A/N: Midterms, midterms, midterms...got a couple more next week and then I'll be back on track! ...Hopefully.
I feel like this story's coming to an end - I give it at least...hmm...2-3 more chapters? Guess we'll have to wait and see...
PS: chewing-gum-addicted, of course you can have James. I don't own him, sadly, but I'd really love to. Haha.
--
Some Things Never Change
"Oh my," Hermione had a hand over her breast; the other was clutching Rose's letter. Ginny looked up from her cup of tea.
"Still gawking over it, are you?" Ginny laughed; Hermione moved to sit across from her sister-in-law and flattened the parchment on the table. Ginny reached for the letter and scanned it thoroughly for the third time that evening:
Dear Mum,
NEWTs are almost here and I think I'm prepared for it (though perhaps a little more studying won't hurt), but unfortunately I'm not writing to you to complain about exams.
I've sort of been hiding something from you and the rest of the family for a few months now, and when I tell you what it is you'll understand why I've been so secretive about it.
You see, Scorpius Malfoy and I have been together for a few months now, and when I mean together I'm referring to the terms of boyfriend and girlfriend.
Ginny paused for a minute to laugh. "I absolutely love that line." She then bent her head over the letter and continued reading.
I hope that hasn't sent you into cardiac arrest - actually I'd be expecting that kind of reaction from Dad instead of you. Mostly everybody knows now (can you please tell Aunt Ginny for me? I don't want to leave her out of it) - I managed to tell Mandy, Jane, Roxanne, Dominique, Lisa and Lily, but unfortunately Lily's the only one who doesn't agree with it. Al went to explain the situation to Hugo and Randy, only to get punched in the face instead.
"Poor Albus," Hermione groaned, her face buried in her hands, "those boys are just like their father."
The only one who's oblivious to everything is - you've guessed it - Dad. I can't think of a reasonable way to approach him without having him unleash his wrath on Scorpius - I don't understand the co-existence between men and violence. Just the other day, when James found out, he performed Levicorpus on Scorpius and magically unfastened his pants! So immature.
Ginny stifled a giggle and Hermione could not help but chortle as well.
"Some things never change." Hermione sighed.
Scorpius has yet to tell his parents either, knowing that they - his father more specifically - will have just as a bad reaction as Dad's will. At this point I've run out of ideas. Please don't tell Dad about any of this; I want to explain myself - that is, if I can figure out a way to do it.
It's almost time for patrol, so I'm going to have to close this letter. I'll write to you again during exams. I'm so sorry for not telling you this earlier, but now I'm relieved that I finally got around to it. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love always,
Rose
"Ron will absolutely explode when he finds out about this." Ginny waved the letter in her hands; Hermione nodded slowly and reached for her cup of tea.
"I'm really getting tired of his prejudice. I've always had a hunch Scorpius wasn't as bad as Ron thought he was, and now I have proof."
"Scorpius can have a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead and a knack for kicking evil wizard's arses and Ron will still think he's the worst kid to have ever come to existence." Ginny agreed. Hermione pulled her fingers through her hair and rapped the table once with her wand; a quill, ink bottle and a roll of parchment conjured out of thin air. She scratched her chin with the end of her quill, thinking of a way to open her letter.
"You're not bothered by any of this, are you?" Ginny asked uncertainly; Hermione shook her head as she dipped her quill into the ink bottle.
"No, of course not - Rose would never go out with a boy with less than admirable qualities, and I trust her decisions. I'm just worried about how Ron will react...and Draco, too." Hermione frowned; she began to scribble her introduction on the piece of parchment. Icarus hooted softly in the background; he was sitting on the windowsill hovering over the sink. Ginny strode over to him and stroked his feathers.
"Hopefully there won't be any casualties." She smirked, and a hint of a smile tugged at Hermione's lips.
--
"This is harassment." Rose muttered in aggravation.
It was breakfast time in the Great Hall, and the owls had just arrived to deliver the morning mail. It had only been two days since Harry Potter's guest lecture (and the unfortunate James-Scorpius incident) and already her older cousin had written her a letter, demanding her to explain if Scorpius had done anything 'harmful'.
"He's teetering on the edge of sanity. Give him a break." Albus replied casually before shoving half a piece of toast into his mouth. Hugo rolled his eyes.
"I would've done the same." He said grumpily, and Rose glared at him.
