A/N: Can you believe this story is over 100,000 words now? Yikes! And it ain't finished yet, either :P
Sixth Year, Part Twenty-Two
"GO GRYFFINDOR!"
Dom sat back down, her cheeks pink and her eyes blazing, and turned a cheeky smile to Rose. "You know, this whole Quidditch thing isn't as bad as I thought."
Rose laughed. She was sitting in her usual seat high up in the stands, accompanied by Dom, Lorcan and Louis. They were sandwiched in between a group of particularly raucous Gryffindor supporters, and Dom had been increasingly chiming in with their boisterous applause as the game drew on.
It had been a rather one-sided affair so far. Ravenclaw were good, but the Gryffindor Chasers worked as a seamless unit and often appeared to read each other's mind. Lily in particular flew rings around her much older opponent, and had scored half of Gryffindor's goals herself. Rose loved watching her younger cousin fly – there was something so beautiful and graceful about it, a perfect combination of her parents' two differing styles.
Ravenclaw weren't going down without a fight though. Their captain Tom Filmouth scored and the mass of blue on Rose's other side rose as one, their loud cheers echoing around the pitch. Louis joined in, his normally perfect features tight with nervous tension. Lorcan, on the other hand, hardly seemed to notice that a game was being played. He had his eyes on the clouds skimming high above their heads.
"Watcha looking at?" she asked him, as soon as the noise of the crowd had died away.
"Leprechauns," he said, pointing at an assembly of small puffy clouds. "Can't you see them?"
"Uh…"
"Hey, where's Al?" asked Dom abruptly, saving Rose from having to find a reply. "Why isn't he sitting with us?"
She shrugged. "Is he even here? I haven't seen him." Truth be told, she had been desperately trying to stop herself from looking around at the crowd, lest she find herself staring into a pair of familiar grey eyes. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Scorpius – quite the opposite in fact. But he had been studiously avoiding her for the past few weeks and, besides their brief encounter in the Entrance Hall the previous Monday, hadn't given any acknowledgment of her existence. Since he and Albus seemed to remain on unspeaking terms, she assumed that things were still on hold with them for the foreseeable future. And she didn't want to be the one to try and force him to speak to her again. She would respect his wishes and keep her distance. No matter how much it hurt.
"Yes he is," answered Louis without taking his eyes off the game in front of him. "Saw him before. Over with a bunch of snakes."
"He means Slytherins," added Lorcan redundantly, to which Louis rolled his eyes.
"Oh," pouted Dom. "Well I guess he's too cool to come and sit with us…"
"He wouldn't want to sit with a crowd of Gryffindors," Rose told her. "Especially since we're winning."
Dom seemed slightly mollified by that explanation.
"YES!" shouted Louis, jumping up suddenly as Ravenclaw scored another goal. "Go you beauties! Again! Again!"
"I wonder if the Seekers will crash into the stands, like they did last time," said Lorcan mildly. Rose looked at him in surprise.
"You heard about that?"
"Sure. There was a debate in the Ravenclaw common rooms afterwards as to whether Charles made the right decision."
It took her a moment to realise he was talking about Charlie. "Oh. And what conclusion did you guys come to?"
Lorcan's reply was drowned out by the crowd as Gryffindor scored another goal.
"What?"
"We never reached a consensus!" Lorcan yelled back. "But most of us thought it was the right thing to do."
"YES!" roared Louis again, and their conversation was forced to another stop.
Rose tried to pay attention to the game, but her thoughts kept drifting elsewhere. After the last goal Gryffindor were fifty points up, enough to win but not if the Ravenclaw Seeker caught the Snitch. Rose didn't think that was likely. James was an expert Seeker – he would probably end up playing professionally, along with his little sister. He had only lost once that year, to Scorpius Malfoy in the first match back. Rose hadn't gone to that game, but now she wished she had. It must have been an amazing race.
"There's Al," said Dom suddenly, pointing away to their left, where there was indeed a small group of Slytherins bunched together, looking entirely out of place amongst the crimson and blue. Albus was sitting with Nott and Zabini and a couple of other guys Rose didn't know. "Malfoy's not with him. Are they still fighting?"
"Guess so," mumbled Rose.
"It's weird," mused Dom. "They've always been like twins. Doesn't seem right to see one without the other anymore."
