Hi, some people were confused as to how old they are. This story is set in fifth year, so Rose, Scorpius and Albus are about sixteen or seventeen.
I hope you enjoy this chapter and pleasseee leave reviews!
The week following the incident in the prefect's bathroom was quiet and more than a little awkward. For the first couple of days, Rose and Scorpius ignored each other completely, turning to walk in the opposite direction when they spotted each other around the school and avoiding eye contact across the room. Eventually however, people started to notice and they were forced to begin to mimicking their usual behaviour. It proved to be easier than they thought as the only time they were required to be in close proximity of one another was when they had muggle studies twice a week.
In fact, everything was working smoothly up until one rainy Tuesday, Scorpius was enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet, just as he'd hoped, his friends were out of class before the bell even finished ringing and he was left behind to wander up the astronomy tower alone. Scorpius liked his friends but there was no denying how self obsessed and snobby they were. It was one of the many reasons he had chosen to take muggle studies again, it was the only time he could be alone with his thoughts without them bickering over him about hair gel and money. Scorpius was just coming to the top of the stairs when he heard them again, laughing and shouting at the door to Firenze's divination room. As he got closer he realised they were surrounding someone. A new first year victim he guessed.
But Scorpius was wrong, as he pushed through the front of the small crowd he saw Rose, strewn on the floor with her hands covering her face. The slytherin's around him were taunting her, screaming obscenities and tugging at her clothes. Someone ripped her bag out of her grip and spilled the contents out on her head. One of the bigger books caught her on the face and a thin line of blood formed under one eye.
"Stop it! Stop now!", Scorpius screamed over them.
He put himself in-front of Rose protectively.
"What the bloody hell are you doing? She's hurt!"
"Come on Scorpius, it's just a bit of fun, she's fine", one of the boys attempted.
Scorpius turned around, clearly Rose was far from fine. Tears and blood soaked her collar and she was still on the ground, her belongings scattered around her. He took the empty bag back from the boy who took it and begun placing her things back in carefully. He then slung it over his shoulder and helped Rose up from the floor. They left the crowd to figure out a cover-story to tell Firenze when he turned up.
Scorpius supported Rose to keep her from falling over and he carried her bags all the way to the infirmary, by the time they arrived he was panting and wheezing under all the weight. Madame Pomfrey hobbled over and steered Rose towards a hospital bed in the corner.
"You can't stay dear, she'll be out soon and you need to get to class", Madame Pomfrey said as she thumped a large first-aid kit on Rose's bedside table.
"Yeah, that's fine I was just dropping her off", Scorpius told them.
"Thanks, by the way", Rose said.
Scorpius nodded in her direction before leaving the infirmary.
"Is Rose okay?", Albus asked as Scorpius sat down in Divination.
"How should I know?", he retorted.
"Well, you took her to the infirmary- by the way, since when did you care enough to do something like that?"
"Since somebody dropped a book on-
"No, it was before that. You've been avoiding her so you don't have to insult her", Albus interrupted.
"What are you suggesting?"
"Scorpius, you can't pretend with me. What's going on?"
At this point, he realised that Albus had probably figured everything out for himself already. He spilled it all anyway in the hopes that Albus would provide him with some much needed guidance. He confessed how awkward they had been around each other since that night in the bathroom. He told him how much he hated having to play up the antagonism with her when his friends were around and how distraught he felt at the sight of her sobbing on the ground, knowing that his friends had caused her to feel that way. When he was done venting, he took a long breath out and looked up sheepishly, scared of what might come next.
"To be honest I didn't know you had it in you", Albus laughed.
"Had what in me?"
"I didn't know you had the capacity to care about someone that much"
"Hey! If you don't want to help me then don't"
"Sorry, sorry! I'll help you, it's just a little weird that's all"
"You don't think this is weird for me too!", he almost yelled.
"Okay, step one is to stop taunting each other in the hallways, and don't worry, once you stop, she'll get the message and drop the act too"
"How do you know she doesn't enjoy insulting me?", Scorpius asked sounding unconvinced.
"I just do. When you've stopped lowering each others self esteem, come to me for phase two".
"What is this? A military operation?"
"Might as well be", Albus murmured so that Scorpius couldn't hear him. This was going to be difficult.
