Hey guys!

Sorry for the wait. I managed to update the last chapter when I got back, simply because it had too many noticeable mistakes for me. Though I'm sure there are loads I've missed.

Anyway, I'm back now so hopefully that means quicker updates for you :D YAY!

Go ahead then... Read it and tell me what you think

Love Cookie :) xx

Chapter 8- Extendable Ears and Empty Classrooms

Roxanne woke to the small purr coming from a heavy ball of fluff sitting on top of her chest. It was Ginger, her black and white cat. Yes, Roxanne was aware of the mismatched name and colour. But she was four when she'd gotten him and had been so set on having a Ginger cat called Ginger, the fact that there were no Ginger cats had been disappointing but hadn't occurred to her as a reason to call the cat anything other than her planned name. So she had a black and white cat called Ginger and didn't care in the slightest.
"Hey Ginge, where've you been?" The cat, as always, answered with a purr and a nudge before getting up and slinking off to the common room where he usually disappeared to for days at a time, going from one comfy spot to another. The cat had become a true "House cat" taking the "House" concept further than any other cat and was often seen cosied up with other Ravenclaws rather than his own owner. So much so, that not many people knew who actually owned him, so depending on who he was with, Ginger was often called different names and sometimes referred to as a female. But as long as he was given attention and a treat every so often, Ginger couldn't care less.

Tart thought Roxanne as she realised that was probably the most attention she'd get from him in a while.~

Stretching and trudging into the bathroom, Roxanne had a quick shower and changed into shorts and a light hoodie as she didn't plan on leaving the tower today. It looked too cold for that.
As she sat down pulling on her favourite low top converses, Arianna burst into the room.
"Scorp's looking for you Rox. He says it's important"
"Thanks Ari!" she shouted back as the girl practically Apparated from her sight. Deciding Scorpius could wait another 15 minutes, Roxanne took out her potion set and set up a simmering base for one of the more permanent hair fixes Melanie had sent her. As she couldn't stay to complete it, she laid out the ingredients and charmed the equipment to work automatically finishing the simple yet brilliant potion for her. She then cast a protective bubble around the area to be sure it wouldn't be tampered with and to protect the rest of the room in case something went wrong. Realizing her hair was a complete mess, she flicked through her purple bound book and used a new spell that would apparently give her "tight curls to die for" which to Roxanne's pleasure did. She couldn't wait for the potion to work so she wouldn't have to use the spells every day. Not that she was complaining. They were amazing!

By the time Roxanne reached the common room Scorpius was gone. Lorcan and Lysander were playing chess, as they usually did on Sunday afternoons and said they'd had no idea where Scorpius was but that were supposed to tell her to 'find him'. Roxanne left the common room and drew out her Map.
Oh, she'd find him alright.

Caught up in her eagerness to use the Map, Roxanne had forgotten she wasn't exactly dressed for a Scottish September but continued to walk over to the lake anyway. She spotted Scorpius' brown hair in the distance by the same tree they'd met at on the first day.

Why did he want her to find him here?
Or did he not want her to find him any more?
Maybe he'd given up waiting and wanted some alone time?

As she questioned Scorpius' messages she saw a flash of blonde and checked her map. Great. Florence was with him now. Roxanne folded the map and walked around the copse of trees so she wouldn't be seen and could wait for her to leave. She could see them from her new position in a nearby tree but couldn't hear anything. Deciding she might as well listen in, Roxanne threw out an Extendable Ear and sat back coldly~
After about ten minutes of silence, Scorpius spoke up.
"Hey Flo?" He began
"Yes Scorpie?" She answered her voice sickly sweet. Roxanne cringed at the sound.
"Have you heard anything about Roxanne? You know, maybe from Samantha or something?" He asked. Merlin. Subtle isn't he? Roxanne thought.
"Why?" She sounded angry. Probably pissed about lack of her in the conversation
"No reason. Just her best friend isn't talking to her and I think it's upsetting her"
Thanks a lot Scor, I now sound like a five year old.
 Though if Florence had the answers, she didn't care how she sounded, she wanted to know.

Florence began to laugh. Almost manically.
"Trust me Scorpius, after what Weasley did I don't think they'll be speaking any time soon" at this, Roxanne sat forwards as if it would help her hear more clearly. She was about to find out...
"What did she do?"
"You mean you don't know? I thought you and Scamander were close?"

Lysander, Lorcan. What?
"What's it got to do with Ly?"
"No the other one, Lerman?" Bint
Scorpius sighed but continued. "Lorcan. But what's it got to do with him?"
"Well I can't say for sure but after Weasley slept with him I'm guessing she didn't fess up to Wood. Add on the fact Wood's had it bad for him for years and you've got betrayal and jealousy central. But really she deserves it."
"When did this happen?"
"First night back. Didn't even wait around. The slut. I saw her leave his room in the morning, I was looking for you actually bit you must've gone to breakfast early" she shrugged. "I told Sammy and she reckons they've been at it for at least a year, she told me not to tell anyone though or her boyfriend would be pissed she didn't tell him. And you know Sammy. She hates confrontation. Anyway, long story short Weasley's been banging Scamander and didn't tell Wood. Who's basically in love with him. Oh and she heard us talking about them. She ran off crying and didn't go to her next lesson!" She began laughing again recovering enough to speak. "Told you she was a slut. Merlin, she's two years younger than him too. Eugh. Scamander must be desperate, I mean he's decent. He could do way better..."

