Chapter 12: Commenting On The Weather
Scorpius looked down at Al, raising an eyebrow in question, voice mildly suspicious. "What's wrong with you, man?"
Al looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Well you've hardly been a barrel of laughs lately," expanded Scorpius.
Al shot him a dirty look.
"Come on, sunshine," grinned Scorpius, sliding down onto the couch next to Al. "Why the storm-cloud eyes?
Al raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry," he said, not sounding it at all. "But who the fuck talks like that?"
"I do," answered Scorpius swiftly. "Now, answer my question, bitch."
"Can you not call me 'bitch'?"
"Can you stop being so depressing?"
"Have you ever heard of tact?"
"Have you ever heard of answering a question directly?"
"You started it."
Scorpius let out a snort of laughter. "That's mature." He paused. "But no I didn't, you did."
Al looked at him sceptically. "When?"
"I don't know. Back in first year or some shit."
"Brilliant," said Al sarcastically. "I'm so glad that's sorted. I can live my life happily now."
"Can you quit with the sarcasm?"
"Can you quit existing?"
"That was harsh," said Al, dryly.
Scorpius nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it was a bit. Sorry."
"That's alright. Carry on."
"With the sarcasm?"
"I actually meant with the existing but that was me doing that, wasn't it?"
"I think we've both got it covered."
Dramatically, Al rolled his eyes. "You copied me," he said, and like an after-thought he added, "Fucking whore."
"And you say I'm abusive," remarked Scorpius.
"Has something happened in the last few seconds to make that invalid?"
"I bloody hope not. My whole reputation will be down the drain."
"I'm glad you're proud of abusive being your identifier. Self-confidence; it's a good thing."
"You know I only use hatred and harsh words to hide my ever burning love for you."
"Aaaaand, this is the part of the conversation where I start to get creeped out. Oh, please don't touch me… Ouch!"
Scorpius smiled too innocently. "You like it," he said.
"Scorpius, you just punched me in the stomach. Why would I like it?"
Scorpius shrugged. "Don't ask me to explain your freaky kinks."
"Oh Merlin," sighed Al, dropping his head into his hands and glaring at Scorpius from between his fingers.
"Don't you look at me like that," complained Scorpius.
"Like what?"
"Suggestively," explained Scorpius, ruffling his hand through his hair. "I love you, Albus darling, but not like that."
Al rolled his eyes, knowing full well he'd looked at his friend nothing like that. "I actually despise you, you do know that, right?" he said casually.
"My feelings are hurt and we've gotten extremely off-topic," announced Scorpius, giving Al a look before continuing on. "And it's all your fault. Fucking Slytherin, you manipulated the conversation."
"You're a Slytherin," pointed out Al, fixing him with a blank stare.
"Yes, but that's because I come from a long line of high class pureblood criminals. You're one because you're an evil bastard." He smiled in a way that didn't match his words, showing that –like almost always- he was only joking.
"How touching," said Albus sarcastically. "I'm definitely going to confide in you now."
A slow grin spread across Scorpius's face. "So, you admit there's something to confess?" he asked.
Al looked unamused. "Not really."
"That is not an answer," said Scorpius, authoritatively. "Now go on or I'll cut your arm off."
Al raised his eyebrows. "You are actually psychotic. Are you aware of this?"
Scorpius just waved it off. "I was joking …for the most part. Now, go or I'll cry or something horrific like that."
"Okay, I'll fucking tell you," said Al, sighing with resignation and irritation. "even though there's nothing really to tell. But I'll have you know I'm only saying this so you'll shut up."
"Thank you!" Scorpius practically shouted, throwing his arms up into the air in dramatic relief.
"Shut up."
"No, you shut up and tell me the story."
"How am I meant to shut up and tell you the story?"
Scorpius blinked once in his direction. "Do you actually want to fight me?" he said. "I really have no reservations…"
"I'm confused, alright?" blurted out Al, sick of the conversation going no where.
"…Sexually?"
"No, you prat. As much as you may wish otherwise."
"Oh yes," said Scorpius dryly. "You are everything I've ever dreamed of."
"That tone is really insulting. Why wouldn't you want me?"
"I could write you a novel on the subject, dear friend, but I wouldn't want to crush your fragile self-esteem. I'll let you know, though, that at the moment reason one is 'you take five days to answer a simple fucking question'."
