Chapter 29
The first letter he sent me was normal. By that, I basically mean 'Hi, how are you, how are the holidays, can't wait till christmas, bye.' Like nothing had happened. Which is beyond weird. Maybe he sent it before the fight. Maybe not. I don't know, either way I was confused.
The second one also around the same lines. As I ripped open the third letter, my brain was almost exploding as I tried to find out why the hell Scorpius would send me letters.
Rose,
Are you ignoring me? Because really, I have no ideaa what I did wrong, couldn't you at least tell me? I'll stop bothering you then, I suppose.
Anyways, if you're just not recieving any of my letters, ignore the first part (though I find this highly doubtable, considering the school owls aren't too bad). Hogwarts is the same-
"Rose, what are you reading?" Albus sits down beside me on the couch, leaning over to see whats in my hand. I stuff it behind me, the paper crumpling as it's pushed into the gap between the cusions.
"Nothing," I smile at him, titling my head back innocently. I've probly read the first and second letters a thousand times apart, and haven't slept at all since I woke up James. So basically, my head is probably a ball of frizz, and there are probably dark circles under my eyes. I feel like a zombie.
Albus leans back, sinking into the brown cushions, staring at the blank TV. "Riiight."
"Seriously." I say, standing up. "Anyways, have you got you're presents ready?"
It was the day before Christmas, also known as the day when certain people (a.k.a James, My Dad, Roxanne and a few others) went off to buy late Christmas presents. Albus narows his eyes. "I think so... but I might be missing someone. How many do you have again?"
I roll my eyes and set off to the kitchen to get some food. "WAIT! I'M MISSING A FEW!"
* * * * * * * *
Christmas was amazing, as always. It's always been one of my favourite time's of the year, with all the love going around the house. Well, at least as much love as my family could muster. Still, Albus managed to get all his presents in time, and James, together with Fred (and I suspect Uncle George helped) had his annual Christmas prank, which consisted of blowing up the christmas lights which hung around the kitchen into confetti.
I almost had a heart attack.
I got various presents, including one navy jumper from Grandma (which did not include a giant R this year- I guess she was too tired to do so), a pair or earrings from Albus, a nice scratch from Jinx (filthy cat didn't really like the idea of putting on a collar now did she?), a book from James and Lily and a few other gifts I won't list here.
Anyway, once I got to Hogwarts, one would think my Gryffindor bravery would drive me over to Scorpius and inquire what the hell he was talking about in his letters.
Yeah, that didn't happen. Instead, I ran straight into the Common room to find Bex. She sat on a bed. My bed. As if she were waiting. Her eyes were unfocused, and she was staring off into space, her legs crossed under her. She was still wearing her striped pajama bottoms, with a white hoodie and her hair in a messy knot on the top of her head. Charlotte and Evy were no where to be seen.
As soon as she saw me by the door way, though, Bex exploded, like a bomb waiting for movement before activating.
"ROSE! OH MY GOD, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU ANSWERED MY MAIL, OH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE IT-" She jumped off my bed and gripped my arms, shaking me as if to wake me up.
"Bex! Stop it!" I say, feeling dizzy from so much shaking. "And what letters? I only got two from you, regarding you're christmas wishes."
Bex suddenly stops still. She narrows her eyes and spins towards her bedside table. "Bloody hell! I must've forgotten to send them! Crap!"
Genius. My best friend is a genius. "Yeah so are you planning on telling me about this valuble news you have?" I ask after two minutes of silence.
"Oh...yeah..." she says mildly, her eyes unfocused. "Those guys with the curses did it again, and it was really weird because I was talking to -" she stopped abruptly, looking up and narrowing her eyes. "You have to talk to him. Go! He's probably at the library, he's holed himself up there since then and the librarian is going crazy about it- after all, she really can't have any fainting people or student statuettes there can she?" Bex rambled.
It all sounded like greek to me, because I didn't understand a word she said. I tried asking her who, what, when.. Needless to say, all she did was point to the librabry and lock herself in our dorm. Helpful.
So I went to the library, dreading whoever Bex was talking about. Truthfully, I had a pretty good idea of who she was talking about, and he is probably the last person I want to see right now. But, seeing as I was thrown out of my room and Bex swore she wouldn't let me back in until I talked to Scorpius, I decided to get it over with. Like a band-aid, just rip it off at once.
In this case, Scorpius is the nasty scab I wish I could get rid of.
I found him sitting at a table in the back of the room, between high shelves of dusty books, the same place I sat a few weeks ago. He didn't even notice me at first.
