Chapter 16
The Ravenclaw quidditch team slowly got over the crush of defeat, though some recovered more quickly than others. Linus Fleming appeared in the Great Hall the very next morning looking positively cheerful, much to Maren’s exasperation, while rumor had it that Henry Winkle stayed in his dormitory for three straight days to mourn.
Rose, for her part, felt that she had done an admirable job of picking herself up and dusting herself off. Yes, she and Maren had each indulged in a good cry after they retreated to their dormitory the night following the match, and yes Rose had threatened to hex her cousin James when he asked if she wanted to hold the quidditch cup during breakfast one morning. But otherwise Rose thought she had been the picture of quiet dignity, holding her head high and going about her days.
She even managed to remain relatively calm and cool while handing over five galleons to Alec Davies, despite his protests that she didn’t actually have to pay him. Rose stalked across the Great Hall during lunch the day after the match, her shoulders thrown back and her hair (charmed by one Allie Boot to lay in smooth ringlets down her back) floating behind her, and quietly deposited the bag of coins onto the table beside Davies’ seat.
“You really didn’t have to pay me,” he said, his eyes crinkling in a bright smile.
Rose shook her head and did her very best to stave off a flush. “You won fair and square,” she said.
“Well,” Davies shoved the coins in his schoolbag and held out his hand toward her. “You were a lovely opponent, Rose. I pity the Gryffindors who have to try and score on you next year.”
A small smile broke through Rose’s lips, and she felt heat creep up her neck as she took his hand, shaking it firmly. “If I had to lose to someone, I’m glad it was you.”
Davies grinned more broadly at that and released her hand. Rose brought it back to her side slowly.
“As much as I meant that you didn’t have to pay me, the extra galleons will be nice,” Davies murmured, running his hand through his hair. Rose tracked the movement, watching the tracks created in the brown strands.
“Oh?” she asked, watching his hand drop back to the table.
“Yeah, I’m sure James and Fred already told you about the job offer.”
Rose’s eyes snapped back to Davies’ face. “A job offer?” she asked. “No…no, they didn’t tell me.”
“Oh, well,” Davies smiled and shrugged. “I, uh, was offered a position with an international research group looking into experimental healing charms. I leave for New York a week after term ends.”
“New York?” Rose’s eyes widened as she took in the news. Alec Davies would be going to the states right after exams ended. Her dreams of spending the summer flying beside him, laughing and joking as he helped her master quidditch maneuvers, her own hands running through that glorious hair, crumbled before her. “That’s…that’s great,” she croaked, hoping he couldn’t hear the slight break in her voice. She swallowed and steeled herself, willing her mouth to deliver a response that wouldn’t make her look foolish. “That’s really amazing, Alec, I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.” He grinned again. “I’m looking forward to it. But, you know, New York isn’t cheap, and I won’t be getting paid much.”
“I’m sure it will be just lovely.” Rose tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “My family went on holiday a few years ago and it was wonderful.”
“Really?” Davies raised his eyebrows. “I may have to send you an owl then to ask for your recommendations.”
Rose nodded, giving her best approximation of a coy smile. “Maybe you should.”
She said goodbye and walked back to the Ravenclaw table a moment later, where she promptly sank into a seat and laid her head on the table.
“Did you embarrass yourself?” Maren asked from the next seat, poking Rose in the shoulder.
“Ugh.”
“Rose,” Allie said from across the table. “What happened? Your hair looked so nice as you were walking over there.”
Rose sat up and sighed, running a hand through her magically smoothed hair. “He’s moving to New York,” she moaned.
“What?” Maren gasped, pausing over her porridge. “New York?”
“Yes,” Rose said, putting her head in her hands. “He’s working with some research program for charms and moving to New York City a week after term ends.”
“Oh no,” Allie frowned.
“Did he say what the research program was called?” Lucy asked from beside Allie, her brow contracting.
“I didn’t ask.” Rose slumped over the table and shook her head. “Not that it matters. All that matters is after term ends he’s going to be across a bloody ocean. Although,” her head popped up, “he did say he might owl me for recommendations since my family went there a few summers ago.”
“Ooh, that is something,” Allie waggled her eyebrows. “Who knows, maybe you’ll keep in contact.”
“You two can write love letters,” Maren laughed. “Dear Alec, I can’t stop thinking about your broomstick—”
“Stop it!” Rose hissed, smacking her friend in the arm as Maren dissolved into giggles. “I wouldn’t—”
“You could ask your mum and dad to take another holiday there,” Allie suggested. “Just tell your mum you’re interested in the American magical government.”
Rose wrinkled her nose. “I don’t even know if seeing him again would be worth going on more government tours.” She sighed. “I’ll just have to think of something else. It shouldn’t be hard, though. We’ve got a full four weeks until term ends.”
