Disclaimer: I own a copy of every Harry Potter book, four of the eight movies, and a poster of the cast but I do not own this fan-fiction.
Chapter Summary: One look in your eyes I knew we two would would always be together and there are, 3 little words that say it all. I love you (3 Little Words, Nu Flavor-I think!).
Last Chapter Recap: "Do you have a New Years resolution yet?" Ali asked as someone called out a minute to midnight. Albus thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head slowly.
"Yeah, I think I do."
"Which is…?" Ali prompted.
"Countdown's starting," Albus ignored her question and instead joined in as they all counted down to the loud, simultaneous yell of Happy New Year. Ali and Albus both downed their shots and Ali, not taking the time to think about who could see, quickly but soundly and pressed her lips against his.
"Happy New Year, Al."
"Happy New Year," Albus grinned. So it wasn't exactly the hot and heavy make out session he had envision. He would still take it.
Miracle Magic
Being back at Hogwarts was a relief for Ali. The train ride had been a bit weird, both Rose and Scorpius being quiet, but neither had mentioned anything to her so Ali kept her mouth shut. Rose had been sitting with Albus, Kevin, Jonah, Aaron, and Tiara when Ali finally found her on the express and Ali had reluctantly joined them. Scorpius raised his eyebrows at Ali who shrugged, giving him a hopeless look when he found them all. Rose kept her eyes averted and Ali eventually resorted to pulling out a book while the others talked.
The first week was surprisingly light on the work front and Ali was in a particularly good mood when Friday rolled around and it was time to meet with Professor Larson for the first time since break. Ali couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about Professor Larson that made her look up to the women. She was so in control and together that Ali looked at her and wished that she would be as confident when she was thirty.
Ali knocked on the door before entering as she usually did but was surprised to find that Albus, Lily, and Rose were all already sitting there. Ali raised her eyebrows and Albus grimaced at her while Rose quickly averted her eyes a bit sheepishly.
"Take a seat, Ms. Boot, this will only take a moment," Professor Larson said and Ali nodded, pulling a chair that was by the door over so that she could still hear what was being said without being in danger of getting caught in the crossfire.
"I don't want to hear of any more incidents such as this one," Professor Larson told the three sitting in front of her. "Ms. Weasley you were given the position of prefect because your head of house believed that you were up to the responsibility and you are therefore held to a higher standard. If you can't keep yourself up to par then I expect you to turn your badge in so that a seventh year who is willing to put the effort in for the position gets their chance and Mr. Potter that captains badge is not a right nor are the visits to Hogsmeade Ms. Potter. They are privileges that can and will be taken away at my request. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes ma'am," the three Wotters mumbled in unison and Professor Larson nodded sharply.
"In that case you girls may return to your common rooms. I want to have a word with Mr. Potter."
"Don't wait up," Albus told Lily. "I'll meet you back in the common room at curfew."
"Alright," Lily muttered casting a wary glance at the headmistress. Ali waved to Lily and Rose as they passed and waited for the door to close before moving to sit beside Albus. Professor Larson pushed everything on her desk off to the side and her face relaxed, easily switching from the scolding headmistress to a teacher who had no connection to the earlier incident effortlessly.
"Today," she told them, pulling out what Ali recognized as a pensive. "We are going to talk about destroying Horcruxes."
"With a pensive?" Ali asked, frowning at the basin.
"By watching memories," Professor Larson explained. "Mr. Potter's father was kind enough to lend us his during his own search and lucky for us he and his friends used several of the possible methods. That being said I want you both to be warned that these are not happy memories. Some of them are downright terrifying but they will give you a preview as to what you should expect. You can't be harmed in a memory and I will warn you before that there is a death."
"Death?" Ali asked, her voice higher than she would like to admit.
"No one you know," Professor Larson assured her. "Think of it as a movie. A book brought to life. You won't have to see him die but it is easily implied. These could feel a little personal since you'll know the people present but just remember that every one of your family and friends are alive and well today. Are you ready?"
They both nodded and Professor Larson took a flask down from the shelves behind her desk and carefully poured it in.
She had an ongoing commentary throughout the memories which helped—some. Her voice was calm with no inflection or emotion, as though she was lecturing them on the Confundus charm.
