September 29, 2013
Scorpius sat with one leg loosely tapping on his knee while he read the Daily Prophet. He was early at The Cricket at your Hearth. He was meeting Rose at one, but he wanted to finish the last newspaper out of his stack before seeing her. Normally, he had four or five papers to look through, but he had read almost all of them earlier in the morning.
There were a few things in the Prophet that hadn't been in his other papers. There were two dead people found, Donald Flamesy and Fargo Jasmin that the Prophet presumed were murders (they were), and there was one break-in in an apothecary outside London. Those were the only things relevant – to him at least.
Most people would think the incidents weren't connected, but Scorpius knew differently. Flamesy and Jasmin were both minor criminals and both were involved in the gang currently gaining power in London. It wasn't stated what was stolen from the apothecary, just 'a few unnamed and costly ingredients'. Scorpius would bet a few fingernails that purple inked mandrake leaves, caterpillar fungus, and ground hippogriff tooth were among the ingredients missing, if his memory was serving him well from potions class at Hogwarts. Those were the key ingredients in veritaserum.
He checked his watch. It read half past twelve. He had loads of time.
Scorpius had prepared ahead of time for his lunch with Rose. The first thing he did was stop by Mungo's during lunchtime on Monday to talk to Molly, Dom, and Lucy. He needed someone to badger Rose into showing up and who better to ask than the cousins she lived it?
Molly looked relieved and kept giving him smiles when he mentioned that he and Rose were going out for lunch. Lucy was sporting smug looks, but did tell him to question the hell out her because she was being strangely silent and was gone all the time, and Dominique seemed holly uninterested for some reason. Because of Dominique's larger force of personality, he was hoping she would be more. . . there but she seemed to be off in her own world and only focused on eating the food on her lunch tray.
Molly was the one who said she would make sure to mention it to Rose and get her to show up. After Dominique had brought her face up from her food that she was so solely absorbed with, she said Rose wasn't fit to be seen by society because of her abhorrent and atrocious clothes. She then left in a fit of giggles whilst mumbling to herself with cheeks still stuffed full of food like a chipmunks. Scorpius noticed the confused looks on the twin's faces as they watched her leave. They didn't say anything to him though.
After Scorpius received Molly's note that evening saying her and Lucy talked to Rose and she would be there, he thought about his last few encounters with Rose. They were all rather unique encounters. Getting her wand back from Albus (she gave up her wand?), running after the purse theif (he was still confused about that), talking with him at the Burrow (she wanted information), and at the sports bar (still embarrassing for him to think about). Something fishy was going on and Scorpius was determined to figure it out, whether it be today or within the next few weeks. She couldn't resist for that long. He would weasel his way in and get some answers.
He drained the last of his coffee and flipped the page to the gossip section. He honestly hated reading this part of the paper, so usually didn't. He did briefly glance over it before he shut the paper and set it on the table as finished. The gossip section was usually incredibly caddy and featured an excessive amount of Potters and Weasleys with a small dose of jabs at his family and other like ones.
Albus told him that Rose absolutely hated the Daily Prophet because of that section and that she hadn't picked up a paper in years. From all of his skimming, he knew Rose hadn't been featured or photographed in it since Hogwarts. The only recent thing he could think of was the small rumour that went around for awhile about two years ago that Rose had died and how it was all a hushed up conspiracy between the Weasleys.
When Rose had left, unexpectedly and without warning, she disappeared from society. He was surprised they hadn't gotten wind of it that she was in England again, or hadn't seen her at all. Not that he was being blunt, but she tended to stick out of the crowd with her height, red hair, freckles, and her sometimes irrational nature. She had been in the paper way too much at Hogwarts and always hated it. He remembered one article accompanied by a particularly horrid picture of her where she had called the journalist a 'slimy skeezeball of Hippogriff poo' when the journalist cornered her at Hogsmeade. Albus thankfully found her before she said or did anything else.
