I woke up as the noise in the Ravenclaw Common Room picked up, crowds of Ravenclaw's coming in and drawing up short when they found a Gryffindor girl on the sofa with her boyfriend.
"Isn't that Rose Weasley?" someone whispered.
My eyes moved behind their eyelids, as I wanted to know who said it but not reveal I was awake.
"Yeah..."
"I heard a rumor that she's going out with Scor," someone else hissed.
It didn't surprise me that people knew we were going out, but I was a bit caught off guard by the fact that his house mates seemed to use his nickname too. He always acted like me using it was a nuisance.
"Finally, he's been dancing around her for months!"
Murmurs and chuckling spread through the crowd gathered around the back of the sofa.
"Wonder how he won her over," another unidentified person mumbled. "She's so unattainable..."
If I hadn't been focusing so hard on not moving and keeping my breathing even, I would have done a double take, gasped, blinked furiously and perhaps pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. How was I, Rose Weasley, unattainable? I was just ordinary, wasn't I?
"Yeah, but what girl can resist Scorpius? He's always had girls throwing themselves at him," someone responded miserably.
"That's true," another boy replied.
As the conversation continued with the Ravenclaw boys debating how Scorpius and I had got together, my muscles grew cramped and I longed to simply stretch my legs. My teeth were gritted together to stop a yawn slipping out and my limbs felt like iron, heavy and rock-solid against Scorpius.
Suddenly, he started awake as if coming out of a bad dream and instinctively pulled me close.
Finally I had an excuse to be awake and, most likely unconvincingly; I jumped and opened my eyes. The group of boys scattered and tried unsuccessfully to pretend to have been busy with other stuff.
"Rose?" he asked, seeming confused. His eyes flickered down and he seemed to realize how close we were, before pushing me back a bit and letting go of my waist to take my hand. His pale cheeks flushed red as my free hand caressed his face.
"Okay?"
He nodded as his breathing slowed, but there was a look of embarrassment about him.
"You should probably go...right?"
I nodded and began gathering my things, aware of everyone's eyes resting on me. My right hand fiddled nervously with my necklace as I said goodbye to my boyfriend in front of half his house.
"I'll...erm...see you tomorrow..."
He nodded and squeezed my left hand.
Turning bright red, I bent and kissed his cheek as quickly as I could and hurried from the room able to hear the gossiping start. With a glance over my shoulder, I saw the boys in our year cheering Scor and clapping him on the back.
It was only when I got back to Gryffindor Common Room that I realized I had forgotten to ask Scorpius again what he had talked about with my brother.
"How's Lover-Boy then?" Dom called loudly, leaning her head back over the back of the sofa to look at me.
"He's got a cold," I answered, throwing down my stuff into a chair and sliding onto its arm.
"Find out what he and Hugo talked about then?" she asked, leaning towards me in expectation of gossip. She really was shameless, I thought, as Hugo slammed the book he'd been reading on his knees closed and jogged up the Boy's dormitory stairs. "Oops..."
"I'll go," Fred muttered, smirking across a group of first years at James.
I resisted the urge to groan as I thought about what exactly Fred and James were up to.
"Well?" Dom demanded after a few moments as I continued to stare blankly at the boy's dormitory stairs.
Blinking and turning to face her, I replied, "Sorry. I was miles away-"
"-We'd noticed," Roxie mumbled, not looking up from gazing at Luke McClaggen.
I shot her a look.
"Well don't keep us hanging, Rosie," James commented.
"No, I didn't find out. Happy?"
"Not really," he told me, down at the prospect of having nothing to gossip about.
"Well you're a guy, what do you think they talked about?" I asked him.
James laughed, "Obviously, Scorpius was counselling Hugo on how to actually get a girl to go out with him."
Lily slapped his arm and frowned. "Don't be mean!"
"What? It's true," James told us, his arms raised in innocence. "I overheard him ask Rachel Bones out the other day and get turned down. He's just got no luck with the ladies!"
"No," Dom interrupted just as I was about to say something. "It can't be that. Look, Rose, let's face it. They're boys. All they care about is quidditch. They were probably talking about England's performance in the World Cup Qualifying again."
"Sexist!" James accused before Dom and Roxie threw him death glares while Lily stifled giggles at his look of fear behind her hand.
"Molly, what do you think?"
She looked up at me, taking in my desperate expression and confusion.
"Why Hugo seems to hate Scorpius?" she suggested.
"No, that's not right. They were blatantly talking about alien invasion," Albus remarked.
"Please be serious!"
"It is a serious suggestion," Albus replied in objection. "Lorcan and Lysander have some very convincing evidence of the existence of aliens. And there's a magazine called 'They Walk Among Us' which even has photos! We all have to be prepared. You know, emergency plans?"
"Don't worry, Rose, I can beat this aliens, conspiracy crap out of him," James said seriously, standing up and drawing his wand.
Lily was on her feet in a flash and taking his wand from him.
"I was only joking, honest," he muttered, holding his hand out for his wand.
"No, you're not getting it back until I'm sure you're not going to kill Al."
"Fine," James replied with a huff, giving in and falling back into his chair. He refused to stop muttering and shooting Albus frantic looks though, as if he was in danger of exploding.
"Will someone please give me a sensible suggestion?" I asked, looking in particular at Lily and Lucy - the voices of reason.
