Morning After

Light. Light was not my friend. It was piercing through my skull, not caring that I was moments away from dying from a headache. I groaned and turned over on my side. This bed was so huge and comfy. But the light, that light… where was it even coming from? I opened one eye, trying hard to ignore the pounding in my head.

I remembered Scorpius and shot up in the bed. I was in a Gryffindor dormitory, but definitely not mine.

"Where is Scorpius?" I whispered to the seemingly empty room.

"I'm not sure," someone's familiar voice responded softly. I turned and saw Eve, holding a mug and some pills in her hand.

Eve's POV

She looked like hell. And the look on her face wasn't making anything much better. "What are you doing here?" she asked, a frown apparent on her face. She flinched at the sound of her own voice. I sat down gently next to her.

"Well, seeing as how your family is too enraged to speak with you, I took you over myself. Coffee and Advil?" I asked, offering her the mug and pills in my hand.

She stared at me. "What's Advil?"

"Muggle hangover magic," I said, forcing a smile. It's hard to smile at someone who looks like she thinks you've transformed into a troll's left testicle. "Look Rose, I'm making an effort here. Trying to change. Take it or leave it."

She looked me up and down. After about a minute of this scrutiny, she chugged down the mug of coffee without flinching at the heat and took the pills too. And then she immediately threw it back up. "Yeah, I probably should've warned you about that." I vanished the mess with my wand. "You're supposed to go slow."

"Look, what happened? Where's Scorpius?" she asked, looking pale as ever.

"I'm not sure about that actually. See, I was pretty drunk myself, just not as gone as you. I hold it down better."

"I'm sure," she said. "But I need to find Scorpius."

"I can come with you," I offered as she stumbled up. She looked like she was considering this.

"Fine. I could use your help," she said. "I need you to go into the seventh year boy's dormitory."

"What?"

"I'd do it, but it's probably better if you do it," Rose said.

I breathed a deep sigh and nodded. "Tell me what I have to do."

About a half an hour later, I found myself creeping up the boy's staircase and stopping in front of the seventh year dorms. Giving a huge sigh and questioning my motives, I pushed the door open. The stench of alcohol hit me, and I knew that I wasn't going to have any of them wake up any time soon. They were all far too gone. I saw Fred hanging off his bed, a mess of sheet and limbs. On the beds on either side of Fred were two boys I didn't know. I then glanced to the next bed and saw James snoring, with nothing but boxers on. I know it was silly, but I couldn't stop staring. He was fit, probably from the Quidditch. He turned in his sleep, covering his body from view and I blushed in embarrassment. I located his trunk and inched toward it, careful not to make a sound.

I opened it and searched for what Rose described. I was to find a blank, but very old, piece of seemingly useless parchment. The trunk wasn't neat at all, and I kept looking up, afraid that James would wake up with all the moving around I was doing. I finally came across a piece of parchment, old, and blank, just like Rose described. I turned it over in my hands and saw nothing, shrugged, and stood up. One more look around, and I quietly exited, clutching the stupid parchment against my body.

She was waiting downstairs, and I gave it to her.

"Thank you, Eve, this is exactly what I was looking for!" Rose said, "Ouch,that hurt."

"Yeah, try not to yell," I said, kindly. It was easier, seeing as how Rose had warmed up to me. "So what's the big deal with a piece of parchment?" Rose took her wand out, pointed it at said piece of parchment, and said "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Immediately, something like ink seemed to flow out of her wand and out on the parchment, spreading into thin lines.

"It's called the Marauder's Map. It's a map of Hogwarts. It shows every place in the school, including secret passageways. But what's even more special is the fact that it shows the people inside Hogwarts."

"Where they are?" I whispered, awed at the little labeled dots moving around, with all the little names. After a quick glance, I notice that most of the little dots are in dormitories or the Great Hall. Some were out in the grounds.

"Yep. Now, will you look for Scorpius? I'll look at the library, and you check the Slytherin dung—ah, he's not in the library—then damnit where could he be—"

"Rose, he's at the astronomy tower," I said quietly, pointing at highest tower in the castle. Rose did a double take and leaned in to take a closer look.

"What in Merlin's name is he doing there?"

"Well, let's find out," I said.

Rose's POV

We walked up the staircase in silence, and I was trying desperately to avoid any relatives, even though Eve assured me all the male ones, minus Al and Hugo (of whom she didn't know about), were fast asleep and wouldn't wake up for quite a while.

