Out of All People
"Can you believe we're almost graduating? Only one month left!" Albus exclaimed as he and Rose made their way to the Great Hall one morning.
"Al, you can't forget that before graduation we have a little something called NEWTs. Those exams can determine our futures!" Rose countered as they pushed the large doors open. They were a little earlier than usual today, so the tables were still pretty vacant. Automatically Rose's eyes flitted over to the Slytherin table to check if Scorpius was up early - he was not. Her face fell in disappointment and Albus shook with laughter.
"It's not like he's disappeared completely," Albus smirked as he sat down beside her; he immediately reached for a plate of toast. Rose swiped at his arm playfully before pouring herself a glass of orange juice, "and NEWTs so do not determine everything. There's more to life than academics, y'know."
"I know that, but NEWTs are still very important. Have you started studying yet?"
Albus snorted. "Rosie, we still have one month left."
"That doesn't mean anything! You have to start studying today!" Rose lectured, and Albus groaned.
"But today's Saturday...and it's really nice outside-"
"Then we'll study outside." Rose gave him a sickly sweet smile and he groaned again.
"But I promised your brothers that I'd play a bit of Quidditch with them this afternoon-" He whined. Rose rolled her eyes. Boys.
"Okay, okay - we'll study for a few hours, and then we'll go for lunch and then you can play."
Albus' eyes widened in horror. "A few hours? How the bloody hell can you survive that long?"
"I have discipline." Rose replied indignantly. They continued to eat their breakfast for the next ten minutes, arguing about last assignments and exams; every now and then Rose sneaked a glance over at the Slytherin table but Scorpius never showed up, and she was beginning to grow a little worried.
"It's Saturday, Rosie - normal people sleep in on the weekends." Albus said when he caught her staring at the Slytherin table for the seventeenth time in the last five minutes.
"Then why aren't you sleeping in?" She smirked, and Albus' cheeks tinged a faint pink, caught off guard.
"Okay, you got me there, but really, you shouldn't be worrying. What could possibly go wrong?" They left the Great Hall together and made their way onto the grounds, towards their beech tree by the lake.
"I dunno, but I just can't help but worry." Rose frowned as they settled themselves into the soft grass. The sun was still high and the sky was a clear blue, mottled by only a few white puffy clouds. Albus chuckled and leaned back against the tree trunk, placing his hands behind his head.
"He'll be out lookin' for you soon, don't worry." He muttered before closing his eyes. The warm weather was irresistible and the hazy breeze lulled him to sleep, but just when he fell completely unconscious Rose smacked his arm and he toppled onto the grass. Albus readjusted his glasses and gave his favourite cousin a pointed glare. Rose rolled her eyes.
"I know it's nice out but you really need to start studying. You'll be glad I pushed you into this; I'd rather have you not panicking a day before exams start."
"Okay, okay - fire away with the questions, then." Albus muttered, and Rose smirked triumphantly. She flipped through a few pages, looking for something to quiz him on, but she kept watch for Scorpius from the corner of her eye.
--
"Malfoy!"
Scorpius bolted straight up from bed, his slate grey eyes flashing with shock. He quickly looked around the room, searching for the person who called his name. Holden Zabini was standing by the doorway, looking aghast. Scorpius groaned and flopped back into lying position, pressing a pillow on top of his head.
"What do you want?" He muttered, his voice muffled beneath the pillow. Holden huffed in frustration and strode over to Scorpius' bed. He grabbed on the ends of the covers and yanked them off; Scorpius yelped in surprise.
"Bloody hell Zabini; it's too cold and early for this!" He complained as he rubbed at his arms and calves. Holden rolled his eyes.
"It's nearly twenty degrees outside and it's eleven o'clock in the morning," Holden explained; Scorpius shrugged indifferently, "and Tatia's throwing a fit."
The Head Boy laughed bitterly. "What do I bloody care? She's already traumatized me enough as it is!"
"She's throwing a fit because of you, mate." Holden said gravely. Scorpius sat up very slowly and gave his friend a confused look.
"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything to her recently…" His pulse was racing and his blood was boiling; he felt the heat rise to his neck and face and he was sure Holden was able to see.
"It's an odd story really-" Holden tossed Scorpius' sheets back on the bed; Scorpius unconsciously wrapped the warm blankets around him as if to protect himself, "-a couple of days ago, around late morning, she was walking to her next class when she saw you and Rose Weasley sitting by the lake, under that old tree."
Scorpius scoffed and made a face, hoping Holden was convinced that it was nothing. "We were studying for NEWTs and rearranging the next prefect meeting. She's jumping to conclusions." He gulped loudly, trying to force the lump down his throat. He used to be so good at lying too…
"Oh, studying for NEWTs, you say?" Holden made a face that Scorpius could not read, "So when she saw you two snogging like your lives depended on it, you were really studying for NEWTs?"
Scorpius knew this was coming; he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think of something to say, but was interrupted by Holden's rancorous laugh.
What will he think of me now?
