Chapter 21. Where Scorpius learns the hard way to not underestimate the women in his life

It was Saturday. It had been a late morning with no Quidditch practice (for once) so he and Westlock missed breakfast and waited until lunchtime to eat a square meal. Scorpius was starved. As soon as 11:30 hit he was at the Great Hall, sitting down at the bench, and already munching on a cheddar scone.

"A life without the simple pleasures of chocolate is not a life worth living," Westlock said happily as he ate a brownie first off.

"No – cheese."

"Desserts mate. It's all about the excess sugar."

Two large thumps jolted Scorpius out of his initial scone enjoyment and it fell to the plate in surprise. It was Weasley and Gebhart sitting across from the two of them.

"Do you even go here anymore?" Scorpius said, annoyed. He used the break from his scone to pour some tea. Weasley had skipped a whole week's worth of classes, so he was a little surprised to see her sitting here now. He thought she had skipped the country at this point for she had also missed a weeks' worth of Quidditch practices even though usually when she skipped school she still came to practice. She looked a little ragged and homeless right now, but that really wasn't Scorpius' concern. It was almost like the norm so it wasn't quite worth the insult.

She chose to ignore his comment and the deadpanned look he was trying to portray with the question of where the fuck have you been. At least, that's what he hoped his face portrayed – for all he knew he may have looked like a demented duck.

"Rate your hunger right now from one to ten," she asked him.

"Dragon."

She grinned, the left corner of her mouth raising sneakily. "The sixth challenge commences then. Let's have a food eating contest. Astrid wants in as well."

His stomach growled involuntarily causing her grin to be more pronounced. It was almost – evil – if that could be used to describe it. Her grin wasn't the usual right-side-slightly-raised because of something humourous, or the new left-side-slightly-raised-mischievousness. It was higher than that. Evil was the only middle ground there. It was like she was about to unleash this master plan and he was about to fall victim to it. He was so friggen hungry though - it was game on and she stood no chance.

"Oi! Me too!" Westlock said, already on his second brownie. A chunk of it landed on Scorpius's arm that was resting on the table.

He brushed it off. "What joy. We can all overindulge together. What are the rules?"

Weasley reached to a platter of sandwiches and pulled it to the centre of the group so it was easy access for all. They all looked freshly made and ranged from pulled pork to roasted vegetable and feta. "We'll do this by sandwiches. It's pretty simple. Just eat as many sandwiches as you can before lunch ends or tap out because you're full."

"It's not a race, we have over an hour," added Gebhart in her small voice with her glasses falling down her nose. Scorpius almost laughed at her competing. She was so small. But then Weasley was too in a sense; she was tall and lean. They were much smaller than him and West by far.

Yet they both had this ferocious look to them.

It was at the moment when he looked back and forth between them that Scorpius had an inkling maybe this would end a little differently than he imagined it would. Westlock didn't quite notice the same, judging by how incredulous he looked as his gaze travelled between the girls and then to Scorpius.

"Hey – we've both started eating already though. Unfair advantage," Scorpius said.

Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed a scone, polishing it off in two bites. "Happy now?" Gebhart went for a brownie. Scorpius's stomach growled again.

"Yeeeeeees. Okay. Well, it's 11:35. Let's get started." And then they all reached and grabbed sandwiches. Scorpius went for the ham and cheese first, starting simple and not as filling. Despite it not 'being a race' he still felt the need to consume fast. This was a competition. His next sandwich was a tomato caprese. Quite good, but the roll was a little too chewy. They were all keeping a steady pace so far, no one outcompeting the rest and all staying sandwich for sandwich. By the seventh though, there was a shift. Westlock groaned.

"My pants are getting tight," he said and shifted his position in the seat. He grabbed one more.

By the tenth. Scorpius was starting to feel a little stuffed. Too stuffed. They were probably past half an hour of steady fast eating. He took a sip of water and that was all it took for Weasley and Gebhart to get one sandwich ahead. Both still going strong and showing no signs of weakness.

Nott and Gold came and left. Ravenclaws stayed and watched for a little before heading off to more exciting things. Nadir and Jazz watched them for a few sandwiches, telling the boys all their money was on Weasley and Gebhart.

Weasley even had the audacity to eat a brownie at sandwich thirteen. "Not part of the count. Just need a sugar booster." She poured herself a cup of tea, stood up, and did a quick stretch. Scorpius caught up to her in count. His stomach was feeling very tight. Gebhart also seemed to take a mini break with Weasley, drinking half a glass of water (what a waste of valuable stomach space). Westlock had 9, Weasley 13, Gebhart 14, and Scorpius 13.

