Rewritten || Scorpius x Hermione Time Travel AU

14 | I Miss You, Mum

Finally, finally, Scorpius was able to find the right spell to fix the Vanishing Cabinet. He thought it was quite amusing he came across from it in an old brochure about keeping safe during the First Wizarding War. Still, he couldn't believe his luck; now, the next thing he should do was to find some time to actually start fixing it.

Scorpius mentally thought about his schedule as the sixth year Slytherins and Gryffindors sauntered into the Potions dungeons. With the holidays nearing, the professors were extra ruthless with homework and practice exams. Scorpius was always swamped with an essay, furiously scribbling on his parchment away just to achieve the mandatory length. There was also the issue of the impending Hogsmeade weekend and Slug Club's Christmas Party.

All in all, Scorpius believed the next few weeks would be too jam-packed. Grimacing in disappointment, he had an inkling he wouldn't be able to start fixing until the start of the holidays.

"Mister Malfoy, I know that you are currently my best student, but I still require you to listen," Professor Slughorn's voice suddenly cut through his muddled thoughts.

His eyes widened, not realising that classes had already started. All eyes were latched onto him, and he tried his best not to blush upon seeing Weasley snicker behind his professor's back. Slughorn thankfully didn't look mad, only mildly amused, and merely lightly admonished his inattention and went back to explaining about the potion they would be making today.

Scorpius sent a scathing glare towards Weasley and was surprised to see Lavender Brown sitting beside him instead of Granger. His eyes landed on the said bushy-haired Gryffindor, who was wearing a dark scowl on her face. Curious, he looked back at Weasley and made a face when Brown gave him a wet kiss on his cheek.

As they walked towards the cabinets to gather for ingredients, Scorpius discreetly sidled beside Harry and whispered, "What's wrong with Granger?"

Harry frowned. "What's it to you?" he spat back.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Something's obviously wrong," he said, choosing not to answer Harry. "If Granger glared at her cauldron too long, I wouldn't be surprised if it started boiling."

The-Boy-Who-Lived sighed and shot a brief glance at his best friend. "After the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match, which you missed by the way—"

"I had things to do," he shot back. He did want to watch the match, but Scorpius was strictly running out of time. On a brighter note, he was able to finally find the right spell to fix the Vanishing Cabinets.

"Whatever, I don't bloody care," Harry dismissed. "As I was saying, after the match, Lavender sort of threw herself at Ron and, ever since then they're inseparable." He made a face. "It's a bit sickening, to be honest. And Hermione... well..." He gestured weakly at her general direction. "Simply put, she isn't too happy about the new relationship."

"Ugh, way to go, Weasley," Scorpius said with an eye roll. Upon seeing Harry's questioning glance, he explained, "He's annoyingly daft. I don't know what Granger sees in him."

In spite of himself, Harry cracked a small, sad smile. "You know what?" he started. "Me too."

__________

A wide yawn tore away from his mouth as Scorpius blearily walked towards the Hogwarts library. He still had to finish a seven-feet essay for Transfiguration and complete his dream journal for Divination. Schoolwork seemed mundane now that he had other bigger responsibilities to do, but Scorpius knew he had no choice but to bask under the normalcy to keep himself sane.

He still had not found the right time to venture back in the Room of Requirement. Snape's Occlumency lessons became more frequent, with the DADA professor insisting he should master it now that the day of destroying another horcrux was nearing. Thankfully, Snape said he was becoming better at it – in a reluctant, insulting way, of course – and the headaches he got after every Occlumency sessions were starting to be less frequent.