Chapter Eight – Redhead
May2022
"You are what?" I hiss across the table, I know it is hypocritical but…
"I am seeing her, Viv," he looks at me as if begging me to accept this.
"Roxanne? Roxanne Weasley?" I just cannot take it in, it is just too bizarre. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I am telling you!" he whispers.
"Mr Malfoy, do you have something to share with the whole class?" Zabini asks in his sly voice from the front of the room. I turn my eyes to Roxanne, she is looking at Zabini but I can tell she knows I am looking. This is just weird. Malfoy and a Weasley… I know Potter and a Nott was weird but this is just not right.
"No, sir."
"Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut," Zabini is in a really foul mood. We don't dare say anything for the rest of the lesson but I hardly take anything in, I am still trying to digest Scorpius' latest bombshell. He has to be kidding.
"Look, Viv, just tell me if you are not cool with this," Scorp whispers as we leave the classroom.
"I – I am just shocked, when did this happen?"
"It has been building up for a while, I – I think I might be falling for her Viv." Oh Merlin, Scorp never falls for people, he must really like her. I fight my instinct to tell him this is ridiculous – that getting involved with your parents' enemies' children is never a good idea, trust me, I know.
"Oh," I bite my tongue and tell him what he needs to hear, after all, he has been here for me so now it is my turn to be there for him. "I am happy for you." His faces lights up and he grins at me.
"Really? You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that," he throws an arm over my shoulder and messes up my hair.
"Well…? Are you going to introduce me to her?" he looks a little startles but nods and pulls me behind him as he pushes though the students to get to Roxanne. She is walking with Rose who glares at us and storms off, Roxanne smiles slightly as we approach her. She fixes her eyes on me and I shrug, as she transfers her gaze to Scorp a transformation overcomes her. All her features soften and her small smile is filled with such warmth that there can be no doubt that she has already fallen for him.
"Roxie," Scorp breaths, I almost feel like I should just leave them alone – the emotion between them is almost overwhelming, it breaks my heart a little that I might never feel like that with someone ever again. "I just wanted to introduce you to Vivian…"
"You mean Vivian wanted you to introduce her to Roxanne?" I snort. He shrugs, not letting his eyes leave Roxanne's face.
"Hello, Vivian," Roxanne smiles reservedly at me. "It is a pleasure to me you," she says politely. Right, well this is awkward – last time I spoke to her she was yelling at me to 'face life' or something similar. Why did I want Scorpius to introduce us again?
"You too," we stand there awkwardly for a few minutes. "Right, well I had better get back to the common room, nice to meet you." I hurry away from the uncomfortable situation and leave Scorp with Roxanne. Oh, Scorp, why did you have to do this to me? My situation is complicated enough without you seeing my… husband's cousin. Fear begins to ripple through me: what if Scorp forgets about me; what if Roxanne turns him against me; what if he spends all his time with her… Oh Scorp.
"You alright Viv?" Vi asks as I walk into the common room. "You look a bit shocked."
"I'm fine."
"So, are you going to tell me what that is all about?" she indicates to my hand. Confused, I hold it out in front of me and see the little gold band on my fourth finger.
"Oh…" I had forgotten about that. "I'm married." Sweet Hippogriff that must have sounded stupid.
"I figured…" Vi pulls a face. "But to who?"
"Albus Potter." Why? Why am I telling her this? Did someone put Veritaserum in my drink this morning… no they cannot have done, I told Scorp I was okay with him and Roxanne. She just looks at me, as if trying to figure out if I am joking. "Oh and I may be – well I am – pregnant… with his kid of course." There is an awkward silence as she stares at me, I tap my foot, waiting for her to say something…anything.
"Shit…" she sighs at last. "I thought I had a messed up life." Oh Merlin, she thought I was kidding when I said I was married. Urgh, I hate sarcasm (even though it is my most used form of humour).
