Unexpected Things

KeysCanHurt: Oohhh... I never thought of it that way xD The albus view of good... could have been subconscious =)) I know you hate creepy crawlies, and I was so very tempted to go into detail ;) =)) but then I got lazy. Hahah. Belby, I laughed at him in my head =)) Is my Twilight overdose that obvious? :)) Don't forget the hangover coming when I'm done =)) Yeah... poor Jacqui when her Boggart showed... And the sweet scene, HURRAY! I worried it wasn't sweet enough or wasn't done well =)) Yeah... you just did it =)) I'll update when I'm ready :P

crazy-wee-cat: Thanks a bunch :) Lol, I couldn't resist xD

MalfoyMaiden: 16) I have a guess :P 17) HAHA =)) Love you too =)) =)) Well at least you had a couple of paragraphs of anti- ScorpiusxJacqui to enjoy :)) nice nightmare =))

mimimi213: We'll see about that ;)

yellow 14: Cute indeed. Heheh. Dirk is cause for concern... About Bulstrode, your guess was right ;) it's dear ol' daddy

phoebe. cole. forever: thanks for Author Alert-ing :D

Chapter Eighteen

Halloween

Rose lay in bed, thinking about the Hogsmeade trip with Raph, as she did every night since then.

She enjoyed it.

She really and truly enjoyed it.

They soared over the village, sped past students and Hogsmeade residents, and even circled the Shrieking Shack.

When they were getting hungry, Raph brought them back to the Three Broomsticks, where he returned the broom. Then they stood close together in that private spot behind the inn.

She remembered how her heart kept hammering, trying to escape her chest. She remembered his hands on her shoulders, and the feel of his shoulders beneath her hands.

The memory of his face so close to hers was vivid. He had this… lopsided grin, then it faded, and he looked unsure, and even nervous too. Which surprised her. Him, nervous? She couldn't believe it.

Then she saw him swallow visibly, and he grinned again. "Hi."

She had blinked, then gulped too. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding so quickly, she worried that he could actually hear it. "Hi."

Somehow, their faces came really close together.

Her fear and nervousness reached their peak.

At the same time, to the point where it almost seemed choreographed, she and Raph broke away from each other and turned around, toying with their own hair.

"Er… I… let's eat." she had stammered.

"Yeah! Right! Right! Grawr, I'm starvin'! I could eat a Hippogriff!"

"Me too! Let's go!"

"Yehah, let us go!"

That must have been their most awkward moment together yet.

It was just so… weird.

But even so… she wondered.

What if they kissed?

Would she have liked it?

Or would she have been disgusted?

Rose didn't know.

But somehow… she wanted to know…

"SCORPY!!"

Scorpius was squeezed in by the group hug with Al and the twins.

"You finally came to yer senses!"

"You're not as dumb anymore!"

"What changed your mind?"

He missed his friends! Scorpius felt so happy to be with them again! He missed the twins laughing and joking, heck he also missed Al's weird observation skills. They were more comfortable than weird Dirk Kron. Dirk's stare was just… uncomfortable.

"Well… Dirk actually helped." As much as Dirk annoyed him, Scorpius had to admit that.

"Dirk?"

"Dirk Kron?"

Scorpius nodded.

"Bah! Whatever way you changed your mind-"

"We're just glad to have you back, Scorpy!"

"We certainly are!"

The next day, on the Thursday of Halloween, the Gryffindors third years had no classes with Slytherins. But when they passed each other along the corridors, Rose thought she saw Scorpius talking with Al and the twins again.

During Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, Demelza and Ria kept nudging her towards Raph while Katy Timberwood kept shoving Raph towards her. They did that every time Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had classes together.

Raph was back to being his usual, laughing, joking self, but at times when their hands brushed against each other, or their faces somehow came close together, he'd make this chuckling sound that wasn't really laughter… it sounded more uneasy and uncomfortable than laughter. When he did, she found herself making a giggling sound that was probably equivalent to his sound.

Then they would look away, and she'd feel her cheeks reddening.

