Things were gradually getting better for Scorpius. He was nearly out of his depressed state that he was in for so long, and he rarely got angry for no reason anymore. The anxiety attacks still occured, however, but those were manageable. At least they weren't like the one he had at St. Mungos where he ended up screaming at people and breaking things. Usually writing, reading, or even running laps around Hogwarts helped Scorpius calm down.
Speaking of Hogwarts, Scorpius was glad he came out of hiding (from what, he still didn't understand) and came back. He realized the night before he was due back at school that hiding was not going to get him anywhere, and what he really needed was to be around others that love and support him. Scorpius really did have the best friends ever.
Anyways, the first few days back at school were quite stressful also, to be honest. Because Scorpius and his friends missed so much, half of their fourth year and fifth year, the extra work pile was brutal. They each had to take extra lessons after their main lessons during the day, which would keep them doing schoolwork for the large majority of the day. It was quite exhausting and overwhelming, which fueled a lot of Scorpius's anxiety issues too. But it was better than repeating a year; the very idea nearly made Rose faint.
Before the group of four knew it, it was finally the weekend. Of course they had to spend time doing schoolwork on weekends too, but that could wait. The four needed a well deserved fun day at Hogsmeade to celebrate their chaotic first week back at school. It was freezing outside with occasional snow flurries falling from the sky, since it was just the beginning of March. Scorpius loved this kind of weather.
He dressed warmly in a thick red sweater, a beanie, and his Gryffindor scarf. Then he left the boys dormitory and went down to the Gryffindor common room, where his friends were waiting for him. He stopped to take in the scene in front of him, and he nearly laughed.
Holly was dressed in the puffiest purple winter coat Scorpius had ever seen, and to top it off, a Gryffindor beanie in the shape of a lion on top of her head. It was a lot to take in at first, but hey, that was Holly. But that wasn't what was so funny. Albus was dressed in an almost identical puffy winter coat like Holly's, but his was red, making him resemble a giant tomato.
"Holly, is this really necessary?" Albus complained, flapping his arms awkwardly because of the size of the coat. Scorpius almost felt sorry for him.
"Yes, Albus!" Holly said, like she was surprised that Albus would even ask her such a thing. "It is below freezing outside and I don't want you getting sick!" Then Holly spotted Scorpius, who was standing there hoping this ordeal wouldn't turn into a fight or something. "Oh hello, Scorpius. Is that what you're really wearing out in this cold weather?"
Scorpius looked down at himself. Sure, he wasn't wearing as many layers as Holly and Albus were, but he was dressed warmly enough, in his opinion. Plus, Scorpius absolutely hated wearing puffy winter coats.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Scorpius asked, gesturing to himself.
Holly rolled her eyes. "Honestly, do any of you care about possibly getting pneumonia or frostbite?" Then she stomped out of the room and marched upstairs.
Scorpius whistled, trying to make the situation less awkward, "What's up with her, Al?"
Albus sighed, obviously frustrated, and unzipped his puffy red coat, shrugging it off of his shoulders with a struggle. "The heck if I knew. You know Holly. She's unexpected sometimes."
And that Holly was. You really never knew what was going to come out of her mouth every day.
Then Scorpius had a thought about Holly. "You think she's worrying about us getting sick because of her cancer?" Scorpius knew Holly's cancer was gone, but she had to still have fears about it coming back. All cancer survivors must have that fear.
Albus's eyes widened. "God, you might be right! Ugh, I'm such an idiot for not figuring that out!" Then he slumped onto the couch and put his head in his hands. He was such a drama queen sometimes.
Scorpius sat down beside his best friend. "You're not an idiot, Al. You just don't use your head sometimes."
"Gee, you're great at advice. Thanks." Albus mumbled into his hands, making Scorpius smirk. Joking around sometimes worked with Albus, sometimes it didn't.
"You're welcome. I try," Scorpius joked, patting Albus's back. Then he had another thought occur to him. "Hey, where's Rose?"
Albus lifted his head off of his hands. "She's still upstairs getting ready. I suppose she wanted to look decent for you."
But Rose always looked decent. Heck, if Rose was going through this much trouble today to look good, there's no telling how pretty she's going to be when she comes down those stairs. Scorpius gulped.
"Hey, guys," said Rose from behind the two boys, emerging from the stairs. Scorpius spun around and his jaw almost dropped to the floor.
Rose was wearing all white. Literally, her whole outfit was white. She wore one of those puffy coats, except white, although the coat's puffiness wasn't extreme like Holly's. It actually made Rose look pretty amazing. Her jeans were white, as well as her beanie that was pulled over her usual red frizzy hair. The whiteness of Rose's clothes and the fiery red of her hair went excellent together.
Scorpius thought she looked like an angel.
"Um...y-you look n-nice, Rose," Scorpius spluttered out, making Albus snort beside him and collapse on the couch in silent chuckles. Scorpius ended up punching him in the leg.
Rose smiled. Did she whiten her teeth? "Thank you, Scor."
Scorpius just wanted to go up to Rose and kiss her. But that could wait until they were at Hogsmeade.
"Are we all ready to go?" Rose asked the boys, grabbing her bag.
"I think so. Wait, what about Holly?" Scorpius said.
"I'll go talk to her," Albus replied. "You two go on ahead."
Scorpius and Rose's eyes met and they shrugged. Well, it could just be a date for the two of them now. The two of the them linked hands and they left the common room, making their way to the exit of Hogwarts and following the group going to Hogsmeade. Scorpius shivered from the cold wind, really wishing he did bring an extra layer of clothing. He ended up guiding Rose into the Three Broomsticks to warm up with glasses of butterbeer.
"I missed this," Rose said, her eyes looking around the busy Three Broomsticks, nearly every table filled with groups of teenage wizards.
Scorpius remembered all the times he and his friends came here during every Hogsmeade weekend. They'd get the same table every time by the fireplace, ordering the same butterbeers every time. It was like a tradition for them. It was even the place where Scorpius and Rose had their first, and very awkward, date. The two of them still laugh about it every time they come here.
"Remember on our first date here when you spilled butterbeer on my shirt?" Rose asked, giggling.
"How could I forget when you keep reminding me?" Scorpius teased. For such a stupid memory, he'd never forget it.
"And when you spilled butterbeer on yourself?" Rose added, smirking.
Scorpius laughed. He was such as klutz. "Yes, that too."
"And when you spilled butterbeer on-"
"Yes, I know, I spilled a lot of butterbeer that day," Scorpius blushed. He was just glad that first date was behind them.
Rose set her hand on top of Scorpius's. He couldn't help but admire her flushed cheeks and red nose from the cold. The wind had also blown her hair quite a bit, so it was even frizzier. Scorpius still found her gorgeous though.
"I'm so glad you're mine," Scorpius whispered, caressing Rose's cold hand with his thumb.
Rose smiled and blushed. "And I'm glad you're mine."
It wasn't much longer before Albus and Holly arrived, with Albus free of that disastrous tomato-red coat, but Scorpius and Rose had an amazing 25 minute date.
~ ~ ~
So this is a lot better now that my writer's block is gone haha :p
Vote and comment what you thought, please! Thanks for reading!
Also, if you're a fan of my book Mutation, turn the page to see something exciting! :)