"Alright, alright. I can take a hint," said Al, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down, moodily. "I'm just confused about everything, or everyone, more like. It's as though I've missed something major without even realising I went anywhere. Nothing anyone's saying or doing is making any sense. From you to Jez to Rose and more. Just, when did everything change and why wasn't I informed?" He thought about how he'd been so certain that everything was going fantastically with his girlfriend, but now every time he looked at her she was clinging to his cousin, Louis. And that, coming so soon after Rose's offhand comment about Jez possibly like Louis was not reassuring to Al at all. Then there was Rose, who seemed to be avoiding him and everyone else, and was snippy and confusing when he did manage to talk to her. And don't even get him started on his Quidditch team…
Everything was piling up and Al was just finding it too hard to cope. He'd tried to focus on other things; Quidditch, beating James, but it wasn't working. Real life was seeping through the cracks and the anxiety was building up inside of him.
Scorpius was looking almost worried. Cautiously, he began. "You're not…" he trailed off, knowing that Al would know what he was referring to. "again, are you?"
Al shook his head. "No, no," he answered honestly. "Of course not."
"Good. Please, Albus…"
Al looked away. "I won't, I promise."
"Good," said Scorpius with an assertive nod. "You do know I'll hex you into next year if you do, right?"
"You've only told me fifty-thousand times," said Al, dryly. "I'm so glad I can count on you for compassion and support."
"Always," replied Scorpius, either oblivious to Al's sarcasm or ignoring it
There was quiet for a few moments before Al spoke up. "Can you please psychoanalyse me now?"
Scorpius was silent for a few moments, seemingly deep in thought. "You, my friend," he said, eventually, flicking Al on the end of his nose, "are detached from reality. You live in the world in your head, where everything is Quidditch plays and the belief that all girls like you and the Chudley Cannons are actually a decent team." He paused. "And porridge. There is also porridge."
Al just stared at him for a moment. "I swear to Merlin that you are constantly high. Are you actually on drugs or is your mind naturally that warped?"
"Our deep reflective moment is over, isn't it?"
Al grinned. "It most certainly is."
Scorpius grinned back. "Thank Merlin."
Louis lounged back on the grass, half sitting, half lying. His light hair fell into his eyes as he watched his friend stare off into the distant through lidded eyes, curly eyelashes playing a guard from the harsh midday sun. "Just go and talk to her," he said, allowing his eyes to fall completely shut.
He didn't need his vision to see Lorcan's horrified, wide-eyed look and the frantic shaking of his head.
Louis's mouth tilted up at the corners. "Go talk to her," he repeated, a teasing tone to his naturally quiet voice. "Or I will."
"You wouldn't dare." The tone was full of disbelief and Louis flicked his eyes open, unable to keep himself from grinning.
Pushing himself into an upright sitting position, he made as if to get up. "I would and I will," he said simply. "If you can't…"
"I can." The words were small but determined.
"Well, go on then."
Lorcan glanced further up the shoreline to the small group of girls seated there. "Changed my mind," he said, biting down on his lip. "I can't."
A glimpse of the real Louis had shown through, without the pressures of himself and those around him. Relaxed, grinning, teasing, but gone in an instant.
"Lorcan, it's not that hard."
As usual the words came out a little harsher than he meant them too. He was just tired, exasperated. Headaches seemed to lurk constantly at the back of his head and the mood swings and irritability came on suddenly, without warning.
If only Lorcan wasn't so easily hurt. He was already apologising. "I'm sorry…" And like always, he sounded genuine. Because he was.
Louis dropped his head in his hands. Why was the sun so bright? Wasn't it Winter? "No, I'm sorry," he said genuinely, feeling awful. While Louis was more anti-social, Lorcan was just really shy. He'd never been good at talking to girls, let alone one he had a crush on, and Louis knew that. "Would you like me to walk you through it?"
Lorcan appeared to be deliberating furiously. His eyes flicked between Louis and the Hufflepuff girls a distance away. "I want you to walk me there," he said suddenly, looking more surprised than Louis did at his decision.
Louis smiled and glanced in that direction. "I suppose I can pay my dear cousin a visit."
To Lorcan's credit he only blushed a little at the mention of Lucy. "And I suppose I won't object to joining you."
Since Lorcan had sat down with Louis –and Lucy and Rorie and Cassie- under the tree, they'd be joined by a larger group of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, both male and female, and Lorcan found him sinking even further into the background. It was a place he didn't truly mind, preferring to watch rather than be watched, listen rather than talk, and he wasn't even sure he'd have been able to talk to Lucy properly had he been given a proper chance. He'd successfully managed to greet her though, upon their arrival, and inwardly he was still beaming.
"So, who's excited about Hogsmede next weekend?" asked Cassie, her own excitement shining through in everything from her tone of voice to her shining eyes.
