Hello people! Sorry it took a little while longer to update, my internet router crashed! This chapter is a long one, but it was fun to write! I hope you enjoy and review. -Alex
P.s. I'm in Spain so it might be a few weeks until I update again. I'm still writing but I can't copy the story so that you can read it.
Disclaimer: All J.K. Rowling
We won our match against Ravenclaw but not by much. We had lost two chaser and a beater this year. Ravenclaw was winning by more than fifty points until I caught the snitch. Scorpius had been relieved but also disappointed, he was upset that we were were down by so many points in the first place.
Rose tried to find him after the game, but he went off with Jenny.
Justin and I went back to Hogsmeade for dinner and we met up with Amanda at Honeydukes, who was spying on Rose and Sal. They weren't on a date, they had just wanted to grab something to eat as friends.
A few weeks later we were sitting in the Gryffindor common room talking about Easter Break. Sal joined us, even though he was in Ravenclaw and not coming to the Burrow for Easter. Amanda was there, although this year she couldn't come because her parents decided to vacation in Italy.
"I wish I could go to Italy." James muttered.
"It is beautiful." Sal said.
"I can't wait to see Grandma Weasley!" I said excitedly.
"Same!" Lily nudged my shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked Sal to the side of the rest of the conversation. Only Lily and I could hear them. But Scorpius was watching them closely.
"I'm staying here." He whispered.
"Why?"
"My parents think it'll be safer." He shrugged.
"Oh."
They really had to work on their conversational skills. Lily grinned at me, probably thinking the same thing.
"Scorpius what are you doing?" Hugo asked.
"I'll go back to the Manor. My grandfather and grandmother are coming." He said glumly.
I paused. "They've never visited before." I choked out.
"No, they only visit every five years or so." He said quietly. "And it's my seventeenth birthday this year so they decided to visit. They should only be here for a couple of days, so I'll try to escape after they leave."
"We should meet in Diagon Alley." Freddie said eagerly.
"I have to talk to Charlie about Romania." I said, following Freddie in diverging the conversation from Scorpius.
"I can't believe you're going away for the summer." James grumbled and Amanda hit him.
I looked at Rose and she smiled. "It'll be awesome and Amanda and I are of age now so we can floor or apparate to see each other."
"Maybe you could come visit me."
"Mum and dad said they weren't sure if you should go." Albus said, throwing a wrench into everything.
"I'll be working with dragons." I said dryly. "If I can handle that I can handle a few death eaters." No one said anything about that.
"Will you leave as soon as school is out?" Amanda asked.
"Probably." I shrugged.
"I don't know what I'll do without you." Rose said to me.
"I'm sure you'll find something." Lily and I giggled as she blushed and glanced at Sal. Scorpius rolled his eyes and Hugo raised his eyebrows.
"Don't worry, sis, I'll hang out with you all summer." He said, looking pointedly at Sal.
"Thanks." Rose responded, giving her brother a dark glare.
"Dad will be upset you're ditching him for Uncle Charlie." Freddie told me. "He'll miss having you work at the shop."
I grinned. "You mean his pockets will miss the money my potions bring in."
"Possibly."
"Maybe I'll ask Uncle George for a job." Rose said. "I could use a summer job."
"Summer's such a long ways away." Scorpius groaned. Everyone murmured in agreement. "I can't think about summer or else I'll have to start thinking about N.E.W.T.'s."
"I hope everyone's been studying." Rose said excitedly.
"Of course we haven't. It's not even Easter break yet." I reminded her.
"But these are critical to finding a job after school. N.E.W.T.'s are what really count." She reprimanded me firmly.
"What are you going to do after high school?" Amanda asked James.
"Probably play quidditch for a while and then who knows. Maybe I'll manage a team. I have a few tryouts over break so I should know when we come back to school." He said, for once looking a bit nervous.
"Who are you trying out for?" I asked, bouncing on the couch.
"And why didn't we know?" Albus motioned to him and Lily.
"I didn't want to jinx anything. And Puddlemere and the Harpies are giving me tryouts. There was a team in Germany that offered me one but I didn't want to go so far away."
"Does mum know?" Lily asked. James shook his head. "Dad?" Another shake.
"This is exciting." Amanda squealed.
