Quidditch League Round 10

Position: Beater 1

Prompts:

(word) Speciality

(word) Chemistry

Word Count:2,147

Draco and Astoria Malfoy had always had high hopes for their handsome son, Scorpius. He had light blonde hair like his father, high cheekbones like his mother, and his pale skin was inherited from both parents. At school he had done exceptionally well and he had made friends with the children of influential families like his parents had wanted. And now, having just finished his 7th year at Hogwarts, their precious boy was coming home. The Malfoys could not have been happier. But that lasted for about a minute after they met him at the station. It went something like this:

"Scorpius!" Astoria cried as soon as he clambered off the train. Rushing over to him, she engulfed her son in a tight hug.

He pushed her off him immediately and walked over to where Draco was stood. "Hi, dad," he said. Draco smiled at him.

"How was school?" Astoria asked.

Scorpius shrugged. "Fine," That was a lie. It had started off normally, he had been getting good levels, talking to all the right people, and then… She happened. Just waltzed into his life and turned it upside down.

"So do you have any idea what kind of job you want?" Draco was asking now, looking down at his son eagerly. Scorpius pretended to think. He'd had his mind made up for months now, but he couldn't seem too eager, else his parents would know something was up.

"Well," he said slowly and carefully. Astoria and Draco stared at him enthusiastically. "What I'd really like to do," he continued. "Is join the Ministry," Draco broke into a grin and Astoria clapped her hands together.

"That's brilliant, Scorp!" Draco said. "What department? What branch?"

Now was the tricky bit. Scorpius braced himself. "The Centaur and Goblin Liason Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," he said quickly.

Draco's smile faded. Astoria lowered her hands. "The what?" she asked, disbelievingly. Scorpius winced. He knew his parents wouldn't like the idea.

"Scorpius, is something wrong? I'm all for you working at the Ministry, but why there? That's like, the least publicised division! If you want, you could come and work with me at St. Mungo's-" Draco started babbling, wringing his hands and biting his lip and looking nervously back and forth between his wife and his son.

This was what Scorpius had feared. Draco always got like this when he was worried about his public image. One time when Scorpius was 3, he had accidently smashed a neighbour's window, and Draco had just talked and talked to the neighbour, trying to make sure he wouldn't tell anyone. He had assured Draco that it was fine, he was fine, the window was fine, and Draco had eventually calmed down.

But in this case, Scorpius was pretty sure his dad wouldn't calm down until Scorpius assured him that he was joking, or it was a random thought, or he had changed his mind, and he wouldn't actually go to work in the Centaur and Goblin Liason Division. However, that wasn't going to happen.

"I'm sorry, Dad," he said weakly, shrugging helplessly. "I just really want to go and work there. Remember all the career advice I told you about? About how some people are special for jobs? Well, I think this could be my speciality. It probably won't be forever, don't worry," Draco's eyes widened at that.

"Worry?" he asked incredulously. "I wasn't worrying! I'm fine! It's fine," he cried. "Really!" he added, at Scorpius' sceptical look. "I will support you, no matter what you do, Scorpius," he said, suddenly serious. "I promise."

Scorpius smiled. "I know, Dad," he said. But a small voice in the back of his mind was saying, then why don't you just tell him why you want to go and work there? But he couldn't. Not yet.

X

X

Scorpius was a bag of nerves on his first day, even though he wasn't planning on doing much working. As he rode the lift up to the fourth floor, briefcase clutched in his sweating hand, he checked his appearance in the glass walls. Stop worrying, he repeated, over and over, like a mantra. I'm fine. It's fine. Everything is fine.

Ground floor. First floor. Second floor. The lift flew upwards smoothly.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, he reached the fourth floor and the doors slip open. Scorpius stepped out, his legs trembling slightly.

And there, sitting at the desk, was Rose. Her long red hair was pulled up into a knot, but a few strands had escaped and framed her pale face. Her green eyes were scanning the paperwork in front of her, but she looked up as she heard the lift arrive.

As soon as she noticed Scorpius, Rose put down her paperwork. "Scorpius?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "I work here," he said simply. "What about you?"

"I work here," she said, gesturing to the paperwork in front of her.

Scorpius smiled warmly. "And so do I," he said cheerily, sitting in the seat opposite her.

Rose raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She picked the parchment back up and continued reading. Scorpius did the same.

X

X

On his second day at the office, Scorpius rode up a lot less scared. He and Rose had not talked after that initial conversation, but the atmosphere had not been as tense as he'd feared.

"Good morning!" he called happily as he arrived at the office. However, he was greeting with an empty room. Clearly, Rose was not here yet.

When, 10 minutes later, there was still no Rose, Scorpius started to get worried. Had she quit, just to be rid of him? Maybe he should ask if she'd joined another branch…

Then, just as he started to stand up and go and find someone, the lift arrived again and a very bedraggled Rose rushed in.

She ran over to the chair opposite Scorpius and practically fell into it. "Don't," she began slowly, pointing an accusing finger at Scorpius, "you dare telling anyone about this, else I will… I will…" she trailed off and lowered her finger.

