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Push & Pull

Chapter 4

Drinking with the Cousins

Roxanne and Rose often hosted small parties at their flat. It had a great sitting area with plenty of space, and a built in bar to the kitchen. If they really wanted to party, Roxanne would invite some of her Quidditch mates. Rose would usually set up, stocking everything and making sure nobody puked on their (finally) matching set of furniture.

Rose was not quite sure how she felt about Roxanne taking it upon herself to set up, claiming she'd invited the whole Cannons team. She was still unsure about whether she needed a four day nap, or a bottomless bottle of wine.

Rose couldn't watch Roxanne try to freeze and set up an ice luge, so she headed down the road to pregame for her own party. Much to her surprise, she noticed an unmistakably large dark haired wizard in the crowded street.

"Al!" she hurried down the cobblestone, catching up to her cousin. Albus Potter turned around just in time for Rose to hug him around the waist.

"Rose!" Albus exclaimed, hugging her back tightly, "It's been too long."

"That's not my fault Mister Auror-in-training! You barely have time to breathe in that damn program, what kind of ship is your father running?" Rose shoved his chest, distancing herself. Albus had always been a big guy, but he had filled out even more since the last time she saw him. Big bundle of pure muscle he was. It made him an unstoppable force on the Quidditch pitch, and she was sure it didn't hurt with his training.

Albus leaned forward, "I'm actually about to do a little day drinking on my day off. Care to join me?" he linked his arm in hers, pulling her along regardless of her response.

"I would love to!" she responded as if it mattered, "I know the perfect spot!"

The Dragon's Place was dead, which suited a Potter and a Weasley just fine.

"Tell me everything that you've been doing recently, Rose," Albus inquired, spinning to face her at the bar.

"Oh, I'd much rather hear about your adventures," Rose covered. The last thing she wanted to do was relive the day's tragedies, especially since they involved Albus's supposed best friend.

"This is gonna be a long night," Albus laughed, sipping his butterbeer. They sat in a comfortable silence, each dwelling in the things that brought them to a bar at 4pm.

"I've had some… Work... Tensions," Rose flinched at her own wording and Al laughed.

"Not with Sam..?" Albus slowly asked.

"Oh god no, he's as gay as Christmas," Rose giggled then bit her lip, considering the situation. It really was a bit messed up. She didn't want to put Albus in an awkward situation, and it wasn't a secret that Scorpius and her didn't get along throughout hogwarts. The one incident didn't change that.

"Sarah and I broke up," Albus blurted, downing most of his drink.

Rose sputtered on a sip, getting butterbeer all over her shirt. "Oh, you win," Rose threw her hands in the air. She knew just what they needed: two firewhiskeys to kick off the pity-fest… And a napkin.

"It was a while ago, actually," Albus pulled his tie loose, "A few months."

"So why does that bring you here today?" Rose questioned. Albus flinched, sliding his empty butterbeer to the bartender and pulling the whiskey close.

"I decided that three rebound hookups were enough. I'm officially looking for a new partner," he admitted. Rose considered for a long moment, swishing the whiskey in her glass.

"I might be able to help with that. Are you busy tonight?"

…

The party was in full swing by the time Rose stepped into her flat. Albus had conditionally accepted her invitation. He was bringing some Auror buddies, and desperately needed to change out of his work robes. Rose looked around and was suddenly glad she wore her little black dress. Quidditch players could clean up real nice.

Rose heard someone calling her name from across the room and looked to the kitchen to see Roxanne motioning her over, "Luge with me!" she seemed to mouth. Rose rolled her eyes, but pushed her way to the kitchen nonetheless.

Squashed in her tiny kitchen was James Potter pouring a bright blue liquid down the flat ice sculpture. It flowed down into the mouths of the two burly beaters of the Cannons. Rose giggled when one of them coughed, losing half the shot on his shirt. "Your turn, little Red!" James pointed to Rose with the bottle.

An obscene amount of alcohol later, and Rose was dancing in her livingroom. She wasn't dancing alone, but she made sure to bounce around so that nobody held onto her for too long. Someone pushed her into a wall of a wizard and she grinned.

"Albus, you made it!" She raised her cup, spilling a little butterbeer. Albus grinned and tapped his cup to hers. She grabbed his arm and pulled him off the dance floor, looking for a tall thin friend of hers.

"Woah Rosie, slow down!" Albus tried to say, but Rose was on a mission. It took two sweeps of dragging Albus around the perimeter, but she finally found her target refilling in the kitchen.

"Alice!" Rose swung Albus into the doorframe, his massive build blocking anyone else from entering, "Meet my cousin Albus, he's single!"

Alice closed the fridge and gaped at Rose. "You do know that I've met Albus? We were in the same classes, honestly Rose…"

"Yeah, but you haven't met met Albus." Rose rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip. Albus sipped his cup, avoiding Rose's accusing glare, and Alice shuffled one foot on the floor. "Oh, come on." Rose groaned, pulling the two closer together, "Go dance or something you nerds." Rose waved a hand, exiting the kitchen.

When Rose re-entered the living room, she felt things spin a little. Alright, maybe I need to sit down, she reasoned, searching for an open seat. She couldn't even see her couches there were so many people. She didn't really have a coherent thought as she made her way to the door, pushing out into her building. Rose stumbled down the hallway and down the stairs, holding her cup between her teeth and grasping at the railing with both hands. When Rose finally made her way out the door onto the street, she noticed she wasn't alone.

"Oh, fuck this," Rose said, and her cup fell out of her mouth, dropping on the cobblestone. Scorpius Malfoy was leaning against the side of her building, a flask in his hand. To her surprise, he was wearing a button down and jeans. Rose gaped for a second. She honestly didn't think he owned anything other than dress robes. And he did not look happy.