Westlock finally tapped out after complaining about sandwich number nine for a solid five minutes. He wasn't able to finish the last bite. "How do you all still have space in your stomachs? This is crazy. You're all nuts." He leaned back on the bench, laying horizontally and put his feet up on Scorpius's lap. Scorpius pushed them off instantly.

"Mate, you're compressing my vital organs. Need space."

"Someone is going to have to roll me away from here. Help."

Rennings, Melody, and Emmanuelle came by when they were all at 16 sandwiches as Weasley was reaching for the next.

"Merlin Rose, you're having more food you bloody animal?" Rennings exclaimed loudly. Emmanuelle sniffed with her nose in the air, very unimpressed. Melody seemed to not really notice, waving instead to some Slytherins who were watching with interest and seemed to have a betting pool going.

Gebhart kicked in. "Food competition. We're all bloody animals right now."

Scorpius and Weasley both looked at her stunned. What guts this youngster had to say such a comment to a sixth-year. Gebhart flashed her teeth, a piece of spinach stuck in them, and showed some sharp looking canines. Rennings also seemed a little startled and instead of replying she huffed and moved down the table. Gebhart gave an ominous giggle and went on eating.

It was very sudden when she tapped out. She was showing no signs of weakness but after the 18th sandwich, she drank another half glass of water and then stood up. "This is my limit. You both are worthy competitors, but I'm tapping out. Still need to be functional today," – as Westlock groaned for five seconds, still lying on the bench – "I'll see you lot later."

What spunk! He still had a hard time believing what happened as she walked away. There was no way her stomach could hold that much mass and volume. She was bloody twelve years old.

He was so stuffed. He finished 19, but then had to put his head down on the table. This was a lot. Too much.

"How are you doing there?" Weasley said happily. This was 21 for her? Merlin who cared, he was in pain.

"How many stomachs do you have?"

"More than you apparently. Is this it for you?"

He lifted himself up to only go back down. "No… Yes… No. Fuck… I'm … pain. I'm … out."

"Perfect. You did much better than what I thought, I must say. I thought you'd tap out before Astrid."

"Couldn't – she's only a second-year."

"She's made of more than you'd think." Scorpius lifted his head up to see Weasley looking at her watch. "Well, it's been an hour. I'm going to go for a change of scenery and take some food outside."

Scorpius watched in utter amazement as she grabbed four more sandwiches and a handful of brownies and scones to stuff in a paper bag. She picked up another for her hand and took a bite. It was for show. It had to be.

"This was fun. Maybe next time you'll last longer. Stay tuned for the next task per Abdul's instruction. Maybe it won't be quite so painful for you. Maybe it will." She grinned in that new evil way again and then bid the two boys adieu.

She wasn't human. Holy shit.

"Scorp, mate, I need help," Westlock said. He still hadn't moved, legs and arms splayed on either side of the bench as his back was laying against it. "Can't move."

"Not doing so hot either West. I think we were royally beaten. How the hell did they eat so much? I can't function."

"Mate, don't try and understand women ever. Much too complex."

He was going to go have a nap. Too much. It was way too much.

Because of the food contest, Saturday was basically a write off for him. He couldn't. They didn't eat supper at all – but by ten in the evening, life was a little better. He heard rumour through the grape vine (aka he deliberately asked Nott) that Weasley AND Gebhart both showed up for supper and ate a perfectly normal meal and proportions. He couldn't. That was insane.

The rest of the weekend was quiet and filled with homework: sitting around the Ravenclaw fire Saturday night after he had recovered, drinking butterbeer, firewhisky, and playing card games, joining Jazz and Nadir in the library to do some history on Sunday morning, and annoying Nott and Westlock enough that they joined him in the library in the afternoon so he could be distracted while he did research on his Muggle Studies project.

He ran into Cass and Julie in the corridor when he was on the way to Quidditch. Cass gave a tame, friendly wave. Her friend outright hissed at him. Cass rolled her eyes.

Scorpius gave an awkward, "So I gotta run to Quidditch." And zoomed out of there. He internally smacked himself in the head afterward. Why did he say Quidditch? Any other excuse would have been better.

In History class he sat next to Potter. A rather uncharacteristic move on his part and Potter seemed a little surprised. They rarely worked together in classes.

"Did you see the catch?" Scorpius asked quietly.

Of course Potter knew what he was talking about. "A weird angle of it."

"What are your thoughts?"

