SPOILER!!: comments

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Fantastic as always! I was so excited to see a new chapter.

Every time Ern posts I get excited because its like she is writing JUST FOR MEEEEEE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pundantic

I've decided I ship Albus and Jayne. So it shall be for so it is written.

Oh so do I. He's so grumpy just look at him.

5.3 Have Something Orange
Less than a week after the first Hogsmeade Weekend and Halloween fever had begun to spread at Hogwarts, particularly amongst the younger students who seemed to go a little bit mad participating in the Halloween related activities that had been cooked up by the faculty. Jack-o-lanterns, apple bobbing, and decorating the Great Hall with orange streamers and live bats were all part of the line up in the days immediately preceding Halloween, and speculation about what entertainment would be provided at the feast became a popular pastime for those students not madly studying or preparing for the upcoming Quidditch season, due to start with a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin on the upcoming Saturday. A week. Scorpius reminded himself. One week to get his team ready. They'd been selected only a few weeks ago and were still getting that balance of playing together. His new Seeker, Coraline Shettigar was good but inexperienced. All teams save Gryfffindor had a brand spanking new Seeker in their line ups, but that didn't help Scorpius since they'd be facing Gryffindor first and even though James Potter wasn't as much of a dynamo on the field as he thought he was, he did have experience and that counted for a lot.

It was Wednesday now and Scorpius had just finished running a harrowing practice for the Slytherins. Most of his team preferred to go straight to the Great Hall for dinner and eat in their Quidditch robes, but Scorpius always showered first and so he pushed open the double doors and stepped into the hall a little late but refreshed, hair still slightly damp from bathing. He'd not bothered with robes, though he changed back into the rest of his school uniform, sleeves rolled up neatly and tie pulled a little loose, but otherwise fresh and crisp and not crumpled at all despite being at the end of the day. It was, of course, a rule to come to meal times in your uniform. Quidditch robes were the only acceptable alternative. Luckily small talk was unnecessary since most everyone was stuffing their faces at this point of the meal, though boisterous conversation could still be heard in different degrees from all four tables as an accompaniment to the food.

It wasn't even quite Halloween yet but it seemed to Scorpius that there was an inordinate amount of food that was incredibly and disgustingly orange. He found colour coordinated food to be unsettling and eyed it in mild distaste as he tried to decide what to eat first.

"What did the pumpkin pie ever do to you, Scorchie?" Acantha stretched past several other students in order to rub his hair as she addressed him, causing several strands of it to stand up straight from the resulting static. It was baby fine and since it was drying unevenly, most of it stayed put, which Scorp was thankful for. Still, he was in an alright mood and managed a smile at his oldest cousin.

"Nothing its just that all that orange tricks my mind into thinking everything tastes exactly the same. Its never as good when it all blends together on your plate. Everything is better with a bit of variety." Scorpius was filling his plate even as he spoke and glanced up at her grimace of mock horror.

"Perish the thought, Scorch!" There was that nickname again. "Some things would be far better if there were less colours invading the spectrum. For instance, if the entire school was full of Slytherin students." She gestured grandly and somehow the movement dissolved into a sinuous stretch that had much of the male population at the Slytherin table and nearby Ravenclaw table, turning to look.

A grunt from nearby. "You'd get bored, Zabini." It was Montague, seventh year prefect and one of the Slytherin Beaters. He had a point, Scorpius thought.

"I wouldn't." She insisted. "It would be lovely."

Scorpius followed the superior look that she directed across the hall and decided that she could only be eyeing the Head Boy who was currently in a competition with several delighted looking first and second years, trying to eat their food from their plates without using their hands. Or, well, from what Scorpius could see, they were using their hands, only to do things completely unrelated to the process of eating. Things like a sudden burst of spontaneous applause, or tickling the person next to them or -was Fred Weasley trying to juggle?- how odd. Scorpius tore his eyes away and measured Acantha's disgusted expression as Hugo Weasley leaned over and dumped an entire pitcher of pumpkin juice over the Head Boy's dark curls, some pulp sticking there in little globules that didn't seem to bother the boy in the slightest. Fred simply kept eating and then sat up, fists in the air as if he'd apparently won some sort of contest. There were cheers from the Gryffindor table and Scorp decided that Merpeople made far more sense than Gryffindors when it came to how they kept one another entertained.