"I think people put way too much stock in quidditch." Rose said and Scorpius rolled his eyes. Several Gryffindors looked at the group of students with confusion, whispering about why Slytherins were in their common room.
"Rose, we all think you put too much stock in school." Freddie said seriously.
Rose sputtered. "What? How… that's not possible." She said angrily.
"We'll just agree to disagree." James said solemnly. Rose's eyes bugged out in a rather funny way and Sal looked sympathetically at her. At this point one of Rose's Gryffindor friends walked up to her. I couldn't remember the girl's name, but I had seen her with Rose and Albus a few times.
"Rose, are you coming?" She asked.
"Where are you going?" Hugo asked suspiciously. Rose sighed.
"Can I meet you guys there?"
"Sure. Your other friends can come too. We need all the opinions we can get, especially from Slytherin." The girl looked at me and Amanda. I glared at the girl, but she just played with her boring brown hair. What does us being in Slytherin have to do with anything?
Before I could tell the girl off, Amanda asked what it was we were being invited to do.
"Can't say," The girl said, looking at a few of the boys. "See you later." She looked pointedly at Rose.
"Who the bloody hell was that and why did it seem like she was preparing the sacrifice of a virgin on the altar of Satan?" James said loudly after the brown haired girl had left. Rose laughed.
"Nothing, but I promise that's not what's happening." Rose assured James and then added, "If nothing else you're not a virgin." She said wickedly. "Do you want to come?" She asked Amanda and I.
"What is it?" I asked, still slightly suspicious.
"I can't tell you yet. But I promise you'll like it."
"I want to come." Lily whined, flipping her hair. Like brother, like sister.
Rose looked at me and Amanda. "Don't look at us, we don't know what's happening." Amanda said indignantly and Rose sighed again.
"Sure why not?" She told Lily, who grinned devilishly. Rose looked at James, "Don't follow us or I'll hex your man-bits." James lifted his chin proudly.
"I'd like to see you try."
Rose raised an eyebrow and reached for her wand at which point James jumped behind the red and gold armchair. "That's what I thought." Rose smirked. "Let's go."
Once we left the common room and the Fat Lady chided us for something, Lily asked where we were going and what we were doing.
"You'll see." Rose said mysteriously.
After ten minutes of wandering around the castle, I realized we were going to the girl's lavatory on the second floor - the one everyone avoided because of Moaning Myrtle.
"Rose! You came!" The girl who we spoke to ten minutes ago jumped up from where she was sitting on the bathroom floor.
"Grace," Oh that was her name, "I told you I would." Rose exasperated. I had only been in this bathroom once, when James wanted to plan a prank that involved flooding the entire second floor to get out of Transfiguration. Moaning Myrtle had scared us off though, she was obsessed with James, and I hadn't come back since.
"Now can anyone tell us what we're doing here?" Amanda crossed her arms across her chest and looked around at the abandoned bathroom. There were six other girls sitting on the bathroom floor. I recognized only one other from our year and a few from seventh year and two others who must be in years below me.
"We are here," Grace paused dramatically, "to create a list of the best blokes in Hogwarts." None of us said anything. Lily blinked.
"What?" I said finally.
"They have a list of the hottest girls in Hogwarts, so we were thinking we should create a list of the hottest guys in Hogwarts!" One of the younger girls said.
"They do?" Amanda looked surprised.
"That doesn't actually surprise me." I muttered. That sounded exactly like James, Albus, and Freddie, and probably Louis when he was at Hogwarts.
A seventh year nodded eagerly. "I found a copy in the Hufflepuff common room. A few boys from each house come of with certain qualities that they judge girls fourth year and up on. Of course, when I found the list I didn't know this but I made my brother who's in your year," She motioned to me and Amanda, "tell me what it was." Oh she was Tracy Nott! Her brother Jack was in my Herbology and Potions classes last year. Like her brother she had dirty blonde hair and greenish brown eyes.
"So then we thought we should do the same to them and see how they like being ranked." Vivian Chang, a Ravenclaw in my year, said. "They didn't post it up though, they just sent it around to the guys who wanted to see it. That's why none of knew. But we," She motioned to a seventh year girl, "Thought we would post it up so they knew exactly what we think of them."
"Brilliant." I said, grinning.
"Really?" Rose looked at me.
