Using the prompt 'accident'

Chapter Forty-Eight

"You were the one to ask me!" Scorpius cried, seeming oblivious to the slowly gathering crowd in the courtyard.

This was the last thing any of them needed, Hugo thought, but what could he do about it? No one would listen to him, even if he tried asking them to move away. He'd really appreciate a teacher appearing right then.

"I'm sorry, Scorpius!" Rose replied, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I was an idiot, okay? A made a stupid mistake. I wasn't thinking clearly, and I was pressured, and –"

"What do you mean you were pressured?" Scorpius snapped, his wand firmly in his hand. He hadn't raised it yet, nor had Rose, and Hugo was hoping it remained that way. Even if one of them did use their wand on the other, he knew they'd regret it. Scorpius was only hurt because he cared about Rose more than anything. That had never changed.

"I… I…." For the first time, Rose seemed to notice everyone else around her. Not only were her cousins standing by Hugo, but other students she didn't even know the names of were gathered by, watching on. Some of the Slytherins were calling out crude jeers to Scorpius, encouraging him to fight, but most were just watching on in shock.

Rose's eyes feel on Hugo. "They pressured me," she said. Her voice was in between accusation and sorrow.

"So, you simply asked me on a date because someone else told you to?" Scorpius' voice had no affection whatsoever. He was furious.

"No, I didn't! Scorpius… that's not true… not at all!"

"Then why did you ask, and then leave me standing by the Lake like an idiot?" Scorpius demanded.

Rose looked down at her feet, blinking away fresh tears. She shook her head. "I don't know," she answered quietly. "I don't, Scorp."

There was silence, and then a few more jeers from the expanding crowd. It was Scorpius who spoke again.

"I really care about you, Rose. We've been best friends since our first year, and you've always been there for me. When you were going through a hard time with your parents, I tried my best to be there for you. I asked my dad to help you even though he really didn't want to. And I stood by you even though you refused to even write to me for months.

"And then… and then I finally see you again, and I think you're more beautiful, more grown-up than ever, and you're standing there, asking me if I want to meet you by the Lake…."

Hugo swallowed. He felt embarrassed for the pair of them. Scorpius' reputation would be ruined if he continued talking, and Rose… well he didn't want his sister feeling anymore guilty than she already did.

He looked around. If only Professor Gimp, or Professor Longbottom would walk past right now….

"I'm sorry, Scorp," Rose said again. "Truly, I am. Can we just… can we just forget about it?"

"How can I forget, Rosie? Do you even know what you meant to me? I would never do that to you. Not ever. You're too important to be hurt like that, but apparently I'm not. I'm just another one of those people you can mess around with, yell at, use as your personal punching bag. I thought we were friends… no, I thought we were more than that, but apparently that was all in my head!"

"No, it wasn't!" Rose said. "Scorp… I love you, I do. More than you can know, and your support has been so good these past months. I couldn't have gotten by without you, but I… I'm just not ready for a relationship, okay?"

There was a groan from the crowd as Rose's words brought an anti-climax to the whole situation. Hugo breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over, he thought. They'd walk away.

"Should we go an pull them apart?" James whispered. "You know… while their wands are still down."

Hugo nodded, thinking that was a very good idea. Rose and Scorpius would sort things out eventually, but not right now. Scorpius was still way too angry, and Rose didn't have a clear head.

They pushed their way through the crowd, just as Scorpius started speaking again.

"Then why didn't you just say that?" he asked softly, so only those standing nearby could hear. "I would have been okay with that, you know."

Rose shrugged, refusing to look at him. "I dunno, I just thought… I thought we could."

Despite Rose's best efforts to make Scorpius forgive her, it obviously wasn't working. When the crowd soon realised they weren't going to start snogging in the middle of the grounds, they slowly started to drift away. Hugo tugged on Rose's arm.

"Let's go," he said. "It's getting cold."

It was a pathetic excuse, he knew that, but he had to get Rose away somehow.

"Yeah, come on, Malfoy, show's over," James added, trying to tear him away from Rose. "Go back and do your Slytherin things somewhere else."

Despite James being quite a bit taller, Scorpius wouldn't budge. He stood firmly in place, glaring at Rose still.

"I thought we could too," he said, "except now I realise that what everyone else said was true. You care about nothing but yourself, and you don't care about how many people you hurt along the way, just to get what you want. I can't be friends with someone like that."

"Scorp –"

"No!"

"Rosie, come on!"

Rose shook Hugo off. "Scorpius, please…."

"I'm sorry, Rosie, but I've given you too many chances. I can't be your friend anymore. Sorry." He shook James off, and turned around, making to leave.

Rose drew her wand.

"Rose!" Hugo shouted, trying to grab her wand arm before she'd do something she'd regret. She shook him away.

"Scorpius, listen to me, will you!"

"Rose, put your wand away!" That was James. He was now holding onto Scorpius, who had turned around again, his own wand raised. The crowd had returned, choosing their sides in this battle.

"I've listened enough; all your words are complete bullshit to me now. I don't want to fight you, Rose. Just go, okay?"

