Chapter Five

Treacle Tart

The library seemed to be where Rose and Scorpius spent their time out of lessons. Now that November had now become December, it was too cold outside to even contemplate sitting down on a bench and, while the others all spent their time in the common rooms, Rose and Scorpius were content with the library. Common rooms had been ruled out through their being in separate houses, a fact that had been troubling Rose recently.

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah?" He finished writing his sentence before fixing his cool gaze on hers.

"You're in Slytherin."

"Yeah?" He repeated.

"Why?"

Scorpius dipped an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'why'?"

"Why did the Hat put you in Slytherin? You don't seem the type." Rose wrinkled her nose. "I mean, you don't beat anyone up..." Malfoy laughed.

"You don't have to beat people up to be a Slytherin, Rose!" He sniggered. Rose smiled.

"Then how did you get in? I'm interested."

"You really want to know?"

"YES!" Rose exclaimed.

Scorpius smiled at her exasperation before shrugging.

"I asked the Hat to put me there." He turned back to his essay. Rose however, remained frozen, staring at the top of his head as he wrote.

"What?" She asked, eventually.

"I asked the Hat to put me there."

"Why?" Rose exclaimed. Scorpius smiled.

"Obligation. Every single member of the Malfoy family tree has been a Slytherin, ever since the school was founded. It's tradition."

"It's horrible."

"And you're a lot better, I suppose?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, suddenly defensive.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but every Weasley has been in Gryffindor. Isn't it the same?"

"No!"

"How?"

Rose spluttered for a minute. "But Slytherins are horrible! No offense..."

"None taken." Scorpius smiled knowingly.

"You're weird." Rose said, conclusively.

"So are you. That's why we're friends."

"Probably."

They both turned back to their work, smiling secret smiles. As Rose leafed through her diary, an envelope fell out in her lap.

"I forgot!" She exclaimed. "I got a letter from home this morning!"

Malfoy smiled and turned back to his essay, although Rose still felt his eyes flicker over to her as she opened the letter from her mother.

Rosie,

That owl you sent gave us both quite a fright! It woke us up in the middle of the night. He's also tried to murder Ernie a couple of times. Where did you get him from?

"Well, they liked Herb." Rose muttered. Scorpius sniggered from the other end of the table.

Of course your friend can come up for Christmas! The more the merrier! You'll have to warn him though; Grandma Weasley will no doubt pounce on him the moment he arrives and try to stuff as many turkey stuffing sandwiches as possible down his throat.

"Mum's invited you up for Christmas," She said, looking over to where Scorpius was watching her. Granted, that wasn't exactly the context; Rose had asked first, but it sounded more tactful this way. Scorpius stared at her.

"Christmas?"

"Yeah." Rose stalled. "It's ok, though...if you have other plans..."

"No!" Scorpius said hurriedly. "I'd love to. It's just...I've never been asked before." He smiled shyly. "I'll have to ask my dad."

"So you'll consider it, then?"

"Yes."

"Good." They smiled at each other a moment longer. Rose dragged her eyes away from Malfoy's and turned back to the letter.

Hugo seems to be getting better. You wouldn't mind keeping an eye on him for me would you, love? I don't want him to be on his own.

Rose groaned.

"What is it?" Malfoy said, looking up from his essay.

"Mum wants me to babysit my little brother."

"Oh." He smiled sympathetically before turning back to his work.

Only a few weeks left until Christmas! I thought I might get Dad the new Chudley Cannon annual. It's signed so it's quite expensive. We could all chip in though – that would make it easier.

Love you,

Mum x

Rose smiled and set the letter back on the table.

"I miss her." She said, still smiling sadly at the parchment.

"You'll see her at Christmas."

"Yeah..." Rose smiled. "...I will."

"Remind me again what happened to her." Hermione Weasley said, in between mouthfuls of curry. Ron and Hermione Weasley and Harry and Ginny Potter were all seated around the dining table in twelve Grimauld place, tucking into some of Kreacher's chicken curry. They often did this, the four of them. During term time, their houses would often seem hollow and empty without the chaos of the five children.

Harry and Ron had just finished telling their wives about the Malfoy jewellery box and the strange message inside.

"Who?" Harry asked. "Astoria Malfoy?" Hermione nodded.

"I had heard she died but I can't remember how..."

Harry swallowed. "It was Dean that was handling the case. I remember him telling me about it. The Malfoys got a lot of bad press..." He took a swig of wine from his goblet before setting it back down on the table. "There's a lake at the back of the Malfoy estate..."

Ron shuddered. He remembered it well.

