Scorpius stared dismaly out the window, at the windy day. The trees ruffled in the breeze and the lake was still, bracing itself and protecting it's inhabitants from the impending storm. Scorpius's Charms homework lay untouched on his lap, the spells a blur in his preoccupied mind. The fire cackled in the fireplace, illuminating the abandoned dormitory. The rest of the students were all milling about in the common room or dawdling in the library to complete their first-day's homework. However, Scorpius wasn't in his usual happy mood. The memory of his encounter with Rose haunted him.
"Hey mate," Albus said, interrupting Scorpius's thoughts. Looking up, Scorpius saw Albus make his way over to the window seat in which he sat. Scorpius smiled meekly in return. "Still upset?" Albus asked, flipping his shaggy red hair away from his brown and green eyes. Scorpius noidded and Albus sighed. "It's alright mate. If I were you, I'd just ask her out already! We're going to Hogsmeade on Sunday. Why not then?"
Scorpius slammed his feet down on the floor of the dormitory. "I'm not asking her because she'd say no!" he yelled.
Albus raised his hands in the air, mocking surrender. "Sorry but, I think she doesn. I mean, my dad and her parents are the bloody Goldren Trio and we spent practically all summer together," he began remorsefully and Scorpius felt a sharp pang of jealousy. "I think it's pretty obvious that she likes you."
Scorpius sat up straighter and with renewed energy. "Really, how do you know?" he asked and then scolded himself for breaking his cool. Albus laughed andn shrugged his shoulders mercilessly. Scorpius lunged at Albus who was headed for his bed.
Missing him, Scorpius sighed and headed for his own bed, stripping down to his knickers. Climbing into their beds, the boys stared at each other from across the room. Scorpius looked at him with a glare, trying to cover his pleading eyes. Albus wore his trademark smirk, enjoying having the upperhand in their endless competition.
"Would you just tell me already?" Scorpius cried, throwing a green silk pillow across the room.
Albus laughed again, causing Scorpius to cringe at the thought of how he was begging for his best friend and fiercest competitior to reveal information. "Fine, fine," he agreed. "Well, whenever she heard your name, her face would turn as bright as my hair! And boy, was her diary ever something!" he exclaimed.
"You read her diary?" Scorpius asked, scandalized.
Albus nodded. "All sorts of good stuff in there. Although, I never realized that you smealt of freshly cut grass or that your hair seemed to hold the sunshine in each strand," he teased and Scorpius flung another pillow across the room.
"Oh, shut up," Scorpius ordered. "I'm going to bed," he said and flopped down onto his bed. His neck felt stiff from the lack of pillows but he fell asleep with a hopeless grin plastered across his face.
"How are you feeling today" Jessica Sprout's deep voice pierced through Rose Weasley's dreams and her green hair tickled her freckled face. Rose opened her eyes slowly and shielded them quickly from the early morning sun.
"I'm fine," Rose replied groggily, sitting up in bed. Her bushy red hair tangled with her nightgown. She was still thinking of the last time she had spoken with Scorpius on the train. They had seen each other but hadn't spoken. Albus had bombarded her, blocking her path to thewashroom, threatening to hex her, and leaving countless notes on her bed. Even her younger cousin Lucy Weasley knew something was up and kept trying to make her fix things. However, she had refused to approach Scorpius. She wasn't even sure if someone should be apologizing. What for?
Jessica, one of the most oblivious people she knew, even suspected something. So when the questions came, Rose had pretended to be sick. So far, it had worked. She had been playing sick all week. "Do you want to go catch some breakfast?" Jessica asked eagerly. Rose could tell that she was relieved she didn't need to play all caring Hufflepuff much longer.
Rose took a deep breath. Part of her was screaming no, urging her to just ask Jessica to bring her something back. No doubt Scorpius would probably be there. But she knew she would have to face him sooner or later. Her Gryffindor blood encouraged her to agree. "Sure," she agreed and got out of bed. Her body felt sore from lyiung in bed from Saturday until now, also a Saturday. Looking towards her bedside table, Rose was reminded of the piles of homework she faced from the week of school she missed. "I guess I know how I'll be spending my weekend," she complained as she dressed and got ready for the day.
