8. Paparazzi
Author's Note: ROFL ROFL. Your hilarious (and lovely) reviews – "I want smut," basically, – pressed me to update again today, even though I wasn't going to. Keep on reviewing, guys- you give me such a great ego boost!
This one's a short chapter, I'm afraid, and the next one's even shorter- but don't worry! Things will get back to normal soon!
On the Monday morning after the Hogsmeade trip, Rose was faced with quite a surprising event: she received an owl from her parents that consisted of simply one – extremely official and important-looking – letter. Usually, she received a battered, torn up pile of packages that included random affectionate bric-a-brac from around the Weasley household. So, when Errol II landed beside her at breakfast, she and Hugo were shocked and immediately suspicious. Rose took the letter in nervous hands, petting her jittery family owl gently before sending him off again.
Sliding her fingernail beneath the letter flap, she ripped it open and took out the couple of pages of heavy parchment. Hugo took the discarded envelope and read it over as Rose scanned the first few lines of the letter. "This is from dad," he told the general public, "so I don't know why he's used the good parchm- hey! Where are you going?" He watched as Rose stood from the table, the letter screwed into a bulky ball in her right hand. "Rose?" She scanned the table quickly, and then turned back.
"Where's James?" she asked tightly, her left hand curled into such a tight fist that her knuckles were going white.
"Doing an independent early morning practice with our newest Chaser," Hugo replied, knowing enough about his sister to realize when asking questions wasn't a good idea. "But he should be wrapping things up now."
Before he could elaborate, she was off and down the Great Hall at a run. Hugo rubbed his head, blinking and wondering about his sister's bizarre behaviour.
Rose slammed through the doors to the Entrance Hall, sending a group of first years nearby into a nervous, scattered mess. She stomped, wand in one hand and her balled-up paper in the other, onto the grounds and down the path. Her whole body shook with fury, her face set in the middle of her blowing, wild strands of blonde hair. Within minutes she reached the Quidditch pitch, her school shoes wet and muddy with the force of her stomping feet. She was freezing cold, though the bright flush that had settled over her cheeks showed nothing.
As she burst onto the field, she saw James standing in the centre. He was directing a pretty black-haired girl in a broom, praising her and clapping whenever she performed a particularly outlandish manoeuvre. Without second thought, Rose thundered, "James Sirius Potter!" He spun around, alarmed. "What did you do?" She brandished the letter in one hand as she stormed up to him. He looked baffled, and just a little bit frightened. "What did you do?"
James' eyes finally focused on the letter- the words 'Scorpius', 'Rose' and 'unacceptable' stuck out to him the most, and comprehension finally dawned on his face. It quickly turned to defence. He looked slightly smug, as well, though the edges of his expression were tinted with fear. "Look, Rose, it was for your own good. You and this Malfoy kid; I've no idea what you've been doing-!"
"And so you shouldn't!" Rose interrupted angrily, screwing the letter up again. "It's none of your business who my friends are!" He went to argue, but she spoke over him. "And how dare you write a letter to my father in order to intervene?! You're so fucking up your own arse, James. What gives you the right to have a say in everyone else's business?"
"The safety and dignity of my family gives me the right!" James snapped back.
"What, you think Scorpius would compromise my safety and my dignity?"
"To be perfectly honest, yes, I think he would," James replied quite haughtily.
"You don't know him, James!" Rose said, her voice tight and painful. "You know nothing about him. You just think that he's this psychopath out to have his wicked way with me because of the tales surrounding his father. That is nothing to do with Scorpius!"
"Why does it matter to you, anyway, Rose?" James asked suddenly. "Rumour has it, you finished my job for me on the Hogsmeade trip- are you and the Malfoy even speaking now?"
"Oh, so what, James? We fell out. Everyone falls out, it's not permanent. In fact, after this, I fully intend to head back up to breakfast to find Scorpius and make things right."
"Slag." The word was quiet, but pointedly aimed at her. James, with nerves of steel, looked her straight in the eye as he said it.
"What?!" Rose exclaimed, taking an immediate step forward, her hand gripped tightly around her wand.
"That's what people call you," James said, subtly backtracking. "'Malfoy's Slag,' they say, 'Oh, yeah, that's Rose Weasley.'" James' eyes narrowed. He seemed so caught up in the argument now that he'd completely forgotten the poor sixth year girl circling nervously overhead. "That's what you're known as now, Rosie. The Girl that Fucked Scorpius Malfoy. That's what he says about you. All the Ravenclaws know."
"That's not true," Rose whimpered, her wand arm dropping to her side, the wood dangling limply between her fingertips. "None of it's true. We didn't... and he wouldn't have..." All the fight had literally been taken out of her with one word. She'd always had a good reputation, Rose had- mainly because she focused so hard on maintaining it. How could she follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest wizards of all time if she didn't keep up her reputation? Now, if what James said was true – and Rose, despite herself, had started to believe it – that could all be ruined. What would her mother say? Oh, God, what would her aunts and uncles say?
"Damn it if I'm going to let my cousin's life be ruined from some scum of a Malfoy and his nasty rumours. If you hadn't been sitting beside him at Hogsmeade I would have hexed the shit out of him, Rose, I'm telling you. I won't let him hurt you anymore." James words did nothing to reassure her. All she felt still for cousin was revulsion- and now she felt as if the months she spent getting to know Scorpius had been a lie. Had he been spreading things about her? It didn't seem likely... but she knew he had a nasty side, and she always got funny looks from people when they saw her with him. Was it because of what he'd told them all? And would James lie about something as big as this?
Rose found herself thinking back in time. The memories came in flashes: Scorpius leaning against the wall in the Hogwarts Express and laughing – Scorpius leaping out at her in the Forbidden Forest with a roar and a laugh – Scorpius in the broom cupboard, holding his breath as they hid from Filch – Scorpius' genuine smile when he heard what Rose would get him for Christmas – Scorpius at the ball, looking at her in her costume with that appreciative glint in his grey eyes – Scorpius pulling her close under the umbrella in the post office – Scorpius handing her the milk chocolate – Scorpius leaning in to kiss her at Halloween...
She broke free of the memories, staggering backwards and dropping the letter to the ground. Had it all been a lie?
James watched her through unreadable brown eyes as she turned and left the pitch in silence, heading back up to the castle. He had no idea if what he said had worked; but he'd gotten her to listen, and that was the best he'd been hoping for. Bending down, he plucked the letter out of the dirt. On it, his Uncle Ronald had given strict instructions for her to stay away from Malfoy- unfortunately, he'd also mentioned that Albus and James had been the one to report the friendship. Still, James would rely on anything – truth or lies – to keep Scorpius Malfoy away from his family and back into the lonely hole where he belonged.
The Malfoys would pay for Draco's mistakes; one way or another.
