Epiphany |Scorpius Malfoy|

Chapter Forty-One

Their way to the courtyard was at first silent. Scorpius didn't speak and neither did Isabelle, they just walked together outside. He didn't feel like he should break the silence though. He focused on the rhythmic sound of their footsteps as they walked, the sound at first heard clearly as they were walking in the castle but getting almost non-existent as they got to the courtyard.

They met quite some students on their way outside, and as they walked past the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, he noticed that almost no one was there. For a second, he was confused as he wondered why everyone was gone, but as a light breeze blew past them, he immediately realised why.

Scorpius shivered slightly, instantly bringing Isabelle to look over at him. A small frown formed on her lips as she noticed that his otherwise pale cheeks were now rosy because of the cold. It truthfully wasn't that cold, and if it weren't for the light breeze, she was certain that he would have no problem walking around.

As he shivered once again as a breeze blew past them, she decided to speak up. "You are cold."

"No, I'm not-"

"There is no use in trying to hide it," she cut in softly, "I know you are cold. We can just head inside again-"

"No, I don't want to get back inside," he shook his head before turning to face her, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. "At least, I don't want to get back inside unless you are cold."

"I am just fine," she assured him, "but really, if you-"

"I'll let you know," he piped in before looking ahead in the distance. "Let's head to the bridge, shall we?"

And so they did. They walked to the bridge but didn't cross it. They stopped in the middle of it and turned to the direction of the dusk. A few rays of light were slowly disappearing as the night took over, however, they didn't seem to mind the darkness.

Isabelle smiled as the last ray of light disappeared behind a mountain, her eyes following the purple of the horizon all the way until they reached Scorpius. He didn't seem to be focused in what was around him, his expression vacant of any emotion it seemed. She examined him, trying to understand what was going on in that mind of his, but after some time, she was unable to come up with something. Giving up, she decided to actually ask him.

She didn't call his name. Instead, she walked slightly closer towards him and squeezed his hand. She raised her other hand and placed it around his arm as she looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. "What are you thinking about?"

Finally, he looked down at her. A small smile formed on his lips as he watched that sweet expression on her face, debating on whether he should tell her or not. The longer he looked at her, though, the more he wanted to tell her everything that was on his mind. And so, he gave up on trying to hide his thoughts from her and instead chose to confide in her.

"I am thinking about many things. But NEWTs do occupy a good amount of my thoughts every day."

"Scorpius, we both know you are going to be excellent in every class," she assured him, her smile widening slightly, "you are a very good student, you know. There is no reason for you to worry."

"I wish we didn't have to take exams," he sighed as he looked in the distance, "I don't like them."

"I doubt anyone does," she pointed out, "still, we have no other choice. We can't change our educational system."

"For now."

Isabelle let out a small laugh as she looked up at him, her smile widening even if he was not looking at her at the time. "Will the next generation of witches and wizards worship you for banning exams from school, then?"