Chapter Five

"I fucking hate him."

Rose and Lily were sitting in the Room of Requirement in front of a fire. It was where they went when they needed a sleepover for just the two of them. Lily was brushing Rose's hair to relax her but it wasn't working too well. "Shh, don't say things that aren't true. You don't hate him."

"It's the truth. I can't stand him; I wish he would stop being such an arrogant arsehole all the time. You're his puppet. Blah blah blah, you can't last long without someone pulling the strings." Lily giggled at Rose's impersonation of Scorpius.

"He was just hurt, Rose."

"Why the hell would he be hurt?"

"Well for one, you were hitting him."

Rose glared at the fire, since she couldn't turn to glare at Lily. "I only hit him because he was being an arse. What I don't get is why he even cares."

"Probably because he cares about you."

"He does not."

"You know Rose; it's very unusual for you to be ranting on about some boy when you have a boyfriend."

"I only saw Marc for twenty minutes and we were in lunch. There really isn't that much to talk about."

"You haven't told me how you two started dating."

Rose thought about how he'd tied her arms and slammed himself repeatedly inside of her. Her hands started to shake, she laced them together to hide it. "He just asked me when we were walking around."

"I'd thought you would be more excited."

"Why's that?"

"Well," Lily started, "for one, you've liked him for ages. And you used to talk about him for hours. About how perfect he is and how you'd never have a chance. I thought you'd be ecstatic."

"Well you know how those things go. Once you get something that you've wanted for a long time, it's not as good."

"If it was meant to be then it wouldn't be like that."

Rose closed her eyes and breathed deeply, hoping it would ease the shaking. "Maybe it isn't meant to be then."

"Give it some time though, Rose. You've only just started going out with him."

Rose wanted more than anything to tell Lily that one day was enough to know that she didn't want to be with Marc; she had to be. Rose would much rather be with someone who was nice to her, but there was no one. Even if there was, Marc wouldn't allow her to break up with him.

"She did what?" Albus and Scorpius were sitting in the Common Room, talking in hushed voices.

"She threw books at me, and then she started pounding on me with her fists. It didn't hurt physically so much as emotionally."

Albus was quiet for a few seconds, and then he burst out in laughter. "You know, I don't like this new you. You're too bloody moody. Like a little bitch."

"That's what Rose said. Only in a nicer way."

"She thinks that if she cusses at someone that they'll never want to talk to her again. She's really paranoid about that, losing friends. You know, since she doesn't make them so easily."

"She didn't seem to mind losing me as a friend."

"Oh shut up, you." Al said, popping a chocolate in his mouth. "She'll forgive you."

"I'm not sure if I want her to. It'd be easier to wallow in self pity if she didn't want to talk to me ever again."

"You're really starting to get on my nerves with this shit."

"I'm sorry, mate."

"It's okay. Just stop it."

Scorpius sighed, not sure if he should tell Albus about the bruises or not. "To tell you the truth, I really think it would be best not to talk to her anymore. Maybe I'd be happier if I forgot about her."

"Don't ignore her, mate."

"I'll think about it."

Albus shook his head, "I am so done with you."

"Starting in ten seconds I'll never think about her again."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"Ten."

"Why are we even friends?"

"Nine."

"You give up too easily, mate."

"Eight."

"If you really like her, you should fight for her."

"Seven."

"I would help you. But you couldn't tell anyone because my whole family would kill m if they found out I helped a Malfoy get with my cousin."

"Six."

"They wouldn't like you, maybe not at first. My dad might be a little nicer and so would her mum. Her dad and my mum would have a bloody fit. Her dad would be the worst, since he hated your dad in school. I mean, cursed the day he was born."

"Five." He said a little louder this time, closing his eyes.

"Isn't that weird, though? That we're best mates and my family hates yours."

"Four."

"They don't care that I'm friends with you, though. Cause it's just a friendly thing. My mum was all proud of me, so was my Aunt Hermione. They were glad I could, 'Cross the boundaries of friendship like they didn't exist,' whatever the hell that means."

"Three."

"You get on my nerves sometimes, you know that?"