He didn't know how she got into some of the scrapes she did. He had a chuckle to himself as he checked his watch again (quarter to). Looking back now, he could have a laugh at some of the things she did, but Scorpius distinctly remembering how weird he used to think she was, and how uncultured. He had grown up from that stage, but he didn't think Rose knew that. He even was finding himself in more 'Rose type' predicaments since he started his job.
Even with Molly's say-to, he actually wasn't expecting Rose to show up at one. He knew she didn't like being around him and wouldn't take his threat seriously. Rose didn't believe him when he said he could find her in London and he knew that she wanted to avoid him at all costs.
He wrote a quick note to Mackenzie, the server, saying he would be back in twenty minutes. He left a few quids on the table to pay for the coffee he had already consumed. He walked through the doors leading to the kitchen.
Because Albus's and Avani's restaurant was open to both the muggle and magical society, they had to be extra careful that no muggles could see into the kitchen. The staff used magic occasionally to cook or clean and had 'uncensored' conversations. Basically, there were no windows into the kitchen and there were two sets of doors, positioned so it would be extremely difficult to see all the way through if seated in the main area. The restaurant was in a prime location for the magical society, it was one block away from Diagon Alley, but it still saw many muggles. All magical folk entering were made aware that no magic or speak of magic was tolerated. Dress code wasn't very enforced. It was quite a motley assortment of wizard robes, bad dressing, and muggle wear.
Albus and Avani were busy cooking when he entered but both greeted him warmly. The servers and two other kitchen staff were used to Scorpius's presence in the kitchen whenever he came to eat.
"Rose here yet?" asked Albus while chopping up lettuce.
"No, it's only quarter to. I'm just checking to see where she is." He pulled out his map and set it on the counter.
"Make sure you tell her that her meal is on us."
"Your meal is free too, Scorpius," inputted Avani.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You know I'm never going to let you give me a free meal. I'm not family and you need money to make a business. I'll pay for what I eat. I'm paying Rose's too. She can collect her freebee a different time when she's not with me."
Albus snickered. "Good luck with that. She's not going to let you."
"Well, I'm the one who suggested lunch and that was before Molly let slip that Rose has next to no money."
"Oh Molly. Don't tell Rose that she told you that. . . She'll be even more proud if she knew you knew. What did the girls say about it all?"
"Lucy was usual Lucy, Dominique was. . . weird. I don't know how to explain it. And Molly was open as usual, but she looked like she was keeping something back, surprisingly. She was vaguely hinting at something else to do with Rose but didn't end up coming out with it."
"That means she's hiding something important but she promised Rose she wouldn't tell. That girl is too easy to read. It's easy to get the answers out of her once you know that."
"Alright." Scorpius focused his attention on the map of London in front of him and cast his spell. It was a particularly useful spell, if one knew the wand characteristics. Luckily for him he had been home when Albus had read the contract detailing all that useful information about Rose's wand.
He started looking for a faint blue dot on the map. The blue dot signified the wand – specifically unicorn hair cores, and more often than not, the person as well. If he was looking for a different wand core, the colour was liable to change: black was dragon heartstring, orange was phoenix tail. He started from her flat and worked his way outwards from the area. He eventually found her dot by the East end of the city, definitely away from her flat and none too close to the restaurant either. He waved his wand in a figure eight a few times in the next few minutes to see if the dot was moving or staying in one spot. She was moving south-easterly.
Just because she was moving away from the restaurant didn't mean that she wasn't going to show up. Even still, he decided to go tail her.
Scorpius picked an alley a few blocks ahead of her that was a safe apparition designation spot and apparated right from the kitchen. Once he was there, he decided his position quickly, snugly squeezing himself behind a few of the bins that were by the alley entrance. Even though it was a snug fit, he was very careful to not touch the sides or the wall so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty. He had dressed nicer than normal today, feeling oddly chipper in the morning. He held perfectly still while he waited.
It didn't take long until she came into his view. From his vantage point in the alley there were, unluckily, plants in the way that were partially blocking her from sight but she didn't have the invisibility cloak on and so he could mostly see her on the street. Even with all the people on the street today she was easy to spot. He could make out a backpack on her back and her hair up in a bun, looking very much like a student or a tourist. He made sure he was hidden in the shadows as she got closer and closer to him.
