the weight of living ⁂ scorpius malfoy

twenty one ⁂ room of requirement

[IMPORTANT: the title has changed for this book (nearly witches) so please DONT DELETE if you do not recognize! it is the same book:)
...carry on.]

February 30, 2022 -
after prefect duties

Scarlett ignored Scorpius during prefect duties, and luckily no students were out past curfew in their assigned corridor. As Scarlett made her way to the prefect bathroom, she took off her robes, letting her dress free.

"Psst." A noise came from behind Scarlett, making her jump. She turned around to see Lilly, who was motioning Scarlett to come to her. Scarlett obliged, turning the sharp corner. Immediately, Lilly grabbed Scarlett's wrist and pulled her down the hallway. Scarlett tried to protest, but Lilly only shushed her. She pulled her through a small door, and before Scarlett knew it, the two of them were outside.

"Lilly!?" Scarlett whispered harshly, and Lilly only smiled.

"Come on. Trust me." She pleaded, and Scarlett reluctantly kept following her after only a moment of hesitation.

Lilly pulled Scarlett into the forest, where the towering jet-black trees were only creepier at night. Fog loomed over the dark grass and Scarlett shivered.

Scarlett quickly recoiled her hand when Lilly loosened her grip as they stopped in a small clearing where the moon shone brightly above them. "Lilly, you're freaking me out."

Lilly was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. I just wanted to show you something."

She glanced towards the seemingly endless darkness, and a small figure peaked out. A little fox trotted out, and Scarlett gasped.

"Scarlett," Lilly gestured to the animal. "meet my pet fox, Voltaire."

The orange creature perked his ears up, but stayed at Lilly's side. Scarlett kneeled on the ground as her dress pooled around her. "Why have you never talked about him?"

"The last person I showed him to freaked out. I didn't want that to happen again." She replied sheepishly, then sat on the forest floor. Lilly stroked Voltaire's fur and spoke to him. "She's a nice one, V."

The fox slowly approached Scarlett. She slowly pet Voltaire's soft fur, and before she knew it, the fox was sleeping between the two girls while they chatted up a storm.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

May 13, 2022

As time flew by, school did as well. Quidditch practices trudged on, as well as prefect duties. Scarlett avoided people as often as possible, with the exception of Gus, Lilly, and James. Gryffindor had lost to Hufflepuff, so the Slytherin quidditch team was eager to win, for this was their last practice before the big game. They had never practiced as hard as they just did, and Scarlett tried her best to keep up. There was only something holding her back. Or maybe a blonde someone.

"Don't you dare start with me, Scorpius." Scarlett stared dead into his eyes as he approached her after practice. Practice was the same as always; Scarlett trying her hardest as Scorpius criticizes her (which only makes her work harder).

"Hmm. Cranky today, aren't we?" He mocked. Scarlett tilted her head in confusion. He was so weird, she thought. One minute, he's yelling at her, the next, he's teasing her. Scarlett mounted her broom and flew up and away, without a word.

Scarlett dashed around in the sky, her hair waving behind her. A voice from below causes Scarlett to look. It was James. "Hey, Scarlett?"

"Yeah?" She answered, flying down below to him so she didn't have to shout.

"I was wondering if you could meet me in the seventh-floor corridor after dinner?" He smiled his movie star grin, and Scarlett turned a shade of pink.

"Um, sure." She hesitantly replied, not sure what his intentions were. She then proceeded to the Great Hall for dinner, where she sat with Lily.

Scarlett stared at the crowded painting filled walls of the great hall and remembered that just a few short months ago it was covered in white and glittering icicles. She ate slowly next to Lily, who was reading a book in Spanish.

"Hey Lil," Scarlett attempted conversation. "What's your book about?"

Lily immediately looked up from her book and to Scarlett and shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure."

Scarlett let out a quiet 'oh'.

"I wanted to ask you something," Lily said.

"Well I want to answer something." Scarlett replied, and Lily let out a light chuckle.

"I was wondering if over the summer we could exchange letters or something, so we could stay in touch?"

Scarlett smiled. "That actually sounds perfect."

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

May 13, 2022 - after dinner

Scarlett headed to the seventh floor, brushing her hair with her fingers as she walked past other students. She spotted James, who was accompanied by— of course — Scorpius. She sighed, her smile faltering.

"Hey." She said quietly. A large tapestry that she usually got a kick out of stared at her; it was a picture depicting Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls ballet. But right now, Scarlett was confused on why James had called her up here and why Scorpius was with them. Scarlett and Scorpius shared a confused glance, but it got even odder when James started pacing.

"What are you doing, James?" Scarlett asked him the same time Scorpius said "What are you planning?".

The two only received a hand of silence from James. Scorpius leaned over, explaining what he was doing.

"He's trying to get into the room of requirement." He clarified. "But why, is the question."

Scarlett recognizes the name, but didn't think anything of it when she heard Albus or the house elves talking about it. Suddenly, a door appeared out of no where, causing her to gasp. Scorpius and James laughed. "What?"

"How do you not know of this place?" Scorpius asked.

"Well," Scarlett started, but unfortunately she was not a automatic generator of sassy comebacks. "how do you know about it?"

"My dad." He looked over to James.

"Same." James smiled as he put his hand on the door nob, twisting it. "Come on in.

Scarlett rolled her eyes, approaching the door. Scorpius hesitantly followed her into the mysterious room. Scarlett stopped immediately, for the room was only closet size. It was filled with photographs and games, but was so small Scarlett could only take four steps and be at the other side.

"What the hell, James?" Scorpius spun around, only to have the door slam shut in his face, James on the other side. He turned the door nob frantically, but it was locked.

Scarlett pulled out her wand, but Scorpius had already beat her to it. "Alohomora!"

The lock didn't budge, despite his unlocking charm. "James! Let us out!" Scarlett yelled.

"No." James's muffled voice spoke with sincerity. "For the past few weeks, I think you two have been dragging Slytherin quidditch down. You deliberately don't pass to each other, and talk even less on the field, unless you're yelling at each other. You were screaming at Scarlett so much she passed out, and Scorpius, you didn't even notice. You need to understand something. I'm graduating this year. I wont be here next year and despite what I told you Scarlett, I don't want Will to be captain. I want you two to be co-captains. I already worked it out with Will, and he'll pose as captain while you two are the real masterminds. But in the mean time, you're ruining each other. And I'm not letting this team go down the trash. This room is enchanted to only unlock when you make up, so I hope you guys have enough common sense to not miss your classes tomorrow. All in all, sort out your problems. Goodbye."

"JAMES!" Scorpius yelled. There was no response. There was only the sound of decrescendoing footsteps, and the two of them knew James was gone.