Chapter 23. Astrid's grotto
In the end, they caught 38 pixies. It was two more than Westlock and Nott and it meant they were getting butterbeers that weekend. Scorpius lorded it over them for a solid few hours before West attacked him and they ended up wrestling in the common room for twenty minutes. It made sense that West went immediately to wrestling since his younger brother was such a hooligan, but he made the poor choice in attacking Scorpius, who was in peak physical condition.
"I concede! I concede! Get off me you lump!" he shouted, body completely trapped in Scorpius' arms and legs vice grip.
"Oh really? Giving up already?" he said. His arms were locked tight, he could feel the strain in Westlock as he tried to budge them. No chance. Sucker.
"Can't breathe fatass!"
"What, you don't run laps and lift weights in choir practices?"
"Fight me fatass."
Scorpius grinned and relaxed his grip before jumping up and away in case West decided to attack again. But he was safe. West lay panting on the floor like a starfish. Then rolled over to his stomach.
"So …" Westlock said after he was done panting. "What did you say? Meeting at the Three Broomsticks with Weasley after lunch?" said Westlock.
"Oh you missed what Nott said?" Scorpius said. "I didn't."
"Yeah well you're fatass was making hearing much harder."
Scorpius grinned evilly.
Nott waved his hand through the air to draw Westlock's attention. "Yes. I'm eating with Aubrey there beforehand. So you all can find me later. Don't come too early though," he warned.
"Not with Aubrey there," muttered Scorpius.
Nott rolled his eyes and threw a crumpled piece of paper into the fireplace. "Mhmmm, and why would that turn you away?"
"Hufflepuff," Scorpius coughed into his hand, but as Nott's look continued he amended, "I'm kidding."
"You know, you'll never meet someone nicer than a Hufflepuff," he said.
"Oh really. Have you talked to Captain Sarrasin lately? Friends sort, right?"
"Okay. She's not the nicest. But she has an ego which is a her thing, not a House thing."
"Some people are naturally assholes. There doesn't need to be any rhyme or reason to it," said West.
Nott shrugged. "You are both biased as you have ties to the Quidditch teams. You need to see her from an outside perspective. A lot of students in this school see you as an asshole with an ego as well Scorpius."
Scorpius almost jerked back in his seat. "What? How!"
"You're very absent. And then don't apologise for it. Don't really care about anyone else besides us or teammates. And even then, when is Westlock's birthday?"
Westlock went red and slunk down in his seat. Scorpius frowned. "It's in February – the 10th. Something like that."
"It's the 9th actually."
"So? I was close. Your point?"
"It was three days ago."
"What? No it's only the beginning of February."
Nott shook his head. "Incorrect. It's the 12th today. When's my birthday?"
He ran his hand through his hair, moving the longer strands out of his eyes. "Okay. I know this one. It's November 29th."
"And what did we do for it?"
"Had butterbeers at Hogsmeade. Kept it simple."
"That's what we did last year. What did we do this year?"
Scorpius blinked. He was sure they went to Hogsmeade … What the hell even happened in November?
"Let me remind you … you had a Quidditch match that day ergo it wasn't my birthday and nothing else mattered."
"Geez. Well, I'm sorry …" Shit. He felt rather crappy. Maybe he'd buy them chocolates this weekend to make up for it.
Nott didn't seem to be done though. "And what happened this morning?"
"What do you mean?"
"When you ran into those little Slytherins?" Merlin, when did he run into the Slytherins?
"I'm headed to bed," he said and abruptly stood up. He did not run into Slytherins, this was insane. He was not an asshole.
"You knocked the three of them over when you were carrying your broom and swung it wide." Nott said to his back, voice picking up over the murmurs of the Ravenclaws. "I'm just stating the obvious. Though not to you because you don't notice anything around you."
Scorpius scowled the whole way up to his dorm and throughout getting ready for bed. It wasn't like he purposely forgot about his friends' birthdays, or knocked down students. It was … busy today. It was like Nott didn't realise all the stress he was under this year so far. All the chaos that had happened and was happening. The Boggart that had been picking away at his soul since Defence class.
