A/N: *runs and hides behind a dumpster like the trash I am* Holy shit guys I am so sorry. I'll be completely honest, I didn't have this chapter written :3 once I hit 50 reviews, and then I had a month of AP testing and standardized testing, and then school is winding down, and I really have not good excuse. Anyways, this chapter is going to be set up a little differently, in that it is going to encompass about half of the events throughout the winter break. This one is longer than all of my others, but I felt like I needed to say a lot and I didn't have a place to stop it earlier. Also, there might be some spelling issues, just because I wanted to get this chapter to all of you as soon as I could! Introducing Chapter 21, "In Which Scorpius Gets His Ass Kicked (By literally everything)"!
What Happened Last Chapter:
Scorpius huffed and flopped down next to Rose, but not before placing a kiss on her cheek. Rose smiled and allowed Scorpius to pull her into a spooning position. The two exhausted teenagers lay there, their legs intertwined. She wasn't sure why she said it then, but all she knew is that it was true. Rose thought Scorpius had already drifted off to sleep when she murmured this, but his stiffening body behind her meant that he heard exactly what she had said. Oh shit. Why the fuck did I say 'I love you' out loud?
Scorpius POV, because it's about damn time.
Scorpius awoke to the ringing of his wand on the nightstand. He blindly reached one arm behind him and shook the wand to make the alarm turn off. He groaned and turned over to face Rose.
"Ugh, sorry love, but we gotta start gett-" Scorpius eyes snapped open when he realized the space next to him in the bed was cold. Her side of the bed was made and a pile of neatly folded clothes lay on the pile for him. Scorpius resisted the urge to snort, Rose was so extra. Scorpius pulled himself out of his bed with a miserable moan, grabbed his clothes, and headed to the bathroom. He gave a small smile when he saw the little red toothbrush Rose had used the night prior and grabbed his own. After a quick brush, putting on his clothes, and running through everything he needed, Scorpius grabbed his duffel and headed down to the Great Hall. Luckily, he had gotten his ass out of bed and ready with twenty minutes to spare before they had to leave for the Auror training program. Scorpius' eyes, which had begun to droop shut with sleep, jolted open with a start, He didn't quite think about how insane this was. He was heading off for a three week intensive for a job that wasn't even guaranteed to him in the end. Oh, and last night he told Rose he loved her. Not that he didn't, he just didn't think he would say it so soon. Lost deep in thought, Scorpius didn't truly pay attention until he was already in the Great Hall and scarfing down a stack a pancakes when Rose plopped down next to him.
'Morning Scor!" She said brightly, and kissed him on the cheek. Scorpius groaned internally. Of course Rose was a morning person. Of-fucking-course. Scorpius grunted his response, and he managed to murmur his responses to her bright but nervous ramblings. He believed that he was being quite amicable all things considering until she reached for his plate.
"What the?-" Rose's hand was slapped away by Scorpius, who pulled the plate closer to his chest with a growl.
"Mine." Rose rolled her eyes.
"Dude, I was just going for a chocolate chip."
"I know. But this stuff is mine."
"You do realize that couples usually share food, right?" Rose asked sarcastically. Scorpius' eyes shot up, his knife clattering to the table (not his fork, mind you. He still had enough mental faculties to keep using that to shovel the delicious flapjacks into his mouth).
"Couple?" Scorpius asked through a mouth full of pancakes. At least that what he thought he said. It is very possible that it came out as "hurblegurble?" Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust, and Scorpius would swear, slight amusement.
"We literally shared a bed last night Scor, I think you can share some chocolate. It's what good boyfriends do, right?" Rose laughed, popping a berry in her mouth.
"Boyfriend?" Scorpius coughed, still attempting to swallow his bite with a gulp of double shot espresso. Now please realize that Scorpius had rolled out of bed about thirty minutes prior, his coffee had yet to kick in, and he still had to shake off the tired fog from his mind. So when Rose was starting to say "couple" and "boyfriend" at seven thirty in the morning, he was having trouble following. He wasn't opposed to being a couple, but it was really early and he and Rose hadn't even had a legitimate conversation about where any of this was going. But as soon as he saw Rose's face fall, he knew that he had said the wrong thing. The word couple just seemed too fatalistic, and Scorpius just wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"Sorry, I- I mean, I guess I just assumed . . . never mind." Rose's face was starting to steadily turn beet red. Scorpius frantically struggled to swallow his hulking bite, but Rose was already out of the Great Hall before he could get a word in edgewise. Scorpius slammed his head down on the table. Stupid stupid stupid. With a sigh, Scorpius finished up the rest of his breakfast and then left the Great Hall to find Rose. He spotted Rose's fiery red hair right beside the Grand Entrance. With a grunt, he adjusted the strap of his duffel over his shoulder and made his way towards her, an apology already dancing off the tip of his tongue. However, much to his chagrin, Scorpius found that Rose and the two other accepted (both exchange) students were already standing by the accompanying Auror. While the two students Scorpius didn't know (both from Uagadou) lounged against the wall yawning, Rose was in an animated conversation with the Auror. A very young, very good looking Auror talking to Rose that instinctively made bile begin to rise in Scorpius' throat. Scorpius tried to tamp down his jealousy - they weren't exclusive, after all - but he was fairly certain that Rose could see the signs. His downcast eyes, his sneer that he couldn't quite keep off his face, the nervous licking of his lips. He sat down against the staircase, awkwardly twiddling his thumbs. Luckily, Rose decided to take pity on him.
"Scorpius," she called. The boy snapped his head up and walked over to Rose and the Auror.