***
As it turned out, there was very little time to devote to grand romantic plans, as examinations descended upon the fifth years. Rose found herself in the library or common room with every other fifth and seventh year, studying late into the night and sometimes well into the morning trying to remember the exact wand movement to turn a clock into a cauldron and how many clockwise stirs turned a pepperup potion from blue to orange.
Rose sat with a large group of fifth years one evening in the library, muttering to herself as she flipped through a transfiguration textbook. She dragged a hand through her hair, which seemed to grow larger and wilder with every stress-filled day, and had nearly resolved to switch to Charms when Lucy let out a small shriek from the seat beside her.
“What’s wrong?” Rose cried, dropping the textbook to the table with a heavy thud and looking over her shoulder for any sign of Madam Pince. “Luce?”
“I can’t do it,” Lucy wailed, putting her head down on top of the book in front of her. “I can’t remember and describe the stages of transfiguring an owl in opera glasses! I’ve tried it seventeen times and I just can’t do it!”
“Okay, okay,” Rose murmured, running a hand gently over Lucy’s hair as she had seen Molly do before. “It’s—well, do you want me to explain it to you right now or do you just want to stop for a bit?”
Lucy gave another wail.
“Okay, nevermind,” Rose said hastily, running her hand through Lucy’s hair with renewed vigor. “Nobody’s going to explain anything. You just…sit here.”
“Do you want to get a cup of tea, Lucy?” Albus asked, rising from his seat between Nathan and Scorpius. He rounded the corner of the table and slowly approached the girls.
“Tea?” Lucy looked up, wiping a piece of hair from her eyes as she blinked at Albus.
“Er—yeah.”
“Where can we get tea?”
Albus shuffled his feet. “James showed me how to get into the kitchens and there’s—there’s always tea there. If you wanted—”
“Yes, tea,” Lucy muttered to herself, sitting up and shuffling the parchment in front of her. “Yes, I just need a cup of tea. A nice, hot cup of tea will be exactly what I need so I can come back here and read through Lyncroft’s notes…”
She stood up, still mumbling to herself and shaking her head. Albus, looking rather unsure of himself, put a hand on her shoulder and led her to the library door.
Rose sat back in her seat and looked around the table, unsure what to say.
“Well…” Maren murmured from Rose’s other side, “she finally cracked.”
Across the table, Nathan shook his head. “She’s been wound up about these exams since Christmas.”
“I know.” Rose shook her head and turned back to her textbook. “Good thing Al was here. He’s so much better at helping when Lucy drives herself batty than I am.”
“She just needs to sit down and relax for a few minutes,” Allie said from across the table. “She doesn’t give herself enough rest.”
“Yeah,” Rose nodded. She turned towards Lucy’s empty seat and began to clear it, stacking textbooks and shuffling loose parchment. “When she gets back she’ll be nice and relaxed and able to remember the stages of aviary transfiguration just fine.”
“I don’t know why she’s so worried about transfiguration,” Maren muttered, scratching a paragraph on a sheet of parchment. “Lyncroft’s a decent teacher and actually cares if we pass our exams. History of Magic is going to be an absolute disaster and I already know it.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rose dragged a hand down her face. “I’m dreading the potions practical. You know I’m rotten at it.”
“Come off it,” Nathan snorted from his seat. “It’s not like you have anything to worry about, Rose.”
Rose frowned. “What do you mean?”
Nathan set his quill down and raised an eyebrow. “Just that—you’re you. You know everything, and everyone already knows that no matter what you say you’re going to get all Os and be top of the class.”
Rose furrowed her brow and turned back to her textbook. “That’s not true,” she muttered.
“Sure,” Nathan said, though it was clear he didn’t believe her. “I’m just saying, it’s gotta be nice to know you’ll lead everyone in our year.”
Rose chewed the inside of her cheek and didn’t respond. She turned back to the transfiguration book and flipped idly through the pages, deciding to review the section on switching spells. She scratched out half a sheet of notes, keeping her eyes studiously on the parchment in front of her and ignoring the bludger settling into her chest.
The group worked in silence for nearly an hour. At a quarter to eight Scorpius looked down at his watch and closed the massive potions book he had been reading from.
“We should pack up, Weasley,” he said, getting to his feet and pushing in his chair. “Rounds start in fifteen minutes.”
“I still can’t believe they make you patrol during exams,” Maren shook her head.
“I know,” Rose groaned, running a hand through her hair as she flipped the textbook closed. “You’d think they’d want us to have the extra time to study.”
“Rose, can you help me with runes when you get back?” Allie asked, looking up from a pile of parchment teetering precariously on the table. “There’s just a few that I absolutely cannot remember.”
“Sure.” Rose swung her bag over her shoulder and flipped her hair over her shoulder as Scorpius walked around the table to join her. “Wait for me in the common room?”
