Chapter 14
Rose's POV:
I had never fully appreciated my scarf so much as I did now. Firstly, for keeping the chilling temperatures at bay. The cold had only gotten worse with the first snow fall of the year making its appearance this morning. Hugo had been bouncing around the common room, eager to run outside and make good use of the powdery, white snow while it was still there. Even at fourteen years old, he still reminded me of younger days at my mum and dad's house.
Apart from the warmth provided by my scarf, it was also providing me with something very important. With the help of my hair, it hid the blush that was creeping up my cheeks the whole time Finley Thomas and I were walking down to Hogsmeade.
Finley's hands were stuck in his pockets, his brow creased as we faced the light snowfall that was still hanging through the late morning air. I had spent the morning thinking of ways I was going to kill Albus (rather graphically, I might add). This "date" I was forced to be on with Finley had started out awkwardly and was only getting worse.
"So," Finley voiced from beside me. I turned my head only slightly. "It's pretty cold, isn't it?"
Again with the weather. I nodded stiffly and gave him a half smile. Really I shouldn't have been as angry with Finley. It wasn't his fault that this day was happening. It was Albus's stubborn refusal to accept my relationship with Scorpius.
The snowy village of Hogsmeade became clearer through the frosty haze of the air. I could see several Hogwarts students milling around the streets, seeking refuge inside the cozy looking shops. Snow crunched under my boots and I stepped carefully to avoid any slip ups on the ice. Finley asked me something, but I couldn't hear him. The wind was howling too loudly. He gestured to one of the shops and I followed him inside, leaving the cold weather behind me.
All I could think about was the fact that somewhere in the same village, Scorpius and Albus were being forced into spending time together thanks to Dominique.
Albus got me into this mess, and now he was getting his payback in a mess of his own.
Scorpius's POV:
It was too bloody cold. Who decided to put a Hogsmeade weekend on the snowiest day of the year anyway? Normally, if Rose was my present company I would be using her body heat as a way to warm up (one of my favorite ways by far.)
However, my present company didn't include my girlfriend. Instead it was replaced with the twat she calls her cousin and her best friend. And if you thought I was going to cuddle up with either of them, you had another thing coming; most likely my fist.
"Will you two stop being so quiet?" Dominique demanded in an annoyed tone. The weather didn't seem to affect her whatsoever as she kept up a much faster pace than Potter and I.
Potter looked as uncomfortable as I felt. A permanent sneer had graced his face from the moment he had stepped out of the Gryffindor portrait hole. Arsewipe. It was his fault this was happening anyway. If he hadn't lined up my girlfriend on a date with that sorry prick Finley Thomas, we wouldn't be in this situation. Or, I suppose we would be, but we would be accompanied by Rose who was much better company than Dominique.
Speaking of Dominique, she had stopped rather suddenly in front of us on the snowy sidewalk. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, blue eyes looking more menacing than usual as she eyed us both.
"You lot are impossible. I thought Rose was exaggerating when she said you two hadn't hit it off but you're about as fun as a History of Magic lesson!"
"Dom shut it." Potter snapped. I felt like punching him, but I also agreed with him.
"What?" She flipped her silky blonde hair off her scarf. "I'm just saying. You two need to find something in common and start talking about it."
"Oh, we do have something in common." I spoke up. Both Potter and Dominique looked at me with surprised faces. "We're both wondering how we got stuck in this sorry situation."
Potter glared and Dominique groaned. She was rather dramatic.
"Why don't you two go find something to do and I'll just follow and watch. I'm missing out on a date with Colin anyway so you'd better be best friends by the time this day's over." She whined. For some reason I had absolutely no sympathy for her.
We walked on through the streets, my breath fogging up in front of me. I noticed the Quidditch Shop across the street and headed towards it. If Dominique wanted us to find something in common, maybe this was the right place to start.
I always loved the smell of Quidditch shops. Maybe it was the rubber or the freshly polished wood. I felt at home and like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders as soon as I stepped inside.
Potter immediately raced for the selection of racing brooms on the walls. I went to admire the Beater's bats in the corner, far away from him. This was already torture.
Dominique wandered around, looking lost. I almost felt sorry for her now that I saw how much she had to put up with. With a family like hers, this day was probably just the kind of thing she didn't need.
"Wow..." Potter breathed from the corner. He was immersed in a magazine on display near the register. I rolled my eyes and ignored him.
"Dom, you've got to come see this." Dominique strolled over to him.
"What's so great about it? It's just another broom." Now that caught my attention.
"Just another broom? Dom you have no idea what this thing is supposed to do! It's so new, not even the most successful Quidditch teams have a hold of one yet!"
I casually wandered over to them, my interest completely sparked. A new racing broom out on the market?
I tried to catch a glimpse of it from a safe distance until Dominique turned to me.
"Scorpius! You like Quidditch and stuff don't you? Have at it!" She grabbed my shoulder and shoved me into Albus's side, knocking over a stand of Quaffle balls in the process.