"Ah, you must be Mr. Malfoy. Pleasure to meet you, I am Birungi, I'll be escorting the four of you to the Training Camp." The man stuck his hand out with a brilliant smile. Scorpius hated him already. His handshake was too . . . oh, who was he kidding? Birungi had an amazing handshake. It was strong and assertive. Scorpius was all too conscious of that one scar on jaw line when he looked at Birungi's flawless, dark skin. Rose was smiling and batting her eyes at the Auror, who, as the quintent began the walk off the grounds to Apparate, explained that he was only three years older than them and that he had just finished coming off a mission that was, of course, classified. Scorpius was trying extremely hard not to be jealous, but once Rose, when laughing at a bad joke of Birungi's, put her hand on his arm, he couldn't help himself. He grabbed Rose's other hand and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"How did you sleep last night, babe?" Scorpius couldn't help but smirk when he noticed the imperceptible, split-second raise of Birungi's eyebrows. Rose just seemed like she was holding in a laugh.
"Oh, just great, babe, how was your night? Lonely without me?" Birungi coughed uncomfortably.
"You can't even imagine," Scorpius murmured in Rose's ear. Birungi suddenly seemed to remember the other two students he was accompanying, and he slipped back to begin a conversation with them. Rose quickly released Scorpius' hand and rolled her eyes.
"What?" Scorpius asked, confused. Why the hell is Rose still acting like this?
"You can't get off that easy, Flyboy," Rose said while speeding up to distance herself from Scorpius, "You can still go fuck yourself."
"What the hell?" Scorpius groaned, and he jogged to stay in pace with her. He put an arm around her shoulder so she couldn't run off again. "If this is about this morning-"
"No. Remove your arm Malfoy, before it and a testicle of yours are for you." Rose said stiffly, not leaning into his embrace like she usually did. Scorpius frowned but didn't move his arm.
"Look, all I'm saying is that I just wasn't expecting that so early in the morning. Of course I want to go steady with you, but we hadn't even discussed anything official yet and I was not prepared for this so early in the morning while I was still choking on a pancake." Rose's hair still formed a curtain between her face and his, but Scorpius could feel her just barely relax her shoulders.
"No, Scorpius. You don't get to say that you love me, then act like it didn't happen the next day. I'm not going to play the fool Scorpius Malfoy. I'm not going to snog you and then let you off without a title or responsibility. And I'm having a hard time believing that I just caught you off guard. I don't want to force you into anything, but I won't wait around on something that's not going to happen." Scorpius felt little needles poke at his heart at the sound of her ragged voice.
"Rose, I, for some Merlin foresaken reason, love you. A lot. I promise, I will kiss you in front of the entire school when we get back. While everyone is sober and can remember it too. Just please, please forgive me." And he meant it. Scorpius felt like the biggest asshole in the world, but his heart soared when he saw her hesitant smile as she flicked back her hair.
"Kiss me you idiot."
Scorpius didn't hesitate, even if they were right in front of other people, and it was one of the best damn snogs he had ever had.
They reached the bottom of the hill Hogwarts was on after several more minutes of trekking, and as soon as they passed a simple wooden stake that signified the end of the grounds, Birungi gathered them all up into a circle.
"Okay, so we're going to apparate to the Ministry of Magic in Britain, where we will pick up a portkey and get to Bunker Eight. That is the training ground for Aurors, and it's location is classified, so that is why we are going there by Portkey and not just give you guys the address to apparate to. Once we reach the Bunker, you will be split up into different groups, one through twenty eight. These groups may or may not be split up and/or reformed as the training sessions continue on, it is up to the judgement of your instructors. After you all are split up into your groups, the trainers will take you to your groups' respective accommodations and then your training will begin. Any questions?" Everyone was silent. Scorpius fidgeted with his duffel, uncomfortable under Birungi's sharp stare.
"All right then. As you can imagine, this apparation is a test. We expect only the best and brightest, and as you all have passed your apparation exam, I expect no problems. However, as some can slip through the cracks, it is always best to check. Any sort of splicing whatsoever, mistiming, or ending up in the wrong location, you are immediately disqualified from the Auror program, and you will be returned to your school. We will apparate to the central fountain of the main lobby." Scorpius gulped and nodded, hoping that his palm wasn't sweating too much in Rose's. Birungi glanced at the two and gave a look of distaste.
"This activity does have to be done separately, obviously," he sneered. Well, in retrospect, maybe he didn't sneer, but Scorpius only saw the worst in Birungi at that moment. Instead of giving any sort of reason to be disqualified, Scorpius reluctantly let go of Rose's hand and they steadied themselves. Scorpius concentrated on his vision of the Ministry's lobby, perfecting the image so it was crystal clear in his mind.
POP!
Scorpius opened his eyes to the bright lights of the Ministry lobby and the throbbing of his left pinky. He looked down and saw that a tiny chunk had come out of his finger and it was beginning to ooze blood. Birungi seemed to be inspecting the Uagadoun students carefully. Scorpius looked up at Rose with panicked eyes, and Rose, realizing his predicament closed her hand of Scorpius and murmured a few spells underneath her breath. The cut instantly healed and the flesh grew back, and Scorpius nodded his thanks while wiping off the excess blood on the inside of his jacket. He wasn't bad, per se, at apparating, it's just that he would occasionally splice when under pressure. And this was a pretty stressful situation.
