shy ↳ Scorpius Malfoy

Chapter Thirty One

"Alice."

The girl ignores the voice, turning away from it. Now, it's not like she's not glad to be around Rose again, but the Granger-Weasley has been bothering her about the Time-Turning incident ever since she arrived back to the castle. For now Alice just wants to sleep and not answer any questions pertaining to the subject.

"Alice," the voice repeats quietly. It's the middle of the night, who in Merlin's name would be bothering her at this hour? "Alice, I need to speak with you."

The girl rubs her eyes before turning to the direction of the voice. She blinks when she sees who it is, wondering if she is just imagining things.

"Scorpius?" She says quietly in reply.

The boy puts his finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. She doesn't say anything else, only watches in shock and curiosity as Scorpius leans down next to her bed, appearing unsure about what he is doing.

"Just– I needed to talk to you," he whispers, voice low so he does not wake any of the other sleeping girls around them. "But I haven't had a good chance, I don't see much of you anymore."

"Sorry," Alice replies, voice just as quiet.

"It's not your fault," Scorpius tells her. "I mean— I just need to talk to you for a moment." Alice sighs.

"Now probably isn't the best time," she breathes, shaking her head.

"Now's the only time," he responds. The two are quiet for a moment, only looking at one another. Then, Alice sighs and lifts her covers, as if gesturing for him to climb under them with her.

Scorpius raises his eyebrows.

"I don't want anyone waking up and seeing you, you'll get into trouble," she tells him quietly. "So hide under here. We can talk for a moment."

Scorpius hesitantly slips under the covers next to Alice. The two get comfortable under the blanket, which is pulled clear over their heads to shield them from the world. Alice digs her wand out from under her pillow and lights the end of it up in a dim glow, just enough for the two to be able to see each other's faces. Scorpius smiles at her.

"I'm glad to see you again," he whispers. "It's been a few days, hasn't it?"

"Is that all?" Alice remarks quietly. "How did you get up here, anyway?"

"It's not important," he tells her. She sighs and lets it go. "But, you should know that I'm most likely never going to do this again." Alice just smiles. "Also, I wanted— I needed to say that— well, I'm just—"

"Scorpius?" Alice cuts him off. "Whatever you need to say, please just say it."

"Um. Okay." The boy sighs. Alice notices that he looks tired and he must've spent all evening trying to get up to the girls' dormitory. "I sort of... like you."

"I should hope so," Alice answers. "We're friends, right?"

"That's not what I mean," Scorpius says. "I like you the way I use to like Rose." Alice lowers her eyebrows. She had no idea that Scorpius used to like Rose. However, that's not the part that she's focused on right now.

"I didn't realize it, until that day when we went back in time, like six times," he says. "Well, first I kept watching you on the Hogwarts Express, because I thought you were beautiful— I still think you are— and then you asked me to go to Hogsmeade with you and we had a great time, and then you went with Albus and I back in time. It made me realize how lucky I am to have you in my life."

Alice's cheeks are bright red at hearing this.

"It made me realize that I don't want you to go away," Scorpius admits. "For a long time, at least."

Alice grins.

"You're smiling," Scorpius observes. "You're— smiling, that's good... I was afraid you might not feel the same, but you're smiling now... you feel the same. Do you feel the same?"

At the end, Scorpius's tone became worrisome. Alice purses her lips together for a moment. Then, she slides forward a little on the mattress, and kisses Scorpius right on the lips.

It's short-lived, but it's absolute bliss anyway. Alice pulls away. "I love you, Scorpius," she whispers. She's afraid she was too blunt with her confession, but then Scorpius grins too.

"Well, it's about time."

Alice furrows her eyebrows and pulls the blanket down away from her face. She notices Rose a few feet away, lying on her bed with an annoyed look on her face.

"I didn't know you were awake," Alice tells her quietly. "Sorry."

Rose rolls her eyes, a playful smirk on her lips. "Yeah, just keep it down, you two. And he better be gone by morning. The other girls will go crazy on you if they know you've got a boy up here."

Alice smiles and pulls the cover back over her head, turning to Scorpius again and kissing him.