Scorrose

sixteen - edit

"I heard he split his head open when he fell."

"Really? I heard he bit his tongue so hard when he hit the ground, he'll be speaking in a lisp for the rest of his life."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. The nurse can fix his tongue with a simple charm, we just learned about it in Flitwick's class."

"Okay, maybe not his life, but at least a few weeks, maybe years—"

"Alright, stop it," Albus interfered, walking past the gaggle of gossiping students. "Scorpius is fine."

Rose, who had been sitting in the courtyard all morning listening to the rumors, perked up at her cousin's voice. He was walking in her general direction, holding a stuffed paper bag.

"Albus!" She said, setting her book aside and waving him forward.

He walked over. "What's up?"

She patted the bench. "Take a seat."

He hesitated, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to, but did so anyway. "Something wrong?"

"No," Rose said quickly. "But, erm— well, I was wondering if, you know..." Albus raised his eyebrows at her. "Scorpius," she said. "How is he?"

Albus shrugged. "He's alright. He's been injured on the field before. Nurse had to mend his skull overnight. I went to visit him this morning, he's in a sour mood 'cause he's got a bloody mad headache, but he's okay."

Rose breathed out. "That's good."

"Yeah." Albus nodded, then nudged her. "Nice catch, by the way. Your house is in the lead."

Rose smiled. "Thanks. It's not quite as satisfying as I thought it'd be. I wanted to beat him, but it wasn't my intention to have him hospitalized."

Albus chuckled. "Have you gone and seen him?"

Rose shook her head. She thought back to the conversation they'd had up in the air. She'd believed his apology to be genuine but knowing it had just been a ploy to get to the snitch made her feel conflicted. Sure, it would be nice of her to drop by, but she wasn't sure she could even stand the sight of his face right now. She had so much she wanted to say, but maybe it'd be best to wait until he was completely healed to load all her frustrations onto him.

"Well I'm heading over there now to drop him some lunch." He held up the paper bag. "Want to join me?"

"Uh... I'm not sure I should—"

"I know you've been pretending to read while listening to people talk about him," he said pointedly.

"That's not true," she lied.

"Don't you want to see how he is in person?" He continued, ignoring her protest. "Might make you feel better."

Rose sighed. "I'm afraid if I see him, I might wring his neck," she said.

"I wouldn't blame you," Albus said. "He needs a neck wringing every now and then." He stood up, nodding his head towards the infirmary. "C'mon. Go talk to him."

Rose looked back down at her book, pursing her lips, trying to come up with another excuse.

"He asked about you," Albus said. "Can you two just make up and stop forcing me to be the middle man? It's getting old. I'm retiring."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine," she said. "I'll go. But I can't promise I'll stay long."

She put her book into her bag and started to walk with him.

"Look, I'm not doing this for me," Albus said. At Rose's expression, he conceded. "Okay maybe a little bit. But," he added quickly, "I'm trying to do you two a favor. You're acting like children. Whatever is going on, just talk it out."

"We just don't seem to get along," Rose said defensively. "I don't think it can be fixed. Every time I think we're going to be friends, it doesn't work out."

"That's because the both of you are irritatingly stubborn." Albus shot her a look that made her feel like an absolute idiot. "Especially you."

Rose wanted to argue, but by the time she felt like she had a good retort, the silence had stretched out too long. She decided to hold her tongue and let the quiet settle between them, with nothing but the sound of their footsteps as they made their way to the infirmary.

A few people congratulated her on her catch as they walked by – mostly Gryffindors, but one Ravenclaw from her Potions class. She was almost surprised to see Oliver as they turned a corner. A pretty blonde girl clung to his arm, but he took the time to smile at the two of them.

"Hi, Rose. Albus."

"Er—hey, Oliver," Rose said, as Albus nodded in greeting.

"Congrats on the game."

"Thanks."

She glanced back at him for only a second as they passed by. "He cheated on her, you know," Albus said quietly, nudging her arm with his elbow.

"So I've heard. Looks like they've mended things."

Albus chuckled. "I caught them snogging in the courtyard at the end of the ball."

Rose decided she was glad that the two of them had only shared a single waltz. As they continued to walk, she noticed that the Slytherins glowered in her direction with greater intensity than usual.

I'm sorry, she wanted to say. I didn't mean for your seeker to fall.

"Oh, they're angry," Albus muttered.

"It's not as if I pushed him to the ground," Rose said, annoyed. Where was the good sportsmanship?

Albus turned to look at her, somewhat surprised. "They're not just angry that you won. Haven't you heard?"

She blinked. "Heard what?"

They stopped walking once they reached the door to the infirmary. Albus gave a short scoff, shaking his head at her. "All that eavesdropping, and you still don't know?"

"Stop being so cryptic, Albus. What is it?"

He opened the door, stepping inside. "I think I'll let Scorpius fill you in on this one."

She furrowed her brows at him and followed.