Birungi took Scorpius hands and inspected them closely. The latter prayed that the Auror didn't notice or care about the still slightly pink flesh on his pinky. Luckily, it seemed as if Birungi, after a long inspection that Scorpius was pretty sure went longer than anyone else's, was thoroughly satisfied that Scorpius hadn't spliced and moved on to Rose. After a gruff grunt of approval, his gestured four his four charges to follow after him into the bowels of the Ministry. All along the way, Birungi gave instruction and advice as to what to expect in the coming weeks.
"Now, as you all probably know by this point, the first week consists of half day sessions of physical training and cuts, and the other half day are classes for the various Auror specialties. Morning Patricia," Birungi grinned and winked in acknowledgement to the secretary in front of the elevators, who in turned giggled slightly, charmed by Birungi's gaze. "Your instructors can and will cut out most of the trainees at any time during this period. Your groups will begin with about twenty, but don't expect any more than four or five to make it into the second week. Speaking of which-" Birungi abruptly cut off when he led the students into an elevator, where several other Ministry employees were. "Level Two, please." Scorpius glanced nervously at Rose, who in turn slipped her hand into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Once the employees had all left and it was just the quintet alone again, Birungi continued his spiel.
"Anyways, your second week will mostly likely be classroom testing and practicals in the morning and then some more specialized, hardcore training in the afternoons. It is then that you will be assigned your squads which, if you are successful, will stay together through the beginnings of your employment. Often, but not always, if one person in your group fails, the whole squad will be disqualified, or at the very least, be broken up as the failure is sent home."
"How is this guy not out of breath?" Scorpius mumbled go Rose, who covered her mouth to prevent her short, gasping giggles from being heard. The group was charging down a maze of hallways, and while all four seventeen year olds were almost dying from exhaustion, Birungi didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.
"That man is part giant," Rose said, "Tall and good at cardio."
"And he smells like shit."
"Merlin Scorpius, no he doesn't. And even if he did, you shouldn't be going around saying that," Rose laughed, "It seems like you'll get cut for much less than disrespect here."
"Eh, screw it. The guy's an ass."
"You're just saying that because I was flirting with him to make you jealous."
"Aha! So that was to make me jealous?"
"Oi, shut up. It worked, didn't it."
"Touché." Birungi led them even further into the bowels of the Ministry, before abruptly stopping in front of a pair of unassuming double doors. He turned around and looked at the group.
"Then, in your third week, your instructors will split you up into pairs, in which you will be given a case. the pairs are split up by rankings, which the instructors will keep a strict list of during your training. These are, by the way, real cases, because they want you to feel the pressure and importance. They are, of course, small cases that are not extremely important and usually do not include intel unless the instructors truly believe that you will pass. Your case file will tell you how long you have to plan and gather all the necessary materials. Any questions?" Birungi asked, though it was fairly obvious that the correct answer to that question was "no", at least going by his faint glare at everyone.
"Good," He said, before turning around and tapping the door a few times with his wand. It opened up into a long, extremely narrow room with a ceiling so high you couldn't see it and at least one hundred little tables. Some of them had objects on them, while some of them were empty. An old brass sign was above the door that said 'Portkey Room'. Birungi walked them down the line of tables until they came upon a chipped wine glass.
"All right, everyone grab on in three, two one." Scorpius lunged forward and grabbed onto a part of the rim. He swore as he felt the goblet slice his finger, but he grimanced and held on. The world began to spin all around him and Scoprius felt his feet lift off the ground. He could feel the wind whipping against his face and whistling in his ears, but all he could see was darkness. All of a sudden, as if they were at the top of a very long tube, he saw a small circle of land coming closer and closer. Scorpius closed his eyes and braced for impact. This was always the worst part. His feet made hard contact with the ground and he put a bloodied fist to the ground to regain his balance. luckily, he wasn't the only one - Rose was on her hands and knees and one of the Uagadou students had completely faceplanted. Only the other Uagadou student and birungi managed to maintain their position, the latter of whom gave Scorpius a cheeky smirk. Scorpius barely bit back a grumble as he straightened - that cheeky smirk was his signature move, and it was disconcerting to see it on someone even more attractie, and dare he say it, almost able to rival in its cockiness. Scorpius reached out a hand to help Rose up, but Birungi stopped them with a raised eyebrow and a clearing of his throat.
"No intermingling during training. Sorry," Birungi said, not looking very sorry at all, "I don't make the rules." Scorpius reluctantly withdrew his hand from Rose's and watched as she got up and dusted herself off.
"It's only three weeks," Scorpius whispered to Rose, who smirked and pranced around in front of him.
"Good luck keeping your hands off this," Rose laughed. She tripped over a root and landed on her butt for the second time within two minutes. Scorpius rolled his eyes.
"I'll try to contain myself." Scorpius jogged to catch up with the rest of the group, who seemed to be trekking through some woods until they reached their destination. He fell into step with one of the Uagadou students - the one who didn't fall.
"So what's your name?"
"I'm not here to make friends," the teenager said in a faint accent.
"O-kayyyyy then," Scorpius said, and he stepped back to talk to the other Uagadou student.
"Don't mind Ochen, he's had a stick up his butt since he came to Uagadou. Tumo," the boy said, holding out a hand with a brilliant grin that contrasted severely with Ochen's deep scowl.
"Scorpius," Scorpius smiled back and shook Tumo's hand, "So how old are you?"
"Eighteen. You?"
"Just turned eighteen a few days ago."
"Happy birthday then! Do anything special?"
"Nah, I was helping plan my school's annual Yule Ball, and so we kept it pretty lowkey. My friends brought me out to play quidditch."
