Perfect, Chapter Six

"A few more days for to tote the weary load." -My Old Kentucky Home, 19th century songwriter Stephen Collins Foster

"I'm... running, but not quite sure where to go. And I don't know what I'm diving into." ~Hanging by a Moment, No Name Face, Lifehouse

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." -Joseph Campbell


Scorpius and I have stuck to each other like glue ever since our talk. He's far shyer than he first impressed me as. "Sorry, I must be boring you," is a common phrase, though "boring" is interchangeable with "bothering" and "hampering." It's interesting, in a way. In the beginning, I praised him for his cool indifference to me, his magnificent act under pressure. Now I'm touched that he cares, his young sad interior. I always respond, of course, with "Of course not, idiot," though "idiot" is interchangeable with "stupid" and "Scorpius."

In the common room, the walk to Scorpius' side was nothing compared to the mile I had just crossed, and I knelt down to hold a whispered conversation as though it was the most natural thing in the world. As though he hadn't been my dire rival just three days earlier.

"Rose will help."

"Good job," he commended.

"It was nothing that you couldn't do," I said honestly, internally writhing in shame when I saw Albus silently pass me.

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you."

"No, wait, we are talking about you. Stop distracting me!"

"Sorry. It's a natural talent." At least he didn't say I must be ... you. Maybe this meant he had finally got the message and wouldn't be so nervous about being my friend.

"Anyway, she says that we need to meet her at the Astronomy Tower at midnight."

"How-"

"Just meet me the way we met a few days ago, and I'll explain."

"Do I have to cry this time?"

"Shut up, stupid." With that last term of affection, I smiled and headed to the third-year dormitories to get some winter homework out of the way. Whatever Rose had in mind, I doubted that it would leave time for such things. As the case seems to be most of these days, I was wrong. Rose's plan actually did leave me a lot of downtime to do homework. Typical, I figured. Like Rose would ever forget homework even with domestic violence in our hands.

The atmosphere was far different than the other night Scorpius and I had inadvertently met. The Cloak and Map were held in my right hand, my wand in my left, just the same. But there was an air of excitement, rather than the emotional tension of Friday. His heart had been bared to me. And mine... not quite. Just like he, my sacrifice had been difficult but had unexpectedly lessened my burden. So now we met, lighter people, with hope in our hearts. I showed him the Cloak. I showed him the Map. His eyes glazed over in awe, but then the curiosity took hold of him and we silently navigated through deserted corridors to Rose's rendezvous.

"So what's the plan?" Scorpius said, the moment he saw her. At the awkward pause, I realized that this was their first direct contact.

I broke the silence, urging "Yes?"

"Thanks for the warm greeting," she said, frowning at her reception. "Well, it's fairly simple. The problem seems to be that Mr. Malfoy hates his wife, right?"

"Yes," I said again. Did Rose have to draw it out?

"So if we could get rid of that hate, then he wouldn't hit her anymore. Well, maybe hit on her..."

"You mean-"

"I mean a love potion," she stated baldly.

Scorpius was very white. "I have to spike his drink? What if-f he catches me?"

"Actually, I was planning on going to your house and sticking it out for you."

"You can't do it alone!"

"Wait, guys, hold up," Rose called. "So we know that there's been a bit of miscommunication here. If you guys don't agree, then just listen to me, 'kay?" Waiting a moment for affirmation, she continued, "James has already planned to sneak to Scorpius' house. So far, so good. Now, Scorpius. The plan does not technically involve you-"

"How can it not involve me?" he objected. "This is my family. James can't just get into my house. He won't even be able to reach it, let alone navigate inside of it. You need an expert. The Marauder's Map can't help you beyond Hogwarts."

"'Kay. Revision: the plan does involve you. So you need to inform McGonagall that there has been a change of plans and you will not be staying over the holidays, however much you'd like to. Well, minus the second part. So, for now we have two weeks left at Hogwarts before we all have to leave. Do you guys want me to come?"

"No," we asserted simultaneously. There was a silent agreement that we didn't want dainty Rose mixed up in this. Not to be sexist, but a pretty 11-year old girl in a house with an abusive and usually drunk thirty-seven year old? No.