"At least James has accepted it - that makes him just a little more sane than you." She muttered. Randy had learned to accept it after some time; he figured that a Quidditch player as good as Scorpius was worthy enough of dating his oldest sister. Hugo, however, tended to hold longer grudges. Lily was no different; she sat the furthest away from her family and friends, angrily picking at her oatmeal in silence. Jane had tried to talk some sense into her but she did not budge; Albus assured her that his sister just needed some time to sort things out.
"Hm, looks like Mum got back to me." Rose ripped open another envelope and unfurled the parchment; she read it quickly and smiled. "She seems to be okay with it too - and Aunt Ginny!"
"See, this isn't so bad." Albus grinned; Randy chuckled and popped an orange slice into his mouth.
"But she's saved the best for last, remember? She's yet to tackle Dad with this one."
The thought of explaining everything to her father made Rose's insides turn cold. "Don't remind me - I've been thinking about it so much lately, I haven't been concentrating on studying-"
"You've been studying for those exams ever since you found out you were bloody enrolled in this school, Rosie, so there's nothing to worry about. You're going to ace those tests like it was nothing." Albus cut in, and Rose sighed in defeat. She had been playing the 'I-have-to-study-for-NEWTs' card far too many times.
"Give her a break, Al - we all know that when our dad finds out there's going to be chaos, so Rose is trying to devise a way in which his wrath will be the least...painful." Jane scolded.
"He's going to go nuts when he finds out that he's the last one in the family to know." Randy added, which did not help much with Rose's swelling anxiety.
"I know...ugh," She shook her head and continued to pick at her food. "but I don't know how to tell him without having him go completely mad."
"I don't think there's any other way." Albus shrugged.
Rose sighed again and popped a small forkful of eggs into her mouth. "I can't put this off forever…"
--
It was a dull day in the Auror Department; James was slumping over his desk, his eyes struggling to stay open. The fringes of his wispy black hair swayed slightly as he moved to rest his head in his arms; he was beginning to think that his decision to become an Auror was a big mistake.
"All right there, James?" The young man swiveled around in his seat to face his favourite uncle.
"Just brilliant." James muttered miserably, rumpling his hair with his hands.
Ron chuckled and leaned against the side of James' desk. "I know you're reluctant to leave, but it's time for lunch. Your dad's waiting for us upstairs."
Happy to have an excuse to use his legs, James rose from his seat, shaking out the aches in his joints from being immobile for so long. He followed Ron and the floating paper airplanes towards the elevator, which was packed as usual.
"Oh, hey guys," James and Ron's heads turned to face Hermione, was was wedged in between a very tall and twig-like man and a very short, stout man, "heading out for lunch?"
"Yep," Ron beamed, "Harry's meeting us upstairs. care to join?"
"I'd love to, really, but I'm afraid I've got to stay in a little longer to file in a few things," Hermione nodded towards the stack of manilla folders in her arms, "but have fun!"
Hermione's floor arrived and she managed a small wave without dropping her folders before walking out with one or two people. When the twosome finally reached the top, they found that Harry was not standing too far away.
"Hey son," Harry moved to clap James on the back, "working hard?"
"You know it, Dad." James smirked; Ron laughed and led the way to a vacant fireplace.
"So where to?" The redhead asked, dipping his hand into a pot full of Floo Powder, "Any cravings yet to be fulfilled?"
"If you don't mind, can we stop by my place first? I forgot to grab some Muggle money this morning." Harry admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Ron shrugged and stepped into the fireplace.
"Meet you there, then." He shouted Harry's address and dropped the Floo Powder; in a whisk of green flames he was gone. James moved to grab his own fistful of Floo Powder but his father's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"You are not to say a-" James cut him off with a short laugh.
"I know, Dad - how many times do you have to tell me?" He shook his head, but Harry still looked unconvinced.
"Rose wants to tell him herself. We can't even drop hints." He pushed his son forward. "Go on, then."
James rolled his eyes and marched into the fireplace, Floo Powder spilling out from his fist. When he was gone, Harry sighed and went in to do the same.
--
Class was exceptionally difficult today for some reason.
They were not learning anything new, but it was hard to pay attention to what the professor was saying.
Wait, what class was this again?
Scorpius' eyes fumbled over his parchment; he squinted at the title he scrawled at the top - oh right, he was making notes. It was a study period, he remembered now...sort of. He took a quick look around the room and realized that he was in a small classroom; the sun shot warm sunlight through the windows, lying in golden pools on the stony floors. Besides the hushed conversation, it was very quiet. He looked to his left and right and found Porter and Holden sitting there. When he looked straight ahead, he found out that he was staring at another table just a few metres away.