"On second thoughts, perhaps you're right about all that orange, Scorpius."

He licked some sauce from the pad of his thumb and eyed Acantha askance, choosing not to comment. A rattle of chains directed the conversation elsewhere as the Bloody Baron made an appearance down the table and chose a seat next to a terrified looking first year who clutched their goblet with a death grip that turned their knuckles white. Nera, who was sitting at that end, surrounded by a gaggle of Slytherin girls, reached over and neatly plucked the poor abused goblet from the child's hand and gave him a comforting smile before greeting the Baron with delight. Nera had taken to the Baron immediately upon meeting the blood-coated ghost and Scorpius still privately thought she was mad for it. It wasn't that Scorpius disliked ghosts, he just found them unnecessary and tended to avoid them where he could. He certainly had not chosen to take up Ghoul Studies, an after hours class which was available for those few NEWT students who thought they might be interested. Nera said they mostly sat around and chatted with those spirits which called Hogwarts home. Scorpius imagined it would be much like spending time talking to elderly relatives who had rambling, nonsensical stories punctuated with names of people who had died before you were born and it was never quite clarified if said dead people were important to the story or relevant to you in any way. Nera informed him he was mistaken and actually it was much like History of Magic and that it was a pity he hadn't signed up because she was sure that he'd enjoy it immensely.

Sometimes Scorpius wondered if she really knew him at all.

Instead of Ghoul Studies, Scorpius had chosen to take an after hours Alchemy class which would be tonight before curfew. With only a handful of other sixth years since it was an elective course that required high grades in Potions and Charms as well as written permission to participate from the individual student's Head of House. Atra had allowed Scorp to attend with very little convincing needed. That was a man aware completely of the strengths and weaknesses of all the students under his care and guidance. His mind wandered even as he continued his dinner, eating with careful manners that were almost out of place in the rowdy Great Hall where savages were only barely kept in line by those prefects who hadn't quite descended into the same madness.

"What is she looking at I wonder?" Acantha was still watching the Gryffindor table and she snapped her teeth threateningly. It would have been alarming if it hadn't been funny. Scorpius grinned at his cousin and then followed her line of sight, trying to figure out who she was currently staring down. Lily Potter. Fourth year. Scorpius always thought she looked rather vapid.

"Aww, leave her be, Acantha. She's probably heard a million and one horror stories about us by now." Scorpius leaned past Acantha's dorm mates, Jora Cram and Archana Kartik to slide her a slice of pie. "Here, have something orange, it will make you feel better."

Acantha eyed him. "You have something orange, Scorpius. You're looking peaky." She leaned past her fellow seventh years and placed a goblet of pumpkin juice in front of him.

"Oh no, I insist." Scorp's next offering was a spoonful of mashed carrot, which he grandly served to Acantha's plate. "It goes so well with your badge."

"I think it goes better with your own badge, Scorchiepants." Oh she was so sweet. Dripping with it. Next to him Archana stiffled a laugh, presumably at the nickname and Scorpius wondered if the girl knew its origins. It wouldn't surprise him.

He presented an apricot to her with a flourish and from there it only got more and more ridiculous until both of them had plates stacked with a horrifying mix of orange food that did not go together in the slightest, and several other students had joined in .

"No you have something orange."

"Oh no, I insist. Orange for you."

Scorpius was laughing by the time it was done and he vanished the plateful of food in front of him, unable to look at the quickly congealing, orange mess of it.