"Of course, this is an excellent way to mess with the boys." I said and Rose looked disappointed. "I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner." Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Do you still have the list from last year?" Lily asked.
"Sure. They put it out at the end of the year." Tracy said, grabbing a piece of parchment from her bag. "A list of the top twenty girls at Hogwarts." I leaned over Lily's shoulder and looked at the list.
Hogwart: A List of Twenty Girls
1. Dominique Weasley 7th Year
2. Allison Sharpe 6th Year
3. Alison Longbottom 7th Year
4. Rose Weasley 5th Year
5. Tracey Nott 6th Year
6. Lucy Weasley 7th Year
7. Atria Williams 5th Year
8. Jennifer Blotte 6th Year
9. Jasmine Trunk 7th Year
10. Emma Finnegan 4th Year
11. Samantha Andreas 7th Year
12. Cerise Willis 5th Year
13. Amanda Smith 5th Year
14. Mary Zabini 7th Year
15. Jean Sharpe 4th Year
16. Theresa Sinclair 7th Year
17. Patria Mate 6th Year
18. Vivian Chang 5th Year
19. Grace Wood 5th Year
20. Sinitta Martinez 4th Year
Honorable Mentions: Clara Rung, Winona Thomas, Lissa Krum
"We all made the list." Amanda muttered to me.
"I didn't." Lily growled.
"You were a third year." One of the girls said. "I'm Patria. We were all on the list," She motioned to the girls in the bathroom. "But we were the lucky ones. Imagine if you didn't make the list and you found this."
"We should purposely leave off some of the guys." Lily said, smiling evilly. She had that glint in her eyes that really worried her dad… not so much her mom and her uncles.
"Like who?" Said the girl who Vivien motioned to earlier, who I'm pretty sure was in Ravenclaw… Allison Sharpe, I think.
"Scorpius…" Rose muttered.
"Albus and James," I threw in.
"Oh, and Freddie." Lily laughed.
"I think they're all in the top five." Jean Sharpe said shyly.
"Well, what are we judging on?" Patria asked. "It can't just be hotness, because there's more to boys that that."
"I bet they judge us on looks alone." I said darkly.
"I don't think so, otherwise Jenny would be higher on the list. I'm not saying she's number 1, but if it was solely based on looks she'd be in the top 3." Allison said.
"Says someone in the top three," Grace mutter.
"Well, I don't want to sound full of myself, but I'd like to think that I have a better personality than Jenny." Allison shrugged.
"You do." I told her firmly. "So in addition to hotness we take into account… what else?"
"Well, what do you see in Justin?" Amanda asked. I thought for a moment. And then another moment.
"He's nice and polite. He's a gentleman." I told them. Merlin, that sounded boring once I said it out loud. "He's Head Boy."
"Okay, so what if we had a 'gentlemen category', but also a 'spontaneity' category. Some girls find a little danger attractive." Vivien said.
"I'm going to write this down." Jean said, pulling a piece of parchment out of her blue bag.
"Oh they should get points for being smart." Patria said excitedly.
"And for being athletic." Tracey put in. "Gotta love a quidditch body." All the girls cood in agreement. It started to rain outside, not unusual for late winter.
"Should we deduct points for slagging around?" Lily asked.
"Because James would be out if we did that." Amanda mumbled to me and I giggled silently. I twirled my blue hair, thinking about it.
"I don't think so because that only means that girls find them attractive. I think those points will come out in the 'polite/gentlemen' category." Rose shrugged. Count on Rosie to be the practical one while we're ranking boys.
"So should we nominate boys?" Grace asked excitedly, bouncing on her criss crossed legs.
"Yea and then we should ask other people. We don't have to tell them about the boy's list of girls. This is why we needed some Slytherins, we don't spend as much time with them as you do. We need to get a sense of what the guys are like when we're not around. Are they mean to other boys or younger kids, etcetera." Allison said to Amanda and I.
"I nominate…" Grace thought about it and glanced at Rose guiltily, "Scorpius Malfoy." Jean wrote down his name. She had a column for each category along the top of the page and began to write names down the side so we could give them scores in each category.
"We'll nominate people and then narrow it down if we have more than twenty, and then we'll give them a score out of ten for each column." Allison told us. "So I nominate James Potter." Lily gagged and ran her hands through her hair.
"I nominate Justin Cater." I said.
