Chapter 19- Pressure
Rose followed her friends out of the hall, heart pumping a little quicker and legs feeling a little wobblier than before. Once in the noisy entrance hall, she went to each of her friends in turn and wished them good luck, even managing to catch Hugo's eye and give him a hopeful thumbs up, ending with Scorpius who gave her hand an encouraging squeeze.
"Good luck," she told him quietly, "but not toomuch luck. I can't have you doing better than me, now, can I?"
The Great Hall looked far more daunting and scary with the four house tables gone, about eighty single tables in their place. She followed the line to her table, all too aware of the annoying clack noise her shoes were making, and was pleased to see her name scrawled on a piece of parchment on the front of the desk. She could just imagine herself sitting at the wrong desk, doing the wrong paper getting all the answers wrong and ultimately failing her NEWTs.
Deep breaths…
"You may begin." The huge hour-glass at the front of the hall was turned over. Rose hastily dipped her quill in the ink bottle and flew through the exam. Unsurprisingly, she was one of those annoying swots that ask for extra paper ten minutes in, much to the chagrin of those around her.
The rest of the week went by in much the same way. Rose was finding most of the exams alright, even the practicals (apart from one horrific incident involving the examiner's shoes and the giant dog she had somehow conjured. The task had been to turn a rat into a teacup).
She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she found the Muggle Studies NEWT the hardest. With everyone telling her it would be the easiest and her dumbly believing it, Rose had revised for it the least, opting to revise for more challenging subjects instead. She regretted this choice when she turned over the exam paper on Wednesday morning and thought she may have been given the Ancient Runes paper by accident. Luckily she remembered what popcorn was, so she was at least guaranteed a few marks.
"Well I am absolutely fed up of exams," Lizzie announced tiredly late on Friday afternoon. "Anyone wanna join me on a short refreshing walk around school?"
There was a general murmur of "no, thanks". Rose was sprawled on her bed with her potions notes spread out in front of her. Dom was sat in front of the mirror with a beauty magazine on hand, trying out differently shaped eyebrows.
Rose sighed and forced herself up; the look on Lizzie's face could've melted an iceberg.
"Yay!" she sang, and grabbed Rose's wrist to tow her out of the stuffy dormitory before she could have second thoughts.
"So glad these stupid-but-super-important exams are nearly done with," Lizzie said, rubbing at her eyes. "Too stressful."
"I know. I could sleep for a thousand days."
"Only that? I could sleep for a thousand years."
"That's impossible. You won't live for a thousand years," Rose deadpanned.
"Well, it's impossible to sleep for a thousand days!" Lizzie countered. "Unless you're that Muggle Sleeping Beauty which, sadly, you are not."
"Are you calling me ugly?"
Lizzie sniggered. "Yeah."
"You bint."
They turned the corner and were presented with the oh-so-pleasant view of Abigail Millington and Elie Martin flirting audaciously with some Hufflepuff boy, annoying giggles and all. Did they really have nothing better to do with their time? Rose reckoned the poor boy looked kind of bored and uncomfortable.
"So subtle, aren't they," she muttered and Lizzie made a face in agreement as they walked by.
"What was that, Weasley?" Elie sneered, not missing a bit, and turned to glare at Rose with a hand on her hip. Abigail quickly followed suit.
"Just discussing with your sister here how you two are simply oozing with self-respect."
Elie sneered at them but Abigail looked plain confused, no doubt trying to work out whether she was kidding or not. "You're just jealous!" she eventually snapped, joining Elie in shooting her a menacing glare.
"Oh, totally. Who wouldn't want to be you?" Rose said, and Abigail raised her chin proudly and stood a little taller. Rose rolled her eyes.
"What happened to your anti-Hufflepuffs rules of dating, Ellie?" Lizzie chipped in. "I seem to recall you even made some kind of scrapbook about it. Or have you just become really desperate now?"
The boy looked a little bit annoyed and confused but Rose was proud of Lizzie for standing up to her sister, not to mention impressed.
Elie smiled cruelly. "Don't pretend you know me, Lizzie."
Lizzie and Rose rolled their eyes.
"I've always dated the Puffs," Elie continued. Lizzie raised her eyebrows at the 'endearing' usage of 'Puffs'. "You're just trying to stir up trouble, like the conniving little brat you've always been and always will be. Don't listen to her, Henry."
Rose struggled to keep in a laugh at the hypocrisy of it all.
"What, you mean that one time in fourth year when you dating Ricky Goodman for less than 24 hours before you were sober enough to realise he was a Hufflepuff?"
"He has a similar slightly better looking brother in Gryffindor, alright?" Elie grumbled at her sister.
The Hufflepuff named Henry was on the other side of the corridor before she got to finish her sentence. Elie noticed and went after him, yelling "wait up, Hen!" with Abigail hot on her heels.