Or maybe he was a terrible friend.
He was still scowling as he shut the curtains tight and crawled into his bed. He had an old homemade comforter from his grandparents and he pulled it up tight to his chin. It wasn't easy falling asleep.
It was a weird dynamic the next few days between him and Weasley. She seemed to be avoiding him – though he caught her gaze a few times. She was insane during their Quidditch practices. Continuously she lapped him during their daily run, did more push-ups than him, jumped higher than him, did everything better than him. It was as if she couldn't feel pain or tiredness. She seemed driven, but for what he couldn't say. She dove for the Snitch at very dangerous angles on her broom and got yelled at by Nadir.
It was annoying to not be able to ask and see if she was okay. They weren't friends. He was sure the physicality of it all was how she was managing – sheer will of pushing the human body – but she offered nothing, said nothing, and kept a far distance from him.
Until Friday. Seven days later.
She delivered the seventh task to him in person Friday morning at breakfast after skipping all day Thursday. "Meeting at Astrid's grotto tonight at 7 pm."
"Who's Astrid?" he asked.
Her face was blank, but there was a minute raising of the left eyebrow and a small nostril flare. Maybe. "Well, you'll have to figure that one out soon, won't you?"
As expected. She would not be forthcoming. He was sure he'd heard the name Astrid before. Where Tony Sprocket had been a complete rando, at least the name was somewhat familiar this time even if he couldn't put a name to the face.
He went to the Owlery to send a letter to his mother. He ran into Gebhart on his way down, luckily enough. "Little one! I have a question for you. Do you know an Astrid?"
The look on her face could only be described as utter disbelief – as if she had been clubbed across the face. Her friends were giggling behind their hands. Scorpius stood there shuffling foot to foot. He shouldn't be intimidated by second-years, but dammit he felt like he was missing something obvious.
"I don't really want to answer that," Gebhart finally said. "So this has something to do with Rose hey?"
"How do you know that?"
Gebhart shrugged, staying cryptic. "She's your friend. Basically everything you do now involves her."
Scorpius made a face. They weren't friends. She'd been clear on that. But Gebhart didn't need to know his weird life and how messed up it was.
"So. Do you know?"
She made a face again and looked at her two giggling friends. "Hmm. No. Though I do recall hearing of an Astrid in Ravenclaw maybe."
So that was a lead at least. Gebhart started staring weirdly at Scorpius and he felt a little weirded out by it. What was up with her?
"Ok. Thanks. I'm going to go thatta way." He gestured away and snuck around the group before heading back out into winter. What weirdos.
He had taken ten steps away when it clicked. "Wait …" he turned around. "YOU'RE ASTRID!" he yelled to the Owlery. Yes, YES! Potentially an embarrassing situation averted! He raced back inside and sprinted up the stairs.
"You're Astrid, Gebhart," he said with a grin. "Can't believe I forgot!"
"Took you long enough Malfoy." She attached a letter to a dishevelled owl and it took off. Her friend seemed to be having a harder time calling an owl over – a brown one kept coming to her hand, pecking at her thumb and then flying off.
"So what's Astrid's grotto? What did Rose mean?"
"Just an evening of cooking in the kitchens – 'the grotto' as I call it on occasion I guess. I go there once every few weeks to play around with ingredients and make a few things. It's pretty chill. Come with an empty stomach. There will be lots of food."
"Okay. And tip for your friend –" he pulled out some food from his pocket to put in her hand. "They like bits of dried sausage. There'll be much less pecking and moodiness from these owls with some food."
She nodded her thanks and then Scorpius left again, feeling much more successful.
He made it to the entrance to the school when someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey you dropped this."
Scorpius turned and had his hand out without really thinking. Something warm went into his gloved hand and then he registered that it was Brawns and Shufen from Hufflepuff AND that there was actual shit in his hand.