Scorpius opened his mouth to assure her that he wasn't going to report it, but he was stopped by a sob. He stared in disbelief as Rose began to cry. Here she was, an 18 year old girl, crying because she was a bit late to work! Scorpius continued to stare at her, until Rose lifted her previously lowered head and glared at him.

"Sorry," he muttered. "But look, Rose, I won't report you. I wasn't even going to before you threatened me and then broke into tears. I promise."

Rose sniffed and wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. She looked up at Scorpius, her big green eyes full of confusion. "But… Why?" she asked quietly.

Scorpius smiled at her warmly. "Because then I would probably lose the only chance I have left," he said. Rose frowned at him. He sighed and began to explain. "All through school, you were irrelevant to me. I know that probably doesn't come as a surprise. I was a Slytherin, you were a Gryffindor. They aren't known for getting along," he looked down at the table so that Rose wouldn't be able to see his expression. See how his whole face melted when he thought of that night. The night that changed it all.

"But then there was the ball – do you remember it? I would hope you do, it was only at the end of sixth year. I saw you for the first time that night. I mean, I'd seen you before; around school, in lessons and so on. But I'd never really seen you as you are. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because you always had people around you and they obscured you slightly, or… I don't know. I'm not sure. The point is, that night, I saw you properly. I saw, for the first time, that you were beautiful."

Rose was staring at Scorpius. He couldn't tell if she was staring because she was happy, horrified or just surprised. After glancing quickly up at her, he let his eyes rest on the brown wood of the desk again. "After that… I couldn't take my eyes off you. I was surprised you didn't notice," he allowed himself a small chuckle at the memories, but Rose didn't join in.

"Ever since then?" she whispered, her brow furrowed, trying to take in all this new information.

Scorpius nodded. "Over summer, I thought I would get over it. I tried to forget about you. I told myself over and over again that we aren't right for each other, we don't have chemistry, it wouldn't work out. I thought I had succeeded. But then, on September 1st, seeing you there, I knew I hadn't. I knew I was still…" he paused, finally lifting his gaze and locking it with Rose's. "Still in love with you."

Rose said nothing. She just continued to stare at him. After what felt like days but was really just minutes, she lowered her head and picked up her quill. "I need to get on with my work," she stated flatly.

It was like a knife to Scorpius' chest. It was a rejection. He had just declared his love to her, and she came out with that? Sighing heavily, Scorpius picked up his quill and got to work as well.

Scorpius, though, was ambitious. He did not give up there. For the rest of the day, he tried to make small talk.

"So, how come you wanted to work here?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Have you finished that report on the Goblin outbreak in New Zealand?" she asked in reply, not looking up.

"No, not yet, but-"

"Get on with it, then."

"Fine."

A few minutes later, he placed the finished report in his Out tray and smiled smugly at Rose. "Finished," he said. "So how come nobody's asked us to go on any missions? Subduing wild Centaurs? Tackling fierce Goblins?"

Rose just shrugged. "Probably because we're new," she said.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

X

X

Scorpius arrived at the office on his third day a lot less cheerfully. Why was he even bothering still coming to work? She had rejected him in the worst way possible; not actually saying anything.

Still, he tried to look happy as he arrived at the office, for her sake. No matter how much she hated – or at least, disliked – him, Scorpius was sure she wouldn't want to know she'd made him miserable.

The lift doors slid opened and was greeted with the most spectacular sight. Balloons were everywhere. Literally everywhere. There was a layer on the floor with more layers of them piled up on top, going all the way to the ceiling. Scorpius would actually have to push through them to get to his desk.

Luckily, he had a broche on; his family's crest with the Snake that represented the Slytherins curled around it. He unpinned it and, using the sharp, pointed end, began popping the balloons in his way.

In this way, he managed to clear a path for himself through to the desk. But when he reached it, he saw that he was not alone. Rose was sitting on the desk, swinging her legs absently. She looked up when she saw him, and smiled. Actually smiled.

Her red hair was loose, bright red curls cascading down her back. "Scorpius," she said. Scorpius nodded; he didn't think he was capable of saying anything. "Scorpius," she repeated. He nodded again. "Scorpius, of course I remember the ball. But not for the same reasons as you. I remember that ball as the best night of my life, because…" she sighed. "Because that was the night I became secretly engaged to Billy James."

Scorpius stared at her. "Billy James?" he asked. She nodded sadly, almost regretfully. "Why would you get engaged to that idiot?"

Rose opened her mouth in indignation, then closed it again a moment later. "Well," she said. "I think I was drunk at the time. But seeing his face the next day, I couldn't break it off. I had to pretend to love him, or risk hurting him."

"So," Scorpius said slowly. "You don't love him?" he asked.

Rose shook her head. "I don't love him," she confirmed.

"And… Do you love me?" he asked.

Again, Rose shook her head. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. I don't love you."

"Then what are all the balloons for!?" he cried.

Rose bit her lip. She knew she must be driving him crazy right now, but it would all be worth it.

"I don't love you," she said again. Scorpius nodded bitterly. "But… I think I could."

Then she closed the distance between them and pressed her mouth to his.