𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑠𝘩𝑎𝑑𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝗁.𝗉. 𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗀𝖾𝗇.

.twenty-two.

Scorpius stood just outside the archway leading to the library, clenching and unclenching his fists and trying to force himself to walk inside. He knew he would have to do it sometime, that everyone else was probably already there, but part of him wondered if he just...didn't walk inside, that this would all disappear and he wouldn't have to risk his life and watch all of his friends do it to.

And yet, he knew that was impossible.

Taking a deep breath, Scorpius steeled himself against everything that was to come, turned on his heel, and walked through the doorway.

Unsurprisingly, he found Cas, Teddy, and Al milling at one of the old oak tables near the door. Unable to stop himself from smiling, Scorpius wandered quickly over and took a seat across from Cas and next to Al. Noticing something wrong, Scorpius looked around in confusion.

"Where's Ophelia?"

Just as the words tumbled out of his mouth, the girl in question strolled through the doorway. She grinned as soon as she caught sight of them, but Scorpius couldn't help but notice the air of nervousness floating about her, her lip was slightly red from the nervous chewing. He was even more confused when she stopped about three feet from the last empty seat at the table, tilting her head almost comically.

"Teddy..." she ground out. "Why is your hair...green?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

What the hell was she talking about? Teddy's hair was not--

He glanced over, following her gaze to see that Teddy did, in fact, have bright green hair.

Wow.

"Uh, because I...wanted to change it? In case you haven't noticed, I can do that." Ophelia raised an eyebrow, looking from Cas to Al as if to check that they had heard him too.

"Well, I know, but...why?" Teddy's face changed in a second. His eyes widened, and he tore a nervous hand through his lime hair and pulled as if trying to make it disappear.

"W-well, I can change it again...if you want..." his eyes fluttered closed, and Scorpius watched as the bright green disappeared to reveal a rapidly spreading bubblegum pink. "Better?" Ophelia grimaced, scrunching her nose up comically.

Teddy probably thought it was adorable.

"Nope."

Al chuckled. "Wow, if Nagini the Evil Green Snake Lady didn't know we were coming already, she'll see that hair from five miles away." Teddy chuckled, but the joke had uncomfortably reminded Scorpius and probably everyone else of what had to happen.

The five sat in silence for a while. Scorpius glanced around the room, struggling to find the words to articulate his feelings. While his eyes were wandering, he locked gazes with Cas. Offering a small smile, Scorpius watched as she returned it half-heartedly and tried not to feel even more terrified when he noticed the fear in her eyes. The fact that Cas herself was scared, and for once not trying to hide it, made Scorpius wonder if he had made the right decision.

Though, once he saw her grin as she watched Teddy and Ophelia bickering, he knew he had.

Ophelia reached forward, snaking her fingers quickly through the pink locks. "I liked it blue better." A blush rose on Teddy's face as the pink hair changed back to its customary teal.

Scorpius groaned, almost shoving their faces together so they would kiss already and get it over with. Cas mimed vomiting into her hand, and he tried to hide his laugh.

Sadly, he doubted that this was the time for any of that.

It definitely wasn't the time to get attached.