"What the fuck," he flung it off at them without really thinking and it splattered across the front of their jackets, some going on Shufen's surprised face.
"You bloody idiot," Brawns said in disgust and pulled out his wand. Scorpius wasn't sure if he was going to vanish the shit or attack him so mirrored the movements.
"What did you expect, that I'd hold it dumbass?"
And that was all it took for a duel to commence right at the doorstep to the school.
It was the Head Boy and Girl (Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively) that came across them only three spells in when some screaming students tried to run into the school from outside. Shufen might have gotten one of them with a jinx, but Scorpius hadn't looked long enough to tell.
Detention. Saturday night.
At least Brawns and Shufen got detention for Sunday night, and there was no favouritism.
Scorpius had to go take a shower again. He felt disgusting and he was sure he smelled. He wanted to throw away his glove and remove the top layer of skin from his hand.
He settled for soap.
He was a bit late meeting Jazz in the library during their free period, but she barely noticed. It also took him a solid five minutes to find her amongst the aisles. She was decently hidden compared to the open areas they usually worked.
He sighed heavily and put his head on his hand as he sat down. Jazz barely flinched.
He gave another sign and switched hands.
Jazz gave a loud huff and put her head in her hands, her ponytail swinging to the side. Scorpius was appalled. "Jaaaaazz, did you make fun of me?" he whined.
She rolled her eyes. "No. Okay. Slightly. What's up? Why are you being so … you?"
He glared at her. "Brawns and Shufen just put a literal piece of shit in my hands."
"What!"
"I wasn't really paying attention and he passed it to me. So then I threw it at him. And then we had a duel at the entrance of the school. And guess who has detention tomorrow night now?"
Jazz had the weirdest look on her face. It was a mix of disbelief and astonishment. "You … You're telling the truth now, aren't you? That's really the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day. Week. Maybe even year."
Scorpius held his palm towards her and she visibly pushed back from the table and away from him. "Smell," he said.
She waved her hands in front of her face to signify no. "I believe you, okay! Get your icky hand out of here. Abdul won't be impressed about the detention."
"I know. But what can I do? I didn't instigate it!"
"You're an easy target unfortunately."
They both got to work on homework, very briefly asking each other questions as needed, though they didn't have many.
A throat cleared behind Scorpius and it registered in a distant part of his mind. Jazz kicked his leg and he looked up in surprise at her. She gestured behind him and he almost couldn't believe Weasley was standing there. She looked – plain. Her normal self. So why was she here? Suddenly she was not going to avoid him?
"Can I join?" she asked quietly. She was holding a few books in her hand. Scorpius shrugged. Whatever. It's not like they were friends. She could do whatever she wanted really. They had a free chair at their table.
"Absolutely," said Jazz. "What are you working on?"
"Transfiguration essay Bagtrot wants completed next week on human transfiguration."
Jazz perked up. "Lucky. I found that topic super interesting when I was your age."
"Like last year? You're barely older than we are," said Scorpius.
"When I look at your maturity level, it's a difference," she said sassily with a grin. "Just kidding Scorp, don't blow your gasket."
"I think you'd be a wasp if you were to become an animagus," he said back with a sniff. He heard a soft laugh from Weasley.
"You'd be a dung beetle."
Shots fired. "Unfair."
"Not my fault you have a perchance for poo."
"Not my fault indeed!"
Weasley looked curiously back and forth between them and Scorpius took mercy on her and explained the situation and his detention. It meant he'd have to duck back from Hogsmeade early. It wasn't terrible, just super shitty for basically his first day off in forever that happened to coincide on a Hogsmeade weekend.
They all parted ways after the free period, with Scorpius headed to Muggle Studies and Weasley headed to Ancient Runes.
Potter's smiling face was awaiting him.
"You have too much joy for a Friday afternoon," Scorpius said for a greeting.
"Maybe you don't have enough."
"I'm jaded by life," he groaned in response. "This cruel, cruel life."
"Suck it up princess, you're only 16."