"Salvator Aros." Rose blushed and Grace bounced some more.
"He's fit," She told Rose, "And really smart. He's in my Potions class."
"Jack Nott." Vivien said and Tracey made a face.
"Health Larose." Patria said.
An hour later we had narrowed down the list to twenty guys and were now scoring them.
"Scorpius is definitely a ten in the looks category and the athletic category." Jean said, having sprawled out on the bathroom floor. The sun was starting to go down in the windows and cast a yellowish glow over the girls.
"And at least an eight in the smarts category." Grace nodded. Rose rolled her eyes but didn't argue. "And what do you think for the 'spontaneous/dangerous' category?"
"He's not that wild." I said to Amanda, silently asking her if she agreed.
"No, I'd give him a six or a seven. He does hang out with James and Freddie so that gives him some points in that column." Amanda said.
"So, how about a six?" Jean said. We made sounds of approval and she wrote down a six. "For politeness?"
"Definitely, a nine." Allison said. "One time I saw him comforting a second year who failing a test and he was really sweet. No one was even looking." All the girls swooned.
"I agree. I've never seen him be mean to anyone and he always holds doors for people." Vivien nodded.
"What about James?"
"Nine in looks, I think but I'm not a fan of dark hair," Patria said. "But ten in athletic ability." She added.
"Agreed." Tracey said and we all nodded.
And this continued until we got to Albus Potter who we decided to do last. By this time it was completely dark and Scorpius as in first place and Sal was in second. James and Freddie were in fifth and eighth respectively, which made Lily and I laughed. They had both lost major points in the 'politeness' column.
"I think he's cuter than James," Jean said, "I like his muscles." They giggled and I rolled my eyes.
"He's like a six in the brains category though." I snickered and Lily agreed.
"Okay so a ten in the looks and athletic categories-"
"We have to deduct points for him not being able to catch a snitch in the athletic category," I cut Allison off.
"So a nine," She looked at me for approval and I nodded.
"Politeness column… he's better behaved than James or Freddie," Lily said, then thought for a moment. "Probably a seven."
"Seven in the 'dangerous' column as well." Amanda nodded, probably thinking about the time he decided to play tag with the Whomping Willow. He did not win.
"So let's tally this all up and for the rest of the school year, we'll observe and rearrange the boys as we see fit." Allison said, looking over the things her sister wrote down. She nodded at her sister and we all let out a sigh of relief.
"We should get going it's almost time for dinner." Rose said. "We have a charms exam tomorrow." She said to me.
"Since when?"
"Since a week ago." Rose replied, daring me to challenge her.
"Oh well." I shrugged.
"That's it. You're not going to study?" Rose looked personally offended by my lack of caring about a test.
"Does she need to?" Amanda giggled.
"Probably." I admitted. "I'm still not sure if I can do the Bubblehead charm. Or Confundus for that matter."
"You still aren't going to study, though?" Rose asked dryly.
"Nope." I said happily.
"See you guys." Allison waved as we parted ways in the corridor. Lily went in another direction as well.
"Bye!"
"So Sal is currently at number 2." I elbowed Rose in the side softly. She blushed lightly on her cheeks and ears.
"So?"
"So you're about to get with the second hottest guy in school."
"And you're best friends with the hottest guy in school." Amanda tried not to grin. "And your cousins are in the top ten."
"Rose, I insist you stop being so greedy." I said playfully.
"What? You- but you guys are friends with all of them too!" She said defensively. Amanda and I laughed.
"I feel bad for the poor girls that marry into this family." I said.
"I feel bad for the guys that marry into this family!" Amanda's eyes widened. "Can you imagine Bill Weasley letting anyone near Dom? Or your dad letting anyone near you? There's so many protective males in your family." Amanda said to Rose.
"True." Rose said.
"Poor Sal." I sighed and Rose elbowed me not softly.
"Ow!" I cried dramatically. No, it didn't actually hurt physically, but it hurt emotionally.
"I thought I heard you!" James voice carried down the corridor. Alexander Bishop, another boy on our list, was with him. "So what happened?" Was the first thing he asked once he got to us. "And where's Lily?"
"Lily went to dinner." Rose told him, ignoring his other question. James waited to see if she was going to share anymore.
"And…" He lead.
