By the fourth day, Rose had gotten fairly good at avoiding Scorpius, and she managed to ignore him when he sat down next to her in class and inevitably tried to start a conversation. Rose would never have admitted it to Albus, but she was actually slightly disappointed that Scorpius was not trying harder to get her attention. Her stubbornness was so much more impressive when pitted against someone else's stubbornness, but when she snubbed his "hello" or "good morning" Scorpius would simply go quiet.
That day Albus accompanied her to the back of the library, bemoaning the assignment of a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay as they made their way through the bookcases. "It's almost Hallowe'en," he groaned. "Besides, if I want to learn how to defeat the Dark Arts, I'll just ask my father. Hey, Rose, do you think Professor Baghater would accept a signed note from my father in lieu of an essay?"
She giggled. "You ask that every time, and I still think the answer's 'no.'"
"Can't blame a bloke for trying," he said, but Rose didn't hear this part.
She was staring at a piece of magically-folded paper in the shape of a rose, sitting on her favorite table, exactly where she usually put her books. "Where did that come from?" she wondered aloud, approaching it and gently lifting it from the table.
The charm was fairly complicated. When she picked it up the rose opened and hovered above her hands, exposing a written note at the center.
Rose Weasley, it said, To begin, walk to the eastern corner of the Great Hall after dinner.
"What's that?" Albus asked, looking over her shoulder.
"I don't know," she said, allowing him time to read the note. "Should I go?" she asked.
Albus shrugged. "I could come with you, if you like," he offered.
Rose considered this. "No," she decided, "If someone has gone to all this trouble to charm this paper, they probably want to see me alone. But thanks."
After dinner, she followed the rose's instructions, carrying the paper with her as she approached the corner of the Great Hall. Several people looked curiously at her, but Rose was intently focused on the paper she held.
She had nearly walked into the wall when the paper refolded itself and unfolded again to show a different note. This one said:
Out in the Entrance Hall there are four candelabras. Go up to the furthest one and turn toward the door.
Rose obediently followed the rose's instructions, curiosity growing with each new note.
Now come to the courtyard and wait until the stroke of eight.
Rose wrinkled her nose at it. If she waited until eight o'clock, she would be out after hours, and even though the older students would still be out and about, she feared she'd stick out like a sore thumb.
Even so, Rose's curiosity got the better of her and she made her way to the courtyard. She looked at her watch: 7:57. She settled in a corner and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, telling herself not to worry. It wasn't as though anybody would be counting to make sure that the fourth years were all in their common rooms. Would they? Rose didn't know, but she nearly jumped out of her skin when the eight o'clock curfew bell rang in the castle.
Rose bit her lip, afraid that someone would come out to tell her off, or to take points from Gryffindor, and feared the worst when a figure did detach from the shadows and approach her.
Her fear turned to anger when a familiar head of blonde hair caught the moonlight, and Scorpius Malfoy's face came into view.
Rose put on her most intimidating scowl and crossed her arms.
YOU ARE READING
Falling Out
FanfictionA week before the Hallowe'en Ball, Rose Weasley refuses to speak to Scorpius Malfoy, no matter how much she would like to go to the ball with him.
