Unexpected Things

KeysCanHurt: I am so glad you like my Quidditch matches :)) Heheh. Yeah, Dirk is considering every possible way to become stronger :P :)) Hahah, Christmas is drawing near :)) But not fast enough :P

crazy-wee-cat: Crap, I forgot xD I loved it too, but goofed. Sorry :P I'll fix it.

J. R. Lewis: Draco will deal with it when it comes. About Marigold, I have a scene in mind of her family and their reactions, but her cousins, she's still too snappy for them to come near. Dirk, oh dude, don't worry. I've something planned for him in the next chapter or two.

yellow 14: Thanks :D I'd hate to be that Beater too xD

MalfoyMaiden: Because they always won before? =))

Guess Who!: Heheh, yeah xD Here it is :P

Chapter Twenty-One

Read it and Weep

**The chapter title was randomly picked xD**

"Malfoy… Have you… have you and Jacqui really… kissed?" McCartney had crept over to Scorpius during Charms and whispered the question.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and stared at the Hufflepuff. Unable to stop his lips from moving by themselves, he felt himself smiling. "Why do you ask?"

"Er… I… well…" The Hufflepuff shook his head side to side. "Grah! I don't know how t'say this! Urgh. Um… If ye have… I er… I…" McCartney looked away, rubbing the spiky hair on the back of his head and shifting from one foot to the other. "…wanted advice." Raphael McCartney's voice had gone so soft, Scorpius wasn't sure he heard it correctly.

"What?"

McCartney closed his eyes, frowned, and groaned. Then, shaking his head again, he opened his eyes and then spoke, "Y'know what? Nevermind. This is… stupid. I'll… figure it out."

"Wait… are you serious?" Scorpius still couldn't believe it.

Raphael McCartney didn't like Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't very fond of Raphael McCartney either. Was McCartney just pulling some kind of joke?

Or was this really a dilemma for him and did he really feel the need to ask Scorpius for advice? The idea made Scorpius grin.

"Oh just shut up. Forget I said anything." Muttering curses beneath his breath, Raphael stalked back to the Hufflepuffs to sit with Katy Timberwood.

"What were you fighting about this time, Scorpy?"

"He looks pretty mad."

"The twins are right."

Chuckling, Scorpius told them a partial truth he doubted they'd believe anyway. "We didn't fight. He wanted to ask me for something then changed his mind."

"Are you sure it wasn't some kind of a fight or argument?" Al asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!"

The second Quidditch match of the season was Slytherin versus Hufflepuff. It was a short match that didn't last long. Hufflepuff tried to confuse the Slytherins with continuous passing, but the Slytherins were resourceful enough to send Bludgers towards them at every opportunity, tiring the Hufflepuff Beaters. The Slytherin Chasers were also quick enough to steal the ball as it was being passed.

Scorpius was pretty sure he'd given Raphael McCartney a few bruises with the Bludger.

No more than twenty minutes into the game, Theo and the Hufflepuff Seeker were racing towards the Golden Snitch.

Theo caught it, ending the game.

"What have you got in mind for Hogsmeade, Raph?" Rose asked him as they were working on their homework in the library. "Or are you going to surprise me with another crazy idea?"

Raph laughed.

After finishing the sentence he was writing, he looked at her. "I'm not sure, Rosie… I… er… I'm considered doin' somethin'… tame… so that we'd have a chance maybe… ter… y'know… er…um..." He chucked uneasily. "Nevermind. Let's just… er… come up with somethin' fun when we're there, eh?"

"Uh…" Rose wasn't sure how to react. She decided to grasp one of the more concrete things he said and continued from there. "Tame? What would your definition of tame be, Raphael McCartney? I'm almost sure it's different from mine."

When he ruffled his hair, Rose could tell he was nervous. To be honest, it amused her when he was nervous. Raph was usually so cocky and confident, nervousness made him look amusingly human. "I dunno… somethin' that won't break yer bones?" he grinned.

"Close enough."

"Hahah…er… uhh… hmm… why? D'ye wanna do somethin' exciting? We could explore the Shriekin' Shack." Raph leaned over to her and winked. "How's that, Rosie?"

"Erm…" That wasn't a bad idea. She was curious to see the place where Remus Lupin, Teddy's father, stayed when he was a werewolf and Wolfsbane Potion wasn't available yet. Uncle Harry would gather them around him, the Potter and Weasley children and Teddy, then tell them stories about the Marauders. It would be a really interesting trip to see one of the settings of Uncle Harry's stories… "That would be great!"

Rose watched his eyes widen in surprise at how willing she was to go. Then his teeth flashed at her in the usual grin. "Great!" he agreed.

"I'm so excited!" Lily squealed. Even if she was sitting on the floor of Hagrid's Hut, she managed to bounce up and down. Hugo watched her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile. "We plan to give Scorpius his present on Monday, the day before the Hogwarts Express comes and takes us home. We already got a little traveling basket he could use for his ferret. I can't wait!"

Cookie snarled at a baby that crashed into her while she was eating food Hagrid brought her.

Hugo picked the baby up. That one had chocolate brown markings. Lily would have named him Chocolate. One of her roommates wanted him and said she'd name him Brownies. "So does Rose come here often?"

"Yep. When she's not busy studying or talking to Raph, she helps me out. After all, she promised me she'd help and we'd give Scorpius's ferret to him together." Lily had avoided giving a name to the baby they picked, so that Scorpius could come up with the name himself.