"Two."

"If Rose asks me why you don't talk to her, can I tell her this is why?"

Scorpius glanced at him and said, "No."

"Fine, I'll tell her I don't know. But if she finds out she'll be so mad at me! You better make her not mad at me, that is, if you stop being such a little tart."

"One."

Albus squinted at Scorpius and smacked one of his cheeks. "You still look like a miserable old mole to me."

"That's because I'm bored."

"Go to sleep."

"No, I'm too antsy."

"Go snog someone."

"I've got it!" he said, shaking Al's shoulder. "You know how Filch steals stuff that he deems 'unacceptable' and puts them in his office?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And, I'm sure he'll have some pretty good stuff in there. If you get my drift."

Albus hopped to his feet. "Come on then! I'll grab the cloak!"

Once Albus was back in the Common Room, cloak wrapped around him and bag on his shoulder, he tapped Scorpius on the shoulder. He might have jumped if he wasn't expecting it. Scorpius opened the portrait door and let Albus out before he followed him. They checked to make sure no one was in the halls before Albus pulled the cloak off.

"I call front."

"No. No, that is not fair, I had back last time."

"It's my bloody cloak!"

"It was my idea!"

"Touché."

"I always feel like a bitch when I'm in the back."

"Well actually, that's the one with the most control."

"…Ew Al. I'm not sure I want you behind me anymore."

Al punched him and Scorpius danced around trying to brush the 'gay boy' off of him.

"Screw it. Since I'm the straightest one out of us two, I'll go in the back." Scorpius said.

Albus made to protest that he was the straightest one, but footsteps could be heard behind them. "Hurry up."

They put the cloak over them, and had to hunch over to keep their feet from being seen. When they were younger, they could fit themselves, along with one or two other people. Now it could only comfortably fit one of them. Except if it was Rose. Rose could fit under it with someone else.

Scorpius quickly caught himself, remembering that he shouldn't be thinking about her at all. He felt a pang in his heart as he pushed her out of his mind.

They stood against the wall as they waited for the person to pass. It was just a prefect, no older that fifteen. They could have bribed them if they'd been seen. Just as the boy was passing them, Scorpius said, "Boo!" And the boy took off running. Al and Scorpius tried their best to stifle their laughter, but it was hard. Scorpius hadn't laughed, really laughed, in days.

After it was quiet again, they headed to the stairs. They had to climb four stories, and thankfully they didn't run into anyone. They needed to be careful, because the Headmistress knew who was in possession of the invisibility cloak. She also knew who frequently used it with him.

Once they were in front of Filch's office, they checked under the door. The light was on, which meant he was in. "Maybe we should come back tomorrow," Albus said, starting to walk back the direction they'd come.

Scorpius put his hand on Al's shoulder to stop him. "No, no. I've got this. Accio bludger."

"Shit!" Al said, looking around. "You're going to get our heads taken off!"

Scorpius shook his head and smiled. "It'll distract Filch. And once we're far enough away, we can call off the bludger. Or just let it roam free. It's up to you."

"Oh, we can just leave it."

Scorpius laughed, and told Al that they should stand across from the office door. Soon the bludger came, hitting the door and rebounding right next to Al's head. He cursed and Scorpius put his hand over his mouth. In a matter of seconds, Filch had the door wide open, looking around to find what was causing the racket. In his shock, he forgot to lock the door. It slowly started to close, and Scorpius and Al ran to get through it. They could hear Filch yelling at the bludger as the door closed.

They walked around to the back of the desk and tried the drawer. When it didn't open, Albus pointed his wand at it and whispered, "Alohamora."

When it opened they were giddy with excitement. They picked through candy, PlayWizard magazines, muggle contraceptive that Albus found fascinating, love letters from and to people they know, and several other things. As Scorpius was putting things into the bag, Albus stopped and looked at him.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked, noticing Al had stopped.

"I'm glad you're back to normal, mate. I missed you."

"Oh hush, I didn't go anywhere."

Albus squeezed him around the shoulders. "I love you so much!"

"Good old Potter. I hope you never change."