Chapter 6: This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race or, I've Got The Scars From Tomorrow
Rating: M mainly for language, and I can't discount any funny business later on
Disclaimer: I work with only what the infallible J.K. Rowling has given me.
"Al. Calm down."
Al looked up from his plate, his eye twitching. "I am calm."
Rose grimaced as he swallowed his sausage whole, and followed it down with his entire poached egg. "Albus, you're going to choke."
"I'm fine," he mumbled. He looked up and frowned. "Where the hell is Gen? She said she'd meet us at quarter to ten. It's ten past."
Rose shrugged, glancing towards the doors of the Great Hall. "I'm sure she's coming."
She missed Al's darkening face. "She's probably off with her new friend Charlie."
Rose snorted. "You're not in a good mood this morning."
Al threw her a look. "It's Quidditch."
"Exactly." Rose poured orange juice into Al's cup and offered it to him. "Good nervous energy, Al."
"She's throwing off my mojo," Al mumbled into his drink.
"What?"
"Pass the bacon."
"Beautiful day." Toby sighed deeply, sniffing in as if he might inhale the entire oxygen supply around them.
"Not really." Scorpius' mouth was set in a thin line, as it had been for the entire week.
"Mate." Toby punched him lightly on the arm, throwing him a look of pity. "You two need to sort your shit out, alright? You guys had your fight on what, Thursday?"
"Wednesday night," Scorpius answered curtly. "It was Wednesday night."
"Exactly." Toby lifted his arms to clear a path for the two as they quickly approached the masses, but Scorpius' expression seemed to pervade the crowd like ice through water. "You and Liv have never fought for so long."
"We're not fighting," Scorpius said tiredly. "She's just acting quite….distant."
"She's giving you the silent treatment."
"Well, yes, if you want to get all technical about it-"
"Fucking hell, Scorp, what did you do to her?"
Scorpius' eyes glinted, and Toby's own eyes grew almost imperceptibly wider, but he hastened to bury his surprise. "She's just acting like this because it's our first fight as a—well—couple."
There was a loud thud, and Scorpius looked down to see Toby's foot still on the wooden stairs. "Give me Merlin's strength, Scorpius. Tell me you two aren't giving this a go for real?"
"So what if we are?" Scorpius said defensively, pushing past his friend and bagging a space at the front.
"Don't get me wrong, it's your business." Toby shrugged. "But don't pretend like I don't have to deal with your fucking bitching."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Toby laughed, shaking his head as Scorpius presented the same behaviour he had perfected as a mere three year old. His smirk turned into a slight frown as he felt Scorpius straighten up next to him.
Scorpius' attention had been caught by a familiar flash of red, only slightly distinguishable against Gryffindor's maroon robes. His gaze trailed the girl to whom the hair belonged as, instead of following the team into the centre of the pitch, she, along with a few others, retreated to the benches on the side.
"Oi," he sneered to Toby, surveying her from under his lifted chin. "She's just a fucking reserve."
"What?"
He subtly raised a hand to point to the seated redhead.
Toby shot him an amused look. He was met with a scowl. "Mate, you seem to have a bit of an idée fixe."
Scorpius huffed. "Fine. I won't tell fucking tell you anything, then."
Toby only laughed, and pulled his hat down tighter as a vicious breeze stirred the air around them.
Scorpius, bored now, swivelled around, standing on his tiptoes to look over the crowd. "Seriously, where in Merlin's name is Liv?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, mate," Toby said, keeping his eyes fixed on the pitch as the two Captains conversed with Madam Hooch. "I know you're taking this as a rather important fight, but you've never seemed to care this much about Liv unless…." He paused. "You know there's no sex allowed on the Quidditch stands, yes?"
Scorpius, ignoring his friend's thinly-veiled insult, only spread his hands out along the wood in front of him. "She should be here by now."
"Hey." The blonde was taken aback by his friend's suddenly consoling tone. "Take the respite, Scorpius. Just enjoy the game."
Raising an eyebrow, Scorpius surveyed the pitch, his gaze honing in on Gryffindor's Captain. Scorpius tilted his head as Albus' gaze constantly flitted towards the Gryffindor stands and back to his team, his fingers in constant flux as he balled and unfurled his fingers.
Briefly meeting Toby's gaze, Scorpius relaxed his stance, crossing his arms and welcoming the chilly breeze as it bit at his cheeks.
Rose knew her cousin better than most.
