Scorrose

seventeen - edit

Scorpius was napping when they walked into the infirmary. The nurse apprehended them before they reached his bed.

"You may only speak to him for ten minutes," she said sternly. "He needs to rest."

"Just dropping something off," Albus said, holding up his paper bag.

He had a few chocolates by the foot of his bed and a few cards on the stand beside him. Rose noticed a pile of shredded blue paper by one of the cards and stared at it quizzically.

Albus was none too gentle about waking him up. He shook Scorpius' shoulder, startling him awake.

"What?" Scorpius said, bolting up in panic. There were bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't been sleeping well.

"Hungry?" Albus asked, tossing the paper bag onto his lap.

Scorpius' expression brightened considerably. "Aw, thanks mate."

He glanced into the bag but he didn't pull out the food – instead, he looked over at Rose, hesitating before speaking.

"It was a good game," he said.

"Er – thanks." She noticed a faint scar on his face from the fall, which glinted in certain angles. One of his hands was bandaged, but other than that he looked okay. She felt a pang of sympathy for him regardless. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It's been rough. They had to mend my skull with Skele-Gro. You can imagine how that went."

She couldn't, exactly, because she'd never had to mend her bones with Skele-Gro before, but she knew it to be excruciatingly painful.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked.

"The pain is subsiding," he said. "I might get discharged later this evening."

"Oh—that's good."

She wasn't sure what to say. Should she apologize, even though his fall hadn't quite been her fault? Or should she demand answers—like why had he pulled that trick on her when they were up in the air during the game? And what had Albus been talking about just now?

Before she could say anything, Albus spoke. "Any more howlers?"

Scorpius shook his head.

"Howlers?" Rose asked.

"His captain sent him one earlier today," Albus said, giving Scorpius a pointed look. He pointed to the pile of shredded paper. "Care to tell her about it?"

Scorpius shot his friend an annoyed look, then looked down at his paper bag. "I don't think it's much worth mentioning."

"I want to know," Rose said.

Scorpius sighed. "He was a bit upset with me, that's all."

"Why?" Rose insisted.

Scorpius paused. "He didn't appreciate that I got hit by the bludger."

"That wasn't your fault," Rose said, even more confused now. "Didn't Parkinson hit you mistakenly when he...?"

She trailed off when Scorpius looked up at her.

"Not exactly," he said.

"Christ, we don't have long. If you won't say it, I will," Albus said exasperatedly. "He took that bludger for you." Rose noticed Scorpius shaking his head at Albus, glaring.

"What?" She asked, looking back and forth from the pair of them.

"Nothing," Scorpius muttered.

"The bludger was heading straight from the Slytherin team towards you," Albus continued, as if repeating it would cement the fact into their brains. "Scorpius intercepted it."