The first memory started in the Chamber of Secrets with Harry, Ron, and a man who looked vaguely familiar though Ali couldn't put a name to the face. The rocks that separated Harry and Ron had already crumbled when they landed in the memory and they followed Harry through the Chamber until he reached Ginny. Albus' eyes widened at the sight of his mother lying lifelessly but Professor Larson seemed to take no notice.
"Voldemort, or Tom, I suppose, needed a way to lure Harry down to the Chamber," Professor Larson explained. "Ginny mother was a way to do it. Not only did she allow Tom to meet the boy who had brought about his original downfall but every secret and emotion that was poured into his diary brought him closer to life. Remember that in order for a Horcrux to become a person it requires the help of a living person. In this case it used her words and was able to become some semblance of a human being."
Ali jumped when she saw the ghost-like person moving towards Harry. He was handsome, in a deadly kind of way, with pale skin and cold eyes. Ali hadn't watched a lot of scary movies but she had seen a few cop shows and he easily could have been cast as the bad guy—the insane teenager who raped girls in the woods. Her hand unconsciously shot out to grasp Albus'. He squeezed it but didn't look away from the scene unfolding in front of them.
Ali wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry or scream as Harry stabbed the diary so she settled for doing as Professor Larson suggested and tried to distance herself from it all and watch it as though it was a movie. The hard part was that he looked so uncannily like Albus had in their first year that it could easily have been Albus, and not Harry, stabbing the diary with dirt stained clothes and sweat mixing with blood on his face.
They came out of the pensive and Professor Larson spoke while the two seventh years got their bearings just in time to dive back in. This time they watched the trio in a tent in the middle of nowhere, all three of them extremely on edge.
"It's because they're wearing the locket," Professor Larson explained. "It is once again feeding off of them, off of their emotions. It is possessing them—not as severely as it did Ginny, but the same general idea."
They watched as the locket tried to strangle Harry in the pool and again as it fought against Ron. Ali felt distinctly uncomfortable with that memory, as though she was intruding on her best friend's dad. He was a nice guy, but that memory was a bit personal.
"Harry got Ron's approval," Professor Larson told them when she saw how uncomfortable they looked. "They were 17, remember. Imagine a locket displaying all of your insecurities. It might seem awful now but in twenty years I guarantee you won't care as much."
Ali did think about it for a minute, and tried to imagine how silly they would probably seem when she was grown up—married, with kids, having a (hopefully) successful career. She probably would look back and feel silly for a lot of her worries. The tension was released for a bit when Ron and Hermione appeared in the middle of the battle with the fangs and both laughed when they started going at it in the hallway. Harry's reaction making it ten times funnier.
"OI! There's a war going on here!" Harry exclaimed, looking torn between amusement and disgust.
"I know mate," Ron replied, his voice serious. "So it's now or never, isn't it?"
"Aw," Ali sighed, unable to stop herself from reacting. Albus snorted and even Professor Larson broke a smile when Ali hit him on the arm.
The Fiendfyre brought the tension back and the snake was only mildly better as they were in fact seeing Voldemort in as close to in-person as they could (hopefully) ever get. But they made it through them.
"I didn't show you these to scare you," Professor Larson said, looking at them intently. "I showed them to you in order to remind you that this is a real threat that, while I believe you are capable of facing it, should not be underestimated. We never know what is out there, protecting these things, and you have to be ready to face whatever it is. I think you've had enough for the night, we'll worry about the practical application next week."
"Wow," Ali said faintly as they left the room, her back resting against the door.
"Yeah," Albus agreed, looking a little pale himself. "That was, uh, yeah."
"I think I'm going to go read Witch Weekly before I go to sleep," Ali told him. "Stop myself from getting nightmares about my diary possessing me and fires attacking me."
"You keep a diary?" Albus asked.
"That's what you're worried about right now?" Ali asked incredulously as they slowly started down the steps. "Did you not see a dead person come to life or your Uncle having his worst fears played in front of his eyes?"
"It was a long time ago," Albus shrugged casually. "It's not like there's Fiendfyre around that's going to attack me while I sleep."