It was easy for her to tell when something was up, especially when that something was important enough to be affecting his Quidditch playing.
She scrunched her eyebrows together as once again, Al seemed to swing his bat only half-heartedly, and instead of following through, his gaze darted towards the stands, his arm still raised.
"Is Albus okay?" the girl sitting next to Rose asked. "His playing seems a little….tame."
Rose pulled in the side of her mouth. "I'm not sure. He was acting a little strangely this morning too."
The girl nodded thoughtfully, but turned her attention back to the pitch.
Rose followed her gaze, watching as Al whacked a Bludger towards one of the Ravenclaw Chasers, but the speed at which it was wheeling towards her meant she had put a few metres between herself and its course by the time it had reached her.
Rose bit her lip. This was getting ridiculous.
Before she had had time to stop herself, she had pushed herself up from the bench. "Al!" she yelled, startling the rest of the seated team. "Put some force behind it!"
Her cousin looked down at her in surprise, his eyes missing the electric blaze that always appeared during a game.
Rose held out an upturned palm to him, raising her shoulders with a questioning look on her face.
Al shook his head, and flew a distance away. Even from where she sat, Rose could tell that he was looking at the stands again, his brow furrowed.
Rose followed his gaze; a smiling Gen was moving subtly through the crowd to their usual spot, a laughing Charlie in tow.
She frowned.
"I'm bored."
Toby looked up at Scorpius' words. "What?"
Scorpius shrugged. "Nothing's happening. The most action I'm seeing is Weasley yelling at Potter."
It was sort of true: Albus' preoccupation meant his usual blows lacked the usual bite, and instead of bolting around as he usually did, he was mainly static, only moving when necessary. His noncommittal attitude was evidently having an adverse effect on his team.
"I'm getting some tea."
"What, now?" Toby asked archly.
"Now's as good a time as ever, as far as I'm concerned," Scorpius said evenly as he stood. "S'cuse me."
He passed behind the bench where the reserves were sitting, smirking as Rose once again yelled at her cousin ("Hit harder, for Merlin's sake, Albus!") and made his way towards the refreshments tent nearby.
He had just selected his mug and was about to fill it with boiling water when there was a sudden commotion outside. He cocked his head at the tumult of yells.
"Al!"
Scorpius paused, the tea bag hanging from his finger as he recognised the speaker above the racket.
"Madam Hooch! Foul!"
He began to add some sugar, inspecting the spoon critically before he dipped it into his tea to stir it.
"His arm — look at his arm!"
Scorpius swiped his pinky into his drink; the tea was hotter than usual. Perhaps Flitwick had charmed the water to be extra hot today.
"Time out! Players, to the ground!"
Scorpius looked around for the honey. He huffed when he caught sight of it on a table towards the back end of the tent. He moved away, and the voices became indistinct.
He could still hear the crowd from where he stood. He was sure the uproar was coming from the Gryffindor stand; they couldn't be taking kindly to their star player presumably unable to play the rest of the game. He pursed his lips as he put the honey down, and then decided to add one more spoonful.
He wondered if he should wait out the ruckus inside the tent. He was having a bad enough day already, he didn't need any more bother.
Sighing, he put the jar of honey down, and headed for the opening.
"….absolutely not."
He tensed; he'd know that prattish, opinionated voice anywhere.
"Rose, come on. It's your role as a reserve!"
"I'm a Chaser, Albus! Not a Beater! And I'm only a reserve because you pressured me into trying out!" She seemed to be becoming increasingly distressed.
"Correction, you're only a reserve because that's all you agreed to try out for! And I've seen you play Beater, Rose. You can do it."
"What the hell am I even doing here then?"
"Fuck off, McGinty."
"Mr. Potter!"
There was a pause. "Sorry, Madam Hooch."
"Rose, I'm imploring you. As your best friend and cousin. Please."
Scorpius risked a peek. Albus was gripping Rose's hands in one of his, while the other was contorted at a gruesome angle. Scorpius, having previously been at the wrong end of a Beater's bat, winced. Still, he couldn't stop the smirk from blossoming on his face as he passed the small group and noted the protective gloves she was slipping onto her hands. At the sight of him, Rose's face reddened and she quickly turned away.
Scorpius, his eyes still glinting, re-joined his friend.
"Seriously, Scorp, the one time you leave-"
"I miss Albus Potter getting fucked over by a Beater's bat, I know. But," he intertwined his fingers together and stretched them out. "This game's about to get a whole lot more interesting."