"I really should've seen this coming." Holden threw his hands up in defeat and Scorpius cursed under his breath, "You've been forced to pair up in every assignment we've ever had since we came to this school, your parents have set you up against each other since the days you were born, and now you're both Heads. How much more star-crossed could this possibly get?"
"I never knew you read Muggle literature." Scorpius mumbled pathetically.
"It helps to broaden the horizon, Malfoy." Holden hissed; he wrapped one arm around a bedpost and pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand, "Can you please enlighten me with the truth?"
"Alright, alright," Scorpius grumbled; he leapt out of bed and mussed up his hair, "but can I at least wash up first?"
Holden waved him off dismissively and Scorpius raced to the bathrooms to do what he needed to do, not forgetting to grab some clothes along the way. He came back dressed in loose faded jeans, trainers and a white t-shirt, looking rather refreshed and not as groggy as he did ten minutes earlier (but his hair was still a despairing mess). He moved to sit on the edge of his bed; Holden was glaring at him impatiently.
"You kind of had it at the whole star-crossed thing I guess," Scorpius admitted sheepishly, "the fact that our parents kind of set everything up invoked most of it. You always go for the forbidden fruit."
"Or at least the forbidden Gryffindor girl, in this case." Holden smirked; Scorpius exhaled in relief when he noticed the change in his friend's mood, "Now that I think about it, the attraction's sort of always been there."
The Slytherin Quidditch captain's cheeks flushed a deep scarlet. "What do you mean?"
"Oh come on Malfoy - I'd probably the the first of hundreds of people that share this opinion. All of those stupid arguments couldn't be for nothing. The way you two fought, even when we were younger, it's kind of...different. You argue with more energy, more passion than if you had a row with anybody else."
"Nice to know you've been keeping a close eye on me, Zabini." Scorpius smirked teasingly, and Holden rolled his eyes.
"I was referring to the both of you, idiot." A loud wailing noise erupted from the common room and the two friends twitched in response; Holden clamped his eyes shut and shook his head, "Oh Merlin, she's here. She was complaining all morning in the Great Hall; people must've gotten tired of her."
The two friends waited in a strangled silence as they listened to the noises coming from downstairs; Tatia's voice sounded musical even when she was hopping mad and on the verge of tears. They heard a number of footsteps climbing the stairs and Scorpius swore his heart stopped, but when the door to the girls' dormitory closed he and Holden heaved a sigh of relief.
"This is your chance, Malfoy." Holden began pushing Scorpius towards the door, "Go and warn Rose before all hell breaks loose."
"You have no idea what that girl is capable of," Scorpius groaned, "her wrath is ten times worse than hell - a million times worse than Voldemort coming back for revenge-"
"Shut up and get out already!" Holden hissed as he wrenched the door open. He pushed Scorpius outside. The blond straightened his shirt for a moment and turned around to face his friend, his expression shy.
"So does this mean you don't care that Rose and I...y'know?"
"Times have changed, Malfoy." Holden gave his friend a reassuring smirk, "Now get your arse out of here before Tatia hears you!"
"Thanks mate," Scorpius managed to say before Holden shut the door in his face. He spun on his heel and leaped down the stairs two steps at a time, landing on the floor with a soft thud. He raced out of the common room and navigated through the dungeons. He stepped into the main foyer, smiling when he felt the warmth of the sun reach his face.
Now if I were a bossy, know-it-all, self-righteous Gryffindor Head Girl, where would I be?
--
"In order to interact with a Hippogriff without getting injured, what must you do first?" Rose stared at her cousin promptly, who was yawning and adjusting his glasses.
"Um…" Albus' attention strayed away from their studies for a brief moment, only to notice a tall blond running for his life in their direction, "Scorpius Malfoy?" He was squinting behind his glasses to make sure he was accurate.
"What kind of answer is that?" Rose cried out, but when she turned in the direction Albus was staring towards, she noticed a hysterical looking Scorpius Malfoy approaching them. He stopped running just a few feet away, bending over and resting his hands on his knees. He was huffing heavily; Rose and Albus exchanged looks of suspicion and confusion.
"What is it?" Rose asked patiently. Scorpius looked up; his face was flushed from running so hard and his shoulders were heaving up and down with his strained breaths.
"I-I need...to speak with y-you…" He wheezed; Rose figured that being a Quidditch captain he would be in top shape. She glanced over at Albus, who shrugged indifferently, but she shook her head and returned her attention to the panting Slytherin.
"Whatever it is you need to say, you can say to the both of us." She said, and it caught both boys by surprise. Albus placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright Rosie," He said, but she shook her head again and smiled sadly.
"I've left you out of too much, Al, and it wasn't right for me to do such a thing. We're best friends - cousins - and I should know by now that I wouldn't be able to hide anything from you anyways."
He smiled back and nodded, then turned to face Scorpius, who was now sitting on the grass, but still looked rather exhausted.
"Honestly Scorpius, I thought you were in grand shape." Rose raised a questionable eyebrow; Scorpius waved her off dismissively.
"She knows." He said gravely. Rose only looked more confused and Albus shrugged his shoulders again.
"Who?" They asked at the same time, and Scorpius rolled his eyes.