"Right, then. I'll cover for you at home. You know, getting pseudo owls and etc. For the two weeks before, we have to make the potion. For this we'll need instructions, which I can get from Mom or the Restricted Section, and the ingredients, which have to come from Teddy and Uncle Neville, since there's no way in hell the Potions Master's giving us anything," she took out a pad of parchment and began jotting the plan down, which seemed like a fairly good idea. Three columns defined the page, one for each of us.

"Teddy?"

"Our technically not related cousin. He owns the apothecary in Diagon Alley. And Neville's Professor Longbottom," I supplied.

"Having a large family sounds like fun," he mused.

"Eh."

"You two are the worst. Anyway, James, you're on best terms with Teddy, so you'll need to coax the ingredients out of him. I'll try getting it out of Neville, as a present for Mum or something. And then I have to get the instructions for her, too. I'll say something about academic intrigue, and she'll gobble it right up."

"You're going to lie?" I asked quickly. Warning bells flew in my mind. Slytherin, slytherin. "What happened to your Mum's rule about rules?"

"'Unless there's a threat of darkness,' she said. Well here it is," she countered fiercely. "Do you think I'm doing this for fun?"

"No, no," I said quickly. "I'm sorry. I just didn't realize how big this is. Sometimes I feel like I'll never get it."

"It's okay. Continuing on... After we finish brewing the potion, we'll all be on the train. I'm going home. Ooh, wait, before that, James, you have to write me some messages and use the school owls to owl them to me. Predate them to come every few days." She scribbled furiously. "Now, you two are going to Malfoy Manor. James needs to stay under the cloak the whole train ride and to your house. Will he have to stay underneath it at your house until the situation is stabilized?"

"There are dungeons. No one goes down there. He won't have to be invisible the whole break."

"Good. Will there be an issue of food?"

"No. The house-elves are good at keeping secrets. I'm basically their master. They respect Mother, but can't bring themselves to obey her. And Draco Malfoy usually forgets, except when he wants a firewhiskey refill."

"Perfect! So you can go there and James, invisible, will pour the Amortentia into the firewhiskey. It'll probably smell the same, seeing as he's an alcoholic anyway. And after that, all we have to do is keep sending your mum a steady supply of the stuff and she'll be safe. Plus, she'll get the marriage of love and companionship she's always dreamed of." We still looked uncertain. I felt as though there was something strange about this plan, but it just wasn't coming to mind. "Oh, come on, guys! I thought it all out. This is going to be perfect."

So we went back to sleep. The two weeks flew by without a hitch. Aunt Hermione wrote back a negative answer, saying that such material is "a bit too mature," but there was a copy in the Restricted Section, which Uncle Neville helped us obtain. Teddy turned out to be endlessly helpful, and it worked out because most of the non-herbal ingredients were used in potions that were rather less illegal. I trusted Rose with the brewing, because honestly, the majority of my Potions classes was passing slips of paper. It looked okay at the end (and by okay, I mean that it was a liquid and smelled good). Scorpius rectified with McGonagall that he was actually going home.

Everything had been taken care of. This did not help, however, the foreboding I felt as I bumped along in the Hogwarts Express, unnoticed and unseen. I tried to use Rose's words to reassure me. "This is going to be perfect." And then I remembered...

But for all the wishes and hopes and wistfulness and yearnings in the world, nothing's perfect.


A/N: The hint at the plan was basically that Rose had interrupted James after he said "love." Also, there have been numerous references to potions throughout. Finally, 'Follow them to the letter unless there's the threat of darkness' was the last idea that something like that might come up. I suppose it wasn't very obvious at all, which is fine, as it wasn't meant to be.

More importantly, the last line is not just random. It is the last line of the first chapter, copied and pasted. Don't you just love circles?

Katie: "Sorry for writing so many reviews." Are you serious? Reviews are the lifeblood of fanfiction writers. And yes, I think I'll make hints to it later, but it's not going to actually happen in this story.

Lady Stephy: Well, she's not quite Hermione. She's a Slytherin, for one thing. This trio is going to a bit more dysfunctional than Harry, Ron, and Hermione, methinks. One Gryffindor third year, one Slytherin first year, and one person who shares with both.