Chapter 7- Hot Day and Cool Nights
Rose mopped her face with the edge of her robes, again, in a vain attempt at cooling off. Despite it being October, the weather was unseasonably warm. It was an hour and a half into practice, under the hot sun, and Rose was beginning to understand what hell felt like.
Quincy had run double practices yesterday to prepare for their upcoming match, so Rose hadn't started writing her potions essay until after midnight. Now this heat, coupled with her already strained muscles and mental exhaustion, seemed to make every task feel like a Herculean feat. Even keeping her broom flying in a straight line was taking an inordinate amount of concentration.
"Rose," Quincy was hollering, only egged on by the heat, "Snap out of it or I'll have you flying sprints."
Rose shook off the fatigue and blinked a few times to get a better view of her surroundings. Vlad and Angus were hovering a few meters off. They were supposed to be working on their swing.
"Alright, Angus lets try it again," Rose sighed. Angus pelted a training bludger at Rose. She lined up and swung. The bat made contact with the bludger but spun off in the wrong direction, yet again. Rose tried to tighten her grasp on the bat, but with all the sweat that covered her hands, the bat only slid around uselessly in her grasp. Angus retrieved the bludger and this time threw it at Vlad, who managed to do the exercise properly.
Squaring up again, Rose hoped to have better success at the second shot. Again her bludger was poorly directed.
"Rose you've got to get under the bludger with your swing," Quincy assessed, "Add a little more wrist into the swing."
Rose tried to adjust her swing on the next few throws. Despite this she never seemed to solve her lack of precision. In fact, as her frustration mounted, the swing began to get increasingly cockeyed, until finally one failed bludger popped up and ricocheted into her jaw.
"Rose, be more careful, you're going to kill yourself," Quincy hollered irritably, "I need you to be in top form against Ravenclaw. Go take a cool down lap and come back with your head in the game. What's gotten into you?"
Rose flew off, angry with herself for not performing better. The last ten minutes of practice stretch out endlessly, as she fought to not fall off her broom. When Quincy finally called it quits for the day, Rose drag herself to the shower. Leaning up against the cool tile wall, as cold water hit her face, felt heavenly.
A long nap before dinner did wonders for Roses spirits. A few hours later Rose was ladling a healthy portion of everything within arms reach onto her plate, as Will scooted in-between her and Flow on the bench.
"I thought I'd die out there in the heat," Will groaned, sampling some of Rose's mashed potatoes. "I mean look at my arm, I never knew I could turn this color!"
Indeed, Will was a brilliant shade of red. Flow took the opportunity to poke him in the arm. He shot backwards calling, "Merlin's britches, that hurt woman!"
Vlad who was sitting across the table looked up in mild interest.
"I'd take practice in this weather any day, over another trip to the library," He lamented, "Poppy has us scheduled for a study session tonight. It has got to be a crime against wizard kind to study on a Friday night."
"It won't kill you," Rose informed him.
"But it is the library Rose," Vlad griped, "A bloke can only spend so much time in there before his bollocks fall off from boredom!"
"Oh honest," Rose laughed, "the library is not that bad. I think it is great that Poppy keeps dragging you there. Your marks have never been better."
"It's disturbing Rose. Last week I raised my hand in DADA and knew the answer. It is just too unnatural. Next thing you know I'll be dressed like some smart swot and start wearing spectacles!"
"Yes, I can see it now," Rose smirked, "You'll be fetching with a new monocle."
"You see this face Rose," Vlad said crossly, "It is too ruggedly handsome to be ruined with a monocle."
Rose chocked on her laugh and a bit of green beans.
"I just really need a break from the studying," Vlad informed Rose, "If you would just pop by ever half hour or so tonight, maybe with some smuggled cauldron cakes from the kitchen, I am sure that these study dates would be bearable."
"I'd rather not have Poppy hate me," Rose stated.
"But I need you, my bollocks needs you," Vlad pleaded, batting his lashes ridiculously to illustrate his point.
"Doesn't matter anyways," Rose said, "Scorpius and I are studying for Monday's herbology exam."
"In the library?" Vlad questioned his eyes ablaze with mischief.
"Where else would we study?" Rose asked, not catching the look.
"Excellent, you and Scorpius will study with us," Vlad laughed malevolently, "Make sure you pack some sweets!"
Before Rose could put a word in edgewise Vlad took off across the great hall shouting, "I'm going to inform Poppy of the good news!"
The evening was turning into a vain attempt at studying, due to Poppy and Vlad flirting incessantly. Currently, Vlad was rather obviously making eyes at Poppy over his Copy of A Potionmaster's Handbook.
"I really am sorry," Rose whispered to Scorpius, "Vlad insisted we join him."
"Are his eyes always so wide?" Scorpius returned quietly, "It is a little unnerving."
"Luckily no," Rose responded, before turning the pages on her notes, "Should we review the gestation period of man eating nepenthes next?"
"Oh, I do love the nepenthes," Poppy put in.
"They kill an average of twenty three people a year," Rose said dryly, looking over her notes, "What's not to love."
"I think they are misunderstood," Poppy informed the table, "It's not their fault they need to eat. Harold the one in green house five is a complete gentlemen."
"Do tell me more," Vlad cooed.
Rose sent Scorpius another apologetic look and began to study in earnest. They had gotten about halfway through the material, by blatantly ignoring Poppy and Vlad, when Rose felt something tap her trainer. Passing it off as nothing, she asked Scorpius, "Now what is the usual pray for a four year old Nepenthes?"