"Oh, you organized the Yule Ball? That was awesome, I had a lot of fun last night!" Tumo said appreciatively.
"Thanks," Scorpius, before nodding over his shoulder, "Be sure to tell Rose that, she was really the one who pulled it all together. She was going batshit crazy last night, hoping everyone had fun." Tumo laughed again.
"So what about your girlfriend?" He asked.
"Huh?"
"What did your girlfriend do for your birthday?"
"Wha-oh, uh, yeah, Rose made me a cake. She's an amazing baker."
"What kind of cake?"
"Chocoate, of course."
"Oh, that's the best. I hope they have good food here, but I talked to my brother, who's an International Auror, and he said that the food sucks."
"Ah, shit, really?" Scorpius whined. Tumo shrugged and grinned again.
"So what kind of specialty did you apply for?" Tumo asked.
"Espionage. You?"
"Battle," Tumo replied. Scorpius appraised Tumo. He was tall and gangly, though there was a little muscle. He had small, round glasses that were perched on the edge of his nose and his head was shaved. His eyes were dark and piercing, but he had a very bright smile. Overall, Scorpius probably would have guessed him to be the more intellectual type. Tumo laughed, a deep, resounding sound from his chest.
"Surprised? You're not the only one. But if I do say so myself, I am a fairly good wizard. I'm even an Animagus." Tumo puffed out his chest proudly.
"Holy shit, really?" Scorpius asked impressed, his eyebrows raised. He was a bit jealous, to be honest.
"Yeah, at sixteen they teach all students at Uagadou to turn into either elephants or cheetahs," Tumo said before morphing into a cheetah himself. Scorpius stumbled back a bit at the quick transformation.
"That's fucking awesome!" Scorpius said. Tumo-Cheetah let out an appreciative growl.
"Hey, no magic until we get to the compound!" Birungi called over his shoulder crossly. Scorpius would have sworn that Tumo-Cheetah rolled his eyes before morphing back into human form.
"How have we never hung out?" Scorpius asked in amazement.
"Well, for one, I've only been here for a few days. I'm staying for the second semester, and Ochen and I came early because we had to come here for Training anyways. Also, I've been rooming with the Hufflepuffs, and something tells me you don't, uh, how do you say, 'hang out' with that crowd."
"I have nothing against Hufflepuffs, but yeah, most of my friends are Gryffindor or Slytherin," Scorpius frowned in thought before clapping Tumo on the shoulder. "But, if you want, you can always come room with me - Head Dorm privileges."
"I might just consider that," Tumo grinned. However, their conversation as cut short when they came over the last hill and saw the Compound. It was in the middle of bowl-shaped valley, and some magic glimmered in a dome around the whole valley. There were at least thirty five buildings, all made out of stone or concrete. There was a big central circular field, in which Scorpius saw, among other things, a rock wall, magic dummies, and a pond that was coursing like a river. Seven large avenues jutted out from around the training ground, and the buildings, which were large and small in seemingly no particular order, lined the streets. Scorpius could see some young adults in uniforms waling around, and some older people wearing dress uniforms pacing outside of the largest building. Scorpius felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Rose jumping up and down, trying to see over everyone's shoulders. Scorpius smirked at her red face and annoyed expression but let her go around him so she could see.
"This is the Compound," Birungi said blithely, gesturing grandly to the sight in front of him, "Though I'm sure you already knew that. That big building and all the ones surrounding it on the west side of campus are HQ and offices. On the north end, the more medium sized buildings are the experimentation labs. Don't go anywhere near them without full body protection or the hair will burn off your head from the fumes of some potion. On the east end, you have tactical and dormitories for active Britain-based Aurors. However, you guys don't need to worry about any of that, because you all are going to be sticking to the south end of the campus, where the training grounds, classrooms, and dorms are, and the Training Circle, which is that big lawn in the middle. Now, I am going to lead you to Circle where your instructors are waiting to divide you into your groups. Then they will give you instructions and take you to your dormitories. I will say good luck to you all now." Birungi's normally cold eyes softened as he looked at them all. "Chances are you won't be seeing any of these people for the next three weeks. Kick some ass." They began the trek down into the Valley. Scorpius was having a hard time swallowing around the big lump in his throat and he adjusted the shoulder strap of his duffel. He felt a small hand slide into his own and give a quick, reassuring squeeze before withdrawing quickly. Scorpius looked over his shoulder at Rose and shot her a small smile, which she returned. When he turned back around, Scorpius saw Tumo giving him a knowing snicker, to which Scorpius just rolled his eyes and told him to bugger off. When they came upon the green, there was a massive man with a bugle standing in front of a pile of random objects, presumably portkeys. There were a couple different tables that had different numbers and little slips of paper on them.
"This brings back some horrible memories of a muggle camp I went to when I was little," Rose muttered in my ear, gripping her backpack a little tighter.
"You went to a muggle camp?" I asked incredulously, "I always wanted to go to one! What do you mean 'horrible memories'?"
"Well, aside from the gut-wrenching home sickness I had, it was also the first time Hugo showed magical signs."
"How old were you guys?"
"Nine and six."
"Six? That's pretty early to show noticeable magic."
"Don't I know it. He had lightning spouting out of his fingers tips and I had to pretend that he and I snuck off to the fireworks tent and stolen some. Needless to say, we got kicked out." Scorpius laughed at Rose's scowl and the two turned their attention to the man with the bugle.
"OKAY THEN TRAINEES, WHAT GROUP ARE YOU FROM?" Birungi stepped forward, though he didn't need to - he towered over everyone in the group.