The match continued, and Ravenclaw pegged another goal back after Fred gave away a foul against one of the Ravenclaw Chasers. Hugo made up for it moments later with a well directed Bludger to disrupt the Ravenclaw formation, and Lily capitalised on the mistake by scoring again. There had been no movement from either Seeker – the Snitch was still hovering elusively out of sight.
Despite herself, Rose found her eyes scanning the crowd. She told herself it was only because she was bored, but deep down she knew what she was looking for. There was no way Scorpius would miss a Quidditch match, and certainly not the deciding game of the season. No, he would be there somewhere…
"And that's another goal for Simon Lee from Ravenclaw," yelled McLaggen over the loud cheers. "160 plays 120, Gryffindor up by 40 points."
"I've always liked Simon," said Lorcan idly. "He reads The Quibbler sometimes."
Rose could see Charlie, sitting with a bunch of Ravenclaw friends. He was looking much better than the last time she had seen him. By his side was Simoly Howard, a Hufflepuff, and they seemed to be talking animatedly about something. As she watched, Charlie looked across the grounds and caught her eye briefly. He nodded once, then returned his attention to the game.
The Gryffindor fans on their right were up in arms, about what Rose wasn't quite sure. She hadn't been paying enough attention, but it appeared that someone on the Ravenclaw team had fouled a Gryffindor player. Madam Howler had blown her whistle and was in the process of reprimanding one of their Beaters. There was going to be a penalty.
She forced herself to watch as Cameron Finnigan took the penalty for Gryffindor. He aimed well, but the Ravenclaw Keeper Goldman managed to deflect it at the last second. As soon as it was over, her eyes returned to the crowd. Now that she had started looking she couldn't seem to stop.
Practically the entire school had turned up to watch this match. There would be one incredible party afterwards, no matter who won.
"FILMOUTH SCORES!" roared McLaggen. Louis jumped to his feet, spilling butterbeer all over Dom, who screamed at him in response. "RAVENCLAW TRAIL BY ONLY THIRTY POINTS!"
"Come on Gryffindor!" yelled Dom, pushing Louis back into his seat in her enthusiasm.
Lorcan gave Rose a bemused look, and opened his mouth to say something to her. But it was far too loud for her to hear. She crinkled her nose apologetically at him.
It was as she was looking away from Lorcan that she saw him. He had his hood up, covering his gleaming blonde hair, which was probably why it had taken her so long to find him. Flora Bletchley was sitting sulkily at his side, and Rose felt a familiar pang of resentment when she saw her. The two of them were on the fringe of the Slytherin crowd, a fair distance from Albus but still close enough to be counted as Slytherins rather than neutrals.
"Oh look look look!" exclaimed Dom suddenly, and she grabbed Rose's arm in a painful grip. "They've seen it! They've seen the Snitch!"
Scorpius had his eyes on the play, following the two Seekers as they raced through the air. It was too loud to think, what with the screaming of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw supporters, and the roar of McLaggen's voice.
"Come on James!" screamed Dom. "You can do it!"
He looked at her then, almost as if he had known she was watching him. Their eyes locked, and before she could stop herself Rose felt her expression conveying all the hurt and uncertainty and longing that was within her. Her doubts as to whether he was genuine, her insecurity, her confusion about why he was staying away…she felt it pouring out, saw him recoil with the shock of what he read in her eyes. Scorpius made a sudden movement, as though to stand up, before stopping himself and shaking his head. His lips mouthed something, but she couldn't read the words from such a distance.
Then it was chaos and a blur of celebration: a huge cheer erupting, the entire school leaping to their feet; Dom grabbing her and wrenching her up, screaming and crying; a thousand crimson and gold flags waving in the air; Louis cursing and storming, throwing his cup away in disgust; the Gryffindor players converging on James in the air, their faces ecstatic, hugging and congratulating each other; Fred and Hugo high-fiving, Lily embracing her brother with all her might…James with his arm held aloft, the struggling golden ball clenched in his fist…the roar of the crowd in response…
"We did it!" sobbed Dom, still jumping up and down, her blonde curls bouncing. "He did it! We did it…We won!"
Rose didn't have to force the smile on her face, not really. She was glad Gryffindor had won, glad for her House and glad for her family. She grinned across at Lorcan, who was looking utterly bemused by the proceedings. Then she looked back over the stands; but in the bedlam and chaos of the crowd, it was impossible to find Scorpius again.
