Scorpius and Rose

Chapter 6 - Howler

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. I twist the ring Scorpius gave me. It's silver, with a beautiful sapphire set into it.

Why did he choose to give this to me?

"Meow," My cat says, and jumps on my face.

"Bloody hell, Gi! Ugh!!" I shove the cat off of my face and hear rustling in the four-poster next to mine, which means I probably woke up Chris. "Sorry!" I whisper. "Gingersnap, be quiet!"

"Mrorow?" She says, then she begins purring.

"Fine. Sometimes I wish you were one of Uncle George's Pygmy Puffs. It would be so much easier." Gi stares up at me as if defying my statement. "Alright, Gi, but leave me alone."

"Meeeoooooww." She says, as if saying fine.

⋯

Crying. Perfectly normal, a reaction to hormones racing through your brain, and god knows I have plenty of those.

So why can't I cry?

...

The next day, I'm in Herbology with Scorpius. I am completely ignoring Professor Longbottom again, although it probably doesn't matter, because he talks about his classes at home during the summer anyway.

"What?" Scorpius asks. I realize that I've been staring at him while I was lost in thought.

"Nothing." I say.

Scorpius smirks. "Can't keep your eyes off me, huh?"

I blush. "No! That's not it! Shush! Pay attention!" I swat his arm.

"Rose?" Professor Longbottom asks. I whip my head around to face the front of the room and I can see everyone staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"What is the main purpose of mimbulus mimbletonia?"

I rack my brain trying to remember. "Uh, Mimbulus mimbletonia is widely known by it defense mechanism, which is to spray a sticky substance known as stinksap."

"Correct." He smiles, then goes back to lecturing the class. Slowly everyone turns back to face Professor Longbottom.

...

The next morning I'm eating a bowl of hot cereal when Pig, the family owl, flies in and drops a howler on the table. I stare at it for a moment.

That can't be good.

"Hey." Scorpius says, sliding into the spot next to me. He opens his mouth, but I don't hear what he says next because the howler slides on the edge of the table and hits the floor. I pick it up, the seal cracks, and the letter starts yelling at me.

"ROSE GRANGER-WEASLEY!" My father's voice screeches. "HOW DARE YOU GO ANYWHERE NEAR THAT MALFOY FILTH!"

At first I'm confused as to what this was prompted by, but then I remember the letter I sent to them a week ago. I must've mentioned Scorpius. Oops. I wince.

"DO YOU NOT REMEMBER WHAT I SAID? HIS FAMILY ARE DEATH EATERS! THEY ALL BETRAYED US..." My dad continues to rant about disgusting 'Malfoy filth', but all I see is Scorpius slowly sliding down in his chair, all I can hear is the thunderous laughter coming from the other tables.

"EVEN YOUR MOTHER AGREES, WE TOLD YOU HOW SHE PUNCHED HIS SNOBBY FATHER IN THE FACE..." I break out of my stunned trance and quickly turn over my bowl of hot cereal, trapping the Howler underneath and muffling it. "MMMMM!" I hear. I smile sheepishly around at my fellow students and run out of the Great Hall with the Howler, still yelling loudly, but muffled against my robes and the bowl.

"That went well," A familiar voice behind me says. I whirl around to see Scorpius.

"Yeah," I say, rolling my eyes.

Scorpius opens his mouth and shuts it before settling on, "Did your mom really punch my dad in the face?

"According to my parents, yes." Scorpius laughs, and I grin back.

"Yeah, somehow that doesn't seem like something my dad would want anyone to know about," Scorpius says between giggles.

Something tingles in the air, offsetting the mood.

Peeves flies in overhead. Of course. Way to ruin the moment.

"Ooooooooooh!" He chuckles gleefully. "Scorpius and Rose, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-"

"Shut up, Peeves!" I yell. He flies out, still singing. "Great," I sigh.

"That's going to spread fast," Scorpius agrees.

I peer at him. He seems carefree, leaning against the wall, smiling and talking, but he bites his lip, and I see the same nervousness in his eyes that I saw in the first day of school. "What?" I ask him.

"Huh?" He says, snapping out of a trance.

"What is it?" I ask him.

"Nothing." He says with a fake smile. "I'm fine."

...

I'm not fine.