"Just because you actually have a date," groaned fellow Hufflepuff, Cindy Myers, half-joking.
Cassie grinned at her now boyfriend, Timothy Peters, who she was currently leaning up against. Tim grinned before leaning down to kiss her, to a response of cat-calls and laughter from those around.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," sighed Cindy dramatically, "now that my partner in single-ness has herself a date. Not looking at anyone in particular …Lucy."
The words caught Lorcan's attention and his head shot up. Lucy had a date?
"I'm sorry," giggled Lucy, trying and failing to sound genuine. "I-"
Oh. So it was true.
"You have a date?" The words were out before Lorcan even realised he'd opened his mouth.
Lucy looked at him in surprise. "Yeah," she said with a shy grin. "Matthew Davies."
This caused an outbreak of giggling and chattering from the girls, light teasing which made Lucy blush. Lorcan felt like a pail of icy water had been tipped over him at the news.
He would have responded if he could have found the words, but the conversation had already moved on around him and Lucy was no longer looking his way.
He looked to Louis who grimaced and shrugged in return, eyes sympathetic. There wasn't anything he could do.
A gradual change in the tone of conversation as voices quietened and whispers and questioning looks were exchanged between the gathered students. Lorcan looked in the direction everyone's eyes had turned towards, and saw Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy approaching their already large group.
It had been strange enough for Louis and Lorcan to be there, as neither of them really associated with most of the people present, but they were both Ravenclaws and not hated, so they had a place in this group. Al and Scorpius however stood out like a dragon in a litter of kittens, with their green and silver ties of Slytherin. Add to that the fact that they barely associated with anyone in their year level and it was downright bizarre.
Nevertheless, Scorpius flopped down on the grass amongst them like it was his own family he was joining. For a brief moment Lorcan was left confused as Scorpius shot a smile of flashing white teeth his way before he realised that, of course, it wasn't directed towards him. He felt Louis stiffen beside him and when Lorcan looked at him, Louis was staring at the ground, blond hair flopping into his downcast eyes as he bit down on his lip, a faint blush shadowing his high cheekbones.
Lorcan looked back to the two Slytherins to see that Al did not possess the same ease as his friend, instead hovering awkwardly on his feet. "…Hi," he said eventually.
Slightly cautious, suspicious and questioning greetings were said in reply, and Al sat down beside Scorpius on the grass.
"So has anyone seen Rose Weasley?" asked Scorpius, answering everyone's unasked question as to what they were doing there. "She seems to have vanished, and quite mysteriously at that."
"We just can't find her," said Al with a pointed look at Scorpius. "She hasn't been abducted."
"As far as we know," said Scorpius, not sounding too concerned.
"Isn't she your girlfriend?" Ryan Gelding asked, voice almost accusing.
It was odd then, the look that passed between the two Slytherins, like that of two people who'd forgotten something they were meant to know, with a touch of something else there too. Lorcan puzzled over it to himself.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I keep her on a leash," answered Scorpius, "She'd chew right through it."
It didn't seem that anyone had seen her, not since class at least. ("Merlin forbid that Rose Weasley ever miss a lesson.") And someone's suggestion for them to ask the group of Gyffindors seated not too far away was dismissed by Scorpius wrinkling his nose, and proclaiming "Ew," at the mention of the house.
Lorcan didn't have long to ponder the whereabouts of Rose Weasley, for –if things weren't awkward enough- a game of Truth or Dare was proposed. Although only rarely played properly (with the use of the Weasley's Wizarding Wheeze's product that made it pretty damn difficult to lie your way out of a truth or back down from a dare), Truth or Dare was an extremely popular game, especially among the senior students, where it was basically a glorified Spin The Bottle. It was not at all something that Lorcan wanted to participate in with a group of older students he barely even knew.
It seemed Lorcan wasn't the only one not wanting to participate. He had to suppress a smile when Lucy stood up, made a somewhat feeble excuse about why she needed to head back up to the castle –that was readily accepted in people's haste to get the game underway- and turned to leave. It was with relief and joy that Lorcan was able to join her, after Louis announced that he'd accompany her and Lorcan, of course, tagged along.
There was a certain lack of speech as the three students headed back up to the castle. Lucy looked distracted, with darting eyes and teeth that bit delicately down on her pink lips, and Louis had his hands in his pockets and eyes on the ground, face as expressionless as ever. For two people who seemed not to even notice the other was there, Lorcan could sense a strange amount of tension between them. He wasn't aware that it was just the awkwardness of two people that should have had a lot more to say to each other, but don't. He worried over it, disliking the silence more and more and just needing to break it.
