2nd chances (Scorose)

Chapter 33

"Oh, Merlin save me!" I exclaimed, turning to look at Scorpius in outright panic.

"Hey, it'll be okay," he said, taking me by the shoulders and looking deep into my eyes. "It was an accident. You just need to tell Hugo as soon as possible and speak to James, make sure he doesn't... you know, say anything."

Scorpius was right of course, but I knew there was no way I could walk up to Hugo and say, 'Oh, you know how you're gay and you don't want anyone to know? Well I told James.' James was probably one of the last people Hugo wanted to know. He already teased my brother far too much.

Seeing that I was still fretting over how to tell Hugo, and how he would react, Scorpius pulled me into a hug and rocked from foot to foot, trying to calm me.

"Calm down before you have a heart attack at least, Rosie," he joked, trying to alleviate my fears with humor. I managed a weak chuckle but that was all.

"Sorry," I mumbled, referring to my lack of laughter as well as my panicking.

"So, are you going to go and tell Hugo?"

I shook my head.

"Rose, you have to. He trusted you with his secret," Scor said, making me feel even more guilty.

"I will," I interjected, "just not yet. I'm going to talk to James first and make sure he doesn't say anything to anyone else, namely Fred. He'll probably be celebrating in the Common Room, come on."

Hand in hand, Scorpius and I walked back up to the castle, his proximity lending me silent support. I tried to smile at him in thanks, but it ended up being something between a grimace and an apologetic smile, wobbling and threatening to slide out of place. At the Seventh Floor corridor, we could already hear the celebration going on the Gryffindor Common. There were cheers and shouts to be heard, which was quite an achievement, considering that Scorpius and I could also hear the pounding bassline of some kind of music coming from the radio that always sat on one of the tables.

I gave the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady and immediately had a red and gold banner thrown around my neck by Albus, who was obviously happy with his brother's quidditch win.

"You were great out there, Rose!"

"Thanks," I mumbled distractedly, peering around Al in search of James. Not seeing him, I asked Albus, "Have you seen James? I need to talk to him."

"Last I saw he was over by the punch bowl," he replied, biting into what looked like a Pringle.

"Thanks." Scorpius followed me further into the Common Room, the both of us looking left and right for James. Only he wasn't at the punch bowl anymore, and I couldn't see him anywhere. I leapt up onto one of the chairs and tried to look for the top of his head, seeking his black hair. I only saw the top of Al's head though, momentarily confusing him for James because of the exact shade of black they shared as a hair colour. In fact the only reason I managed to tell the difference was due to the messiness of Albus' unruly hair, while James' was neatly trimmed, him having had a haircut during the Easter holidays after months of Auntie Ginny nagging him about it. She'd be moving onto Al soon no doubt.

Sighing, I stepped down and shrugged at Scorpius, thinking perhaps to check the boy's dormitories in case he was somewhere there. There turned out to be no need as at that moment he swaggered in through the portrait hole and declared, "You're now looking at the newly signed seeker for the Cannons!"

A cheer went up through the room and James was hoisted onto a crowd of Seventh Year students' shoulders.

"Found him," I muttered to no-one in particular.