Must Have Done Something Right / Scorbus

Chapter 5 / Make-Up Emergencies and Girl Talk

Chapter 5
Make-Up Emergencies and Girl Talk

Hogwarts' library was one of Scorpius' favorite places in the castle. It was a place of serenity, of peace and of sweet relief from unwanted stares and comments. His thoughts belonged to himself as the book he was perusing became a barrier between himself and the rest of the student body.
Currently, though, he was sharing his space with his Potions partner. Irritated that another would trespass into his private sanctuary, Scorpius was already apprehensive about their little study session. Never mind the fact that Scorpius was still highly embarrassed at his unfortunate reaction to Potter's guitar-playing a few days ago. With his head bowed deep into his book, Scorpius' aim was to avoid Mel as much as possible. This, it seemed, was harder than predicted as the two were supposed to be working together on their project.
"I don't care why Thomas Tuttle felt the need for a Memory Potion!" Mel blurted from beside him, where she was reading her own history textbook on the origins of Memory Potions. Clearly, she was aggravated by the very little they had done so far. "In fact, I don't care about memory potions at all!" She sighed. "Merlin, I hate Potions."
Scorpius felt like rolling his eyes. He was very tempted to ask why she chose to study the subject at all if she possessed such a distaste towards the art. Potions require attention, focus and appreciation—none of which she had at the moment. Still, the blonde remained quiet, head down, and studiously reading.
"Er...Malfoy," Mel murmured, looking at a profile view of his face.
Hating to do so, Scorpius turned his head towards her briefly. "Yes?"
She sucked in some air to say something, but thought better of it and said, "Never mind. It's nothing."
Grateful, Scorpius dropped his blond head and continued to read the differences between the properties of Memory Potions and Remembralls. Fascinating subject, Scorpius thought ... or it would be if he weren't so caught up on the hidden awkwardness behind this situation. For the hundredth time, he told himself to get over it.
"Mel!" came a shriek from the Transfiguration shelves of the library. Scorpius looked up to see a red-headed girl wave enthusiastically at them. A girl whose last name was Potter. Scorpius inwardly groaned at his ill luck and the unhappy coincidence of her family relations, as she came over to them.
"Hello Lily," Mel greeted happily, shoving some of their heavy books aside to make room for Lily to come sit at their already cramped table. "How are you?"
Lily sighed dramatically. "Exhausted. Just finished a two-foot long Charms essay that I'm positive will get a T. Merlin, I hate OWLS. I don't know how you managed last year." Here, she paused, and as if just noticing the third occupant of the desk, smiled and waved. "Hey, Scorpius," she said casually.
Scorpius blinked.
"Er...hello," he mumbled.
How did Lily Potter know his name? Well, no, that's a stupid question. Almost everyone in the school knew his name. But still, the way she said it. Like the two of them were so familiar with each other; like they had been best friends for years. What's more, she used his first name, which, in Hogwarts, was only a term used for friends. They weren't friends, were they? Scorpius did a quick mental check and reviewed that he knew very little about Lily Potter, and she knew very little about him. They weren't even in the same grade. No, definitely not friends. Not even acquaintances, in fact.
"You alright?" Mel asked in a concerned voice.
It took Scorpius a few seconds to realise she was talking to him. "Yes. I'm fine," he answered quickly, sparing a glance at the two girls.
He noticed then that Lily and Albus Potter shared a few facial features, obviously inherited from one of their parents. The shape of Lily's eyes, her cheekbones, and lips were exactly the same as Albus'.
This got Scorpius wondering at how on earth he knew what Albus Potter's lips looked like. He shook his head: perhaps he was imagining things.
"What are you two up to?" Lily inquired, tilting her head to look at the textbook open in front of Mel.
"Potions," Mel groaned. "So boring. Well, I think so. But Scorpius seems to enjoy it," she said with a smile. "Right?"
Scorpius looked at her. "I suppose so."
"I've always despised Potions. Like dad in that way," Lily said. She fished in her purse and pulled out a small black pencil-case like container, which Scorpius immediately recognised as a make-up kit. He had one exactly like it in his own bag. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm meeting someone here in a few minutes and I look atrocious, don't I? Thought I'd fix myself up a bit." She peered deeply into the small case and shuffled some things around with her index finger.
"You look fine," Mel encouraged. "Doesn't she?" she asked Scorpius.
Once again, the blond looked stumped as to why they would want his opinion, but years of being much attuned to what females want—being best friends with Claire and Andrea, for one thing—he knew what his answer should be. "You look very nice," he said, though he himself was indifferent. Sure, he could appreciate when a girl looked beautiful, but it didn't grab his attention like it would most guys'.
Lily smiled gratefully but continued her search in her case. Apparently, the tool she was after wasn't there. "Blast, I've lost my mascara. Where in Merlin's name is it?" she huffed, looking quite put out. "Now I might as well look like a troll when Nicholas comes."
Scorpius thought that was a bit of an exaggeration. Her appearance certainly didn't rival that of a troll's. But, he thought, when it comes to meeting boys, you could never be too pedantic.
"Mel, you don't by any chance carry make-up, do you?" Lily asked.
"Sorry," Mel replied, sounding guilty that she didn't.
Then, out of the complete blue, Scorpius found himself reaching into his bag. He didn't know what compelled him, and as if his hand was acting on its own accord, he reached to his make-up case, and pulled out his own mascara, which he never really used. Once upon a time, he figured that he might need it for something. But alas, the plastic wrapping about the tube was still intact: a testament to its abandonment on Scorpius' part.
"Here," he mumbled, and reaching over, placed the black stick in front of Lily.
He watched her eyes widen in shock. "Oh, Scorpius, how did you...oh thanks," she said, gratitude pouring out in her words. "You sure?" she asked.
"'Course. I don't use it anyway. Keep it."
Lily smiled. "Thank you so much. Oh, you're so nice," she thanked, grasping the tube.
Scorpius felt very good about himself, then. This random act of kindness lifted his spirits. He saw Mel turn to him with a grin on her face, as if she approved of him. Scorpius wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not.
Holding a small mirror aloft, Lily began to hastily and steadily apply the stuff to her eyelashes. When she was done, she recapped it and thrust it in front of Scorpius, who shook his head.
"No, I was serious. Keep it."
"I can't...it's yours," she said.
"It suits you better than it does me, trust me," Scorpius insisted, feeling a little embarrassed at sitting in the library talking to a girl about make-up. If Potter's team were to walk in now, he'd never hear the end of it. "Keep it," he repeated.
"Alright, thanks," Lily conceded, a gentle smile shaping the lips he so recently compared to Potter's. Scorpius averted his eyes. His cheeks bloomed red when Lily continued, "You're a legend, Scorpius. Maybe I should always come to you for make-up emergencies." She giggled at her own little joke.
"That was really nice of you, Scorpius," Mel agreed, causing a twinge of annoyance to spring up in Scorpius.
Why was he getting annoyed at Mel's appreciation and not Lily's? Scorpius shrugged it off.
Mel then began asking Lily about Nicholas and what the story was there. Scorpius only half listened to them as he simultaneously peered down at his textbook.

