2nd chances (Scorose)

Chapter 34

The final days of school were a whirlwind. The exams were over, leaving Scorpius and me in blessed relief and a week of no lessons. Looking back, I was amazed that I was able to relax and have a good time with Scorpius over those few days. Knowing in my heart, that I'd made a mistake in my Arithmancy paper, it was a wonder that I could forget about the likely D+ I was convinced I would receive in mid-August and instead have fun on the final Hogsmeade trip.

This time, we went as a group. Scorpius and I were joined by not only Dom, Jason and Lucy, but also Al and his girlfriend Katie, Fred and Sienna his "fiancé", Tim, James, Hugo, Jasper, Roxanne, Lily and her now-steady boyfriend Chris and Lorcan who was, surprisingly, dating Roxie. Molly, who was too young, stayed in the Common room with Louis and some of their friends.

Leaving the castle grounds together, I murmured to Scorpius, "It'll be odd coming back next year."

"Hmm," he said in agreement.

"Fred and James will have gone and there'll be a new Head Boy and a new Head Girl. We'll have finished our OWLs and be doing NEWTs. We'll be so busy that we probably won't have time to do stuff like this anymore..."

Seeing my sad expression, Scorpius pulled me into his side and kissed my head.

"We'll always have time for each other. I just know it."

I wasn't so sure myself. It would be easy to drift apart, wouldn't it? Especially when we would be doing different lessons next year. Deciding I wanted to work in the Department of International Relations at the Ministry of Magic, I had chosen to continue Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts and then pick up a selection of language courses with a personal tutor Hogwarts employed every year. Scorpius was carrying on with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Transfiguration and pick up Alchemy. To make matters worse, there was also the possibility that I would have to spend a term at one of the foreign wizarding schools to develop my languages further and gain an understanding of non-British wizarding culture and politics.

"And you'll always see your cousins outside of school anyway," he reminded me.

"Yeah Rosie, you'll never get rid of us," Fred called out, grinning mischievously while holding hands with Sienna. In her Common Room last night Fred proposed to her, and he said as soon as they are both reach 18 they would be married.

"Do I want to know what you've done?" I asked him.

"Probably not," Fred replied.

"Let's just say there'll always be a reminder of us in the Gryffindor Common Room," James added.

Closing my eyes for a few moments, I tried to work out what to do before deciding that it was probably best to just not get involved.

When we got to Hogsmeade, organizing what we were going to do was obviously rather problematic. Everyone had a different opinion on what they wanted to do and with so many of us it was almost impossible to reach a compromise. Finally, we arranged to split into groups with each group going into one shop and buying what we would need for a picnic together. Scorpius, Lily, Chris and I were charged with buying the drinks and snack food, so we headed to the Three Broomsticks to buy some bottles of butterbeer and some peanuts and crisps. Afterwards we visited Honeydukes and bought a collection of sweets and chocolate, then left for the field where we would be enjoying our picnic.

When we got to the field beside the Shrieking Shack, we were the first to arrive. Sitting in the long grass, we waited and were soon joined by Dom, Jason and Tim, who had bought a picnic blanket and the bread and condiments. Next came Hugo, Jasper and Lucy, who had the vegetables and fruits and dips. Sienna and Roxanne, Lorcan and Albus and Katie arrived with the games, buying a Fanged Frisbee, a pack of exploding snap, a cheap wizard's chess set and some Gobstones. James and Fred were the last to arrive, carrying between them a suspicious looking box and some items from Uncle George's shop that were also for the entertainment.