Chapter 3
As much as Scorpius didn't want to go home for Christmas, he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, Rose was there. It pained him when he had to ignore her. He knew that she felt hurt because of him. Scorpius did not want to see that. It hurt enough to see her in his mid.
Yet, here he was at King's Cross Station, waiting to board that Hogwarts Express. His father and mother did not want to come and see him off. He knew that his mother would have come, but she had a meeting with her garden club that she could not reschedule. His father, on the other hand, had plainly told him that he wouldn't be coming because he didn't want to. Scorpius was fine with this in all aspects. His mother would have just embarrassed him at the platform, and his father would have made him feel uncomfortable. He would rather be on his own comfortable than with his father awkwardly.
There was a commotion down at the end of the platform Scorpius saw when he entered through the wall. Scorpius looked over there and saw Rose, Al, and their families. He made eye contact with Rose, but quickly looked away. He couldn't hurt her anymore that he already had. He turned away and quickly got on the train to find an empty seat. He couldn't help himself and looked out the window to see Rose again. This time, she was accompanied by another boy. To make matters worse, Rose looked like she was flirting. Scorpius' hands went into a ball. He didn't know who that Gryffindor boy was, but he wanted to beat him into a pulp.
"Hey, mate," a voice said, awakening Scorpius from his trance.
Scorpius looked up and saw Lysander standing in front of him. Though Lysander had been mad at him for dating Rose in secret, he forgave Scorpius when he broke up with her. Scorpius, wanting his friend back, forgave him quickly.
"Hey mate. How was your Christmas?" Scorpius asked his friend.
Lysander came into the comportment and sat down on the seat across from Scorpius. ""It was fine, though my stupid Gryffindor brother was not being very social. All he did all day was sit up in his bedroom writing letters. I hate my family so much. They are nothing like me. They are all so weird. You have no idea what I'm going through."
Scorpius nodded, even though he didn't agree. He did know what Lysander was going through with his family. After all, Scorpius didn't fit into his family at all either. "You can't pick you family. Trust me on this one," he said grimly.
"That's right," Lysander responded. Conversation dried up for a spell while the train pulled away from the station. The candy witch came and asked if they wanted to buy anything from the trolley. Both Scorpius and Lysander got a package of Bertie Botts's Every Flavor Bean. Lysander also got a Chocolate Frog. Snaking on their food, another conversation didn't come up. Once they were in more of the country, Lysander started talking again. "Did you see who my brother was with today?"
Scorpius didn't answer because the train lurched forward at that exact moment. Both boys held onto their seats as the bags next to them when flying. Picking up the bags, Lysander muttered curses under his breath. Once they had sat up again, Lysander asked once again if Scorpius had seen who his brother was with at the station today.
Scorpius, realizing that he could ignore his mate, replied dully saying, "No. Who was he with?"
"Rose Weasley. Apparently, that's who my idiot of a brother was writing to over break. She wrote to him after Christmas and they started talking to each other every single minute. It got annoying having the owls fly in and out of his window. They both had nothing better to do over break." Lysander opened his Chocolate Frog and started to eat it. After biting off its head, he said, "So I think they're going to Hogsmeade together."
Scorpius' heart dropped. Rose. Going to Hogsmeade. With another boy. He felt crushed into a million pieces. His heart shattered like a mirror did when someone dropped it. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Rose had a date to Hogsmeade. Not that he blamed her. After all, he had dumped her. He knew that they could never be together. She was perfectly able to go out and date someone else. Rose had moved on. It was time he did too.
"Wow. I never thought that your brother would go after my ex. He must be really desperate," Scorpius tried to comment offhandedly. He didn't want Lysander to guess his true feelings. Luckily, Lysander didn't seem to notice Scorpius' indifference. He was too busy eating off the legs of his Chocolate Frog.
"That's what I thought," Lysander said, continuing his rant on Rose. "No offence mate, but I don't know what you saw in her in the first place. If I didn't know any better, I would say that she slipped you a love potion."
"Something like that," Scorpius murmured darkly, still fuming about Rose.
Lysander, having polished of his Chocolate Frog, turned to his friend in disbelief. "What? She did give you a love potion?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Scorpius said, turning away from his mate.
They were both quiet for a minute. Then, Lysander asked, "Are you going to get another girlfriend or just a fuck buddy? Personally, I think you were happier with a girlfriend. Last term, I didn't even know that you and Weasley were going out and you were much happier."