"Yeah, well…" I shrug. "Do me a favour and keep it to yourself," I know it is asking a lot from the biggest gossip in the school but it is worth a try. To my surprise, she just nods. I fling myself down on the sofa just as Scorp comes in. "Scorp, I'm hungry…" I whine.
"Come on then," he rolls his eyes mockingly as I jump up and run out the exit towards the portrait of the fruit bowl. Dippy comes running up to us, bringing my favourite sandwich. We sit down by the fire as the elves bustle around us. "So, what do you think of her?"
"Roxanne? She's pretty I guess… just, be careful, getting mixed up with the Weasleys and their relatives is not easy…" he gives me a lopsided smile, letting me know he understands. "And… please don't forget me."
"Forget you?" he laughs. "Merlin Viv, why on earth would I forget you?"
"Well you know, sometimes people forget their best friends when they get a girlfriend or a boyfriend…"
"…or a husband," he sticks his tongue out at me as I hit him over the head.
"That was not called for Malfoy!" A quiet cough grabs my attention before I beat Scorp to within an inch of his life. "Yes?" I look down at the house elf.
"There is a Mistress Weasley wondering if she can come in," he squeaks. I nod and he runs off. Great, Roxanne.
"Hi, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" She smiles slightly as she walks over to us; she really is quiet pretty. Her skin that hovers somewhere between white and brown, the edges shimmering darkly, she has extraordinary hair (seriously, I have never seen anything like it, I cannot tell if it is dark brown or fiery red or both), her eyes are a light, honey colour that contrasts prettily with her skin and she has full red lips. She is the complete opposite of Scorpius. He has pale skin and white blonde hair and his eyes are the lightest blue with a shivering grey rim.
"Not at all," I smile – I might as well be nice to her. She takes a seat beside Scorpius and he reaches out to entangle his fingers in hers. A pang of regret hits me: will I ever have someone do that to me? We sit in silence for a bit, gazing into the fire. "Oh Scorp- I forgot to tell you, I kinda let slip to Vi about my, um, situation." Okay, maybe not the best idea to bring it up in front of Potter's cousin… Scorp looks sheepish and glances at Roxanne who is pretending not to listen. "You told her?" I hiss at him.
"You told Violet Briggs!" He says defensively. "Who, in case you didn't know, is the biggest gossip in the school!" He has a point.
"I didn't mean to!" Roxanne is still looking into the fire as if she cannot hear us.
"Neither did I – it just sort of slipped out," he shrugs.
"I have not told anyone, if that's what you are worried about," Roxanne turns to look at me.
"It's not your fault," I sigh. "Everyone is gonna know soon enough anyway." Slumping in my seat, I think about life in a world where everyone knows I am pregnant and married – yes, for some reason, married seems worse. Scorp looks relieved that I haven't bitten Roxanne's head off… or his for that matter.
We elapse into silence again before Dippy returns to tell Scorp that Professor Creevey is looking for him and Scorp reluctantly gets up to leave us, he kisses Roxanne briefly on the cheek before messing my hair and disappearing out the portrait hole.
"How far along are you?"
"Excuse me?" I ask, somewhat startled by her bluntness.
"In your pregnancy, how far along are you?" Wow, point to Weasley – she is definitely straightforward and does not beat around the bush like most people I know.
"Um…" I quickly calculate it in my head (I really should know this). "Six and a half weeks."
"Have you been to see Pomfrey? Or another nurse?"
"Yeah, when, um, Zabini brought me in… He told her about it." You know, like right after I married your cousin despite the fact I'm still in love with your other cousin.
"You should probably go and see her again, we can go now if you want."
"Uh… okay." Roxanne gets up and leads the way, I follow her, not really sure what I am doing. The corridors are fairly empty as most students are in their common rooms revising for their upcoming exams. Madame Pomfrey is busy with a second year who has a gash on his knee, Roxanne take a seat on one of the empty beds.
"Can I help you girls?" Pomfrey asks, inspecting us for injuries.
"Uh…" I begin, not really sure what to say. "I thought… I'm, you know… I thought I should come and see you…" Madame Pomfrey nods.
