SPOILER!!: comments

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

Definitely worth the hinting. I could totally visualize it all, too.

And I want that pastry.

I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paintbrush

Intrigue! Excitement! Gosh I wish warming charms really existed getting dressed up in winter is difficult... And next time? There'll be more dates?

My fave thing about the wizarding world is living vicariously through the things that would make our lives easier XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurange

I finished my semester exams today and flopped on the couch with my laptop to read these and catch up. You two dazzle me every time.

Rose Weasley gives me LIFE.



I love everything.

Here's another update just for you bae

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime

Honestly I like this Rose more than the Rose from Cursed Child she seems more open & real

I LOVE Ern's Rose. SO MUCH.

7.3 See You In Three Weeks

11 December 2022

Finally broke Jayne down to get her to talk about the date, although I had to promise not to discuss it with anyone. Silly wonderful Jayne - as if I would go to all this trouble to help her and then ruin it by telling J or A about it. She told me every single thing about their date, as best she could remember it, including what food he ordered and how sharp he looked in his winter apparel and the fact that he suggested she wanted to KISS him. Plus she now owes him a favor of some sort, although I didn't really understand the terms under which that occurred.

Suppose I owe him a favor too. Do I have to TELL him I do, or does he know already?

As far as dates go, it sounded fairly incredible. I suppose she's adding a little glamour-of-the-newly-smitten to it, because the picture she drew sounds fairly impossible. Not to denigrate Malfoy, who I am sure is perfectly nice to the multitude of girlfriends he has at any given time, but why would he spend all that effort on Jayne without hoping to get something out of it? It certainly doesn't sound like any of the dates I've heard about from the girls in the dorm after Hogsmeade weekends.

So glad I decided to forego romantic entanglements until after Hogwarts. My classmates waste so much time on trivial matters and ignore the important ones.

She can sparkle it up as she wants. My only desire was that Jayne have a good time and realize that she's completely amazing even if J can't seem to see it. The way she's holding herself right now is well worth any cost, even if part of me continues to wonder what game Malfoy is playing. Did he do all this for her, to help Jayne, or does he have some ulterior motive that will harm her in the end? If he makes her care about him and then causes her pain, I will PERSONALLY be responsible for physical harm to his form. I don't care if he stays handsome or NOT.



12 December 2022

Asked Jayne if she wanted to go on another date with Malfoy, and she said they've already got one scheduled!! I shouldn't have asked her in front of the boys, because J started to pitch the biggest fit and nearly shook her to pieces. Even A left the room, which was fairly cold considering she's one of our best mates and we should support her and all that.

Asked her if she thought she might want to date him long term, but she just shrugged and said it didn't feel romantic when they were together. He was just fascinating and she hoped they could be great friends. Like actually friends. So much for my theory that her perception of Malfoy is colored by her feelings for him. The thing is... if Jayne is friends with Malfoy, will she start spending time with him? Will he start spending time with US? Will there be some sort of expectation that we all get along like old chums?

Call me a naysayer, but I'm not sure J or F will ever be chummy with Malfoy. I'm not sure A can either, and he can get along with anyone. And as for me, Malfoy has made it very clear his opinion of me. Bossy. Strident. Insufferable. Jayne ought to come to terms with the fact that being friends with Malfoy will have to be an entirely separate thing from being friends with us.

The second date with Jayne had gone well, even if they hadn't been able to spend it down in Hogsmeade Village again. Scorpius and Jayne had instead spent time together outside playing in the snow and building then animating a snowman, both laughing and playing the fool. It had been fun, and this time she'd dressed a little more sensibly. After galavanting in the snow in full view of several irate Gryffindors, they'd retired inside and taken a picnic down to the Boathouse, a popular choice for Slytherin students but one that Jayne had been pleasantly surprised by. It had been fun, he reflected, but there wasn't any particular chemistry between them. He was convinced that he'd achieved the task that Rose had set out and noticed that her housemates were suddenly looking at Jayne Wood with fresh eyes.

The end of the year was fast approaching and Hogwarts had been decorated for Christmas. To Scorpius this meant sitting through the choir performing various Christmas carols with their toads during mealtimes, and side stepping convieniently placed mistletoe. Tiresome. He was less excited about Christmas this year because his parents were going away and so he would be staying at Hogwarts for the holiday. He could of course choose to stay with his grandparents or with the Zabinis, but even while he wasn't entirely looking forward to being at Hogwarts for Christmas, he felt a strange pull to remain behind and had ended up requesting to do so. His father had been unsure about it but upon Scorp's insistance he'd spoken to Flitwick about it personally and now it was all arranged.

The last Friday of the term came and Scorpius found himself sitting silently during dinner, unable to drive thoughts of a certain journal out of his head. He'd been trying not to read it. He'd even convinced himself several times to ignore the stupid thing because it was so boring and all, but he'd kept going back to it. Scorpius was no longer reading it in order, having decided that random would at least spice the process up a bit. It was a little more interesting to read about things that concerned him a little more directly, even if sometimes what she wrote made him scoff at the pages before him. She was so misinformed. She'd stopped writing about what she ate after the first few times, thankfully. It was almost as if she hadn't been quite sure how to keep a diary and had been covering all the bases. It was odd having this insight into someone he'd spent the great majority of his life alternating between ignoring and disdaining due to her familial connections, but Scorpius was beginning to realise that it was simply because of who she was related to that he had any real misgivings about her at all. Oh and the whole being a Gryffindor thing. That was pretty hard to get past. He didn't care who her parents were or who her uncle was or any of that rubbish relating to the war. It wasn't about blood purity or anything those who had come before had fought over. The problem with her family was just that a good number of them were prats. Maybe it was just in his direction, but it was still true.