“As if we have a choice,” Maren grumbled, scowling at the book in front of her. “It’s not like we’ll be done here by the time you get back.”
Rose gave a short laugh and waved her hand. “Just don’t miss me too much.”
Maren rolled her eyes. “We’ll only miss your transfiguration notes.”
“Oh, wait.” Rose paused.
Scorpius, who was already halfway to the library door, stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, a slight frown on his face.
Rose ignored him and riffled through her schoolbag for a moment before withdrawing a sheaf of parchment, which she handed to Maren. “Those are the notes I just took on switching spells,” she said, hastily returning her hand to her bag. “And these,” she said, extracting a much larger pile of parchment which she handed across the table to Allie, “are my notes from Runes this week. It’s not everything, but there might be something in there that’s helpful.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Allie breathed, flicking through the parchment.
“We can go over anything you’re not sure of when I get back,” Rose said, fastening her bag. “And I left my advanced syllabary in the dormitory if you want to use that.”
“Lovely,” Allie nodded.
“Weasley,” Scorpius said from the doorway, “we really should be going.”
“Sorry, Scorp,” Maren called, looking up from the table with a cat-like grin on her face. “We won’t keep her from you any longer.”
Rose rolled her eyes at Scorpius and turned back to her friends, refusing to let him rush her. “Save me a seat in the common room, yeah?” she asked Maren.
“Only if your notes help.”
“Funny.” Rose waved to Nathan, who had looked up from his book to watch the exchange between the girls. “Tell Al I said goodnight. And I hope for everyone’s sake that cup of tea calmed Lucy down.”
“Right-o, Rose,” Nathan gave a mock salute. “You and Scorp have fun keeping the corridors safe.”
Rose rolled her eyes again and didn’t reply as she turned and walked towards the library door where Scorpius still stood waiting for her.
They walked in silence to the fifth floor corridor, where their rounds were meant to start. A clock somewhere in the castle chimed eight o’clock, and Rose sighed as she adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She had never been one to lament an excuse to stop studying early, but it did seem rather unfair that she and Scorpius would lose an hour of O.W.L. preparation that evening. What were they possibly protecting the castle from at this time of year? Nobody was likely to break into the castle, and if they did then surely two fifth years would not be able to stop them. And as for snogging couples, really if students chose to deal with the stress of exams by finding a willing partner and a cozy corner, who cared?
A shuffling sound caught her attention and Rose turned to see Scorpius extract a bundle of parchment from his bag.
“Transfiguration notes,” he said in response to Rose’s raised eyebrow. “Would you—” a gentle pink flush crept up his neck as he looked at the parchment and then to her. “Could you quiz me? It’s easier not to cheat when I don’t have the notes right in front of me.”
Rose resisted the urge to sigh and nodded. “Sure.” Scorpius held the parchment out to her, and Rose took it gingerly, her eyes roving over the pages filled with Scorpius’s tight, neat handwriting.
“Thanks,” Scorpius put his hands in his pockets and glanced sideways at her. “I’m sure you already know it all but—”
“Stop,” Rose bit out, scowling over her shoulder at him. “I hate when people say things like that.”
Scorpius raised his eyebrows and turned his head so he faced her fully. “Like what?”
“Like I don’t put in any work at all,” Rose huffed, frowning and looking down at the parchment in her hands. “Like I don’t still get nervous about exams and grades and all that.”
Scorpius watched her for a moment, his brow furrowing and then smoothing again. “You didn’t seem to mind when Nathan joked about it.”
“Yeah well,” Rose mumbled, flipping idly through the Transfiguration notes without reading them, “I wasn’t too keen on starting an argument.”
“I see.” Scorpius nodded slowly, his eyes still on her. His face took on the queer intense expression it sometimes did, where it felt like he was trying to look through her.
Rose looked back at him, the bludger in her chest growing heavier. “I just—it isn’t—” she drew a breath, searching for the words to explain. If only her mum were with her now, or Lucy, to talk through everything. They were both so good at helping her put into words what she was feeling.
“I know I’m smart,” she said at last, cringing internally as she heard the words leave her mouth and hoping Scorpius wouldn’t roll his eyes and call her conceited.
He didn’t. He simply continued to watch her curiously, his eyebrows low and mouth pulled to the side.
“I know some things come more easily to me than they do to others,” Rose continued, the words flying easily from her mouth now that she had started talking. “And that’s not—I’m not trying to say they don’t, or, I dunno, take away from that or anything. I just—I still work, you know? I don’t usually get all Os, no matter what people think, and when I do get them it’s not like I put in zero effort at all. And I hate—I hate when people just assume that and think—because of my mum—or even just because they see me do well in a few classes…” She trailed off, her fingers worrying the corner of the parchment in her hands.
