the weight of living ⁂ scorpius malfoy

twenty ⁂ the winter ball

February 5, 2022

"Oh god. I look like an idiot." Scarlett said as she stared at herself in the large mirror in Lilly's room. She wore one of Lilly's floor length dresses, its top of silver sparkles fading into a ocean of blue at the bottom. Before Scarlett had tampered with it, the dress had been covered it ribbons and ruffles. Scarlett made it — simple.

Lilly gave her a disapproving look from behind. She was wearing a bright yellow dress and her hair in two buns on each side of her head. "You look prepossessing. I still am denying the fact no one asked you."

Scarlett's face became red at the remark as she put in small diamond studs into her ears. "Thanks for the dress. Its beautiful."

"Yes, I agree. My grandma gave it to me. I liked the bows though." Lilly gave her a glittering silver necklace. Scarlett put it back in her jewelry box, because she didn't really want to wear a necklace with a large blue cupcake as a charm. "Why did you take them off?"

"I guess I like plain dresses." She answered easily, careful not to insult Lilly's feelings and clothing style.

The two quickly finished their looks and rushed out the door, for they were already late. A few kids rushed in with them, but passed Scarlett as she stopped suddenly. She sat in awe of the Great Hall. Three huge trees covered in snow almost touched the ceiling, while garland and icicles seemed to cover the walls.

"See what you missed?" Lilly laughed, pulling Scarlett through the crowd. Students chatted, ate, or sat close to the band as they played a mellow song. The melody became louder as she stepped closer to the orchestra. Scarlett immediately spotted Gus, who was talking to his date. She smiled when she saw how happy he was.

"Ooh." Lilly gushed in front of her, looking at the band. "I'll be right back."

When Scarlett opened her mouth to request that she not leave her, Scarlett realized Lilly had already zoomed off. Now alone, Scarlett sighed. This was the reason she didn't want to come to the dance. Sure, she felt pretty, but she was alone and awkward with no one to talk to.

"Hey, Scarlett?" A voice came from behind her, as if on cue. She turned around to see James standing there in a suit.

"Hi." She smiled, and James' returned the gesture.

His eyes wandered down to her dress and back up to her face. "You look nice."

Scarlett blushed, looking down. "Um, thanks. Where's Alicia?"

"I am thinking the same thing. I think she went to back to her room to get something." He shrugged. "Can I talk to you in the mean time?"

"Sure," Scarlett answered. The two sat down at one of the many tables. "I didn't really want to come here, but Lilly convinced me. Ironically, she just left."

"Well, same with Alicia. I wanted to stay in the common room to work on some quidditch stuff."

Scarlett laughed. "It seems all we ever talk about it quidditch."

"And prefect duties." James smirked.

"Who's going to be quidditch captain next year? Scorpius and I can't appoint ourselves." I'm sure Scorpius would want to though, Scarlett thought.

James glanced away, gazing into the crowd while he thought. Scarlett followed his glances to see Scorpius dancing — with Rose Weasley. Something flared inside of Scarlett, but she ignored it. "I don't know. I thought about Lucas, but he would just kick Aimee right off, vice versa. Plus, Marge doesn't know that much about plays, so I was wondering if you could choose Will."

"Yeah, I'll tell Scorpius." She nodded.

"Good. I haven't got to talk to you casually in awhile," James started. "and I was wondering how your head was feeling."

"That was a week ago, so yeah its been awhile." Scarlett said. "I am fine, thanks to you carrying me to the hospital wing."

"Who told you that?" He gave a half smile.

"Lilly. Thank you."

James nodded, running a hand through his dark brown hair. "You're very welcome."

Scarlett peered behind James' head to see Alicia walking through the large hall doors. Scarlett motioned to James, who turned to see Alicia making her way towards him. His face lit up in an expression Scarlett had always wanted someone to look at her with. James quickly said goodbye and strode towards his girlfriend. Scarlett look away, and as the music picked up and more couples headed to the dance floor, Scarlett fled into a curtain in front of one of the windows. It left the perfect amount of space for her to hide in. Minutes passed by (the songs changed once or twice), and Scarlett finally regretted her decision to come to the ball. She sat down next to the window, her dress pooled around her as she watched the starry sky. The curtain opened, and Lilly's head popped in.

"Are you okay? I was looking for you everywhere. I was only gone for a minute!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry, I just don't really want to be here." Scarlett confessed before Lilly's expression softened.

"I'm sorry for leaving you and pushing you to go. I'm going to stay, but I can walk back with you if you want." She offered, but Scarlett just shook her head.

"It's fine." She gave her most convincing smile, then left as quick as possible.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

February 5, 2022 - a few hours later

Scarlett leaned over the astronomy tower, gazing down below at the glittering lake. She admitted to herself she was out of it. Feelings buzzed inside her, ones she couldn't explain. She tried not to get the wrong idea from James and the right idea from Scorpius. What was with him and Rose?

She instinctively looked down at her wrist, but her watch was replaced by a silver diamond bracelet.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice spoke from behind Scarlett, making her jump. It wasn't as harsh as before, but still had the strictness to it.

Scarlett turned to see Scorpius with his arms folded. She sighed, deciding she would keep her cool as she turned back around to the twinkling stars.

"Where's Rose?" She asked. In the corner of her eye, Scarlett could see Scorpius come up and stand next to her.

"Getting her robes so she can for her prefect duties. Something you should be doing." He answered, flattening out his black suit. "Wait, why are you asking about her?"

Scarlett shivered as she looked to the boy next to her. "Are you dating her?"

A moment of silence sat between them. Scorpius glanced down into the lake, yet Scarlett did not redirect her gaze. "Yes."

"Oh." Scarlett let out quietly before turning away and leaving Scorpius alone with only the stars above him.