The Eyes of the Wolf

'A new sister or b-brother?' Rose stuttered. Dad was glowing with delight beside Mum, who was chuckling wetly and caressing Hugo's curls.

'Yes, sweetie,' Mum said. 'We didn't want to tell you in a letter.'

'But I thought it was Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny who wanted a new baby!'

'I know, but this just, well, happened.' Mum dried her face in a hanky and surveyed Rose intently. 'Is everything fine? Aren't you happy about this?'

'Of course.' Rose put on a fake smile. She introduced Scorpius to Mum almost mechanically and followed everybody into the house in silence.

A cold hand was squeezing and wringing her insides. Of course. That's why Dad had been so mellow about Scorpius: the new baby had already bewitched him. He was probably happy that Rose had a new friend so that she wouldn't need so much of his attention.

'Rosie, dear.' Mum's voice cut into her sullen thoughts. 'Why don't you take Scorpius upstairs? He can have Hugo's room, and Hugo'll sleep with us.'

'Sure, yeah, thanks,' Rose said and headed for the stairs. She saw Dad and Mum exchange curious looks, but she didn't care. They had their tot. They had probably spent all evenings cuddled up together, talking about the new baby, planning the baby's room, and going through catalogues to buy clothes and toys. And Dad had likely already ordered a Chudley Cannons baby outfit.

'So, where to?' Scorpius asked when they arrived at the upstairs hall.

'Um, here.' Rose opened the door to Hugo's room. The room beside it had been a storage room for years, but now it probably would be remodelled for the baby.

Intruder.

'It's cosy,' Scorpius said and put down his bag. Rose just nodded and drew the curtains aside.

'And I'm going to dunk your head in the toilet if you don't come out of your reverie now,' Scorpius continued calmly.

'What?' Rose's eyes popped wide open, and she blushed thoroughly. 'I'm sorry, I was just thinking -'

'Of the new baby,' Scorpius finished the sentence. 'Look, I can see it's bothering you. Why's that? I thought in the end you didn't mind being from a big family?'

'I don't,' Rose said miserably and sat down on Hugo's bed. It had a bright orange Chudley Cannons bedspread; Hugo had inherited Dad's madness about the team. 'Can't you see it? Dad's so easy about you because he's all excited about the new baby! You saw how happy he was, and Mum, too. He'll be busy with baby stuff and probably wouldn't mind if I moved out right away...' A tear flowed down her cheek, but she brushed it away with fury.

Scorpius came over to sit by her.

'Flower, you're jealous.'

'So what?' Rose turned away to hide her tears. 'The new baby'll no doubt be a girl and a Quidditch genius and really pretty like cousin Lily, and Dad'll be all concentrated on her.'

'Rose, you prat. I've known your parents for approximately ten minutes, and it's already crystal-clear to me that they both dote on you, especially your Dad. He's not going to dump you when the baby comes! I really think you should be happy; you have so much many others can only dream about.'

Rose turned hastily back to Scorpius.

'I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking!' She wanted to touch Scorpius's hand, which was resting on his knee, but she didn't dare. 'I'm a horrible, nasty, spoiled brat to complain about a new sibling, but really, I do know what it is like to be lonely, you know that. And maybe your Mum and Dad will...?'

'Well, someone else in your family? Or if not, maybe you can come over next summer to see our baby? I bet it'll be born by then.'

Scorpius didn't reply. His eyes were scrutinising Rose’s face, not angrily or harshly, but rather tenderly.

'Flower...' His voice was so husky it was just a whisper. Rose stared, mesmerised, at his eyes that reflected the light from the candle flickering on the wall. He leaned closer, and Rose could smell the sandalwood, feel the warmth of his body. She swallowed once, twice, wanting to lick her lips but not daring to lest she scare him away.

It was a gentle, breathtaking, spine-tingling kiss. Rose lost all sense of time -all that mattered was Scorpius. His hair brushed against her forehead, and his warm hand was moving slowly up and down her side.

'Rose!'

The cry shattered the dream. Rose jumped up, her face bright red and her spectacles wonky.

Dad stood in the doorway, holding a bundle of towels.

'What - what were you doing?' he asked in an odd voice. 'Rose?'

'Um, nothing. I was just showing Scorpius the bedspread. It's really nice and he's a fan, too, or not technically yet, but I'm sure he'll be soon because everybody else is in this house, and he doesn't really have a team yet, and -'

'Downstairs,' Dad said in a voice that bore no possibility for arguing. 'Excuse us for a while, Scorpius.' He shut the door and marched to the kitchen, holding Rose tightly by the arm. Mum took one look at his stormy face and patted Hugo on the shoulder.

'Hugo, why don't you run to your room?'