"No, not until you listen to me!" Rose was fuming now, and Hugo had been shoved back into the crowd, as they moved closer. James lost his hold on Scorpius.

Hugo pushed forward again, just as a spell was released, but it came from neither Rose, nor Scorpius' wand. It had come from someone in the crowd.

Hugo watched as the flash of light came zooming towards Rose, who ducked skilfully out of the way. Hugo was standing right behind her, and the next thing he knew, there was blackness.

The moment after that, he was opening his eyes in the hospital wing, the faces of Rose, Scorpius, and Madam Pomfrey staring back at him.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Rose cried, her arms flinging around his neck. "I thought Al's spell had killed you!"

"It was a Stunning jinx from a fifth year," Madam Pomfrey said dismissively, fussing over Hugo as he tried to regain his bearings. "It'd hardly kill a fly."

"Still," Rose said, "It was kind of scary."

"Well, not to worry. He's awake now, though, you will have to stay here for a few hours longer, just to make sure there are no side effects."

Hugo made to sit up. "What side effects?" he asked groggily. What side effects couldn't magic fix? He felt a head rush, and had to lie back down again. He groaned.

Madam Pomfrey gave him a knowing look. "The side effects from hitting your head hard against the ground. Cuncussion." She shined her wand light into each of his eyes. "Dizziness?"

Hugo nodded.

"Nausea?"

Hugo hadn't noticed until now that his head was spinning, which was causing his stomach to churn. He nodded again.

"That will mean an overnight stay for you, Mr Weasley. The headmaster is already having words to Mr Potter."

"But… it was an accident!" Rose protested loudly. Hugo shied away from the noise. "He was aiming for me, not Hugo!"

"I hardly think that makes a difference, Miss Weasley," Pomfrey snapped. "Students should not be using spells in the grounds of Hogwarts."

"But –"

"No, buts. Mr Potter will be punished for his actions, and that is final. I will not be treating anymore students for things that can be easily prevented."

Hugo heard Rose sigh. "I'm sorry, Hu," she mumbled, her hand brushing against his.

Still unsure of what was happening, Hugo shook his head, regretting it instantly. "Don't be," he mumbled. "It was an accident."

"Still, it was my fault… our fault." She turned to look at Scorpius, who had backed away after Hugo had woken up. "Sorry."

Hugo shrugged. All that mattered was at least they weren't fighting. At least his sister and Scorpius were standing in the same room as each other now.

"We are sorry, mate," Scorpius said. "I feel terrible."

"Yeah, well, make it up to me and stop fighting, will you?" Hugo said.

That was followed by silence.

"Listen, Scorpius, Rose is messed up okay. You would be too if your parents had died. Rose really likes you – she told me herself. She made a mistake, and she regrets her actions. If you would just forgive her, and give her time, that would be really great."

Hugo's head ached just from thinking this, let alone speaking it, but he had their attention, and he was determined to set it straight.

"Rose, what you did was lame. You should have just said you weren't ready, and left it at that. You've always been impulsive, but Mum and Dad didn't want you to be. Mum always told you to think first, but you never listened. You still don't, so just do us all a favour and listen to her for once, okay?"

That was followed by more silence, and even though his vision wasn't great right now, Hugo saw Rose and Scorpius share a look. If they were going to say anything, though, that thought was squashed when the headmaster entered the hospital wing with Albus following behind, looking very sheepish.

"Are you okay, Mr Weasley?" Gimp asked, watching him concernedly.

Hugo nodded. "I'm fine," he said. "Please don't punish Al, he was only trying to help."

The headmaster turned to Albus. "Mr Potter and I have had a very long discussion. He'll be serving detention for the next week with me. Speaking of, detention is the reason I am here."

Hugo wanted to groan. They were all in trouble, weren't they?

"Miss Weasley and Mr Malfoy, you are two of our brightest students, and I know that you know that fighting – magically or otherwise – is against school ruled."

Now it was their turn to look guilty.

"If it was not for Mr Weasley, or Mr Potter – the other Potter – trying to interfere, I am afraid that we don't know what the two of you might have done. For that, you are both receiving a month's detention, which you will receive with your respective Heads of Houses. I have spoken to them already, and once I leave here, I will be writing to your families also. Is that understood?"

They both nodded.

"Good. Now, I see that Mr Weasley is well enough, so I suggest you leave him be for now, and go back to your common rooms. This is not the behaviour I expected from any of you."

Rose didn't dare argue. She'd always hated getting into trouble, whether it was at home, school, or elsewhere. This was probably humiliating for her. Two detentions in one year.

"See you, Hu," she said, giving him a quick hug. "I'll come to check on you tomorrow, okay? Before you leave."

Hugo nodded, and then smiled at Scorpius too. He watched them all leave.

Well, there was one good thing that came out of all of that, he supposed. Rose and Scorpius were no longer fighting.

I hope you all liked. Thanks to Sunny Lighter for beta-ing. Please leave a review if you read it. Would be much appreciated :)