"Maybe Hugh's struggling with schoolwork?" Lucy said doubtfully with a shrug of her shoulders.
"But why wouldn't he come to me then?"
"No offense, Rose, but you're a little bit too high and mighty," Louis tried to say. Seeing how offended I was, he continued, "I just mean that he would have found it hard to ask you because you're so good at everything and it's not like you'd do it for him-"
"-Shut up while you're still alive," Dom warned her brother.
"But it's not like that's what I think Hugh and Scorpius talked about anyway," he spat back.
"What do you think they talked about then?" I asked, sure I was going to get a good answer considering Hugh and Louis were pretty close friends.
"Well, considering he stormed out after you talked about his gambling debts, I would think it's obvious that they were talking about gambling and betting - it's something they have in common, after all."
"Gambling once isn't a gambling problem," James said with a roll of his eyes.
Louis looked awkwardly down at the floor.
"It happened more than once?" I demanded.
"Maybe..."
"Louis," Dominique and I both said sternly.
He looked between us as if trying to decide which of us was more intimidating before shrinking down in his chair and saying, "Twice."
Stunned, I backed off, wrapped up in my own thoughts.
Did Hugo have a serious problem? Or was it all just being blown out of proportion? Statistically, I knew that problems like gambling or mental health issues were often interlinked with issues in someone's personal life. What if I had caused his addiction?
While Dom helped me into my seat because I was incapable of moving, Louis managed to sneak out of the Common Room. I didn't even see where he went.
"Rose?" Dom asked uncertainly. "Are you okay?"
"How many fingers am I holding up?" James asked.
Lily elbowed him. "That's for head injuries, you dummy!"
"Well how am I supposed to know," he grumbled, "I don't work in St Mungos, do I?"
"Why don't you get some fresh air," Lily suggested, offering her hand out to me.
I stared unseeingly at it for a few moments before she sighed and grabbed my wrist, dragging me to my feet. Before I knew it we were at the staircase, trying to navigate our way through the moving maze of stairs.
"Alright, tell me what you're thinking," she requested, slowing down and strolling towards the Entrance Hall.
"Well it's clearly my fault, isn't it?"
She shot me a look of doubt.
"But it is! I'm his sister and didn't even realize there was anything going on until it was too late. And these kinds of problems are always related to family problems, aren't they?"
"I think you're blowing things out of proportion, Rose. Hugh gambled twice he's not a problem gambler yet."
"But what if he becomes one?" I demanded, irrational with worry. "What'll Mum and Dad say? It'll be my fault for not stopping him, I just know it. I'm meant to be the responsible one. And imagine what Dad will say if he finds out! I won't need to bother telling him about Scorpius for his head to explode this'll do it before I have the chance! And that's without the complications of the fact that my brother might fancy my boyfriend. I mean, what do you think? Could they have talked about Hugo's feelings?"
"Rose, stop worrying! The only way to solve any of this stuff is to talk to Hugo himself! He's the only one who'll be able to tell you if he's gay and if he's still gambling!"
I was still worrying and talking to myself when she slapped me hard around the face.
"Rose, snap out of it! JUST SHUT UP!"
I winced and rubbed the sore spot on my cheek, giving her a bashful smile. "Thanks, I needed that." It hurt like hell, but the pain was distracting me from thinking about Hugo's sexuality and gambling.
"Not a problem, though I do hope the teacher's didn't see that..."
"You're right," I murmured. "I should just go and talk to Hugo. He's my brother, I owe it to him to be able to explain."
Lily nodded and followed me back up to Gryffindor Tower.
Hugo hadn't returned from the boy's dormitory it seemed, but Fred was back sitting with Sienna on couch flirting.
"Any luck?" I asked him, gesturing up at the ceiling.
Fred shook his head and I sighed, almost nervous about what I was about to do.
"Well, I'm going to go and talk to him..."
Everyone looked at me, silently wishing me luck. I was going to need it, I thought.
The boy's dormitories were much like the girls' ones, I knew. I'd been in them often enough to drag James, Fred, Albus, Hugo and Louis out of bed in the mornings. Plus, in the summer, we would sometimes play pranks - throwing waterballoons at them while they were still in bed, that kind of thing.
"Hugo?" I asked, my voice quiet but echoing through the doorway where I waited.
"What?" he demanded, obviously in a mood.
"Just came to see how you are..."
"Well, I'm fine!"
"Yeah right," I told him, entering and sitting at the foot of his bed with my knees drawn up under my chin. "I'm your sister; you can't pull the wool over my eyes, so spill."
"No, it's private," he spat.
Tilting my head, I stared him down. He glared straight back.
"I'm trying to he-"
"No, Rose, you're not trying to help; you're trying to pry into my personal life! If I don't want to tell you want I talked about with Scorpius, I don't have to!"
"I wasn't going to ask about that!" I declared, annoyed that I was still being kept in the dark. "I just thought you might want to talk!"
"Well I don't!"
"Fine, just talk to Scorpius instead next time!"
"I will! At least I can talk about guy stuff with him without being mocked by my cousins!"
"So it is about a girl," I exclaimed.
"Who said it was about a girl?"
"So it's about a boy?"
He gaped at me.
Taking his silence as confirmation, my eyes widened in disbelief and I couldn't help murmuring, "You are gay..."
👬👬👬👬👬👬👬👬👬