"None of your business." Amanda said cooly. James ruffled his hair and smiled at her. She stared him down.
"Fine." He pouted.
"Hey, Alex." Rose said, thinking to acknowledge the other boy.
"Hi, Rose." Alex said, giving her a small smile. He was attractive and fell into the 'spontaneous/dangerous' column. He didn't play Quidditch for Gryffindor, but he was still fit and Grace had a huge crush on her seventh year fellow Gryffindor. I think as of now he was standing in seventh place, but I knew Amanda was observing his behavior like I was.
"So were you looking for us just to find out where we went?" Rose folded her arms and gave him a look that would have made Ginny proud.
"No-" James said dramatically.
"There's been another attack." Alex looked at the ground.
"What?" Rose said. I wasn't surprised.
"Where?" Amanda pressed a hand to her chest. We were still walking to dinner, really slowly though, and there was a couple snogging on the bench like they hadn't heard about the attack or didn't care.
"In a muggle town outside of London. Two dead, three wounded. They were all muggles… the survivors have been obliviated." James bit his lip, clearly trying to think of something to say. "The ministry just announced it an hour ago. It happened yesterday." He said shortly.
"But why? I still don't understand what they're going to get by doing this." Amanda ran her hand through her hair and gave a frustrated sigh. "Other than the dementors' kiss." She muttered.
And that's when it struck me. My mother was going to die. One way or another she was going to be killed. Either by aurors or by a dementors' kiss, and I wasn't entirely prepared to deal with that.
"Attie are you alright?" Rose whispered softly, knowing that the answer was no.
"Yea," I blinked a few times to clear the tears threatening to spill. "I just… I just want this all to be over." And that was the truth, even if it meant my mother dying.
"I'm sure the aurors will catch them soon." James said.
"Maybe."
They looked at me. "I'm just saying, we're dealing with powerful and lethal wizards." I inhaled deeply. "I'm not hungry anymore." I started walking away.
"Okay, if you're sure." Amanda called after me.
"Do you think she's okay?" James asked after Atria walked away.
"I don't know." Amanda replied, staring in the direction Atria walked off in. Rose pressed her lips together and debated going after her.
"I'm going to go." Alex slowly started to back away. No one paid attention to him, they just bent their heads together and whispered about Attie.
"Do you think this is dragging up bad memories from the past?" James said, looking at Amanda with wide eyes.
She looked at him slowly. "Do you think that the escape of her parents' killers is bringing up bad memories?" She repeated and stared at his stupidity. "Of course it is, you idiot." She smacked him on the arm.
"Maybe we shouldn't have let her be alone." Rose was on the verge of tears. "The people who killed her parents just murdered more people. They're on the loose!" Now she was getting a bit hysterical. Her hair seemed to get redder and her eyes a little bit scarier.
"She won't talk about it." Amanda told Rose, pulling her to the side of corridor so they didn't block the hall or frighten unsuspecting first years. "I've tried to talk about it, but she just says it's in the past and she wants it to stay there."
"But it's not staying there." Rose rung her hands. "It's out on the streets hunting people." Rose gasped and grabbed James's arm. "What if she goes after them? Like she did before?"
"Shit, you're right." James ran his hands through his hair. Then he paused, "So you never told me what you guys where doing."
Rose hit his head, "That's not important right now, you git." Seriously, saw he really that stupid? "You know what? I'm going to find Atria before she does something rash." And before James or Amanda could protest, Rose rushed off in a red blur.
"Great." Amanda muttered. Merlin, why was James so idiotic? She looked at him and wondered why they had given him a score of six for being a gentlemen. He was more like a two, she thought. But that would have knocked him out of the top ten and Merlin forbid he's not in the top ten.
"So-" James ruffled his hair.
Amanda snapped. "Stop doing that!" She screamed at him! He jumped back as she advanced on him, pointing her finger at him like it was a sword. Some third years shuffled past them in an attempt not to get caught in the cross-fire.
"What?" He helped his hands up.
"The- that- the thing!" She yelled incoherently. "Stop ruffling your hair and batting your eyelashes like an innocent little boy!" She jabbed a finger at his chest.
"I'm not doing it on purpose." He glared at her taking a step forward, going on the offensive. Amanda backed up, not wanting him to get too close for reasons she'd rather not think about. She wouldn't be able to think if he got too close - he smelled too nice and towered over her too much.