She'd heard enough. She wanted to run to Olivia and tell her the truth. She wanted to hex Florence. Samantha too. She wasn't sleeping with Lorcan! Stupid Bridgewater! She paused atempting to calm herself. Rushing into this won't help you Rox. If you run to Liv now, denying every thing she won't believe a word of it. You're a Ravenclaw. Think.Roxanne calmed herself enough to think clearly. She needed a plan, but first she'd have to speak to Scorpius.~

Sitting in the common room alone Roxanne stared at the Map. She watched the dot labelled 'Scorpius Malfoy' speed toward the tower. She folded it away and walked towards the door in anticipation of his arrival. The moment he entered, she grabbed his arm and led him to a secret corridor she'd found on the Map. Once they were behind the tapestry Roxanne half-led, half-dragged him along the passage to a disused part of the castle. She found an old classroom and pulled him inside. Silencing and locking the door behind her. She turned her back to the door and leant against it sighing.
"Jeez, Rox, if you wanted a snog you only had to ask" he said placing his arms either side of her head and leaning his face towards her. She knew this was just typical Scorpius, flirting and cocky but she couldn't help the breath hitch in her throat as he leaned over her to whisper in her ear.
"I have some good news and some bad news" he said pulling away and looking into her eyes. She flicked her wand behind him and pushed him back into the chair she'd just conjured.
"Before you say it…No Scorp I'm not about to take advantage of you" she added as he had smirked at her actions.
She conjured a chair of her own. "I just needed to talk to you"
"Good. I needed to talk to you too. Like I said. I have news. What first?"
"Good" she answered automatically.
"Well Olivia thinks you're a slut for sleeping with Lorcan for about a year now and not telling her. She probably also thinks you're a bitch because she likes him and you've been shagging your best friend's crush?" The last part came out as a question as the idea of Olivia and Lorcan had never come to Scorpius' mind.
"Yeah I know. I heard" Roxanne answered. Smiling slightly at his summary and the fact this was the 'good' news.
"Bad news?" She asked before he could realise that she'd 'heard'. "I may be dating the hot love child of a Troll and a Goblin" he answered.
She grinned. "I feel so proud" ~

Scorpius and Roxanne sat in the empty classroom for a further hour and a half discussing how to best speak to Olivia and how to coax her into believing them. They then discussed how to solve Scorp's love life. AKA how to break up with Florence Bridgewater. They'd address the Olivia situation on Monday night and hopefully by Tuesday afternoon Scorpius would be a free man and Rox would have Liv back.
"We need to get to bed." Roxanne yawned. Scorpius, never off form responded within seconds.
"First Lorcan now me? I'll have you know I'm a happily taken man Weasley" he smirked.
"Technically I fell asleep on you that night. So it was never Lorcan. Wonder what Florence would say. Should we find out Malfoy?" She smirked back at him in a manner only he could usually achieve and reached for the door.
She felt his hands close around her waist as she was pulled back towards him. Her hand, still on the door, pulled it open letting it slam shut as she lost her grip and ended up trapped around the middle on Scorpius' lap.
"Shhh!" She laughed, scrambling up to check the corridor, her charm had obviously worn off and she didn't want to be caught in a disused classroom with Scorpius 'hottest-guy-in-the-school' Malfoy. She'd had enough sex rumours for one day.
"Shit" she whispered as she watched Filch round the corner and Mrs Norris round the opposite one. She didn't need her Map to see that they were both walking towards the classroom.
She turned to Scorpius whispering loudly "Hide!"~

Argus Filch stood in the doorway, he saw nothing other than two soft chairs and a desk against the wall. The bottom of the desk was cut off, like a toilet cubicle, so if anyone were hiding beneath it, he'd see their feet. No one in here. He turned to the animal at his feet.
"I can't see anyone, my love" his rasp echoed across the seemingly empty cat, Mrs Norris, whom most suspected was actually some poor transfigured witch that Filch was incapable of restoring to her former glory, meowed at him and left the room. The soft click of the door was heard and shuffling footsteps retreated down the hall.
"Is he gone?" Scorpius whispered from his hiding place under the desk. Roxanne was sitting in his lap levitating them off the floor so they're bodies couldn't be seen from underneath the gap. It wasn't her best hiding place but had been Scorpius' idea and with a single desk in an otherwise empty class there hadn't been many options.
"Yeah" Roxanne sighed with relief, releasing the spell and regretting it as she came crashing down onto his lap a second after he'd hit the cold stone floor.
"SORRRY!" she whispered as loudly as she dared, clambering off his lap as he winced.
"Rox, lay off those pies okay?" He teased recovering and standing. She punched him in the gut and left the room as he doubled over in pain, laughing despite himself.~

