The Ball is Here! Happy Christmas Eva everyone.
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Now on to the chapter!
Chapter 20
The Ball Part 1
December 20th Friday
~oOo~
Scorpius looked up from his book to glance at his watch for the thousandth time. It was only four in the afternoon, no point getting ready for the ball yet. He threw his book haphazardly to the side and stood. He began to pace around his dorm. Rose had abandoned him at noon to start getting ready for the ball. Scorpius had jokingly asked what could possibly take them eight hours. She had laughed, "it will take half that time for all the hair potion to set."
So here he was, all by himself counting the hours until the ball. And counting the hours until he talked to Rose. Scorpius ran a hand through his hair. It had to be tonight, he had put it off far too long. He had rehearsed what he would say all week, so much so that he was surprised that it hadn't spilled over into his shared thoughts with her. Maybe he had hidden this secret so deep down it was impossible for her to detect. But he was done with that now, he was going to tell her tonight, no matter what.
Before they were surrounded by all their family. Maybe her parents wouldn't notice, but his would figure it out. Father would give him a knowing smile and probably spout unneeded advice. Mother would sit him down and grill him until he admitted all. It would be embarrassing, especially in front of Rose. And Scorpius didn't want to tell his parents his secret before he told her. She deserved to be the first one he told.
Just the thought of it though made his hands clammy and heart beat hard in his chest. He had tried to imagine Rose's response a thousand times. Everyone seemed to think there was something more between them, and her friends seemed to think it would be better to tell Rose the truth. But Scorpius was privy to Rose's internal thoughts, so he knew they were very conflicted. And he could still hear loud and clear Rose's "we're just friends" speech. She had been surprising him lately with her reactions to things, but this was one thing he was sure she wouldn't take well. Or maybe she would surprise him again. He just didn't know.
Scorpius stopped his pacing in front of the fire. This was driving him insane. He needed a distraction.
As if on cue there was suddenly a loud almost frantic knocking on the door, "Hey Scorp, it's Al. You there?"
Scorpius frowned at the door for a moment before walking over. Upon opening it Scorpius saw a very winded and panicked looking Ablus. Scorpius sidestepped as his friend quickly rushed in and pushed the door shut behind him.
Albus leaned up against the door for a moment and closed his eyes. Scorpius raised an eyebrow as Albus clutched at his chest, trying to catch his breath, wheezing as he stood there.
"Sorry to barge in on you like that," Albus breathed. He shifted and wouldn't look at Scorpius, "I was trying to avoid…"
His voice trailed off as if he wouldn't finish the thought. Scorpius just stared at him not sure what to say. Albus had avoided him for weeks and suddenly he appears in his room. What could he want? Was he going to yell at him again?
Scorpius noted Al's dress robes in his arms. Confused he asked, "aren't we getting ready with the other Gremlin guys?"
Albus swallowed hard and looked at the floor, running his hand through his hair, "could we just get ready here instead?"
The frown on Scorpius's face intensified. He was about to ask questions when Albus glanced at him quickly, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking away again. But in that moment Scorpius saw the pleading look on his friends face and he knew he couldn't say no.
Scorpius nodded. "Sure," he said as he walked over and flopped down on the couch gesturing for Al to sit down, "but it's too soon to get ready."
Albus flopped down next to him, a sudden spark forming in his eyes. Quickly he swung his bag from his shoulder and with Scorpius looking on sceptically, dug around for a moment before pulling out a long roll of aged and burnt parchment.
"That's why I brought this, so we can make the final adjustments." Albus gingerly unwrapped the parchment and before he had even laid eyes on the words Scorpius knew it was the project the Gremlins had been working on for the Ball.
Now Scorpius was suspicious, that project had last been in James's possession from what he understood and James would not just hand things over of this magnitude to Albus.
"Wasn't James and Fred making the last adjustments to it?"
Albus fussed with the package, "Umm, James is too… Busy… I thought maybe we could work on it instead."
When he just stared at him Albus continued guiltily, "I'll give it back to Fred when we are done."
