2nd chances (Scorose)

Chapter 2

All through the feast I could feel Scorpius watching me like a hawk from the Ravenclaw table. It felt as though I'd committed a crime and was stood before the entire Wizengamot, each of them scrutinising me like a under a magnifying glass as they decided if I was worthy enough to retain my ash and unicorn hair wand.

Professor McGonagall left her speech until after the sorting. This was actually the first year since Louis was sorted into Gryffindor that one of my cousins hadn't been sorted and the feeling that left was rather unnerving. There were ten new additions to our table that evening and Professor McGonagall only delivered the usual notice that the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds along with a list of items that the old caretaker, Filch, had banned. I was pretty surprised that my cousin, Fred, hadn't managed to get exploding snap added to the list yet. I'd been expecting that to happen ever since he singed off the skin on a group of first years' fingers two years ago.

Feeling Scorpius' eyes on me, I lost any appetite I had and sat staring at my empty plate while James and Hugo both grabbed plenty of chicken wings, mashed potato and baked beans and heaped it onto their plate. Not even the banoffee pudding tempted me and that was my favorite pudding.

"Told you you were eating too much, Rosie-posie," James said cheekily through a mouthful of apple crumble.

"Shut up," I told him, feeling increasingly grumpy. My mind was filled with the memories of that night. The Yule Ball, the dancing... I forced myself to stop and attempted to make conversation with Lily instead.

Finally the end of the feast ended and I stood up to take the first years up to Gryffindor Tower. I didn't make it very far before he reached me and tugged lightly on my elbow, bringing me round to face him.

"Please, Rose, just let me explain," Scorpius begged.

"I'm busy and so are you," I replied coldly, pointedly looking at the gaggle of Ravenclaw first years nervously waiting by the door and looking round in what looked like abject fear at all the older students barging past them. "Goodnight, Scorpius."

I stalked away, my limbs oddly stiff and caught up to Al in the Entrance Hall. Lily glanced at worriedly at me as she passed on her way to the Common Room while her brother and I began our short tour of the castle. Luckily the Ravenclaw Common room was in the opposite direction to Gryffindor tower so I wasn't bothered by Scorpius again.

The first years giggled excitably when the smallest boy fell through the invisible step that, in my preoccupation with what Scorpius Malfoy was doing to me, I had forgotten about and chatted at unintelligible speeds for the entire tour until we finally arrived at Gryffindor Tower after walking through the castle for half an hour because the stairs seemed determined to annoy me by not going in the direction of our common room. Al directed the girls and boys to their dormitories while I collapsed on the floor in front of the sofa where Lily sat patiently waiting for me.

"What happened?"

I groaned and waved my wand using the summoning charm to send some more logs onto the fire. The flames leapt up and I sighed in the warmth before beginning my rant.

"Merlin's beard, I hate that boy!"

"What's he done now?" Lily asked, completely used to my continuous moaning about how determined Scorpius Malfoy was to make my life a misery.

"I thought I was finished with all his crap last year, but now I've got it this year too," I complained.

"Yes, but what's he actually done, Rose?"

"He won't leave me alone! Every second of the day he's been there and somehow he's managed to manipulate rounds so that I have to do them with him! I've never met someone so conniving! It's ridiculous! He's just like his grandfather - bribing people to get whatever he wants-"