Chapter 11
As October faded into November, the weather turned gradually colder. Snow had fallen here and there in light flakes, assuring us there would be more to come. Frost covered the school now, making it very easy to slip and fall on the frozen stones of the courtyard. Scorpius would give me grief every time we recalled my unfortunate fall only weeks prior.
Scorpius and I had so far been successful in keeping our relationship a secret. The only person who knew about it, apart from us, was Dominique. So far she had proved to be an excellent secret keeper and had already saved my arse more than once when it came to keeping the rest of our family in the dark. The only thing bothering her about it all was that she was also keeping the secret from her "precious Colin-bear" whom she had sworn to be completely honest with. Still, she kept up a solid front and made sure that no one knew anything about what Scorpius and I did behind closed doors.
Not that anything we did was much different than before, apart from the obvious and expected change in physical touch. Ever since our first proper snog in the Quidditch tent, several others had followed; all of which were— for lack of a better word— magical.
Scorpius and I still had our share of spats and disagreements, but we never truly got into screaming fits of rage which I was thankful for. The fear that our friendship would be tainted by the relationship was shrinking more every day, and I knew it would soon be gone completely. Scorpius was just as compatible as my boyfriend as he was a friend.
Monday evening found myself and Scorpius sitting in the library as usual, as we had both decided to continue our tutoring sessions. Scorpius's grade in potions had soared dramatically over the course of the last months and he was now at a safe Acceptable in class, something he had never achieved before. Still, it did take some effort to get Scorpius to do some work of his own in return. He was a brilliant thinker, but a lazy worker.
"Scorp," I prodded his side with my wand, which caused him to burrow his head further into his arms on the table. Without my knowing, he had been napping while I had been in search of more textbooks and resources.
"Scorp, wake up." I poked him sharply. He grunted sleepily and raised his head. It was hard to stay cross with him, simply because he looked like a kitten every time he woke up. I removed my wand from his side and took my seat, trying not to smile. He blinked once, twice, then yawned grandly and stretched his arms.
"How are those notes coming along?" I asked sarcastically.
"Oh, they're spectacular." He mumbled as he cracked his joints and wiggled his fingers to get some feeling back into them.
"You've been sleeping ever since I left!" I exclaimed in quiet disbelief. Even though we had chosen a new table at the very back of the library for more privacy while studying (among other things), I knew Madam Pince would be lurking in the shelves waiting to pounce if my voice grew loud enough.
"You've got it all wrong, Rosie." I blushed at my nickname coming from his mouth. "I was dreaming up all these great notes and facts in my head while you were gone. I hardly think I'll need to study any more with this knowledge." He sent a sleepy wink my way.
"You're an idiot." I remarked, but smiled anyway. "If it wouldn't trouble you so much, why don't you write those 'great notes' down on parchment? I don't think Professor McGregor is going to grade what's inside that thick skull of yours."
Scorpius pressed a hand to his heart. "Rosie! That one hurt! Right here." He pointed at his heart. "I reckon you'll have to make it up to me."
I kept my eyes fixed on the text in front of me. "I'm not kissing it better."
"It hurts right here too." He gestured to his lips, smirking once more. If anyone could smirk better than Scorpius Malfoy, it was Scorpius Malfoy.
I laughed slightly at his lame attempt at romance, but leaned across my seat and pecked him on the lips lightly. He seemed satisfied, and finally picked up his quill.
We moved onto the next chapter, as I read aloud and Scorpius underlined phrases and starred paragraphs. I only had to scold him for drawing Quidditch plays in the corner of his paper once, which was a new record. All in all, things were going normally for a bit and I had Scorpius reading by himself while I worked on my unfinished Ancient Runes homework that was due next week. The silence was comforting, going hand in hand with the smell of drying ink and old dusty pages I was so fond of. However, the silence was broken by Scorpius clearing his throat rather loudly.
"Rose, I don't understand this section." I huffed silently, as I had been in the middle of translations.
"Read it again."
"I've read it four times now and it still doesn't make sense. I don't even know what some of these words mean."
"Scorp, can it wait five minutes?" I pleaded.
"Sure, if you want to be here for the rest of the night." He persisted. I sighed loudly, knowing he was partially right and scooted my chair closer to his.
"What's not to understand?" I asked, somewhat un-impatiently. It was already 8:45 and I needed to get back to my common room soon.
"This bit here. I don't get what that word means, so naturally I don't know what the whole damn paragraph is about."
"Haven't you looked it up?"