"Rights, how far along are you?"
"Six and half weeks."
The next half an hour is one of the most bizarre half an hours of my life and I have had some pretty weird experiences during my life. Madame Pomfrey just jabs me in the stomach with her wand while chatting away to Roxanne about how her brother had been in the Hospital Wing more times than she could count. Seriously, it was almost like I was invisible.
At last, Madame Pomfrey tells me everything was fine and that I should come and see here again in two weeks time unless I had any concerns then I should come earlier. That was it. Half an hour of jabbing and all I get was 'everything is fine'. Roxanne hangs around until Madame Pomfrey is done before saying goodbye and hurrying off to the Gryffindor common room. I grudgingly make my own way to the dungeons as I have nothing else to do and it is raining outside… again.
As I come through the hole on the wall I see Vi sitting by herself in the corner. She is staring at a piece of parchment with blank eyes. She does not look up as I approach her and take the vacant seat beside her. I decide it is best to let her speak first so I simply sit there, gazing out the window at the beautiful underwater world.
"They're divorced." She says after almost three minutes of silence.
"Who?"
"My parents. They were never happy. I should have seen it coming. It is better this way."
"Oh."
"My mother was… is a bitch." My eyes widen, I have never heard anyone call their own mother a bitch before. "My father was a twat sometimes but my mother was a complete bitch."
"Oh. Who are your parents?"
"David and Pansy Briggs… Or I guess, David Briggs and Pansy Parkinson, now." Vi still looks somewhat blank. "He is a drunk but it is her fault… She drove him to alcohol; it was his only way to deal with her. She is a malicious, manipulative bitch." Vi spits out the last sentence word for word. Suddenly, everything clicks into place: how Vi was almost jealous of my mother at the Ministry party, how she never goes home in the school holidays, how she dreads the summer, how she gossips about other people to deflect the attention away from herself and her screwed up parents.
"Oh." I don't know what to say, how are you supposed to reply to that sort of thing? Luckily I am saved by a shout from the other side of the common room as Scorpius comes tumbling in, looking flustered.
"Viv… you are going to hate this." He runs over to me, waving the Evening Prophet in his hand. "Page eighteen." Handing me the Prophet, he collapses into the armchair on my right. I turn to the page he indicated and begin to scan the article, looking for what Scorpius was refereeing to. "At the bottom," his face is a grimace. Oh Merlin.
There, right between the births and the deaths, were the marriages. 'Vivian Iris Nott, daughter of Theodore and Iris Nott, weds Albus Severus Potter, son of Harry and Ginny Potter, 11th May 2022'. This cannot be happening.
I stare at Scorpius: this has to be a joke.
"Your father must have put it in there," Scorpius looks almost as pissed off as I feel. "My dad's going to love this." True, Draco Malfoy will be just delighted that his friend's daughter has married his childhood enemy's son (that is sarcasm to those of you too stupid to realise) but right now Mr Malfoy is the least of my problems… Try, I don't know, having the whole school know you are married. "I don't know how many people actually read the Evening Prophet… Hardly anyone is going to read the marriages section anyway…"
"Yeah, but someone will and that someone will tell their friends who will tell their friends and on and on…" Vi points out. I just continue staring at them both. Merlin, what did I do wrong?
We are interrupted by a small cough as a first year tried to get our attention.
"There is someone outside, they want to talk to you, I think," he stutters at me.
"Who is it?"
"I don't know, she wouldn't say," he looks terrified, like I might rip off his head and feed him to the Squid. 'She' okay so it's not Potter… or James. I thank the little kid who immediately runs off and make my way to the hole in the wall with Scorpius on my heels.
As I climb out, a high pitched voice starts shrieking at me – I cannot understand a word she is saying. Blinking I realise it is Rose Weasley, Potter's cousin. She looks furious, with her bushy red hair flying around her bright crimson face; it is really quite terrifying.
