Yeah, here's, another update! It's kind of a long one and it's another one about the kids. Hope you like it!! Thanks for all the great reviews, I love reading all of them so keep it up!
~HM
Chapter 9
For the past three days, rain had been coming down continuously at Hogwarts, except for a few short moments when the clouds parted. Those moments came sporadically and never lasted long. Rose made sure she took advantage of one of those moments appeared on a Sunday afternoon.
She had been reading by the window when she realized the drumming sound of rain against glass had stopped, so with a small smile she ran upstairs to grab her foolish scarlet and gold stripped rain boots her dad had given her a few years ago. They practically came to her knees, but she had always loved them. Now she would cherish them. She slipped them on over her jeans, threw on a light pale yellow sweater to ward off the October chill and headed out.
As she stepped outside she took a deep breath, bringing in the fresh air. She had felt trapped the past few days, she was used to taking a walk around the lake at least once a day. It was something she had started since her first year. She'd go down to the kitchens and get some bread to feed the giant squid and just spend a good half hour by herself.
She would do it now, while she had the chance, but unfortunately she didn't feel she had the time to get the bread for her friend the squid. Since she had come everyday for the past three years, the squid even caught on and was usually waiting for her right below the surface. As soon as she threw the bread in a tentacle would slip out moments later and snag it up. She would have to make it up to him and bring him lots of bread as soon as she could.
It was very muddy, and the closer she got to the edge of the lake it became slipperier, but she didn't mind, that's what her rain boots were for. She stopped at a spot, her boots squished into the mud as she admired the view. She loved the lake. She considered it hers, which was silly, but she felt a connection to it.
It was so mysterious, so beautiful, but also could be dangerous. Just what type of creatures lived under the sea with the giant squid? Her Uncle Harry sure knew. One of her favorite stories had been when he had to swim and find her mum and dad, although her mum wasn't the one he had been assigned to take.
"I tried though," Uncle Harry always said when he told the story. "Mermaids wouldn't let me, not that they would have stopped me, but your Uncle Victor finally showed up."
Rose smiled as she imagined what that day had been like. All those people cheering for her Uncle Harry…poor mum and dad sleeping deep under the water. She had to admit, the three of them had some pretty amazing adventures together and growing up she had hoped she'd meet friends just as special. Together, they would make their own adventures. Although she did have friends, none of them were like what her mum, dad and Uncle Harry shared. Like what Sam, James and Danny shared. She wanted that. She wanted friends who accepted her for who she was, dork and all. Her mum had always told her how wonderful it was to find two boys who wanted to be friends, even though she was a little different, maybe even difficult.
"They teased me all the time," her mum had told her one time. "Mostly your Dad…Uncle Harry usually tried his best to stay neutral between us, but he had his fair share of teasing. But under all that I knew that they would always be there for me no matter what."
Maybe she was being selfish, she had her siblings and her cousins. Especially Al, who also felt the same as she did, wanting to find that deep kind of friendship. Like he said that day on the train, maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe one day, before they even realized it, they would have friends. Good, honest, friends. Maybe.
"Nice day for a walk."
Rose spun around on her heels and saw a flash of Scorpios' face…before slipping and falling backwards flat on her back.
Scorpios winced when she yelped and fell back first into the mud. He tried not to smile as he made his way over to her, but when she sat up, glaring at him with mud streaks on her cheeks, he just couldn't help himself. "You okay, Frecks?"
"Oh, I'm just dandy," she scoffed as she tried to shake the mud off her hands. "I'm sitting here in mud, what do you think? And wipe off that smirk, Malfoy, before I personally vanish it myself."
Scorpios smartly pressed his lips together.
"What are you doing out here anyway?" she asked firmly, grimacing when she realized mud was all in her hair.
He opened his mouth, but shut it quickly. He had seen her through the window, walking out in her ridiculous rain boots with a goofy smile on her face like the day was clear and sunny, rather than cloudy and rainy. He couldn't help himself, he wanted to join her…maybe ruffle her feathers a bit like he always loved to do. "I, uh…wanted to get some fresh air," he lied shoving his hands in his pockets. "Saw you from cross the way. Do you need help getting up?"