"That's a terrible response if I actually was depressed right now."
Potter nodded seriously. "Yes, that's true. Okay. Life's tough sometimes. Are you doing okay?"
That was too much now. He couldn't handle kindness. Maybe he needed to get into another fight. He couldn't deny his adrenaline was pumping with his minor skirmish with Brawns earlier in the morning. Bloody hell, why weren't duels socially acceptable? … When was the next Quidditch practice!
"Okay whatever I'm fine. I was being a 'drama queen' or whatever. Anyway. Why are you so smiley?"
"Well I've completed 97 different interviews so far and I have two leads."
"Uh. That's it?"
"I say 97 interviews and you saw that's it? Two leads! They're promising so far … Oh, class is started. I'll update you later this week."
Two leads was almost nothing. That was sad. And disappointing. Potter didn't say much after class either, just zoomed off to his next class.
The rest of the day was a blur and Scorpius found himself skipping supper, aware that he had agreed to a baking lesson or whatever with Weasley. What a fun Friday night. Literally could not think of anything better to do. Not.
Regardless of not keeping the challenges an outright secret, he still didn't tell Westlock and Nott where he was and what he was doing. They were cajoling him to join in the party they were going to later in the evening, but dammit, Scorpius had made a promise to Cap.
Maybe he'd blow it off early and meet with them later.
He got the scare of his life when he was walking to the kitchens and Weasley materialised next to him.
"FUCK! WHY and HOW do you appear out of NOWHERE!" he all but yelled when he landed back on Earth from jumping out of his bones.
"I don't appear out of nowhere. You're not the most observant when you're in deep thought."
"Aiigigghhhhh. Am I always in deep thought then?" he exclaimed.
She shrugged and offered her right-sided smile. "Yes." After tickling the pear, they entered the kitchens to an assault of smells and warmth. She looked very comfy, wearing baggy trousers and a jumper. He rather wished he would have put on something more casual. He was still in his school uniform since he didn't want to trek all the way back to the dorm for a change of clothes. He ended up pulling off his tie as he walked through the door.
House elves galore were wandering around and cleaning up in the post-supper phase. Three of them came up and greeted them but Weasley passed on all offers of food and drink. They wandered to the corner of the kitchen where Gebhart and Sprocket were both laughing like hyenas with flour all over their faces.
Gebhart started banging a wooden spoon against a pot. "They've made it! Welcome, welcome Scorpius to your first ever cooking lesson with the one, the only, Astrid!" She stopped banging and picked up some flour in her hand. "First of all, you're going to get messy so let's get over your reservations of that." She then proceeded to chuck the flour directly at Scorpius. He stood there in disbelief and wiped flour off his face, trying to blink it out of his eyes without smearing it in.
She was smiling ear to ear. "Okay! Initiation over, you can take your place. We're making cupcakes and pie and cake and whatever else comes to mind."
In the end, it turned into a pretty chill evening, as promised.
Scorpius, not really one to spend much time in the kitchens, found that cooking was very similar to Potions in many ways, and at its most basic it was following written instructions.
The only reason why he didn't enjoy it very much was because he didn't know any of the ingredients very well. With Potions he did a lot of external research on individual plants to understand their properties – but he knew next to nothing about baking. He was starting from nothing to understand what the differences were between baking soda and baking powder. And how did cornstarch actually thicken liquids? What was the difference between cornstarch and flour?
There were many parallels between the two disciplines. And he felt a little more appreciation for Potions class and his current state of knowledge. He could see it in the way Gebhart went around to everyone, "Scorpius you need a touch more salt added," "Rose, rhubarb and lemon are super tart – at least add an iota of sugar to balance it out and make this palatable," "Tony … Tonnny, Tonnnnny … what on earth are you making? This tastes like vinegar?"
He was a bit of a perfectionist and tried a second batch of muffins after his first one. Regardless of what anyone said it tasted slightly off to him. It wasn't until the third batch, changing a few minuscule proportions in the same recipe that he was happy.
