Okay, so this quote was suggested to me first by SabreDae, and I think a few others also mentioned it later on. I hope you enjoy it. Also for those asking about more romance between Scorpius/Rose, I'm gradually building it up. Starting with this one. :D
I hope you like it.
A friend will help you move house,
A best friend will help you move a body.
"Ouch! That's my foot!" I exhaled in annoyance, raising my voice as much as I dared.
"Sorry!"
"Watch where you put his- Ouch!"
"Sorry!"
"For Merlin's sake, Scorpius, you're no help whatsoever. You're just making this harder."
He huffed, then let go of the teenager we were carrying through the silent, cold and dreary corridors of Hogwarts. Through the flicker of fire from the brackets on the walls, I caught his raised eyebrows as I lurched forward to grab the teenager's other hand to prevent him from slamming into the floor.
I lowered the boy slowly and then straightened up, wobbling slightly in my platform heels, to glare at Scorpius.
"What was that for?" I hissed as quietly as I could.
"Next time ask me to help you move house, or something, Rose. You're too stressed when it comes to people," He told me breezily. "If you don't want my help with him-"
"Of course I do!"
"Okay, if you can't appreciate my help," Scorpius smirked back, leaning casually against the stone wall on the opposite side of the corridor. "Then I'll just go back to the party."
I must have looked desperate, because he chuckled. "Please don't leave me with him."
I pointed an accusing finger at the slumped over boy on the floor, my cousin Al. He was now laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. At my action, he turned his face slightly to look at us, his glazed-over eyes barely registering what we were doing or talking about.
"Hey, Rosie! There's no stars! " He shouted reproachfully, as if it was my fault. I winced at the loud noise and the thought of which teacher he might attract at any moment. "Loony Luna always says that stars are the most f.. f… most fund… f… most important things ever!"
"Right you are, Albus," Scorpius grinned at the rigidity in my shoulders as I glanced up and down the corridor.
"Shh, don't encourage him, Scorpius," I whispered, then shuffled back over to Al and knelt beside him. "Hey, Al, I need you do to something for me. You think you can do that, yeah?"
He watched me wearily for a moment. I waited impatiently for his sluggish brain to catch up. "Dunno, R-R-Rosie… What's n.. in it for moi?"
I had to refrain from rolling my eyes at my drunk cousin. "Okay, erm…" I scrabbled to think of something.
"Hey, Al," Scorpius suddenly called across to him. "Want to play a game?"
"Sure," Al grinned. "Chess?"
"Er, no, something else."
"Why not Chess?" Al looked much too annoyed at the idea of not being allowed to play chess. "Just cause you get beat all the time."
My lips twitched at that, trying not to smile as Scorpius' face hardened for a moment - he hated that Al and I could beat him so easily at chess.
"Cause there's no chess board, Albus," He snapped. "Anyway, how about we play 'Who can be quiet the longest?'"
"That game sucks," Al complained loudly, much to mine and Scorpius' annoyance.
I turned to him. "This is going to be harder than I thought."
"Games normally work when he's drunk," Scorpius pointed out, also at a loss for what to do.
"Hey!" Al shouted loudly, waking up a few paintings nearby. "I'm not drunk!"
"Yes, you are," I mumbled quietly.
Unfortunately, he heard. "I'm not!" He yelled, his voice echoing down the corridor.
Even Scorpius winced. If somebody heard, we were so in trouble. Not only because we were out of bed after hours, but also because Al was very drunk, we had also been drinking and we had been to a late night party.
"I, er… wasn't talking about you," Scorpius lied as I tried to force Al off the floor, sure that if the paintings knew we were here, the teachers would too soon.
"Yes, you were," Al huffed dramatically. "I'm hurt, Scorpy. You hurt my feelings. I am never ever drunk."
"You're right, Al, sorry," Scorpius sighed, knowing he might as well appease him to get him to shut up. "I was talking about Rose."
"Oh no," Al shook his head. "Rose isn't drunk. She talks about you constantly when she's drunk." He nodded his head exaggeratingly as I blushed violently.
A sober Al would never have divulged that information - I had him under threat of a nasty hex if he ever did whilst sober.
"Does she now?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows and smirked at the knew information he'd just learnt.
"Honestly, Scor, I never remember any of it. I don't mean to - I swear."
"I think she lurves you," Al continued, much to my dismay. I felt like I wanted to be just about anywhere else than in that corridor right at that second.
Scorpius chuckled quietly. "That's because we're secretly dating, Al."
"Scorpius!" I reprimanded him, aghast. "Don't! He'll think you're being serious!"
Al, as if to prove my point, gasped loudly. "I knew it!"
Scorpius smirked at me and laughed at the trouble he was stirring up as he took Al's other arm, placing it more securely over his shoulders as we hauled Al round the next corridor.
I grunted at his weight. Only three more floors to go.
"This would be so much easier if we could take the stairs," Scorpius whispered to me behind Al's back.
I shook my head. "Too open. Teacher's will see us. Besides, we're nearly there. We got him all the way from behind Hagrid's, up the hill, past the greenhouses, through the Entrance Hall, down six corridors and up two flights of stairs. We can do this."
We turned a sharp bend in the corridor, only to spot Professor McGonagall standing directly three metres in front of us, facing the opposite direction as she complained that Peeves' excited babblings about students was making no sense.