“I wish everyone would stop talking about me like I’m some sort of prodigy just because I’m Hermione Granger’s daughter and I like reading about Ancient Runes,” she finished softly, wincing as she heard the waver in her voice, “because I’m not and I never will be.”
Scorpius’s eyes continued to pierce hers, and Rose flushed as the full depth of her words caught up to her. She crossed her arms over her chest and tore her eyes away from him, feeling uncomfortably bare before him. As though he had somehow removed a layer of her skin without her noticing.
She opened her mouth to say something else, to tell him she was joking, or that she was sorry for being a prat complaining about something as silly as other people thinking she was intelligent. Anything to close whatever emotional doorway she had just unconsciously opened to him.
Before she had the chance to say anything, Scorpius spoke.
“I never thought that.”
“I—what?” she turned to look at him, mouth slightly ajar as the ready retort died on her lips.
Scorpius shrugged and returned his hands to his pockets. “I never thought you were a prodigy.”
Rose frowned. “I—is that an insult, Malfoy?”
“No.” Scorpius rolled his eyes and turned to look at her, eyes dancing across her face as his expression softened. “I just meant—it’s pretty obvious you work hard at the things that are important to you. “ He paused and dropped his gaze to the floor. “At least I think it is.”
Rose’s mouth worked furiously, though again words seemed to elude her. She could feel the flush on her neck burning hotter, and hoped her skin wasn’t as red as it felt. “Oh.”
Scorpius shrugged again, his eyes roving the stone floor beneath his feet. “At least people think you’re smart. Better than the opposite.”
“It’s not people thinking I’m smart that I don’t like.” Rose wound a piece of hair around her index finger and let her gaze wander down the corridor. “It’s the—the expectations that I hate. Like if I get an O it’s no big deal because everyone expected it. But if I were to fail something or even to get an A on an exam…” she trailed off and caught her bottom lip with her teeth.
“You think people would be disappointed?” Scorpius asked, turning to face her again.
Now it was Rose’s turn to shrug, her eyes firmly on the floor in front of her as her face burned. “Won’t they be?” The question came out softer, weaker than she had meant it to.
“Maybe.” Scorpius replied evenly. “ But they’d get over it.”
“I’m scared I’m going to fail potions.” The admission dropped from Rose’s lips almost without her permission, and she sucked in a breath.
Scorpius’s eyebrows traveled up his forehead. “Really?”
“Yes.” Rose bit her lip again and began wrapping the lock of hair around her finger again, tighter this time. She felt the tip of her finger throb, screaming for blood flow. “And I just—what would people say? I’m supposed to be the smart one.”
“Weasley.” Scorpius stopped walking beside her and, for the second time that week, put a hand on her shoulder. Rose froze beside him, her eyes snapping to his face as the weight of his hand seared her skin through her shirt.
“You’re not going to fail potions,” Scorpius said, his voice softer than she had ever heard it.
“How do you know?” Again, the question sounded too desperate, too brittle as it left her tongue.
Scorpius gave a low laugh, and Rose felt the tremors course through her skin and reverberate against her bones. Scorpius dropped his hand from her shoulder and resumed walking, looking back over his shoulder at her as he replied. “Because even when something is difficult for you, you’re still one of the top students in our year. Didn’t Lecher just give you an O on the last essay?”
“It’s not the theory I’m worried about,” Rose said, regaining command of her legs and trotting after him. “It’s the ruddy practical. I’ve only ever been able to get things right when I’m working with Lucy or Maren, and I know you know I’m a right disaster in front of a cauldron.”
“That’s not a problem of skill, though,” Scorpius said. “You just need to slow down. It takes patience.”
Rose huffed. “I haven’t got much of that.”
He peered at her and quirked an eyebrow. “I’ve noticed.”
“Lucy’s always telling me to take my time and read things through.” Rose frowned. “And I always mean to do it. I just—it never seems to go the way I want it to.”
“You just need to practice.” Scorpius brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’ll help you get the timings right.”
“How are you so calm about all of this?” Rose asked, looking up at him suddenly. “You’ve hardly seemed worried about exams at all.”
Scorpius glanced at her, his lips pressing together as his hand dropped back to his side. “You of all people should know that just because I look calm doesn’t mean I feel it.”
“So you’re nervous too?” Somehow the thought that Scorpius was worried about exams comforted her.
He nodded slowly. “I’m not as worked up about them as Lucy. But, yeah, I mean, it’s nerve-wracking to think about the fact that these exams will dictate a lot of our future options.”
Rose exhaled and nodded.
Scorpius continued. “And…I don’t think anybody expects me to get all Os, but I do need to do well.” His eyes flashed to hers as his hand came back to the back of his neck. “Just to make sure people—that people look past my name and all that.”
