If I Fall for You [Harry Potter: Next Generation]

21. The Light

The dark green of his robes made his eyes seem even more striking. They struck Rose dumb, as a matter of fact. She allowed him to take her hand and they began threading their way through the crowds.

Rose felt a leap of relief at the warmth of his hand. It was difficult not to, with the image of his crumpled, half-dead form still fresh in her consciousness.

"Hey, check it out." Scorpius craned to peer over the shoulders of a couple seventh-years. "It's the Champions!"

Rose stood on tiptoe to get a better look. Sure enough, there were the three Triwizard Champions... wait, no, there were only two, of course. Madame Chappelle had decided it would be best if Beaubaxtons simply did not participate in the Tournament, and the group had departed quietly the previous evening.

"Wait a minute," Rose exclaimed, then lowered her voice so only Scorpius could hear. "Look! It's Farah!" She jabbed an excited finger in the direction of the smiling blonde who stood hand in hand with the lanky Durmstrang Champion, resplendent in a do-up that Rose had trouble believing had been done in under ten minutes, as it had.

Scorpius wrinkled his nose. "Farah? Farah Tourneaux?"

"Yeah, her! Wow, she never told me she was going with him!"

"What's so great about him?" Scorpius wondered, sounding slightly piqued all of a sudden.

"Well, he's our Champion..."

"True," Scorpius agreed, his tone unconvinced.

At that moment a hush fell over the crowd. The doors of the Great Hall were thrown open in a sudden explosion of festive splendour, and an excited murmuring rippled over the students before increasing into the usual deafening chatter as everyone seated themselves.

"Nice," Scorpius commented, gaze travelling over the Hall. And indeed, Hogwarts really had outdone themselves this year — millions upon millions of little stars seemed to be reflecting in rapid, kaleidoscope-like succession within his cold eyes, and the pungent scent belonging to the towering Christmas trees accented the trees' majestic, ornamented statures in ways Rose had never quite experienced. You didn't have to be warm to feel warm, here. You could smell Christmas on the very air.

"Scorpy!" Trilled an all-too-familiar voice. Cynthia hopped down to sit next to Scorpius and leaned towards him conspiratorially, eyes narrowed, a teasing smirk playing on her lips. "I won!"

Rose sighed dramatically. "Thia... don't. Just don't even."

"What?" Cynthia pouted, crossing her arms. "Why are you trying to destroy my hopes and dreams? Everyone's hopes and dreams, for that matter?!"

"Hopes and dreams?" Scorpius inquired mildly, a suspicious undertone hidden beneath his cold voice. "And what might that entail?"

Feigning shock, Cynthia stared at him in total silence before rasping, "What's up with you males and your obliviousness?"

Rose facepalmed.

"You haven't heard?" Cynthia continued in hushed tones, ignoring Rose. "It's everywhere... everyone's talking about it... it's the next biggest thing... and you haven't heard?"