Scorpius was silent for a long moment.
"Al, did something happen?"
Green eyes flicked away refusing to look at him. "No, of course not. I'm fine. Everything's good."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. Albus was truly a rubbish liar. Did he really think he could lie to his best friend and get away with it?
"Albus," Scorpius said pointedly.
He stared into the fire. "I can't tell you Scor," shaking his head, "this isn't something I can go around talking about. Just… Just leave it okay? It's my problem."
Scorpius watched him for a moment, studying the worry lines around his eyes and mouth, the hard press of his lips, and the dark circles under his eyes that meant a long sleepless night. He wanted to help, but he also didn't want to force Albus to avoid him again. Not when it seemed that he was finally talking to him again.
He tried one more tactic, "Al, are we ok? This isn't about me is it? Or Rose? We've both been really worried about you."
Albus gave his friend a sad smile. "We're okay Scorpius. This is something else, something different. You guys don't have to worry about me."
Scorpius snorted silently to himself. With everything that Albus had been pulling the last few days, the fact that he thought they wouldn't be worried about him was just another testament to how withdrawn he had become.
But Scorpius let it go anyway, knowing he couldn't pry if Albus didn't want him to, "Alright Al, I'll leave it. But you do know you can tell me anything right? Anything at all."
The shake of Albus's head was small and grim, "not this Scor. Not this."
There was a moment of silence that became awkward fast. Clearing his throat Scorpius made a dive at the secret Gremlin project, "alright, let's finish this. Hopefully, when we are done it will be time for us to get ready."
Three hours later the project was done, and Scorpius was standing in front of his mirror attempting to tie his tie. Why was this such a struggle? And why did he think it was a good idea to choose a bowtie instead of a regular one? He had enough trouble with normal ties without worrying about the bow being crooked or one side being larger than the other.
Albus walked into the bathroom wearing a black suit-like dress robe.
"Nice suit Al. Is it new?"
Al stood in front of Rose's mirror and started fussing with his hair, "Dad bought it for me. He said no one deserves to have a rubbish dress robe for the Yule Ball."
Scorpius chuckled. Mr. Potter loved telling the story of the hideous dress robe Mr. Weasley was forced to wear at his Yule Ball. Apparently, it was some hideous brown lacy thing with ruffles that only a hundred-year-old witch would wear. Each time Mr. Potter told the story, the dress got more and more ridiculous. One-time Scorpius had asked Mr. Weasley what happened to the thing and was told he had burned it.
Another attempt was made at tying the bowtie. Lopsided again. Frustrated, Scorpius ripped the thing off his neck and threw it on the counter.
Scorpius mumbled under his breath, "where's Rose when you need her?"
Albus smirked, "You are so hopeless. Let me help."
Scorpius rolled his eyes as Albus tied his bowtie for him. It was still a struggle, Albus had never tied a bowtie on someone else before, but eventually they had it figured out.
They both looked good. While Albus was decked out in his new sharp black dress robes, Scorpius had opted for something more muggle this year. He ran his hand down the front of his dark blue tux, straightening out any wrinkles. He smiled as he looked himself over in the mirror. If he wasn't mistaken he pulled off a tux pretty well. It reminded him of a movie Albus had made him watch once, something about this muggle spy.
"We better be heading down now," Albus commented, glancing at the clock on the wall.
Nodding, Scorpius took one last look at himself in the mirror then they left the dorm to go wait for the girls below.
The common room bustled with activity. Students decked out in fancy dresses and dress robes. Everyone was either waiting for their date or waiting up here for the Ball to start. Better to wait up in the common room than wait in the overpacked Entrance Hall. Scorpius scanned the room not seeing Rose or her friends; they must not have descended yet. He was glad they hadn't missed it. It was tradition, Rose and her friends would always walk down the stairs as if they were in some romantic fairytale with their date waiting for them at the bottom. This year though, most of their dates were in other houses. Except Rose of course. Scorpius, ever the gentleman, went to wait at the bottom of the stairs ready to fulfill his role with Albus tagging along.