He found himself searching his mind for something socially acceptable for him to say. Everything that floated to the front of his consciousness was a touch too on the side of insane for him to spurt out in front of the girl he liked. When he finally did speak, even he was surprised at what came out. "So, Scorpius and Rose were pretty random."
Two heads span around to look at him and he found himself cowering back a little, before he could even try to gauge their reactions. It wasn't entirely to his surprise that Louis laughed and Lorcan had known him for long enough that he barely even needed to urge his nerves not to be offended. "So, you gossip now?" said Louis through his grin.
Lorcan shifted disgruntledly. "I could comment on the weather," he responded haughtily.
Lucy elbowed Louis gently. "Be nice," she scorned, offering Lorcan a smile that made his insides melt. "He's right. It's insane! Everyone's talking about it."
"Okay."
Lucy shot Louis a look. "Okay?" she repeated. "Is that really your response? That's not how you continue a conversation, Louis. Do you have no social skills whatsoever?"
Lorcan couldn't help but laugh. Louis was his best friend and he'd never wish him any harm, but it was nice to see someone poking fun at him, instead of him doing it to Lorcan.
"Well, maybe I don't want to have this conversation," replied Louis, as they passed through the front door and into the castle.
"That's nice," said Lucy sarcastically, a twinge of hurt marring her tone. "Thanks for making the effort."
"I'm sorry," sighed Louis, running his hand through his hair agitatedly. "It's, umm …interesting."
With a small smile, Lucy shook her head. "You're ridiculous," she said, sounding amused. "I'll just have to talk to Lorcan then."
Hearing his name, Lorcan's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at Louis, who upon their eyes meeting, broke out into a mischievous grin. "I suppose you will," Louis said to Lucy. "I'll see you later then." He nodded a brisk goodbye then turned the other direction at the intersection they'd just reached. Eyes open wide in shock and horror, Lorcan stared after him. He turned to look at Lucy with the same expression still stamped across his face. Upon seeing her, dark hair hanging down into her glistening eyes and face furrowed adorably in confusion, it was like a block fell over the entirety of Lorcan's mind and he froze, petrified for a moment, before blurting out the stupidest of excuses and hurrying off after Louis, not seeing that he'd left Lucy standing there alone, looking hurt and confused.
It wasn't an unfair advantage that they had. Or, well, maybe it was, but it was an advantage nonetheless and there was no way the two Slytherins were going to lay it to waste.
Al always felt a little guilty when using the Marauder's Map for what he could only describe as "stalking," but Scorpius delighted in the activity and his friend was right, Al was complaining about not being able to find Rose and this was the best solution. Still, he wasn't sure why they needed to lie in wait in an abandoned corridor, waiting for Rose to fall into their trap. But Scorpius had a thirst for dramatics and Al had stopped him at giving their "operation" a "codename" so he supposed he could put up with the rest.
Al was pretty sure that if Scorpius could have had his way completely, they'd be hiding under the invisibility cloak, but as it was Al had needed to do a temporary trade with James in order to receive the Map. He couldn't help but wonder when it had become so difficult for him to converse with his favourite cousin.
She'd been in class, of course, but it was amazing the amount of methods she had to avoid conversation (also known as interrogation into why-the-bloody-hell she'd been acting so weird lately).
But Al was honestly worried about her. From her pulling this stunt with Scorpius, who she'd usually only put up with for Al's sake, to her distracted, jittery manner and frequent disappearances, something was definitely wrong with Rose.
"How long do you think we've got?" asked Al, his arms crossed over his chest as he leant against the castle wall.
Scorpius glanced down at the map from where he stood beside Al. "Approximately five seconds," he answered in a low whisper.
Before Al could react Scorpius had pushed up his sleeves and jumped out into open view, wand held out in front of him.
There was a yelp of surprise, undoubtedly from Rose, and "What the fuck are you doing, you completely psycho?" also from the girl. Debating whether or not to join his friend or let him face the Weasley wrath alone, Al hesitated on the spot.
"Uhh, a little help would be nice, Albus."
With a roll of his eyes, Al stepped out from the shadows. He let out a small snort of laughter at the sight he was greeted with. Rose, with a characteristically angry expression, held two wands in one hand and a wincing Scorpius from a lock of his blond hair in the other.
Pleased to see Rose alive and well (and as violent as ever), Al grinned and greeted her cheerily.
"'Afternoon, Rosie," he said.
She glared at him. "Restrain your idiotic excuse for a best friend, would you?" she huffed, letting go of Scorpius's hair.
Al smirked. "You mean your boyfriend?"
