Scorpius felt awful, but he watched Albus leave in silence, not realising until he heard the entrance to the Common Room close that he was clutching so tightly at his book his knuckles hurt. He let out a long, loud sigh and loosened his grip, staring blankly at the door through the gap in his curtains. Technically he could show up to the party later on, apologise and blame his absence from the match on studying. It would be believable, and not entirely untrue - he had been studying, after all – but it was more than that that had kept him from the game. Two things in particular - namely Joanna and Albus' cousin, Rose. He had no idea what he'd done to annoy the Weasley girl, but her sudden coldness towards him at the end of their Defence Against the Dark Arts class the other day had been unmissable.
Of course, he could hardly tell Albus that was the reason he'd missed the game, since logically, he wouldn't even have had to have stood anywhere near them. Frowning as he took the time to digest this knowledge, he suddenly felt incredibly stupid. He'd let his friend down when he'd made him a promise, and all because some girl he didn't even know had taken a dislike to him. That, and the fact that being in Joanna's presence made him seethe 'till near blindness.
He sat in silence for a while, looking blankly down at the book propped up against his lap. He had already read the required chapters for next week's lesson – and more besides. He could go and join the party. At least for a while.
He pushed his bookmark deep into the crease of his book and closed it, placing it neatly on the bedside cabinet, beside his quill. He removed his glasses from the end of his nose and put them on top of his book, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and reaching for his shoes. Judging by the complete lack of noise coming from the Common Room, Scorpius assumed that the entirety of Slytherin House must be at the party; this would make his blending in much easier if at any time he needed to distance himself from Joanna, or Rose, or, indeed, any number of Al's screaming female fans.
He put on his shoes and stood up, grabbing his jumper from the end of his bed, before making his way to the party. He passed several long-faced Hufflepuffs as he made his way up the stairs towards the Entrance Hall, and suddenly found himself wishing he'd gone to the game. He felt a pang of guilt in the back of his head and vowed that he would make it to Al's next - and last - game, no matter what. He heard the sound of people cheering and talking and shouting before he'd even made it out the door. The sun was still bright in the sky, but there was a slight breeze that blew several strands of un-combed hair into Scorpius' eyes as he made his way across the lawn, towards the large group of people sitting in amongst a cluster of trees by the lake.
He spotted Albus right away, he was standing in the middle of the group, flying an invisible broom, obviously re-enacting his winning capture of the snitch for the cheering crowd. Scorpius grinned as he watched him, standing back and leaning against one of the trees as Albus leapt forwards and made a rather elaborate grab for an invisible snitch before falling dramatically to the floor, with his arm held high in the air above him. Everyone cheered again, louder this time, and Scorpius could hear Nott once again simpering on about what an amazing Seeker Albus was and how he'd love to be able to play like him, one day.
Scorpius waited until the noise had died down a little before making his way over. He saw Joanna catch his eye and smile, before tugging on Albus' sleeve and pointing in his direction. Albus looked around and beamed when he saw Scorpius. "Scorp," he cried, shouting over the crowd's head. "You made it. I thought you had studying to do?" He made his way through the crowd and Scorpius grinned a little sheepishly.
"I did," he said, shrugging. "But I'm finished, now." He really didn't need to go any further into it than that.
"Well," said Albus, cheerfully. "Now that you're here…" He took Scorpius by the wrist and led him through the crowd to where he'd been sitting. Scorpius saw Lily and James Potter sitting nearby, and Rose Weasley not too far away, talking to another Gryffindor. She looked up as he walked past, caught his eye, then pointedly looked away again. Scorpius ignored it. "Try this," said Albus, thrusting a bottle of something towards him, catching Scorpius slightly off guard.
"Uh… what is it?" he asked, taking the bottle and looking at the blue liquid inside.
"It's some sort of Rum. Finnegan's uncle made it. I don't think anybody's quite sure what's in it that turns it blue, but it's powerful stuff."
Scorpius looked at the bottle dubiously. He'd never really been one for alcohol, and he was slightly apprehensive about drinking this mysterious blue substance. He raised an eyebrow and looked from the bottle to Albus, then back to the bottle. "Are you sure it's safe?" he asked.