"Oh?"
"Weasley's playing Beater for Potter."
"Oh."
Scorpius, offended that his friend didn't immediately share in his excitement, looked over accusingly. "She's a Chaser, Toby," he smirked. "And Chasers don't make good Beaters. Especially reserve ones."
She should've just done her Potions essay.
Seriously, if Rose had known that six weeks down the road, she'd be in this very position, clutching a Beater's bat and praying to Merlin that Madam Hooch would never blow that stupid whistle, she'd've spent that afternoon of the trials in her room, writing four feet of history on the Volubilis Potion.
She could see Al's eyes fixed on her, ignoring Madam Pomfrey as she pestered him to leave, his jaw tense and his good hand fidgeting like it always did when he was particularly agitated. She smiled at him weakly, sitting up straighter and trying to look alert. Her eyes briefly flickered in recognition as River Jordan announced her substitution.
She glanced up as Spencer Davenport, the other Beater, flew towards her. His face looked painfully conflicted, as if his smile was physically wounding him.
"You alright?" he asked her, tapping his own bat against his palm. "You just need to stay calm, focus on the Bludgers, stay out of the Chasers' way."
"I know."
"Keep your eyes on me."
"Alright."
"And whatever you do," he said, some semblance of a smile coming to his face. "Don't hit me. This face is taking out Harley Gilmore tomorrow."
Rose rolled her eyes. "I'll keep that in mind."
He grinned, and flew some distance away so that he and Rose both flanked the Chasers on either side.
Rose's gaze fell towards the ground, where Madam Hooch had the whistle in her mouth and the Quaffle in her hand. She pressed her lips tightly together as she surveyed the anxious crowd. She wondered if she might try and find Christian. Though, she thought, that might just worsen her nerves.
Suddenly, a familiar face was in her line of vision. He was already looking at her, smirking, his chin lifted slightly.
Rose's gaze, which she was sure was abjectly brittle, hardened even more, and her eyes narrowed.
Perhaps she could imagine that Bludger with a head of platinum blonde hair.
With a screech, the whistle was blown, and there was a mad dive for the Quaffle. It took Rose a few seconds to realise that she was focusing on the wrong ball, and hastily diverted her gaze to seek out either of the two Bludgers. They weren't hard to spot; the jet black balls were already disintegrating Chaser formations.
Rose spun to face the Ravenclaw Beaters, watching as Daniel Lavery sped towards one of the balls. She followed his line of vision, realising with a start that their central Chaser hovered in the perfect spot to be on the receiving end of a nasty hit.
Rose dropped down, flying underneath the players. She waited for Lavery to raise his bat, then rocketed up between them, intercepting the strike with her own bat and sending it back the way it had come.
With a thunderous crack, Lavery was reeling away, winded. Al let out an almighty yell in celebration as Sophie Price caught the Quaffle, zooming off towards the Ravenclaw goalposts, which were, for the moment, completely open.
Rose exhaled in relief, rolling out her shoulder and suppressing a wince from the impact.
She knew from practices that Spencer was more of a defensive player, favouring protecting their players instead of sending the Bludgers to the other team. She thought perhaps she should balance that out.
She watched as one of their Chasers deviated from the other two, consequently deviating away from Spencer as well. Throwing a quick glance to their Seeker - who she saw had sought out a higher vantage point - she turned her broom away and headed towards James Young.
Unfortunately, the other team's Beater had the same idea.
"James!"
He turned to face her as bat met Bludger.
"DROP!"
He had only a second to react, zooming down as the Bludger brushed the tips of his hair.
Rose, who had noticed a Ravenclaw Chaser heading towards their goals, Quaffle in hand, redirected the ball towards her with all her strength. Layla Choo dropped the Quaffle as she was slammed by fifty kilos of solid iron, straight into the waiting hands of the right-wing Gryffindor Chaser.
Rose exhaled in relief, but her repose was over quickly as she spotted the Bludger cutting through the air towards their unsuspecting Keeper.
She flew higher, streaking above their Chasers, but paused briefly as Spencer Davenport stuck out his hand for a high-five as she sped by.
This was not the game that Scorpius was anticipating.
Toby audibly gasped again when another hit caused the Bludger to barrel towards yet another Ravenclaw player; when the Chaser dropped the Quaffle as the Bludger made contact with his stomach, Rose shot down, thwacking the ball with her Beater's bat towards the goal posts.
