Twists of Fate

Chapter 20: Like it was Before

Scorp slammed his head into the desk refusing to contain his dramatic groan. "I'm never going to get this."

It was another one of his tutoring sessions. They completed reviewing Charms last week and were now working on advanced Transfiguration. Transfiguration easily used to be his best subject. He even surpassed Rose in a few of their exams. One would never have been able to tell if they were watching him now. He was utterly pathetic.

Over the past two months of these tutoring sessions, he was slowly starting to get better. He could manage to use the summoning charm without dropping objects, but every once in awhile there would be a spell that stumped him and he'd grow increasingly frustrated with himself. He hated that he was failing. He hated not being able to succeed at something that should have been as easy as riding a broom. On top of that he was continuously failing in front of Rose. It was a hard hit to his ego every time she had to correct him or he couldn't complete the spell. She was nothing but kind and supportive, but that did nothing to stop the humiliation from settling in. It wasn't like he hadn't failed in front of her before. He used to spend hours with her going over his charms homework because he was absolute rubbish. Then he accepted that he needed her help and felt no shame in it. Now he felt like he had to constantly be on his game around her. He needed to impress her and make her see. He only had nine days left. That deadline weighed on his soul with each breath.

"You will if you keep practicing," Rose insisted. "The key to perfection is in repetition."

Scorp's mind dove deep into the past, at her words, digging up some of the more private memories of him and Rose. He risked a glance at Rose, as the heat coursed through his veins. She appeared unaffected, too busy scanning through the pages of her transfiguration book to even realize what she said. He thought about asking her to stop using that catchphrase but quickly vetoed that idea. If he asked her to stop, she'd ask him why, and then he'd have to tell her why. She wasn't ready for the truth just yet.

"We've been trying this spell for the past hour and I'll I've managed to do is spew a few bloody feathers from my wand"

"At least they were a pretty color." Rose offered, waving a glittering blue feather under his nose.

He swatted the feather away and gave her a hard look. "At this rate we are going to be here all night."

Rose studied him for a moment. Her intense gaze made him squirm and for probably the thousandth time he wished he was gifted at legilimency like his father. Her words fascinated him (even when they were absurd at times) and he oftened wondered what her thoughts looked like. Sometimes he felt that he knew her so well he could read her mind. Then there were others where she was a complete mystery to him. Most of the time all he had to do was look her in the eye to see the emotions pouring out of them. Today was not one of those times. Her eyes were blank as they calculated him, which drove him insane. He wanted to know what was running through her mind.

"No, we won't," Rose said finally. She stood up and shimmied out of her robes. She was wearing that muggle outfit he bought for her under it. With her red hair billowing down her back, she looked way too pretty for her own good. Rose motioned for him to do the same.

Scorp's brows shot up. "What are we doing?"

"We are going on a field trip. Now hurry up!"

She didn't provide any more explanation, so Scorp thought it best to follow her orders. He slipped out of his robes, glad he made it a habit to wear his muggle clothes under them. Now that he lived in a muggle community he had to be careful about what he wore when he got home just in case one of his neighbors happened to glance into his window when he was home.