Dating
Thirteen-year-old Scorpius Malfoy stared at the girl in front of him. She was looking at him through her eyelashes, her face coy and flushed. She was very pretty, a fourth-year and smart too.
Ava Irkhart had asked him to Hogsmeade. Now they sat at the Three Broomsticks at a corner table drinking butterbeer and staring at each other. Scorpius felt horribly awkward. He hadn't thought about the fact that they would have to make conversation with only each other for the entire afternoon. He swallowed and had to consciously remind himself not to lick his dry lips. He didn't want to look creepy.
"So..." Ava started uncertainly, glancing at him again. "You made the Quidditch team this year, right? As Seeker?"
"Chaser," Scorpius corrected immediately. He remembered to smile reassuringly a moment too late; Ava had already turned away awkwardly.
"Erm...Do you like Quidditch then?" he asked, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. Ava turned to look at him again and shrugged slightly.
"Yeah... I mean, I guess so. My brothers are more into it than I am. They're huge Arrows fans," she said. Scorpius could think of no response to that, so he nodded.
The pair lapsed into another uncomfortable silence. Scorpius took a few more sips of butterbeer while Ava stared out the window. He wanted to smack his head on the table. Why had he agreed to come out with her? And why had no one told him dates were so horrible?
"D'you want to walk around town some?" Ava asked after another moment. "It's so nice outside."
"Yes," Scorpius agreed, hopping off his stool instantly. Anything to get away from the awkwardness of their corner table in the bustling pub.
They set off walking down the street, still not speaking much, just looking around at the shops.
"Want to go to Honeydukes?" Scorpius asked.
"Oh, yes," Ava answered enthusiastically, smiling a real smile for the first time in an hour. She grabbed his hand and started walking more quickly.
Scorpius let her drag him down the road, staring at their entwined fingers in mild surprise. He decided he rather liked the way her hand felt in his. Hers was smaller, smoother and more delicate. He liked the feeling of his hand cupped around hers, her fingers tight on his as she pulled him toward the sweet shop.
He could get used to this.
-o-
"Scorpius?"
Scorpius looked up as Ava sat next to him. Three weeks had gone by since their first date, three weeks since they'd become the new couple to talk about, and indeed they'd been the talk of Slytherin until the other day when some sixth year was caught cheating on his girlfriend with a Ravenclaw seventh year. The newest scandal had quickly driven Scorpius and Ava from everyone's minds.
Scorpius was grateful for it. He got enough unwarranted attention as it was between being his father's son and being friends with the son of Harry Potter. He didn't really care to have everyone talking about his dating life as well.
"I thought you were studying," Scorpius commented as Ava leaned against him. He had been reading his potions book, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong in his latest disaster, but thus far he'd made no progress.
"Marie didn't show up," Ava said with a shrug. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to figure out why I'm so awful at potions," Scorpius sighed. "But I'd rather talk to you," he added, snapping the book shut. He was rewarded with a dazzling smile, and he smiled back.
"Want to go for a walk before supper?" asked Ava hopefully.
"Sure," he said, tossing the book aside. "Let's go."
-o-
"This is so beautiful," Ava sighed, leaning her head on Scorpius's shoulder. They were standing at the edge of the lake, watching the sunset.
"Yeah," he agreed, taking her hand. She turned her face up to smile at him, and he suddenly found himself nose-to-nose with her. Her breath caught, and her smile faltered.
Scorpius stared at her, trying to calm his suddenly pounding heart. She was looking at him expectantly, and he knew what she was waiting for.
The two stood there for what seemed like an eternity, staring at one another in utter silence. Ava's face fell slightly, and she started to draw back. Scorpius, realizing his window was closing, squeezed her hand, swallowed hard, and leaned forward.
Their lips touched for a fraction of a second before they both snapped back away from one another and looked around sheepishly. No one was anywhere to be seen, however, so the only other place to look was at each other.
Scorpius couldn't keep a smile from inching across his face. A moment later, she was grinning at him. He'd just kissed a girl. He was still marveling at this fact several seconds later when he realized he was staring at her stupidly.
"We'd, erm...better get back up to the castle. It's almost time to eat," Scorpius muttered, feeling the moment grow quickly from sweet to awkward. Ava nodded.
"Yes. Let's go," she agreed, slipping her fingers back into his.
He stole glances at her as they walked. She had a soft, almost disbelieving smile on her face as she strolled beside him, and every now and then she'd lift her hand ever so slowly and touch her lips where he'd kissed her.
He, Scorpius Malfoy, had just kissed a girl.
-o-
"Where've you been?"
