OK, firstly, I'M SORRY. Secondly...I'M SORRY!
Chapter Eight
Holidays Always Bring Bad News
"We're done!" Albus exclaimed, throwing his papers into the air and watching them float gracefully to the ground. "EXAMS ARE OVER! PARTY TIME!"
"Mr. Potter, may I remind you that we are still in the Great Hall -" began Flitwick, but he didn't continue, beaming at Albus who was doing a little jig. Albus seized Jessica, spinning her around in a circle before dragging her into his own form of the tango.
"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" everyone chanted. Jessica was blushing furiously. "KISS HER, ALBUS!"
"Shall I?" he called to the cheering students.
Jessica cried out, "Albus -!"
He silenced her by firmly kissing her full on the mouth. The boys whistled as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Rose snorted with laughter, wrapping her arms around Scorpius's middle, shoulders shaking.
"Shall I kiss you, Rose?" he teased.
"Get a room!" Tony Caldwell called as Scorpius leaned down to kiss her tenderly. Rose pulled away, laughing along with Scorpius.
Flitwick was muttering about "hormones" as he left the Great Hall with his arms full of their exam papers.
Everyone emptied out into the grounds, laughing and joking and teasing each other.
"I bet I failed!"
"Oh no! That means I did too! I was copying off of you!"
"What? I was copying off of Greg!"
"Really? I was copying off of Sandy!"
Scorpius and Rose rolled their eyes at each other, smiling. They settled down by the edge of the lake with Jessica and Albus, who were teasing each other.
"You kissed me!" she squealed, poking him in the ribs.
"Yeah, and you enjoyed it."
She blushed with pleasure. "So did you."
"Immensely," he muttered, closing the gap between them.
Rose leaned in between them before their lips met, getting a kiss on each cheek from the two of them.
"Rose!" Albus complained, though he was grinning as he leaned away. Jessica was giggling.
Scorpius laughed and seized Rose around the waist, pulling her to his side.
"Can you believe the year's already over?" Rose asked, diverting Albus and Jessica's attention from each other.
"I know! Next year we'll be the top dogs!"
Rose laughed. "That's one way to put it. No doubt you and Albus will be heads."
"No way," said Jessica. "You're way smarter than me."
Rose put a mock disgusted look on her face. "No way am I sharing quarters with Albus Potter! The horror!"
Jessica giggled and leaned over to kiss Albus on the cheek. "He's not that bad."
"Thanks, Jess!" he said, beaming.
Rose smiled fondly at them.
"It's about time you two got together!" came James's voice as he joined them under the tree. "Make sure you keep him in line, Jess."
"I'll have no problem with that. If he even dared to put one toe out of line, I would commence humiliating public spankings!"
"You wouldn't!" Albus cried in mock horror.
"Oh, I would!"
Rose smirked at them and then turned to James. "When's the Graduation Ceremony?"
"Sometime this weekend," he said shrugging.
"Who's your date gonna be?" she teased.
James blushed and didn't answer.
"Well?" Albus pressed, nudging him in the chest.
"No one in particular."
"James! Tell us!" said Rose, looking annoyed.
"You don't know her. . . ." he said evasively.
"James, I know everybody."
James cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well . . . um . . . she's, uh –"
"What year is she in?" Rose asked.
"Sixth."
"House?"
"Gryffindor."
The boys watched in amusement as Jessica and Rose put their heads together and began whispering about their dorm mates.
"Is it . . . Alicia Thomas?" asked Jessica.
"No."
Rose and Jessica nodded at each other as they came to a conclusion.
"Victoria Clearwater?"
"Victoria Clearwater," James confirmed in defeat.
"Congratulations, James!" said Rose. "She's really nice. I like her!"
James blushed. "We've . . . uh . . . sort of been dating . . . ."
"What? For how long?" Rose asked, surprised. "We haven't noticed anything!"
"It's sort of been . . . uh . . . under the radar."
"Why the secrecy?" Albus asked.
James shrugged. "We like no one knowing. You better not telling any one!" he said, glaring at each of them in turn.
"We won't," said Rose, smirking.
"You better not!"
Shaking her head, Rose stood up and held out her hand for Scorpius.
"Where are we going?" he asked her before taking it.
"I want to be alone with my wolf man," she said bluntly, ignoring her cousins and Jessica's smirks. Scorpius grinned.
"Your wolf man, huh? Who's the cheesy one now, Rose Weasley?"
"Oh, shut up, Scorpius Malfoy," she said laughing.
. . .