"Right," Ali said, trying to let the logical side of her brain take over. "Then I guess we can just part ways here and go back to our common rooms."
"Fine," Albus shrugged. "See you in the morning."
Ali grinned to herself as she turned the corner at the end of the hall and quickly made a square so that she could pop her head around corner and see Albus walking towards the Gryffindor common room. He jumped every time he heard a sound and Ali almost felt bad about what she was about to do. But then she pictured his face and took out her wand anyways, using the spell she had finally mastered (after weeks and weeks of training) to conjure fire.
Albus let out an extremely high-pitched shriek and jumped backwards; his feet came out from under him and he fell on his back, using his arms to propel him away from the flames. Unable to stop herself, Ali doubled-over laughing.
"Yeah," she called out to him. "You seem totally cool around fire."
Albus looked from her to the fire and back again, realization washing over his face.
"Oh. You are so dead!" he told her and Ali laughed again, dashing back the way she had come with Albus right behind her.
Miracle Magic
"Hey A, can I steal you for a second?" Rose asked Ali quietly, walking towards the table that Ali was sharing with Kensy in the library. "It's kind of important."
"Sure," Ali said in surprise. "I'll be back in a second Kensy."
"Sure," Kensy muttered, sending Rose a dirty look before she and Ali walked away.
"Can we go outside?" Rose asked, playing with her hands.
"Sure," Ali agreed again, taking her wand out to silently summon her cloak.
Rose led the way out of the Entrance Hall and walked towards the frozen BlackLake.
"Here okay?" Rose asked, indicating a big oak tree. Ali nodded but cast the snow a wary look before sitting down. She winced as it began soaking through her robes but ignored it, wanting to hear what Rose was going to say more than she wanted to spare her robes.
"What's up?" Ali asked when Rose didn't speak right away.
Rose took a deep breath before admitting, "Scorpius told me he loved me."
"He did?" Ali asked, surprised but pleased. "What happened?"
"We were just hanging out," Rose shrugged, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. "At your party, I mean. Everyone went outside on the deck and I got cold so he gave me his cloak and we went back to the couches to wait for you because we said we'd meet you after midnight and he just…said it."
"Well, what did you say?" Ali pressed and Rose started biting her nail, looking incredibly guilty. "Please tell me you told him you loved him too."
"What?" Rose looked shocked. "I don't love him! I mean, I do, but not like that. I don't think. I mean, yeah he's hot and all but…isn't it all a bit…fast?"
"Fast?" Ali repeated in disbelief. "I'm sorry, how long have the two of you been friends?"
"But—"
"How long have you wanted him to ask you out?"
"It's not like—"
"How long have you been resisting the urge to make out with him? How many guys have you turned down because you felt bad dating them when you liked Scorpius? How long am I going to have to sit in between the two of you feeling like I'm two seconds away from being forced to watch a really disturbing sex scene?!"
"The things that come out of your mouth sometimes," Rose said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I wonder if they're coming from my friend or if you've been overtaken by some sort of alter ego."
"Ha, ha," Ali rolled her eyes. "Come on Rose, what did you say?"
"Well, nothing," Rose muttered.
"Nothing," Ali repeated the word blankly.
"I didn't know what to say!" Rose defended. "It was so out of the blue it caught me off guard. Thank Merlin Kevin interrupted or else Merlin only knows what would have happened."
"Have you talked to him since?" Ali asked, knowing the answer was probably no.
"Not exactly," Rose admitted guiltily. "I've been skipping my morning run and Kylie and Sisi are apparently in a fight so Sisi's been in need of someone to complain to and since Scorpius can't stand Sisi…"
"You have a mutualistic relationship, yes," Ali said dryly.
"Well I wouldn't make it sound that animalistic, but yes, I suppose we do," Rose said, chewing on her nails again. "But it actually hasn't been as boring as I was expecting—the girl could have her own reality show. Did you know she and Burd broke up again? Apparently he's been tutoring this fifth year but Sisi doesn't think that he's really tutoring her because the girl needs help in Transfiguration and he barely passed his OWL. Oh and there's a rumor going around about Edric Smith being gay because apparently Mary Lilo tried to make a pass on him and he didn't react. I think it might just be that he has standards. I mean, the girl is decent looking (I guess), but she's a total bitch. Did I tell you what she did to me last term?"