"Watch it!" Potter yelled when I accidentally rammed into him. I huffed. He was such a girl.
"Relax. It was your cousin who pushed me."
Despite the uncomfortable proximity with Potter, the broom was now in full view on the glossy pages of the magazine. And it was absolutely brilliant.
The handle was a glossy cherry wood with fantastic little add-ons and footrests. The tail of the broom was clipped to perfection and shaped artfully. The descriptions surrounding the broom made it even more appealing. It was supposed to be faster, sharper and lighter than any other broom on the market.
"Will knock the Firebolt right out of business." I muttered, reading the review at the bottom of the page.
"Doubt it'll happen that quickly. This thing's bound to cost a fortune." Potter spoke up from beside me. "No team's going to drop a galleon on it until it's been proven better than all the other models."
"Yeah, probably. But Merlin is it nice to look at." I was practically salivating.
Then I realized I had actually indulged in a conversation with Potter where I hadn't wanted to enchant his broomstick to fly up his arse.
He seemed to come to the same realization and we separated. He tossed the magazine back onto the counter and wound his scarf tighter around his neck.
"What do you say to some butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks?" He said to no one in particular. Dominique smirked from her position by the door and bounced out, the wind ringing the bell over the shop door as we exited.
The Three Broomsticks was crowded and noisy upon our entrance. Finding a table was difficult, but we squeezed into a small spot by an ice covered window and waited for the bar maiden to take our orders. Potter played with a hole in his glove. Dominique hummed some popular song while she smoothed down her hair. I sat with my chin in my hand, scanning the crowd in the restaurant.
If anyone saw me here with Potter, I would never be able to explain myself. It was common knowledge that Potter and I simply didn't like each other. And neither of us would be able to explain Dominique. That was all Rose's idea.
As soon as Rose's name came into my mind, there she was. She had just entered with Finley Thomas. She looked downright frigid. Wasn't this git even a little bit concerned about her health? If he'd been keeping her outside all afternoon, I was going to kill him. He kept waving his hands around her while she was distracted by the menu, like he didn't know whether or not to make a move.
I felt myself grow angrier as he placed his hand dangerously close to hers resting on the table. If that dick laid so much as one finger on her precious little body I would—
"Scorpius!" Dominique's shrill voice snapped from my right. I looked up to see the bar maiden looking at me expectantly.
"Um, I'll have a butterbeer." I mumbled. She scribbled it down on her parchment and then looked to Potter. He flashed a toothy grin.
"Hey Aunt Hannah!" Aunt Hannah? How many aunts did these people have anyway? "One firewhiskey for your favorite student?"
"Al," the bar maiden said in a fake groan. "You know I can't serve you liquor, you're underage." Her smile gave away her false tone.
"Oh, alright." Potter moaned dramatically. "I guess we'll have to settle for three extra strong butterbeers then." He winked at Dominique and she rolled her eyes at him. The bar maiden laughed with a dimpled smile and then left.
"Is she really your aunt?" I asked Dominique. I could have asked Potter the same question, but that would mean making light conversation with him and it was weird enough before.
"No." She giggled. "A close family friend. We've known her and our Uncle Neville since we were in nappies though."
Uncle Neville? She must have been talking about the Herbology teacher that had gone off to discover more magical plants last year. Why you would want to do that I would never be able to guess, but Professor Sprout had returned in her ancient age to take his place on his break.
"Hey, there's Rosie!" Dominique quietly squealed. She kept glancing at me to see my reaction to Rose on a date with another bloke.
"I know." I said stiffly. Potter turned, his eyebrows raised in interest.
Rose looked bored as ever as Finley babbled on, probably about some useless topic. She kept sneaking looks at the clock on the wall. I laughed to myself at her blatantly obvious discomfort.
"She doesn't seem too engaged." Potter said. I strongly resisted the urge to slap him round the back of his head.
"Yeah, because she's my girlfriend." I mumbled. Potter shot me a look.
"I'm just trying to get her to open up her options." He said arrogantly. I couldn't believe this prick. Had I ever interfered with one of his relationships?
"If she had wanted more options, don't you think it might have crossed her mind to stay away from me?" I pressed. Potter shifted in his seat.
"She's confused. Robin fucking Hemming dumped her earlier this year and I didn't want her making any stupid decisions while she was still upset."
"Yeah, I know about that idiot. I know a lot of things about Rose, probably more than you do."
"She's my cousin! You can't actually think you—"
"Shut it! Both of you!" Dominique snapped, silencing Potter and myself.
"This is ridiculous! Neither of you are even attempting to see things from a different perspective than your own. How do you ever expect to get along if you keep on fighting like this?" She continued in a small rage.
"I don't expect to get along—"
"Enough with the snide remarks, Scorpius! There's enough hot air circling around both your heads to melt the snow outside. Both of you need to just let go of your egos and try to think clearly for a moment."
