Simple Kind Of Life

And the Unavoidable

Knowing that he was going to regret ever caring about Potter's depression or dirty secret, Scorpius felt an instant spark of fire fuel the always present flame he had inside his chest. It was a rage that seeped in with high fuel at the sight of Fred and Louis Weasley making disgusted faces at two people snogging by the door.

"Thanks for waiting for us, idiots." Roxy came in through the door, pushing her blonde cousin from her path as she dragged in Savanna Zabini from the outside. "Oh, gross. They're doing it again."

"This is not how I wanted to spend my day at Hogsmeade," Savanna snapped, rolling up the sleeves of her purple v-neck and proceeding to separate the couple. "Will you quit it?" she hissed at the boy who looked dazed after his witch was removed from his mouth.

James Potter and Ariana Malfoy—the disgust.

"Oi, settle down, Sav," James laughed, throwing an arm around the Third Year Ravenclaw as she continued to scowl. "There's plenty of James to go around if you want a snog. I'm sure Ana wouldn't mind."

"Troll." Savanna glared at the boy, turning to give Ariana—who raised an eyebrow at the two—an uncomfortable stare. "Handle your animal, Ariana."

"That's what Dominique told you?" Lana asked, her jaw dropped as she turned to face Al's annoyed gaze. "But I thought your brother and Ariana were already an item?"

"No, they weren't," Angelo responded after frowning at the oldest of the Potter sons. (Why in Salazar's legacy did Potter always have to bring his sister into his bizarre moments?) "James was just courting her, but apparently they've snogged and made it official."

"Shut it," Al mumbled again, looking intently into the wood of the table.

Looking away from his best friend, Scorpius frowned at James Potter. His blood thickened and  anger ticked inside of him like a clock, letting him know that he was about to go into a rage and possibly murder the Chosen One's oldest son. (Now, Scorpius could care less about the Ariana-of-it-all. What mattered to him was that Potter was now walking around like he was better because he snagged his sister and that automatically made him king of the castle.)

"Ariana doesn't look too happy," Lana interjected, glancing back and forth from Al and her boyfriend. And once she got the attention from all three Slytherin boys, she cleared her throat and continued. "Most girls would typically be attached by the wand with their boyfriends, and Ariana always remains a few steps ahead of James. At school, you don't see them together unless he goes and looks for her." The boys blinked at her. "Her actions make it appear that she's not that into James as it seems."

Al raised his head a few centimeters from the tabletop, looking quizzically at the usually slow Slytherin witch. Hope appeared in his chest.

"Well, I bet a few snogging sessions with Potter will change her mind," Angelo commented, nodding towards the familiar group ahead, spotting Savanna and the others scowl at the kiss James was giving Ariana once again.

Al dropped his head again. (Hope was never his friend.)

Lana gave Scorpius' hand a squeeze as he continued to frown. "Kissing someone doesn't mean anything sometimes,” her voice came out soft, very innocent-like that her house-mates gave her their attention once again. "You can kiss a random stranger or a friend and maybe feel fireworks...or maybe not feel anything at all." She took a low-key inhale, her fingers slowly slipping from Scorpius' underneath the table. "Same thing applies to relationships. Sometimes we hold on to one, knowing that there's nothing there, but refuse to let go for selfish reasons."

Malfoy let his frown fade, a confusion taking over him. Deciding to ignore the message on Lana's face, he reached over for her hand; lacing his fingers through hers. But Lana didn't squeeze back—Scorpius did the holding on in their relationship.