Albus Potter, Thomas Finnigan, Lisa Longbottom, and Rose sat at that table, their heads bent over their rolls of parchment. It was kind of surprising to see Albus so concentrated, Scorpius mused, and he did not know that Finnigan was intelligent enough to actually write - he always looked like a dullard to him. He noticed that underneath the table, Lisa and Albus' fingers were laced together, and his heart leapt to his throat.
Then, his eyes found themselves on Rose.
The sun streaked her hair and illuminated her eyes; her brow was furrowed and she was frowning as she flipped through the pages of her thick textbook. Every now and then she would raise a small pale hand to brush a stray lock of bronze hair. Sometimes Albus would reach across the table to poke her in the arm, probably to ask her some kind of stupid question; Scorpius figured Albus' questions were stupid because one of Rose's eyebrows always arched upward whenever he was talking to her.
"Oi," Holden hissed, "Slughorn's looking this way."
Oh, right - he was supposed to be studying, or writing, or whatever.
The room seemed to be encased in a warm haze - Scorpius did not know if he was the only one who was feeling it or not, but he refrained from asking Holden or anybody else in case he was. He slid a hand through his hair and attempted again on focusing on the blank roll of parchment that was staring up at him, but it was no use.
His eyes glanced upward towards the table in front of him once more, and he noticed that Rose had already finished whatever she was doing; she rose from her seat with her notebook in hand and walked towards Slughorn, who was drifting over to Scorpius' table. The elderly man gave Rose a kind smile as she turned in her notebook.
"I'll be expecting nothing but the best from you on your exam next week, Miss Weasley." He heard Slughorn whisper; Rose flashed him a grin before waltzing out of the room.
The sight of her smile brought both a fluttering and a stabbing sensation to Scorpius' insides, and his fists clenched tight in reaction.
He vaguely remembered talking to her before this class started, and he remembered her telling him to meet her by the beech tree when he was finished. She wanted to spend some time with him, and though he wanted nothing more than to do just that, he dreaded it at the same time.
His mind flashed back to memories of James Potter, and he shook them away.
Her dad's the only one left, you know.
Don't forget his own dad.
Ohh, this is going to be entertaining - their reactions will definitely be the best.
An involuntary chill coursed up and down Scorpius' spine as he forced himself to open his textbook. He glanced at Holden's paper to get an idea of what exactly he was supposed to be writing about, and when he was certain he grasped at least the basics he flipped to a random page.
When they find out, what will happen to you?
Nothing, nothing - everything will be alright.
Her dad will go berserk. Your father will think you're possessed.
No. Everything will be alright.
What will happen to her? Her family?
Nothing. She is going to be fine.
You know your dad better than that. You know that he can whisk away jobs and ruin reputations with a snap of his fingers; you know he's capable of getting what he wants. Confound the fact that her uncle's the famous Harry Potter - he'll work around it; you know he will.
Scorpius had pressed on the parchment so hard with his quill that he had stabbed a hole through it. Holden was the only one that noticed and turned to give him a skeptical look; the blond shook his head and waved him off.
She is going to be fine.
It seemed like years before he finished whatever it was that he was supposed to finish; he rose on shaky legs and staggered over to Slughorn, passing him his paper. There were words coming out of the old man's mouth but they were hard to understand, like he was speaking in another language; Scorpius nodded dumbly and slapped on a grin before stumbling out of the room.
Everything will be alright.
--
The threesome had ultimately decided on seafood. They chose a quaint little restaurant somewhere in the heart of London, with a small patio for outdoor eating.
"Ugh, everything looks so good," Ron complained as he scoured the menu, "I want to order everything."
That was the first non-Rose-related thing he had said to Harry and James since they left the Potter house; Ron had been going on nonstop about how he was absolutely sure that his daughter was going to get perfect - or at least very close - on her NEWTs, and more importantly, a higher mark than Scorpius Malfoy.
"I'm not surprised if you did," Harry laughed, though it sounded a little nervous, "and I'd still be unsurprised if you finished everything too. You can best Grawp in an eating contest."
James joined in with a nervous little chortle of his own; Ron rolled his eyes and went on about how he did not have an appetite comparable to Grawp and Harry laughed along. The tension was relieved by just a fragment.