Rose crinkled her nose, as if disgusted. "Don't remind me," she said.
"My feelings are hurt," announced Scorpius, to no response.
"I'm sorry, Rose," said Al, keeping eye contact with his cousin as he slowly and carefully removed his wand from his pocket. "But this is an intervention." Before she could react he was firing the spell ("Expelliamus!") and both wands flew from Rose and into Al's outstretched hand.
Scorpius quickly glanced at Al out of the corner of his eyes, to which Al gave a brief nod in reply, and the next second they'd both grabbed Rose's arms, as according to their plan, and began to drag her up and into the hidden area behind the tapestry of Odgen And The Dragon.
They fought against kicks as Rose wiggled between them, red hair flying from side to side. They ignored strings of swear words and some rather creative insults and made it into the seclusion their hidden spot provided.
They dropped Rose, as gently as they could bother, onto the floor below them and took a seat each opposite her, all three of them resting their backs against one of the tunnel like area's walls.
She seemed to have given up the fight and just stared at them both incredulously. "What do you want?" she asked.
"All your money," replied Scorpius at the same time Al answered, "to talk to you."
Al gave a warning glare and Scorpius rolled his eyes but motioned for him to continue. "We just wanted to talk to you, Rosie," said Al, in what he was sure was a reasonable tone.
"Talk to me?" she repeated, as if she'd never heard of the concept. "Then why couldn't you have asked, like normal, civilised, people. Not bloody attack-" She broke off mid-word, spotting something that was sticking out of Scorpius's robe pocket. Her mouth fell open in shock and anger and her brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "The Map! You've been spying on me! How fucking dare you? You have no right-"
It was Scorpius who broke her off. "Calm down, Weasley," he said, voice weighted with annoyance. "No one's spying on you. I can't speak for Albus, but I, at least, have a thousand better things to waste my time and effort on."
"We're just worried about you," intercepted Al, before any further damage could be done. At the look Scorpius gave him he corrected himself. "I'm worried about you. Please, just let us know what's happening, and if we can help.
It took a few minutes of artful persuasion on Al's part to get Rose even close to opening up. Scorpius barely seemed to be paying either of them any attention, drumming his wand against the floor or tracing bright red sparks through the air.
"Please, Rosie," said Al, one last time.
Rose looked agitated, running a hand through her red hair and not meeting either of their eyes. "Look," she said, looking almost defeated. "I'll tell you what I can, alright?"
Scorpius sighed dramatically. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, stuffing his wand back in his pocket.
Al shot him an annoyed look before turning back to Rose and smiling supportively. "Thanks, Rosie. We won't make you say more than the basics."
Rose smiled slightly back. "Thanks," she said softly. "I would tell you, Al, if I could. But I really can't, at the moment at least..." Her emphasis on the 'you' made it clear she was talking about Al alone.
"That's alright," said Al. "I understand."
Rose nodded. "See, the thing is, I'm kind of seeing someone." Her brow furrowed slightly and she stared at the wall opposite them. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
"Someone who isn't me?" asked Scorpius needlessly. His tone conveyed feigned horror that made Rose glare at him, annoyed.
"No," she said sarcastically, her eyes almost venomous. "I went through all this just to tell you something you'd be aware of."
"Well, it wouldn't surprise me. You're being needlessly dramatic. Your answer's not at all surprising. We could've easily guessed that for ourselves."
Rose's face reddened angrily. "Look," she said, "You're the one who hunted me down, demanding an answer."
At some point they'd all ended up on their feet, the small space barely able to contain them.
"Well I would've liked the answer to be a little less predictable," answered Scorpius. "You bore me, Rose Weasley. Please, tell me it's at least someone interesting, someone scandalous. ...Are you shagging a teacher?"
Rose looked horrified. "No! What is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with you? Sneaking around like a criminal, making-"
"Stop!" Al just about shouted, stepping in between the two of them in an attempt to stop the argument, break the tension.
Scorpius just glared at her over Al's shoulder, eyes narrowed. "I bet it's not even anything big. You just want the attention, don't you?"
"That's enough," said Al coldly, putting his hand on Scorpius's shoulder and forcing him to turn away, stepping so his own body was created a barrier between his best friend and his cousin. "Let's go. Rose, I'll talk to you later."
"Oh, so you're choosing him over me," said Rose arguementively.
"Oh, here she goes again. Whine, whine, whine."
"Scorpius." Al's tone was warning.
"Fine, fine. I'll let myself out." He shoved himself out from under Al's grip, and stormed off towards the tapestry, flicking it aside with a wave of his wand and jumping down, landing with a resounding thud against the ground below.
