Epiphany |Scorpius Malfoy|

Chapter Nineteen

The talk between Isabelle and Scorpius did not end on a good note. When the boy had told everything to Albus, his friend could not help but express his concern.

"I don't know, Scorpius," he muttered the next morning when they were alone in their dormitory. "She still sounds pretty angry to me."

"You have no idea," he admitted, "I have never seen her like this before."

"This is bad," he shook his head, "I don't like it at all."

"She said she would be in the ball though," the blond muttered, a hopeful edge in his tone, "that has got to mean something, right?"

"What if she goes to the ball and does not speak to you at all?" he questioned.

At the thought, he shook his head. "I don't even want to think of something like that happening. Goodness, how could I have been such an idiot?"

Albus watched as his friend placed his hands over his face and let out a loud groan. "I messed up."

"You did, that's true," he admitted, "but you could still make things right."

Scorpius looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "How?"

"Tell her you like her?"

"Absolutely not!" he exclaimed. "She would be even more angry than before. For me to admit that I like her, I first have to make things right between us."

"And when do you plan on doing that?"

"Perhaps on the train ride," he mumbled, "I don't want us to meet at the ball and still be in not friendly terms."

His friend frowned slightly. "Don't you think you are asking for too much? She is obviously still angry. What makes you think that you'll make her forgive you in less than a week?"

"Nothing," he admitted, "but I am certainly going to try."

True to his word, Scorpius tried to make things right between them again in that last week of school before they had to leave for Christmas holidays. He greeted her every morning in the Great Hall with a smile and generally made sure that whenever he saw her, he would take some of his time to speak to her.

At first, Isabelle was still apprehensive, but as the days passed, he actually managed to receive a smile or two from her in return. Slowly, things were beginning to return to normal.

However, a certain awkwardness remained. In Potions, the two had started talking again, but any talk between them did not involve much eye-contact, and all in all, she seemed to be guarded around him. And that hurt him more than he would like to admit.

By the time the day came for them to board the Hogwarts Express, things were better between them but still, not like they used to be. Scorpius, however, was confident that they would get over it, just like they had when her situation had been revealed to him by accident.

Like they had on the first of September, Scorpius and Rose left to patrol the corridors, and Albus who had not been joined by Isabelle this time, was left alone in the compartment. He was not alone for long, though.

The door leading to the compartment slid open, and in came the blonde Hufflepuff that he thought had not wished to sit with him. As soon as he noticed her, a wide smile appeared on his lips and before he could even stop himself, he stood up and pulled her in for a tight hug.

Isabelle could not help but giggle as she hugged him back. How she had missed being in his presence. After all, because of her and Scorpius fighting, she had not spent much time around Albus as well.