"Great to see you Odin. Group Delta-Merlin-351." The bugle-man looked down at his list and began flicking through the pages.
"LET ME SEE, DELTA-MERLIN-35 . . . 1! HERE WE GO. OCHEN BIGOMBE, PLEASE PROCEED TO TABLE TWENTY SIX AND PICK UP YOUR NAME TAG AND . . . THIS BOOT." Odin fished around in the pile in front of him and kicked out the boot. Ochen wrinkled his nose.
"Why do we need a portkey to get to our cabin?" He asked, quite snottily Scorpius would say. Odin stared at Ochen, and, though still resolute in stance, the younger man's throat began to bob.
"I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO ANSWER YOU, BUT FOR YOUR INFORMATION, THE AUROR OFFICE IS NOT GOING TO WASTE RESOURCES ON TAKING EACH ONE OF YOU LITTLE SHITS TO YOUR CABINS WHEN WE COULD JUST USE PORTKEYS. NOW PICK UP THE DAMN BOOT." Thoroughly chastised, Ochen lunged for the boot and when shooting off into the sky. The boot appeared a few seconds late at Odin's feet.
"ANY MORE STUPID QUESTIONS?" Odin asked. Scorpius correctly assumed that that question was rhetorical.
"GOOD. NOW, WHO'S NEXT? AH, TUMOS GHASIA. NUMBER TWO, RUBBER DUCKY." Tumo grabbed a hold of the duck and Odin turned back to the group.
"SCORPIUS MALFOY, FRONT AND CENTER." Scorpius walked self-consciously to stand in front of Odin. What the fuck? I am never self conscious. Thrusting thestrals, pull your shit together, Malfoy.
"NUMBER TWO AS WELL." Scorpius went over to the table and saw his same scrawled neatly on a sticky slip of paper. He stuck it to the front of his shirt and ran back to his previous position.
"EAGER FELLOW, EH? WELL THEN, THE RED GOBSTONE. WAIT, WAIT, NO, THE RED ONE, YOU DAFT DOUGHNUT." Malfoy felt his cheeks turn as red as the Portkey gobstone when he narrowly missed picking up a canary-colored sphere. He coughed an picked up the right gobstone and he barely had time to look at Rose before he felt himself flying through the air, then quickly back down in the front of the opening to a bunk room. The room was filled with two bunks, with a large dresser for each one. Scorpius walked in tentatively and he saw that seven out of the twenty-ish bunks were already taken. Scorpius spotted Tumo, who grinned excitedly and waved Scorpius over to his bunk. Tumo had taken the lowest bunk and was already busy transferring his clothes into three of the six drawers. There was no ladder, so Scorpius had to hoist himself up onto his bunk. The bed was comfortable enough, and despite the chill outside, the thin blanket must have been charmed to hold heat. Scorpius took out his toiletries and sent a mental thank you to Rose for slipping in a razor, which he had totally forgot. He jumped back down to the ground to start putting away his clothes, and he wrinkled his nose at the size of his two drawers.
"That's all the space we're given? I have dress robes, for Merlin's sake, those can't be wrinkled." Tumo rolled his eyes at Scorpius. He opened on of his drawers and stepped in. He sunk all the way down to his waist and raised an eyebrow.
"Expansion charmed, for your convenience," he said, before hopping out of the drawer. Scorpius liked this kid's snark already. He pulled out all of his carefully folded clothes and put them inside. Meanwhile, most of the rest of their bunk filed in. However, Scorpius didn't see any Trainer.
"Where's our Trainer?"
"Came in right before you left and told us what to do and to tell all the rest what to do. Damn scary, our Trainer."
"Really? What's his name?"
"Her name is Jamila Kareem. From the United States, maybe five years older? Has a nasty scar down the side of her face." Scorpius raised an eyebrow, impressed.
"By the way, she wants everyone to be wearing athletic clothes and trainers when she comes back." Scorpius nodded his acknowledgement and went to change, because there were also some girls in the room. He found the bathroom pretty easily and he changed in one of the stalls. He just finished putting away his bag and clothes when a sudden silence fell over the room. A woman with brown skin, dark, flashing eyes, and long black hair plaited into a braid stood in the front of the room. She was short, even shorter than Rose. Her face, though otherwise beautiful, had a jagged scar running from one corner of her eye to the curve of her jawline. Her wand was poised in the air, as if she had just finished casting a charm. A Silencing Charm, of course. How could I not even tell that I was being silenced? Jamila Kareem had a slight smile on her face and she lowered her wand.
"This," she spoke softly, "Is a better volume. I am Jamila Kareem, but you may call me Kareem. Of course, you could call me Jamila, if you wanted to be expelled from the program." Even though Scorpius could feel himself get a hold of the use of his tongue, he didn't dare speak. Neither did anyone else, much to Kareem's apparent chagrin.
"When I ask a question, I expect an answer! The correct answer to my last question is 'Yes, ma'am!'" She looked expectantly at the twenty kids in front of her.
"Yes ma'am!" A loud, stuttering chorus rang through the room.
"Better. Now, Group Two, you may have noticed you're co-ed. Do yourself and me a favor and keep it in your pants for three weeks, thank you very much. Otherwise, I will be forced to expel you." Kareem continued to go through her clipboard.