"Oi!" Scorpius cried. "She can't fucking do—oh."
He watched as, out of nowhere, a Chaser adorned in red zipped towards the ball, gripped it, and flung it straight through the open goal.
The roaring from the stands sounded oddly hollow to his ears.
"Not bad," Toby admitted, courteously tapping his hands together.
"I already knew she could hit things," Scorpius deadpanned, eyes moving back and forth as he followed her.
Toby chuckled, craning his neck as he looked below them. "Where's she gone now?"
Scorpius masked his disinterest, though he too noticed her disappearance. "Hopefully she's-"
He broke off as she reappeared above them; his mouth slackened with surprise as he realised she must've flown beneath the stands, in and out of the frameworks, and resurfaced on the other side.
"We have a missing Ravenclaw Chaser," River Jordan commentated from his place in the stands, his tone blithe with interest. "Nice play from Rose Weasley. Ah! Ethan Rodriguez is back in play. But not in time to stop that goal — point Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor stands were frenzied with excitement, which only served to vex Scorpius further.
She was going to slip up. It was only a matter of time.
Like a jinx, Toby suddenly gasped beside him. "Uh-oh."
And then Scorpius saw.
Rose was preoccupied by the other Bludger, completely oblivious to the turbulence behind her.
Toby was prancing on his toes. "She's going to get a nasty hit in the back — oh wait — oh, fuck!"
Scorpius gritted his teeth as the Ravenclaw Chaser careened uncontrollably towards Rose, her only aim avoiding the Bludger as it hurtled towards her. He dimly registered the Captain's yells from where he stood on the ground as he screeched for his cousin to look behind her.
It was too late; as the two girls collided, Rose instinctively swung out with her bat. The force of her hit sent the girl spinning back in the direction she had come, and less than a second later, there came a second collision. As broom and Bludger met, there was a sharp snap as the twigs of the broom shattered. The now useless stick began to freefall, taking its rider along with it.
"No!" Rose cried out, dropping her bat as she stretched out her hand towards the plummeting girl. "Locomotor Evelyn!"
There was a pregnant pause when the girl, instead of falling, began to rise up, though her body convulsed awfully, her head lolling backwards as every other limb went completely limp.
"Evelyn Marlowe has fainted, ladies and gentlemen!" announced River Jordan, his voice jarring in the sudden silence. "But she's alive! No thanks to our very own Head Girl!"
And then there was roaring from every corner of the stadium, though why or for whom they were shouting, no one actually knew.
A sharp whistle sounded, and Madam Hooch sprinted into the middle of the pitch. "Time out! Time out! Players, to the ground."
Rose, still fully in command of the Ravenclaw's body, guided her down to the sand, and gently laid her down. She, herself, landed, and hesitated uncomfortably as Madam Pomfrey bustled forward, examining the unconscious girl.
Scorpius and Toby leaned down, straining to listen.
"Nothing appears to be broken," Pomfrey said quietly. "Though I can't say whether or not her body experienced stress from Miss Weasley's spell."
Rose looked up at the sound of her name, her arms still hugging her torso. She met the nurse's eyes, and was beckoned forward.
"You did well, Miss Weasley," Pomfrey said, sternly. "You displayed extreme diligence in a dire and stressful situation. Miss Marlowe should have nothing but feelings of gratitude towards you when she wakes."
"Marlowe crashed into her," Toby pointed out, rakishly. "I don't see what Weasley looks so upset about."
Scorpius only grunted in reply, raising an eyebrow as Albus pushed himself into the circle, drawing an arm around his cousin.
"Think she'll be able to play?"
Scorpius shook his head. "Look at her. She's out."
They watched in silence as Evelyn's prone body was levitated out in a stretcher by a seventh year whom Scorpius had seen very occasionally around the Hospital Wing.
"Well," Toby said, sighing deeply as he looked at his friend. "You can't say that was boring, can you?"
Scorpius, in a rare show of diplomacy, didn't argue.
Rose paced anxiously at the doors of the Hospital Wing, wringing her hands together as she tried to pluck up the courage to knock.
She had nothing to be sorry for, she knew that, but still she couldn't help but feel bad.
Just as she had raised her knuckles against the door, it opened, and Evelyn Marlowe stepped out; Rose hastily jumped out of the way. Upon noticing her, Evelyn's eyes widened.