On her way down to the Ravenclaw common room, Rose ran into Lucy. "Hi Rose! Hi Jessica! You're just the person I wanted to see!" Lucy said, grabbing Rose's arm.
"Hi Lucy," replied rose kindly to her quiet cousin. Rose was used to Lucy looking up to her and she really didn't mind. She was especially fond of Lucy and tried her best to be a good role model for her. "What's up?"
"Well, today Christopher Abernaki's holding try-outs for Seeker on the Quidditch team. I've decided to go out for the team!" Lucy explained and Rose smiled encouragingly. Rose could tell from the games they played at family get-togethers that Lucy was a great Quidditch player. "Do you think that you would be able to come and watch? The try-outs are at 4:00 until dinnertime, after the Gryffindor try-outs."
Rose smiled. "Sure, I'll definitely be there!" Rose stated and a grin broke out over her cousin's nervous face. Rose embraced her and patted her back encouragingly. "You're going to do a great job Lucy!" she said and then she and Jessica continued to the Great Hall.
As they reached the big doors that led into the Great Hall, Rose placed on hand on the wall and took a deep breath, summoning her courage. Rose wasn't prepared to speak to Scorpius and didn't know how to explain her absence to him. Rose closed her eyes and pushed open the door, despite the screaming nerves that were telling her to run away. Stepping inside after a jab in the shoulder from Jessica, Rose opened her eyes and quickly examined each table. Scorpius wasn't there.
Scorpius splashed cold water into his face, which bit into his skin and stung his eyes. Peering into the mirror, Scorpius was disgusted with himself. "Blimey Scor," he scolded himself. "You can't even ask her how she's feeling?"
He had ducked into this bathroom while walking to the Great Hall. He had been about to approach Rose when he had chickened out. He had practiced what he was going to say a million times. "Hi Rose. How are you feeling?" he said to his reflection and bit his thumbnail.
"Who are you talking to?" a girl's annoying voice floated out to him, followed by a giggle. Scorpius turned around, startled and looked around for the source of the voice. A girl's ghost came floating out from the farthest stall. She wore a blue sweater and a long skirt, with her black hair in pigtails. "You know, I heard talking to yourself is one of the first signs of madness!" she said and quickly flew towards him, placing both transparent hands on his chest, flirting. "Not to worry. I don't mind mad boys."
"I'm not mad," he said defensively. "Myrtle, what would you do in my situation?" he asked, ducking out from her cold hands.
"And what's your situation?" she said, following him around the circle of sinks, giggling all the time.
Scorpius sat down on the floor, his head leaning against the porcelain sink. Moany Myrtle sat, or rather floated above a sink and peered down at him curiously. "Well, you see, I like this girl named Rose," he began and Moany Myrtle nodded encouragingly. "I was going to ask her to go to Hogsmeade with me but I sort of, well, I got scared. This has never happened to me before. I don't know what to do," he said.
Moany Myrtle floated away from the sink so she was in front of him. "Why don't you write a note and have a friend deliver it? That way, you can't back out," she proposed and Scorpius's eyes lit up at the idea. "Once I received a note from a boy named Oliver and I immediately fell in love with him. Only later did I find out it was a joke. Then I came in here to cry for three whole days. Visit soon, would you? It gets awfully lonely in here. Nobody likes me," she complained, pouting. Scorpius agreed half-heartedly and fled from the bathroom with a renewed hope.
The parchment lay on the table, illuminated by the fire that never went out. The quill was perched in Scorpius's hand but was unmoving. "Come on, you twit," he ordered himself. "Just write it the way you would say it in person."
He began writing, the sound of his quill scratching the parchment the only sound in the deserted Slytherin common room. "Dear Rose," he began. "I hope you would like to dine tomorrow in Hogsmeade?" he wrote but crumpled it up. "Too formal," he scolded and tossed it into the trash. He went through a hundred notes, writing differently each time. In French, Gaelic, like a muggle gangster, and even dabbled in poetry. Finally, he settled on a note. "Hi Rose! Would you like to go to the Hog's Head with me tomorrow? Let me know!" He had decided on the Hog's Head to offer a bit of privacy. He didn't want to be rejected in public. He signed his name and stood; eager to do what he needed to before he backed down. "Albus!"