Chapter Four

Scorpius had agreed to meet Rose just outside her dorm, which he was now regretting immensely. For one thing, it increased the likelihood of getting in serious trouble if he was caught (never bloody mind about the Cloak, I could still get caught, and if I did…), but for another, the castle was bitterly cold, and he had forgotten a sweater. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and comfortable jeans, comfortable yet close-fitting—optimal for sneaking about at night. But not optimal for keeping out the cold.

He knew that once he turned the corner, he would see the Fat Lady in all her face-masked (he'd heard rumors) and bathrobed glory. He heard her snores now, vibrating through his already shivering body. God damn it, how do these Gryffindors sleep?

He walked over to the portrait, careful to keep his footfalls quiet against the stone floor. He sighed, leaning against the wall. After about five minutes, the portrait swung open, red hair shining dully in the moonlight flooding from the window on the other end of the hall. Rose Weasley stepped carefully out of the Gryffindor common room, shutting the portrait quietly behind her. She began to walk towards the hallway Scorpius had come from, frowning.

Not knowing what else to do—he couldn't call out to her, could he? —Scorpius quickly came up behind Rose and thrust the cloak over her, shoving his hand over her mouth to stifle her surprised cry. She struggled in his grip but he bent to her ear and hissed, "Shh, shh, it's me! I didn't know what else to do! I'm sorry!"

She relaxed a bit, going still, and he took his hand away from her mouth. She turned to face him with an irate stare. "You could have used your brain, is what you could have done!"

Scorpius couldn't help rolling his eyes. "And how might you have done it, o clever detective, master of subterfuge?"

"I would've tugged your wrist first or something!"

"Mm-hmm. Because that's so much better." He sighed. "All right. So I saw Winston by the Ravenclaw dorms, as I said."

"Right. Forward march, then?"

"On three?"

She shook her head, but Scorpius thought he saw a restrained smile. "You are so irritating," she said, but in a way that made him amused instead of irritated as well. I'm in a good mood tonight. Weird. I should feel tense, shouldn't I? He shook his head slightly too. Rose started to walk, and he followed, careful to match his pace to hers.

"Umm—what are we going to do if she doesn't show? If no one shows?"

"Then," said Scorpius firmly, "we are going to feel rather stupid and like we are wasting our time." He thought a bit. "You brought the Marauder's Map, didn't you?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "You know about that?"

Scorpius snorted. "Albus. Best friend. Pranks. Yes?"

"Shut up. Anyway, I did, and as it happens, I've just realized how stupid we are."

"We?" Scorpius paused. "Why are we stupid?"

"Because we could have just checked whether Annabeth and whoever she was with are out and about, and where they are."

"Well?" Scorpius stopped. "Have a look at it, then."

Rose brought the folded Map out of her pocket and tapped it with her wand, murmuring, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"For once. Kind of." Scorpius quipped, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes as the ink revealing all of Hogwarts' nooks and crannies spread across the Map, but he thought he saw a smile hidden beneath her red curls. Progress, Scorpius thought a tad smugly.

Scorpius leaned over her shoulder, trying to get a look at the Map. There were a surprising amount of dots moving about the school. "Ooh boy. I wish it were still early enough for us to be doing rounds. We'd have a party," he murmured somewhat absently, trying to read the overlapping names.

"Mm." There was quiet as they scanned the parchment before them. "I don't see her on here," said Rose eventually.

"Could be she's in the Room of Requirement. Either that, or her buddies decided not to take her on this particular escapade. Assuming there is one."

"Oh! I meant to ask you, but I forgot—did you recognize anyone else's voice?"

"Shit," Scorpius breathed out, thinking. He had been so stunned at hearing Winston's voice saying such things as it had been saying that he hadn't really thought about the other voices. "I—shit. I can't really remember. I don't think I did."

"It's fine. You gave us the lead on Annabeth," Rose said, giving him a small smile. Suddenly, Scorpius knew exactly why Rose had gotten Ivers' attention, even though he was more into blond bimbos because his ego couldn't stand a girl being as smart or smarter than him (Pot calling the kettle black re the blond bimbos at least, said a part of him, but he tied it up and threw it in a corner, protesting loudly that he really had a thing for redheads).

"So what now?" he asked distractedly, wondering why the hell he was getting so flustered just because it was him, Rose Weasley and the Invisibility Cloak in an empty hallway…

His eyes widened. Oh no. Oh shit. No. Can't happen. I need sex and sleep. There is just no fucking way I can think about Rose Weasley that way. No.

But Rose was saying something, and he forced himself to look into her pale moonlit face and not at her lips moving as she talked. "…go for the groups, see if we can overhear anything else convenient."

"Oh, er…" Scorpius thought for a minute, realized what she must have said and that it was a pretty good idea, and replied, "Yeah. Two questions, though. How do we decide which group to eavesdrop on, and why are there so damn many people outside of their dorms at this hour?"

Rose answered almost before the second question was out of his mouth. "Quidditch."