They hadn't waited more than five minutes when suddenly he could hear giggling at the top of the stairs. He saw Mary poking her head out. She winked at him and disappeared out of sight.
The first girl to descend was Grace, her dark purple dress rippling as she walked down the stairs, her train gliding behind her.
Scorpius smiled at her, reaching a hand out to help her down the last few steps. "You look amazing," he said.
She smiled as she came to stand to the side of the stairs, "wait till you see the rest of them."
He didn't have to wait long because in the next second Lizzy was walking down in her dark emerald dress like a woodland fairy out of a storybook. Scorpius handed her down as well.
Next came Mary, who swatted Scorpius's hand away when he offered it. "I can walk on my own," she said cheekily. Scorpius chuckled, bowing and stretching out his arm motioning for her to go ahead.
At the sound of more footsteps, Scorpius looked up. The air rushed from his lungs at the vision before him. There she was, walking elegantly down the large staircase, her dress shimmering in the light, catching it and making her look like walking ice.
Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun and gentle auburn curls fell to frame her face. Though Scorpius didn't know much about makeup, he could tell hers was done masterfully. Her lashes appeared longer, her blue eyes were brighter, and her lips… no he shouldn't be thinking about those lips.
She was absolutely breathtaking.
When her eyes landed on him she gave him a sweet shy smile. Scorpius felt like his knees were about to give in, his heart pounding in his ribcage. Now, he really felt like the romantic lead of some novel.
He reached out his hand and took hers as she came to the last few steps. "You look… Wow," was all he managed to get out.
Rose laughed, and the light happy sound made his already over-beating heart warm even more.
"You clean up pretty well yourself," she said, eyes sparkling.
Scorpius was about to respond when out of the corner of his eye he saw the last girl descending the stairs. Though he had already seen Ashley in her dress back in the store, he couldn't help but think what an idiot Kile had been to ever give her up. Besides the fact that she looked amazing, her small shy smile really was endearing.
When Ashley reached the last few steps, it wasn't Scorpius who reached out a hand, but Albus.
Scorpius looked over at his best friend shocked. The fidgety, nervous guy from a few hours ago was gone and replaced with a warm friendly one.
"Thank you," Ashley said as she came to stand by Albus, giggling and blushing when the raven-haired boy bent and placed a kiss across her knuckles.
Albus smiled, "May I escort you to the ball?"
Scorpius raised an eyebrow. Neither Ashley nor Albus had dates, both had been planning on going alone with the group.
Ashley's blush intensified matching the red of her dress, "of course. I'd be delighted."
Smiling charmingly Albus took a step back and raised his arm, offering it to Ashley who took it with a small laugh.
"Interesting," Rose murmured next to Scorpius, looping her own arm through his offered one.
"Very," chimed in Mary, eyes narrowed as she watched the two walk through the crowd. "I'm going to have to ask them what that was about."
"Oh leave them be," Grace chided as they all moved along behind them, "let them have some fun. They've both been a bit down lately and Ash deserves a fun night."
"Gracie, Gracie, Gracie. Always the practical one." Mary laughed as the shorter girl stuck her tongue out in protest.
Scorpius tuned out the rest of their conversation, his attention sliding unwilling back to Albus.
He was still worried about Albus. He had been acting so odd these last few days, doing things that were out of character for him. Originally, he had thought Albus was acting weird because of how close he and Rose were getting. But that obviously wasn't it because he said today that they were okay. And if it was about him and Rose, why did Al run away after Rose confronted him about Abby? However, it couldn't be just about Abby either, because Al said today that he had a secret that he couldn't tell anybody. And he had come to his dorm today to avoid someone. Someone in Gryffindor house, possibly someone in the Gremlins, because he didn't want to get ready with them either. This had turned into something bigger.
Scorpius knew Albus well enough to know he would not be able to keep this secret forever. Whatever it was that he was hiding, Albus would tell him eventually. If there was one thing Albus sucked at it was keeping secrets, and as previously stated he was a crap liar. But what secret was so bad that Albus couldn't tell him?