Scorpius looked up to see Albus sitting cross-legged on his bed, his charms homework spread out across his lap and on the sheets in front of him. The black-haired boy claimed he did his best learning atop his own bed. Scorpius has never understood, personally. He needed a desk and a chair – solid surfaces to balance his books and notes.
"I was hanging out with Ava," he replied with a shrug. Albus raised an eyebrow at the mention of Scorpius's girlfriend of five weeks, and Scorpius asked, "Don't you like her?"
"I like her fine," Albus assured him. "But you missed Quidditch practice."
Scorpius froze, and he could have sworn his heart stopped for a fraction of a second. "What? I can't have."
"Well today is Tuesday," Albus said matter-of-factly. "And two hours ago was seven o'clock."
"Shit." Scorpius sank onto his bed looking distraught. "I've only been on the team a month and Griff is going to replace me. I can already imagine my father's reaction. 'You got kicked off after only a month? You must be terrible.' Oh, Merlin."
"Mate, calm down," Albus said, speaking over Scorpius's mutterings. "Griff isn't going to kick you off the team because you missed one practice. We didn't even do anything that important. Just go find him and tell him you're sorry you missed and you'll make it up with me tomorrow night, okay? I can fill you in on everything you missed."
"I can't tomorrow," Scorpius replied immediately. "Ava and I—"
"Seriously?" Albus interrupted.
Scorpius blinked. "What?"
"Rice and I haven't seen you without Ava at your side for more than ten minutes in weeks. Don't you think it's a bit much?" Albus asked. "I know you fancy her and all, but have you ever heard of too much of a good thing?"
"I guess I hadn't noticed," Scorpius answered, shrugging. "Didn't realize it was bothering you," he added, sounding slightly wounded.
Albus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I like Ava, okay? She's great. You two are great together and all that. But, c'mon, mate. You both have to have a life outside each other. You're going to end up hating one another if you spend every second together. Look at James and me," he added, grinning.
Scorpius snorted, remembering all too clearly the famous arguments of the Potter brothers. "Yeah, true. I'll cancel my plans with Ava and be at practice tomorrow, alright? Promise."
-o-
"Scorpius! Scorpius!"
Scorpius looked over to see Ava making her way through the crowded common room, a butterbeer in one hand. When she finally reached him, she grinned up at him excitedly.
"You were so great out there!" she exclaimed, using her free arm to hug him. He smiled back gratefully.
"Thanks, Ava," he said wholeheartedly, hugging her.
Scorpius had just participated in his first ever Hogwarts Quidditch match. Slytherin had been down by only one goal when Mathias Urquhart, the Slytherin Seeker, had gone soaring in a deadly downward spiral toward the Snitch with James Potter hot on his tail. James had pulled up out of the dive just in time to avoid smashing face-first into the turf, but he'd given up the Snitch in the process.
Urquhart, ever the daredevil (or idiot, in the general population's opinion), had closed his fist around the Snitch mere seconds before slamming into the ground. He was currently lying in the infirmary boasting twenty-three broken bones and a fractured skull, and he was damn proud of it. Scorpius was sure he'd never heard of anyone who had suffered more Quidditch-related injuries than Mathias Urquhart. He made a mental note to ask Rice about it later; the boy was a walking Quidditch encyclopedia.
Scorpius had never played harder than he had today. Euan Griffin – or "Griff" as he was commonly referred to by his fellow Slytherins – their captain, had pushed them extraordinarily hard during practices in the weeks leading up to the match, especially after hearing the Gryffindors had been up at dawn every day for a week by the time the Slytherin team began practicing.
The hard work had paid off. Scorpius was sore, tired and bruised in more places he cared to count, but the ache in his arms and back was a sweet one; it meant they'd won.
-o-
"You've barely spoken to me all night."
Scorpius looked over in surprise to see Ava standing at his elbow, looking up at him with sad eyes and a slight pout on her lips.
"It's a party, Ava," he reminded her. "There are dozens of people to talk to."
"But none of them are your girlfriend," she pointed out.
Scorpius felt a twinge of irritation. He spent more time with her than he did with his own two best mates; she couldn't give him one night to accept the praise and adoration of all the Slytherins who had doubted him two months ago?
"Don't be like that," he said as gently as possible. "I spend plenty of time with you."
"Yeah…" she murmured, chewing on her lip. He could tell she was still unsatisfied and suppressed an exasperated sigh.
Instead of continuing down this pointless path with her, he turned to resume conversation with Albus and Nicholais Montague, the Keeper. Nick and Albus were recounting a particularly spectacular save on Nick's part, laughing uproariously.
Scorpius had only just gotten caught up in their story again when he felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned to see Ava still standing there, looking annoyed with him.