"Well," Said Albus, grinning. "Nobody's died, yet. Or turned blue. Or disappeared." He laughed and gave Scorpius an encouraging nod. "Go on. If anything happens to you, I'll take full blame, okay?"
Scorpius sighed, and, totally against his better judgement, raised the bottle to his lips. The Rum burned all the way down his throat and he coughed, almost dropping the bottle as he hurried to pull it away from his mouth. "Sweet Merlin…" he wheezed, holding the bottle back out to Al. "What does Finnegan's uncle put in that? Crushed Dragon Beetles?"
Albus took the bottle. "I think that's what he said," he replied, thoughtfully, before taking another sip. He exhaled loudly and shook his head slightly. "Really packs a punch, doesn't it?"
Scorpius made a mental note to stay away from Finnegan's Rum for the rest of the party. He hoped there was some pumpkin juice going around.
"Come and sit over by us," Albus said, nodding in the direction of Joanna and his siblings. Scorpius' jaw clenched, but he said nothing. Today was Al's big day, and he wouldn't make a fuss. He followed Al over to a free patch of grass and took a seat, making sure to pick the side furthest away from Joanna, beside Lily Potter, who turned to him and beamed as he sat down.
"Hello," she said brightly, flicking a strand of bright red hair from her chin. "You're Scorpius, aren't you? You're Al's friend. Why do you never come to our house in the holidays?"
Scorpius blinked at her. What a strange way to greet someone, he thought. He was stumped. Luckily Al spoke before he had a chance to embarrass himself by mumbling incoherently at her. "Because mum is a miserable cow," he said, pouring more blue Rum into his goblet.
"Oh," said Lily, nodding. Scorpius was a little taken aback at her acceptance of this, and watched her for a little while, amused. She turned to him again after a while, still beaming, and continued. "Albus argues with her all the time about you, you know? I don't think she likes your dad very much, but I think she's being unfair, because she doesn't even know you."
"Shut up, Lil," said Albus, flicking a bit of Rum at her from his fingertips. "Go and talk to Hugo or something."
Lily pouted at Albus, then smiled once again at Scorpius before turning round to talk to her cousin.
"Sorry about that," Albus said, pouring Scorpius a goblet of what he hoped was pumpkin juice. "She's usually really quiet. I think she's had a few too many Ice Mice." He grinned and passed the goblet over. Scorpius took it and sniffed at its contents, nervously. "It's juice," Albus chuckled, obviously noticing the look of unease on his face.
He took a sip and was relieved to find that it was, indeed, just juice, and not some lethal concoction of alcohol and Merlin only knew what else. He hoped there would be no side-effects from drinking that. He couldn't afford to be ill, what with their first exam just around the corner.
The afternoon turned into evening, and the sun sank lower in the sky until long, dark shadows cast themselves across the lawn. The number of students had slowly been getting smaller and smaller as the evening had worn on, and there was now only a handful of Slytherins and Gryffindors left. Scorpius was happily chatting to a rather tipsy Albus about the prospect of Al playing Quidditch professionally, when a chill breeze blew in over the lake and made the hairs on his arms stand on end.
"It's getting cold, Al," he said, as Albus gazed happily up at the sky. "I think I'm going to go back inside."
"Yeah," Albus nodded, pushing himself to his feet awkwardly and swaying slightly. "Me, too."
Joanna stood beside him and put the jacket she'd been using to sit on over her shoulders, giving him a smile and taking his hand. "You're going to have a hangover tomorrow," she said, as the small group of them starting to make their way back towards the castle. Albus simply laughed and nodded. Scorpius looked purposefully down at the grass as they walked, until they reached the Entrance Hall.
He stepped in through the door and waited for Albus, who was currently wrapped around Joanna, and kissing her goodnight. Scorpius rolled his eyes and turned to count the notches in the doorframe until Joanna walked past him, gave him a smile, and made her way up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.
He turned to Albus, who was smiling blearily at him and leaning against the door. "Where's the Common Room, again?" he asked, then hiccoughed.
Scorpius smirked slightly. "Downstairs."
"Oh, yeah," Albus nodded, and pushed himself away from the door. He stumbled slightly as he made his way towards the stairs, and Scorpius shook his head affectionately as he followed on behind him.