The rest of Sunday evening flew by. Roxanne spent some time tending to her potions and then joined the gathering of the boys, Olivia, Arianna, Lena and Scarlett. This time she noticed the intensity of Liv's glares increased when she sat next to or teased Lorc so she subtly moved nearer to Scorpius as if to show there was nothing going on. This didn't bode well either, because soon, Florence joined the group and started a Roxanne Weasley hate campaign of her own. Her tactic that night, get in as many insults into the conversation as possible.

When Lysander asked about Roxanne's OWL lessons, Florence laughed, quickly telling them Roxanne probably hadn't done any work because she was too busy 'stupidly flirting with Logan' or 'trying to' as Florence had put it.

Rox just grinned at her attempt to embarrass her, "Actually, we finished ahead of the entire class." Roxanne paused, "But really Florence, don't you think it would be better for your grades if you spent less time watching me and more working. Or well, trying to at least?"

Florence huffed, momentarily put off her Anti-Roxanne Efforts and went back to playing with Scorpius' hair. From across the circle the girl in their dorm giggled and Roxanne was sure she saw a faint smile on Olivia's lips.~

Monday passed with a similar vigour, almost as if everything were leading up to the events that would unfold that evening.

Roxanne only had one OWL lesson that day which meant that in every other lesson of hers she had to deal with being ignored and glared at by Liv. It was almost enough to push her to stand and shout that she had not slept with Lorcan, or for anyone that matter! However, Roxanne reasoned mentally that would go down particularly well with any of her teachers and she knew the only way to really convince Olivia was to wait. Roxanne laid back in her Astronomy class on the cushioned floor identifying and recording constellations on her map worrying as to whether or not her and Scorp's plan would work out. She had just finished marking Sagittarius on the chart when Professor Grayson shouted out to the class, "Alright, that's it for today. I want those charts finished by next week!" the class mumbled in relative agreement as they filed out but Roxanne knew there would only be a handful of students- her included- who actually completed their charts.~

Roxanne entered the common room, bypassing her dorm mates calling her over, "Sorry guys. No time!". She dumped her school bags and slipped out of her robe quickly pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail. Checking the time on her watch she realised she still had another ten minutes before the plan was due to start. Instead of sitting and calming herself as she probably should have, she made her way up to the seventh floor early. Walking down the hall she ran her hand across the smooth, cold stone and sunk down to the floor, holding her legs to her chest, hoping she would have her friend back soon. Being without Olivia, was like a piece of her was missing. She just wanted to be able to come back to the common room after a shitty lesson and rant freely. She wanted to be able to compare notes on Mel's charms and potions. She wanted to be able to sit with her on her bed on a Saturday, draw the curtains and spend the night talking and giggling like they did every so often. She just… wanted her back. The girl who she was closer to than her own family. The girl who understood her better than anyone. The girl who always had been and always would be her best friend. She hoped.~

It was getting late and as Scorpius began to walk down the seldom used corridor, the torches blew out. he lit his wand and ignored the paintings' protests. Unbeknownst to him, the view in front of him was a view very similar to the one Dominique had had down the seventh floor corridor all those years ago. He could hear quiet sobs and make out the shape of a girl sitting against the wall tucked into herself. The differences now? The girl was bigger, her body and face matured. Instead of the frizz of her first years, her hair fell in curls over her arms and shimmered slightly in the soft wandlight. this time she wasn't crying as much, the hysterical tears replaced with small hiccups. Other than that, not much had changed. Roxanne was sat yet again, crying to herself because she was lonely. Yet again, she'd been let down by someone who she cared about. But again, Roxanne had someone willing to help. Someone who cared about her too, coming to her aid.

She felt a light hand on her shoulder and knew it was time. Scorpius took her hand and pulled her up. He brushed away tears she hadn't even realised she'd been shedding and pulled her towards him. She was too preoccupied to notice how close they were, or how softly yet strongly he held her. How much warmer and happier she felt with him. She just concentrated on the steady beat of his heart and tried to believe it would work. She felt his chin move on the top of her head, "You'll get her back Rox". Somehow when Scorpius said it, she believed it.

A moment later, Scorpius pulled away and Roxanne noticed how cold everything seemed without him. His hands remained on her shoulders and he looked her in the eye.

"You ready?" he asked, smiling encouragingly.

"I guess" she smiled back at him.

"Good. Then let's get this done" ~

A/N:

Okay so that felt shorter than usual but not by much... I think. Hope you enjoyed it and got your fix of Scorpianne chapter called, The Plans... Pretty obvious there really. Stay tuned.

Hope you liked it and DFTR, they make me happy :D

Love Cookie x