

The two poured quick shots and downed them, and immediately Scorpius felt better about being at this party. It was just so hard to be out there, talking to people he didn't know - especially when Al wasn't at his side and Alfie had buggered off to realms unknown.

"Much better." Scorpius sighed.

James raised a concerned pair of eyebrows. "You got a drinking problem there?"

"Don't be silly, I won't develop that for at least six years if I'm lucky with my genes. No, it's just nice to have a drink so I can loosen up at this places."

James snorted. "Alright, that's a fair point. You and Al really are very similar."

"Well, you know what they say. Pairs... attract?"

"That is absolutely not how it goes. But sure, I guess." He laughed, and ruffled a hand through his hair. Legend had it that if you were a male wizard named James Potter, you must do that. Albus had iratley informed him of that within days of their meeting.

The two surveyed the room in amicable silence; a big leap of progress for Scorpius. The Potter-Weasley clan didn't often hang out with him if they could avoid it.

"How many drinks do you think it'll take for Albus to declare his undying love for that girl?" James asked, nodding over to Albus and Lydia happily dancing away together.

Scorpius grinned. "His undying/ love?"

James cackled to himself grimly. "I know where he keeps his diary at home. I know what spell he used to seal it."

Scorpius laughed along with him. He'd always thought that James was a better brother that Albus realised. Any other brother would've painted it on the walls of the entrance hall by now, or at least told the girl in question. But James didn't. Besides, he was company that could be mandatorily enforced - and who didn't want that? The same went for Lily, too.

"Is that how they ended up on prefect duty together?"

James shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not," but there was a twinkle in his eye that said most unequivocally 'yes'. "Don't worry, Scorpius, we'll hook you up soon. Anyway," he straightened up, "I'm off to spike the butterbeer. Later."

As he left to attend to the butterbeer fountain, Scorpius smiled to himself. It was the first time Scorpius had been actively involved in the Weasley family's circle without simply being that friend of Albus'. It was a warm feeling. That comforting glow that covered your chest and enveloped your heart. It had been several years since he'd felt that, now.

Scorpius watched the room as he stood at the sides, alone. He caught sight of Rose as a pair of second years walked close by to him and gave him a shy wave. She looked beautiful. That was never going to be any different to him. But tonight more than ever he got that all encompassing feeling in his heart that she was the only woman on the planet. She caught his eye, and they locked gazes. A second, stretched out into a millennium. And then she looked away. The candlelight cast a rosy glow on her cheeks. She was just perfect. He never wanted anyone else - he never had. It was as though his heart beat for one purpose and one purpose alone - to one day beat next to hers.

"Hey- uh, Scorpius?" Scorpius pulled back a grimace. His heart beat slowed to a steady pace. It was Daniel Wood.

He adjusted the itchy seam on his left shoulder. "Yeah- oh. Hello." Scorpius couldn't help it. He couldn't help that the soul went out of his voice when he saw Daniel. This was the boy who was openly discriminatory to him, just because he was the son of one particular man. And, more pressingly, the boy who just disrupted his beautiful fantasies.

"I um... I wanted to apologise." His voice was hesitant, and he couldn't meet Scorpius' eyes.

"Really? Because it looks like you're just feeling bad that people aren't catering to you all the time anymore."

It was true. Daniel Wood wasn't the treasure of Hufflepuff house anymore. He didn't even bring a date tonight - something he usually had no problem flaunting. He didn't ecome the centre of the Hufflepuff table when he sat down, and people didn't smile when they saw him in the corridors. It gave Scorpius a bitter, twisted, guilty pleasure to know that for once, Daniel Wood had an inkling of what it was like to be him.

"No, I mean it. You were right, I was being an arse. I wasn't thinking about how I was affecting anyone, I was just thinking about myself. And I'm sorry about that. It's against Hufflepuff code to be cruel to someone because of something they can't control."

Scorpius watched him, watched the light reignite in Daniel's dark brown eyes. "Okay." He shrugged. "It's fine. Just don't do it again, alright?"

Daniel's lips pulled into a half smile. But atleast this time, it wasn't cocky as hell. "I won't. Never. I can promise that,"

Scorpius patted him on the shoulder. "Keep it." He called after Daniel as he walked away.

"You made up with him?" Alfie asked.

"Yeah. Well, you know. If he's going to apologise then that's fine. It's a different story as to whether he stays that way."

Alfie hummed, not quite in agreement, as Albus bounded over.

"Alright, mate?"

"Scorpius — you have no idea."