Hugo dashed past them, and Dad closed the door and pushed the sweating Rose in a chair.

'Your daughter, Hermione! Just now...up there...your daughter! She was... was with that boy!' He was struggling violently for words, his ears just as red as Rose's cheeks. Finally, he banged his fist on one of the cupboards so that the glasses and plates inside clattered dangerously. 'Your daughter was kissing that Malfoy boy! On the bed!'

'I think you had something to do with bringing her into the world, too,' Mum said calmly and sat down opposite Rose. 'Rose, is this true?'

Rose glanced at Dad and nodded hesitantly.

'There you go!' Dad sucked his reddening fist furiously. 'The girl's kissing boys at the age of 15! On a bed!'

'Which is the age your sister was kissing her boyfriend, Harry was kissing his first girlfriend, and...' Mum looked down quickly, and Rose thought she saw a flicker of amusement in her eyes.

'Oh yes, and you had already kissed an international Quidditch star!' Dad said heatedly.

'Really?' Rose asked, but one look from Mum silenced her.

'Look Hermione, Rosie's different than us,' Dad said and dropped in a chair beside Mum. 'She's much more vulnerable and sweet and innocent and...'

'Your daughter,' Mum said simply.

Dad didn't reply. He rubbed his forehead, and when he spoke, his voice was dense.

'She is too young to be snogging boys on a bed, Hermione. Rose, I don't want you to snog anyone on any bed. Ever.'

'Dad!' Rose said in exasperation, but Mum reached for her hand.

'Rosie, we'll have a little talk soon, but now I think it's best you go upstairs. And no snogging,' she mouthed.

'Right.' Rose scurried out of the kitchen and ran upstairs, hopping two steps at a time. Scorpius sprang up from Hugo’s bed when she opened the door.

'Was he mad?'

'Yep, really mad.' Rose grinned sheepishly. 'Although, he didn't seem to be mad that it was you, just that it was someone.'

'Typical father of a daughter, from what I hear.'

They eyed each other for a while in silence, but when it became too loud, Rose picked up her bag.

'I think I'll take this to my room. You want to see it?'

'Sure.'

As they tiptoed to her room, Rose tried to hear what Mum and Dad were talking about downstairs, but all she could hear was indistinct mumbling.

'Fresh flowers.' Scorpius stopped by Rose's small white desk. 'Someone's been expecting you.'

Rose pushed her nose into the bouquet.

'It's probably Mum, she loves flowers. I think these are from Aunt Ginny's greenhouse.'

'Nice room,' Scorpius said, swivelling around on his heels.

'Thanks,' Rose said and tried to look at the room as if she were a guest. The wallpaper was cream-coloured with pink and purple roses, and the curtains were pink with ample amounts of lace and frills. There were posters of castles, fine ladies, and Victorian gardens everywhere, and the white rug on the floor had tiny pink roses dangling from both ends. Rose had always loved her room, but now she had an unpleasant feeling that it might be a bit overly romantic, and she hoped Scorpius wouldn't consider her totally bonkers because of it.

There was a knock on the door, and Mum entered.

'Rosie, there's tea for you and Scorpius downstairs.'

Dad and Hugo were hauling the quilts and bedspreads in from the clothesline when Rose and Scorpius arrived at the kitchen.

'This looks wonderful, Mrs Weasley,' Scorpius said. His usually pale cheeks had a faint rosy shade, which Rose thought was no surprise. Dad had sat down in a wicker chair, his arms crossed and his eyes never leaving Scorpius.

'Thank you, Scorpius!' Mum said, beaming. 'Just some crumpets and jam. I thought we'd eat lighter today, as tomorrow we'll have a big meal.'

'We've invited the Potters and the Grangers over for tomorrow,' Dad said. 'Grandpa and Grandma Weasley can't make it; they have the Bells coming, but we'll spend Christmas Day at the Burrow.'

'Sounds like a busy Christmas,' Scorpius said, and Rose could tell he was striving to be as polite and neutral as possible.

'So, Scorpius,' Dad said. 'What are your plans for the future?'

'I - er'

'I see. How's your school going?'

'Um, it's -'

'Right. Had many girlfriends before?'

'Dad!'

'Uh, no -'

'Plan to keep snogging my girl?'

'DAD!'

'Ron...' Mum smiled tightly and shoved a tea cup in Dad's hand. 'Have a crumpet, darling.'

Dad spit out the pastry Mum had pushed in his mouth.

'Just getting to know our daughter's friend, Hermione. So, what did your father say about all this? Did he let you come here easily?'

Scorpius looked at Rose, whose hand made an uncontrolled movement and swept the jam jar on the floor.

'Er, I think it wasn't too hard, right, Scorpius?' Rose said and dove under the table to collect the jar remains.