"I have."
"Used context clues?"
"All the basics. It's like reading Mermish."
We continued bickering like this for the next few minutes, making no progress. Madam Pince shushed us harshly before sinking back into the shadows of the bookcases. The clocks ticked by and the candles burned lower. Scorp and I were now not speaking. I had whisper-yelled at him to figure it out on his own and he had reciprocated. I knew the spat was stupid, but I didn't want to admit I was being unreasonable and cranky.
Madam Pince came around the corner once more, this time coming right up to our table.
"You lot have five minutes to wrap things up, then the library's closed." She tapped her fingers sharply against the wood, snarled at us and left with a handful of books in tow.
I began packing my Ancient Runes work into my bag, knowing I would finish it in the common room when Scorpius spoke up.
"Rose?" I remained silent. If there was one thing I got from my dad, it was his stubbornness. "Rosie?"
"What is it?" I finally answered.
"I still don't get it, and I'm sorry…"
I felt terrible. Scorpius was apologizing for my bad temper.
"Don't be. I'm sorry; I'll try to help next time." I turned toward him, taking in the way his eyes changed color by the light of the flickering candles.
"Is something wrong? You've been tense lately." He hesitantly took my hand and I let out a long overdue sigh.
"Come here." He patted his lap. I raised my eyebrow at him, knowing Madam Pince would be coming back soon.
"I know what I'm doing Rose." He said seriously.
"Oh, and what is that? Getting us caught by the staff?" I asked, a smile playing at my lips.
"No, I'm getting my girlfriend to talk to me so I can help her." He pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. I blushed in the dim lighting, not knowing where to put my hands. I finally decided to rest them in my own lap, not meeting his eyes.
"What's bothering you?" He asked. "Is it me? I mean, us?"
"No— not really. It's just been really hard keeping this from my family and I'm trying not to worry about it but sometimes I just think about it too much."
He looked down. "You're worried about what they'll think of you?"
"No," I tilted his chin up. "I'm worried about what my cousins and my brother would do to you. And more importantly, what my dad would do."
"I can handle them." He said.
"I know you can, but I don't want them to scare you off."
"They couldn't scare me away from you if they tried. You're too special." I blushed again. "We're also both too stubborn, so they'd have to deal with quite the challenge."
I laughed, feeling the nerves that I had been riddled with all night going away, if only for the moment.
Scorpius laughed with me, and finally his lips met mine. It was a soft, but meaningful kiss where we both apologized without words. However, it was growing more heated, given the position we were in. I ran my fingers through his hair, his hands moving farther down my back—
"Disgraceful!" A shriek pierced the silence. We broke apart immediately, meeting Madam Pince's disapproving glare. "I want you both out of the library right now! And I'll throw you out if I ever see you two in here together again! Out!"
Scorpius and I tried not to laugh as we gathered our things and practically ran out of the library. Once in a corridor a safe distance away, we burst into fits of laughter. I had never been kicked out of the library before, and it was hard to say that I had regretted it.
Scorpius's giggles subsided first and he pulled me into a tight hug. I was smiling hugely, feeling his heartbeat against mine. Both were abnormally fast, though that was probably due to the fact that we had just sprinted to safety away from the wrath of Madam Pince.
"I'm sorry we got caught." He said, pulling away slowly. "I didn't think she'd come back that fast."
"I'm not sorry. That was the most fun I've had in months." I beamed. He chuckled, running his hand through his hair before slipping it into mine and walking me to the common room.
A relationship with Scorpius was anything but predictable, and maybe that was exactly what I needed. I felt like I had woken up from a long, boring sleep and I was ready to explore life outside of the norm. As Scorpius kissed me goodnight at the portrait hole, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn't worry so much about my family, or the trouble that would follow us. Truthfully, you were only in trouble if you got caught; and maybe we had already been caught, but that didn't mean we were giving up.
A/N: Eh, kind of a filler chapter. I have a lot of events coming up for the story such as another Hogsmeade trip and a Quidditch game and some more drama with Finley Thomas. I'm maybe going to put a poll up for you guys to pick what you want to see next in the story, but you can always leave suggestions in your reviews :) I want to thank you all so much for all the reviews I've gotten encouraging me to continue! You guys are the best and you are the reason this story is being written! So keep leaving reviews and thanks again for dealing with my slow updates :*
p.s. did any of you see Les Miserables? Let me know if you did and if you liked it in the reviews, I am totally obsessed with it now!
~ yours in eternity ;)