"Hey, it's McGon!-"
Scorpius shoved his hand over Al's mouth, but it was too late.
"Students out of bed!" Peeves giggled mischievously, pointing over McGonagall's shoulder.
Scorpius and I swiftly dragged Al backwards and round the bend, out of sight as McGonagall began to turn round to face where we had been standing only moments before.
As McGonagall's heels clacked slowly against the tiles, Scorpius and I locked eyes. Within that one second, we conveyed a plan to one another.
I wrenched open the broom closet behind me, and Scorpius shoved Al in there, whispering frantically. "Al, if you stay here until we come back, I'll take you to the Quidditch World Cup this year."
Al, even when drunk, loved Quidditch too much to jeopardise that opportunity.
I waved my wand, having just enough time to cast Muffliato and a spell to conceal the cupboard door. It blended into the wall, looking like uninterrupted stone.
"Chameleon spell," I breathed to Scorpius as we glanced around desperately for a place to hide ourselves, the sound of McGonagall's shoes clacking on the stones becoming louder by the second.
There was a small indent in the wall where a suit of armour was stationed just beside the cupboard, and we darted towards it together as McGonagall rounded the corner.
The gap was barely big enough for one student, let alone two.
Luckily I was petite, and Scorpius slender from Quidditch, and we managed to just fit, our bodies pressed together. I could feel his heart beating just as fast as mine was as his arms came round me to prevent me from moving, my hands on his chest, faces inches apart.
I could hear his breathing, as quiet as it was.
His eyes bore into mine in the darkness, suspense and anxiety etched across his face as McGonagall's footsteps stopped, centimetres from where we stood, on the other side of the suit of armour.
The space we were hidden in was covered by shadow so we weren't immediately visible if one didn't look too hard.
I prayed she didn't.
After what felt like an eternity of holding my breath, sure she would spot us at any moment, we heard her irritated snap at Peeves, "For Merlin's sake, there's nobody here! Students out of bed…" She shook her head as she turned the corner and heading back down the corridor the way she'd come - the way we needed to go.
Scorpius and I stayed rooted to the spot, unable to move, as the sound began to die away.
"If she'd found us, we'd have been in serious trouble," Scorpius breathed, for once serious. "We're already on her list."
"And who's fault is that?" I joked softly.
His chest rumbled under my hands as he laughed quietly. "Just as much yours as mine, Rosie."
I huffed at that. "If you say so…"
"Hey, I'd never let you get expelled."
"You damn well came close to it just now," I protested half-heartedly. I knew it wasn't really his fault, nor was I actually blaming him. Even though he was the one to suggest we drag Al back to his bed in the first place.
"Hey, that was all Albus," He grinned. "If he hadn't gotten so drunk we wouldn't have to take him back to Gryffindor Tower in the state he's in, risking our third strikes."
"Three out of three," I muttered, anxious.
What if she had found us?
Oh gosh, mum would be devastated. Dad would be disappointed. Uncle Harry would be upset…
Uncle Fred would be proud.
Oh Merlin! I was so in trouble.
I was a terrible student! I was never going to get Head Girl next year!
"Hey, Rose," Scorpius breathed gently, extracting one of his arms to softly tilt my chin up to look at him as he noticed my panicking expression. "Don't worry about it. I promise you that I'll never let that happen."
"I know…" I sighed, glancing down again. "I just-"
"I promise," He stressed, his eyes boring into mine again as I looked up with such force and feeling that my cheeks flushed pink and I suddenly realised how close we were.
It would be so easy to just reach up on your tip toes and-
Rose! This is Scorpius, stop it!
He suddenly seemed to notice that I was uncomfortable, and his mood immediately responded as he realised why. He coughed. "We should probably get Al…"
"Yeah, good idea," I sighed as he stepped back into the corridor, giving me some room to breath. For a second, whilst he couldn't see me, I mouthed 'What just happened?' to myself and rubbed my face with my hands.
I heard him struggling with Al as he tried to get him onto his feet and in a position in which we could carry him easily.
I stepped back out into the corridor and came to join my favourite cousin and… best friend. Scorpius grinned at me from across the now sleeping Al as I took his arm and placed it round mine.
I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach. I felt dizzy, light-headed, as Scorpius watched me.
He looked good.
Really good.
His hair was ruffled and his clothes, just casual with jeans and the shirt I'd given him for his birthday, were crumpled from the rowdy party. His eyes, stormy grey and captivating, twinkled as I looked on.
"Thank you," I breathed quietly as Scorpius hauled Al up and we started off again, quietly. Thankfully Al wasn't snoring, yet.
"For what?" Scorpius smiled sweetly, for once not making fun of me.
"For this, for helping," I glanced at my shoes nervously, expecting a sarcastic remark at any moment, then back up at him, as we headed up a flight of stairs that were hardly ever used, even in the day time.
"Of course," He beamed in the candlelight. "What are best friends for?"
I hope you liked it! I'd love a review? Anything you'd like to see between Rose/Scorpius? Any character you'd like to see? I've had Al and Lily, but I might try to include Molly Weasley or one of the adult Weasleys in one of the next chapters. Hopefully I'll get a chance to put Teddy in, if you guys want. Let me know.