"What other she would I be referring to? Think!"
Rose's eyes automatically drifted upwards as she sifted through her thoughts; Albus made a face and stared at the grass. A minute later, their eyes reverted back to Scorpius.
"Tatia Schultz!" They whispered simultaneously; Scorpius nodded and crossed his arms. Rose gasped and placed her hands over her mouth while Albus nodded slowly and stared off into the distance.
"This is bad." Rose concluded; the blond nodded in agreement and scooted closer to her so they could hear each other properly.
"Holden Zabini told me she's been complaining all morning; she saw us a couple of days ago, right here-" He gestured towards the beech tree, "-doing...er, studying for NEWTs."
Albus made a face. "Please don't get into any details."
"She's been in the Great Hall talking about it, but now she's back in the common room." Scorpius explained; Rose's face and ears were a very deep shade of red, "Zabini told me to warn you."
"It's a good thing you did." She whispered tonelessly; her face was blank now, "Everybody knows now - everyone was probably having breakfast in the Great Hall at the same time Tatia was acting out. Everyone knows."
"I reckon it won't be as bad as you think; Zabini was perfectly fine with it, and Potter here seems okay with it too."
"You forgot to add the fact that I wanted to practically gouge my own eyes out at first." Albus interjected miserably, and Scorpius chuckled.
"But you're alright with it now, aren't you? So why shouldn't the rest of your family be?"
"You don't understand, Scorpius," Rose's eyes were brimmed with tears, "our parents - well, my dad in particular - have been talking rubbish about your family for practically forever. I don't remember him saying one good thing about Draco Malfoy, or Lucius, even-"
"He didn't even add that we Malfoys are known for our deceiving wit and charm? Shame-"
"Scorpius!"
"Sorry."
"We've all been prejudiced from the start; just because we've gotten over first impressions doesn't mean everybody else will."
"Well if they don't then they only have themselves to blame," Scorpius was absently ripping out blades of glass by the handful, "if you're thick enough to accept only what people tell you instead of actually seeing it for yourself, then it's your fault for being so narrow minded."
"That was the smartest thing I've ever heard you say, Malfoy." Albus was gaping at him; Scorpius grinned in reply. Rose shook her head and rubbed her face on her sleeve to dry her eyes.
"I don't know - there's just so many...too many against us. I don't know how this is going to work-"
"People are probably wondering right now: 'why are Rose Weasley and Albus Potter sitting with Scorpius Malfoy under that beech tree, chatting it up like old friends?' You can't really go through life without being stared at, Rose - sooner or later somebody's going to notice that something's out of place." He reached for her hand and noticed how cold it was, despite the warm weather; Albus gulped uncomfortably and backed up against the beech tree to give them space, "The question is whether or not you have the strength to stand up and admit that you're not perfect."
"But to one person, you can be." She whispered, and smiled through her tears. Scorpius smirked and took her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing at the skin just underneath her eyelids to wipe the tears away.
"Because there will always be that one person who's thick enough to believe so." He was about to lean in towards her when a loud coughing noise erupted from the beech tree.
"Oi, d'you mind?" Rose and Scorpius had almost completely forgotten that Albus was with them, and they broke out into fits of laughter.
"Sorry," Rose apologized quickly the moment she recomposed herself; she looked upwards through the beech tree's canopy and noticed that the sun was almost directly above their heads, "what do you suppose we do about Tatia - and even worse, our own families?"
"Let me worry about Tatia; you two should handle your neighbourhood of a family." Scorpius stood up and brushed the loose grass off of his jeans; he held out a hand towards Rose and he pulled her up swiftly. Albus gathered his and Rose's books and stuffed them into their respectable schoolbags.
"I'm supposed to play a bit of Quidditch with Hugo and Randy soon...maybe I can talk to them." He handed Rose her bag and she thanked him, "I guess I'll have to talk with Lisa too…"
"I won't have trouble talking to the Goyle brothers, since they're just a couple of blockheads anyway; Maybe Parkinson might prove to be a bit of a struggle, but I doubt it." Scorpius grinned. Albus laughed, and Rose smiled, happy that the both of them have struck a chord with each other.
"I have a bit of time before my game with your brothers, Rosie, so why don't we go for a bit of lunch? All three of us?" Albus suggested, and Scorpius shrugged.
"I am getting a little hungry." He admitted. Rose smiled and began to walk down the small hill towards the school, the sun shining scarlet into her soft curls.
"Sounds good to me!" She laughed; Scorpius and Albus exchanged amused looks.
"Who do you think will have the biggest reaction, aside from Tatia?" Albus asked. Scorpius furrowed his eyebrows as he thought of an answer.
"Hm...I think I'd have to say Hugo, her giant of a brother." Albus chuckled and shook his head.
"Good one, but I think I'd have to go with my brother, James. He'll go completely mad."
"What do you say we make a small wager then?" Scorpius smirked, "Five Knuts for whoever proves their person will be more nutters."
"I like the sound of that," Albus brought his hand out and Scorpius shook it firmly, "may the best man win, mate."