Rose felt as though she swallowed a snitch as she turned to peer at him. “I didn’t think of that.”
Scorpius shrugged, the pink flush reappearing at his neck. “It’s fine. Some people won’t ever look past it, and I know that. And it’s not like anyone will be too cut up if I don’t get exceptional marks—except perhaps my father.”
“Does he expect you to do very well?” Rose brushed her hair from her face and kept her eyes trained on Scorpius.
He chewed the inside of his cheek, shadows from the torchlight dancing across his sharp cheekbones. “He just wants me to be able to have the career I want,” he said at last. “And he’s told me—he always says I’ll likely have to have excellent grades in order for that to happen.”
“But—” Rose frowned as she thought through his words. “That doesn’t make sense—I mean, your family—everybody knows your family—there’s a sodding manor named after your family—”
A dark look passed over Scorpius’s face, though Rose wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of the torchlight.
“Having money doesn’t mean you have opportunities, Weasley. There are plenty of people who won’t have anything to do with me because of what my dad and grandparents did in the war.”
“Well that’s just not fair!” Rose burst out, throwing her hands up. “It’s not like you were there when everything happened.”
Scorpius gave her a small, tight smile. “I don’t think that really matters.”
“Well it should!”
Scorpius gave a small laugh before his smile faded. “I appreciate your support, Weasley. But I think my best chance is to do so well on exams that nobody has a good reason to turn me away.”
“Hmph,” Rose sniffed, still simmering at the thought of anyone turning away Scorpius Malfoy for a job simply because his grandfather was an evil cockroach of a man. “I suppose.”
“So…” Scorpius cracked his knuckles and raised an eyebrow. “Do you think you could quiz me now?”
“Quiz….? Oh!” Rose looked down at the transfiguration notes, which she had forgotten were in her hand. She felt her face grow warm again as she hurriedly shuffled the parchment. “Right…er…of course. Do you have any place in particular you want to start?”
“Vanishing spells,” Scorpius said with a grimace. “We might as well start with the hardest ones.”
Rose flipped through the parchment until she found the correct section. “Right,” she nodded, looking up and catching Scorpius’s eye. “I’m guessing I shouldn’t go easy on you?”
Scorpius gave her a small smile, one of the easy, carefree ones that Rose so rarely saw. It made him look somehow more handsome, with his sharp cheekbones highlighted against the torchlight and his pointed chin softened somewhat by the curve of his mouth. Again, Rose found herself struck by the realization that, when he wasn’t scolding her or scowling, Scorpius Malfoy looked quite nice. Objectively speaking.
“Weasley,” he said, still smiling at her, “you haven’t gone easy on me since the day we met. Please don’t start today.”
Rose felt as though someone had released a dozen snitches in her chest, and it took her several seconds to regain control of her tongue. “Right—right,” she croaked, scanning the parchment in order to avoid looking at Scorpius any longer.
They passed the rest of the patrol easily, with Rose formulating the most difficult questions she could think of and Scorpius answering nearly all of them. If she had been remotely interested in transfiguration at the moment she would have appreciated the opportunity to play professor for thirty minutes. But, even as she read from Scorpius’s notes and asked more and more outlandish questions, the theory behind vanishing spells was not at the forefront of Rose’s mind.
She would not tell anyone for a thousand galleons, not even Maren or Lucy, but Rose’s thoughts were preoccupied with the image of Scorpius’s soft, sincere smile, and the warmth that had radiated within her chest when it was directed at her. Somewhere, in a small and carefully-guarded corner of her heart, she vaguely wondered what it would take to see that smile again.
***
Examinations began, and time seemed to stretch like a piece of Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum. Days spent in the library bled into evenings in the common room which often bled into the early hours of the morning. More than once a bleary-eyed Rose had to forcibly usher Lucy up to the dormitory to get some sleep before an exam.
Rose thought the transfiguration exam went well, though an unfortunate Matthew Corner lost his head and turned his hat into a gigantic hippopotamus rather than a hare, causing a fifteen minute break in the practical exam as the proctors got rid of the ferocious creature, magically repaired crushed desks, and procured a calming draught for the distraught Matthew.
The next day they had History of Magic, which, despite Maren’s dire predictions, was not too terrible, and then Rose and Allie sat for Ancient Runes. Rose thought the Runes exam rather fun as they got to work on a new set of translations, but she kept this to herself when she found Allie near tears at the end of the hour.
Astronomy and Herbology examinations took place at the end of the week, and the fifth years were granted a brief reprieve during the weekend.
Rose’s birthday came during the second week of exams, which seemed like a personal insult from an unknown but obviously irritated higher power.