The party that was held in the Gryffindor common rooms that night was legendary. Rose wasn't sure who exactly had smuggled in the alcohol, nor who had arranged for all the food to be brought up from the kitchens, or the mounds of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes merchandise…all she knew was that for this night, it didn't look as though she was going to be exercising her Prefect duties very diligently, if at all.
Though it was primarily a Gryffindor party, there were plenty of students from other houses there. Even some Ravenclaws, gracious in defeat, had made an appearance, though not any of the Quidditch players themselves. There were plenty of Hufflepuffs, and even a smattering of Slytherins. Including Albus.
"Rose!" he lurched toward her, and she recognised instantly that he was drunk. Alarm filled her at the thought of what he might say.
"Uh, hi."
"Been wanting to talk to you." Albus took another swig of his Firewhiskey and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Bout…y'know…"
"Yeah?" Rose looked around surreptitiously to see where the rest of her family was. James and Fred were in the centre of a crowd of people, pulling pranks and generally making fun of each other. Hugo hovered nearby, watching them reverently. Lily was nowhere to be seen, and she already knew where Dom was – she'd left with a guy several minutes ago, and had not returned.
"Yeah," said Albus, his voice right in her ear. "Been meaning to say – "
"I don't know if now is the right time," she said desperately, trying unsuccessfully to disentangle herself from him. "You're drunk, Albus. Let's talk about this tomorrow."
"No, wanna talk about it now." Her cousin's eyes flashed and she knew she wouldn't be able to shake him off.
"Okay, okay let's just sit down," she guided them over to a pair of armchairs. Al sank into one of them gratefully, before leaning towards her.
"Listen," he said, and despite the alcohol he suddenly seemed very lucid. "About Scorpius…"
"Al…" she began warily.
"No, listen," he said firmly. "I think…I need to apologise."
She stared at him, not sure whether she had misheard him over the loud music.
"I mean it," he said. "I've been a prat. I shouldn't have said all those horrible things. I just…can't believe we lost the Quidditch." He slammed his fist into the arm of his chair with a rueful expression.
She smiled weakly. "Well, there's always next year."
"Yeah." Al took another sip of his drink and grimaced. "But seriously, you and Scorpius…what's up with that?"
"Beats me."
"I guess I was just…" Al puffed his cheeks out and ran a hand through his hair, as though searching for words. "Jealous, you know?"
"Jealous?" she blinked at him in surprise, not sure whether it was the alcohol talking or whether he was being serious. "Of what?"
"Of you. And him. My two best friends," he stared at her earnestly. "I felt like I was being left behind…like I'd missed the boat, and you two'd gone on somewhere without me. Does that sound stupid?"
She thought about this. "I suppose not."
"I just don't want things to change, when they're so good the way they are, y'know?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I know. And I never wanted to come between the two of you. It was…the last thing on my mind." She looked at him beseechingly, and he gave her a strained smile.
"So we're cool now?"
"Oh, Al – "
"Don't get soppy on me Rosie," he said threateningly, holding up a hand to stave off her embrace. "I'm not drunk enough yet."
She folded her arms. "Fine. You're a huge prat and I'm really angry at you for stuffing things up between me and Scorpius. Is that better?"
He grimaced. "Not really…"
Over the other side of the room, there was a loud crack and Fred disappeared, a chestnut coloured ferret appearing moments later where he had previously been. The crowd cheered as James picked the creature up and lifted it high above his head.
"Just tell me one thing," said Albus, and her eyes snapped back to his. He had a very serious expression on his face. "Do you love him?"
"I…" she blushed and looked down at her hands, but there was no avoiding Albus' question. Drat it, she knew she should have made a run for the library when she had the chance.
"Beats me how you were put in Gryffindor," said her cousin abruptly. "You don't have any guts at all."
"That's not true," she denied, stung by his criticism.
"Oh isn't it?"
"No," she retorted. "After all, if I wasn't a Gryffindor, I probably never would have given Scorpius the time of day to begin with."
Albus looked at her blankly. "How d'you figure?"
"Well," she explained carefully. "If I was a Ravenclaw, I would have thought about it reasonably and realised what a bad idea it was. And if I was a Hufflepuff I would've been too loyal to my family to even consider it. And…" she chewed her lip. "If I was a Slytherin I would've known there was nothing in it for me besides grief and worry, so…it was only cause I'm a Gryffindor that I'm so courageous." She winced at her own bad reasoning.