"Oh. Right." The Quidditch season was starting next Friday with a Slytherin v. Hufflepuff game. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws couldn't afford not to use the planning time, however, which would explain why they were out, too. It had become a Hogwarts tradition to try to sabotage the other House in your House's first game of the season in the most overblown, chaotic, havoc-causing manner possible without getting caught. He and Albus had pulled it off back in Third Year, and had decided not to try to top themselves, although they usually took a walk under the Invisibility Cloak before the first four games to watch others' pathetic attempts.

Scorpius looked at the Map again. There seemed to be five groups of people, with a few outliers sneaking about various passageways. He frowned, noticing more Slytherins than anyone from any other House. They knew better than that. He and Albus were especially good at what they did, and Albus of course was the great Harry Potter's son, so if they got caught (which was unlikely) they probably wouldn't get in too much trouble unless they'd done something really bad. Well… Albus wouldn't get in trouble, and then he'd bail Scorpius out.

But that wasn't really true for other Slytherins. It hadn't, after all, been so long since the war, and people remembered about the Slytherins. Some English wizards who sent their children to Hogwarts even disowned them if they were Sorted into Slytherin.

He made himself to focus. Looking at the groups, he realized that they were mostly nearby their own Houses. Ivers was of course in the Ravenclaw group, and Albus looking out for the Slytherins despite his lack of the Cloak. There was no one by the Hufflepuff dorm, obviously. And then he saw the outlying group. And then he swore.

"Tell me that's not Greg Goyle over there."

Rose turned her eyes to where he was pointing and said in a neutral, questioning tone, "It is."

Scorpius groaned as quietly as he could. "God damn that little shit! We have to see what he's up to. Now."

Rose turned to look at him, eyebrows at her hairline.

Scorpius sighed, running a tired hand through his hair. "Look, Greg Goyle is mostly the one who carries on the tradition of Slytherins being assholes. Not that we're all pure and good or anything. But we're just—careful. That is, everyone except that bloody…" he sighed again. "Look, I can't talk about this now. And I wouldn't ask me again later unless you're prepared for a long, angry rant. Can we go get Greg in trouble now?"

Rose was looking at him oddly. "Um… sure." There was something odd in her eyes that Scorpius couldn't place. He was about to ask her what the deal was, but she looked down and started moving, and his energy was directed towards keeping up with her while attempting to make his steps as quiet as the carefully soft scuff of her sneakers against the stone floors. She was shorter than him, but still rather tall for a girl, and quick to boot. When they were about halfway towards Greg Goyle and his cronies, he gave up and put his hands on her shoulders.

She jumped about five feet in the air. "What are you doing?" she hissed angrily, brown eyes flashing as she turned to face him.

"Trying to keep up with you! Honestly, Rose, give me some credit! If I'd wanted to feel you up, I sure as hell would not do it while we're trying to spy on Greg Goyle!"

She turned a bit red, her voice again cutting through the quiet like a throwing knife, "You could've said something!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. What a time for her me-centric haphephobia to kick in! We have to catch Greg Goyle in the act, dammit! "Like what? My dear Miss Weasley, would you mind if I placed my unworthy hands on your shoulders so that I can keep up with your unnaturally quick feet?"

She answered this with an eyeroll of her own and a bit of a snarl as she continued, "Well, you could've just—"

"Mrs. Norris? Mrs. Norris!"

Horrified gazes met, and two teeth drew blood from two pairs of lips. They stepped closer together in hopes that the Cloak would cover them more completely, not daring even to breathe. Despite being old enough to be Methuselah's father and a Squib, Argus Filch still possessed supernatural hearing. Scorpius looked beyond Rose standing rigidly in front of him to see the old man's figure faintly delineated in the post-midnight gloom, his footsteps and cane striking the floor in a familiar clattering rhythm.

"Mrs. Norris! Has those nasty students stolen my sweetums again?"

Scorpius had to bite the inside of his cheek hard, shaking with pent-up laughter. Since Rose was standing so close, he could feel her caged giggles rattling her ribs, too. Her eyes were lit with amusement, previous anger forgotten as she mouthed, "Sweetums?"

He grinned, mouthing back, "Animal husbandry."

She made a face. "Thanks for the image."

They waited in silence until they were sure Filch was gone, checked that Goyle and company were still conducting their illicit business, and ran as fast as they could without making noise. Luckily, Goyle and his friends were still at it, and there was a convenient alcove nearby.

Scorpius was really, really hoping Goyle would say something like, "So who's our next innocent Mudblood victim?" but what he got was almost as good.

"…trick on Winston was pretty funny, yeah, but it was also juvenile. Our next act definitely should be something totally different."

"Trick? Juvenile? This doesn't make sense," said Rose quietly beside him, contemplative.

Scorpius was nowhere near as calm. He was livid. This was definitely conclusive proof that that bastard had done something! "Bullshit! Of course it makes sense! The son of a bitch Imperiused Winston and—" but Rose was pulling him back and hissing, "Shh, shh! Wait! We cannot do anything rash—come on, Malfoy, you're better than this—"

It was Goyle's curious, "Did you hear something?" that finally stopped Scorpius's thrashing. There were a few murmurs from the party, none of whom Scorpius recognized based on appearance or voice alone.