"Yes Rose," Ali forced herself not to roll her eyes. "In fact, you complained about it for three weeks straight and have continued to bring it up at least twice a month since then."
"Oh," Rose said, frowning.
"But I am way more interested in what happened last weekend than what happened last year. What are you going to do about Scorpius?"
"I don't know…what would you do if you were me?"
"Well I would find him," Ali started out decisively, even though she knew that, were she in Rose's place, she would never in a million years do this. "And I would talk to him about what you're feeling and decide how to proceed together."
"Okay," Rose said slowly. "Now tell me what you would really do."
"I did!"
"You did not," Rose scoffed. "The last time you initiated any sort of confrontation with anyone we were thirteen and you threw sticks at Zabini after he said I had a nice arse."
"Okay fine," Ali conceded. "If I were you then I would hide from him for a few weeks and try to act like everything was completely normal when he was around and hope that it would all blow over. But in order for that to work you have to be able to act normal and I say this with nothing but love sweetie, but you are the worst person in the world at acting normal."
"I am not," Rose said indignantly.
"Yeah, you are."
"No I'm not," she insisted. "You didn't notice anything when I surprised you with your own owl third year."
"Um, Rose, you took me into Eyelops Owl Emporium and asked, hypothetically, what owl I would want that was fewer than twenty galleons."
"So?" Rose asked.
"So that's about as obvious as you can get."
"But you were surprised when you got it!" Rose exclaimed.
"No, I pretended to be surprised because I didn't want to upset you," Ali corrected.
"Oh," Rose said, frowning.
"Yeah," Ali agreed.
"You really are good at lying."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
They sat in silence for a few seconds before Rose asked, "So do you think you can teach me?"
"Hey you guys," Scorpius called out before Ali was able to answer.
"Hi Scorp," Ali called back, digging her elbow into Rose's side in the hopes that it would snap her out of whatever panic-stricken state she seemed to be frozen into. Literally or figuratively was up for debate considering that Ali was fairly certain the lower half of their bodies were going to have to be amputated by the time they got inside.
"Hi Scorp, what's up? How are you? Because I'm fine, yep, just dandy and err…I'm gonna go and uh, homework so yeah, I'll see you guys later. Bye!"
"She told you, didn't she?" Scorpius sighed, taking Rose's vacated seat.
"Told me what?" Ali asked, trying to sound innocent. "Yeah kind of—what happened? Don't most people go out before they drop the L-bomb?"
"I just thought I would try switching it around. Be more original," Scorpius said, shrugging casually.
"Yeah, well considering it's Rose you probably should have spent a few months getting her ready for it."
"I spent seven years 'getting her ready for it.' Face it, if she isn't ready to hear it now she never will be."
"Don't say that! She takes time with everything. She trusts you, she likes you, and she thinks you're hot. Now you just have to win her over. You know—flowers, trips to Hogsmeade where I mysteriously disappear or become dreadfully ill. She'll get there."
"I'm not spending my whole life chasing after one girl," Scorpius said, shaking his head decisively.
"Oh please," Ali scoffed. "Chasing? Scorp, saying you love her does not qualify as chasing after her. In order to chase after her you have to actually do things for her. And as for the 'one girl,' what other girl are you going to chase after? Most girls either don't like you because they think you're creepy, like you because they think you're dangerous (clearly they haven't spoken to you), or chase after you. I have never in my life seen you chase after anyone."
Scorpius was quiet for a minute. "What about Bridgette?"
"Well I'll give you an A for effort," Ali said, thinking back to Scorpius' girlfriend of a year. "But I mean, really, she wound up being kind of crazy."
"But I did chase after her," Scorpius pointed out.
"Yeah, alright," Ali said. "But that's one of three. Tessa was completely obsessed with you—"
"I hardly think spending two hours with her in Hogsmeade counts as dating her."
"And Sandy asked you out."
"I think Sandy was the best of the three though," Scorpius said thoughtfully. "She was normal, she didn't treat Rose like shit, and she had a brain."