I though that once I did see the jerk again, I would either cooly ignore him and act indifferent or say something smart and witty to his slimy face. Sadly, none of them happened.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" I demand, as soon as I am earshot. I stand as far away as I can, and have to restrain myself from shouting. I didn't want Madame Pincer coming after me for being too loud in the library. That would be like the end of the world to her. Hermione's daughter talking loudly in the library?! Shocking.
Scorpius gazes at me dazedly, his expression confused. I fold my arms against my chest, and can feel my cheeks getting warmer as my temper flares. "Don't even try to act innocent." I spit out, my voice much colder that I intended. I completly forget about his letters, his complete obliquity to why I was ignoring him.
"Rose?" his tone is mild; not angry, not sorry, not happy. "What are you talking about?"
I feel the urge to face palm myself. And then hit him with something. Like one of those big dusty books. Or maybe a chair. That could work, too. I narrow my eyes at him, holding my elbows by my side. "You know what I'm talking about."
"Well if I did why would I ask you? I know I'm amazingly smart but I don't have mind-reading powers." He says sarcastically, but not meanly. "Yet," he adds hastily, biting his thumb.
I bit the inside of my cheek ntil I can feel the sour taste of blood in my mouth. I won't say anything. I tell him mentally, challanging him to speak. He sighs and pushes his chair back, leaning on it, so only two legs touch the floor. "Okay, that came out wrong. I mean, what did I do to get you to hate me?"
"I don't hate you." I say automatically. Damn, stupid manners. "I just dislike you." I amend. Scopius raises a perfectly arched eyebrow. How can he even do that? Only arch one eyebrow. Shut up, you're angry at him, I scold myself, frowning.
Scopius closes his eyes and opens them slowly like he's thinking excactly what he should say. Goood too, because if he says something stupid like before the holidays, he's getting some pretty nasty curses set on him.
"Rose, I have no idea what I did to annoy you, so if you could please tell me...?" his qustion lingers, unfinished as he stares at me. I stand stubbornly, at least a meter away from him. He gestures to the chair, but I ignore him.
how oblivious can he be? "Isn't it obvious, you idiot?" Before he can reply, I carry on, my anger driving me forwards. "I was going to wish you a merry christmas before I left, but you decided to be a bloody git and laugh in my face, now, didn't you?"
Scorpius looks perplexed.
This is ridiculous. "You told me it was all a dare? A joke?" I supply, getting angrier by the second. Scopius cringes as I spit out the words. "Hey, lets see if the stupid Weasley falls for a Slytherin. Oh ha-ha I bet this is another one of your jokes isn't it? Well I hope you're satisfyed!" My voice is rising, I can tell and a couple who walked by is looking at me curiously.
"Rose..." Scorpius says slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. "I never said anything like that to you...In fact, I was helping Professor McCan with his bags ..."
I stare at him, unbelieving. "You were not."
Scorpius shrugs, his expression worried. "You can ask him if you like. I even went down to the train station with him."
"That's impossible."
Scorpius looks at me, his eyes not twitching the slightest bit, not even a slight sign which tells me he might be lying. I groan, flunking down on a chair. "Oh, so now I'm crazy too. Great."
As much as I would like to say it wasn't true, his eyes were completly sincere. Which obviously meant I was out of my mind.
Scorpius stares at me in silence. "Ummm."
"There has to be an explanation. Do you know how to make holograms?"
We spent hours trying to figure what the hell had happened. He told me people who were supposedly travelling had been seen in the school during the holidays, and that he thought it might have something to do with the whole facadde. I eventually sat down, still keeping a certain distance from him. It was weird, talking to him from such a distance.
He frowned, is perfect features mashing into one another. "It's like someone is pretending to be me." he said, lifting his hand up to scratch his head. He ran his hand through his blond hair when he was nervous, I noticed.
That's when it hit me.
Hair. And pretending to be someone else. All that joined together, pulling at on old memory, of a story my father had told me time and time again. "I was always suspicious of that Professor Moody,' he would say, eventhough I knew it was only because he dangled a spider over his hear during their fourth year at Hogwarts.
"Unless," I said, standing up, my eyes focusing on his hair (which, might I add, provoked him to stare at me stragely). "Unless," I repeat, moments flashing behind my lids. Scorpius running his hand through his blonde hair, Scorpius picking off hairs from his jacket, Scorpius stretching and leaving behind a single hair on the couch.
"Unless what?" Scorpius seems to be growing impatient, but my mind is racing, working out every detail of the plan. It was perfect.
"Polyjuice potion."
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A/N: OK THE GRAMMAR IN THIS IS PROBABLY REALLY BAD BUT IM SORRY OK ILL CORRECT IT LATER BESUS