"Am I right, Scorpius?" He turned slightly, startled out of his revelry by Nott's voice across the table and Scorpius had no idea what it was the other boy was asking if he was right about.

"I'm almost certain you're not, but to be fair, I wasn't actually listening." Scorp answered, keeping his voice bland. He blinked again and looked across the hall, expression going thoughtful. He missed the looks that his table mates exchanged and barely noticed Nera waving her hand in front of his face, but Apollo reached over and caught her wrist.

"Leave him be, Nera. He's obviously daydreaming about his Gryffindor girlfriend."

"Don't be ridiculous." Scorpius answered vaguely. "Rose isn't my girlfriend."

There was a heavy pause and a lot of stares before howls of laughter erupted from the group of Slytheirns, Apollo's chortle hovered above the rest, while Nera had apparently swallowed her pumpkin juice awkwardly and was gasping for breath and making choking noises. Scorpius blinked, puzzled. Had he said something funny? What were they laughing at? He scowled as the laughter only increased at his puzzlement.

"Oh no, I don't think anyone would have thought that." Nera managed finally and Scorpius stared her down coldly.

Apparently taking pity on him, Takeshi, who hadn't spoken until that moment, leaned over and whispered in Scorp's ear, informing him politely and precisely about his slip of the tongue. This did not improve matters and Scorp clenched his jaw.

"Well, Jayne isn't either."

"First name basis." Apollo noted out loud. "Did anyone else notice that?"

Scorpius stood up. "Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. I'll see you all in three weeks." He stalked from the Great Hall, attempting to maintain some dignity even while his mind was a little bit horrified at that particular slip. It didn't make an ounce of sense. He supposed he could blame the fact that his friends often made Weasley related jokes in his direction and he hadn't been paying attention this time around, but really he couldn't see Nera or Apollo letting that one go.

"Wait a minute, Scorpius."

He turned around and stopped walking when Apollo came running after him and rather than focus on his irritation, he let paused to take stock of his friend. He wondered if Apollo had even noticed how long his hair was getting. His friend had always worn it short before, but now it framed his face, softening an otherwise strong jaw. It almost needed a wash, but didn't seem dirty exactly. Not that Scorp considered himself any sort of hair expert but he was a noticer and the current state of his best friend's hair was something he'd noticed. Apollo had a very Greek nose, it was long and dominated his face and lined up perfectly with the dimple in his chin. When they were younger it hadn't mattered if one or the other of them had accidentally worn the other's school robes, but now Apollo was much taller, a few inches on Scorpius even, and less broad in the shoulder. Apollo was lean, long-boned and all angles and yet not awkward or clumsy like some with his build. His eyes were large and a soft brown, framed by the kind of lashes Scorpius had always heard girls were jealous of for reasons unknown.

Right at that moment Scorpius could have cheerfully hit him had it not been for the fact that doing so would be like some kind of confirmation that his little slip of the tongue had some deeper reason behind it. It didn't. A slip of the tongue was all it was. It didn't mean anything. Scorpius waited.

"Merlin, you look a bit like you want to hit me. Relax would you? Take a joke." Apollo peered at him. "Something's not right with you, and I don't mean that business with Jayne Wood either."

"Maybe I'm just done letting people dictate who I ought to and ought not to ally myself with." Scorpius answered, knowing he sounded grumpy and a bit haughty at that, and that he wasn't making much sense to begin with. He was still feeling oddly distracted, like his focus was elsewhere or as if half of him was daydreaming.

Apollo looked pleased by his words, but that flash disappeared a moment later and Scorpius wondered if he'd imagined it. "Well that's just dandy and all, but be careful, right? Weasley. She's up to something."

"Oh?" What would Apollo Burke know about what Rose Weasley was or was not 'up to'? Scorp frowned and Apollo seemed to sense his disbelief.

"She was talking to Nera. You know, civilly."

"So?"

Apollo ignored him. "She hates Yates Shacklebolt."

"A lot of people hate Yates Shacklebolt."

"Not that many. He's popular. At least as well-liked as you, if not more." Apollo corrected and Scorpius twitched slightly, trying to unclench his jaw. Yates bothered him. There was no denying that. But hearing anything positive about the Gryffindor who was arrogant, obnoxious and willing to let his father's fame pave his way in life, especially from Apollo's lips, was a little bit hard to bear.

"Be that as it may, I don't see your point." Scorpius straightened, managing to continue the conversation coolly.

"Maybe I don't have one."

Apollo could be infuriating sometimes, but he aways had a point. Scorpius raised an eyebrow, waiting for elaboration.

"I'm just saying, something is up and you're involved somehow whether or not you like it. Never thought of you as someone who liked being a pawn in someone else's game of Wizard's chess, especially if the player is sloppy."

He was implying Rose was sloppy? Scorpius was pretty sure she was to controlling to be sloppy. Ignorant maybe, but not sloppy. He did mull over his friend's words though. Apollo wouldn't imply that something was going on if it wasn't. He didn't choose to do anything lightly and he was very, very observant. His judgements might not always match up with Scorp's morals, but you could trust them to come from a place of truth.

"I'll keep that in mind." He let out a breath that he hadn't know he'd been holding.

"That's all I ask." Apollo answered and then clapped Scorp's shoulder. "Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. I'll see you in three weeks."

"Right." Scorpius agreed and turned tail, heading up to the library.

He had some reading to do.