When their last class was over, most people relaxed, looking forward to the Halloween feast. Rose didn't want to. She went straight to the library. Ria asked her to relax, and Demelza predictably asked her to as well. Rose ignored both of them.

She did her research for Potions, deciding to finish her essay before the feast.

When she was halfway through with her work, someone sat next to her. Rose looked up and found Raph there.

"Heyathere, Rose!"

"Hi, Raph!" she smiled at him.

"Why don't ye take a break?"

"I will during the feast."

"Oh…"

Rose took her eyes off him to focus on finishing her work.

She stopped when he rested his chin on the table, near her parchment. She raised her eyebrow while he grinned.

She continued her work.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Er… I was thinking… erm… about last weekend… and… uhh…"

He caught her interest now. What was he going to say? Looking straight at him, she waited for him to continue.

Raph was sitting up properly now.

His brow furrowed as he tried to arrange his thoughts properly. "Erm…" He ruffled the hair on the back of his head. "When we… I… you… I mean… er…"

He leaned forward. "That time, after the ride, when we were close to each other… in front of each other… when we… when we almost… when you… when I… grah!" Raph looked frustrated. "Urgh… I felt really… I wanted to…"

Groaning, Raph leaned backward, away from her. Shaking his head, he muttered. "Nevermind."

A disappointment she couldn't understand filled Rose. He left her hanging! What was he going to say? Why couldn't he spit it out? What did he feel that time? What was on his mind then? What was on his mind right now?

"Raph…" She leaned towards him.

Raph looked at her. "Yeah?"

Their faces were close again. She felt the thumping against her chest again.

Raph moved his face closer.

"Rose!"

Was she imagining it?

That was the voice of-

"Scorpius?" Rose moved away from Raph.

There he was, walking over to them with Jacqueline Chua. Scorpius's arm was about her shoulders while hers was around his waist. Jacqueline looked like she was whispering something to him. Rose thought she heard the words. "You can do it." and "Just tell her."

Tell her what?

"Hi…" Scorpius smiled weakly. Rose didn't know what to think. He was back? He was really and truly back? And… he and Jacqueline… they looked like they were together.

Were they really and truly, officially together now?

A part of her was… bothered.

She still wasn't very comfortable with the idea of Jacqueline Chua and Scorpius Malfoy together.

But… Rose realized that she wasn't that bothered.

It didn't hurt her as much as before.

Come to think of it… Rose realized that she was happy with Raph. She was content.

Well… not entirely. Raph still left her hanging.

But the point was that she was happy with being so close to Raph now.

"Rose… I… I…"

Rose noticed Raph stiffening, a frown forming on his face. 'Raph, don't do anything, please.' she thought.

"Erm… sorry if we're interrupting anything… I just… I wanted to say… I wanted to apologize. It was stupid to walk out on you all. Stupid to leave my friends. Can we be friends again? I was an idiot to leave one of the first people to welcome me. Will you… do it again…?"

Rose smiled. Not caring about what the other people there would think, she stood up and went to him, laughing out of joy. Jacqui let go of him and backed away, so Rose was able to wrap her arms around him.

When she hugged Scorpius, she couldn't help noticing that he had grown even taller.

"Yeah, I can do it again, Scorpius."

Then, unable to resist, she pulled away and gave his stomach a poke. "But if you do that again I will curse you until you'll wish you were never born!"

Scorpius saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

Yo... even if I've already written 'till chapter 21 (possibly 22 by the time you're reading this xD) There's one more Hogsmeade trip before the end of the term.

What would y'all like to see more of? I'll probably give at least one scene for each, but which would interest y'all most?

ScorpiusxJacqui fluff,

RosexRaph fluff,

JamesxPaula fluff,

Lily and Hugo playing with the ferrets back at Hagrid's (still considering writing it or not),

Higgs bros craziness,

Dirk!('nuff said xD),

Al and Demelza bonding,

Katy Timberwood from Hufflepuff (dunno what to do with her yet, haven't found much room for her)

or something I haven't mentioned?