One of the ferrets, a sable, pounced on the hem of Lily's robe. Growling in a squeaky tone, it tugged at the cloth.

Giggling, Lily gently pulled the ferret away from her robe. Ginny wouldn't be pleased if Lily came home with torn up clothes.

"At least you're excited to come home for Christmas." Hugo moved his hand away from the baby trying to hunt down his fingers. "You've reason to be. I'm still scared of dad's reaction when he finds out I'm in Slytherin."

"It can't be that bad…" A baby managed to climb onto her lap, scurry up her robe and was now clinging onto her sleeve. Smiling, Lily put her back on the floor. "I don't think he hates Slytherin as much as he used to."

Hugo shrugged. "I hope so."

James had Paula's hand in his as they entered Hogsmeade Village. Looking over his shoulder, he winked at his friends, Fred laughed while Luis stuck his tongue out. Rolling his eyes, James let go of Paula's hand and instead put his arm around her waist. "Where do you wanna go?"

"I don't know…" Paula shrugged. "I haven't gotten gifts for Scorpius or Al yet…" she admitted with an apologetic tone.

"Then we might as well go on and get our Slytherin friends their presents. I know my brother likes Hippogriffs, and lately, wolves. Let's look around for something related to that maybe."

"Or something ferret related. Al told me Scorpius loves ferrets."

"Yeah, that too. But don't get a ferret-ferret." James chuckled. "That's what Rosie and Lily are getting him."

"They're getting him a ferret?"

"Yep."

"Nice!"

"Hey… What do you want for Christmas?" James asked her, putting a finger under her chin and gently making her face him while he leaned towards her.

"You first."

Briefly, his lips met hers. "I'll accept whatever you get me."

SPLAT!

"Who threw that?" James demanded wiping the snow off his face with his scarf.

"RAPHAEL MCCARTNEY!" Paula shrieked.

"Ahoy, James and Paula! Couldn't resist!" The Hufflepuff had his arm around Rose's shoulders while Rose stared at James, looking unsure of how to react. Raphael was grinning.

Paula was already crouching down.

While Paula tossed the snowball at Raphael, James crept towards Raphael's blind side. The Hufflepuff ducked and Paula's snowball flew past his and Rose's heads. They straightened up, Raphael laughing. "Hah! Missed me, Paula!"

James was ready.

Taking advantage of Raphael laughing, James tossed his own snowball at Raphael. It hit the side of his head. A perfect shot. "Just because you haven't snogged Rose yet you'll toss snow at other couples?"

Al might find it below the belt, but James felt like seeking a little bit of amusing revenge after McCartney ruined the moment.

Raphael paused in wiping his face. After glaring at them, he turned around. "C'mon, Rosie."

"Bye, James!" Rose waved before following Raphael.

"Hey… Demelza…"

She was almost lying on the table, her chin on the surface while one of her arms almost went across the table completely. Her other hand absently toyed with bottle of Butterbeer. "What?"

"Erm… you wanna talk?"

"What about? I'm not in the mood." Dragging herself off the table, Demelza leaned back against the chair, uncorked the bottle of Butterbeer and drained it in huge gulps. Al couldn't believe anyone was capable of finishing a bottle in that short a time. "It's not possible to get drunk with this is it?"

"Er… I don't think so."

Demelza's frown deepened. "Nuts."

"Erm…" Al searched the room for inspiration. This would be tricky. He refocused his attention on her. "What's bothering you?"

Demelza's lips twisted into a crooked, bitter smile. "I thought you were going to ask why I want to get drunk. That's the kind of thing Ria or Rose would say. And then they'd try to stop me an' all that stuff. Roar! Growl... Mroaw."

"Is that why you chose not to sit with Ria?"

Nodding, Demelza lifted the bottle over her face, tilted her head back and turned the bottle upside down. Her tongue snaked out of her mouth to catch the last drops that came out.

"I'll buy you another one. You can tell me what's on your mind too."

"Sure, whatever." Demelza's brown eyes darted from left, to right, then to Al. A long sigh escaped her."I like James."

"Oh."

"People are staring…" Jacqui moved closer to him. "It makes me nervous."

"Don't mind them." She was looking at a Slytherin sixth year who was glaring at them. Scorpius couldn't remember the Slytherin's name, but he knew that that wasn't one of the Slytherins that were friendly with Scorpius. "Hey." He put a hand on the cheek that wasn't facing him. "Look at me."

She did.

"Aren't you the one that told me not to be so stressed out by what other people think?" After quickly thinking about it, Scorpius added, "Well… you and our mates. But… you get the point. Don't be bothered by what they think."

"I'm not… well not really. It's just…" she shuddered. "I don't like the way they're… staring. No…they're... glaring."

Scorpius worried how much it bothered her. Would she stop being with him because the glares were too much for her? As much as the thought of her leaving him because of how other people treated her made him uncomfortable… He didn't want her to suffer. "I-"

"Scorpius?"

What was she going to say? "What?"

"This is just a little… inconvenience." she smiled at him. "Like we agreed. What matters is what we know and what we feel for each other."

She was right. A grin lit up Scorpius's face. "Exactly."

The twins were snickering as they walked out of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes carrying a crate each. Whenever someone noticed them and asked questions, Tom and Theo winked but didn't answer questions.

An owl from the Hogsmeade post landed on a table in an inn. Written on the parchment tied to its leg were the words- "Malfoy. You owe me, right? Same place, after lunch."