2nd chances (Scorose)

Chapter 14

It had been two weeks since the incident after Herbology. I hadn't said a word to Scorpius since - he hadn't even given me a chance. He moved seats in all the lessons we had together, sitting right at the front of the classroom, where I couldn't talk to him. Then he stopped coming to Gobstones meetings. It wasn't long before every time I saw him he quickly changed direction and slipped down a secret passageway. It didn't matter where we were: in the corridors, in classrooms, in the Great Hall or even outside. He would always stop whatever he was doing; look at me with a pained expression and turn tail, walking in the opposite direction. I didn't understand what I'd done to make him hate me that much.

Even Victoire hadn't had any advice for me when she wrote back. Her only words had been condolences that had done little to improve my depressive mood. It had gotten so bad that I had actually written to Teen Witch with my problem. I still hadn't seen my letter printed in the problem pages though.

I longed just to talk to him. Playing twenty questions would have been heaven compared to the situation we were now in. I'd been away from him for so long that I craved the sight of him almost as much as an addict would the smell of smoke. I was sure that just the sight of his grey eyes on me would make me melt like the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz.

But I was limited to brief glimpses that couldn't last me an hour let alone an entire day. Often, I would watch him training in the pouring rain on the quidditch field. He wouldn't see me, but then I couldn't really see him. He'd worn me down slowly in those months of rounds and lessons together and he'd never stopped to build me back up, just left me broken.

Before I knew it, it was the end of term and the Christmas Party had drawn near again. Luke McClaggen had asked me to the party, as had Steve Finch-Fletchley and Jamie Bell from Hufflepuff but I'd turned them all down. Rumors had circulated the school that I had, however, agreed to be Luke's date - a rumor he had probably started himself anyway. Still, as Lucy instructed me, I rose above it and cancelled any plans I had to go to the Christmas Party. Instead, I was relying on Professor Slughorn's own party.

My whole family were in his little club, but usually Al and James would make up some excuse not to go, which Fred, Louis, Dom and Molly would catch on to. Only Lucy and I had attended before. This year, though, I told Lucy to go and have her fun at the party in the Great Hall and went up to Professor Slughorn's office myself, wearing a deep green dress that finished just below my knees. It had been the last gift I'd ever received from my great Aunt Muriel.

There were only a few of us there. Aside from me, Slughorn had invited the usual suspects: Agravius Lockhart, a seventh year; Morgead Thryste, a hermit of a boy who rarely strayed from Ravenclaw Tower; Xavier Howards, the son of the inventor of the Pylonisphere and foreign exchange student Javi Alexa Schmiri, a Spanish girl who attended Beauxbatons as a third year.

But stood beside Professor Slughorn, looking awkward in smart, black dress robes was Scorpius. I coughed and choked in surprise. I'd been expecting him to go to the Christmas Party with the rest of the school. If there were rumors about me and Luke, they were nothing compared to the whispers of Scorpius and his new girlfriend who was name was Katy Locks.

She was rich beyond belief, and just happened to also be the most beautiful girl in school. She said no to every guy, except for, as it would seem, Scorpius.

"Are you alright, Rose?" Professor Slughorn asked.

I nodded, stroking my throat and grabbed the nearest cup of pumpkin juice to ease its aggravation.

"Scorpius was just telling me about the money his father has donated to St Mungos," he told me conversationally.

I nodded again, wishing he would leave me alone a minute so I could sneak out and head back to the Gryffindor Common Room. It must have been my lucky night, for seconds later; Javi spilt butterbeer all over Professor Slughorn's new rug. In the chaos, I left my chair, leaving my half-drained cup on the table and practically ran from the room.