"I am an Espionage Auror, while Luiz here-" Kareem jutted her chin behind her, and standing there was a tall, imposing looking man. Scorpius was embarrassed to say that he didn't even notice Luiz at first,"- is a Battle Auror. We will be tracking your progress and, yes, eliminating you from the program and performing the memory charms. We are very skilled at this, so don't worry. We've only ever had one trainee lose the ability to speak." She chuckled here. No on else did. Well, except for maybe Luiz. His deep, rumbling breaths could easily have been chuckles, but Scorpius just couldn't tell.
"There are ten Battle Aurors and ten Espionage Aurors in here. Every day for the first week we will split up and complete our objectives. I'm sure your travel guides told you the main gist of what was going on? Good," She said, not waiting for an answer. "We will not be living in here with you, thank god because I'm sure most of you are used to living in pigsties of dorm rooms in your schools. However, we will know if there's any sort of fighting or malpractice. Be ready for breakfast with your bunks clean by seven thirty sharp. Let me see, what else . . . right, bathrooms are down the hall to the left, we're sharing with Group Two and Three. I will be giving you all stamps on your way out, and the ink will change every day for your schedule and locations. Any questions? No? Fantastic." Kareem flipped through a few more pages in her clipboard before stopping.
"Ah yes, the thing you've all been waiting for - how can you get kicked out? Well, obviously any sort of fighting, drugs or sex, you're out. Other than that, we have a points system, where you lose more points for serious infractions, less for lesser, and the same for gaining points for good things you do. No-no's include backtalk, improper spellcasting, poor grades on classroom exams, etc. Good things include winning a duel, answering a question correctly, scoring well on a test, etc, etc. It's sort of like the points systems, for those of you who go to Castelobruxo and Hogwarts. Whichever two of you have the least amount of points at the end of each cycle will be eliminated from the program. A cycle is every two days, which is essentially a day and a half of testing and half a day of exams. The board-" Luiz waved his wand and a whiteboard appeared with what appeared to be everyone's last name and flag of nationality next to it, "-Thank you Luiz, the board will show your rankings - number one has the most points, number two has the second most points, and so on and on. Understood?"
"Understood, ma'am!" Tumo stood in an almost military-esque pose, with his feet shoulder with apart and hands clasped behind his back. Scorpius straightened up self consciously and murmured his agreement. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm so off my game today! Kareem grinned.
"You catch on fast, Trainee. What's your name?"
"Tumo Ghasia, ma'am."
"Well, ten points to Ghasia. You all could learn a thing or two from him." Scorpius saw the name "Ghasia" with the Tanzanian flag next to it rise to the top of the board, and the number '1' appear to its left. Everyone else's name had a '2' next to it.
"Anyways, now that you are all unpacked, form an orderly line in front of me to get your stamps, and start following Luiz to the Training Circle. We're lucky and will be getting it second today - every other day we get it twenty seventh, and it's almost completely destroyed. Our custodians hate training season, it takes them almost the whole to regrow the grass."
The group of twenty shuffled into a line, and Scorpius and Tumo managed a spot near the front. Once they had their arms stamped with a schedule and were out the door, Scorpius turned to Tumo.
"Kiss ass."
"Hey, I'm just trying to get ahead."
"At least warn me so we both can get points next time!" Tumo laughed with Scorpius.
"Of course, my friend, next time." While they walked down the avenue towards the Circle, they saw several other groups passing by. One of them looked like they just came back from some physical training, so probably Group One. Despite the chillier weather, they were pouring sweat and quite a few of them had cuts, bruises, and/or burns. Scorpius tuned into what their Trainer was saying.
"Okay Battle/Espionage Aurors, we're going to be heading to the infirmary, where the Healer trainees will heal you. Don't like their inexperience? Don't get caught by a Stinging Jinx next time." Scorpius could feel the blood draining from his face. This was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought.
They reached the Circle at ten thirty, and didn't leave until the middle of the afternoon. Scorpius was gasping for air while trying to finish out the last mile of the run. They had gone into dueling. Scorpius won the first six matches, but he stalemated his seventh (with Tumo) and eighth and lost his ninth. They then went straight into flying, where they threw no bludgers at the Trainees, but flaming bits of lava and shards of ice. Scorpius hoped that Healers had slightly easier broom "training", for Rose's sake. He himself had a burn on his upper right thigh and a cut on his cheek, which was far better than some others faired. He had gained points by answering some questions correctly, and Kareem had even called his summoning charm exemplary, but he had also lost points for "unbecoming sarcasm and cheek". Overall, on the board (which Luiz had summoned to the Circle), Scorpius ranked sixth. Tumo still maintained his spot as first. Speaking of whom, Scorpius was struggling to keep up with him on their run. In all fairness, Tumo's Animagus was literally a cheetah, so Scorpius was doing more than a good job in keeping up with Tumo, but while the latter seemed to not even be breaking a sweat, Scorpius was about to pass out. Tumo crossed the finish line several yards ahead of Scorpius and jogged to a stop before collapsing on the ground. Scorpius simply wasn't used to feeling sub par. At school, he was one of the smartest in his classes and was arguably the best Seeker since Teddy Lupin, or possibly even Harry Potter. But everyone here was the cream of the crop at their schools. All of them excelled, and they all were incredibly competitive. Scorpius had already seen a girl send a weakening jinx at her "friend" while she was flying.
The rest of the group, in an equally exhausted state as Scorpius, practically crawled across the finish line, where Luiz was holding out water bottles to the trainees like some strange version of a Quidditch mom. Scorpius moaned, turned over onto his face, and forced himself to stand up. He hobbled over to Tumo, who was talking with full faculties and breath to Kareem. He was making her genuine laugh, something that Scorpius had doubted she could even do, and if she could, wouldn't be caught dead engaging in the activity.