The evening of her birthday Rose walked back to Ravenclaw Tower after dinner with Maren, feeling rather dejected from having spent her day buried in Charms and Potions. As the eagle knocker swung forward and she walked into the common room she had every intention of going up to the dormitory to retrieve her copy of The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 when, to her surprise and delight, she noticed a cluster of chairs in the corner surrounded by a number of magically-levitated balloons and several of her very favorite people. Lucy and Allie stood in front of the table, rearranging chairs and chatting with Nathan, Albus, and Scorpius. On the other side of the table stood Hugo, Lily, Louis, Roxanne, Lorcan, Lysander, Fred, James, Zeno Aylmer, and Alec Davies. They all turned to greet Rose as she walked over, her smile so bright she felt as though someone had cast lumos within her.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Rose beamed at her friends and family members as she threw her arms around Maren.
“Ta, we couldn’t let your birthday pass without doing something,” Allie laughed, walking over and giving Rose a squeeze.
“You’d have never let us hear the end of it otherwise.” Lucy rolled her eyes, leaning forward to give Rose a quick hug.
“I mostly wanted an excuse to stop studying for a little bit,” Albus shrugged, stepping around Nathan and sending a chair tumbling to the ground. “But happy birthday, I suppose.” Rose laughed and reached out, pulling him into a tight hug. Her chest felt like it could burst, so full was she with joy and love for the wonderful people surrounding her. Nobody, she thought, in all of Britain could possibly have better cousins or friends than she did.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said to Albus when they broke apart. “It’s like a proper party.”
“We actually have that covered,” Fred said with a grin, reaching under the table and coming up clutching several bottles of butterbeer. “This is your present from me and James,” he said, handing a bottle to Rose and then pulling her quickly into a one-armed embrace. “Make sure you enjoy it.”
“You know I will,” Rose laughed, popping the top off her drink. “You nicked these from the kitchens?”
“Along with some sweets,” James said behind Fred. “Mostly for our own enjoyment, but also for your birthday.”
“You lot are amazing.”
A flurry of hugs and greetings followed. Rose tousled Hugo’s hair and rolled her eyes as Lily and Louis both patted her on the head. She waved to the Scamander twins, returned Zeno’s hearty greeting, and managed not to blush too brightly when Alec Davies wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close enough she could feel his heartbeat through his robes.
“Happy birthday, Rose,” Alec murmured, smiling as he released her.
“Thank you,” she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and tried not to think too much about the feeling of his arms around her. She glanced around the common room, her heart expanding like a magically-inflated balloon in her chest. “I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“It takes a special occasion to get us into the Ravenclaw common room,” Alec laughed, running a hand through his hair. “We couldn’t miss your birthday party.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” Rose could feel the heat returning to her cheeks as she glanced at him through her eyelashes. “It wouldn’t have been a proper party without you.”
Davies grinned and reached out, squeezing her arm.
“Oy! Rose!” Roxanne bounded over to them, coming to a halt between Rose and Alec and nearly knocking Rose to the ground.
“Yeah?” Rose asked, trying not to glare at her cousin for interrupting a truly lovely moment between herself and Alec.
“I’ve got your present,” Roxanne said, holding out a package with magenta wrappings. “It’s technically from my dad, since these are still being tested and he said he wants to hear what you think. But I brought it from the shop and wrapped it for you. I figured you’d enjoy it.”
With a curious look, Rose took the package and quickly tore the wrappings away. Inside sat a familiar box.
“A patented daydream charm?” She raised an eyebrow and looked up at her cousin. “Roxie, these aren’t new.”
“It’s a new line,” Roxanne grinned, gesturing to the box. “Dad said he got the idea from listening to you and your mum go on about those muggle books you like. I suggested this one specifically for you.”
Rose looked closer at the box, reading the short description under the name. She gasped, her mouth falling open as she jerked her hand towards her face. “Roxie…is this…”
“Pride and Prejudice,” Roxanne crowed, puffing her chest out. “The daydream will follow the plot of the book, with a few adjustments, and you will be the main character.”
“I’ll get to be Elizabeth Bennet,” Rose breathed, her heart hammering as images filled her mind of regency balls and a handsome suitor coming to tell her how ardently he admired and loved her.
“Dad said to just make sure you’re somewhere private when you try it out, and to let him know right away if anything goes wrong.”
Rose nodded furiously, her eyes still on the daydream charm box. “This is amazing!”
“I knew you’d like it,” Roxanne said, looking extremely pleased with herself. “It’ll be just the thing for when you finish exams.”
“Rosie! Roxie!” Fred’s voice called from the table in the corner of the room. “What are you two doing over there?”
“Just giving Rosie her birthday present,” Roxanne replied, giving Rose a wink and meandering back to the other Gryffindors.
Beside Rose, Lucy approached with Nathan, Albus, and Scorpius.
“What did Roxie give you?” Albus asked, leaning over Rose’s shoulder to peer at the box in her hand.
