Red and Yellow (Scorose)

The Hogwarts Express

The train was loud. Loud with the students talking and squealing, loud with the clicking of the wheels and the slamming of doors. Rose Weasley could barely squeeze through the middle isle with her overstuffed trunk and the basket harboring a pinch-faced cat. It was so cramped that efforts to search for a room were futile; there wasn't a single compartment that wasn't full.

When she finally reached the back of the train, she quickly averted her eyes from Teddy and Victorie who were completely unaware that there was anyone outside their carriage and she hurried past until there was no where else to go. Looking around hopelessly, she saw that there was an empty cubicle on the left which she hadn't noticed before, tucked away from all the hustle and bustle of the main train cars. Hurrying in, she started stuffing her things into the overhead compartment until she was abruptly halted by and unexpected noise coming from the corner. Whirling around, she saw a boy sitting quietly in the corner and she could barely hold in her surprise.

Severe cheek bones and a distinctly sallow face were his defining features, along with the palest blonde hair and skin she had ever seen. He gave the impression of a washed-out orphan, someone who looked as if they hadn't had a proper meal in months. Her grandmother would not have tolerated this.

"Sorry!" she stammered, "I didn't see you there! Would you mind if I stayed, all the other compartments are full and-" he stopped we rambling speech with a simple, "It's quiet all right," and went back to the book he was reading. "I'm Rose" she said and, after no reply, tentatively started putting her things up in a less desperate measure, extracting a book for the journey and making sure Tonks, the cat, was comfortable. Settling down in her seat, she looked around the compartment, pretending to be interested in the trees flying by the window, but actually examining the boy next to it.

Her second gaze gave her a better impression than the first: soft gray eyes, a fuller face, and more shaggy hair gave her a feeling of more admiration than pity. He was attractive, annoyingly so and, being a proud girl, she was immediately annoyed that she even had that notion. She quickly designated all his flaws, making her feel less vulnerable. He couldn't have been coordinated with that awkward, lanky frame and he was far to skinny for a boy of his age.

In contemplating this, she had forgotten that her stare was directly aimed at him, something that made him extremely smug, but also uncomfortable in away he didn't understand. "Would you like something?" he asked, a bit too harshly for his own liking. From the surprised, flustered look on the girls' face, he internally cursed himself for being so rude. Although she was mortified, she composed herself rather quickly. "It's just... uh... Your book!" she remarked, taking notice of it for the first time, "I have read a lot of books, but I don't believe I have ever seen that title before."

This was a truthful statement, as she had taken her mothers likeness in reading and studies and always had a book with her, feeling naked without one. "Oh!" he said, falling for the make-shift excuse. "That's because it's a Muggle book." Rose was so surprised that her mouth almost fell open, but, being a mature young lady, she managed to keep it to herself. "How did you get one?!" she stuttered, "Why would you want to read a muggle book?!"

"As to your first question," he replied, more delicately, "They have stores everywhere to buy them in the Muggle World, just like here. To answer your second... Muggle's have some of the silliest representations of wizards and werewolves and all types of magic! I think they're quiet entertaining to read." Rose was immediately interested and, loosing all signs of timidness and insecurity behind, went right up to the strange boy and started bombarding him with questions and begging him for stories that the ignorant Muggle's had crafted.

The boy, although alarmed by her abrupt change of moods, happily obliged and, gaining back his usual swagger, they were soon talking like old friends. "What did you say they think the vampires do?" Rose begged him to repeat the main punch line of the day. "Sp-Sparkle!" he cried between laughs. Soon they were both howling about the glittery vampires and how Pixies would, supposedly, cause people to fly.

The ride was far more pleasurable after that. There was much laughter and giggling and slapping, all thoughts of homesickness forgotten and the fear of getting sorted was pushed from the young minds for a while as they wondered how a world could survive without magic and how such silly things could be true. Rose was more herself than she ever new, her light brown hair showing its reddish hue in the sun, her bright smile outshining all the light that star forced upon them.

There conversations and quarrels were a thing to behold. Rose was as stubborn as her father and bent on being right like her Mom. The boy, on the other hand, used his arrogance in his favor, reveling at every opportunity to make her seem inferior and making her scoff and eye rolls a regular occurrence.

In a way, she fascinated him. Well informed on all sides if the arguments she took up, she spoke so freely and determinedly about them, it was impossible to not feel her passion through the words. More than once, she caught him looking at her with a mystified expression. Each time, she would mimic his face and ask him, "What?!" and each time she was answered with an innocent, "Nothing." After a suspicious look she would continue on with her usual vehemency during which he would sneak another admiring look and then go on normally.

The train went on, through mountains and forests, past deserts and prairies until, finally, the whistle was heard and Prefects started coming from cabin to cabin, warning the kids that Hogwarts would soon be imminent and robes should start being put on.

Having not been disturbed the whole ride, they just about jumped out the window when a Ravenclaw Prefect knocked on the door. Rose launched herself into the vacant seat across the room just as the the Prefect entered, her blushing and shortness of breath making the tall, Indian girl suspicious. "You guys should probably get your robes on," she drawled, "We'll be there soon." With that, she left them in an awkward silence and the barrier between them was back up.

Rose simply pulled on her robes over her sweater and black pants, not wanting to re-enter the fray and NOT stripping in front of some stranger. after pulling her wavy brown hair from inside the robe, she turned around and almost shrieked in surprise. Her compartment mate had not exercised the same restraint. Standing with his shirt in his seat, he proceeded to rummage through his trunk, looking for his Hogwarts garb. Although Rose had previously believed he was lean on account of malnutrition, she saw that he was made, almost completely, of lean muscle. He might not have been ripped, but you could tell wasn't just skinny. "Problem?" he asked as he turned around, smiling cockily. "What are you doing!" she cried, ashamed of her own wandering mind and taking up a defensive air, although her face gave her away. "What?" he retorted, "If you're uncomfortable, turn around!" And that's exactly what she did until he gave her the all clear signal and she continued to huffily ready things for departure, mixing glares at him (returned with overconfident smirks) in between stuffing cloths back into her trunk and flaming her disgruntled feline, who had been reluctantly woken from her nap.

Almost too soon, the train reached a complete stop and the doors began to overflow with people trying to escape into the crisp night air. Although she hated to admit it, Rose had enjoyed the ride, no matter how arrogant that boy had been during most of it. Thinking of this, she realized that, although she had mentioned her name, he had never said his, so, just before he slipped out the door, she caught his arm and spun him around. (With a surprising amount of strength on her part, though he wouldn't tell her so). "I never got your name. What was it?"

"It doesn't matter," was his reply and he slipped out the door before Rose could protest. She looked out the compartment door after him and saw that he had disappeared into the crowd, much to her dismay. She cursed herself for being so slow and gathered her things to exit the train and find one of her cousins, Albus, James, or Teddy. But she couldn't stop wondering why that boy wouldn't tell her his stupid name.

What she didn't know was that Scorpius Malfoy wanted her to think of him as that boy on the train. He wanted her not to judge him by his father. Not to judge him on the stupid House prejudice. He knew that Rose was a child of the Golden Trio. That her mother was a mudblood and that she would be a Gryffindor. So he lessened his pain and lessened hers and decided to carry on as if nothing had ever happened. but it had, and he knew it.