Scorpius nodded, setting a firm hand on his friend's shoulder to steady him. "I'll bet. Is she nice?"

"Nice?" Alfie and Albus echoed at once.

"I don't know! We all know you'd like her no matter what, I'm just trying to make an effort."

"We know." Alfie sighed wearily, giving Scorpius an affectionate smile. "Hey— Albus. She's coming back over."

"Alright. Well, I'd never expose her to hanging around you lot so I'll see you soon."

Scorpius and Alfie only laughed as he left as quickly as he'd come. They all knew that Albus was by no stretch of the imagination 'cool'. By that measure, neither was Scorpius.

"He knows he's absolutely not cool, right?"

"Probably. Hopefully."

Alfie and Scorpius chatted on the fringes of the party for a while, passing the time and drinking liberally spiked butterbeet when the situation presented itself. Soon enough the conversation turned back to betting when Albus was going to ask out Lydia, and the stakes were only raised when they watched the pair slip out of Slughorn's rooms.

The pair turned slowly to look each other in the eyes, but said nothing. They didn't need to say anything.

"Scorpius!" Slughorn padded over to them, a broad grin on his walrus-moustached face. "Ah, and Mr Campbell. Please, let me ask - how are all your brothers doing. Four, if I remember correctly? Six?"

"Five, Professor. I'm the sixth." Alfie wheezed as Slughorn hit him surprisingly hard on the back. He was most certainly a few drinks deep by now.

"I see, I see..." It was almost tangible in his eyes; that look when he lost all interesting in talking to Alife. If it weren't so utterly tragic it might've been less funny. "Ah, yes. Scorpius. I was just wondering - what are your plans for the future?"

"I-uh..." Scorpius was rarely prepared for that question, but especially not now.

"What are you going to do after you leave Hogwarts?"

"Well- I was thinking that maybe I'd take over my father's seat on the Wizengamott." Even Scorpius could hear how unenthused he sounded.

"And what else might you want to do?"

"Perhaps an archivist. Or, maybe even..."

"Yes, go on." Slughorn coaxed him like one might persuade a baby kitten into a cage.

"...I want to become a potions master, too." He admitted shyly. It wasn't all he saw in his future, but it was a part of it. A larger part the older he got.

"I'd hoped you might answer like that." Slughorn's eyes gleamed. "Come back to my office tomorrow evening, and I'll talk to you about an offer I have."

Scorpius was left stunned to silence as Slughorn was distracted by Lily, James, and a few others debating whether unicorn hair really was multicoloured, as he shuffled off mumbling to himself.

Scorpius turned to look at Alfie, but he wasn't there. He scanned the room for his tall friend, but he couldn't find him anyway. Actually, the room looked surprisingly thread-bear by now. The young students seemed to have all vanished. Naoki Greensmith And Freya Walsh were intensely debating... something. James, Lily, and a gaggle of other cousins and their friends were involved in the unicorn hair debate. Alfie had disappeared somewhere - hopefully not to where Albus and Lydia had gone - and Jasmine Thomas, Paige Finnegan and Millie Longbottom were arrayed on the sumptuous purple and white stripe couches but the fireplace.

"Funny how these parties get so quiet so fast, isn't it?"

Scorpius was so shocked by the sweet voice in his ear he almost dropped his glass.

"Rose!"

"Malfoy!" She echoed the shock in his tone. "Try not to have a heart attack, it'd be awfully difficult to explain away your dying at my feet.

"I'm doing my best." Was all he could manage in response. His lungs were still lodged in his throat and he wasn't having much success pushing them back down.

Silence stood between them.

"So, where are all your friends?"

"Albus took off a while ago now, and Alfie seemed to kind of... disappear."

"Disappear? He told me you wanted saving from Slughorn."

"Oh. Well, he's not wrong,"

"He can be a bit overbearing, can't he?"

"I don't usually mind, he's sort of like how I imagine an uncle or a grandfather," Scorpius admitted, "it's just all the quidditch stuff lately."

"I see," was all Rose said. He was thankful for it.

"What about you? What did you need saving from?"

"They're debating which cousin is the hottest again."

Scorpius almost chocked on the sip he'd just taken. "I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to join in with that!"

"I know - we all sit around the Burrow and have this conversation every Christmas!"

"Oh I see. Have you had this conversation too many times to join in again?"

"Yes. And we all know that Lucy wins every time, anyway."

They caught each other's eyes and laughed. It was the first time they'd ever shared a joke together, and the feeling was like tasting the sweetest springtime honey.