Rose took a step forward. "Uh…hi," she said, lifting her hand into a weak wave. She swallowed. "I uh…wanted to apologise for um…kind of whacking you with a Beater's bat….quite hard. And then your broom breaking….and you falling."
Evelyn's expression had remained inscrutable for the duration of Rose's speech, but when she saw that Rose had stopped talking, her face broke out into a sheepish smile.
"I was about to find you," she said, closing the door behind her. "To thank you."
Rose gaped. "Thank me? For what?"
Evelyn shrugged. "I mean….I crashed into you, right? And then you kinda saved me."
Rose bit her lip. "Well, I suppose, but I did hit you quite hard-"
The Ravenclaw held up a hand. "Really, you don't have to apologise for anything." When she saw that Rose was about to open her mouth again, she hastily asked, "Are you going to the after party?"
Rose nodded in affirmation. "Someone has to keep Al out of trouble. Are you heading there now?"
Evelyn shook her head. "I'm just going to a friend's first. But it's on the way."
They started walking.
"Congrats, by the way," Evelyn said. "I never mentioned."
Rose reddened slightly. "Thanks."
"Two-sixty to ninety," Evelyn said, whistling. "That's rough." She grinned impishly. "Will Christian forgive you, do you think?"
Rose laughed, but it was rather perfunctory. "Christian's not really the competitive type or anything."
"He used to play though, I thought?" Evelyn asked, furrowing her brow.
Rose pulled in her bottom lip, raising a hand to brush through her hair. "He's moved on with impassion."
"To?"
Rose heard herself sighing. "Stubby Boardman. Volume Three."
Scorpius didn't usually do parties.
Well, it was really the collateral of parties that Scorpius didn't do; namely, excess amounts of people (usually inebriated) all crammed into a tight space, excess amounts of noise, and excess amounts of….carnality. Not to say that Scorpius didn't indulge in the latter, but he didn't much enjoy it when anyone else engaged in it.
The only thing that appealed to Scorpius about parties was the promise of alcohol.
He told Tobias so as he helped himself to another bottle of Firewhiskey on the counter, offering four Sickles to the girl giving them out.
When she unnecessarily ran her fingertips along his palm as she scooped them up, Scorpius looked up in surprise, and met what he thought might be a somewhat come hither look.
Toby cleared his throat loudly. Jolted, Scorpius turned to face him. "What?"
"You're supposed to be in a committed relationship now, remember?"
Scorpius threw him a look. "I wasn't going to do anything."
But Toby's comment had brought Scorpius' mind back into a territory he didn't much appreciate. "Still no sign of Liv," he absentmindedly noted, doing another cursory sweep of the room.
Toby shrugged. "Maybe she's busy?" He paused. "Or maybe your fight bummed her out too much to come."
Scorpius pondered. It really wasn't like Liv to let a petty argument stint her appetite for celebrations; perhaps he had missed something.
Perhaps it wasn't so petty after all.
He was about to reply that they would make no more mention of Liv for the time being when a girl stumbled into him, her dress low and high in all the wrong places. She hiccuped and raised her head, her eyes widening as she met Scorpius' unamused glare.
"Very—awfully sorry," she said, giggling. "You're just a little in the way."
This was why Scorpius didn't do parties.
"Shoo," he said emphatically, shifting to face Toby again. He pursed his lips. "Can we find a couch or something?"
Toby rolled his eyes. "So I can spend my night dealing with my sullen best friend while everyone else has fun? Fuck no."
Scorpius pulled in one side of his mouth, looking terribly groused.
Toby nudged him, and lifted his chin up to survey the group a few metres from them. "Come on, let's get a game going."
The noise hit her the minute Rose opened the door to the Room of Requirement.
Her eyebrows raised as she took in the ungainly scene before her, and immediately began searching for Al, Gen or Christian in the crowd. She took a few steps in, quickly identifying the source of the alcohol and wondering if she might find Al nearby. He was always so indulgent at these occasions.
She carefully manoeuvred around the hoards of people, though her plan for discreteness miserably failed. The moment people spotted their impromptu Beater, they ambled over to congratulate her at volumes far too high for her to assume that anyone was still sober at this party.
She thanked them, then after a few moments of hesitation, decided she might pay a visit to the drinks stand herself. She had almost reached the table when someone whooped her name.
She turned to see her cousin making his way over to her, beaming. She took in his messy hair, flushed face and rumpled shirt. "Hey, Al."