"I'm gonna miss you," Rose said glumly, threading her fingers through his as she pouted. They were walking from the Astronomy Tower, where they frequently retreated to when they wanted alone time away from the prying eyes, and were now on the way to dinner.
"We can always write to each other," he said, smiling at her.
She sighed. "It won't be the same!"
"I know," he said gently. "It shouldn't be as hard as it's undoubtedly going to be. We've gone without each other for almost six years, and we can't even last two lousy months?"
Rose giggled hesitantly. "I guess not." She playfully nudged him. "We're a sorry sight."
"I wouldn't say that!" said Scorpius, laughing as he put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him as he kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "Our relationship is just . . . unhealthy."
"Unusual," added Rose, smiling.
"Un . . . unwarranted."
She raised an eyebrow and he grinned sheepishly. He tried again. "Unnatural."
"Unbelievable."
"Uncouth," he shot back playfully.
"Unbecoming."
"Unreasonable," said Scorpius.
"Unreal!" exclaimed Rose, giggling.
"But our love is unconditional," said Scorpius serenely.
She smiled sweetly. "You got me there."
Scorpius was on a roll. "Unfavorable . . . by Albus."
She smiled. He continued. "Unwanted . . . by your father."
Rose threw her head back and laughed. "Yes, I do believe it just might be his heart's most unwanted desire . . . for his daughter anyway!"
"Rose," said Scorpius gently, "remember when it use to be our heart's most unwanted desire?"
"Yes," said Rose, sighing as she remembered the old days. She frowned. "It all seems odd and pointless now. I can't imagine how I went all those years hating you!"
"Me neither," he said grinning. "I was such a stupid boy."
"And I was such a blind girl."
They were still laughing when they entered the Great Hall and took their seats next to Albus and Jessica. Lily waved at Rose from where she was sitting with Cody Boggus. She looked further down the table at her brother Hugo, who was sitting with Lorcan and Lysander Scamander. Nearby was Louis, Molly, Dominique, Lucy, Roxanne and Fred. James was sitting next to Victoria Clearwater, sharing not-so-secret smiles with her.
Rose smiled, feeling at home around all the people she loved so much.
She glanced at Scorpius, who was pushing his food around his plate, his eyes distant. She had noticed how far away he had been for the past couple of weeks. He had been there, physically, but she knew he was thinking about other things that were bothering him.
Even if they had spent every minute of their time together for the two months since Scorpius was attacked, Rose was still bothered that he didn't divulge any information on his parents or his personal life. She didn't ask. How was she suppose to? Something was bothering him, and if he wanted to tell her, he would. She wasn't going to push him. Thought naturally she was still itching to know why his mother had been chucked into Azkaban for MURDER.
"Patronuses," Scorpius suddenly said, startling her out of her thoughts.
She creased her eyebrows. "What?"
"Can you cast a patronus?"
"Yes. Why?" she asked curiously.
"We can communicate through our Patronuses over the summer."
"Oh," she said in a small voice. She smiled slightly. "That's a good idea."
Scorpius nodded, a grin on his face. "I can continue to recite poetry to you."
Albus heard him and snorted into his pudding. Jessica slapped him on the arm. "I think it's romantic, Albus! Keep up like this and I'll make you recite poetry to me!"
Albus grimaced. "Sorry, Jess. I thought you preferred morning cuddles."
Jessica blushed, but her tone was cool when she said, "How would you know?"
He grinned slyly. "I always thought you were one who displayed affection physically -"
"Albus!"
"I'm not complaining! I just never realized what a passionate woman you are. I was nervous when you confiscated my wand and locked us in the broom cupboard."
Rose and Scorpius roared with laughter as Jessica blushed a deeper red.
"Fine, then, Albus Potter. Since you clearly enjoy joking about our relationship, perhaps I won't bother to show you exactly how I feel next time!"
Albus looked horrified as she turned her back on him, folding her arms tightly across her chest, but winking at Rose and Scorpius. "I'm sorry, Jess! Take me back! What do I need to do? Beg? Declare my undying loyalty to you?"
"Humph!"
Rose rolled her eyes at them, smiling. She leaned over and kissed Scorpius on the cheek, causing him to look at her and smile.
"What was that for?" he teased.
She shrugged, blushing. "Just because."
He smiled, but then went back to gazing at his food, that far off expression in his eyes. She figured he wanted to be left alone to his thoughts, so she leaned across the table to speak with Alice Thomas, who was occasionally sneaking glances at her best friend and James.
"What do you think of them?" Rose asked, nodding in the direction in which Alice had currently been looking.
Alice shrugged. "I'm a little peeved she didn't tell me of all people, but I guess I understand. What about you, Rose? You have it worse than James, dating Scorpius and everything."