Rose nudged Lizzie in the side with her elbow. "Good one! I'm proud of you. It can be hard to stand up to your family sometimes."
"Thanks," Lizzie grinned back a little bashfully. "I usually wouldn't condone such immature behaviour, of course, but y'know… I think she deserved it. Not to mention I'm so tired right now, I can't think straight."
"She's always deserved it," Rose muttered just as Abigail and Elie stormed back towards them, Abigail looking like someone stole her hairbrush and Elie looking fit for murder.
"Aw, he's not interested?" Rose pouted. "What a shame."
"We were just having some fun, Weasley. You should try it sometime."
They just stood there, having little glaring battles with each other once more, and Rose was rapidly growing bored of the whole situation.
Suddenly Elie chirped, "You must know exactly how we feel, all unwanted, what with Malfoy being with Scarlett and all."
She spoke innocently, as if she meant no harm by her words, and that made it all the more dangerous.
"Old news, Elie. They broke up a long while ago," said Lizzie. She seemed to be gaining more confidence in participating in arguments.
"Oh, you haven't heard? They've been seen together a lot recently – I've seen them myself, looking all cosy by the fire in the common room –"
She paused at Rose's confused expression and bit her lip. "Oh, that's right, you like Malfoy don't you? Woopsie, I guess I forgot."
She shared a satisfied look with Abigail.
"One- that's none of your business. And two- I don't believe you. Why should I?"
Elie shrugged complacently. "Fine. Don't take my word for it then. You'll see for yourself soon enough anyways."
A niggling part of Rose's brain was screaming insecure thoughts like 'would Scorpius do that? Again? After everything he's said?' Then she realised this was Elieshe was speaking to, and the Niggler quickly shut up.
Elie linked arms with Abigail and waved a sarcastic goodbye at them.
"Where's Poppy, anyway?" Rose called, unable to resist getting the last word in. "Has she realised you're not worth the effort, too?"
They were met with the lovely view of two middle fingers before the owners of said fingers turned a corner out of sight.
Stupid Slytherins.
Rose was hearing voices in her head.
It was creeping her out big time. She had a flashback to when she was little and her mother was warning her that "hearing voices isn't a good thing, Rosie" and her father clarifying that "it means you're going coo-coo and must spend the rest of your days at St Mungo's".
Yep. She was heading straight for the loony bin.
"I'm so sorry," sobbed a familiar voice.
"You don't deserve this, Scarlett," said an even more familiar one.
Scorpius and Scarlett.
Having a non-hostile conversation together. With him comforting her.
On the plus side, Rose wasn't going mad after all.
She peaked through a gap in the stone wall and saw a snippet of the courtyard, with Scorpius and Scarlett on the bench directly in front of her, Scarlett snotting all over an uncomfortable-looking Scorpius' shoulder.
What's going on?
Rose wasn't sure whether she should leave and pretend she was never there, or ask him about it later, or just ask him about it right then and there… but she trusted him. He would never dream of doing anything as stupid as getting back with Scarlett. Would he? It sure wasn't helping her get over what Elie had said, though.
Gaining as much composure as she could, Rose entered the nearest archway into the courtyard and came to a halt in front of the bench occupied by her least favourite ex-couple.
Scorpius looked up at her, shocked. Scarlett didn't even bat an eyelid.
"What's up?" She looked at them both with curiosity. Perhaps she didn't want to know the answer…
"None of your business," Scarlett snapped.
"It's… it's private, Rose," Scorpius finally said.
Those words felt like a punch to the gut.
He must have seen the hurt in Rose's eyes because he added, "but we're all done here, aren't we, Scarlett?"
Without waiting for a response he jumped up next to Rose and tugged on her wrist. She could hear Scarlett bursting into a fresh wave of tears as they left.
"Thanks for saving me," he muttered weakly.
"What was that all about?" asked Rose. "I thought she hated your guts and 'never wants to see you again for the rest of my life, so stay away from me or else'. Oh, and something about ruing the day."
"Yeah, I know," he replied. "I s'pose she just really needed someone."
"Someone to what?" she asked, exasperated. She knew she was prying but felt she had a right to do so.
"I would tell you," he sighed, "but then I'm betting Scarlett would shoot you. Plus, it's… kinda confidential."
"Confidential?" she repeated, raising one eyebrow. "You're sounding like a Healer already."
He laughed loudly. "Anyway, enough about her. Do you want to go play Gobstones in the Slytherin common room? They're having some kind of tournament going on. I was watching it when Scarlett, er, said she wanted to speak to me."
Stuck in a darkened, chilly room with a load of Slytherins, just to watch (and possibly participate) in some stupid game, all whilst she should be revising for her potions exam the next day?
"Sounds good," she grinned up at him before leading the way to the dungeons.
She'd never lost a game of Gobstones in her life.
She lost the Gobstones match and left the Slytherin dungeons in humiliation, drenched in a putrid green liquid.
