‘Alright, you have your assignment and your pairs. Remember, your only requirement is to spend time with your partners and their family. The more time, the more family, the more you’ll have to write for your end of year papers. I look forward to your observations. Class dismissed.’
Rose gathers her books quickly as she doesn’t want to be late to the greenhouse for Herbology. Several of her books fit neatly into her bag which she slings over her shoulder. Her ink and quill find a place snug near the top as not to spill. She’s only holding her Herbology book as she starts towards the exit and is caught off guard when she finds Scorpius walking step in step with her.
‘Oh,’ she says and wants to hit herself for the redundancy in their encounters as she says the first word that comes to mind. He smiles though and she isn’t sure if she’s grateful or put out that now has no idea how to proceed.
‘So?’ he asks, clearing his throat. ‘Who did you end up with then?’
She fiddles with the edge of her textbook as they walk and forgets to stop to glance back at Bas as they leave the classroom as she usually does.
‘Your sister, I’m afraid,’ she says and then cringes. ‘I mean, that is to say���’ He holds up a hand to interrupt her.
‘No I get it,’ he says, laughing. ‘I apologize for your misfortune.’
‘She just…isn’t the type of person I normally get on with, is all.’
‘I don’t envy you,’ he says, glancing down at her and she starts to realize he is taller than she remembers. ‘I only have a handful of classes with her this year and you’ve had classes with her since first year. You can’t imagine how frustrating it is every time she inter���’
‘Interrupts! Yes!’ Rose finishes with a laugh. ‘Professor Thomas could stand for a little structure now and then. At least to keep the lecture going. Every time she interrupts we end up on a fifteen minute tangent.’
‘I know. Now imagine what she’s like at home. The summers are nonstop questions about everything. I rarely get a moment’s peace.’
Rose smiles because she can imagine. Hugo is very much the same in that aspect and as a growing young woman, she wishes he would mind his own business and give her privacy every once and awhile.
‘So, I guess this project means I’ll need to spend some more time with her,’ she says, her fingers fanning gently through the edges of the pages on her book as they walk through the corridors.
‘And me,’ he says and she glances up at him again and his face changes, his pale cheeks flushing red and he begins to backtrack. Rose finds it unusually endearing. ‘That is to say, I mean because I’m her brother and, you know, the assignment is about family and all. Of course we already see each other around, it’s not like I meant you have to spend more time with me because that would be…weird. Anyways, sorry. I should go.’
‘Aren’t you going to Herbology as well?’ she asks, trying to hide her smile.
‘Right. Yes. I just need to find Sedgewick. I told him I’d meet him before class.’
‘Ok,’ she says and she glances back at him for what seems like a moment too long before he clears his throat.
‘I’ll, uh…see you in class.’
‘Yeah,’ she says, waving her fingers. ‘See you in class.’
She doesn’t mean to watch him walk away even though for ten extra steps they are walking in the same direction until he peels off into the corridor leading towards the Ravenclaw common room. She doesn’t even realize she’s staring until she feels someone’s arm link with her own and she turns to smile, thinking she’s found Roxy but she is greeted by Thea.
‘Oh,’ she says.
‘You say that a lot don’t you?’ Thea says and Rose feels the blood rush to her cheeks. ‘My brother is a bit strange. Doesn’t really do the, ‘talking to girls’ thing very well.’
‘He was fine, we were just discussing the project.’
Thea groans.
‘That might be worse than him trying to flirt, then,’ she ponders briefly and Rose waits for the point. ‘So, anyways, we’re partners. Weird right?’
‘I’ll say.’
‘Right well, the thing is, I don’t really do the private life kind of thing, you know? I don’t have slumber parties, I don’t have big lavish family dinners to invite you to.’ Rose’s eyebrow rises in confusion. ‘So, how about you and I come to an agreement. Half of your family already goes to school with us, I’ll do a little bit on each of them and call it a day. Meanwhile, you, you can write whatever the hell you want about me and I’ll endorse it. That way, neither of us has to waste our time trying to pretend we want to spend time with one another or our families. What do you say?’