We were both silent. I didn't dare say something else and make Dominique upset. She looked on the verge of tears (though I couldn't fathom why) and as previously noted before, I was bad with crying girls.
"I'm just trying to look out for her." Potter spoke up. His tone was one I had never heard him use before. One of distress? No, that was too much. More like one of protection.
"I want her to be happy. And I want her to have fun for once. I especially don't want her getting hurt again." He was staring straight at me, making me very uncomfortable. I tried not to think about how much he looked like his father. Harry Potter scared the living crap out of me whenever I saw him at the ministry.
I realized Potter was waiting for my response.
"I'm not going to hurt her. Not intentionally." I started. "I couldn't even think of doing that. At the beginning of the year, I thought when I first started talking to her I could just end it. It would be too complicated. Too much baggage attached. But once I was in her world, I didn't want to leave. She's the first person to actually see me for me in a long time."
Damn I sounded like a pussy. But it was all true, and if losing a little bit of my masculinity today was what it took to get Potter off my back then that's what I would do.
"What do you mean baggage?" Dominique asked.
"Well, not to be rude, but I mean you. Her family in general. There's a lot of you and not a lot of me." This earned a chuckle out of Dominique.
"This whole relationship was not something I thought I would be getting into this year, but I'm not backing out of it. Not this easily."
For a long time, everything around me seemed hazy. Unsure of itself. Things started to mold together. My parents didn't talk to me as much unless it was about schoolwork or the ministry career they both wanted for me. My friends were all becoming pains in my ass. My life seemed to be written out before me and it was like there was nothing I could do to change what was decided.
Then, Rose Weasley was looking at me. She never looked at me and I had never truly realized how red her hair was against a sea of black and grey uniforms. I had never realized how sparkly her eyes were, especially when they held tears. I didn't want her to cry but remembering the moment in the empty classroom, I think now she had never looked more vulnerable, or beautiful.
Rose Weasley was color on a black and white canvas. Rose Weasley was a flower in a desert. Rose Weasley was the unexpected rainfall in a drought.
"I understand." Potter said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry, what?" I asked. Having these heartfelt conversations were making me dizzy.
"I understand now. I didn't before. I didn't understand why anything would be happening between you two. But I think I get it, sort of." He looked really uncomfortable, like the words were painful to say. But I didn't think he was lying.
"Thanks." I said softly, eyes looking down at the table.
"I'll get Finley to back off. He'll listen to me, we're mates." He said louder this time, and I knew he had directed his attention to Dominique.
"Three butterbeers!" The bar maiden had returned and cleared the air of all the tension that was just there. She set down three glasses of frothy, amber liquid and giggled as she walked away.
I took a sip but recoiled. There wasn't the warm, sweet taste of butterbeer at my tongue, but the burning sensation of something stronger. I felt my body warm up and my tension slip away even more. This was definitely not butterbeer.
"You're welcome." Potter said in a somewhat satisfied tone as he sipped away at his glass. I cocked an eyebrow.
"For what?"
"I'm pretty sure you didn't actually want butterbeer, right? Firewhiskey is much better. Aunt Hannah is easy to sway when it comes to the rules." Dominique laughed.
"Um, thanks." I took more sips, allowing myself to relax more. It felt like the hardest part of this day was over. But it also felt like there would only be harder things to come. I glanced over at Rose across the restaurant and saw she had found me with her eyes as well. She blushed, the rim of her glass that she was sipping hiding her pretty smile. Finley was still babbling on, oblivious. I reveled in the fact that even on a date with Finley, Rose was still much more interested in me.
I smiled at her and she returned the smile. I knew I would be seeing her shortly as we had agreed to meet up after the trip was over. Just the thought of her made sitting with her cousins less awkward. They were her family and I had to start accepting them like Rose had accepted me.
"Hey, Malfoy. I get the fact that you and Rose haven't seen each other all day but if you could avoid the eye sex right now that would be fantastic." Potter said sarcastically. I turned my attention to him and smirked.
"All part of the package deal."
"You two haven't actually done anything more than just eye sex if you know what I mean?"
I nearly choked on my drink. Spluttering for air, I coughed out an answer.
"No! Of course not!" I massaged my throat, which was burning now. Dominique giggled again.
"Glad to hear it. Just needed to know, Rose is my best friend after all." He said matter-of-factly with a smug grin on his face.
If this was life with Albus Potter, I would have to send letters of congratulations to James Potter and Lily Potter. I don't know how they did it every day.
A/N: So I hope this chapter is worth it! Don't Scorpius and Albus make the cutest bromance in the making ;) I liked writing in Scorpius's POV! Let me know if you guys like it too! I'm really excited for the ideas and upcoming chapters I have planned so look forward to new chapters ahead! Thanks again to everyone who has ever reviewed or looked at my story before; I wouldn't be writing this without the support of you guys!
~ yours in eternity xx (or Amy Stilinski)