His plan was either to sidle up beside her just as she was passing or either tail her for the next fifteen minutes to see if she would eventually head to the restaurant on her own – but just as she was in front of him, a young bohemian looking woman walked out of a store across the street and called to Rose, "Hey! Tall redhead! Wait a minute." She dislodged her bag that was trapped in the door and then ran towards Rose. She was a young woman, perhaps middle twenties, with dirty blonde hair and red lipstick on. Rose stood watching her, surprise evident on her face. Scorpius stayed in his position.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude but I don't know your name and I need to talk to you! I don't know if you remember me, I'm Courtney, from Coffee for Kooks. You came in a few weeks ago, but haven't since," the girl said.
Rose crossed her arms and nodded. She looked tense. "My name's Rose Weasley."
Scorpius scrunched his nose from the alley. It wasn't good to use your real name, or at the very least she shouldn't have used her family name. Didn't he mention that to her?
"Okay, Rose, I hope I'm not scaring you or anything, but I thought I should just warn you about something even though it happened a few weeks ago. You haven't really been back at Kooks while I've been working. You remember what you asked me?"
Rose nodded again.
"I'm sorry for freezing up when you asked that question, but there was a lady in the store who's part of Canwood's whole gang thing. She's. . . I suppose kind of like a spy. But, do you know anything about Canwood's gang?"
Scorpius was incredibly intrigued now and inched a bit closer to hear and see better around the plant. Why would someone place a plant right there? was one question going through his head, but the more pressing question: Why was Rose inquiring about Canwood? And they should really have picked a better spot for a conversation like this. It wasn't good to talk in the open, there could be people listening in. . . like him. . . not that he was complaining.
"I know it's called Snakebitten. . ." said Rose quietly.
"Yeah. Okay, I admit I don't know too much either but the owner of our coffee shop has been 'bitten' as we say. She's now just super corrupt and we have to deal with all these 'dangerous' people who are most likely criminals of some sort coming in the store and dealing drugs and taking money from the till. This gang has actually bitten most of the stores on our street and in the area."
"Oh. Wow," commented Rose.
"Anyway, just be careful what you say in the store. The girl I work with, Katrina, she spends some time with a couple members of the gang. . . and it's just, you never know."
"Alright. Does. . . Canwood come into the store often?"
"Well, usually. But I haven't seen him for quite some time now. I'm sure he'll be back soon though, he does like the banana cakes," Courtney said with a bitter laugh.
Scorpius knew why Canwood hadn't been going to the café lately. He stored that thought in the back of his head.
"Do you by any chance know where he lives?"
Courtney shook her head. "No, I don't want to get involved in the whole thing. I don't know how much longer I'll be working at Kooks. It's really turning into a place where I don't want to be."
"Well, thank you," Rose said. "I've been meaning to come back into the store, but. . . umm haven't really gotten around to it."
"Just be careful next time you do. I don't know what will happen if that lady's back in there, or someone else who is instructed to look for you since you mentioned Canwood's name. I think he's someone kind of important."
Courtney hesitated for a few seconds before she reached into her wallet and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper and a pen. "If you. . . if you have any more questions or anything. Here's my cell number. You can text, or call. Just, well I don't mean to be rude again or anything, but be careful with that paper."
Rose pocketed it. "Thanks. I will be careful. Do you happen to know the time?"
"I think it was around one o' clock when I left the store."
"Oh. Shit." Rose looked around her quickly and sighed. "I better leave. I was supposed to meet someone at one. I might. . . text with some questions some time."
"Okay, yeah, no problem. I'll talk to you later I guess."
Courtney gave a small wave and turned away, walking down the street. Rose stood waiting in the street for a couple of moments for Courtney to get out of sight and then turned towards the alley that Scorpius was situated in.
"Oh bloody hell," Scorpius muttered. He dropped to his knees and disregarding the state of his trousers and shirt that he had so carefully picked out, he crawled behind the dirty bins to the back of the alley so he could apparate back to the restaurant before Rose saw him, or worse, beat him there.