From the Ravenclaw table, where they had earned an audience, Christine Macmillian, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, turned to face him and leaned towards the Slytherin table

"Oh poor deprived Slytherins, you don't even know how to have a food fight properly." Her husky voice was teasing and her eyes sparkled as she spoke up to be heard. She was actually the only one of his fellow Captains this term that Scorpius didn't outright hate. It had been no surprise when she was appointed to replace Billy Boot.

"Maybe not in a traditional sense." Scorpius licked a stray fluff of mashed carrot from the knuckle of his pinky finger, unconcerned by what was good natured ribbing. If it were Sloper or Potter he'd show them how well he could throw food. Oh wait, he'd already shown Potter that this term. He smiled again. "But our way is less messy isn't it? Think of it this way, Ravenclaw table, being in close proximity to our own, would likely suffer some collateral damage. So its purely out of the goodness of our collective, slimy hearts that we adjusted the rules. For you, Ravenclaw." He gestured widely, including Mei Wyman, Gracie Egerton and Alyson Sutton in the motion and good naturedly smiling at them all. He stood up and walked around the end of the table, then took up a seat on the opposite side, though he faced the Ravenclaws and kept his back to his own table as it began to empty.

"I would hate to get pumpkin in my hair. You're my hero, Malfoy." Christine told him, rolling her eyes.

"Mine too." Mei added and giggled prettily, attempting to wind a short, glossy lock around her finger, but her pixie cut made the motion next to impossible.

"As long as you don't make a mess." Gracie sounded doubtful, but a hesitant smile curled her lips.

Alyson was the only one who didn't seem amused. She sniffed and pouted and tried to pretend like she was doing something else, but Scorpius was used to that now. He'd learned the previous year that dumping a Ravenclaw wasn't easy and tended to have lingering results. It was like she'd taken it personally or something.

"Did you finish the pre-reading for class, Scorpius?" Mei leaned towards him to ask.

But before he could answer, an interruption in the form of Yates Shacklebolt appeared between the two tables and Scorpius forced himself to give the Gryffindor a pleasant smile, which contrasted nicely and made Shacklebolt's glower look unreasonable.

"Come on, Mei." He battled to ignore Scorpius. "We're going to the library." Shacklebolt did have smiles for Mei, but they seemed forced in Scorp's eyes. Mei Wyman was all sweet smiles as she extracted herself from the Ravenclaw table and hooked her arm around Shacklebolt's.

"I'll see you later, Scorpius." She told him and Scorp's eyes immediately flickered to Yates's face, even as he answered.

"Right. Eight sharp. I'll save you a seat." Possibly he was pushing it and Yates would snap. Possibly it was worth it. Mei was in Scorp's Alchemy class, as was Gracie who she usually sat with. The Ravenclaw prefect was currently sitting there looking sweetly confused, eyes flicking between the others and finally coming to a rest on Shacklebolt as he shot Scorpius a dirty look and led his girlfriend away.

They all watched their retreating backs and Scorpius was surprised when Gracie spoke.

"I don't like him." She said thoughtfully.

Christine and Alyson looked equally surprised and Scorpius decided it was time to take his own leave rather than hang around and hear the way the two girls defended Yates and sung his praises. He left the Great Hall without saying goodbye and was almost immediately tackled by Barnaby Goyle. It was a friendly tackle but it still almost wiped Scorpius off his feat. Goyle could be a bit like a trained crup sometimes. He even got violent on cue. Apollo was standing nearby, grinning in a way that had Scorpius assuming that he'd put the bigger boy up to it.

"You should shower. He told Goyle. Who was still in his Quidditch gear. It was partly a dismissal as he started towards the common room.

"So." Apollo fell into step beside him. "Are you ever going to explain that whole Scorchiepants business?" Apollo gave a stray jack-o-lantern a kick and sent it careening into the wall, where it imploded, the candle within extinguishing itself immediately. Safety charms. Apollo ignored it. Scorpius shook his head and straightened his tie.

"Not any time soon." Nobody needed to know that.