"Hard luck, Rose," Scorpius had said while he walked her up to her common room, patting her arm, although she couldn't miss the playful glint in his eyes. "Everyone loses a match every now and again, don't be hard on yourself."
His smile faltered slightly at her steely glare.
Worrying about the potions exam kept her up most of Sunday night, resulting with Rose waking up late and being in a bad mood the following day. She stumbled down to breakfast with Dom and Lizzie staggering after her. The first thing her gloomy gaze fell on was the Slytherin table, which riled her up even more; with her hands planted sassily on her hips, she marched over to where two particular Slytherins were seated adjacently.
"Good morning," she said, as icily as she could manage. (It was a bit too early in the morning for too much emotion.)
"Oh, hi, Rose," Scorpius greeted cheerfully.
Scarlett's eyebrows furrowed. She took the piece of professional-looking parchment from Scorpius's hands and got up from the bench. "I guess I'll speak to you later, then. Good luck with your exam."
Her voice was a monotone and her movements were lethargic, almost stoical. Entirely un-Scarlett-like.
"What's up with her?" Rose whispered as Scarlett shuffled away.
"She's not feeling very well," Scorpius replied quietly, anxiously watching her retreating figure.
"I see… so her not feeling well has made her forget all her grievances and suddenly have an insane desire to dine with you instead?"
"I don't know, I think she's fallen out with her friends or something. I suppose she's a bit desperate, so now she's resorted back to me. Anyhow, sit!" he suddenly said with a grin, gesturing for her to take Scarlett's vacated seat.
"You shouldn't let her do that!" she barked as she reluctantly sat down.
His grin slipped right off his face. "She needs someone right now."
"But her ex-boyfriend?" Rose said, scathing. "I really don't think you're the right person for the job, Scorp. Last time you spoke to her she said she hated you, and suddenly you're her new confidant? Something's not right there."
Scorpius sighed jadedly and rubbed at his eyes. "Can you just trust me this once, Rose? Please?"
She pouted and looked down at her nails moodily. "Alright. I don't see why you still don't trust me, though."
"I do trust you. It's just not my place to say. And thanks," he smiled softly. "So, are you ready for this potions exam?" he asked as he piled some eggs onto his plate.
"No," she mumbled, heart sinking at the mention of 'potions'. "I. Hate. Potions. I really, really do. What possessed me to take it for NEWT?"
"Your desire to obtain a respectable, well-paid job after Hogwarts, perhaps?" he supplied. "Don't worry about it. You've revised loads – you're gonna do great."
"Fifth and seventh year students taking an examination this morning assemble in the entrance hall at once, please."
"Kill me now," Rose murmured, dropping her head onto Scorpius's shoulder in despair.
Despite the theory part of the potions exam being an absolute killer, Rose found herself smiling during the practice exam where she had to create a cauldron of Amortentia which they'd done in class barely a month before. She happily greeted the calming scent of woodsy, books-y, apple pie-y goodness.
Still, she was kicking herself afterwards for messing up her answer to the Golpalott's Third Law question and neglecting to mention one of the side effects of Felix Felicis.
But any thoughts about such petty things as exams vanished from her mind as she passed the courtyard and saw Scarlett and Scorpius there once again (was that their not-so-secret meet up place or something?)
Scarlett was hugging him, looking extremely comfortable,Rose noted. She leaned back to look him in the eyes and whispered, 'thank you' in the most sugary, emotional, pathetic voice Rose had ever heard. And then her face seemed to lean towards his.
Her heart plunged to her feet as her stomach spun itself into a frenzied knot.
"Again? Really?" Rose hissed, leaning back against the cool stone wall with her arms crossed.
Scorpius pulled away from Scarlett and snapped his head to look at Rose, surprised. "No, no, it's – she was just hugging me, Rose –"
"I don't know what to do anymore, Scorpius. I'm sick of this," she interrupted, shaking her head sadly. "I'm sick of being second best and getting messed around with. Just tell me if you're with Scarlett, for the love of Merlin, and I'll be fine with it. Really. I just need to know where I stand with you."
"Rose, nothing is going on –"
"Stop," she cried. "Please don't lie. I'm not stupid."
"Just let me explain!" he said desperately, stepping towards her.
"I don't have the energy for this anymore. This is just the icing on the worst day known to man. I've had enough."
"Erm, Scorpius," Scarlett cut in," I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but is this really a good time –"
Holding back the tears stinging at her eyes, Rose whirled around and sped away, ignoring the calls of her name and evading the footsteps attempting to follow her.
A/N: How'd you like it? What NEWT grade would you give this chapter? :P Please review if you get the chance! I know I took too long to update (again, but hey, at least it's less than a month) but I was having a bit of trouble with this chapter. The next one, though, is already written. :D
Disclaimer: I used chapter 31 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (entitled 'OWLs') to help me write the exam bit :)