"All right. Anyway, I think we should do something really original." Goyle rubbed his hands together. Scorpius thought about putting his hands around Goyle's neck.

Apparently Rose could somehow sense his distraction, because she murmured in his ear, "Pay attention. See if you can recognize anyone. I've had no luck."

Scorpius took a calming breath and forced himself to listen.

"Well, what do you mean, original?"—Unfamiliar voice.

"Just—not stealing brooms, I guess,"—Unfamiliar voice, strange words.

"Stealing brooms?" he whispered to Rose.

"I'm thinking that this isn't what you thought." Was all she said in reply.

There was a bit of back and forth about what Goyle meant by original, and how everything had been done already. Scorpius was starting, he thought, to get it. This was no sinister meeting. This was a discussion about first-Quidditch-game sabotage. But then, what were Albus and the rest of them doing? Could it be that Goyle had somehow heard them and was making conversation about a more innocent topic on purpose? But how could he have let everyone else know that was what he was doing so fast?

The suspicion that this was about Quidditch was further confirmed when he realized that two of the voices he was hearing belonged to two First Years whose names he couldn't remember at the moment. His heart began to sink, but he was quickly distracted from this by the fact that he was dead tired, and if Goyle or one of his compatriots didn't say something incriminating or (god forbid) exonerating soon, he was going to nod off where he stood. Rose didn't seem too awake either, seeing as her head jerked every few minutes, straight where it had been tilted with sleep before. "Glad it's a Saturday tomorrow," Rose said.

Scorpius chuckled. "You're still paying attention, right?"

Finally the clincher came at about one-thirty. Scorpius was so tired that by this point he was grateful for it. One of the First Years whined, "Why aren't we with the big group, anyway?"

Goyle growled. "Because we are going to do something more drastic! The Hufflepuffs will never play Quidditch again, much less during our game Friday!"

There was a silence. "But… nothing that'll hurt them."

Goyle rolled his eyes. "No, duh. Malfoy would have my head."

Scorpius grinned, turning to Rose, and realized with mild shock that she was grinning back. "Poor widdle Greg Goyle. Doesn't wanna mess with big, scary Scorpius," she murmured.

Scorpius was unnaturally happy over the fact that she'd used his first name unintentionally. "Oh, I'm scary when I want to be," he said, leering at her.

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling again, and she said, "Let's just get back to our rooms and to sleep, hmm?"

Scorpius waited until they were out of earshot of Goyle and his group before asking, "How are we doing this? We've only got the one Cloak."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Can't I just drop you in front of the dorm when no one's looking?"

"Ah. Well, if you want to do things the easy way." She laughed.

In no time at all, they stood in front of the Slytherin dorms, Scorpius leaning against the wall next to the portrait, Rose with the Invisibility Cloak over her arm. The darkness of the dungeons didn't lessen the glow of Rose's face in the dark, only seeming to diffuse it, making a sort of halo. Scorpius knew he was probably tired and that this was Rose Weasley and therefore these thoughts were patently ridiculous, but he couldn't help thinking that she looked ethereal and beautiful, and that he didn't want to forget her looking at him in the faint light of the dungeons.

"So what will we do next?"

Rose thought a minute. "Same time tomorrow?"

Scorpius moaned. "I have to sleep sometime!"

"And what if they do something while you're sleeping?"

He sighed. "All right. But none of this on schooldays, or at least not this late."

"Agreed."

The portrait door slowly swung open, and they started, rushing to get the Invisibility Cloak over themselves, until they saw green eyes and messy black hair. Albus laughed. "You know it doesn't go on that way, right?"

Scorpius stepped out from under the Cloak, grinning, and walked over to give his best friend a shove. "Git."

"Oh, shush. I am, after all, the git making sure you get back to the dorm okay at one-thirty in the morning."

"True." Scorpius started to climb inside the common room, then turned back. He smiled at Rose. "Goodnight, Rose. See you tomorrow night."

"See you." Her gaze turned to Albus, and Scorpius noticed how her face opened up, how she looked at her cousin with such shining, loving eyes. "And you—I'll deal with you later."

Albus snorted, returning his cousin's gaze with equal filial affection. "Catch me if you can."

"I will. You'd better not have planned anything really terrible for the Hufflepuffs."

"I don't see why you care, but you know I only watch these days anyway."

She smiled. "Sure. Good night, Al. Sleep well."

He smiled back. "You too. And don't mess with our sleep cycles too often, yeah?"

She smirked mischievously and disappeared. They heard light footsteps echoing into the perpetual night of the dungeons.

Albus was looking at Scorpius, studying him. Then he asked, "Scorpius, what do you think of my cousin?"

Scorpius knew what Albus wanted him to say, what he ought to say, what he wanted to say, and what he really didn't want to say. He was too tired for any of these, so he said, "I think her circadian rhythms are off," and started towards the dorms, his friend behind him shaking his head.