Then, of course, fate had to turn things back around.
Ron's eyes narrowed unexpectedly and he began muttering a string of insults under his breath; James and Harry exchanged looks of confusion. The younger Potter glanced over his shoulder to see who Ron was glaring at, and his chocolate brown orbs widened in shock.
Draco Malfoy and his wife Astoria - his bloody wife out of all people - had just emerged from the restaurant; they were following a waiter who was guiding them to their table, which just so happened to be three tables away from theirs, propped up by the wrought iron gate that guarded them from non-customers.
"Merlin's beard." James gasped; Draco noticed them and gave them a short nod. Harry waved back; Ron rolled his eyes and crossed his arms tightly against his chest, just in case his hand decided to give a rude gesture on its own.
"Nothing to worry about," Harry murmured out of the corner of his mouth, "it's not like we're talking behind his back or anything." James nodded, though at the same time his stomach was in the middle of doing an odd flip-flop.
"Merlin, I'm starving," Ron pressed his menu down on the table, "the sooner we get our food, the sooner we're out of here." He called for a waiter and ordered his food; Ron and James followed suit. When Ron was finished he stood up. "I'll be back; gotta use the loo." He sauntered into the restaurant; it was obvious that he was trying to ignore Draco and Astoria.
"Keep him distracted," Harry leaned over to his son to whisper in his ear, "now that Draco's here he probably won't stop talking about him."
"That's gonna be a little difficult, don't you think?" James asked uneasily.
"Yes, but it'd be best if we keep him off the subject of Draco for as long as we can - he's making me more nervous than I was when I fought Voldemort." Harry frowned, scratching his head.
"Alright, but I'm telling you, Dad - this is going to be hard." James muttered before taking a sip of his water.
--
The fresh air of the courtyard was not much of a help; the stabbing pain Scorpius felt in the core of his chest outgrew the fluttering feeling, and it felt as if he was having trouble breathing - or maybe it was just the lump in his throat. She was easy to spot even from where he was standing; the bronze hair was a dead giveaway.
"Impressive," Rose's musical voice sang to him once he was close enough, "I thought you'd be in there for longer." When Scorpius did not answer, she tilted her head to the side and examined the troubled look on his face. "Something the matter, Scorpius?"
"Huh?" He turned to face her, and it hurt how she looked so perfect right then and there. "No, 'course not."
"Whatever happened to the deceiving toerag I used to loathe with every fibre of my being? He executed his lies so perfectly - surely there has to be a bit of him still in there somewhere." Rose scooted closer to him and reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes. "Talk to me, Scorpius."
He wracked his brain for a believable excuse. "NEWTs. I have no idea what I'm doing, and my father expects me to do well."
"But you will do well," Rose said comfortingly, "he knows you're not stupid. I know you're not stupid." She leaned in slowly but he backed away, and she frowned. "Okay, NEWTs is definitely not the reason why you're upset."
"It is," He prompted, though from the corner of his eye it was clear to see that she was unconvinced, "I'm just stressed out, that's all. Haven't been getting enough sleep and all that." The last part was true, but he was not losing sleep because of exams.
"Well, you do look exhausted," Rose agreed, albeit reluctantly, "maybe you should just go take a nap."
Scorpius immediately sprang to his feet at her suggestion. "Yeah, you're right. I think I'll go do that." He began to walk at a pace that was quicker than normal, but then he felt Rose's hand on his elbow, tugging him back.
"We're talking about this later." It sounded more like a statement than an order. She let go of his arm slowly, and he continued on his way, not bothering to look back. Not even once.
--
"Your mother knows now," Harry said, "we were talking about it the other day."
"What's taking Uncle Ron so long?" James asked, checking his watch; it had been nearly eight minutes since he had left for the bathroom.
"He's probably looking at the lobster tank again," Harry sighed, "he always makes sure that the lobster they choose for his meal is the largest. Anyway, your mum didn't seem as surprised either - she actually kind of laughed when I mentioned it."
"How does she know?"
"Rose sent your Aunt Hermione a letter a few days ago explaining everything."
James smiled, knowing that if it were not for him that letter might have never been sent, or at least not for a very long time. "I guess everybody knew it was coming."
"Everyone except your Uncle Ron, that is." Harry rolled his eyes, "He's been so keen on keeping them apart that he indirectly brought them together - the lectures, the insults, everything - he seems to have absolutely no idea."
