Forward In Time

Chapter Eight:

EDITED: Chapter Nine:

“I'm not hungry.”

“I don't care.”

“I don't want to.”

“Eat anyways.”

I sighed, looking down at the plate Scorpius had piled high for me before taking the first bite, shuddering in disgust as it slid down my throat.

“Now keep doing that.” I looked up to the gray, unwavering eyes of a Malfoy as he stared me down, daring me to put my fork down, and I could swear his eyes promised torture if I did. Well, not literally, but still.. I lifted the fork and stabbed another bite of diced potato then shoved it in my mouth.

“Yum,” I muttered sarcastically.

As supper ended, Scorpius and I walked side by side to the Black Lake as we'd been doing for the last three weeks since my near death experience. I'd been doing better, I'd gained weight at the least. My hair seemed fuller, my nails prettier and less fragile, not to mention I filled out my clothing a lot better than I had in years.

The first thing I noticed was the giant squid in the shallow part of the lake, soaking in the last rays of the sun and I was reminded of not so long ago. Fred, George and I loved to come out to the lake and pet the giant squid, it loved us for sure. Everyone else was terrified of him.

Grinning, I stepped away from Scorpius and headed to the lake, ignoring Malfoy's calls as he trailed after me. Once he realized what I was doing, I sped up, dodging his hands as he tried to catch me.

“Are you mad? Don't go near there!”

Giggling, I made a run for it, running onto the dock before doing a cannonball off of it. “Spencer, please come back out,” Scorpius seemed to plead, his eyes darting from the squid to me, as I was only 20 feet away from his massive body.

“No. You should definitely come in!”

I slowly swam over towards Luis (the name we'd given the squid in our third year) and grabbed hold of the first tentacle I could spot and proceeded to pet it.

“You're mad,” Scorpius mumbled as he sat down at the end of the dock, his eyes still glittering with worry.

“And you're Scorpius.. your point is?”

* * *

Yawning, I made my way down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next day with Cherish Burbage at my side, though she was skipping along happily.

“How can you possibly be so energetic at six in the morning?” I questioned, rubbing my eyes and stumbling over a step on the staircase.

“This is our last week at Hogwarts before winter holidays! How can I not be excited to go back home?”

I paused in my steps, causing someone to knock into me from behind and I fell the rest of the six steps down, moaning slightly as my body stopped moving from the momentum. 

"Oh my gosh!  Spencer, are you all right?" Cherish questioned, kneeling over my body with her hands hovering above me as if not knowing if I was safe to touch.   I quickly took an inventory of all my body parts, assessing that nothing was broken though my back definitely did hurt something fierce. 

"Yeah, just help me up, will you?" 

After being hoisted up, I turned around to give a piece of my mind to whoever had bumped into me on to notice that whoever it had been hadn't stuck around long enough to even see if I were all right.  "How rude.." I muttered, dusting myself off slightly before turning back towards Cherish as we continued towards the Great Hall. 

Last week before the holidays.. I suppose I had no choice but to stay at Hogwarts while everyone I knew went to visit their friends and family.  There was always the knowledge that i could ask James or Remus to let me come stay with them, but I didn't want to impose on them or come between their family time after months of being apart from each other. 

I'll figure it out later, I promised myself.

*  *  *

The week went by too quickly for my own liking and I'd still not figured out what I'd do for the holidays, which started tomorrow.  Sighing, I picked Echo up off of my stomach and sat up out of bed, looking at the other empty bed next to me.  Everyone was already up and probably down eating breakfast.  Making sure Echo had food and water, I quickly got dressed and hurriedly ran a comb through my hair, wincing every so often as I came across a knot. 

"Mew."

I turned my attention to the tiny kitten play with her own tail and awe'd silently before rushing over and cuddling her to my face.

"So adorable" I grinned,  smiling widely as her green eyes stared up into my own.  Glancing towards my watch, I quickly set her down. "Shoot.  Sorry Echo, I have to get to the Great Hall before breakfast is all gone or Scorpius will throw a hissy fit!"

I rushed towards the noisest room in the entire school, breathing a near silent sigh of relief that I'd made it just in time.  Crisis avoided.