'Well, it did take some, um, thought.'

Dad traced his lip with his finger, looking thoroughly unconvinced, but luckily -or perhaps not so- Hugo got a cut from one of the glass shards, and everybody's attention shifted to him. Using the hassle as a cover, Rose and Scorpius escaped to the hall just as Mum started doing a healing spell on Hugo's finger.

'Night!' Dad called after them. 'I'll come and kiss you goodnight in a minute, Rosie!'

That made a goodnight chat impossible, and Scorpius and Rose departed swiftly at the door of Hugo's room after Rose had shown Scorpius where the bathroom was. Rose slipped into an old flannel pyjama and crawled under the duvet. It smelled familiar and cosy, and brought to mind cold winter nights years ago when she had lain awake, gazing at the stars and spinning stories in her mind.

'Rosie, are you asleep?'

'No.'

Dad closed the door and sat on the bed. The lantern in the back yard illuminated the numerous freckles on his nose. He looked very sad.

'Rosie, Scorpius's father was really nasty to me and Harry at school, and he used to call your Mum awful names. His grandfather was a notorious Death Eater, and people say he was right in V-Voldemort's inner circle. You don't know even half of what they did. I don't want my girl getting mixed up with those people.'

'But he's not like that!' Rose sat up, hugging her knees. 'He has no pureblood ideas, and he's really studious, and he never bullies anyone. People bully him because they think he's like his father and grandfather. Wasn't there ever a person at school with you who everybody bullied?'

'Well, we had Aunt Luna,' Dad said, smiling. 'But she was okay.'

'That's it, then. Scorpius is Aunt Luna. And besides, Scorpius said his father's been a recluse since the war. He isn't into that kind of stuff any more.'

'I can see you're really into this bloke.'

'Yes,' Rose said and blushed violently. 'He understands me. And he's a lot like me. Neither of us is into Quidditch, for example.'

'Rosie, just because you both don't like Quidditch -'

'That's not all! It's also that we're both kind of loners.' There, she had said it. 'And we both feel a lot of pressure from the reputations that our families have. Like, I always feel I'm really lousy and bland compared to the rest of you. You, Mum, and Uncle Harry are war heroes, and everybody's always talking about you and praising you. And James, Lily, and Al are really popular and good in Quidditch, and I'm not! I'm like the ugly duckling of the family, and Scorpius feels the same way. He's not popular or into sports at all. And he's had to suffer a lot because people think he's like his father, which he isn't.'

'Rosie, you think I was popular? You think I was praised when I was at school?'

'Well, yeah, I've always thought so,' Rose said uncertainly. 'I mean, all the stories...'

'Listen, Rosie. When I was your age, I got in the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but not because I was a really good player like Uncle Harry. I had people laughing at me and singing mock songs about me.'

Rose listened with a mix of sympathy and pity as Dad talked. It seemed that a cork had been unscrewed somewhere, and he stopped only when the swan-shaped clock on the wall chimed midnight.

'I had no idea,' Rose said wretchedly. 'I always thought you, Mum, and Uncle Harry were this sort of in-crowd.'

'Oh no. Well, Harry was famous and your Mum was the brightest witch of her age, but me - I was always the ordinary one, never number one.'

'Dad.' She lifted up her chin and took Dad's bruised hand. 'I think you're number one.'

Was that a tear glistening in Dad's eye?

Dad grinned weakly and gave her a squeeze.

'Well, if you absolutely must snog that boy, no beds. Standing. Or on second thought, sitting. On a sofa. No, it's too soft, at the kitchen table. Or actually, you could postpone it altogether. Your Mum and I only kissed when we were married.'

'Dad, Uncle Harry told me you and Mum kissed right in front of him in the middle of the war. And he said it wasn't just any old peck on the cheek either.'

'Right.' Dad stood up and rumpled Rose's hair. 'I must have a little word with Harry... Good night.'

'Night!'

Rose leaned back on her pillow. An owl hooted in the distance, and the half moon cast a sliver of silvery light on her duvet.

'Rose!'

'Scorpius?' Rose raised her head. 'Where are you?'

'In your brother's bed. I can't sleep. Mind if we chat a while now that your Dad's gone?'

'Of course. How can I hear you so well?'

'It's one of my own spells, sort of the opposite of Muffiliato. It takes away all obstacles for hearing within a couple of square feet.'

'That's handy.' Rose smiled and pressed her hand against the wall. 'What are you thinking of?'

Scorpius was silent for a few seconds.

'You.'

Rose suppressed a giggle and pressed her hand tighter against the wall. Her hand felt warm, tingly.

'I'm thinking of you, too,' she whispered.

And the mistletoe Mum always hung from the hall ceiling on Christmas Eve.