2nd chances (Scorose)

Chapter 25

The plan appeared to work. Scorpius and I sent letters to each other every evening, regardless of whether we'd seen one another during the day. The secret whispering between lessons wasn't exactly planned, but the tension of being in the same room but kept apart just got to be too much. When he waited for me after the lesson, I didn't think about throwing my arms around him and kissing him so eagerly it looked like I was trying to eat his face; it just happened. And he was the same. Before I'd even walked towards him, his arms were open for me.

And while the teachers didn't change the rules that would not allow us to sit together, they did appear to be taking pity on us. That next day Professor Harris was the first to set partner activities but let us choose our own partners. Scorpius and I instantly teamed up and by the end of the transfiguration lesson both of us had managed to switch our school uniforms with Scorpius getting my red-lined Gryffindor robes and me getting his blue-trimmed Ravenclaw ones.

"They suit you," Scorpius had said, admiring himself in one of the old mirrors at the back of the room.

"I still prefer the bold scarlet and gold colors of Gryffindor," I replied. Even if I was intelligent enough to be in Ravenclaw, I wouldn't trade houses for the world. My entire family was in Gryffindor and it was really a kind of tradition for Weasleys now. I felt sorry for whoever it would be who ended up breaking the tradition.

"Shame," he muttered. "I was hoping we could switch permanently..."

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "Tough. Besides, the blue brings out your eyes nicely."

The compliment was out my mouth before I realized it, and then for the rest of the day I had Scorpius chanting, "You think I'm handsome. You think I'm sexy. Look at my beautiful eyes, Rosie. Don't they make you want to kiss me?" in my ear.

By the end of the day, I was beginning to think that a little separation would have been beneficial, but the law dictated that Professor Wyncross also set us a pair's task, to translate runes into English. Predictably Scorpius rushed over to sit at my table, not that I minded really. When the scent of his cologne wafted over me, it was like breathing clearly for the first time since having a cold. Checking our translation, Professor Wyncross smiled gently and congratulated us on receiving one hundred per cent, the highest mark in the class. As what he called a 'special treat' he gave Scorpius and I a box of sugared mice to share, but no doubt he would be reporting to Professor McGonagall about us that evening.

However, just because the teachers were taking pity on Scorpius and I, didn't mean Professor McGonagall was. While Scorpius and I were waiting for Filch in the Entrance Hall to begin our rounds, I could feel her stern eyes on us as she made her way out to her office. Clearly Filch was under strict instructions to keep a close eye on us too. From the moment he arrived, he made sure to walk between Scorpius and me. When we encountered someone out of bed, he always made me go; jeering at Scorpius and claiming that he 'couldn't be trusted to stay with me alone or to reprimand the wrongdoer without helping them.'

With Filch hanging around, all the fun was taken out of rounds. Instead of playing twenty questions, we were forced into walking in silence. It was either that, or Filch's running commentary on his preferred punishments.

For the last two weeks of term, that was the way things went. Sometimes, of course, Scorpius and I couldn't work together. I imagined that Professor McGonagall would have disapproved had she heard that every lesson my fifth year class was being set partner work, even if it meant that mine and Scorpius' marks did improve. Not only did the teachers help us out in lessons, but I'm sure some of them must have turned a blind eye to us when they left their classrooms and probably caught sight of us kissing outside the rooms. If they did see us, none of them said anything. Filch continued to patrol the corridors every Tuesday and Thursday, though he didn't become any friendlier.