"Hey, do you remember that fight you and Al had in Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific." She admitted with a wry smile.

"You know, the Patronus one?"

"Oh," she ruminated fondly, "yes, I do remember that one."

It'd been one of the most memorable Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons Scorpius had ever had. They'd been learning how to cast a Patronus, and as soon as the professor had left the room to get something, Rose had pointed out how Albus' Patronus looked like a reindeer. But Albus insisted it was a stag. They'd fought until the professor came back in and silenced the both of them with a swift flick of her wand.

"It did look like a reindeer to be fair." Scorpius admitted. He'd die for his friend, but to lie that it wasn't a reindeer would be a step too far.

"I'm telling you, I know it was. It's a shame, if he could actually cast a fully corpreal Patronus, we'd put this argument to bed."

"But that's ridiculously hard to do."

"Can you do it?" She challenged.

"Of course I can."

She raised both eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. Of course I can!"

She scanned the room, biting the edge of her lip. "Come on then. I bet mine's better than yours."

The prospect of challenge got his heart thumping as fast as Rose simply being beautiful did. "I really doubt it."

"Prove it."

"Okay." Scorpius followed her out of the room, putting his glass down on the nearest table as they slipped out of the sitting room, back through to the entrance way and were spat back out into the dungeons.

"Come on, I know the perfect corridor for this."

"Challenge people to cast patronises a lot, do you?"

She snorted. "Only occasionally."

"What even is the plural of that spell?"

She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Whatever you desire. Patroniates - there, is that good?"

"Perfect."

"Here." She declared when they reached the rounded room at the end of one corridor, the stairs to the south leading back into the dungeons and the path to the east taking them to the Firenze's divination classroom.

"How do you even know this place is good for this?"

"I borrowed Al's map last summer. I know about your hideout too."

Scorpius stuttered. "A-Are you going to turn us in?"

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Come on then," she continued, unfazed by his blushing cheeks and impatient to prove herself right. "Show me what you've got."

"Alright. Don't be too disappointed though."

Scorpius stepped in line with her, windows looking out over the grounds and flooded with the light of the full moon behind them. He plucked his happiest memories from a fistful stored in the back of his mind: the day he spent with his mother and father in the mountains of Wales when he was seven, meeting Albus on the train when they were eleven, and other images he didn't usually let himself think about outside of dreams. He felt like his heart was going to burst with the emotion.

"Expecto patronum!" They called in unison, and bright white lights burst from the end of their wands. When it cleared, they were left with two animals, composed of silvery lights, illuminating the corridor.

Scorpius's sparrow, larger than a normal sparrow in the wild, flew gracefully around the room. And out of Rose's wand came a butterfly. Large, with oval wings that shimmered now blue, now green, and flapped it's enormous wings in the chilly night air.

"A butterfly—"

"A sparrow?"

They asked in unison.

"So we both have a weird Patronus." Scorpius compromised, watched as the two animals drew closer to each other. They began to swirl and intertwine, playing in the glittering trail the other made.

"Sparrows are nice. There's always a few nesting in my garden." Scorpius explained. "It's not like you can say those bloody great butterflies nest in your garden."

Rose cast him a tired look. "It's not like you always have to know exactly why you get a Patronus. My dad's not a dog but his patronus is a spaniel. Aunt Ginny's is a horse."

Scorpius hummed in agreement. "'Suppose so. My dad's is a dolphin."

Rose fell silent on the topic. She usually would've bit back a not-so-subtle reply about his father's past, but she didn't this time. And he was glad. He barely even remembered what his father's patronus looked like, anyway. It'd been years since he last cast one. He used to cast dolphins to send messages to a giggling Scorpius when he was younger... but not for many years now.

His Patronus extinguished into a silver glow, and then faded away. The happy memories slipped from his grasp.

"Malfoy?"

Rose's Patronus faded too. She stepped closer to him; so close that he could smell the floral scent of her hair and feel the heat radiating from her body. He looked down at her, grey eyes meeting smouldering brown. He stepped closer to her.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed down the corridor. He gave a mumbled yelp, and he felt Rose stiffen next to him.

"Ah!"


No but seriously, what is the plural of Patronus?

Also, if any of you have correctly deduced my major and thus also know which field of study I plucked the inspiration for their patronuses... patroni? then you'll get a big hint on where we're going. *wink wink*

Anyway, please review if you've got time (I highly, highly value it!) and follow for more. Thanks!