shy ↳ Scorpius Malfoy

Chapter Eight

Alice's hands tremble as she walks down to breakfast that Saturday morning, feeling anxious about how the day would go with Scorpius. She was excited, of course, because every time she has bumped into the blonde he has been nothing short of sweet to her, and the idea of being with him for an entire day was a strange combination of exciting and scary at the same time. Lily's voice is in her head, words from the previous days bouncing around in her mind.

What are you gonna wear?

I think you should wear something halfway nice for him, I mean, the boy did ask you to spend the entire day with him.

Like Rose, Alice was sure that Scorpius would not care what she chose to wear.

However, just in case that is not true, the brunette digs into the bottom of her suitcase, where she stores a few outfits that are halfway decent. She sorts through them, trying to find one that she would be comfortable in all day but also keeps her warm in the cool spring weather.

She decides on a plain white shirt along with a purple button up to keep herself warm, and her favorite pair of jeans. She is not so good with doing her hair, so she decides to ask Lily to take care of it for her, given that the younger girl is just about as excited for this day as Alice is.

When asked to help, Lily grins and rushes up the stairs side by side with Alice. Rose is still sound asleep, after a tough Quidditch match yesterday a little extra rest is just what she needs. Alice congratulated her many times on the win against Ravenclaw and promised to buy her something sweet tasting in Hogsmeade, at which point the red head fell into bed without even bothering to change and almost immediately fell asleep. She had forgotten to take her shoes off, so Alice did the honors, placing the slightly damp shoes neatly under Rose's bed, before changing and getting under her own covers.

Alice wants to wake her best friend up and say good bye before leaving the girls' dormitory, but the sight of her sleeping so soundly makes her think better of it. She jots down a little note to reassure Rose that she will come back bearing gifts. She also writes a quick good bye and see you later on the note, wondering if Rose would still be sleeping by the time she got back.

Then she proceeds down the stairs, hands shaking in anticipation at the thought of Scorpius waiting at the bottom, where he said he would be.

When she steps off the last step, she sees the blonde standing around the corner, looking particularly nervous as he wrings his hands together and fiddles with his thumbs. He doesn't notice her immediately, and she just watches him as he paces back and forth, tipping and balancing on one foot before doing it with the other.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually he notices her standing there. He straightens up and smiles at her.

"Hi," he says, already feeling a bit awkward. He understands that he should not be feeling this nervous. After all, Alice is just another person. But the fact that he is so infatuated by her makes it difficult for him to hold this argument.

"Hey," she replies, the corners of her mouth turning up in that breathtaking smile of hers. "How are you?" She can't help but ask this. She's curious as to whether he was all fidgety for a reason different than she thinks.

"Good," Scorpius answers. "How— how about you?"

"Great. Are you ready to go?" Alice asks, pressing the material of her shirt between her fingers, which are sweating more than usual.

***

Hogsmeade is particularly crowded on this day, and Alice does not know whether that is a good or bad thing for her and Scorpius's first 'date' together. The only thing that really gets under her skin is the disapproving looks the two of them have been getting as the walk through the stores together.

For the most part, Alice ignores them. Sometimes, she wants to pull her wand out and curse all of them for looking at the pair like that. She also wants to lecture them, tell them to mind their own damn business and leave her and Scorpius alone. But she does not want to make a bad impression today.

She can see that the stares are affecting Scorpius as well, only he is not so much angry as he is sad. This makes her hatred for the starers increase tenfold.

"Just ignore them, Scorpius," Alice says softly as they stand in Zonko's Joke Shop, eyeing the shelves, but not oblivious to the judgmental eyes around them.

"That's easier said than done," he responds quietly. "You know... I understand if you don't want to stay here all day. They never stop staring, and it can get annoying."

"I'm not going anywhere," Alice says. "I told you I would spend the day with you, so that's what I'm going to do." With that, she smiles at him and grabs an affordable item from the shelf.

"But... don't they bother you?" He presses. Alice shrugs.

"No," she says, but then slows. "I mean, a little, just because of how much it bothers you. Honestly, I'd like to curse them all because of it."

The boy has to fight back a smile. "So... you don't believe the rumors then?" He asks. He has been wanting to ask her this question for a while, but anticipated the answer, so he held off.

"Of course not," she answers, and the weight lifts from his shoulders. "You're far too kind to be related to Voldemort. I mean... from what I've noticed." A blush rises to her cheeks as she says these words. Scorpius smiles shyly.

"Thanks." Alice pays for the item before turning on her heel.

"So, where to next?"