Sure, she wasn't as short as Attie, but her five-six was nothing compared to James's six-something. He was probably at least six-two and weighed about one hundred and eighty pounds. Stupid beautiful green eyes and rugged black hair.
"Well, you always do that!" She explained, going back to ramming him out. "Whenever you think you're about to get in trouble, you go into your 'charming' habits and try to distract us by acting cute."
James grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. "You think I'm cute?"
Amanda threw her hands in the air and gave a little shriek. "No, you arse! I think you try to act cute and use your charm to get out of trouble?" James thought about that for a second. Maybe what Amanda said actually got through-
"So you think I have charm?"
Her eye twitched. "I can't deal with you right now." And then she started walking away.
"No, wait." James caught up to her. "Sorry," He chuckled. "I just don't-"
"Like to deal with serious situations?" Amanda interrupted him.
"Uh," He cleared his throat, "yea." He finished lamely and cursed himself.
"I'm going to the Great Hall," Amanda said softly and left before he could stop her.
"Okay, I'll just," He waved to her retreating figure. "I've got things to do as well. See ya..." He trailed off and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. A pair of fourth year giggled at him when he stood there for a few seconds. "Oh, sod off." He glared at him. They shuffled away quickly, but he heard them giggle one last time. He closed his eyes and prayed to Merlin.
After dinner, McGonagall called the Wotters into her office.
"Why are we here?" Hugo muttered.
"I didn't do anything!" Freddie said quickly, which made everyone suspicious. When everyone glanced at him, he avoided eye contact. Professor McGonagall entered the room.
"Professor, it wasn't-" Freddie started, but stopped when Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy followed McGonagall in.
"Mum!" Hugo yelled. "What are you doing here?"
"We wanted to make sure you were alright after everything that's happened." Hermione said, smiling tightly and wrung her hands.
"Where's Scorpius?" Rose asked.
"Professor Longbottom is getting him as we speak." McGonagall said and dook a seat at her desk, nodding at Draco.
"So what's happening?" Atria asked, directly.
"Uh..." Harry didn't know what else to say. He had prepared a slow intro into what was happening but Atria just shot that to hell. "There was an a... attack on a muggle village."
"We know that." Albus said. "Why are we here? What's the plan for us?"
At that moment Scorpius entered. "What's going on?"
"We think it might be better if you stay here for Easter." Hermione said quickly and then waited to hear the reactions. And there were reactions.
"What?"
"Why?"
"That's not fair!"
"Enough." McGonagall hushed them with one word.
"We feel that you will be safer here, all in one place, than out where we would have to keep track of you." Draco explained.
"But dad-"
"We just can't guarantee your safety will all of you buzzing around." Harry said. "And we know you'd want to visit each other." None of the children denied that.
"It won't be so bad," Hermione said, trying to lift their spirits. "You all get to spend a week together!"
"But no one else is staying?" James looked at his dad.
"I'm sure a few other students will be here, but we're not making it mandatory." Harry told his son, who ruffled his hair subconsciously, then stopped when he realized what he was doing. Damn Amanda, he thought.
"So you will all be staying in the Hufflepuff dormitory for the break." McGonagall said earning groans.
"Why can't we stay in Gryffindor?" Albus snapped, getting a look from his father.
"Or Slytherin?" Atria said.
"We thought it would be best if you were placed in a neutral zone." Hermione said.
"So we'll all be staying together?" James wiggled his eyebrows at Attie suggestively and she laughed him off.
While Atria was rolling her eyes, McGonagall snapped, "Don't be absurd. You will be staying in your dorms according to your year and gender."
"I have to stay alone?" Lily whispered, looking at her daddy, who looked at McGonagall.
"Alright, only genders will be separated. You may arrange yourselves according to gender, then." McGonagall retracted her previous statement. James still looked disappointed.
"Sleepover!" Lily cried and hugged Rose and Atria.
"Alright, you should go to your respective dormitories. Enjoy the rest of your week." McGonagall dismisses the students. Rose hugged her parents on the way out and James dodged his mother's kisses.
"Scorpius," Draco pulled his son aside. "How are you doing?" McGonagall went into a separate room.
Scorpius's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Has everything been okay with your friends?"