"Look, I have to get back to the castle," Ali said, suddenly remembering that she had left Kensy alone. "But just think about it, yeah? Rose hasn't had a serious boyfriend and you put it out there before she was ready. Move slowly, give her a chance to catch up and trust you not to hurt her, okay?"
"Does she really think I will?" Scorpius asked, cocking his head to the side. "I've never broken up with anyone."
"Yeah but it's always scary to put your heart out there. You're a flight risk so take it easy and don't do anything stupid."
Stupid Ali decided after Defense against the Dark Arts Monday, was exactly what she was—thinking that Scorpius wouldn't do anything stupid.
"What were you thinking?" Ali hissed in his ear as they walked out of the classroom.
"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked in surprise.
"Tessa. Tessa Scorpius, really?!"
"Rose grabbed you," Scorpius tried to defend himself.
"SO?! Be partners with Albus if you have to, not Tessa!"
"Okay, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Scorpius asked, returning Tessa's wave as she passed them.
"YOU TOLD HER YOU—MPHMGE!"
"Say it a little louder why don't you," Scorpius hissed back, his hand still clamped over Ali's mouth as he pulled her into a side hallway.
"Scorp, you don't partner with a girl who was—maybe still is—into you! And you definitely don't act all over her."
"How was I acting all over her?" Scorpius asked in confusion.
"You were teaching her how to do the spell!"
"Because she couldn't figure it out, I can't practice against someone who can't perform the incantation."
"But it was Tessa. Do you realize how this is going to look to Rose?"
"She knows I don't like her," Scorpius said.
"Where is Rose right now, Scorpius?"
"I don't know, she left before we—oh."
"Yeah."
"Should I go talk to her or do you want to? She hasn't exactly said a lot to me since the—err—incident."
"And with the way you just acted that is so damn surprising," Ali muttered as she walked away.
"Hey, I resent that," Scorpius called and Ali, for the first time in her life, made a very rude hand gesture that would cause her mother and aunt to go completely ballistic on her.
If Ali knew Rose (and after being her roommate and best friend for six and a half years she was rather sure that she did) neither of them would be getting much sleep that night.
Miracle Magic
While Ali was able to fall back into the school schedule relatively easily, Rose was having a slightly harder time. Ali had done everything she could think of to try and get Rose to talk but after the day by the tree (and Scorpius' less than wise choice in defense partners) Rose had clammed up. Ali was being serious when she told Rose that she was a bad actress and anything except subtle but what Rose lacked in skill she made up for in determination.
Albus had been a nice relief from the confides of Rose's sudden clinginess. For what Ali counted as the fifth time that year, Sisi and Burd had made up and gotten back together which left Rose with no one to be her wingman. Kylie was far too nice to ever help Rose avoid someone and Daisy wasn't quite self-centered enough to not notice if the person she was with twenty-four-seven suddenly started ignoring her best friend. Anna was rarely interested in the other girls' lives aside from the occasional gab session they all had before bed which left Ali as Rose's only option.
Ironically enough, Scorpius seemed to be doing fine. His grades were as good as ever, he had Quidditch practice a few times a week, and when Ali talked to him in Herbology (the one class without Rose grabbing her before they were even told to get partners) he seemed in as good a mood as ever. She didn't miss the way his eyes trailed after Rose whenever she left the room or his exasperated sighs when she skirted away or talked a mile a minute about absolutely nothing but he put on a much better act.
Rose, meanwhile, seemed to be doing everything and anything she could to keep her mind off of it all which was demonstrated when Ali arrived in their dorm to find the redhead tossing a ball in the air only to catch it again repeatedly. A grin lit up her face when Ali walked in.
"Ali, let's play a game of Chess, yeah?" she suggested, sitting up quickly and summoning the board and pieces onto her bed.
"You know Rose, I actually have a bit of homework," Ali started but Rose waved her off.
"You're always doing homework," she admonished. "I think Albus might be right, you need more fun in your life."