He raised an eyebrow sceptically. "There's nothing courageous about sneaking around with someone in secret, Rose."
She flushed. He was probably right, curse him. "So you think I should tell the others?"
"I think you have to," said Al firmly. "If you're serious about this then I think it's time to stop with the secrets and open up about it."
The very thought made her palms sweaty and her heart speed up, but she nodded in agreement nonetheless. "What do you think they'll all say when they find out?"
Albus chuckled darkly. "I think they'll be fuming, raging, inconceivably mad. I think Uncle Ron will break the record for how red a human face can actually become. I think James and Fred will plot revenge and I think Scorpius will probably have to put up with being terrorised by them for at least the whole of next year. I think Draco Malfoy will probably contemplate disowning his own son, and I can't even begin to imagine what your hypothetical wedding would be like…"
Rose wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry. "Is there more?" she asked drily once he'd trailed off.
"Oh plenty," said Albus, downing the rest of his drink. "But I think I've underestimated the two of you."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Al gave her a piercing look. "I told Scorpius that the only way we'd ever become mates again was if he promised not to see you anymore – "
"Al!" she stared at him, outraged, and was halfway out of her chair when he held up a hand to stop her.
"But he refused."
She slumped back in her seat again. "What?"
"He refused," repeated Albus. "He said that even though I was his best friend and he wanted our fight to be over, he couldn't promise not to see you again because he's in love with you."
A long silence greeted his words. Rose gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
"Of course," continued Albus with a smirk. "He also made me promise under pain of death not to repeat those words to you, but I figured he owed me one and – hey, where are you going?"
She had jumped up, her heart hammering, her brain still working to take in what he was saying. "I – I have to find him," she stammered, looking wildly around the crowd as though expecting him to be standing nearby just waiting.
"He's not here," said Albus, standing up as well. "But if you stop and let me finish, I might be kind enough to tell you where he is."
With a huge effort of will, Rose forced her eyes to stop scanning and focused back on Albus instead. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to hit him or hug him. "Go on," she ground out.
"Look," he said. "I've never known Scorpius to hold fast to a girl like he has with you. Most of the time he's never shown much attachment and if he does it doesn't last long. I guess that's why I was so worried, because I don't want to see you get hurt…but I think he's earned a chance to prove me wrong."
Rose was nodding so fast and hard her head was starting to hurt.
"You never answered my question, though," said Albus.
"What question?"
"Do you love him?"
The noise of the party around them seemed to fade into the background. Rose stared at her cousin and found herself smiling hugely. "I – I think I do…I mean, I – yes."
"Well what are you hanging around here for then?" shouted Al. "Go on, go, get lost!"
She stopped and gave him a look. "You haven't told me where he is."
Her cousin scratched his head in bemusement. "Oh, right." He fished around in his pocket and pulled out the Marauder's Map, before muttering a few words over it with his wand. Rose watched as the familiar ink diagram of Hogwarts spread upon the parchment. "Let's see…" he mumbled, scanning the page closely. "Mmm…aha!" He looked up at her and grinned.
"Tell me!" she practically whined.
He leant forward and whispered the answer in her ear.
"Thank you, oh thank you!" she squealed, throwing her arms briefly around his neck and hugging him tightly.
He pulled back with a sentimental expression on his face. "I can't believe this is really happening. You and Scorpius, I mean…"
"You're the best, Al."
"I think I need another drink," he muttered, before pushing her off in the direction of the portrait hole. "Now go."
Rose didn't need telling twice.
The climb to the Astronomy Tower left her out of breath, but this time she didn't pause on the stairs to recover her composure. Instead, she kept on going, pouring out onto the landing with her cheeks flushed and her eyes blazing. Despite the fact that she hadn't drunk anything she still felt giddy and unsteady.
"Scorpius!"
He turned, and Rose just had time to glimpse the look of acute surprise on his face before she had flung herself into his arms, heedless of the consequences or of his reaction. His warmth hit her instantly, and she made a sound of contentment at the feeling of it washing through her.
"Rose? What – " his voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you," she said, talking into his chest rather than pulling away. "I talked to Albus and – "
He stiffened. "You talked to Al?"
"Yeah."
There was a long pause. "And?"
She leant back just enough to look up at him, wondering how best to phrase what her cousin had told her.
Before she could think what to say, one side of Scorpius' mouth hitched into the ghost of a smile. "You're smiling," he said softly, lifting his hand and tweaking the corner of her mouth with his thumb.