"ANSWER ME!" She stamps. "IS THIS TRUE!" I take a moment to realise she is waving a newspaper around like a madwoman. Oh great. Now Weasley knows… And at the volume she is shouting at, soon the whole school will know. "ARE YOU MARRIED TO MY COUSIN?" Remind me to thank her one day: she saved everyone having to pass on the news.
"Which cousin?" I am actually surprised she can hear me.
"ALBUS, YOU HALF-BREED!" Ouch, that hurt.
"Yes, I believe I am – although I am not sure why you think asking me rather than Albus is going to help, I mean surely that is the logical thing to do: ask the person you actually know before asking the person you have never spoken to before? Now, if you will excuse me, I have things to be getting on with." Grabbing my robes, I make a dramatic sweep across the cold stone floor before diving back through the hole in the wall. Scorpius follows.
I do not turn to look at Rose but by the heat of the glare on my back I would not be surprised if she was foaming at the mouth.
The following morning I walk in a Hall full of people staring at me and whispering as I walk passed. Really, I should be used to it by now. I go to sit beside Scorpius who is looking pretty glum.
"Well, this is fun isn't it?" I smile mockingly.
"It gets worse, Viv," Scorpius mumbles.
"Really? Do enlighten me as to how this situation could get any worse?"
"They know you are pregnant…" Okay I will give him that: that really does make things worse. "And, well…" There is an 'and'?
"They think the baby is James'," Vi joins us.
"They think th- WHAT?" my head drops into my hands: poor James. I could deal with it when it was just me – or even me and Albus – but James… That is asking too much. After composing myself I brave a look at the Gryffindor table. Rose is shoving food into her mouth at an alarming rate; Albus is staring into his cereal bowl as if wishing it would consume him; Roxanne is casting sympathetic glances between me and her cousin and James is not there at all.
The day goes by all too quickly; rumours fly, there is confusion about who I am married to, about who the father of my child is, about whether or not I wanted to get married/pregnant, about my relationship with Zabini (no joke – people actually still think I am having an affair with him), and loads of other strange things people have conjured up – I even heard one saying that the baby was part Hippogriff… How is that even possible?
Sunday I spend in my dorm, finishing off homework and essays that I am behind on. I go down for some food with Scorp and Roxanne in the kitchens (I cannot bear the Great Hall) and they update me on the ridiculous rumours going round. Roxanne doesn't mention how her family are taking this revelation and I must confess I am a little disappointed, I was curious to know what their opinion was of me – the girl who ruined everything. Well, maybe not everything but quite a lot: I have ruined Albus' future, he is now stuck with a wife he never speaks to for the rest of his life (not to mention a child); I have pitched two brothers against each other; I have created more drama and publicity for a family who hates to be in the limelight and I have broken James' heart. Wow. They must hate me.
Monday morning dawns far too soon. Charms passes in a blur, so does Astronomy. I ask Scorp if he wants to skip Potions with me but he says 'no, you are just going to have to face them' and to make it worse – him and Roxanne have decided to go public today. They say it is for my sake, that it might shift some of the attention away from me to them but I think they are just tired of having to creep around all the time. Oh this is going to be a fun Potions lesson.
Scorp and I get there first (he hates being late to anything apparently) and take our seats at the back. The rest of Slytherin and Gryffindor filter in until, at last, Potter and Roxanne walk in with their friend Jordan. Rose is nowhere to be seen. Potter and Jordan take their usual seats across the room from us but Roxanne – taking a deep breath – finds her way between the tables towards us. Scorp pulls out the chair next to him and she sits down. Oh Merlin. How to make a statement – come in late, ditch for cousin and friend and sit down with the pregnant married girl and your cousin's worse enemy. Smooth. Real smooth.
It takes a moment for anyone to realise something it wrong and then the whispers break out again. Eventually Potter pulls himself out of his trance like state to see his cousin on the other side of the room – holding hands with Scorpius Malfoy. At first he just stares. Then, before anyone can move, he whips out his wand and sends a curse straight at Scorp.