"You sick son of a bitch, I'm dying here and you aren't even out of breath," Scorpius spoke hoarsely into Tumo's ear, clapping a hand on his friend's back. Tumo just gave his round, full bellied laugh.
"It was quite amusing, I won't lie, but I ran eight miles to Muggle school everyday before I turned eight and went to Uagadou, so forgive me if I wasn't particularly challenged." Kareem's eyebrow rose so high it was practically above her forehead.
"Oh really, Ghasia? I will wear you down with so many runs you will be begging for the sweet release of death."
"Uh-huh, good luck with that Sarge." Tumo grinned.
"It's Colonel to you, jackass. Can't you see the insignia?" All of a sudden, Luiz appeared tapping his watch.
"Time to go," he rumbled. Like a switch flipped, Kareem turned back into Her Royal Assholery' Ice Queen.
"Everyone, get up off your asses, we're going to Classroom! Battle Aurors with Luiz, Espionage follow me! " A chorus of groans swept through their section of the field. The Circle itself was now occupied by twelve others groups, all in varying stays of physical exhaustion. It was a sort of sadistic humor that Scorpius was mildly ashamed of that made him laugh. However, a sharp glare from Luiz made him cut off his giggles. They made their way down one of the side alleyways from one of the avenues. The two groups filed into two identical, small buildings, which was essentially one amphitheater style classroom. Scorpius took a seat near the front with a couple of friends he had made in the bunks. Kareem walked to the front of the room and tapped the blank wall with her wand. Elegant, scrolling letters appeared, saying the words "Practical and Theoretical Invisibility Charms." Scorpius was not the only one who groaned and put his head in his hands. This was going to be a very long week.
By the end of the week, only twelve kids were left. Six were gone because of the cycle, and the other two were caught fighting. At first, Scorpius didn't get how people could fight. However, by the end of the week, he was doing everything he could to restrain himself from punching half the kids in his group. Putting a bunch of high key type A, competitive people in a room, and there's bound to be a fistfight.
Scorpius found that he had snagged the number four spot steadily, and he and another girl were constantly competing for number three. Tumo remained first, dropping only once briefly, because of a first aid training mishap.
Scorpius had only seen Rose three times total in the week. Two of those times had been in the Mess Hall, and they had locked eyes across the room. However, both Rose and Scorpius were forced to look away as soon as they found each other, due to their Groups pushing away.
The third time had been a few days ago, when Scorpius went to the Hospital to get his arm bandaged. The Hospital was the second largest building on campus, and it was large and regal with massive windows that let light stream in and stone walls. Scorpius was on the third floor, where the Healing trainees worked. It was a long room, very similar to the layout of the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, but with more people and more beds. Scorpius had avoided going to the Hospital for as long as possible, using his own shoddy treatments that he trusted more than a trainee's. However, word spread fast the Group 27 was the best of all the Healer trainee groups. Scorpius had to be told that Group 27 was on duty, and that for Merlin's sake, if he didn't go, Kareem would force him to accept treatment from Tumo or be cut. Needless to say, Scorpius didn't want to be sent home nor grow a third hand.
He walked into the atrium of the Hospital, and many people were bustling around. This was where all the overflow from St. Mungo's went, so the first two floors and the entire south wing was off limits to trainees. The trainee hospital was on the third floor of the north wing, up a back hallway spiral staircase. But, however, isolated the floor might seem, it was absolutely teeming with activity when Scorpius went up. Almost every bed was full in the quidditch pitch sized wing, and the trainees were dashing about to all of the patients. Most of the people there were other people in the Auror Prep program, but Scorpius also spotted a few brave Aurors who probably got the short end of the stick and had to come to the Trainee Hospital instead of the normal hospital for their minor injuries. The mediwitches and wizards wore blindingly white scrubs, and most of them had their wands behind their ear or holding up their bun. Almost all of them had dark circles under their eyes and were taking large gulps of coffee from an espresso machine in the corner between stitching up magical maladies. Scorpius was suddenly struck with a horrible sense of de ja vu, where the overworked Aurors crowded around Cassie. He shook his head. This isn't the same thing. Cassie's safe, she's at home, she's fine. Scorpius didn't even realize that their was someone standing in front of him until said person snapped their fingers in front of his face. An eighteen year old with a rusty red stain on his wrist cuff stood there, expectantly peering from behind his glasses.
"You need help or not?" He asked in a jarring American accent. Scorpius cleared his throat and presented his hand, which had hastily been wrapped in some bandages. The mediwizard trainee grabbed it roughly and examined it before pushing Scorpius into a nearby, vacant bed.
"Stay here, I'll be back to treat you." The boy raced off to a cabinet across the hall, and Scorpius observed everyone around him. He could see why Group 27 was considered the best. Just from looking at them, they seemed like professionals. And no on was growing an extra appendage - no one, at least, that Scorpius could see. The boy came back with bandages and what looked like a jar of a thick salve. He began to unwrap the mess of Scorpius bandages when he found himself getting pushed out of the way.
"Move it Fletcher, or I'll tell Rita that I had to do your vaccination shots for you." Fletcher turned and ran in the opposite direction. Scorpius raised an amused eyebrow.
"Now Rose, if you wanted to treat me you could have just asked - no need to threaten poor Fletchy there." Rose grinned and took to unwrapping the rest of Scorpius' hand.
"It's Fletcher, smartass, and you wouldn't want him treating you, he's the weak link." Scorpius smiled.