"The son, Scorpius, had been swimming. Despite it being summer, the water was still freezing and he was only going to do a length, but that was time enough...he hit his head on something and ended up being knocked unconscious. Anyway, Astoria, having seen her son go under, dived into the water almost straight away. She didn't have her wand on her and so she was unprotected against the temperature. She was in there for some minutes, searching for her son. By the time Malfoy arrived on the scene, she'd found Scorpius and was lugging him back towards the shore."

"What happened?" Ginny asked. She, Ron and Hermione had all stopped eating.

"They both got out of the water. Scorpius was fine; he came round later and, because he'd had time to charm himself before he went swimming, he was otherwise ok."

"But she wasn't..." Hermione murmured.

"No." Harry said. "It later became clear that the lake was teeming with Funglefi ..."

"...a highly toxic water plant." Hermione finished. "It's deadly without adequate protection."

"She was poisoned and, coupled with hypothermia, she didn't have long left..."

"How awful..." Ginny said.

"She spent her final days in what must have been terrible pain. She died a few days after the accident." They were silent for a moment.

Suddenly Kreacher burst through the kitchen door.

"How was the curry, Master?" He asked, his squeaky voice breaking the miserable silence. "For dessert, I've made your favourite: treacle tart!"

It might have been the curry, but none of them really felt like pudding.

The next few weeks seemed to pass in a blur. This was something new to Rose, and she realised it was because she was enjoying herself. The holidays always passed quickly, but term time had always seemed to drag. Now however, she found herself laughing and smiling almost constantly, and it was all because of Scorpius.

There was no doubt: Scorpius had changed her life. He was one of the only people who hadn't tried to hurt her in some way. In fact, he'd made her life worth living. Their friendship had made Rose feel good again, and she had no way to repay him for it.

It made her feel slightly helpless, the sort of blind worship she privately regarded Scorpius with. Of course, she'd never admit it to him. She wouldn't be able to face that kind of rejection. Instead, she'd have to be content with friendship, the strictly friends relationship he seemed to desire. Although there had been that time in the library...

"First years this way!" Hagrid's bellow cut through Rose's thoughts. A group of first years all scurried after Hagrid, their luggage creating tracks in the snow.

It was the last day of term. Students were filing out towards the carriages that would take them towards Hogsmede. She'd already written home to say that Malfoy would be coming home with her and she'd informed her mother of the Potions Competition Grundelwort wanted her to apply to. She'd already filled out the form and had sent it off. Now all she had to do was wait.

Scorpius held her hand as she climbed up into a carriage, before jumping up, athletically, himself. Rose stared out across the snowy grounds in order to disguise her blush.

They were fairly quiet on the journey to Hogsmede. Rose couldn't help noticing that Scorpius kept twisting his hands, a trait he tended to do when he was nervous. Without thinking, she reached out and captured his fidgeting hands in hers, smiling shyly when he looked up at her, his cheeks pink from the cold.

"Don't be nervous." She said and, feeling herself turning red again, turned back to the view, keeping her hand locked on his. She couldn't help noticing he didn't move it, and there it remained for the rest of the carriage journey.

The station was packed and it was after a great deal of swearing that Rose and Scorpius found themselves a compartment near the back of the train. Scorpius loaded both trunks up onto the luggage rack while Rose pretended to be reading a book, instead peering at him from behind the pages with interest. They settled down and Malfoy was just about to get out his exploding snap cards when the door was thrown open.

"I couldn't find you anywhere, Rosie!" Albus said, striding in and sprawling over the opposite seat. "It was almost like you didn't want to be found...SHE'S IN HERE EVERYONE!"

"What're you-" Rose began but was cut off by the arrival of James and his latest girlfriend.

"All right, Ro?" He asked, as the girl currently hanging off him got lured into conversation by Albus. James nodded to Malfoy. "You must be Scorpius!" He grinned as they shook hands.

"I am." Malfoy smiled back, bemused.

"I've heard a lot about you!" James winked before sitting down on the seat opposite, the girl perched on his lap.

"ROSIE!" Lily had arrived in the doorway of the compartment, surrounded by a posse of her girlfriends, all of whom seemed to be pointing and waving at James, much to the annoyance of the girl now sharing a seat with him. "You never told me he was so CUTE!" Lily exclaimed. Scorpius blushed a deep crimson as Lily skipped across the floor. "I'm Lily." She said, beaming. "I'm also single."

"Oi!" Albus barked. "That's enough from you!"

"Shut up!" Lily pouted. "I can flirt with whoever I like."

"Which sounds like most of the boys in the school." James piped up.

"You're one to talk!" Lily retorted. One of her friends let out a girlish giggle. "So it's alright for boys to flirt but not girls, is that it?"