"At that stage they move from eating large insect and birds to small mammals," Scorpius supplied, "I believe they prefer Gnomes."
"Correct," Rose informed him. She felt it again. Something was defiantly rubbed against her ankle. She glanced around to see if someone was trying to get her attention, but spotted nothing out of the ordinary, so she decided to continue quizzing Scorpius.
"How often must the nepenthes feed at this time?"
"Once every four to six months, depending on the size of the pray," Scorpius rattled off, "Since it takes nearly a year for them to completely digest the pray nepenthes will have multiple mouths for feeding."
"How large are the mouths at this stage of life?" Rose questioned. Again she felt it, this time it was a little further up her leg, near her calf, and it started to make circle moving up and down her leg. She could no longer ignore it. Rose glanced around the room curiously. She spotted Vlad smirking endearingly at Poppy who sat next to her working studiously.
The thing, that Rose now suspected was a foot, started traveling north up her leg and Rose decided to quickly halt its progression. Reaching down she grasped the offending appendage and gave it a good squeeze. Vlad leapt in his chair with a muffled squawk. Rose sent him a seething glare and silently indicating that Vlad had found the wrong girls leg. Vlad's expression melted into a look of disgust and his foot quickly retreated to the other side of the table. Scorpius observed the interactions of the pair questioningly. Poppy sat unaware of the whole escapade that surrounded her.
"What were you saying Scorpius?" Rose inquired in an effort to return to studying.
"-The largest mouths of the four year old Nepenthes are a half a meter wide," Scorpius replied.
"Oh yes, that's where we are," Rose recalled, finding the place in her notes. Next to her Poppy jumped a little in her seat. Looking over Rose noticed that Poppy seemed presently surprised. Clearly Vlad had finally found the proper set of legs. Poppy giggled and Rose dropped her notes. Thinking better of her declaration to study Rose asked, "Fancy a walk Scorpius?"
"I thought you'd never ask, Weasley," Scorpius countered, quickly collection the study materials that where sprawled across the table. Poppy and Vlad hardly noticed them leave.
Outside the library the halls were dim. It was just late enough that Rose could see the moon out of the corridor window, yet it felt too early to retire to the dormitories. Rounding a bend in the walk she realized that this was the corridor that she and Scorpius had met in a few weeks prior, the day before the Gryffindor Slytherin game. It gave her an odd sense of intimacy to be here with him again. He must have felt it to because his stride faltered ever so slightly.
Grasping at something to break the eerily echoing of their footsteps Rose asked, "How is Albus?"
"Good, I think. I see less of him now that he is Head Boy," Scorpius admitted, "I am surprised he finds time to sleep between meetings, rounds, and Quidditch. I am fairly certain his marks are taking a hit."
"He is rubbish with books. Couldn't sit still as a kid. I can't remember a time when he got good marks. Still, Head Boy suits him. He has always been such a people person," Rose considered.
"Everyone says that," Scorpius started, "- But I think that it was grown out of necessity. I am not sure Albus really ever had the chance to be a wallflower in public. The Albus I know is soft-spoken and guarded but I don't think he show that side to most people. I think it was easier for him to be captivating and gregarious than show his true colors."
Scorpius paused.
"I should thank you for that night, Weasley."
He left the words sitting in the air. It would have been a non sequitur if Rose had not had that exact night on her mind. She searched for some way to respond but all words felt flat and flimsy. She settled on the truth.
"You're welcome. Though, I wish I could do more. I know what it feels like to have tradition against you. I have my own inescapable family history to carry around, though mine is not quite so dark. If it wasn't for Quidditch I am not sure how I'd manage it."
Scorpius cocked his head to the side, "Why Quidditch?"
"Don't get me wrong, I know Vlad and the lads can be right arses most of the time, but they are my arses. At the end of they day they have my back. Around them I'm not the protégé child of the noblest and smartest hero of our generation, I'm just Rose the beater. They keep me honest. I think that is why I ended up in Hufflepuff. I know it not terribly flashy, but in Hufflepuff I have never had to wonder if I belonged. It makes it easier to be yourself," Rose explained.
"I envy you for that. You seem so self assured of who you are," Scorpius admitted.
Rose laughed a little, "Oh I've hardly have that figured out. That's the beauty of it though; with my teammates I don't need to have it figured out. I just need to hit the bludger. If anything you are probably more of a self made person that I. Gryffindors have to fight for what they believe in. You stepped out of your family's shadow age ago."
They had stopped in an alcove where the light from the moon illuminated the space more intensely than the dim corridor, bringing features back into sharp relief.
"You make me sound quite valiant. I've always wondered why I was placed in Gryffindor. Do you remember the sorting?" Scorpius recalled, "The hat barely touched my head and I was sorted. I mean, it took longer to sort Albus and he's a Potter. It is funny thing, the sorting hat, it get to choose destines."
Rose stared at him quizzically.
Scorpius wanted to touch her. Not embrace her or kiss her, just touch her, to make sure she was real. She looked ephemeral in the blue light of the moon. These rare moments alone with her, without the pretext of classes and studying, felt unreal. He kept finding himself vocalizing the things he feared to tell anyone. They would just slip out without him realizing and Rose, to her credit, would listen and keep these secrets. She would tuck them away, not even realizing now special and rare the words were.