"Shit," she muttered, leaning over to grab her cup and scoop up what was left of her dignity. She straightened too quickly and started to see stars, so she leaned against the building too, clutching her empty cup with two hands.

Scorpius Malfoy now looked a little happy. The corner of his mouth twitched up, and Rose felt butterflies. Yeah, definitely fuck this.

The two stood in silence for long moments as Rose tried to find her center of gravity again. She was clearly sloshed, but there was nothing she could do about it now. In her efforts to try not to dig herself into a hole, she bit her lip, trying to keep her drunk honesty closed up inside of herself. She finally got her shit together.

"I should go…" she muttered, putting a hand on the door. He grabbed her arm and it was the sensation more than the action that stopped her from running as fast as she could.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius flinched and pulled back. He tried for the cool demeanor again, but at this point, Rose was having none of it. It felt childish. He took a long sip of a flask and grimaced at the burn, "Fuck." After a moment he took a deep breath, "I remember that night so vividly."

Rose felt a buzzing in her ears, and her world slowed to a screaming halt. her brow furrowed with confusion. She opened her mouth to ask questions, and Scorpius took a step back, laughing at himself.

"I've been standing out here wondering whether I should come in and tell you or not," Scorpius said, throwing an arm in the air. Rose felt like her vision was pinching at the outsides. The regular late night bustle of Diagon Alley was off in the distance, and her head tuned it out until all she could hear was her own heartbeat.

"Rose, after we…" Scorpius closed his mouth, considering his words very carefully. He looked at her. Really looked at her for a moment, and she felt a tiny spark in her chest. At the same time, Rose caught a spark in Scorpius's eyes. "You're wasted, we should talk about this…"

The cup dropped out of Rose's hands and she threw herself at him.

Scorpius was clearly surprised by this development, but Rose wasn't actually comprehending his reaction, she only knew that once her lips were pressed against his, the spark in her chest started to kindle, roaring into a dull fire. Rose was floating, her world no longer spinning. Scorpius was firm against her, unmoving, and Rose pushed further, grabbing his button-up and pulling him closer. Something snapped and he finally melted against her, opening his mouth and deepening the kiss. Rose felt herself moan into Scorpius's mouth, and then the world was cold again, nothing holding her down.

Now everything was bad spinning again.

"I'm sorry," Rose whispered, dropping her cup and slipping into the door.

It wasn't like the romance novels she liked to read. He wasn't following, calling out to her, no promises that everything would be peaches and cream. Rose ran up the stairs wanting nothing more than to throw herself into her bed.

But when the door to her flat few open, and there was still a party in full swing.

My room is down the hall. Rose thought to herself like a mantra, over and over. She pushed her way through people, the colors of the room blending together. Just a few more feet.

Her hand fumbled on her doorknob, and she fell more than walked into her room. All of a sudden, the carpet rushed op to her face. Then the door was closed and she was sobbing. After that it was a blur, but at some point, she remembered Roxanne coming in.

"Oh, honey," she cooed, scooping Rose up off the ground and somehow getting her into bed with a hangover potion. She had no sense of time as she cried herself to sleep next to her best friend.

...

Rose was in the lab before the sun was up the next day. She had missed a day of work to clean out her office, and needed to keep her mind on something other than her life. She buckled herself down with her newest project. Papers were scattered all over her desk, calculations and textbooks strewn about. "Okay," she muttered to herself, "Intensifying. What has properties…" Rose was lost in old medieval plant books.

There was a large creek, and Rose looked up to see an old round witch wobbling over with two steaming mugs.

"Oh, Millie!" Rose laughed, "You scared me." she took the mug gratefully, going straight back to work.

"What's this?" she asked, picking up one of Rose's pages of notes, "The Mopsus Potion? I don't think I'm familiar with that."

"Named after the Greek Seer Mopsus," Rose sipped her tea, "He had fantastic abilities and wanted to take on an apprentice, but nobody he knew had the gift," she searched her piles quickly, pulling out an old dusty scroll and handing it to Millie.

Millie unraveled the scroll, looking at a list of very old-fashioned ingredients. Her face twisted with annoyance.

"His son offered to learn, but you can't create gifts like the Sight," Rose spun to Millie with a twinkle in her eye, "Except that he tried."

"He managed to create the Mopsus Potion, named not for himself, but for his son whom he tested it on. Apparently, it gave him temporary Sight and possible telekinesis?" Rose spun back to her stack of papers, pulling one out and scribbling a note, "I'm not quite sure, but I plan to find out."

Millie looked back to the scroll. Most of the ingredients would need to be ordered, and a few were hard to find in this century. "This is a bit of a pace change from improving on health potions," she put the paper back on a book, "What happened to the less painful Skele-gro?"

"Oh you can still work on that," Rose flipped a page, losing herself to the project again, "This could really help the Auror department though, you know? Be able to predict a scene before you go, decide what resources you need and how dangerous it is."

"There's definitely great things that could come from that Miss Weasley. Good luck," Millie nodded, heading over to her own bench.

By the time noon came around, Alice had to force Rose to take a break for lunch. Through protests and complaining, Rose was finally torn from her work and on her way to the office. Okay, I think I still have a salad in the shared fridge. If I down that in like ten minutes, I can start brewing by-

Her thought process halted as she walked into her office, because she was suddenly reminded of why it looked different. Scorpius stood as she entered, and Rose felt like cold water was dumped down her back.

"I think we need to talk."

Author's Note: I'm going off of google stuff, so there will be some more potions talk coming up that may be incorrect, though I will try my hardest. If I get something blatantly wrong, or it's unrealistic, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I love to fix things. Thanks again for the kudos and feedback! Now that the world has been set up, things are going to get interesting quickly (I hope!) Keep your eyes out, and keep that feedback coming! I love getting the email that says what you think. Fireflies