For a moment Rose can feel the temptation. Already Thea’s closeness, their arms linked together, it all feels like too much. She doesn’t dislike Thea but she certainly doesn’t wish to spend more time with the girl than she’s forced to. And yet, she feels that part of her, the piece of integrity that defines Rose Weasley, tugging from that place in the back of her mind.
‘I don’t think that’s what the assignment is all about,’ she replies and Thea’s faux sugary smile starts to fade.
‘Oh Rosie.’
‘Rose is fine,’ she corrects and Thea waves it off.
‘Rosie, you and I could not be more different,’ Thea says and Rose can’t entirely disagree. ‘Also, let’s be honest, can you imagine what your parents would say if you invited me over for tea? Or even worse, if I had you over. I’m fairly certain your dad would not allow you to step foot in a Malfoy home.’
She sees her point.
‘I need to think about it,’ she says and she can already feel the guilt welling up inside of her as she does. Thea looks pleased with herself and smiles mischievously.
‘That’s all I ask,’ she says.
Thea doesn’t unlink their arms until they reach the greenhouses. Everyone gives them a strange look as they make their way through the door.
Rose can’t help but blush.
JAMES
He’s late for detention and he knows he’s going to hear about it from McGonagall later but he isn’t exactly in a hurry to do lines for Professor Binns.
He’s rounding the corner when he hears them arguing, the two Malfoys. He pauses short, staying unseen because the last thing he wants before detention is a run in with Thea. Scorpius stands over his sister, both of their expressions are stern and James thinks for the first time he can actually see the resemblance between them.
‘I won’t do it,’ she’s whispering, her voice hurried and he can see the way she strains her neck to look up at him, her arm crossed over her chest.
James finds this slightly amusing knowing this is the exact expression she uses on him when they stand this close, when she has to crane her neck to look him in the eye and it infuriates her.
‘Stop being unreasonable,’ her brother says. ‘It’s one night and it’s the perfect opportunity for us both to complete the assignment.’
‘It’s out of the question,’ says Thea, her lips are in a hard line as she shakes her head and her black shoes tap impatiently on the stones beneath her feet. ‘I have worked too hard to plan the fundraiser���’
‘Father’s fundraiser,’ Scorpius says, and she glares at him.
‘You know very well that I was asked to help plan the gala and I will not be humiliated by you inviting that…that tosser James Potter.’
James furrows his brow because he hasn’t just stumbled upon a sibling quarrel as he originally thought. Something about Thea’s frustrated tone has been caused by James indirect involvement. This pleases him even more.
‘Oh come off it,’ says Scorpius, his usual cool demeanor interrupted by his annoyance with his sister. ‘You’d barely see him. All you have to do is invite Rose, I’ll invite James, they’ll come over a few hours early for afternoon tea, talk to Father and then stay for the gala. They’d get everything they’d need for the assignment.’
‘They’d be in our home,
Scorpius. Why doesn’t that bother you?’
James sees the way Thea shifts uncomfortably. Scorpius’ stance is unmoving.
‘You have to grow up eventually,’ Scorpius says, his voice lowered as he steps in towards her. James is straining to hear. ‘You can’t put on this act forever.’
There is a challenge in his voice and James is familiar with the expression that rolls across Thea’s features now. Her expression is no longer sour and her eyes burn with provocation.
‘Watch me,’ she says, her tone dark as she spins on her heel and into the classroom where James was meant to be fifteen minutes ago.
Scorpius stands there for only a moment looking defeated. James is sure he’s never seen the elder Malfoy sibling with an expression so lacking in confidence. The conversation, whatever turn it had taken, is a point of contention between the two and James curses himself for wondering why.