He actually enjoyed cooking. Much more than he thought. He wasn't sure if it was the atmosphere, the company, or the parallels to Potions.
As the night went on, he witnessed Tony trying to get some of the House Elves that were watching them to sing a kitchen song with him. He also witnessed Gebhart running full tilt across the kitchen because she forgot about her pie in the oven and then slipping on water and sliding right into a bin of cabbages, causing them all to tumble to the floor.
With a little wizard and house elf magic, things were cleaned up in no time. At midnight, Sprocket and Gebhart were playing Gobstones again and Scorpius went to sit beside Rose who was perched on the top of the table, hands clasped between her knees and vaguely watching the game. He sat beside her, leaning back on his hands. Sprocket was so good at Gobstones it almost wasn't fair to Gebhart. Yet she was smiling the whole time. Scorpius had the sudden thought that if he ever had kids, he would want them to be like Sprocket and Gebhart. Happy, passionate, and easy going.
She really didn't fit the name Gebhart … Astrid sounded better. And he decided henceforth that she was Astrid to him. Astrid and Sprocket. He liked the combo.
He looked at the mystery beside him.
"What do you enjoy Rose Weasley?"
Her hands moved to under her chin, with her elbows resting on her knees and she turned vaguely to look at him. "Making people happy."
"What makes you happy?"
"Other people being happy." He could see her mouth so could tell that she was teasing him. He waited. Astrid got a few more squirts of ink to her face. Sometimes answers didn't need to be said within a timeframe. There was no rush; Astrid would hold her own for at least another fifteen minutes.
"Freedom from eyes, ears, and words," she said. "Space … Time."
"Since when did you become such a … such an idealist?"
She gave a right-sided grin. "Because I enjoy being vague to annoy you."
"See, there's something you enjoy! I'm glad my pain gives you joy."
"Now who's being dramatic?"
"Just returning the sentiment."
"What makes you happy then?"
That was easy. "Quidditch."
"Too easy. What else?"
"Potions, I guess."
"Still too easy. What is it about those that make you happy?"
Now that was a good question. "I'd say … the freedom … from eyes, ears, and words. Okay, just kidding. Let me think a second." And Scorpius then took his time to come up with a more acceptable answer. Sprocket got a spray of ink to his face in a surprising move by Astrid. They both cracked up again.
"I would say … both can mentally focus me. When doing Quidditch or making a Potion, literally nothing else exists and nobody could take away the importance because I know the objective of both and I know the victory … The satisfaction after endless practices and working hard for Quidditch; the mental power and concentration to keep a potion on track. It's about formulas – but not easy formulas. About the endless struggle and then sometimes when it works out – whether you've given it everything on the field or tried something new in Potions – the sweet victory after."
She pondered that for a moment and then leaned back as well, mirroring Scorpius's position. "Is life still worth living if there are no victories?"
He frowned. "All life is worth living, regardless of the victories. It's that the victories pass the time quicker."
"Should the time pass quickly?"
"Okay ... fair. No. I don't know. I guess for some people they want life to pass quickly. But it should pass exactly how you want it to. As long as you feel fulfilled, content, and satisfied. And happy."
A slow nod. "I agree."
"I guess this year is really testing ... my base philosophies. We've only won one game and and it's already mid-February. The season isn't over by any means but there's much less of that satisfying victory feeling. I miss it. And maybe starting to look elsewhere for it."
"That's not a bad thing I'd say."
"Not sure. I fear that if I'm not as serious as I could be, I won't make it to the professional league. And if I don't make it there, what am I going to do?"
She gave a right-sided smile. "I think that places you in the same category with all the rest of us who don't know what to do after Hogwarts."
After the Gobstones game they all snuck back to the Towers with stomachs full. It was an enjoyable night. And the cherry on the top of it was that Weasley was with them the whole journey back. No going in opposite directions, no staying out at all hours of the night or whatever she did. Just plain came back to the dorm room with them like a normal human being.