But even then, I found that I couldn't help but look around anxiously every few moments. And it was with relief that I saw the end of the winding steps of the staircase leading to the astronomy tower. But it didn't last long. Scorpius was lying on the floor, bloodied up and eyes closed.

It was like a horrible repeat of Riley. I stood there, like a deer in headlights, and watched as Eve ran over to Scorpius, leaned over and began sweeping her wand up and down Scorpius's unconscious form. I hadn't even realized that she knew Healer spells. Then again, she was a year ahead. Finally, I felt how useless I was, and ran over to help.

Eve sat on the floor next to him and actually smiled.

"What are you smiling about?" I said, hysterically. "This is just like Riley—"

"Well I wasn't there," she began, "but I'm going to say with some certainty that Scorpius is not nearly as bad as Riley was. Pretty sure just hypothermia and a few bruises and a nosebleed."

I slid down to my knees next to Scorpius in relief. "Can you wake him?"

"Yes," Eve said, raising her wand. "Enervate."

Scorpius opened his eyes. "Scorpius!" I exclaimed. I reached out a hand, but he didn't take it. Instead, he pushed himself up by himself. "Scorpius?" I asked, worried at his angry expression. He was quiet and didn't meet my eyes. "Where do you hurt?"

His glare was vicious. "Where do I hurt, Weasley? I hurt everywhere."

"Scorpius I—"

"You are the most selfish person I know, Weasley. Get the hell out of my sight, I'll be fine."

I stared at him, completely shocked. I had no idea where this was coming from. "Scorpius, what are you talking about?"

He turned and stared at me. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"No, Scorpius…"

"You invited me to a party, got drunk, completely used me for whatever was upsetting you—which by the way, I could tell—and let me get beat the fuck up in the process," Scorpius spat at me.

"Scorpius, I didn't mean to—"

"Rose, you never mean to. But I'm here, at the top of the fucking astronomy tower, with hypothermia and one and half black eyes!" Scorpius bellowed, cutting me off completely. We stared at each other for about a whole minute, before I heard Eve clear her throat. I walked up to Scorpius, who flinched away with. I think he might have taken my heart in that moment. I took his hands.

"Scorpius, I love you. You are my best friend. I would never try and hurt you. I'm sorry about what happened. But please, please don't do this. Don't alienate me, Scorpius. I'm not like my family. I won't ever do something like this to you," I said, trying to look him in his eyes. But, he never looked back at me. Her eyes were cast downward, and he maintained his angry face.

"Leave me alone, Weasley." And with one last look at him, I turned around and left, fighting back tears.

Eve's POV

I watched Rose go with mingled pity and a very small feeling that she might have had it coming to her. But I turned back to Scorpius, more concerned that his hypothermia might not be gone. "Are you cold?" I asked. He looked surprised to see me, as if he hadn't noticed my presence at all.

"Why are you here? Aren't you Potter's girlfriend?" He asked defensively.

"Definitely not," I said, not being able to quell the grin forming on my face, "but even if I was, I would never condone what he did." He looked slightly less distrustful and looked curious.

"Well, I am a bit curious actually," he admitted, smiling slightly.

"Damnit, I thought the hypothermia spell had worked," I said, pulling out my wand once more.

"You fixed me up?" He asked. "I assumed it was Rose."

"No, that was me. But apparently, I didn't do a great charm," I waved a heating spell in his direction and he rubbed his arms in the sudden heat.

"Thank you, Eve."

"And there are a few bruises I missed, but I got most of them. I'm afraid I don't know how to treat black eye," I said apologetically.

"That's okay, Madam Pomfrey will clear that up," Scorpius said. "We could've used you on rounds that night with White."

"Ah, but his were pretty serious," I said, frowning. Scorpius made to get up, but stumbled and almost fell to the ground. I rushed forward and offered my arm. He took it and I helped him down the stairs. We walked slow, not saying much, mainly because I was using up all my energy to support Scorpius down the stairs.

"So why do they hate you?" I panted, after there was only one more set of stairs to descend.

"You actually don't know?" He asked. I shook my head. "Well, I'm glad it hasn't reached America yet then."

"Are you talking about the whole your parents are death-eaters thing? Because first of all, they aren't anymore, and secondly, you were never one. Oh and a third thing—the war is over. So what is it? What'd you do?"