"He's been bombarding you with that crap too?" Ali asked, remembering the articles Albus had given her on the importance of having downtime in order to live a happy life. Since they started sitting beside each other in Ancient Runes her grade had actually gone up—ranging between an E and O instead of an A and E. He always had weird sayings and ways of remembering translations that stuck with her the first time so that she didn't have to study for an hour trying to memorize them all straight.
They started being the first two people in the class to finish their tests and Albus had taken to bringing an extra sheet of parchment so that they could play hangman while they weren't allowed to talk. Hangman, according to Albus, was not an academic game because you drew a figure. Ali had rolled her eyes, knowing that he just didn't want to admit that he found anything remotely academic entertaining (too Ravenclaw for him).
"Just one round," Rose pleaded and Ali sighed but nodded in agreement. Every break, she realized as Rose killed her Queen, she thought that her Chess skills had gotten better. Every time she returned to school her confidence got crushed by her best friend.
"Rose I really think you should talk to Scorpius," Ali said after she skillfully maneuvered her king away from Rose's near checkmate.
"I don't have anything to say," Rose insisted and Ali sighed.
"Talk," she told her. "Say anything just talk to him, please?"
"It doesn't seem to be bothering him," she pointed out. "So why should I worry about it? It's like it never happened."
"Except that you've stopped your morning runs, been late to three of your morning classes, eat meals in the kitchen after you know Scorpius is in bed or in class, and spend the majority of your time hauled in our dorm throwing a ball in the air."
"But I don't want to talk to him," Rose said childishly. "He wasn't supposed to say that and he definitely wasn't supposed to—"
"Just come to breakfast with me tomorrow. Please?" Ali cut her off. "The only way you're going to really be able to stop feeling awkward around him is if you start hanging out with him again. Breakfast is a good start, yeah?"
"Alright," Rose agreed. "I'll have breakfast with you guys but only if you run with me in the morning. He's probably too busy snogging Tessa to give a crap but I don't want to risk it."
"Okay," Ali agreed, deciding to stay quiet on the Tessa front. Scorpius had to clean up that mess for himself. "Thank you."
"Can't—breathe," Ali gasped as the two girls finally reached the Hogwarts steps.
"Oh don't be so dramatic," Rose waved her off, her breath still relatively steady. "It wasn't so bad."
"Not so bad," Ali gaped at her. "I can't wait until it warms up and you barely manage to touch your toes."
"I'm better now, actually," Rose grinned at her, reaching down to the floor. "See? I started stretching after my runs and it has helped loads."
"Wait, I thought you hadn't run in the last two weeks," Ali said in confusion. "That's why you've been late to class!"
"Actually," Rose admitted, biting her lip. "I've kind of been going after everyone else is in the Great Hall for breakfast so that I won't run into Scorpius. I've been late because I have to shower and get ready while everyone else is already making their way to first period."
"So you made me go through the hell that you call a workout today because why?" Ali demanded.
"You said it yourself, I've been late three times," Rose shrugged. "If it happened again they could have written home and we both know how that would turn out."
"I hate you," Ali groaned. "I could be in bed right now. I could be enjoying a shower instead of getting ready to trudge up flight after flight of stairs. I could be eating breakfast instead of feeling like I'm going to throw up anything I eat."
"You wanted me to eat with you," Rose defended herself. "I could only do that if I ran earlier."
"Alright," Ali sighed. "Let's go eat."
That morning Ali got a slightly unexpected letter from her parents. They normally wrote her weekly, every Wednesday, and she would reply by Friday but they decided to switch it up and she was surprised to receive a letter addressed to her, written in her mother's neat handwriting, Monday with the morning post.
Ali,
I hope your first month back at school has gone well! Your father and I miss you but I keep reminding myself it's your last year. I'm not sure if that comforts me or just makes me even more upset. As you know there's an interview this weekend for you and Kensy in Spain and your father and I have worked out our schedules so that we can meet up with you. I thought we would take you out to dinner. We didn't have a lot of time over the holidays and I have some news I think would be best shared in person.
XXX Mum and Dad
"Everything okay?" Rose asked, peering over Ali's shoulder.
"Yeah, it's fine," Ali nodded. "I just need to talk to Kensy real quick; I'll meet you in potions."
"Wait—" Rose tried to stop her but Ali was already making her way towards the Gryffindor table where Kensy and Lily were talking animatedly with each other.