"Brilliant game, Rosie," Al said jovially, throwing an arm around her and leading her in the direction she was already headed. "You were fantastic! You wanna try out for Beater?"
She only shook her head, amused. "I see you've healed up."
He waved his hand noncommittally. "Madam Pomfrey fixed it up in a jiffy. Ridiculous, really. I could've been back in time to finish the match." He elbowed her lightly, still grinning. "But they didn't need me, huh? You really saved my arse out there, Rose."
"It was nothing," Rose said modestly.
"I'll buy you a drink," Al grinned, tossing over a few coins and grabbing two Firewhiskeys, "as a thank you."
"Where's Gen?"
Al's previously cheery expression clouded over. "Probably off snogging Charlie Wanna-Touch-My-Pecs Ainsworth."
Rose's brow furrowed, and a part of her brain that had been dormant for a long time slowly flickered back on. "I'm sure she's not. She'll turn up."
Al shrugged. "Whatever." He took another swig from the bottle in his hands. "Come on, we're playing a game."
Rose allowed him to pull her towards the direction of the most noise, though her eyes still searched the room for Christian. She'd find him later.
"Here we are," Al said, releasing her hand and dropping back into his vacated seat. "Sit down, Rosie."
Rose glanced around the small group sitting on the floor.
Oh no. Absolutely not.
"Well, if it isn't the Golden Child herself."
She scowled. "Isn't there a back alley with your name on it? You know, in Poland or something?"
Scorpius took a pronounced swig of his drink. "I don't know, shouldn't Christian's arse have your mouth on it?"
"You lecherous per-"
Al laughed. "Oh, come on, Rosie, it'll be fun."
Rose looked down at her cousin, her brow furrowing. "I don't know…"
Scorpius coughed loudly into his fist. "Chicken shit."
Glowering, Rose slowly lowered herself down, crossing her legs tightly. She leaned over to whisper at her cousin. "How much've you had to drink, Albus?"
Al shrugged, lifting his Firewhiskey to his lips again. "I lost count after the fourth one."
"Is that why you're sitting in this little friendship circle with Malfoy, then?"
Al gave her a funny look. "I'm sitting in this circle because I'm not boring, Rosie."
"Oi, stop talking, you two. We're trying to play here."
Rose threw a semi-apologetic look to Maria Trevett and fell silent.
It was only when she looked into the middle of the circle at the empty bottle of Firewhiskey lying on the floor that she understood just what game she had gotten herself into.
"No. I'm putting my foot down."
The entire group looked up at her words.
Al rolled his eyes. "Come on, Rose, it's no big deal. It's just a game."
Rose looked around the circle, meeting everyone's gaze. She halted at the person sitting directly opposite her, his steely grey eyes glitteringly alert; he seemed to be the only other sober person sitting in her immediate area.
"I…uh, have a boyfriend," she faltered.
Scorpius scoffed. "I have a girlfriend, but I just made out with…whoever she is." The girl he pointed to looked exceedingly red in the face, and gave him a weak wave as she smiled widely.
"I didn't know you two had made it official. Maseltov," Rose said, dryly.
Scorpius ignored her. "Well, I couldn't give two shits whether you stay or leave, but let's get this next round going. Make up your mind, Golden Child."
Rose could feel her jaw twitching. She stayed seated, and Scorpius' smirk gleamed. For the sake of having something to do, she took a sip of her drink.
"Who're you vetoing, Rose?" a Hufflepuff named Ruth asked her.
"Al, as always."
Maria edged forward, giggling as she gave the bottle a meagre twist. It circled three times, coming to a halt mere degrees from Rose.
Al grinned. "C'mere, Trevett."
Rose made a face, leaning away and turning away for good measure as her cousin was pushed backwards by Maria's enthusiasm. Maria drew back, drawing her tongue along her bottom lip as she sat down.
As the girl next to Maria took her turn, Rose leaned over to whisper in Al's ear. "Who did Malfoy veto?"
"Nott," Al replied. "Though maybe he'll change his mind now that you're here."
"Dreams do come true."
Rose looked up as Scorpius barked out a laugh. Tobias elbowed him in the stomach as he leaned forward to meet an eager Ruth. Rose held back a grimace as Toby helplessly stayed fixed as Ruth's fingers laced in his hair, keeping him in her grasp.
"Alright," Scorpius said after a good fifteen seconds. "Let the poor man go, Nesgrave."
