Little Things

Chapter Twenty-Six

Rose Weasley

"Rose?" Rose turned to the sound of her name, seeing Albus standing there. Rose had gone to the library, one of her favorite places, after talking to Albus about her concerns for Scorpius. For the past hour she had been completely immersed in a book, until now.

"Albus," she said, moving her chair at the table she was at over a little so Albus could sit. Albus sat down, looking rather flustered. "What's up? Did you talk to Scorpius?"

Albus nodded. "I talked to him alright."

"And?"

"He's definitely been drinking again. Whenever I try and talk to him about it, he always gets incredibly defensive. He told me to leave him alone, so I should probably stay away from him for the next couple of days." Albus sighed, slouching down in his chair. He fidgeted with his hands, which rested in his lap.

Rose took a deep breath. She knew that Scorpius had more than likely been drinking again, but had hoped there was some chance that he hadn't been. It worried her sick, because she didn't know what she could do. She hadn't had to deal with someone with a drinking problem and especially not someone this close to her.

"Well," she started, "What do you think we should do?"

Albus thought for a moment. Rose could almost see the wheels trying to turn in his head. "I have no clue. I've dealt with his situation before, but he always said he would fix it and I believed him. I feel stupid for not checking up on him before."

Rose reached out her hand, laying it gently on Albus's arm. "Don't feel stupid, Al. We all, I mean, everyone who is around him have faced it at some point or another and none of us have done anything about it. Scorpius is really good at putting on a mask, hiding his emotions from onlookers. I think he gets that from his father." Rose sighed.

Albus leaned his face in his hands, clearly worried and processing what Rose had said. "Yeah, I know he does, which is what worries me the most. His dad is who is causing this. He's not being a present father, plus the whole separation with his parents is throwing Scorpius over the edge."

"If we could just figure out how to get his parents back together, like that American Muggle movie The Parent Trap, maybe Scorpius would stop drinking."

Albus smiled a little. "I don't think that's going to work Rosie."

Rose sighed, a slight smile on her face. "I know, but it was worth a try. But what do you think we can do? I mean, I feel awful just sitting here, not doing anything."

"I think what we need to do the most is just spend time with him. Since you two are now a couple, maybe doing couple-y things will help him keep his mind off of everything. And try talking to him. I know Scorpius is a pretty private person, but maybe if he was talking to you he would open up more."

"Okay and maybe if you spent more time with him too, he'd get a little better. I mean, it's worth a shot."

"Alright," said Albus, "We've got ourselves a plan."

Scorpius Malfoy

Scorpius came inside after sitting under the tree for a long time. He just needed time to collect his thoughts and think about everything. He came to the conclusion that he really needed to stop drinking, because he couldn't stop replaying the scene he'd had with Albus over and over in his head. He knew his best friend was just trying to look out for him and he had snapped at him for no reason. The alcohol was making him like this and he hated it.

He didn't even want to think about Rose and how it was affecting her. Finally, he gets to be her boyfriend and then he starts drinking again. He shouldn't be putting her through that. It was all because of his dad.

Scorpius roamed around the castle halls for awhile, completely lost in his own thought. Gradually he made his way up to the Ravenclaw Tower, hoping to just make into his dormitories without having to talk to anyone, especially Rose. Luckily, everyone seemed to be out of the common room so Scorpius was able to make his was peacefully to his dorm.

When he arrived in his room, he found that a letter had been left on his bed, probably left by his owl Mimi. Scorpius picked it up and saw that it was addressed to him, in his father's handwriting. Scorpius scowled, but tore open the letter anyway.

Dear Scorpius,

Well, I hope you are making good progress in school now that you are back there after the holidays. You must remember to always keep up our family name. You're grandfather would never forgive you if you disgraced it.

Now, for the reason I am writing. Headmistress McGonagall has asked me if I will come and give a seminar, talking about my work as an Auror. She has also asked Harry Potter to come along and talk about our experiences together. I should be arriving sometime next week and will be there for a few days.

I look forward to seeing you and I thought, perhaps, we could have lunch together in Hogsmeade while I'm there, give us a chance to catch up.

Well, I shall see you soon. Keep doing well in school.

Sincerely,

Draco Malfoy

Scorpius sat down on his bed, holding the letter in his hand, squeezing it so tight the page started to crinkle up. Why did his father have to be coming to his school? Scorpius was fine just having to deal with him over breaks and holidays, but not during the school year. Now his father could actually talk to his teachers about how he was doing in school and lecture him in public on why he needed to perform better.

All of his thought were rushing through his head when, when the door to his dormitory opened up and Lawrence walked in. Lawrence looked a little flushed and sort of stumbled into the room, almost as if he'd been drinking...

Scorpius looked in Lawrence's hands and saw a bottle of Fire Whiskey in clear view. The first thought that popped into Scorpius's head was that, why on earth did he have Fire Whiskey with him just walking around the school? But then Scorpius thought better of that and realized he wanted some Fire Whiskey too.

"Hey mate," said Lawrence, clearing intoxicated, stumbling over to Scorpius's bed. "Care for a drink?"

Scorpius thought for a second, then took the bottle out of Lawrence's hand and took a long swig.

Rose Weasley

Rose had left the library after her talk with Albus, her mind solely on Scorpius. She really hoped their plan would work or at least help in the slightest. She couldn't stand to see him like that, especially when the tiny thought that this might be her fault popped into her head. Of course it wasn't her fault, Scorpius had had a drinking problem long before they started dating. You're being ridiculous Rose, she told herself.

Rose had almost made it to the Ravenclaw Tower, when she was stopped. Someone had run up to her and put their hand on her shoulder. Rose turned and saw that it was Christian. Rose was less than thrilled to see him, but she decided to make polite conversation with him.

"Hello Christian, how can I help you?" Rose asked, trying her best to be cordul but fake sweetness laced through her words.

"Well," he started, clearly upset, "You can start by apologizing to me!"

Rose was a little taken aback. "Apologize to you? What on earth for?"

"Ever since word got out about my thing with Jo, no girl has wanted to date me! I blame you! You're the one who discovered us."

Rose actually laughed out loud at how ridiculous he was being. "You can't be serious Christian Wood. This is entirely your fault and you have no one to blame but yourself. Man, you are not the guy I thought you were." Rose turned to go, but was stopped by Christian's arm.

"Rose, you have to help me. Please, I need to get past this and prove to the school that I am that sweet guy you used to date. Please." Rose looked at Christian's face, with his pleading eyes and sorrow.

Rose sighed. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"Will you go out with me? Again?"