the weight of living ⁂ scorpius malfoy

twenty eight ⁂ lake house

August 3, 2022

"What are you doing here?" They asked each other in unison.

"Rose invited me. My girlfriend." Scorpius.

"Well, James invited me. My.. uh friend." Scarlett crossed her arms, then realized she still had a ton of stuff on her. "What time is it?"

"Around 9. All the parents have gone to bed and I have no idea where anyone else is." Scorpius said before he disappeared into a room, leaving Scarlett confused. She set her belongings down — as well as her coat — and started to wander around the house to find a friendly face. She passed a huge dining table and kitchen to find herself on the back porch. She looked out to see James playing with some kids. Scarlett couldn't tell who was who because it was pitch black.

"Who are you?" A voice makes Scarlett jump. She turned around to see Bellamy Brooks and Albus. Bellamy was about her height, brown curly hair and hazel eyes. Freckles dotted his face that always seemed to have a smile on it. He was Albus's partner in crime, and the two sure did some crime together. "Oh, hey Scarlett."

"Hey, Albus. Bellamy." Scarlett smiled before motioning to her things in the living room. "So where do I put my stuff?"

"Oh, all the girls are staying in one room and the guys in another." She followed Albus and Bellamy into the living room, where Albus pointed to the room Scorpius just came out of. "There should be an empty bed."

"Thanks." She replied, picking up her bags and dragging them upstairs. Scarlett opened the door to a room with four beds in an order on the wall. It was very spacious and reminded her of the dorms in Hogwarts, besides the floor covered in fluffy rugs and the red headed girl sitting on the bed. Scarlett immediately headed towards the empty bed, conveniently next to Rose's.

"Hi, Rose." Scarlett greeted. She didn't like Rose that much, but she really hadn't done anything wrong to Scarlett.

Rose looked up from her magazine and studied Scarlett head to toe before answering. "Hey, uh... what's your name again?"

Scarlett put her stuff on the bed and walked out without replying because now she didn't like Rose at all.

Scarlett walked down the stairs to hear James's laugh. "James!"

"Hey, Scarlett!" He looked up. "When did you get here?"

"Only a few minutes ago. This house is absolutely beautiful."

"Wait till you see the view." James smiled. "Sorry, I wasn't here when you arrived. I was hanging with Hugo because his friend couldn't make it."

"It's fine. Scorpius gave me a warm welcome." Scarlett looked out the window. It was very dark outside, and she could only see the flickering of reflection in the water. "Do you have any food? I'm starving."

"Yeah, we ate dinner awhile ago, let's see what we have left..."

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August 3, 2022 - a browse through the fridge later

Scarlett laughed as James pulled out a box of cereal and milk. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He replied, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"So," Scarlett said between bites, "What's there to do here?"

James smirked. "A lot. We have a whole lake with kayaks, campfire, and a beach. We might go out to Hogsmeade, and we all brought our quidditch brooms."

Scarlett smiled. The two continued to talk, mostly about their summers so far, the lake house, and Scarlett's new hair color until it was almost midnight and she was yawning.

"Scarlett, it's summer. You can't be getting tired at twelve o'clock." James chuckled.

"Sorry.." She said, stretching. "Maybe you can help me pull an all-nighter."

"You're on," He smirked. "But you should probably go to bed. See you in the morning, Scar."

Scarlett made her way towards the stairs but stopped in realization. "Did you just call me Scar?"

"Yeah, is that okay?"

She grinned, staring at his bright green eyes that glimmered in the candlelight. "It's totally okay."

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August 4, 2022

Scarlett woke up to yelling. Her eyes flickered open to see the beds around her empty, which made her scramble out of bed. There were no clocks, so the sweet greasy smell of bacon made her assume it was morning. She quickly threw on a pocket shirt and jean shorts before throwing her messy hair into a bun and rushing downstairs where it sounded like everyone was.

"She's awake!" A familiar voice yelled from the kitchen. Scarlett headed into the kitchen where, in fact, everyone was. Professor Potter smiled from in front of the stove while all the kids sat around the living room, eating. A man —who seemed to be the spitting image of Rose— handed Scarlett a plate, smiling. She quickly said thank you before taking a seat next to James on the couch.

"Here it comes," James whispered to Scarlett before all four adults become crowding around her.

"Sorry, we weren't here to greet you last night, Scarlett." A woman said behind Scarlett, drowning out the chatter of the other kids. "I'm Hermione Weasley. James's aunt."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley," Scarlett replied.

"I'm her joyous husband." The man who gave her her breakfast said while giving Hermione a kiss on the cheek.

Another woman came around, handing out glasses of milk and water to everyone before introducing herself. "I'm James's mom. Nice to finally meet you, Scarlett. I'm sure you know Harry, my husband."

"Yes," Scarlett replied right as she glanced over to her teacher. He waved, then continued back to his cooking.

"I'm glad you could make it." Hermione smiled as the adults went to their own tables.

The group was silenced by their food and only decided to talk when James asked a question. "So, what are we going to do first?"

Scorpius, Bellamy, and the younger ginger girl — Scarlett assumed to be Lilly — looked up while everyone else was focused on their breakfast.

"I mean, it's a lot warmer today so I guess we could go to the beach," Bellamy suggested.

Scorpius nodded, which was enough for James to decide it was a good idea. "Alright. Let's go to the beach!"