"You can always change your veto if you want him so bad," she shot back, crooking a finger at him. Scorpius only rolled his eyes at the drunken girl's antics.
At the sight of his hand alighting on the brown glass, Rose's stomach twisted uncomfortably. Her hands gripped the material of the carpet, knuckles whitening. She inhaled sharply, and Scorpius seemed to pause. He looked up quickly and met her eyes before flicking his wrist.
Even before it did, Rose knew it was going to land on her.
She closed her eyes, pressing her lips tightly together. "This is what I get for humouring my drunk cousin," she said bitterly to Al beside her. He only shrugged apologetically.
"Let's just get this over with, Weasley," Scorpius said, raising himself onto his knees. "You can finish complaining later."
Maria coughed loudly. "Most people don't."
Scorpius kept his gaze on Rose, but his mouth pulled up into a smirk. "Sure you're up to it?"
It was his smug smile that did it, and she wasn't sure exactly what came over her, but she had grabbed Scorpius' head by his - in her opinion - off-puttingly silky hair and planted her mouth against his. He grunted softly in surprise, but quickly recovered.
If this was the sensation of kissing the infamous Scorpius Malfoy, Rose was exceedingly underwhelmed.
It was merely lips against lips. No softer than Christian or Nate, and a whole lot less mint, and a whole lot more Firewhiskey.
She was grossly aware of the catcalls and the anthem of "Kiss, kiss, kiss," that was still going strong. The ten seconds couldn't be over soon enough.
"Excuse me," Scorpius said, rubbing at his mouth as he pulled away. "I'm just going to dunk my head in a vat of boiling water."
"Inspired idea," Rose said, doing the same. "How about I go with you? You put your face in the water, and I'll count to a thousand."
"Another Firewhiskey, Toby?"
He nodded. "I'll come with."
"This is the last time I play one of those third year games," Scorpius said. "I'll see you all tomorrow. You know, if I live through the night."
He strode off, drawing the back of his hand across his lips again for good measure. It was only seconds before he and Toby were lost in the crowd.
"Drama queen," Rose scoffed, unfolding her legs as she made to stand up.
"Oi — where're you going?" Al asked in confusion.
"I am going," Rose said, squaring her shoulders. "to find my boyfriend."
It wasn't long before she spotted him. He was sitting on the couch with a few other Ravenclaws, sipping cider and socialising.
Christian beamed when he noticed she was making her way over to him, and wiggled out of his space and pulled her into a hug. "You were incredible," he said, passionately, dropping a kiss into her hair. "I'm so proud of you, Rose."
She relaxed into his hold, tightening her grip around him. "Thanks."
He pulled back and entwined their hands together. "I'll see you later, guys," he said to his friends, and led her away. "Shall we find a quiet spot?" he asked her, frowning as he looked around the overflowing room.
"Sounds perfect," Rose said, all too ready to maximise the distance between herself and the party scene.
"There," Christian said, pointing to a corner of wall that was unoccupied.
When they reached it, Rose Summoned two cushions towards them and lay them on the floor, lowering herself onto one.
She waited until Christian had sat down too, and then bit her lip. "Confession time."
Christian raised his eyebrows. "Okay."
Rose sighed. "I kissed Malfoy. During — well, because of — a game."
Instead of the frown she was expecting, Christian laughed loudly, shaking his head. "So that's what all the chanting was for." He pulled a sympathetic face. "Have you recovered?"
She grimaced. "I don't think I ever will."
Christian leaned in, and pecked her softly. "Did that help?"
See? Just as soft.
She brushed a hand through her boyfriend's hair and pulled his face closer to hers. "I'll let you know."
It wasn't long before some fellow seventh year yelled at them to Get a Room, so Rose, laughing, stood up and said, "I'll get us more drinks."
She moved through the crowd, making her way back to the drinks stand. Upon arrival, she noticed that there was suddenly a slew of new beverages, some notably stronger than Firewhiskey. She looked around and realised that due to the late hour, the room was made up of mostly sixth and seventh years.
Still, her lips pursed, but not wanting to spoil the fun, she let it go.
She ordered two drinks - Knotgrass Mead for herself and a Firewhiskey for Christian - and paid, thanking the girl as she left.
She was about to return to Christian using the same route she had arrived with, but due to the new and rowdy game a group of fellow Gryffindors were engaged in, she made a face, and took the long way.