"Hi Ali!" Lily chirped as soon as Ali walked over.
"Hey," Ali said a bit awkwardly as she sat down beside Kensy. "Have you heard anything from you mum lately Kense?"
"Just reminding mw that we have that interview, why?"
"Mine sent this," Ali admitted, passing the letter over. "What the hell does 'news' mean?"
"Maybe she's pregnant?" Kensy suggested.
"I think she's a bit old to be pregnant," Ali admitted. "Got anything else?"
"I'm sure she's fine," Kensy told her, reading what was on Ali's mind effortlessly. "If it was really bad, and they knew during the holidays, then she would have told you right away."
"I guess," Ali agreed, staring at the note again.
"Come on, don't stress over it," Kensy encouraged. "Think positive thoughts and all will be well."
"Are you reading Psych again?"
"It's a good magazine!" Kensy defended. "And it says that a positive outlook on life makes for a more fulfilling life. Not to mention, optimists live longer than pessimists."
"Yeah, whatever," Ali rolled her eyes. "I think it's a bit late for me to change my entire outlook on life."
"It's never too late to make a fresh start."
"Okay, shut up, you're getting annoying," Ali told her, making both girls laugh. Albus and Kevin walked in and took a seat on either side of Ali, immediately piling food on their plates.
"You just got up?" Ali asked, glancing over at the clock that showed they only had ten minutes to get to class.
"Overslept," Kevin shrugged but Ali wasn't really listening as she tried to inconspicuously look over her shoulder at Rose and Scorpius who were talking a bit stiffly.
"Has anyone else noticed how their sexual tension has been through the roof and beyond this year?" Kensy asked, noticing where Ali's gaze was focused.
"Right?" Ali agreed, snapping her head back around. "We were all hanging out by the lake at the beginning of the year and I thought they were going to throw down and condomate it."
Kensy snorted and Kevin and Albus both looked at her with a mix of disgust and shock.
"I know," Lily agreed seriously, her gaze going towards the Ravenclaw table as well. "Rose is so in love with him, I'm obsessed. Kensy and I have had them on our Couple Watching radar for two years. I think they're just worried that it won't work out and it will ruin their friendship because that's the excuse everyone uses when they fall for their BGF."
"Couple Watching radar?" Albus asked.
"BGF?" Kevin repeated. Lily nodded.
"Best-guy-friend," Lily told Kevin, ignoring Albus' question. "And I just realized yesterday that it works for best-girl-friend too which is so perfect for them."
"So how long do you think they have before something happens?" Ali asked as all five of them turned towards the Ravenclaw table.
"Not long," Lily said, cocking her head to the side. "Scorpius has been holding back for a while. I think he's going to be the one who will break and then Rose will fuck it up like she always does."
"She has been picking fights with him," Ali admitted. "Do you think they'll make it official before the school year ends?"
"Definitely," Lily said without the least bit of hesitation. "Look at them. How can they possibly deny it much longer?"
"I don't know, they're both pretty career-oriented," Ali pointed out. "I could see them holding out if they really set their mind to it. Especially with Rose being so freaked out by how your family would react."
That, Ali honestly thought, was the biggest thing stopping Rose from letting herself outwardly reciprocate Scorpius' feelings. Albus turned to her, confusion etched on his face, but Scorpius took that second to catch them all staring. He said something to Rose who turned to look as well. They waved awkwardly and Lily waved back eagerly while the rest quickly turned away in a fruitless attempt to act as though they hadn't been creeping on them.
"We should get to class," Ali laughed, glancing at the clock. "Are you coming to potions, Al?"
"I'll meet you there," he told her and Ali nodded, standing with Kensy and Lily.
"Don't sweat it," Kensy repeated as Ali's eyes fell to the letter still clamped in her hand. "Everything's fine."
"Yeah," Ali nodded, trying to convince herself as much as anyone.
They were about to part ways in the Entrance Hall when Ali caught sight of Tiara walking down the staircase. Ali fully intended to ignore her and continue on her way to potions but Kensy, being Kensy, could never let an opportunity to cause a bit of havoc pass by so she lifted two fingers and gave a little wave with an extremely fake smile. Tiara walked right up to the three girls with Jonah on her arm and one of her roommates standing defensively to her right.