"I wonder how Rose is going to break it to him," James mused, "it would be something to watch, that's for sure. Hopefully he won't find out like Al did."
"How did he find out?" Harry's voice was curious now; James grinned, unable to contain himself.
"He walked in on them snogging in the prefects' common room - they were groping on the couch like their lives depended on it!"
"That must've been traumatizing," Harry mumbled as James snorted with laughter.
"Yeah - if Uncle Ron finds out that way he's going to go completely mad."
"That's the part I'm worried about - his reaction, I mean. Actually, it's just not just me but your mum, and your Aunt Hermione - the whole family!"
"The whole family?" James repeated, "You mean everybody knows except Uncle Ron?"
"Er, kind of." Harry admitted, "You can't really keep secrets from the Weasleys."
"As much as I hate to admit it, that's very, very true."Came a seething voice from behind; the Potters gulped loudly and slowly turned around in their seats to face a boiling Ron Weasley; his face nearly matched the colour of his hair and his fists were balled tight against his sides. He even seemed to be shaking with anger.
"Er, how long have you been standing there, exactly?" Harry's voice was broken and high-pitched; Ron forced on a smile and stepped closer to his best friend.
"Oh," He laughed a little maniacally; everybody on the patio was staring now, including the Malfoys, "not long - just long enough to hear you talking about how your son caught my daughter and that blasted boy snogging in the prefects' common room."
Harry knew Draco was listening, because he heard a chair scrape against the concrete from behind. "L-look, Ron, there's a bit to explain-"
Ron laughed even louder than last time. "Explain? What's there to bloody explain? Oh...I should just march straight into Hog-er, their school (Harry sighed in relief) and deal with this little problem myself…"
"Uncle Ron!" James cried, but he was ignored; Ron spun on his heel and marched straight out of the patio and onto the sidewalk. He forced the image of the school he had swore to avoid into his brain, picturing the towers and the hills and the stone walls; he did not care that there were stupid Muggles around...
Rose was better than this, he knew that - there had to be some kind of logical explanation. She would not let that boy touch her like that…
"Weasley." A cold drawl erupted from behind, shaking off Ron's thoughts. The redhead exhaled slowly and turned around; Draco was standing a few feet away on the edge of the patio with his hands in the pockets of his blazer, looking bored as always. Anger flared up inside and Ron stepped closer to the man who once bullied him, and stared him down in contempt.
"You!" He screeched; Draco's facial expression did not change, "If there's anyone else in this besides your son that I should condemn, it's you! Your whole effing family's to blame," He averted his blue eyes from Draco's grey ones for a second to glare at his wife, who was dumbstruck at her table, "feeding everything to your spoiled little brats with a silver spoon and throwing everything at their feet...making them think that they've got the whole bloody world at their fingertips…" He laughed and threw his hands up; Draco did not even blink, "after all we've been through, after what you've put my best friend through, after what my best friend had bloody done for you...do you just sit in your office all day, thinking up of ways to screw us over even further? Is that what you do? Hm? Answer me, you-"
"Ron, that's enough." Harry had stepped in between them, "Draco, I'm really sorry; Ron's just a little over his head today and-"
"There's no need to apologize," Draco raised his hand, shaking his head, "I fully understand what he's trying to say, and although I can think of at least fifteen ways to counter his points, I'll play smart and choose not to express them." The corner of his thin mouth turned upwards in that all-too-familiar smirk. "However, I fully side on Weasley's frustration, as I too have only discovered this unfortunate event just now, through the conversation you were having with your son. I'd like to apologize on behalf of my own son, but I feel that it's inadequate to do such."
He sounded a lot like Lucius now, Harry noticed. "So...what are you planning to do about it, then? If this is what Rose and Scorpius wish, you and Ron here don't have much of a say; they're adults now, they're entitled to do whatever they want."
"In most situations, yes," Ron said through gritted teeth, and Draco nodded in agreement.
"I will talk with Scorpius," The sleek blond said, "this will all be figured out in due time, without any casualties."
"If your boy did anything to hurt my daughter, there will be hell to pay, Malfoy," Ron grunted, "I have at least seven years worth of hell to give you…"
"Ron," Harry grabbed his friend's shoulders and guided him back to their table; he felt people's eyes on them and he made a mental note to Confund them later, "you better have a seat; your lobster's going to come soon." He shuffled back to Draco. "I'm warning you, Malfoy - don't force your son into anything he doesn't want to do. He's old enough to make his own decisions."