Under the poignant light of the almost-full moon, Scorpius, Andrea and Claire spent the last minutes before curfew sitting in one of Hogwarts' many beautiful courtyards. Vine-covered trellises surrounded them, granting them solace from the rest of the student body, while warm breezes wafted through their leafy corner.
They sat talking about the more important things in life.
"I decided to finally order than new blue jacket I saw the other day. You know, the one with the side-ways zipper. I think it looks retro." Claire declared to the other two.
"You didn't. Claire, I told you that it makes your shoulders look ten times wider than normal," Andrea protested.
"She's right, you know," Scorpius agreed. "You should have gone for the green one instead. It's less bulky and the buttons are cute."
"What's you obsession with green?" Claire asked, miffed at her friends' disagreement. "I swear everything you own is green."
Scorpius frowned at her, then deliberately looked down at the hooded coat he was currently wearing, which was, undoubtedly, chrome in colour. "Everything I own, Claire? Really?"
She huffed. "You know what I mean."
The three Slytherins would sometimes be found here, talking and gossiping about such—who was dating whom, why so and so dyed her hair that hideous colour, why that poor bloke in Hufflepuff was convinced he was buffer than he looked—and generally winding down after particularly draining days. These moments were among the few that Scorpius would forget about schoolwork, expectations and other peoples' problems with him, and just spent time with his friends, letting himself go and indulging in topics he was forced to keep secret otherwise.
"I have to go shopping too, my wardrobe is steadily becoming more and more revolting," Scorpius announced. "I can't believe some of the things I once bought. Honestly, why didn't you stop me from buying that putrid yellow vest? Or that scarf that looks like it has Troll snot smothered all over it?"
"Oh, that is definitely repulsive," Andrea nodded. "When are we going shopping?"
Claire brightened up at the idea of shopping. "Tomorrow?"
Scorpius answered, "We've a bunch of assignments coming up. We can't go—"
"LALALALALALA!" the girls yelled out loudly, clapping their hands over ears, they drowned his voice. Scorpius stared at them with dead eyes until they shut up.
"Honestly!" Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I just said the word 'assignment' and—"
"LALALA I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT LALALALA."
"Oh shut up!" Scorpius hissed
When they finally did, Andrea glared at Scorpius. "We made a pact to never talk about work during this time, and you just broke it. Shame on you, Malfoy." She shook her head solemnly, as if the crime he had just committed was unforgiveable. Scorpius had the fleeting thought that she would make an excellent mother.
Scorpius held up his hands. "Okay, okay. I apologise," he said. Then, a little hesitantly, asked, "So...when are we going shopping?"
Andrea and Claire grinned. "This weekend. And you're not getting out of it this time," came the answer that had an unspoken threat hanging off the end of it, in Scorpius' opinion.
Thinking it best to keep quiet and agree, Scorpius nodded.