"You know, it's rude to turn your back on someone you're having a conversation with," she informed him.
"I thought the conversation was over," he answered honestly. "You stopped talking."
Ava's eyebrows rose at that, looking taken aback. "Well if you're going to be that way, then I don't want to talk to you," she snapped, spinning on her heel and marching away. Scorpius stared after her, perplexed.
"Was it something I said?" he muttered to himself in confusion. Then he shrugged. Well, whatever her problem was, she was sure to cool off eventually.
-o-
"Aren't we going to Hogsmeade?"
Scorpius looked up from his potions book, already in a bad mood from his usual struggle with a subject that was supposed to come naturally to him, being the son of two fantastic potioneers.
"I have to study," he answered, his eyes back on text in front of him before the sentence had even completely left his mouth.
"It's Saturday."
"And I'm failing potions."
"Scorpius, you never do anything with me anymore," Ava complained, plopping down across the table from him. "You spend all your time doing homework or playing Quidditch or hanging out with Albus and Rice."
Scorpius slowly put his book down and placed his hands on the tabletop between them. He looked up at her very calmly.
"That is because, A, we're at school if you haven't noticed, and we get a lot of homework; B, I'm on the Quidditch team, and in order to win, we have to practice a lot; and C, Albus and Rice are my best mates," he told her.
"But, D, I'm your girlfriend," she protested.
Scorpius closed his eyes. He just wanted her to go away. Sometimes he hoped, if he wished hard enough, she'd just, poof, disappear. When he opened his eyes however, she was still there.
"Ava, I really need to figure out why I suck at potions," he told her plainly. "My dad is going to kill me if I don't pick my marks up."
"Fine," she sulked, getting up. "I'll just go to Hogsmeade by myself."
"Have fun," he replied in a monotone. His nose was already back in his book by the time she'd left the common room.
-o-
"Scorpius."
Just the way she said his name made him edgy now. It had been over two months. If he wanted to know exactly how many weeks and days it had been, he could have asked her he was sure, but speaking to her was irritating. He hadn't found a way to nicely tell her to bugger off yet. Christmas break was two weeks away and Scorpius couldn't wait to go home where the only female around was his mother, and the only person he had to worry about pleasing was his father.
"Ava."
"The Winter Ball is coming up."
Scorpius nearly groaned aloud. He'd been trying for two weeks to figure out how to tell Ava their "relationship" was over, and now he had to tell her right before the Winter Ball? It was the event all girls in Hogwarts dreamed about all year – it was the biggest excitement of entering fourth year for those girls.
"I'm not going," he told her. There, he said it. It was out in the open. Let the chips fall where they may.
"What? You have to go, Scorpius. You're my boyfriend. Besides, I already have my dress."
Scorpius reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a massive headache coming on. He looked up at her standing above him while he sat at his usual corner table of the common room, and he shook his head.
"Look, Ava. These last few weeks have been great and all, but—"
"Are you breaking up with me?" she screeched. Scorpius winced as all of the occupants of the common room turned as one and looked over at them.
"Yeah, I guess I am," he murmured. And in that instant, he honestly felt bad. She looked thunderstruck as she stood there, mouth agape, arms hanging limply at her sides. The thought occurred to him to take it back, to stick it through and at least go to the Ball for her, but it was too late. Tears welled up in her eyes and her hands balled into fists, and Scorpius's heart sank.
"I hate you, Scorpius Malfoy," she spat. "I hope you fall off your broom and break your neck!" And on that lovely note, she turned her back on him and stormed away.
And as he sat there, staring after her in shock – after all, he may not have particularly enjoyed her company anymore, but he certainly wouldn't wish her bodily harm – Scorpius Malfoy came to a decision.
Relationships were not worth this. He hated having to plan his life around pleasing someone else. He hated the hassle of trying to balance one more thing on his already over-loaded plate. He certainly never wanted to feel that pain that he'd seen briefly flash through Ava Irkhart's eyes as he confirmed that he was breaking up with her. No, he wanted no part in all of that.
And so it was that thirteen-year-old Scorpius Malfoy vowed to never fall in love.
A/N: Whoa, an update? What's that? I did this instead of studying today. I was too tired to read a textbook, but I didn't want to go to bed at like 8:30, so I wrote. Hooray!
Sad, huh? Loveless Scorpius. But I got to thinking about what I wrote about him from Lily's perspective about his never dating or having relationships with girls, and this was the result.
Hope you enjoyed it. No promises on future updates any time soon. Usually I just write random snippets when they come to me, but I rarely seem to accumulate enough for a real chapter. Lucky I didn't want to study econ today.
Please review! :)