"I'll let myself decide how I'll raise my own children, thank you," Draco's hand shot out and Harry shook it firmly. "I'll be seeing you, Potter." He strode back to his table and sat quietly, as if nothing happened.
"You are insane, you know that?" Harry hissed as he sat down once again. He and James had just finished Confunding the surrounding Muggles and everybody was looking around in confusion.
Ron scoffed and shook his head; he seemed a little calmer now but the tips of his ears were still red. "I don't care what you say or think, Harry - I'm going to get to the bottom of this tonight." He then added in a much smaller voice, "So when you said that everybody knows, you mean everybody?"
"Even your mum." Harry muttered, and Ron almost exploded.
"You've got to be effing kidding me," He cried, and apologized quickly when he noticed that everybody was staring at him again, "you really know how to hurt a bloke, y'know?"
"Well, Rose has put off telling you for a very good reason, and we have just witnessed first hand as to why she did so." Harry groused; the waiter came around with their food and relief surged through him and his son; food would take things off of Ron's mind, if only for a little while.
"We have a lot to talk about after I'm finished here," Ron grumbled as he dove into his lobster, "a whole lot to talk about!"
--
He needed to avoid her.
As much as it hurt to hide things from her, he knew it was necessary. He just could not bring himself to tell her just what was running through his mind right now.
He strayed away from all the places she would usually visit during the day, like the library or the prefects' common room; he spent the rest of the afternoon holed up in his dorm, lying quietly on his bed and staring into space. Whenever Holden or someone else walked in he would pretend he was sleeping.
When dinner came around he was quiet; he picked at his food, avoiding the stares his sister and his friends were giving him as he wordlessly sipped his pumpkin juice. He tried listening to some of the conversation that buzzed around him, but he gave up halfway; all he could think about was her.
He resisted the urge to glance over at the Gryffindor table on the other side of the Great Hall, and he forced himself to stay away from the library after he finished eating because he knew that she always went there after dinner. He could almost smell the stench of the dungeons as he made his way down the hall…
"Scorpius," He spun around, and the look she was giving him was enough to break his heart. Her voice sounded so strained. He was quiet as she stepped closer to him, and she was moving so slow it was almost dreamlike. When he did not say anything, she continued in that strained tone of hers, "what's wrong? Please tell me what's wrong." She leaned forward into him and he felt her thin arms around around his torso, but he refrained from speaking. She looked up and attempted to brush the hair out of his eyes, but he wriggled away from her grasp.
"No," He said, and it killed him, "we can't."
She straightened up, horrified. "W-what? What do you mean?"
"You were right," He said, his voice growing a little stronger now, "we can't hide this forever. We can't...we've got so much working against us. T-this isn't going to last."
"Everybody's okay with it, Scorpius - nobody's saying anything about it-"
"That's because your dad hasn't found us out yet!" He said, his voice growing louder with every word, "And my dad! Think about what can happen when they find out - think about what can happen to you! Your family!"
"You're thinking too much," She sounded like she was pleading, "nothing's going to happen to me, it's not like we're-"
"My father is capable of a lot of things, Rose." He growled, and the animosity in his tone frightened her; he could see it in the way she was shuddering under his gaze. "You were right from the very start - this is wrong."
If only there was some way he could tell her that he was trying to protect her.
If only there was some way he could tell her that he was just afraid.
She was laughing - not the kind of laugh where she had just heard a funny joke, but the kind of laugh where she was not believing what she was hearing. "So what now, then? What are you going to do?" There were tears in her eyes but her cheeks were dry. He was so empty.
He shrugged and turned the other way. "I don't know." He was walking now, and he tried his best to concentrate on nothing but that. Right, left, right, left. "Please leave me alone."
He heard her voice from behind but he had already drowned it out - right, left, right, left. He continued on like this until he reached his house's common room; thank Merlin it was empty.
The cool air of the dungeons wafted in his face as he made his way up to his dormitory; again, it was empty. Merlin must be working in his favour tonight.
Or maybe not.
A small black envelope with his name emblazoned in silver ink sat on top of his ruffled bed sheets; as he tore the letter open he realized that there was only two sentences written on the piece of parchment.
In exactly ten minutes I will be in the foyer to bring you home. You are explaining everything to me.
This should have scared him, but he did not feel anything.
He was so empty.