"Mackenzie, Alison, how lovely to see you again," Tiara said, her smile just as fake as Kensy's.
"It's Kensy, actually," Kensy told her tersely, knowing that she had botched their names up on purpose.
"Oh, don't correct her Kense," Lily cut in smoothly. "Her brain might explode from the effort it would take her to comprehend what you're saying."
"Oh Lily darling, how's your cousin Fred?" Tiara asked, placing her hand across her chest as though it was of great concern to her personally.
"Fine," Lily said. "Although I'm not sure how long that will last considering he has to share classes with you."
"Hmm and how does he seem to you, Mary?" Tiara asked, turning to her roommate.
"He seemed alright when we were snogging last night," the girl said, putting emphasis on the word. "It seems he's gotten over his little misjudgment from the beginning of the year."
Ali saw Kensy stiffen and immediately got worried; knowing she would be completely devastated if what Mary said was true. She was going to kill Fred if he had been jerking her around the last few months. One look at Lily's mutinous look and Ali knew they were on the same page. But Tiara seemed to buy Kensy's impassive face and looked momentarily taken aback, as though she had lost a bargaining chip.
"I'm sure it was just a moment of insanity," Lily shrugged, her expression still one of pure anger. "They come in spells for him."
"So tell me Lillian," Mary cut in, obviously not liking Lily's assessment of her hookup. "How does it feel to be surrounded by so many good-looking cousins when even Filch wouldn't want to snog you?"
"It must be so hard," Tiara added in a pitying voice, "To be the downfall of the Potter family."
"The downfall?" A voice piped up from behind them. "That title would go to me before my sister, Tiara."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Tiara rolled her eyes, her voice suddenly becoming friendly and her smile turning genuine as she looked at Albus with adoration in her eyes. "You are, like, our houses hero. You won us the Quidditch Cup last year! Besides, I didn't mean anything by my comment to your sister except that she doesn't have good taste in friends." She indicated Ali and Kensy, crossing her arms and looking at Albus in a way that made it obvious she expected him to agree with her.
"Yeah, Albus," Jonah piped up, smirking slightly. "What do you think of the lovely Miracle Girls?"
"I think they're proof that my sister has better taste than you, Delaney," Albus said coolly. "Now if you'll excuse us, we all have to get to class because we didn't fail our potions OWL."
"Thanks for that," Ali breathed a sigh of relief as they turned away from the three gaping Gryffindors.
"That was brilliant," Lily gushed, beaming up at her older brother. He grinned at her and ruffled the two fifth years' hair just before they started up the steps towards the Charms corridor.
"Why does he have to show his affection by messing up my hair," Lily mumbled, practically running so that she and Kensy could get to class on time. Albus laughed and Ali grinned at him.
"You don't do that a lot, do you?" Ali asked as they picked up their own pace.
"Ruffle her hair?" Albus asked, sounding surprised.
"Stand up for her," Ali corrected.
"She doesn't really need it," Albus shrugged.
"Or tell her how much you love her," Ali added.
"She knows," Albus muttered, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably and blushing at the outward admittance.
"I'm just saying," Ali shrugged. "Girls like to hear that stuff, even from their brothers."
They were the last to arrive in the classroom.
Miracle Magic
A/N: I'm slowly getting closer to resuming my weekly updates. Hopefully I'll get there again before the story ends. If there are any mistakes please point them out in a REVIEW because I've been staring at the screen for so long that I've probably started skipping over typos and grammar mistakes. And I lent one of my friends my copy of Chamber of Secrets so if the setting isn't quite right it's because I didn't have the book in front of me.
Ron and Harry's italicized quotes come directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pg. 625 in my book.
There was way more Rose/Scorpius in this chapter which I actually had a lot of fun writing so leave me a REVIEW to tell me whether or not you liked it and how you think the story is progressing. Any predictions for what's going to happen in the upcoming chapters? You guys have been amazing with reviews over the last few chapters so keep filling my inbox by writing something in the REVIEW box down there l/