"It's worth it," said Rose, shrugging as she glanced at her unresponsive boyfriend. "It's getting him to talk to me that's the problem," she said, teasingly. He smiled, but didn't look at her.
"Boys are annoying that way. Never ones to show emotion or reveal what they're thinking. If only we were born with telepathy," said Alice, grinning.
"That would make life easier."
"Killer headache though."
Rose and Alice lapsed into giggles.
"What's so funny?" Albus asked, attempting to hold an uncooperative Jessica's hand. She snatched it out of his grip.
"I'm still mad at you, Albus Potter!"
"Do I have to beg?" he asked incredulously. "Do I have to endure public humiliation?"
"Yes," said Jessica bluntly.
"Fine!"
Everyone stared as he left his seat and got on one knee before her. Raising his voice for everyone to hear, his voice echoed around the hall, "Jessica Aselin Poe, will you be my girlfriend?"
Jessica blushed as everyone laughed, but Albus raised his eyebrows at her, waiting for her answer.
"Of course I will be, you dolt! Now get up off the floor!"
Grinning in triumphant he slid into the seat next to her again, kissing her on the cheek. "Excellent, excellent."
"Why don't you ever do that for me?" Rose asked Scorpius, nudging him playfully.
He raised his eyebrows. "Did you want me to?"
She only grinned mischievously. "I have something in mind."
"What?" he asked, looking worried now.
"Oh, nothing," she said, turning from him and nonchalantly eating her meal. "That got his attention," she muttered to Jessica, who grinned.
"Tell me, Rose!" he said, looking anxious. "I refuse to do anything public, nude or . . . or on a table top–!"
"Calm down, Mr. Malfoy. You don't set down the rules here anyway. You'll do what I say!"
"Rose!" he complained. "The suspense is killing me!"
"Suck it up, Scorp," she said, grinning at her dinner.
He got a horrified expression. "It better not include your father!"
Rose's smile turned shark-ish. "It wasn't before, but now it is!"
Laughing, she jumped up and ran from the hall.
"Rose!" he shouted, running after her and chasing her outside and into the dark courtyard.
He heard her giggling nearby, but didn't have the slightest clue as to where she was in the vast courtyard.
"Must we play games, Rose?" he said, a teasing tone to his voice and an amused grin on his face as he looked around the large fountain. He jumped around a pillar, ready to scare her, but she wasn't hiding there. Rose, by now, was giggling madly, her laughter echoing around the courtyard. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
He caught sight of a streak of her brunette hair whipping out of sight around one of the pillars and chased after her.
He rounded the pillar, but stopped abruptly when he once again couldn't see her. "What–whoa!"
Scorpius jumped as Rose snuck up behind him and jumped up on his back. "Got you!"
Scorpius laughed, swinging around with her clingy to his back.
"Scorpius!" she said shrilly, laughing hysterically.
"Mr. Malfoy, I advise you to get your hands off Ms. Weasley unless you'd like a detention! Public displays of affection our prohibited!"
"What?" said Scorpius lamely, turning with Rose still on his back to face Professor McGonagall. "I can't give my girlfriend a piggy-back ride, but countless others can go around snogging each other's brains out?"
"Scorpius! She's teasing you!" Rose whispered.
"Oh," he said in small voice, blushing as McGonagall smirked at him. "Wait! Professor McGonagall? Teasing?"
McGonagall seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Carry on! Don't stay out too late." She brushed past them and hurried inside.
"That was odd," said Scorpius. Rose giggled and slipped her hands over his eyes. "Rose! I can't see!"
She hopped off his back and ran off again, laughing. Scorpius grinned before beginning the chase.
. . .
"I'm going to miss you so much!" Rose whined, jerking his hand up and down as they walked towards the carriages waiting to take the students down to the Hogsmeade station.
"Two months, Rose. We can last that long," he said firmly, trying to convince himself. She noticed his uncertainty and scoffed. "We could always . . . ahem . . . hook up in Diagon Alley."
"I suppose that's an option. I'll write to you the first chance I get."
"Rose! Oi, Rose!"
They looked up to see James gesturing frantically for her, his face etched with worry. Rose dragged Scorpius over to him with her.
"What is it, James?" she asked, looking concerned.
James swallowed, face pale. "I got a letter from Mum this morning, not even Uncle Ron knows yet . . . It's . . . well . . . there's been another attack," he said, glancing at Scorpius.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. Scorpius felt his stomach drop.
"It's your mum. She's in St. Mungo's."
. . .
I'M SORRY!
Review?
SOMETHING had to happen.