"Well I'm glad I got the most competent, and not to mention the prettiest medic in the room."
"Oi, I'm not the prettiest and I'm sure as hell not the best in this room. I'm just coming to save you, Fletcher's jumpy because he's on the chopping block. Take a look," Rose jerked her head towards a whiteboard similar to Scorpius' group. Rose's name was in fourth, and Fletcher Adamson was in second to last place. Scorpius grinned.
"Hey, I'm fourth today too!" Rose matched his grin as she spread the salve on the clean bandages. She took her time to wrap Scorpius bandages. She rattled on about everything going on, and how they were worked even more than Scorpius and his group because they had to learn all the basic training Aurors had and they had to learn everything there was to know about modern medicine at the same time. Rose didn't look at Scorpius when she spoke, but Scorpius couldn't help but stare at her with a goofy smile, only interjecting on a rare occasion. She's so beautiful, he thought. She pulled her wand out of her bun and tapped his hand a few times, muttering a charm under her breath. Scorpius felt the throbbing in his hand disappear as the skin knit itself back together. Rose slowly unwrapped his hand.
"You know, I'm surprised that I haven't seen you here earlier. Considering how often you maim yourself during something as easy as Quidditch, I expected you to be dropping in all the time."
"Oh yeah!" Scorpius said, smacking his head with his uninjured hand. "How'd the flying test go?"
"I passed, " Rose grumbled, "It was a pretty tame course, nothing what I've heard battle and espionage trainees go through, but the reason I'm fourth and not third is because of the flying requirements."
"Well hey, it's better than last right?" Scorpius asked, nudging her with his knee.
"I guess. But anyways, you haven't distracted me from my original question. Why haven't I seen more of you around here?"
"Erm yeah, about that . . . "
"Scorpius . . ." Rose said, slowing down her unwrapping with a hint of warning in her voice.
"Merlin woman, let me finish!" Scorpius smiled to make sure Rose knew he was joking. "I, well, I've kinda been treating my own injuries, because, well, you know . . ."
"What don't I know, Malfoy?" Scorpius mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
"What was that?" Rose asked expectantly.
"I don't trust the medical trainees."
"Don't tell me you've been-"
"-treating myself, why yes I have. Is there a problem." Rose stared slack jawed at Scorpius.
"Um, yes there's a problem! You can't properly treat this shit yourself with what you've just learned in first aid training! Where have you patched yourself?" Her eyes flashed and Scorpius knew she wasn't fucking around. he mumbled incoherently before taking her hand. He guided hers to his right shoulder, then to his left knee, and then to the left side of his rib cage, near his heart. Rose took a deep breath and look up, as if praying for the patience to deal with Scorpius' stupidity.
"Merlin's balls. Take off your shirt - don't give me that look, take off your fucking shirt, or so help me, you will not live to see tomorrow." Scorpius sighed and took off his T-shirt, leaving his injuries bare for Rose to see. The nasty cut in his shoulder was closed, but the skin around the scar had turned a putrid shade of yellow. Black, blue, red, and purple bruises patterned his left side. Rose hiked up Scorpius sweatpants, and found his knee swollen and purple.
"Next time, come straight here. I don't care who's on duty, anyone is better than you at treating injuries."
"I'm going to have to beg to differ. One of my friends from my group is probably the worst medic in the program. I'm not about to go to him for help." Rose snorted as she collected some vials from underneath the bed.
"I'm surprised he got this far then."
"He's literally the best in every other area. he's already a goddamn animagus."
"Wait, this is Tumo?" Rose asked before uncorking a vial with her teeth. Scorpius nodded as she snapped on some dragon-hide gloves. Rose poured the silvery, translucent liquid all over his shoulder, and began to rub it in slowly, murmuring charms softly.
"Holy hippogriffs," Scorpius suppressed a groan, "I've missed you Rose." He began to nuzzle her hand, but Rose withdrew.
"I'm not going to get kicked out because my horny boyfriend can't keep it to himself for three weeks," she said, pulling the stopper on another bottle, this one containing a bright red liquid.
"But Roooooooooosssseeee," Scorpius whined, but was cut off by another one of Rose's looks. Scorpius huffed but acquiesced, knowing full well that the program had a strictly enforced no-fraternization policy. Scorpius had heard of two kids from Group 14 getting kicked out because they had been found making out behind the Circle locker rooms.
"Sorry, I'll do my best," he grumbled. Rose smiled slightly and treated the rest of his wounds. By the end, Scorpius felt as if he had been touched by God himself, he felt so great. Scorpius was pretty sure that Rose fixed old injuries that he had had for a couple months. Scorpius put his shirt back on, while Rose rolled down his pant leg. They stared at each other, not sure of what to do next, and neither willing to leave. It wasn't until Rose's supervisor, Rita, called Rose over did they break their connection. Rose darted foreword quickly and aimed to place a small kiss on Scorpius cheek. Scorpius turned his head at the last moment and got a quick kiss on the lips. The contact made electricity go down his spine and holy hell did he miss being able to touch her, even casually. Rose squeezed his hand lightly.
"I love you," she whispered in his ear, and, before he even got the chance to reciprocate, she had dashed off to find out what Rita needed. Scorpius sighed and signed out of the little patient checkbook they had at the double doors before heading out to his afternoon lecture on "Intelligence Gathering in the 21st Century Wizarding World."
A/N: So yeah. I have no promise as to when I can get the second one out, but hopefully sometime by the beginning of next month! As always, love you guys so much!
~RestIsRustandStardust
Posted: 6/10/17