Unexpected Things

KeysCanHurt: Hurrah for decently portrayed emotions! xD Practice then ;) Well he can be a not-so-evil show off if he wants to be xD TOTALLY RIGHT! Instead of doing things through experience, they might be easier if learned from books :)) Yep, it was Subic :D

Guess Who: Yeah, she finally gives it a try xD Well they ARE madmen :P hahah

crazy-wee-cat: Cool :) Heheh, yeah, Raph's nice when he's not being irritated

Zee: LOL, in a number of ways, Dirk is Riddle-ish YESH! If the bad guys aren't ugly, the are the awesomely hottest ones! xD More chapters with him in it will be coming eventually ;)

yellow 14: Lol, yeah xD

Chapter Fourteen

Fan Club

"Albus Potter! Is it true that Scorpius Malfoy isn't spending time with you and Rose Weasley anymore?"

"Why? What happened? A lot of people wanna know!"

"Was he really practicing Dark Arts? Is that why you stopped spending time with him?"

"Did he duel with you near the lake and lose? Did he go away because of that?"

Couldn't they give it a rest? Al lost count how many days he spent running away from irritating first years, curious second and third years, and… almost scary interrogating people from higher year levels.

"Yes, we're not spending time with him anymore. No, he doesn't practice Dark Arts." ...as far as Al knew, although he didn't believe Scorpius was capable of doing something like that. Scorpius didn't like the Dark Arts. Scorpius himself told Al that the Dark Arts didn't interest him. "No, we did not have a duel of any kind." Where did people get that idea?

Al pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "I have to go, I'll be late for class." He turned around, only to crash into more bodies.

"Al! Can we have your autograph?"

"What?" Al blinked. Did he hear that right?

"Can we take a picture with you?"

"Has anyone told you how handsome you are?"

"I loooove your hair!"

They were all girls. Al felt his cheeks heating up. He swallowed. "Er… hi… uh… er... um..."

Bright light blinded him. "Thanks for the picture!"

"I want a picture too! Let me!"

More bright lights.

Dazed and half blinded, Al staggered over to Ancient Runes. "Al, are you alright?" Someone with a red blur around the head took hold of Al and helped steady him.

Al narrowed his eyes. Slowly, things came into focus. Rose looked worried. "I'm fine, Rosie. Just…uh… people were taking pictures."

"Pictures? Are you serious? How many pictures did they take of you, Al?" Rose led him to a seat by Ria.

Al blinked. "I lost count."

"Al, are you alright?" Paula appeared next to him.

"Yeah."

"Potter, you didn't tell me you had a fan club." Dirk's laughter sounded mocking.

"Fan club?" Rose laughed, Al was honestly surprised to hear her laughing again. "Since when, Al?"

"I wouldn't know!" Al felt his face warming again. It felt so… strange. The idea of having a group of girls surfacing and asking him for pictures and complimenting him was… at the very least, shocking.

Although… it did give Al some satisfaction. James wasn't the only one with girls flocking towards him now.

James enjoyed it, but lately, Al's brother had his eye on Paula more than on his fan girls.

Al didn't know how to react.

The girls were very flattering.

But they were a little… creepy.

Or maybe he just wasn't used to this yet.

"Dirk, c'mon and sit with us already." Penny Parkinson took Kron's hand. He followed her over to a seat near Tricia Nott. Scorpius was sitting among them, but he looked awkward and out of place. He wasn't talking to them either. He was just… there.

"So how are you two doing?" Al asked Rose and Ria. Paula had gone off to join her fellow Ravenclaws.

"Alright." Ria answered.

"I had a strange weekend."

"Strange? How so?" This was a good day for Rose. She was brighter than usual. Her spark was slowly returning. Al was happy for her.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I swam in the lake?"

"You what? That really happened?" He heard a rumor, but Al found it unbelievable and impossible. Rose Weasley swimming in the lake? That wasn't something she would do. Al realized that maybe he was wrong about Rose.

"Well… it started with Dirk. He was swimming in the lake, then he dared anyone to come in. And… you know Raphael." Rose rolled her eyes. Al knew what she meant. Raph, oddly enough, had the Gryffindor trait of being unafraid of a dare. Gryffindor bravery was admirable, Al admitted that, but sometimes, it was reckless and even foolish. "He jumped in, and then after asking me to come in, which I refused of course, he yanked me in with him!"