So he was seated, cool and collect on the outside, freshly washed hands and cleaned trousers, already had a fresh cup of coffee that he had grabbed on his way through the kitchen, and a newspaper he wasn't reading open on his lap when Rose came in the restaurant. On the outside he was the epitome of calm. Inside though, he suddenly felt nervous. Nervous and excited for some reason. He didn't know why he was getting jitters now, this was just Weasley. It wasn't like she was some deranged man who didn't know the different between a hammer and a hand (happened three months ago).
Rose had put on a black tuque somewhere between the alley and the restaurant that was pulled down to her eyebrows and covering all her hair. She looked flustered as she looked around the room, finally spotting him in the back corner. She walked straight to him at a fast pace, not looking around her at the room or anybody who was eating.
"Was it a bluff?" she said, standing in front of him, hands on her hips. Scorpius looked her over a few times. Now that she was right in front of him, she seemed different for some reason. He hadn't focused too much when he was hidden in the alley a few minutes ago nor when they were together the previous time.
"Pull up a chair Weasley. You're not getting out of this so easy."
"Was it a bluff?" she repeated. "Could you actually find me in the streets of London?"
He narrowed his eyes. She was insufferable sometimes. He wasn't going to give up the secret that easy. "Why don't you just hope you never have to find out." He gestured to the chair opposite him.
"Malfoy. I'm really not hungry and need to get on my way. All I want to know is if you can actually trace people if you have no idea where they are."
He knew what was different now. Her clothes were baggy on her. She was looking thin. He was going to buy her two lunches today.
There were a few ways he could approach this, the first was to say what he knew – that she was looking for Canwood, without telling her how he knew. She was looking for information and he could see if he could worm out the why in the whole thing. Because he couldn't just let her go after him. He was dangerous and she would probably get hurt by someone in the Snakebitten gang before she even got a whiff of Canwood. The second, perhaps less mature way was that he could continue to antagonize her, for he did enjoy pushing her buttons. The only thing about that approach was that she probably would react differently now than four years ago. He didn't want to make her hate him more or make her run.
Perhaps it was time for a civil conversation for the very first time, if that was possible. He was an adult now for goodness sake, not the highly opinionated boy he had been back at Hogwarts. Option one then.
"I know you're looking for Canwood."
A nuclear bomb couldn't have detonated as fast, she sat down with a thump on the chair. She didn't say anything though. She stared at him with a slight furrow in her eyebrows. Internally Scorpius groaned at her, she shouldn't have made it so obvious that his statement meant something to her. She wasn't playing the game right.
Mackenzie came by. "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked Rose. Rose finally pulled the tuque off her head. And rubbed some of her curls down so they weren't sticking outrageously up.
"Just – water please," she said giving a small smile to her.
"You know you can get coffee if you'd like, or even – wine," said Scorpius after Mackenzie left.
"No. Water's fine."
She was getting just water? Seriously? The prices here weren't too bad. Rose's shoulders were tense and her whole body was displaying how uncomfortable she was. She seemed almost like a cat right now, as if her fur was all raised and she was on the defense. If she started hissing the picture would be complete. Scorpius thought the chances were decent, especially with him seated across from her.
"I'm paying the tab, so get whatever you'd like." This was his chance to show her that he could be a gentleman and mature for once. He slighly puffed out his chest without even realizing it.
She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "No. You aren't."
Scorpius deflated and looked at her in surprise. "I invited you here, I picked the place, I pay. It's common courtesy."
"No. You won't. I'll pay for what I get myself. How do you know Canwood?"
Was she this stubborn back at Hogwarts? Albus was right, he probably shouldn't even have mentioned it. He handed her the menu.
"How do I know Canwood. . . let's see. . . I know the stupid bastard because he almost burnt off my arm with a stinging hex a month ago."
Let's see what she makes of that, he thought. Scorpius took a sip of his coffee and watched her, letting her make the next move. He had the power right now in the conversation. He had information she wanted.