"Am I?" She felt her grin stretch wider in response.
"Yeah. I take it that means Al's speech was good?" He seemed relaxed but she could feel the tension in his arms and shoulders.
"Very good," she whispered, leaning into him again. He exhaled loudly.
"And…could you elaborate on that a little?" He hesitated before slowly curling one of his arms around her waist, where it lay comfortably snug. "Details, perhaps?"
She bit her bottom lip and tried to fight back her blush. No way could she tell him what Albus had really said. 'Because he's in love with you.' No, she couldn't do it even if she wanted to.
"Rose?" He pulled back a little and she saw the look of unease that crossed his features.
"It was long and poetic," she said quickly, hoping to shrug it off. "But suffice to say I think he has, somewhat begrudgingly, accepted our…us," she amended awkwardly.
"Our us?" he smirked.
"Sod off." She punched him half-heartedly in the chest. He didn't even wince.
"Getting violent Weasley?" he leaned in close to her. "We can't have that."
"Oh can't we?"
He grabbed her shoulders and twisted her suddenly so that she was pinned between his body and the balustrade.
"I saw you at the Quidditch today," he practically growled.
"I saw you too."
"With Scamander."
"With Bletchley," she retorted.
Scorpius sighed. "I already told you that there's nothing going on there."
"And I already toldyou that Lorcan is gay," she snapped back, annoyed that he had chosen to ruin a perfectly romantic moment. Shouldn't he have been jumping for joy that his best friend had condoned his relationship with her? Hadn't that been the sole reason he was staying away in the first place?
His frown deepened and he brought his mouth close to hers. "He seemed pretty friendly the other night in the Entrance Hall."
"G-A-Y-" she continued as though she hadn't heard him. "As in, he bats for the other team. As in, he likes guys. As in, he's just my friend."
He stared at her for a long time before relenting with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever you tell yourself."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing." He leant in to kiss her but she turned her face to the side, now thoroughly disgruntled.
"What are you doing up here anyway?" she asked grumpily.
"Brooding."
"About what?"
"What do you think?"
This placated her a little, and she brought her eyes back to his. There were so many questions, so many issues to discuss, but for some reason she couldn't seem to care about any of them. Because he's in love with you. That was all that mattered. "I've missed you," she pouted.
He chuckled and shook his head.
"What?"
"I just never thought I'd hear those words come from your mouth," he said.
"Well, I never thought I'd hear myself say them either," she curled her arms underneath his robes and around his stomach, feeling the muscles tense beneath her touch. "But there you go."
He brought his face close and rubbed her nose gently with his own, his eyes filling her vision. "I guess we should never say never…"
"Yeah…" she murmured, barely aware of what she was saying. "Never…"
He laughed, and that was when she couldn't take it anymore. Stretching up, she kissed him before he had a chance to say anything else, snatching his laughter right out of his mouth. His lips were cold from the night air, but his mouth was warm as it opened to hers. With a muffled sigh, he wrapped both his arms around her waist, pulling her into him so possessively that she felt her heart skip a beat and her knees tremble instinctively. They leaned back together against the castle wall, their kiss slow and deep and intimate in a way that made her stomach tie itself in endless knots. There was more than just lust behind their kiss, she knew. It was a declaration of love and it was painfully, achingly sweet.
They broke for air and she moaned as he started trailing kisses down her neck. "Scorpius."
He paused, his lips lingering gently on her skin, one hand stroking the ends of her hair absent-mindedly. "What?"
She flushed when she realised she had spoken aloud. "Nothing. I…just wanted to say your name."
The look he shot her was molten, liquid silver. "Rose?"
"Mmm…" she tilted her head back, the stars above her swirling in her vision.
"Nothing."
Then his mouth recaptured hers. And this time, there were no interruptions.
A/N: naaww, cho chweet, amirite? Haha, I could end the story here, on a happy note, with rainbows and sunshine...but cause I'm sadistic and evil and I bathe in angst in my spare time, Im'a keep it rolling. Oh there's more to come my pretties. So much more...*laughs evilly*...
Ahem, where was I? Oh yeah, my exams are a-coming (cue ominous music). Means updating will be sparser. But ya never know, next chapter's almost finished, if I get enough encouragement I might just up and finish it instead of studying (nudge nudge, wink, unsubtle prod).
I cherish each and every review I receive :)
