Name Game (completed)

Chapter Eleven

AUTHUR'S NOTE: Right, sorry for the time taken uploading this, I wasn't suffering from writer's block, I just was working on other things. Dedicated to WingCommander because she edited it for me.

Scorpius hovered anxiously by the entrance to the Great Hall, wondering how best to proceed. Louis, who was standing beside him, scoffed at his best friend as he ran his fingers though his light blonde hair.

“I swear, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you actually try hard for a girl.” he noted absently, whilst trying to attract the attention of Juliet, his cousin Molly’s pretty best friend.

“Rebecca won’t be too pleased.” Scorpius told him sternly, as Juliet returned Louis’ flirtatious wink.

Louis laughed but sobered as he caught sight of the look Rebecca was giving him.

“Mate, I’d better go… pacify her. Remember, play hard to get.”

Scorpius gave a weak smile (Louis had been briefing him on 101 tips for a great date) and turned his attention to the Ravenclaw table. Rose was toying with a bowl of porridge, her dark red hair pulled back from her face. She was wearing black jean with a black and silver shirt and he caught a glimpse of the necklace he had given her for Christmas glinting round her slender throat. At that moment she looked up and gave him a cheerful wave. Painstakingly slowly he returned her friendly gesture and made his way slowly to the table. Sliding into the seat next to her, he reached towards the platter of bacon sandwiches, only to stop short at the sight of the bread.

“Um… I think this has gone… mouldy?” he said, looking at toast, which had somehow turned pink, with barely disguised disgust.

Rose giggled and pointed to her strawberry porridge by way of explanation.

“The house-elves, sorry, domestic workers – I’d better use the correct terminology or my darling mother will crucify me – decided to “decorate” everything for Valentine’s Day. Even- especially­- the food.”

Scorpius examined the sandwich carefully, and took a tentative bite. Having approved its edibility, he looked at Rose for a second, before slowly plucking a blonde hair from her shirt. She blushed crimson.

“Either you’ve been kissing Finnigan or that Kneazle of yours “helped” you get dressed!” he joked.

“I couldn’t leave Flynn all alone for the whole day without at least giving him a cuddle,” Rose replied bashfully, referring to the Kneazle kitten her mother had given her for Christmas.

“Did I tell you he attacked my dad? He must have thought he was an “unsavoury character”. Or maybe he just knew that he hated cats and anything similar to cats.”

Scorpius laughed and turned his attention to the Daily Prophet, which had landed in his fuchsia ketchup. He swore as he saw the front page.

“Mass Azkaban breakout,” he told her, “All the Death Eaters that survived the final battle have broken free. I expect they’ll want my parents for questioning. My grand-parents only escaped the life sentence because Mr. Potter vouched for them.”

“Oh, how terrible!” Rose opened the envelope that had just been dropped into her porridge by her dad’s ancient, but extraordinarily energetic owl, Pigwidgeon. “I’ll see if dad has anything to say about it.”

The envelope contained to letters. One was a scruffy note, written in her dad’s messy scrawl:

Rosie,

 You’ve probably heard about the Azkaban breakout. Your mum’s fussing like hell; she probably won’t want you to leave the school grounds. I think she’s over-reacting a bit, but Harry reckons they’re after the Resurrection Stone to bring old Voldy back to life, ‘cause his house was looted and they thinks that’s what they were looking for. Hogwarts is obviously the first place they’ll look now. Don’t spend too much time with that Malfoy boy. Not that you’d want to after that incident at the Wedding, but his parents are probably involved, so steer clear. Just be careful.

 Love,

 Dad

Rose hastily concealed the message from Scorpius, but related the basic facts. She unrolled the next piece of parchment, to reveal lines of impeccably neat writing:

Dear Rose,

I expect you’ve already seen the Daily Prophet by now, so you’ll know what this note is about. I don’t want you to worry too much, but your Uncle Harry suspects that they’re after the Resurrection Stone, due to a raid of his house last night. I know there’s a Hogsmeade visit today, but if you could stay at Hogwarts, I’d really appreciate it. On a more cheerful note, I’m organizing a charity ball at Hogwarts to raise funds for S.P.E.W! If you could begin spreading the word around, it won’t be for a couple of months at least but it would be good to start advertising it. I’ve enclosed a list of revising techniques, could you please give them to Lily – I know she’s got her OWLs coming up.

Lots of love,

Mum

Rose showed this note to Scorpius. He scanned it quickly.

“If your parents want you to stay at Hogwarts, that’s fine,” he told her, “We could go to the library, go for a walk, still spend Valentine’s day together at any rate.”

“Thanks, Scorp. It’ll save Mum from a near heart-attack. I think we should go for a walk first, we can go down to the lake.”

Lily came over to their table, clutching a similar note in her hands.

“Mum’s told me not to go out today,” she told Rose, “It’s okay, the guy I was going out with today said he’ll stay, but I’m… I’m really worried for Mum and Dad.”

Rose hugged her younger cousin close, as the tears trickled down Lily’s cheeks. Her pygmy puff, Blake’s, pink fur tickled her cheek.

“It’s okay, Lils. They’ll be fine, I promise. Don’t forget they survived an entire war! Look, just enjoy Valentine’s, okay?”

After seeing Lily’s tearful nod, Rose’s face broke out into a smile…well. More of a smug grin.

“Oh, and Mum remembered that you’ve got your OWLs coming up.  She wanted me to give you this.”

Lily’s face when she unfolded the parchment was priceless.

“I… well… really… isn’t this a bit…” she spluttered indignantly. Rose grinned, and left Lily staring incomprehensibly at the list of revising techniques.

“Do you think the squid hibernates in the winter?” Rose gazed down at the fathomless depths of the lake, trying to distinguish the telltale bulbous shape.

“It probably goes to stay with the Loch Ness monster.” Scorpius replied ironically. Rose looked so beautiful. The wintery rays of sunlight illuminated her red hair, making it shine like burnished copper. Her long lashes were cast down of rose petal cheeks, concealing deep pools of blue. “Remember play hard to get” Louis’ words echoed in his mind. Blow Louis, and his “great dating tips”, he thought to himself, just kiss her. He moved closer. Her lips were a delicate shade of pink, soft and inviting. Rose sidestepped, moving out of kissing range. Scorpius’ pale cheeks coloured.

“I’m sorry.” he muttered. Rose appeared not to have heard him. She was acting like nothing had happened.

“Shall we go back to Hogwarts?” she asked him, checking the curious watch strapped to her arm. “It’s almost time for lunch.”

Scorpius shrugged. Rose led him back to the Great Hall. The house tables bore a miraculous array of supposedly romantic fare. Taking their usual seats on the deserted Ravenclaw bench, Rose poured Gillywater into her goblet and iced pumpkin juice into Scorpius’. Scorpius sipped it without obvious enjoyment. He would much rather be having Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, and Rose’s dodge had embarrassed him. He glanced over at the Gryffindor table, which was noticeably fuller. Most of the Weasleys seemed to have remained at Hogwarts. Rose leaned towards him, the earrings he had given her bobbing beneath strands of hair that had escaped the loose ponytail. Scorpius glanced over at the Gryffindor table. Louis was wrapped around Rebecca, who had clearly forgiven him for his previous flirting. Filthy hypocrite, Scorpius thought angrily. He leant towards Rose and pressed his lips against hers. She didn’t pull away, but moved closer to him, her arm snaking over his shoulder. And Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was heaven!