"Just...reign yourself in a bit Lily..." Albus said wearily, picking up Rose's discarded book. "Besides...I think Rose would have a thing or two to say about you going out with Mr Malfoy here..." All eyes turned to Rose.

"I...er...we..." Rose spluttered, aware her face was redder than it had ever been in her life. She was saved by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Albus yelled. Hugo, looking slightly dishevelled, stumbled into the compartment, pulling his luggage.

"Bloody hell." He said, taking in the amount of people crammed into the compartment. "What's going on here?"

Albus cheered.

"Hugo m'dear!" He got up and threw his arm around his cousin. "I'd like to present to the party..." he began, in a booming, dramatic voice. "...my dear cousin, Hugo!" James started to clap. Taking his lead, Lily's friends all followed suit, shooting coy looks at him.

"What was the point in that?" Hugo asked as everyone whooped.

"Dunno..." Albus admitted. "It's a free country...and it's CHRISTMAS!" As is on cue, everyone started whooping louder, only stopping when they ran out of air.

"Albus certainly knows how to work a crowd..." Scorpius muttered to Rose.

"Yeah..." Rose agreed. "...even if he is the most irritating person to walk this Earth." She looked at Malfoy, gauging his reaction. "We can go somewhere quieter if you like..."

"No..." Scorpius said and he leant back across the upholstery. "I like it."

Rose smiled too and watched Lily bash James over the head with one of the cushions. Exactly what his crime was, she didn't know, but it was fun to see the punishment being delivered. After a while, Scorpius and Albus became involved in a murderous game of exploding snap and, by the sounds of the cuss phrases they were using to describe each other, they were getting on well. Rose was glad; she'd been worried how Malfoy would react to her family, whether he would be bowled over by their loudness. He seemed in his element, smiling and laughing with Albus. She smiled too, elated by how well everything was going.

"Hiya." The voice was feminine. Rose turned to find James' girlfriend hovering in front of the empty seat next to Rose. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"No. Not at all..." Rose shifted over a bit so that there was room for the girl.

"I'm Hannah." The girl said. She was very pretty, with light, feathery blonde hair falling to her shoulders and a splattering of freckles covering her nose. Her cheeks were warm and rosy, her complexion pale and creamy. Rose suddenly felt a bit messy.

"I'm Rose." She said, smiling as she frantically ran a hand through her tangled hair.

"I know!" Hannah smiled sweetly. "They've been yelling your name a lot. Doesn't it ever bother you?"

"Nah..." Rose shrugged. "You get used to it after a lifetime..." Hannah laughed.

"I suppose you must do. I don't have any cousins...or brothers or sisters...I'm on my own a lot."

"Oh..." Unsure how to react to this, Rose just nodded. "I see...well, I am at school. Me and Malfoy stick together but we don't go round in a big gang or anything..." Aware she was talking rubbish, Rose decided to move back onto familiar territory. "How long have you and James..." she gestured towards them both.

"Oh..." Hannah thought for a moment. "Since last Tuesday."

"Last Tuesday?" Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Not very long, huh?" Hannah smiled. "Christmas will be our fist sort of thing together."

"Oh!" Rose smirked. "Good luck there!" Hannah frowned slightly. "Oh no!" Rose said, hastily retracting her steps. "I'm sure you'll be great together. It's just, our relatives are all batty."

"Ah!" Hannah laughed. "I see..."

James soon arrived, pulling Hannah away from Rose on the pretence that they were going to visit some friends in another compartment. Rose watched as they left, suddenly feeling a slight pressure on her right hand. She turned to see Malfoy's hand resting on hers. He was looking at her seriously, as if waiting for her to pull away. Instead, she looped her own fingers through his, smiling shyly. Malfoy suddenly grinned and turned back to Albus, although kept his fingers intertwined with Rose's.

She felt her heart elate. She was happy. Very happy. And she was going home.

A/N – Thanks for sticking with this story! Sorry about the long update; I've been busy failing GCSEs.

I'm not sure about this last bit. I've just re-read it and it sounds a bit corny to me; they seems to do a lot of hand holding and smiling shyly, don't you think? Don't worry about sparing my feelings – feel free to flame if you see fit.

I'd like to thank all my reviewers, including sparklyshimmer2010, pretty-pink-paper, Avanell, faith123, SequesteredAnthem, xOut-For-A-Walk-BITCHx (great username by the way!), Tenshi Ookami, snowvet and my friend-in-real-life, Chazza. Your words of encouragement are great and mean a lot...my god, I am on a corniness ROLL!

Thanks for reading, reviews are great.

Ellen