"I haven't given it much thought to be honest. Freak accidents? Something similar happened to Harper from the Cannons three years ago during the World Cup when the Bludger went through the stands."

Scorpius shook his head. "No. It was more than that."

Potter looked only mildly interested. He turned to the front. "Oh? What are your thoughts then?"

"Sabotage." He waited for Potter to look at him once more. "She was about to grab it. Her eyes lit up and her arm started to move – but it was stopped. As if someone shot a freezing spell at her for a second."

"That's quite an allegation."

"I know what I saw. Talk to your cousin. She was immobile. Couldn't move. It wasn't natural."

The frown on Potter's face deepened. He was a rather serious young lad when he was on his own or talking about Quidditch, which was one of the things Scorpius liked about him. Whereas Westlock and Nott would both write him off as loony, Scorpius knew Potter would look into this.

There was a one month break between Quidditch games so everything became quiet. They reduced the amount of practices because the weather took a miserable cold spin again and it was unbearable to be outside for extended periods of time. Nadir also said he was afraid of his players 'burning out,' so Scorpius had way too much time on his hands. He read numerous Quidditch books, working his way through the back shelf in the library. He tried to show Weasley some good chapters on Seekers but she seemed rather disinterested and ignored him. She was neck deep in homework, working constantly. She was acting weird – she was actually going to classes now. For whatever reason.

And that caused Scorpius to speculate a whole bunch of random reasons with Nott and Westlock about why she missed so much school.

"She's a terrible student. Doesn't care," Nott said.

"Seems like it," agreed Scorpius. "Or maybe she has an illegal pet in the Forbidden Forest."

Westlock perked up. "I've seen her going in and out of the forest a few times by herself."

"Maybe she has an illness?" was the next suggestion of Nott's.

"Possibly. But it's so sporadic. Like she missed all last week of school, but then shows up to class for two months straight, or skips one class of one day." Scorpius said. "There is absolutely no pattern. Seems somewhat unlikely."

"That's exactly how illnesses work!"

"I mean, maybe there is a pattern for it that we don't see?" said Westlock.

"Please, every new moon phase she sprouts a fungus on her foot? Or, what, if Jupiter and Mars are aligned on a day that a hippogriff steps on a toadstool she contracts a virus? If it's a north wind then she gets a case of spattergroit?" said Scorpius, laughing.

"Maybe she's a werewolf? Or one of those half animal creatures – maledictus? Or an animagus? Maybe she spends half her time as like a bird or something because she can't stand humans," Westlock said. "We all know she doesn't like being around people."

Nott perked up in a seemingly eureka moment. "Guys. Guys. We didn't think of the obvious. She has a child! That would explain why it's so sporadic."

They all stopped for a second, stunned. "Merlin. She's 16," Scorpius said.

"Most females start menstruating much younger than 16," Nott said. Westlock made a face.

"That would be the worlds best kept secret. Who the hell do you think could be the father? I don't think she's even dated anyone at school?"

"Definitely hasn't. She did party a lot last year though apparently," said Scorpius.

"You could always ask Rennings and her posy. They all probably know," he said. "They've been friends since first-year."

That was a point. But Scorpius didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he wanted to know. At least Rennings was more tolerable now. Most of the time. There was still some indescribable rift between Rennings and Weasley. Asking Rennings about Weasley behind her back seemed to be crossing a boundary from which there was no return.

After the food eating contest, it seemed like Gebhart and Weasley were a little inseparable. They joined Sprocket on a few occasions in the Great Hall, eating meals over at the Gryffindor table and playing Gobstones. Weasley also ran with her for a few laps during training instead of zooming ahead like a gazelle right at the start and making them all look like unathletic toads. Now, she subjugated herself to a toad-like pace for a few laps before taking off.

Just a weird thing to bond over – the ability to consume large amounts of food.

Whatever.

The second week Rose was back in classes was the week they got new class projects in Defence and Charms and the week that Rennings made her final stand.

Professor Lavallee was organizing everyone into groups at the beginning of class. "Scorpius and Connor, yes you two are allowed to work together this time. Umm we'll have Emmanuelle and Melody – yes, I know all of you guys are friends. This is supposed to be a fun assignment! Don't act like you've never worked together everyone." There was minor shuffling around of students as everyone started to change seats – though true to her word, Professor Lavallee paired up most friends so there wasn't that much shuffling. "Then Fezz and Ella, and lastly Dakota and Rose. One person from each group please come up and pick a – uh, yes Dakota?"