"What?" Al thought Raph was a little more gentle than that.

"I got really mad at him, then…" Rose paused, then shrugged. "But I guess it was kind of fun."

Al smiled. "Well at least you had fun. But still." He frowned at her. "The lake?"

"Don't worry, Al. I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I was shivering like crazy! But Raph helped warm me up with some spell…" Rose frowned. "Actually, I'm surprised he knew that warming spell. I didn't. Darn, I don't remember the incantation he used. I better find it. No way is he going to have that spell over me!"

Her competitiveness was back, that was for sure.

But Al still worried about how things would go. Rose was just starting to regain her spirit. Raph was… spirited. If he was able to coax her back out, that was good.

But if he made one wrong move, Al feared Rose would shatter and refuse to come back out.

Raph meant no harm. Al knew that.

But just the same, Al couldn't help but worry.

He just lost Scorpius as a friend. Al didn't want the same thing to happen to his cousin. Al felt it was his fault for bringing such different people together during that stupid idea of a picnic. If he let Raph and Rose make a mistake and destroy each other, it would be his fault for not stopping them.

"Just be careful, Rose."

"Al's right." Ria added.

"Of course I'll be careful!" Rose snapped, then in a much softer, uncertain tone, she added. "I'm scared. What happened at the lake… that was… weird and… scary because I didn't know what to do… what to think. Raph was so close to me… it was hard to think properly."

Rose was right about that. Al thought it was sensible. "Careful is good."

"Just don't take too many crazy risks. That's something for Demelza, okay?" Ria looked half serious, half joking. Al wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Demelza being a crazy risk-taker.

It was… cool.

But Al worried that she might hurt herself.

Rose smiled. "Yes, I'll leave the really crazy things for Demelza to do."

They fell silent when the teacher arrived.

As the weeks came by, Scorpius watched his friends from a distance. Until now, he didn't know if what he did was or wasn't right. Surely, it was the right thing to do to stay away from those he cared about if he was surely going to hurt them. Right?

But it felt… wrong. They were his friends and he just walked out on them.

Several times.

Now, they stopped.

They stopped bothering him.

They stopped asking him to come back to them.

But what if, at some point, he changed his mind? Would Scorpius still be welcomed back by Al and Rose? By Jacqui and Paula? By the Higgs brothers?

The Hufflepuffs he could live without.

Lily. Innocent little Lily. Was she mad at him? Would she ban him from playing with Cookie ever again? That little ferret… Scorpius had grown fond of it--- her. He hadn't seen her all school year.

James. They already had their fights in Scorpius's first year. Would they have to start all over again?

"It's odd… seeing you alone."

"What do you want, Kron?" Scorpius snarled. What did that insect from Durmstrang want now? Couldn't that… freak keep his nose out of other peoples' business?

"Can I not talk to you?"

"No." Shoving Dirk aside, Scorpius walked away from the scene he was watching and decided to head for the Slytherin Common Room. Maybe he could sleep early, then wake up and do his homework at dawn. Effectively, he would avoid Al and the Higgs twins. They slept and woke up late.

When Scorpius was gone, Dirk, out of curiosity, looked out through the window and down at what the Malfoy had been watching. What had interested him so much?

There, lying in the spot near the lake, where they so often liked to rest, was a few of the Malfoy's supposed friends. Two Ravenclaws and two Gryffindors looked like they were talking or doing homework. Dirk squinted and leaned forward, trying to see them more clearly.

Maybe they were talking, but the raven-haired, Asian Ravenclaw, the one Dirk first thought was the Malfoy's girlfriend, she seemed apart from them. She didn't look like she was talking. In fact, she almost looked as quiet among them as Scorpius was among the other Slytherins.

Funny. Meant to be, was it?

Dirk noted that not too far from the little group talking, was a couple lying down together in the grass. Who were they?

He noted the girl's long red hair. It was the Weasley… Rose Weasley.

The Hufflepuff boy was next to her.

What was his name?

Raphael McCartney.

Interesting scene that Malfoy was looking at.