The Eyes of the Wolf

Rose didn't tell anyone about her and Scorpius's budding friendship. Not even Titania, because despite her other good qualities, she had the tendency to blurt out inconvenient truths. James, who was not used to disappointments, was still strutting around Titania like a cat around a fresh fish, and Rose didn't want to take any chances. She made up all kinds of elaborate excuses for disappearing for an hour or so a couple of times a week, but sometimes she wondered why Titania never asked where she went or or why she didn't want to come along. Usually, she just joined some other Ravenclaws or succumbed to talking to James.

The autumn was exceptionally windy, so nobody but Rose and Scorpius ever went to the lake. It rained often, but Scorpius knew a charm for conjuring up rain shields, and Rose had long ago learned from her Mum to warm up a spot on the ground before sitting down. They often watched Quidditch games from their hiding place, while everyone else was cheering at the Quidditch pitch.

'I was never good at Quidditch,' Rose said one Thursday as they were watching Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. 'It's weird, me and Mum are pretty much the only ones in the whole family who don't play. My cousin Lily's so good that Uncle Harry hopes she'll go pro after Hogwarts.'

'Yeah, I'm not into that either,' Scorpius said, his lip curling. 'I hate sports. Another reason for my father to be disappointed in his only rotten son.'

'Don't speak like that,' Rose said. 'You're one of the best students in the whole school. Surely your father must be proud of that.'

'No no, grades mean nothing. The things that matter are those that have to do with keeping up appearances -showing that the house of Malfoy might have been forced on its knees in the war, but that we haven't lost our pride. Instead of poring over books, I should be seeking the right kind of company that can help me later in life, and of course, I should already be the captain of the Slytherin team.'

Rose took a deep breath. 'You know, Scorpius, you should drop the pity party. I've seen you with your family a couple of times, and there's no doubt in my mind that both your parents care about you very much. So what if you don't fulfil all their expectations? You're still you, a unique person in your own right!'

Scorpius looked at Rose, his eyes widening. His mouth twitched, and before Rose could say anything, he was laughing like Rose had never heard him laugh before.

'Oh, Flower, look who's talking!'

The lake froze at the end of November, and many students took on skating, especially in the evenings and on weekends, which meant that Rose and Scorpius had to find a new meeting spot further away. They met at least three times every week, but they still never discussed their friendship, and upon running into each other, they only exchanged a casual remark, "Oh, you're here, too." Still, Rose knew that she didn't go to the lake to study or to brood, especially when the warming spell took some serious work now that the ground had frozen. She went there for him -why, she refused to ponder. She only knew that any day when she couldn't look into the eyes of the wolf was a wasted one.

She felt no remorse about befriending someone James and Albus disliked, but every time she got a letter from Dad, she felt an unpleasant jolt in her stomach. She had always been closest to Dad, and he was the one she had ran to when she had fallen down or hurt herself. Yet she sensed that now Dad wouldn't pick her up and blow on her pain if he knew about her chosen company. Mum probably wouldn't understand either, nor would Uncle Harry or Aunt Ginny. And come to think of it, Grandpa Arthur and Grandma Molly never spoke very kindly of the Malfoys either; Grandma had said that Mr Malfoy's father had caused Grandpa a lot of harm in his time. There were always Grandma and Grandpa Granger, but Rose had an inkling they might not understand what the fuss was about. Besides, they were always teasing her about finding a nice Muggle boy to get more Muggles into the family.

'Bee in your bonnet?'

Rose started. She had been sitting on the bank of the lake for a good fifteen minutes, intending to open the letter Juno had brought her that morning.

'Oh, hello.' She smiled at Scorpius, who was standing by a bush wearing a long, black winter cloak and the Slytherin scarf. His messy hair was flying in the light breeze, and his face was almost as white as the ice on the lake.

'Is everything okay?' Scorpius asked and melted a square of ground for himself.

'Oh no, I was just thinking about...um, Christmas. Presents, all that.'

'And probably that, too.' Scorpius nodded towards the letter in Rose's hand. 'Who's it from?'

'Dad,' Rose said and moved closer to the fire Scorpius was conjuring up.

'You get separate letters from your Mum and your Dad?' Scorpius asked over the flames.

'Yeah. They think it's more fun that way because you get more letters. Dad usually writes on Tuesdays and Mum on Fridays.'

'So, can I hear it?' Scorpius settled on his square, the steam of his breath rising into the chilly air. 'My father never writes to me, he's just a post script in Mum's letters. "And Daddy sends his love". I'd love to hear what a father's letter sounds like.'

'I guess so,' Rose said and opened the seal. 'I don't think Dad writes anything secret.'

Rose stopped abruptly, her cheeks blazing. Drat! The heroines in books never wore anything but silk, and only the ancient, wart-nosed witches wore woollen underpants. She glanced at Scorpius, but he wasn't snickering or even smiling. There was an unexplainable longing in his eyes.

'That's a nice letter,' he said after a while. 'My father used to call your Dad pretty awful names, but I think your Dad sounds like fun. As does the rest of your family.'

'I guess they're okay,' Rose said and folded the letter. 'But I'm sure yours are okay, too. Remember what we were talking about a few weeks ago?'

Scorpius let out a dry laughter. 'Sure. Then again, my father rarely speaks to me, and my Mum spends most of her days at the beauty salon.'

'I'm sorry,' Rose said miserably.

'Don't get me wrong,' Scorpius said, examining Rose. 'They're okay parents like you pointed out, and I've never lacked anything. It's just that we've never had that kind of warmth that's exuding from your letter. This Christmas, my parents are planning to travel to the Bahamas with Grandma and Grandpa Malfoy. Whoopie doo, what fun -a scorching Christmas drinking coconut milk!'

Rose sucked her bottom lip. An idea had just struck her -an impossible, daring idea. Nay, a wonderful, delicious idea. An idea that would force her to finally step out as her own self, not someone tagging along her famous cousins or living in the shadow of old prejudices.

'Scorpius,' she said boldly. 'You should come over to our house for Christmas!'