He waits until Scorpius turns to leave and a moment longer even after he disappears before he starts towards the classroom. When he arrives Thea’s fiery expression is already replaced with one of boredom and James curiously wonders which one is the act. She doesn’t glance up at him as he sets his bag down, two benches to her left.
There are six other students in detention. Half of them look like first years and by their anxious expressions he infers it’s their first time in detention. The other three are fifth year Slytherins who he recognizes from earlier in the courtyard. Weasley products are considered contraband on campus and it’s no mystery why they’ve landed themselves in detention after their display of fireworks just before luncheon.
They look decidedly amused with themselves.
‘Mr. Potter,’ the ghost professor says, his voice haggard. ‘Instructions for lines are on the blackboard. I expect an extra 100 lines for your tardiness. All to be completed by hand before supper.’
‘Yes, Professor,’ he says despite the internal tug to argue with the extra lines.
He’s already missed Quidditch and he doesn’t feel keen on missing supper. As if in agreeance, his stomach growls loudly, enough so that several heads turn. He places his hand over his stomach, summoning the will to ignore the pains and simultaneously Thea’s raised eyebrow.
The lines go by quickly and despite his extra lines and the setting sun just outside the classroom window, he is certain he’ll be done before supper. His quill is scratching jagged words loudly across the parchment and Thea sighs heavily more than once in response to the sound.
He’s finishing his last line just as Thea stands and she grabs her bag from beneath her desk and slings it over her shoulder. James rushes through the final few words as she walks up to the front and Professor Binns inspects her work. She stands, tapping her shoes on the stone floor in a slow rhythm and inspects the beds of her nails.
James takes his set of lines up to the front as well and places his parchment on the desk. Binns lowers his spectacles and glances up at him.
‘Detention is not a race, Mr. Potter,’ the ghost says and Thea snorts. ‘Tomorrow I expect better penmanship.’
‘Yes, Professor.’
‘But for now, you are both dismissed,’ says Binns and Thea doesn’t wait before spinning on her heel. James abruptly follows though he hears Binns muttering about missing sweet cakes behind him.
His stomach growls loudly again.
His legs are longer, his steps quicker than hers so it would only take a few strides before he would catch up to her. But they are going to the same place and he doesn’t want to end up walking side by side so he slows his steps in order to stay behind her. It’s uncomfortable and he can’t keep a steady pace as he does so which is what causes her to look over her shoulder at him and glare.
‘You sound like you’ve forgotten how to walk, Potter,’ she sneers. ‘One foot in front of the other. Should be fairly simple, even for someone as dimwitted as you.’
‘Reverting to name calling?’ he taunts, adjusting his pacing again but finds himself too quick as he is once again nearly on her heels. ‘I expect something a bit more refined from someone as snobbish as you.’
‘Snobbish,’ she scoffs under her breath and adjusts the strap digging into her shoulder.
James knows he should be quiet, let them finish out the rest of their long walk to the Great Hall in awkward silence but he can’t stand being in such close proximity without being a pain in her side. He simply can’t allow her to think she is making him uncomfortable. He also refuses to acknowledge deep in the pit of his stomach as his feet stutter again, uncertain of their pace, that perhaps she is.
‘I saw you and Scorpius arguing earlier,’ he says and he doesn’t miss the slight catch in her steps. ‘He almost looked as annoyed with you as the rest of us are.’
‘I see you not only have trouble walking, but also minding your own business.’
‘I was trying to get to detention, which you landed me in, and your little argument was blocking my way.’
‘You landed yourself in detention, Jamie. Don’t skew the facts.’
His fingers twitch at his side at the nickname and he doesn’t attempt to slow his pace anymore as his long stride puts him on her right side. Her eyes glance towards him so briefly that he nearly misses the look of discomfort in her gaze and it doesn’t bother to hide his grin. His fingers relax.
‘I couldn’t help but overhear my name in said argument,’ he says and her eyes roll back under her lashes.
‘Despite your arrogant belief to the contrary, not everything is about you.’