“New line of daydream charms,” Rose said, turning the box slightly so Albus could read the description. Out of the corner of her eye she could see both Nathan and Scorpius lean forward to get a closer look, and a furious blush crept up her cheeks. Rose bit her lip and tucked the box into her chest. “I don’t even know if it’ll work, she said Uncle George is still testing it and wants my feedback.”
Lucy shook her head. “That sounds like a gift Roxie would give.”
“It’s mad that you all just get brand new Weasley products for your birthdays,” Nathan laughed. “Though I don’t know that I’d want to try and untested daydream charm.”
“It can’t be too bad,” Rose laughed. “The worst that can happen is I spend half an hour in the wrong daydream, or it wears off too fast.”
“True,” Albus nodded sagely. “Much better than when they were testing those canary cream spin-offs.”
All three cousins shuddered at the memory.
“What happened?” Nathan asked, looking curiously between them.
“Uncle George wanted to expand the canary cream products to have a whole line of foods that would turn people into different birds,” Lucy said. “So he brought all these sweets to Christmas when we were nine or ten—”
“Al spent all of Boxing Day as a woodpecker,” Rose giggled.
“It wasn’t funny!” Albus glared at her. “Mum almost had to take me to St. Mungo’s.”
“But then the worst bit was that Grandma Molly saw the sweets and thought that Angelina had brought them for Christmas dinner and so she put them in with all the rest of them, and Uncle George hadn’t labeled them so nobody could tell which ones were charmed and which ones weren’t.”
Nathan snorted. “So did you have to chuck the lot?”
“Funny enough that never occurred to anyone,” Rose laughed. “But anytime someone took a sweet, the whole family would watch to see if anything happened.”
“Aunt Fleur turned into a bird three times.”
“Oh,” Rose brought a hand to her mouth in an effort to stifle her laughter. “Oh Merlin, I forgot about that—and she was so angry—”
“Sacre bleu,” Lucy said, her voice lower than normal as she imitated Aunt Fleur’s accent, “I zhink ze sweets are diabolique—” she broke off as laughter overtook her, nearly doubling over alongside Rose and Albus at the memory of their aunt cursing in French while molting.
“Hang on,” Lucy straightened rather abruptly and turned towards the table where Fred and James sat, eyes narrowing. “James said he and Fred brought some sweets…”
“Did anyone see exactly where the sweets came from?” Albus asked, his own eyes going wide as he followed Lucy’s gaze to the table.
“No,” Lucy said slowly. “I don’t—they wouldn’t—oh, we’d best go and check.” With that, she hurried off to the corner, Nathan and Albus following close behind her.
Scorpius stayed by Rose, his feet shuffling. Rose gave a small smile and ran a hand through her hair. She had nearly forgotten Scorpius was there, what with all her cousins and their friends around.
Scorpius looked like he didn’t quite know what to do with himself; his eyes flitted between Rose and the floor, and his arms lay stiffly in front of him.
“Happy birthday, Weasley,” he said finally, voice soft. As he held out a hand, Rose realized he was offering something to her. She looked down and felt something in her chest expand when she saw the treacle tart in his palm.
“I asked Albus to have your cousins get this for you from the kitchens,” Scorpius said, his free hand coming up to rub the back of his neck as Rose gingerly took the proffered tart. “I didn’t realize they were bringing other sweets as well.”
“Thank you,” Rose said, looking up and giving him a small smile that she hoped communicated the proper amount of gratitude without revealing the sudden thudding in her chest.
“I thought—” Scorpius paused, eyes floating back to land on her face, “since you gave me one on my birthday—”
“It’s lovely, Malfoy.” Rose looked down at the golden tart, face flaming. “Really—I—just, thanks.”
She was saved from having to come up with any further response as someone shouted her name from the corner of the room. Rose exhaled in relief, the heat in her face abating somewhat as she gave Scorpius a small apologetic smile and joined the large group gathered around the table.
“James brought a double deck of snap,” Lily called as Rose approached, nodding to the seat beside her where James sat shuffling a large pile of smoking cards.
“Do we ever say no to exploding snap?” Rose asked, sinking into the seat next to Lily. She set the treacle tart on the table in front of her, pinching off a piece with her thumb and index finger and popping it into her mouth.
“We’ll need everyone to get into teams,” James said, setting the deck of cards on the table and looking around. “And Al, if you cheat you’re banned from the rest of the party.”
“I don’t cheat!”
“Mhm, sure. Just know I’m watching you. And Rose,” James turned to her with a grin. “Just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean Lily and I won’t crush you.”
Rose swallowed her bite of tart and shook the hair from her face as she laughed. “Bring it.”
And so Rose Weasley ended her sixteenth birthday by losing spectacularly at exploding snap to James and Lily, the sleeves of her robes singed and the sweet taste of treacle tart on her tongue. As she sat back and looked around Ravenclaw Tower, she could think of nothing better.