Before she could reply Mackenzie came back with water. "Are you guys ready to order? The special this week is spiced Greek souvlaki salad or wraps."
Scorpius looked at Rose and raised his eyebrows. Her face turned red as she flipped the menu back and forth.
"Can I just get half a bowl of soup? I'm. . . I'm not that hungry."
"Actually, I'll order for the both of us then," Scorpius interrupted. "Can we have two specials, one salad and one wrap – they are quite good Weasley and I know you will like them. Can we also get the stuffed peppers? That should be all. Do you still want the soup?"
"I don't want any of that! I can't aff – " she stopped herself. "Soup is good for me. That's all I need."
"Bring the soup as well – but let's make it a full bowl. Thanks Mackenzie."
Mackenzie looked a little unsure as she looked between the two. Rose's face was slowly getting redder and he of course, on the outside, was the epitome of calm. He winked at Mackenzie and she gave a reluctant nod and went to the kitchens.
Rose's hands were clenched tight around the menu, her knuckles white. "I will leave right now. Malfoy I can't – You're not paying for me. I'll leave right now."
"She's already telling Albus and Avani the order and they've probably already started making it. You would walk out now? And you can't what?"
She turned her face away from his and set down the menu, staring at it without a word. Scorpius internally smiled, he was good. So good. She wanted to leave but at the same time she needed to stay. Scorpius didn't quite understand why she would care if he paid for her. It didn't look like she was eating well anyway and he had plenty of money to go around. He didn't say that to her though, that was probably a little too rude and obtrusive.
After a few minutes of her not saying anything Scorpius decided to tell a little white lie to appease her worries. "If you're family or friends, the first meal is free. So you don't have to pay today. I've already talked to Albus and Mackenzie about it."
Rose let out a shaky breath, but looked relieved. "Really? But they just opened up not too long ago. . ."
"Don't worry about it. We'll go to the kitchen after. You can discuss it with Al."
Rose leaned her head on the hands and looked out the window. She seemed to be fiddling with something on her wrist. She didn't look at him when she asked her next question.
"What do you know about Canwood then?"
"I know he's someone who you should stay away from. He's a dangerous person and rather sneaky for all the weight he carries around."
"Just, please, don't act like you care. I know you don't. Let's pass all that bullshit and how about you just give me information. Where he lives or something. . . "
That stung him. He did care. He just didn't know how to interact with her to show it. He was paying for her food, that was care? She didn't accept it. He thought she was getting into unstable situations and wanted to steer her clear of where she was going. He was warning her about Canwood. That was care, wasn't it? There was something else important he could tell her, but he decided to save it for later.
"All information comes with a price."
She turned her head towards him and looked him in the eyes. Her blue eyes looked scared.
"What do you want?" she said quietly.
Why did she seem so desperate? Why did she want to know where Canwood was so bad? The Ministry didn't even care about him right now; there were more important people out there.
The only thing that was coming to Scorpius's mind was that someone was paying her to get information on Canwood. It would make sense if she was short of money. But he knew Rose wasn't that stupid to accept payment for something like that. What could be other motives though? He couldn't think of anything.
Just looking at how she was acting and reacting right now he almost felt sorry he was putting her in this position. But how else was he supposed to talk to her and keep her here? It was like she was a stranger.
"Information for information."
She drew back in her chair. At the same moment their food was brought out.
"Bon appetit," Mackenzie said cheerfully. "Let me know if you two need anything else."
Their small table was plump with food. Rose stared at it all with wide eyes. "I think you ordered too much food," she said.
Scorpius's stomach growled. "No, I'm hungry. Do you want the salad or the wrap? You have five seconds before I choose. I can eat either."
Rose hesitated. Scorpius gestured impatiently with his hands and Rose cautiously drew back the wrap.
"Excellent," he said. "I'll have the salad."
The food smelled amazing and he just wanted to scarf it down immediately. He loved this restaurant and Albus's cooking. He was never moving out; he and Albus were roommates for life. Albus had no say in the matter.