Rennings smoothed her hands down her front as she stood up. "Rose and I always work together. I would like a different partner for this assignment. One that is more present emotionally and physically."

Scorpius's eyes (and surely the whole classes) shot to Weasley sitting in the top row. She was leaning backwards on her chair, not seeming to care about what was unfolding. She leaned back further, one foot on the desk in front of her, and pushed her face into shadows.

Professor Lavallee seemed flummoxed. "Errr. That. Yes. Well …" She looked around the room at a loss for words. The silence was beginning to become awkward and clearly Lavallee didn't know how to handle it. This can't have been the most awkward incident to have happened in her three years of teaching so far. Yet she was flailing.

"I can partner with Rose," Scorpius said suddenly. Nott kicked him under the table, hard.

"Hey what the hell?" he whispered, pinching Nott and twisting the skin on his arm for the kick. Nott grabbed Scorpius's skin and twisted hard as well in retaliation. Scorpius was sweating he was in pain. But he would not. Let. Go.

"We're never together asshole!" Nott hissed. "I don't want to go with Rennings."

"Enough!" shouted Lavallee. For such a tall teacher she had a weak voice. Both he and Nott let go of twisting each other's skin. "Stop fighting like twelve year olds. Scorpius see me after class. Scorpius and Rose will pair up. We'll have two groups of three – Dakota please join Emmanuelle and Melody; Connor you'll go with Bryan and Nathan."

Nott still shot him a glare. "When are you going to get over this obsession with Weasley? She doesn't care about you. She cares about nobody but herself."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. It was not an obsession. She was a teammate.

However, he wasn't expecting outright hostility from Weasley when he got to her.

"You're not doing me any favours. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you volunteering to be partners with me? Like fuck off."

Ouch. "Umm. Because we are on the same Quidditch team. Who else in this class will put up with you missing class all the time?"

She snorted. "Like you tolerate it?

"I don't know. Don't make me think too hard or I'll regret it."

She snorted again, softer this time as if in disbelief. "You're going to regret it and I won't even apologise. You're rather stupid sometimes, I swear. Just because we're teammates does not mean we're friends or should do school together."

Scorpius felt a little bit overwhelmed. And sat down hard in his seat. "Ouch. Well, I'm sorry I offended you by volunteering to be your partner in the dead of silence of the class when everyone was looking at you. I should have let everyone stare longer and the Professor stumble and not know what to do. Fuck off yourself."

She breathed in and out loudly. Scorpius wanted to hear a thank you but – nothing. And yet – that was it? Why was she so – her? Why was she so angry at him? So blank at everything and the world?

He stayed after class since Lavallee had seemed so insistent earlier. What transpired was then the weirdest spiel he'd ever heard from a professor about a fellow student. It was as if Weasley were a complete mental case.

"If you would like to set regular check-ins we can do that, to … ensure … everyone … is contributing to the project. I don't want you both to fall behind if the work isn't being done. If any problems arise, come talk to me and we can sort it out. Don't wait and let it build." Scorpius gave a hesitant nod in response.

It really felt shady, especially since this was all behind Weasley's back.

He got a weird thought in the back of his mind that this stemmed from the fact that she might have used a memory charm on a student … and it was a safety concern? He didn't let him mind go down that rabbit hole.

The conversation with Professor Lavallee didn't quite seem right and he'd never experienced anything like it before.

He showed up in the nick of time to Charms class, which proved to be just as fun. Rennings pulled her same shit again – arguing she didn't want to work with Weasley any more when they had to break up in pairs. Professor Flitwick handled it better and said there would be no switching and Rennings could talk to him after class if needed – then moved on.

"And this is why I skip class so much," muttered Weasley to Scorpius when they happened to walk out of the class together at the same time.

"You're still coming to Care of Magical Creatures though right?" he asked. It was their last class of the day.

"Yes. I suppose. No Dakota there."

And it was now or never – he would never get a better opportunity to start fishing for answers. "What happened between you two? You seemed to be the best of friends for years?"

Her face closed in on itself and she gave him a quick, searching glance. "Apparently there's an expiry date on friendships. She's decided she doesn't like secrets that don't give her power."

Scorpius struggled to keep his mouth from dropping. "That was cryptic."

Weasley gave a sly, helpless grin (left side of her mouth slightly raised, eyes dark). "I know. But is it worse to not know anything or worse to know there's something to know?" She stopped abruptly. "God I'm being so blasé – pretend I said nothing, please. That was dumb." She turned around, her helmet going with her. "I'll see you at the bottom of the hill."

One step forward, five steps back.