She passed a group of couches and grimaced. How people could complain about her and Christian when there was a sight like this she didn't know: a group of people making such spectacles of themselves, completely uncaring that the close proximity to the other pairs around them made the entire group appear as one heated debauch.
She shook her head, moving her gaze past the couples and unintentionally to one pair a slight distance away from all the others.
But what she saw there almost pushed all that Firewhiskey back up her throat.
Her eyes widened in horror as she took in the feverishly kissing couple furthest away from her. She watched as her cousin's hand slipped in and out of her best friend's hair, watched as Gen's hands ran up and down Al's back.
Her feet were leading her away before she had further time to react, and she was hurrying back to Christian, hoping that the sight of him might calm her racing mind.
She recalled Gen's somber expression when she had asked her how her Hogsmeade date had gone, and wondered if she was compensating. But what about Charlie?
Her mind turned towards her cousin, the memory of his expression from earlier re-surfacing. Truth be told, Rose had long suspected Al's feelings for their best friend, but she hadn't really thought that they'd been reciprocated, especially since Gen had been with Matthew for almost the entire year before…
Thankfully, she reached Christian then, and hastened to summon a more neutral expression to her face. She wouldn't bring this up with anyone, especially before she had had a chance to talk about it with her two best friends. If they would talk about it at all, Rose thought. She wasn't entirely convinced that Al and Gen would talk about tonight between themselves, nevermind to her.
She shook her head. Maybe it was just the alcohol.
She hadn't even realised she'd offered the Firewhiskey to Christian until he replied with a, "Oh, hey, thanks."
She sat back down and considered the drink in her hands.
"Rose?"
She looked up to meet Christian's concerned expression. "Hey, is everything alright?"
Rose grinned widely, painfully so. "Of course." She popped open her mead and took three long swigs. "Why'd you ask?"
Once Scorpius had downed enough Firewhiskey to get both the taste of her and the smell of her perfume out of his mind, he decided that he would call it a night.
Scorpius moved past the large group of people blocking his view of the door, but stopped when he caught sight of a mass of red hair.
"I suppose we can't really date now that I've beaten you and everything," Rose was saying as she and Christian sat together, cradling their drinks.
Bullshit you beat him, Scorpius thought to himself. The guy wasn't even playing.
Christian laughed. "I suppose so."
"We probably shouldn't even be sitting together."
Agreed, you reek of false victory.
"Probably not." He laughed again, and leaned in to kiss her. Scorpius, still scoffing in disapproval, hastily diverted his attention. He angled away, intending to make good on his decision and leave until he felt a hand at his shoulder.
He turned to see Liv standing with her lips pressed tightly together, a bottle of Firewhiskey in her hands.
He was suddenly flooded with relief, and he reached out a hand towards her, though he didn't know exactly where he intended to make contact.
But she pulled back slightly, her face guarded. "Scorpius."
Scorpius was busy weighing his options in his mind. He could give her a brief "Hi,", and then grab two Firewhiskeys for the road and leave this now unbearable gathering, or he could sacrifice his pride and maybe his honesty and fix this fucked up situation before it ruined another perfectly good week.
Another peal of laughter made up his mind in less than a second.
He exhaled. "Liv...about last week. I'm uh-" The word wouldn't come; he couldn't even sound it out. "I shouldn't have taken my bad mood out on you. You didn't deserve that."
Perhaps it was a testament to how long she and Scorpius had known each other, for Liv didn't seem surprised in the least that his apologetic speech came devoid of an actual apology. Her softening eyes even indicated that she wasn't waiting for one.
She nodded, and her lips pulled up into a small smile. "Was it a good game?"
Scorpius had to fight the urge to grimace. "S'okay."
At his one word answer, Liv's face once again hardened slightly.
He stepped closer. "It would've been better if you'd've been there." He paused, and reached up to brush a lock of hair away from her eye.
And now her face broke out into an actual smile, and Scorpius took that as an invitation to lean in closer, press his lips against hers. When he pulled back, her eyes were lit again, one hand still resting in his hair.
"Hey," he said, his gaze falling to the bottle in her hands. "You wanna get out of here?"
A/N:
Ugh, guys, I'm sorry the wait was so long, but your patience meant the world. Life stuff cleared up, but then the laziness set in. Promise the next chapter won't take as long.
As always, tyfyt. Chapter titles come from Fall Out Boy's This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race and My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark.
Oh. Also (because I'm lame), Folie à Deux is now available for your viewing pleasure on Wattpad and AO3.
~ Rach