The whole situation made Scorpius mad at himself. Maybe he had been a bad friend to Albus this last month. With the Bond happening, had he pushed his best friend away? When had he become the person Albus kept things from?
There was a time when Albus would have told him anything, no matter how hard or bad it was. He had been the person Albus had trusted most in the world. He had been his closest brother.
For the past few days, Albus had barely talked to him or Rose. He hid from them and all their friends. His moods were turning off and on like a light switch, and he was acting unpredictable and reckless. Just yesterday Albus attempted to pull a prank on his own. Usually, Al would plan all his pranks with him. It was so unlike him to attempt a prank that big by himself, and worst of all, Albus had gotten caught. By a teacher. Scorpius wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't been there to witness it. Albus was truly not himself.
Then today, Albus bursts into his dorm acting all friendly like nothing had ever happened, and he escorts one of Rose's best friends like the had always been close enough to go to the ball together. It made no sense!
"I'm worried about him too."
Her voice cuts through all the anxious worry, bringing his focus back to her. Scorpius turned to look at Rose who gave him a worried look back.
She continued speaking out loud, "I'm sorry I pried into your thoughts. It's just that your emotions were going all over the place and I didn't know if it was something I did or what, so I looked."
Scorpius shook his head. "It's fine. I could actually use your help with this. Did you see what happened this afternoon in my mind?"
"I did."Rose was staring hard at the back of her cousins head, eyes narrowed slightly in thought, "I have some theories, but I want to observe Al at the ball. I think we might get some more answers there."
Scorpius nodded. There was no point in worrying so much about this. Why should he be worrying about stupid things his best friend was doing when he had a beautiful woman on his arm? They were going to have a great night, they were going to have fun, and then he was going to tell Rose.
"You're going to tell me something?"
Scorpius blanched. Shit! How much had she heard? He turned to Rose who was blushing slightly. He then glanced up and saw Mary watching the pair of them.
"I do," he said softly leaning down to whisper in Rose's ear, "just not now okay?"
Rose glanced over at him, eyes calculating. Scorpius nodded towards Mary and Rose smiled in understanding.
"Alright," she said and then she smiled, "you ready for a lot of dancing?"
He smiled at the change of subject, "Always."
The halls of Hogwarts were even more festive than before. The group of friends passed by many singing knights and garlands of holly on their way to the ball. They passed a group of ghosts singing Christmas carols as well. As the seven descended the stairs to the entrance hall, the large doors leading to the Great Hall came into view, still closed until the start of the Ball in five minutes.
The house elves had really outdone themselves this year with the decorations. Even the entrance hall was spectacular. Deep red poinsettias were arranged on the ceiling with hundreds of tiny fairies dancing around them, like a living chandelier fluttering over the heads of the students. Light dusting snow also appeared to fall, melting before it reached the ground. On the door was a gigantic wreath with mistletoe berries with the biggest bow Scorpius had ever seen. Then, of course, there was the multitude of colours from all the different gowns and robes from all the different students gathered. Pure magic.
As the group made it to the bottom of the stairs, the other three girl's dates appeared, pushing their way through the crowd of milling students to get to their dates. Scorpius didn't know much about the different guys, but he knew enough not to outright object to any of them.
Mary quickly attached herself to her date, waving back at them before whisking her guy off into the crowd.
Grace blushed when her date bowed and offered his arm to her. She took it gladly.
Lizzy laughed as her date took her hand and had her twirl around. Her dress spun about her feet, and she smiled at him when she came to a stop.
Scorpius looked around at all the students before his eyes fell on Albus again. He still had Ashley on his arm, but his eyes seemed focused somewhere else and his gaze was hard and angry. Scorpius tried to follow it to see what was angering the Potter boy, but he couldn't see anything specific. Just lots of students packed in a cramped entrance hall, voices loud and spirits high.
Suddenly the large grandfather clock was sounding the hour, a hush fell over the crowd as the ringing echoed through the hall.
With the last ring, the doors to the Great hall opened. The crowd cheered, and the dance began.
