I'm beginning to actually have the end of this drawn up in my head, instead of just typing and seeing what comes out, and I forsee an ending relatively soon.
If any of you are interested in the Hunger Games, I've finally caved and read them, discovered I liked them, and found myself so inspired that I started a new series of one-shots based on them, so please check that out.
Thank you, all of you who have given me support and encouragement on this story and others. It gives me confidence and the renewed desire to write, and I eagerly await hearing from all of you whenever you submit a review. Wherever you are, whomever you are with, and whatever you are doing, I wish you and yours a very happy and healthy New Year.
Once again, I own nothing that appears in the original Harry Potter series, this is all the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers.
Snow fell thick in the week after Halloween, a continuous, three-day blizzard that deposited so much snow on the Hogwarts grounds that, once it had stopped and the sun had reemerged, glittering fiercely off the drifts, Herbology was cancelled until Professor Longbottom could heat a clear path to the Greenhouses.
The break was a welcome one.
Scorpius looked back on that clear October morning as a one of awakening, of shaking himself from a deep stupor, and since then, he had, while still inundated with homework, been more adept at timing himself and more willing to accept an E rather than an O on every assignment.
Now, faced with the prospect of the free period that Herbology usually filled at the end of his Friday afternoon, no Quidditch for the weekend, also cancelled by the snow, and a gloriously empty weekend stretching ahead of him, he felt himself relax fully for the first time all year.
"Hello, Rose," he said cheerily when he entered the common room, intent on using the welcome break to flop onto the sofa closest to the fire and lay there, unmoving, until dinner time.
"Hello," she answered distractedly. She was sitting on his intended couch, but he draped himself over it anyway and dropped his feet into her lap. She shot him a very dirty look, and he grinned innocently.
"You'll crumple my Transfiguration essay!" She snapped, carefully removing the parchment from under his shoes.
"Why in Godric's name are you working on an essay right now?" He asked her.
"Because," she sighed sharply, "It's due on Tuesday!"
Scorpius closed his eyes and allowed his head to drop back. His mind felt blissfully blank. "It's only Friday," he mumbled.
"It's only Friday now," Rose agreed, "But before I know it, it'll be Monday and I'll be swamped."
Scorpius cracked open one eyelid. "You've skipped Saturday and Sunday."
"Well, I'm very busy."
"Doing what, exactly?" Scorpius asked her. "Because it seems to me that the teachers were merciful this week, we don't have any Herbology at all, Quidditch is cancelled, and there's nothing else to fill your weekend."
Rose's quill stilled on her page. "I'd just like to get caught up before the new week starts."
Scorpius reached one arm out and snached the parchment out of her hands without even sitting up.
"Do me a favor, Rosie, and for this weekend, at least today and tomorrow, just relax?"
"I can't possibly," said Rose automatically.
"Yes, you can," Scorpius persisted. "This is getting really ridiculous. You've barely slept since term started, and you're actually forgetting to eat. Even your mum's worried, and she's about as studious as they come."
"Right, and tell Albus to stop reporting on me," she sniffed. "But it's not as if mum ever had a seventh year, really. I mean, she was camping the whole time. And so was dad."
"Your mum came back," Scorpius pointed out.
"Fine, she did. But it wasn't the same, not as doing them all in a row." Scorpius shot her a speculative glance, and she added hastily, "At least, dad didn't come back, so he can't pretend to have any idea what Seventh Year's like. I sort of like it, doing something that they haven't done. I'm so tired of being bloody compared to them all the time."
Scorpius opened both of his eyes this time. "Is that it, then?"
"Is what it?" Rose spluttered.
"You hate being compared to your parents just because of what they did in the war. Believe me, I get that. But being the perfect student isn't going to distinguish you from them. Besides, it'll drive you barmy before this year is over. The rest of us, too."
Rose looked at her hands. "I just want to prove that I can do something, too," she said softly. "That I'm not just an extension of them. I want to prove that I'm a real witch, a good one."
"You're the best bloody student in the whole year, Rose," Scorpius said, sitting up, "Nobody's ever doubted that you're one of the brightest witches that anybody's seen in years."
"Yeah, since mum," Rose said bitterly.
"You're not your mum," Scorpius said firmly. "Never will be. Nobody wants you to be. Your family certainly doesn't want you to be. They already have one of her, what would they want another one for?"
Rose sighed, and rolled her parchment up slowly. "I just don't like being constantly compared to her in the Prophet. It's happening more and more as I grow up, the gossip pieces comparing me to her."
"Well, it's not as if the Daily Prophet has ever printed lies, have they?" Scorpius asked sarcastically. "Rose, you're being stupid, and I'm saying this as a person who loves you."
Rose looked at him shyly out of the corner of her eyes.
"Those who know you already love you for who you are. The others shouldn't matter to you. And please, don't stop studying, but this… this obsession has got to stop."
"It's not that bad!"
"Rose, I could span your waist with both of my hands."
"You have big hands."
"That's not the problem."
He held out both hands, as if to prove his statement, but she rose, blushing.
"Fine," she sighed. "I'll just drop this off in my room and be right back," she said, waving the roll of parchment and hurrying off to her room.
"Oi, Scorp!" Albus called, scrambling through the portrait hole.
"What's up?" Scorpius asked him.
"We want a snowball fight, once everybody gets out of classes," Albus said, grinning. "Elsie's still in Charms, and Lily and Hugo are stuck in the dungeons, but once they get out, I'm gonna round up as many people as want to play and start the biggest snowball fight this place has ever seen. We've got perfect packing snow. Just wanted to tell you first, spread the word!"
"What word?" Rose asked, reentering the common room.
Albus looked warily at Scorpius, as if telling Rose could get him into trouble.
"We're… going to have a snowball fight, once classes let out," he said hesitantly.
Rose grinned, obviously to his surprise. "I get Scorp on my team," she returned, "And no magic this time, Albus Severus! I'm sick of all your cheating!"
"Fine," Albus agreed hastily, looking at Scorpius again, "Um… forgive me for asking, but… are you feeling alright?"
"Never better," said Rose breezily, "Why?"
"Don't take this the wrong way," Albus said hastily, holding his hands up in front of him, "But you're not… doing homework."
"It's the weekend," Rose said airily, "I've decided to take a break."
"Cool," Albus said, relaxing visibly, "What brought about this drastic change?"
"I think it was the snow," Rose said, "It makes everything feel crisp and new, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, sure," Albus grinned, "I always forget, you're our little Christmas Rose, a winter fairy."
Rose raised her hand, as if to hit him, but he scrambled back out the portrait hole before she got the chance.
"Forget you heard that," she said threateningly to Scorpius, "Awful nickname."
"Which part," he teased, "The Christmas Rose or the winter fairy?"
She simply raised her eyebrow at him. "I wonder what's for dinner," she said, "I'm famished."