However, he did have table manners and they were in public right now. His parents would be so ashamed of him; since he'd moved out from home he was becoming, well he was becoming more 'wild' almost. Sometimes he completely disregarded his table manners. He was a large guy; he needed a lot of food to nourish him. He could recall one of the times when he was in the field where he was trapped in a predicament where he was stuck for over 30 hours without food or water. He could appreciate what was in front of him at the moment. And at the moment his stomach was growling.
Rose seemed to be just as hungry as him. Within next to no time the table was empty. They didn't speak at all whilst eating, too focused on food. Scorpius was glad, the last time he was at a restaurant with a girl, she wouldn't shut up and she barely ate anything off her plate before she said she was full. He hadn't taken out a girl since.
Rose had loosened up. Her shoulders were noticeably less tense and she was leaning back in her chair looking content as she looked out the window. He was staring at her again.
"I can't give you information. Is there anything else we can. . . trade?" she asked. She picked up her glass and swirled the water around, the ice clinking against the sides.
Oooh, she set that up. He shouldn't. . . but it was too tempting.
"Sex."
A spray of ice water hit his face. He should have waited for her to put her glass down before he said it. Why did he say that again? It was the food and a full belly that made him say it. He was getting comfortable. Bloody Hell. They weren't ready for comfortable in their - whatever they were. Aquaintances? Friends of friends? Previous school rivals? People who knew eachother but didn't really know eachother? People with too much history to classify them? Possibly. Enemies? No, not enemies.
"So I take that as a no?" He started wiping the water off his face with the napkin.
"You're disgusting."
He shrugged, trying to think of a way to fix it. "I was just curious as to what you would say."
She glared at him. "And what would you have done if I said yes?" Her voice was higher. She was trying to control her temper.
If she said yes. . . Holy hell. Possibilities flew threw his mind. . .
. . . snogging Rose, slipping her shirt from her shoulder. . . unraveling the bun on her head. . . red curls cascading down her naked body. . . but he couldn't. Why did he think that? He didn't fancy her at all. It was Weasley! But his mind wouldn't stop thinking of it so to distract himself from that HUGE and DANGEROUS train of thought he said reflexively, "turn you down of course. Sex with me would be so mindblowing you wouldn't be able to stay away. I have no time for clingy girls."
He needed more food to distract his mouth. Why the hell did he say that end part? He was botching everything up. Shit. They needed to get out of the restaurant before he said something else stupid. He signaled Mackenzie to come with the bill.
Rose leaned forward, put her elbows on the table and covered her face in her hands. She then moved her hands to her hair and gripped it in frustration. "Malfoy. Seriously. Can you be mature for once. You're how fucking old?"
He just about called her on her language. THANK MERLIN he managed to hold it in. Holy hell he was getting more nervous by the second. He was afraid his epitome of calmness on the outside was finally leaking away. Thankfully Mackenzie covertly dropped the bill on the table and Scorpius swiped it up before Rose could blink.
"Shall we go visit Al? He's just through the doors there. We'll continue our discussion out of this place. I'll meet you, I just have to pay for my meal first."
He left her sitting while he paid Mackenzie and when he turned around Rose was already gone.
He walked through the doors to see Rose shaking hands with Avani. Rose and Scorpius stayed for half an hour, talking, while the cooks slowly cooked and started cleaning up around them. The busy lunch hour was over and it was just the few stragglers left who were eating a late lunch. Since Avani was a very approachable and outgoing person, Rose was laughing in no time. Scorpius couldn't stop looking at Rose. She acted so different when she was comfortable; he preferred this Rose.
When they took the back entrance out and it was just the two of them alone he could just feel Rose hide behind her barriers again. It was frustrating. Even more so because he knew they were there because it was him.
"Obviously you're not going to tell me anything. I need to be somewhere, so goodbye." Rose pulled out her wand to apparate away when Scorpius blurted out what he had known the whole time. It's not just so she will stay longer, he told himself.
"Canwood's not in London. He hasn't even been here for the past few weeks. He's in Poland."
Rose's wand clattered to the ground. She looked at him, shocked.
She wasn't leaving, he had her interest again. Good.