***
The last of the examinations came and went with rather alarming speed, and the fifth years all survived with varying amounts of dignity intact. Madam Pince nearly banned Lucy from the library for disturbing the peace, and Maren received a detention from Professor Lyncroft for very loudly cursing over dinner upon realizing she had mistakenly written about the properties of a severing charm instead of a substantive charm in the exam.
Rose, for her part, made it through with only one wound to her ego, though it was a rather substantial one. Head bent low and face scarlet, she had swallowed her pride and grudgingly asked Scorpius for help with the potions practical exam; though, to her relief, he had done so without making fun of her.
Before they knew it the end of term feast had arrived and they all sat in the Great Hall, decked out in black and yellow hangings as Hufflepuff had won the house cup. Rose caught sight of her brother at the Hufflepuff table, his face split into a wide grin as he chatted with Simon Longbottom.
“Another year done, then,” Maren said from beside Rose as she spooned roasted potatoes onto her plate. “Mad to think that we’ll be N.E.W.T. students when we come back.”
“Mental,” Rose agreed, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice and shaking her head.
“It will be so nice to go home and relax after all that,” Allie said from across the table. “All I want to do the first week I’m back is nap and do my nails.”
“Speak for yourself,” Lucy grimaced, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. “Rose and I only have a few days to relax at home before we’re due at the Burrow to help prepare for Vic and Teddy’s wedding.”
“Ooh, but that will be so fun!” Allie squealed, her blonde curls bouncing off her cheeks. “You must tell me absolutely everything.”
“We’ll write everything down and take loads of pictures to send you when it’s done,” Rose promised.
“Are you quite sure we can’t come as your dates?” Maren asked. “Knowing you two and your Gryffindor cousins I’m dying to see what a Weasley wedding’s like.”
“Mum said the guest list is too long as it is,” Rose sighed. “Between all the Weasley relatives and Aunt Fleur’s family in France and then Andromeda’s friends it’s going to be enormous.”
“I can’t wait to see the pictures,” Allie said. “And I’m sure Witch Weekly will do a write-up as well.”
“It’d still be more fun if you could come.” Rose speared a lamb chop. “Though it will be lovely to see Vic and Dom and Molly. I hardly see them now they’re all graduated and have jobs.”
“You’ll have to tell Dom about the quidditch team,” Maren said. “And maybe ask if she has any ideas on strategy for next year. You know, I was thinking about it the other day, and I know a lot of it is going to come down to what our options are for seekers, what with Plumaj leaving—”
“Maren, please don’t spend our last evening here talking about quidditch,” Lucy groaned.
“I won’t,” Maren insisted, sitting up a bit straighter. “I’m just saying that if you get a chance you should ask Dominique—”
“Why don’t you write me when you’re home with all your questions and I’ll have her write out her thoughts,” Rose said.
Maren’s eyes went wide. “That would be perfect! We don’t know who the new captain will be, but I’m assuming it will be you, me, Scorp, or Katrina, and coming in with some ideas and strategies already in place would be brill—”
“Scorpius, what are you doing over the holiday?” Lucy asked loudly, turning to face the boy beside her.
Scorpius shrugged. “Nothing too interesting. My mum’s sister is visiting for a few days, so I’m sure there will be some family dinners. And then Nathan and I are spending a week with Al in August.”
“Oh, lovely,” Lucy tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Write me when you know the exact dates. Maybe Rose and I can come over for a day to see you.” She glanced across the table and caught Rose’s eye. Rose merely raised her eyebrows and shrugged to show she had no objections.
“Sure.” Scorpius nodded, looking curiously between Lucy and Rose. “I’ll do that.”
“Oh, Rose,” Maren murmured. “We have to remember to plan a day to go to the alley as well. My dad said they’ll probably release the new Comet 770s before the school year and I want to see them in person just once.”
“Oh, of course,” Rose breathed. “You know I’ve been dying to see those.”
“There’s so much to do this summer,” Lucy sighed across from them. “Really, it hardly feels like a holiday with all the events and planning we’re doing now.”
“But it’s all fun things.” Allie chirped. “It’s rather nice to end the year with more things to look forward to, isn’t it?”
Rose nodded, sitting back in her seat as she took another bite of lamb chop. She looked around her friends and housemates, the Great Hall with its enchanted ceiling and the teachers table where Aunt Minnie and Neville and Hagrid all sat. It did feel sad to be finishing yet another year at Hogwarts, knowing she now only had two left. But as she ate her food and listened to her friends chat more about their summer plans, Rose thought Allie was exactly right. It was rather nice to know that no matter how bittersweet the end of year feast felt, there was plenty ahead to look forward to.
Rose couldn’t wait.