Trying to save as much dignity as she could she lifted her chins stubbornly. "I'm perfectly capable of getting on my own two feet myself," she said stiffly as she started to get to her feet, but then yelped when she lost her footing, sending her butt right back into the mud. "Not one word, Malfoy."
"You're asking a lot, Frecks," he said with a grin and then held out a hand. "Why don't you just push aside your stubbornness for once and take the help I'm so kindly offering."
"Fine," she said giving him a little smirk and stuck out her hand. He was still sporting that cocky grin when he clasped his hand with her muddy one, but she had the pleasure of seeing the look of shock on his face when she tugged hard at his hand, sending him face first in the mud. "Eat, mud, Malfoy," she said sweetly.
Malfoy spit and sputtered as he lifted his face from the muck. "That was sneaky, Weasley," he said as he rolled over to a sitting position, using his cloak to wipe the mud as much as he could from his face. "I should have seen that coming."
"Should have," she agreed smugly.
"Just like you should see this," he said and smacked a handful of wet, stinky dirt right into her face.
Rose gaped at him with mud streaming down her face, while Scorpios just snickered. "Oh, you are asking for it," she said as she didn't even bother to wipe her face. She went for more ammo and dumped a large amount on his blonde hair.
"Oh, you want to get dirty, do you?" he asked and flew mud back at her. "The war has begun, Weasley."
Mud went flying from both ends while they both had managed to stagger to their knees, laughing and screaming as they flew chunks of mud at each other. Scorpios was able to get close enough to rub some into her hair for some payback. Rose just let out a laughing shriek as countered back with more mud. She was filthy, cold and probably had smelled better, but she was having the time of her life.
"What in the bloody hell is going on?"
At the sound of the voice, instincts took over both of them and they turned and sent mud flying. Albus jerked when he was struck with mud right in his face. She heard Rose gasp and Scorpios snorted out a laugh while Albus tried his best to wipe it from his face with his hands.
"Oh, Al…sorry," she said and a giggle escaped her. "We didn't mean to…it was just reflex."
"Not for me, I totally meant to do it," Scorpios said showing his pearly whites beneath the muck. "What are you going to do about it, Potter?"
"Oh, I know exactly what I'm going to do, Malfoy," he said and pulled out his wand.
Rose was about to open her mouth to stop him, but then was cut off when large chunks of mud magically lifted from the ground and flew straight at both of them. She shrieked and ducked behind Malfoy, while he tried to duck the blow as well.
"Hey, no magic!" Scorpios laughed picking up a handful of mud. "You want to play with us, you have to get your hands dirty. Right, Frecks?" he asked before dumping it on her.
"Malfoy!" she shrieked shoving him away.
Albus laughed. "I guess I can do that," he said and put his wand away and joined the fun.
It was all for one on this game, there were no teams. It was just a matter of getting the mud and sending it flying at the enemy.
"Excuse me."
All three spun towards the soft feminine voice, their arms cocked back ready to throw. They paused when they saw it was Mia Longbottom, standing a few feet away, her boots already ankle deep in mud. "Would you mind if I joined?" she asked politely.
Rose, Scorpios and Al exchanged looks for a moment, then shared evil grins before they all threw their mud right at Mia, who let out a delightful laugh when mud hit her everywhere. "I guess that's a yes. Any rules I should know?" she asked bending down to collect her ammo.
"No magic," Albus said stepping closer to her. "And every man…or woman," he added rolling his eyes at Rose when she cleared her throat. "For themselves."
"I like those rules," she said and launched her first shot at Albus, giggling happily when she hit her target.
"You're going down," he warned and went to war with Mia, while Rose and Scorpios turned their attention on each other.
Laughter, squeals and gasps erupted between them as mud was thrown, rubbed in hair by hand or even poured down the back of shirts. Mia had jumped on Al's back, rubbing mud all in his hair, and he let out a laughing curse before grabbing her from behind and threw her over his shoulders. Mia shrieked as she went over, but just laughed when she found herself lying flat back in the mud.