‘Isn’t it?’ he asks and she stops so swiftly that it’s another two strides before he’s able to pull back on his own momentum and swings around to see her standing there, arms crossed over her chest. Her lips are downturned, twisting from her usual victorious smirk into something less than amused.
‘What do you want?’
His brow furrows at the question.
‘How do you mean?’
‘I assume by the overly-enthused look on your face that you heard a bit more than just your name in that conversation, which means you think you have some piece of information to use against me. But as usual, Potter, you are painfully premature.’
Though her words are laced in venom there is a slight innuendo rolling of the tip of her tongue because she can’t help herself. She never can.
‘So the gala Scorpius wants to invite me to���’
‘..is not an invitation he has any right to give,’ says Thea.
James doesn’t mean to mirror her stance but he can’t help the way his arms rise up, crossing against his chest as he raises his chin. The tables have quickly turned and James can feel the strain as Thea takes the upper hand. Her hips shift and her steps echo through the empty corridor as she takes a few steps forward. His reaction is involuntary, startling himself when he realizes his feet move backwards.
‘If he asks you to our home for the gala, you will decline the offer,’ she says and her feet continue forward, close the gap between them as his body tries to counter each of her two steps with one of his own.
‘I don’t think I will,’ he says, his chin still high as she gets closer, hers rising as well.
Then, as he attempts to widen the gap between them, the wall to his back becomes an unmovable obstacle that has now left him cornered. He remembers his internal laugh as he saw her straining her neck to look up at Scorpius, recalling how powerful he feels when Thea Malfoy is forced to stand beneath him in the same manner, her sour expression intensified by the discomfort of the position she is forced into.
Now feels very different. Her neck is craned up at him as the gap diminishes and for the first time James feels very much as if he is the one straining to look down at her. This is a very different look that flashes through her eyes, ice-colored orbs that burn through him and as his throat grows dry he forgets how to swallow.
‘Forget about the gala,’ she says to him, her voice low and her eyes narrowed.
‘If I didn’t know any better, Malfoy, I’d sa
y you sounded scared.’ It’s a last ditch attempt, he knows that as he hears his voice shake every so slightly as her name leaves his lips.
‘It’s you who should be scared,’ she whispers.
Scared might not be the appropriate word. He’d never admit to feeling induced into fear by Thea even if that was the emotion rushing through him. But that’s not what this is, he realizes upon further evaluation. This is something different entirely. But he can’t deny that there is something intimidating about the fire in her eyes and the proximity of her in their current position.
‘Forget about the gala, Potter, and…I’ll owe you one.’ The words don’t come easily. In fact it is as if she has to rip them from her own lips as they flood into his ears.
Somehow he has the upper hand despite the fact that she has him cornered in an empty corridor. She’s giving him power that he’s only ever dreamed of and he isn’t entirely certain as to why. He can think of a hundred different ways to use this favor she would be gifting him and yet he still feels something deep within him pulling at her hardened gaze directed upwards into his own.
‘What am I supposed to say when he asks, then?’ James finally finds his voice.
‘The truth will work well enough,’ she says, softening slightly. ‘You can’t stomach the idea of being anywhere near me or my family.’
It’s not far from the truth. He doesn’t like the idea of Scorpius’ plan for their little class experiment. He doesn’t want to step foot in a Malfoy home, for Rose to be dragged there as well. The Malfoys may be upstanding citizens in the eyes of the ministry but he knows their past with his family.
The flames of the torches lining the hallways alight so suddenly that he flinches at the sound. Her face which was once burning under the shadows of the setting sun is now glowing with the flame of real fire. Her eyes dart up to them, breaking contact with his own.
‘Looks like it’s time for dinner,’ she says and her eyes find his once more. James flinches again as he feels her touch, unexpectedly, in the form of her palm against his torso. ‘Better not be late. I think your stomach as suffered enough,’ she says, pushing off with the tips of her fingers gently until she is no longer craning her neck upwards.
She whispered Page 48