Scorpius just continued to stare out the window at the passing countryside.
Lysander continued talking as if nothing was wrong. "I think that I'm going to try to get a girlfriend too. I have fucked all the sixth and Seventh year girls and anyone younger is just no fun."
"If you find anyone for me," Scorpius said, still looking out the window, "let me know. I'm tired of acting like I don't care about anything."
"Will do, mate. Listen, I have to go. Rachel Gray from Ravensclaw asked me to meet with her on the train. I think that she has a fine looking friend that might be interested in you. I'll see what I can do for you."
Lysander left Scorpius alone as he went off to find Rachel Gray. He knew that Lysander was right. He needed something to get his mind off Rose. The problem was that he was still in love with her. Scorpius was almost positive that she still liked him as well. Before break, he could swear that Rose still cried herself to sleep because he would always her crying coming from her dorm. She also couldn't look him in the eye when they were talking about Head duties.
But now, Scorpius wasn't so sure. She was, according to Lysander, going on another date. Maybe she had moved on since before break. If she was over him, he would respect that. He hated when a girl he didn't like would try to go after him. He wouldn't subject Rose to that. Not that they could ever go out, but they could still be friends. If she still liked him, all they could be was friends, after all. But, friends were better than nothing.
By this time, the train had come to a stop in the Hogsmeade station. Grabbing his bag from the seat, Scorpius left his compartment and got off the train. He looked for Lysander, but couldn't find him. Deciding that he had already left, Scorpius, not looking, got onto the last carriage. When he sat down, he looked at the other people in his carriage. They were Rose Weasley and Albus Potter.
[-**-]
Rose was hitting herself for not getting on an earlier carriage. Hank Longbottom and Louis said that she could share a carriage with them and Lorcan, but she declined. She had wanted to share a carriage with Al. Now, she was stuck with Al and Scorpius. She was surprised that Scorpius didn't get out of the carriage and walk, but, then again, he was already inside. It would have seemed rude, but Scorpius was the king of being rude.
He was sitting right across from her, but she didn't want to stare at him. Instead, she stared out the window at the passing trees. She was determined not to talk to the boy who broke her heart.
Every so often, she would sneak a glace a glance at Scorpius and quickly look away. Rose couldn't help herself. She was still madly in love with him. And it didn't help her that he wouldn't sit still. Scorpius kept moving around and was making the seat creak. Rose was getting sick and tired of it.
"Would you stop!" she finally exclaimed.
Scorpius looked up surprised. "What did I do now?" he asked, trying to look innocent. It didn't work.
"Would you sit still? The noise coming from the seat is driving me insane."
He stopped moving. "Sorry. If I had known that it was bothering you, I would have stopped a long time ago."
Rose looked at Scorpius with annoyance. "Sure you would have. That's just the kind of person you are."
"Believe it or not, but I'm actually a nice person," Scorpius retorted.
"Such a nice person that you broke up with me for no reason at all," Rose shot back. Then she mentally hit her head against a wall. She swore that she wasn't going to bring that up. But, it was too late now.
An awkward silence fell over the entire carriage. Then, Al cleared his throat. "Well, if you don't mind, I would not like to die from insults on the way to school. Please don't yell at each other. It's uncomfortable enough as it is already."
Al was right and Rose knew it, even if she didn't want to admit it.
It was awkward between her and Scorpius. One day, they had been nice and polite to each other because they were secretly dating. The next day, they were yelling at everyone and couldn't be in the same room because they were tearing each other's throats out. This was all because they broke up over a stupid article. They problem was that when they broke up, everyone expected them to be together; again, thanks to that stupid article.
Rose knew that she still had feelings for Scorpius whether she wanted them or not, but it was clear that he didn't care at all for her. It was crystal clear that Scorpius had moved on and all but forgotten about her. So now he was back to his usual playboy self by flirting with everyone and yelling at her. She knew that he didn't care for her, but he didn't have to rub it in her face.
While Rose was thinking all about her feelings for Scorpius, she couldn't help but glace his way every so often. He must not have wanted to get in a fight with Al, because he refrained from moving. Now, he was looking out the window that she had been staring at earlier. Once, when Rose had stolen a glance at Scorpius, she could have sworn that she saw him smile like he knew that she was gazing at him. Still, Rose knew that Scorpius didn't like her in that way anymore. And she said to herself that she didn't like him either. She liked Lorcan now; not Scorpius.