"I don't understand what you mean, just say what you're thinking?" Scorpius snapped, not feeling like dealing with his father's diplomacy.
"Has anyone accused you of..." Draco searched for the words, "Knowing something about the recent attacks?"
"Scorpius?" Rose whispered as she was leaving.
"I'll be there in a minute." He called. She nodded and left. "No, why would someone accuse me of knowing anything?" Draco didn't respond. "They think you had something to do with it?" Scorpius was outraged. His dad had been cleared long ago and had been a successful healer ever since.
"I don't know. I'm on probation for for a few weeks." Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to disappoint his son. He never wanted his previous life to impact the one he had now.
"That's bloody ridiculous!"
"No, it's not. I've done things that I regret and that I can't take back. I never wanted those things to affect your life. There are things that would always be with you, like our last name, but I never dreamed that it would come back life this."
Scorpius didn't say anything. He pressed his lips together and choked back tears. There was a lump in his throat and he was afraid that if he spoke, he would break down. Eventually he did say something.
"My friends are being great."
"Good. You'll need them."
"It wasn't even on my radar that I might be accused."
"That's good thing." Draco ran a hand through his hair. "I'll see you later, son. We're going somewhere different for summer vacation. As are the Potters and Weasleys, we'll tell you more once we figure it all out."
"Atria's going to Romania. We won't be able to see each other?"
"We're figuring it out." And with that Scorpius hugged his father and left.
Scorpius sighed and walked slowly back to the Slytherin Common Room. The halls were mostly empty, leaving him in peace to think. He was not having a good week, but no one else was either. He wasn't outraged about staying here for break, but he wasn't overly thrilled about it. He had been looking forward to seeing his mother and getting a break from his obnoxious friends, but it would be nice to just hang out together all the time.
He still had some things he wanted to sort out with Rose and Atria, possibly Amanda as well. But Amanda had never been against him and Jenny like Atria and Rose had been. Hell, it was mostly just Attie, Rose had just gotten sucked in.
"Manda," James's voice came from around the corner. Scorpius stopped and peeked around the corner. James and Amanda were standing a few feet apart talking softly.
"James, what do you want me to say?" She hissed and folded her arms. Scorpius watched with rapt attention, waiting to see what they were arguing about this time. "I can't just tell my parents that I'm not coming home for break."
Oh, that's what they were fighting about.
James, took a step closer. "But we'll all be here and it won't be the same without you." He admitted. Scorpius whipped his head around and leaned against the wall, out of sight. What the bloody hell was this? Scorpius wondered.
"We'll see each other over the summer. I think you all can survive one week without me." Amanda smirked. Or well it sounded like she would be smirking to Scorpius. And he almost corrected her when she said they would all see each other over the summer, because most likely, they wouldn't.
"But Scorpius is staying! It's not just family. And you'll miss what happens between Rosie and Sal." James said, trying to appeal to her love of gossip.
Wait, what Rose and Sal? The new kid who had been stalking his friends around? Scorpius thought. Rose couldn't possibly be into him. He hadn't really been hanging out with Rose over the past week, so he wasn't totally privy to her love life at the moment.
"I doubt they'll do anything in a week. It's taken them a like three weeks to get to the basic flirting level." Amanda said sarcastically. Sal and Rose were flirting? How could he have missed that.
"Or maybe you just don't like us anymore." James said childishly. Scorpius didn't hear Amanda reply but could imagine her rolling her eyes or glaring at her. Okay, enough with the small talk. Scorpius rounded the corner and pretended like he hadn't known the couple was there.
"Oh, hey guys." Scorpius said, a bit too enthusiastically.
"Hey, I heard about the lockdown." Amanda said sympathetically. Scorpius shrugged.
"It's not a big deal. It's only a week and it should be fun. We'll hang out, play Exploding Snap, and eat sweets. All day." Scorpius grinned. He was starting to talk himself into this. Amanda smiled softly and glanced at James.
"We should probably get back to Slytherin." She said to Scorpius.
"Oh, right." He replied stupidly. "See ya James."
"Bye..." Amanda smiled evilly. "Jamie." James groaned and stuttered.
"You... that's! Ugh!" And he stormed off. Scorpius laughed silently to himself.
"You know I was thinking that we could watch movers during break." Scorpius told her.
"You mean movies."
"Whatever. I want to see one."