Rose had also tried to trip Scorpios, but he was too strong and ended up being the one to tackle her in the mud. Looming over her, he splattered muck on her face, while she sputtered out curses at him.
"Scorpios!"
He looked up from Rose's mud covered face, arm drawn back, but held his fire when he realized it was Nina. Albus and Mia, however, did not and Scorpios grimaced when mud splattered all over Nina. Scorpios raised a dirty brow over at the culprits.
Albus shrugged. "It was a reflex," he said while Mia snorted a giggle.
"Sure it was," he said dryly, sharing a smirk with him.
Nina let out a shriek. "Scor-pi-os! Look what they did!"
"Sorry, Nina, but you should know better than to interrupt a mud fight."
"You shouldn't be participating in a mud fight in the first place!" she spat, grimacing as she picked at her hair. "Eww! It's everywhere!"
"Don't worry, Nina," Rose said sympathetically. "You don't look that much uglier than normal."
Albus and Mia busted out laughing, while Scorpios couldn't help but let out a snicker, then covering it with a cough when Nina glared at him. "Er…look Nina, why don't you just go inside and clean up."
"I should suggest the same thing to you," she said with a huff. "Why are you hanging around these people…rolling around in the mud!"
"Because it's fun," he said simply.
"Fun? Fun!? You mean you're enjoying this? Hanging out with these losers? A Potter and a Weasley? Weirda Mia?"
Albus scowled, taking a step towards her, but Scorpios simply put an arm in front of him to hold him off. "I'm
obviously enjoying this or I wouldn't be doing it, now would I? And just because they aren't in Slytherin,
doesn't make them losers."
"But…but…what about us?" Nina asked now sounding desperate.
Scorpios laughed. "Funny, I didn't know there was an 'us'. We shared a few snogs over the summer, Nina, so what? It doesn't make us an item. Besides…you weren't even that good of a snog."
Nina's jaw dropped open, while Albus muttered an, "ouch," under his breath, sharing a snicker with Mia. "That's it!" Nina exclaimed. "You are threw with me and everyone else in Slytherin. After everyone here's about your little frolic with these people, your social life will cease to exist!"
"Hmm…maybe you're right. My social life in Slytherin will plummet after this, but…I really don't think my social life in the real world will suffer at all." He gave her a little wave. "So, see you around, Nina."
Before she could reply, the sky above opened up and rain started to fall heavily around them. Nina screamed as she raced back towards the castle, while Scorpios picked up more mud. "Now…where were we?" he asked before throwing mud at Albus and Mia.
"Nice shot," Rose said with a chuckle.
"Oh, so that's how it's going to be," Albus laughed as he squatted to get an arm full of mud. "Let's get em', Mia."
Rain continued to pour down on them as the war turned into two against two. At the end of the showdown, they agreed it was a tie.
XXX
The halls of Hogwarts were deserted as James, Samantha and Danny made their way to the kitchen for an afternoon snack. Most halls were empty during rainy days on a weekend. The kids who were stressed about school were usually in the library, the horny kids were off in empty broom closets and dark corners snogging or shagging and the lazy kids were either in bed or lounging around in their common rooms. As for him and his friends, they usually got too bored to be in one place for too long, so they would either go visit Hagrid, go imagine up a fun room at the Room of Requirements or raid the kitchen…as they were about to do.
"I am so sick of this rain," Samantha muttered as she looked out a passing window at the rain. "It just won't stop."
"Maybe it will clear up in a few days," James said hopefully.
"I hope so," Danny said also depressed. "We have a Hogsmead visit next weekend and it was suck if it was raining."
"I know, hopefully it won't," Samantha said. "I still have to try and shop for a dress."
"You have a date?" both James and Danny asked at the same time.
Samantha shared an amused look with both of them. "Not yet. No one's asked me."
"Oh," James said as they made their way down a flight of stairs.
"Hey, who are you going to ask, mate?" Danny asked James curiously. "Now that you dumped Mega Bitch."
Samantha chuckled. "Nice one."
"Thanks."
James rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but laugh. "To answer your question…I don't know yet. You?"
Danny looked away, shrugged. "Don't know."
"Well, you guys should figure out soon or…what in the world?"
The trio stopped walking when they saw four people come stumbling around the corner. They were covered from head to toe with mud, slipping and sliding on the floor while they were all nonstop laughing.
"What is going on here?" James asked as they walked to them
The four stopped laughing and looked up. "Oh…Hey James."
"Al?" James asked with a laugh. "That you?"
"Hi, James."
James' jaw dropped. "Rosie? That can't be sweet innocent, Rosie."
"Yep," she said with a giggle. "We're a little dirty."
"I'll say…who are the other two…Mia? And…" He squinted his eyes at the second boy. "Malfoy?"
"Afraid so," he said with a chuckle. "Got suckered into it."
"Oh whatever, you totally started it," Rose said.
"You're the one that pulled me into the mud."
Scorpios grinned. "Oh, yeah."
Samantha wrinkled her nose. "You four stink."
"Having a mud fight will do that to you, Sam," Albus said and then opened his arms. "Let's have a hug."
"Keep away from me," she laughed jumping away and hid behind James.
"Hey, back off, Al," James warmed when he got a little too close. "Why don't you guys go take a shower."
"Or two," Danny suggested. "Wouldn't hurt."
"Agreed," James said and moved out of the way so the four of them could walk off. "I can't believe it."
"What?" Samantha asked.
"A Potter and a Mafloy. Friends." James shook his head with a laugh. "Wait till Dad finds out."
"He won't get mad, will he?" she asked.
"No…but he'll find it extremely funny…and not to mention incredibly ironic."
"You know, that kind of seems fun," Danny said after a moment. "Having a mud fight."
James and Samantha both lifted their brows at Danny, then shared a look with each other. "I'm game if you are," he said giving her a bump.
Samantha thought about it for a second, then grinned brightly. "You guys are going down."
XXX
"Well, the Gryffindor's common room is up this way," Albus said pointing up the staircase.
"Oh, okay," Scorpios said giving them an awkward wave.
"See you," Mia said waving, too. "Ravenclaw's actually the direction we came from. I didn't want to say goodbye yet."
Albus smiled at her. "I'm glad you didn't."
Mia blushed. "Me, too."
"Hey," Rose said turning around after she went up a couple of steps. "Albus and I…we were going to visit Hagrid after supper. Would you two like to come with us?"
Mia smiled brightly. "I'd love to!"
Rose smiled at her, then turned to Scorpios. "How bout you? His tea's decent, but his rock cakes are a little scary…you might not be able to handle them."
Scorpios grinned. "Is that a challenge, Frecks?"
"No. It's an invitation."
"Then count me in."
Rose gave a nod. "All right then."
"See you guys at supper," Albus said giving them another wave before tugging on Rose's sleeve for her to follow him.
Once they were gone, Mia and Scorpios turned to each other, smiling nervously at each other. "Does this make us friends, too?" Mia asked him curiously.
Scorpios cocked his head in thought, looking at Mia Longbottom, a girl he never really looked at and realized he hated himself for it. Merlin knew she would be an adventure to know. "I guess it does," he finally replied holding out a hand.
She giggled shaking her head. "Friends don't shake hands, Scorpios," she said and then threw herself into his arms.
"Woah," he said stumbling back, mud squishing between them. "Er…okay a hug then." He gave her an awkward pat on the hug. "I guess I can handle that."
She pulled away and beamed up at him. "I've never had friends before. Now, I have three."
"Now you have three," he repeated giving her a smile. "And if anyone picks on you, just let me know…Me or Albus will set them straight."
"Or Rosie," she added. "She could probably take half the guys at this school."
"You know something, Mia?" he said with a chuckle. "I believe you're right. Frecks is quite a witch."
"And you like her," she said with a sly grin.
Scorpios' face paled. "What? No…No I don't."
Mia just giggled. "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret. Toodle-loo!"
Scorpios could only stay there with his jaw gapped wide open as he watched Mia skip happily away.