"You summarized it pretty well," he said, with a pained-sounding laugh.

"Wait… that's whythey hate you?"

"Pretty much," he said. "Unless they're jealous of my sexy hair and bright gray eyes." I couldn't help but laugh. Believe me, I tried.

"Alright, well I've got my own line of rotten genes. I'm not going to judge you," I said. He looked at me then, and we seemed to have some sort of understanding. He smiled at me, and gave him a tentative smile back. I might've just made a real friend.

"Here's the hospital wing," I said, interrupting the intensity. He looked over and nodded, limping inside. "I'll uh, check up on you later."

Rose's POV

I didn't know where to go. I stood in the Great Hall, looking out at the tables, and wishing that someone would talk to me. I saw James and Fred, but they weren't looking at me, even though I knew they saw me. I stood there, fighting tears.

"Rosey?" I turned to look at Teddy and felt immediate relief. There was at least one relative left on this godforsaken planet who didn't judge me.

"Teddy," I choked out. His brow furrowed and he steered me out of the great hall and onto the grounds.

"Tell me everything," he said, after we reached he bench built by the lake. And so I sat next to him and did just that. I didn't leave anything out. And as I knew, he nodded, gasped, laughed in all the right places. And he didn't interrupt me once. I loved him for it. But once I was finished, it had sounded like there was a lot he had to say.

"So, Riley likes you. Do you like Riley?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if he likes me because I'm a comfort through what he's going through, or he likes me for the right reasons," I said. Teddy nodded, looking thoughtful.

"That's a good answer, but not the answer to my question. Do you like him?"

"I could like him," I said tentatively. "He's a sweetheart. In fact, I definitely think I do."

"And Scorpius, do you like him?"

"Ted! He's my best friend, nothing more, nothing less. Well I guess, nothing less is stretching it at my current situation," I said, feeling miserable.

"Aw honey, you'll apologize and fix things. What you did wasn't very good," Teddy said, giving me a smile. "But it wasn't unforgivable."

"Thanks," I sighed. I looked around, aware that we weren't very isolated any longer. A few sixth year girls from Gryffindor were milling around. It made me think of Eve, and I turned to Ted. "You know Eve was with me when I went to go look for Scorpius? And she was there at the party last night, dancing with James. Something's changed about her."

Ted looked worried. "I found out what was going on with her," he said. "But I'm not sure that I can tell you."

"I won't tell anyone," I said, curious.

"Yeah I don't think so. Probably not a good idea," he said.

"Give me a hint?" I pleaded.

"It has to do with drugs and mother issues. It isn't quite what you think though," Teddy said. "Maybe I can tell you after she graduates."

"Drugs sound serious," I said, my eyes widening.

"Don't repeat anything I said," Ted said. "That reminds me, have you started studying for your O.W.L.s? Even with all the distractions?" I glared at him.

"Do you even know me?" I asked. He laughed and ruffled my hair. "How's Victoire?"

"She's fine. She likes her job at Gringotts with her Fleur for now, but she's looking into more. Maybe ambassador positions at the Ministry. Everyone knows we could use some peace between countries. Especially after all the tension with the countries who were hiding Death Eaters."

"What about Dom? I've missed her after she graduated, and I didn't see her at all this summer. Even at Harry's party."

"She's got a modeling job which makes her travel from country to country," Ted explained. "But you know she loves it."

"Of course she is. Foreign boys are her thing," I said, smiling.

"So, want me to give James detention? I have the authority now, and it would be a laugh."

"No, I don't want that. But would you talk to him? He listens to you," I said. "Scorpius isn't evil, even if his family was. He deserves a chance. Anyway, it isn't like I'm dating him." Teddy nodded.

"Alright, well, I've got to go and prepare tomorrow's classes. Feel better, Rose. I'll see you in class." I nodded and watched him go, glad that he was in my weird family. At least there was someone sensible around.

Renee's POV

I smiled to myself. This was the kind of information that I had been looking for; the kind that would destroy Evelyn Martin. Lucky for me, Professor Lupin hadn't learned the art of subtlety quite yet. I slipped away from the rest of the sixth year girls and their silly banter, and went to the pitch to come up with a plan.

A/N: Lots of dialogue, I apologize, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to get covered. Christy's promptness is divine! Working on the next chapter. Love you 3