Amortentia (a Scorose Fanfiction)

Chapter Twelve

        "You... you want to be friends?" Scorpius reiterated.  He was almost gaping at Rose.  She could see the disbelief in his eyes, and she couldn't find it in herself to blame him for it.  Why should he believe her?  She'd given him no reason over the past week to think she would want to befriend him. 

        It was out of the blue, Rose herself was painfully aware of that.  Although it had made sense in her head when she came to the realisation, she hadn't expected to want to be friends him... well, ever. 

        Rose nodded.  "Yes.  I think I do."

        Scorpius raised his fair-haired eyebrows.  "You think? How very reassuring, Rose."

        She shot him an unamused look.  "You know what I mean.  We've still got a lot of talking to do.  I still barely know you."

        He narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly.  "You never know, you might grow to hate me." He tilted his head.  "Again."

        She shrugged.  "And I might turn out to be the most irritating girl you've ever met."

        "Too late for that — I figured that out the moment I met you."

        Rose glared at him.  "Watch it.  I can take my words back just like that."

        She could hardly believe this was happening.  Were they... joking with each other? That was something she'd never expected to do with Scorpius.  She supposed she had to get used to this — if he accepted her proposal, that is. 

        "So, what do you say?" She asked.  "Friends?"

        Scorpius regarded her with a scrutinising gaze.  "What made you change your mind?"

        Internally, she groaned.  Rose could barely make sense of it in her own head, nevermind out loud — and to him.  She couldn't pinpoint an exact moment where she'd looked at Scorpius and thought I want to be friends.  She was fairly certain that it had been a collection of actions over the past few days — in large part, seeing his interaction with Pipsey and the fact that, unlike her own family, he had cared enough to seek her out and make sure she ate. 

        It might have seemed a strange and simple thing to others, but to Rose it had meant so much — even if she hadn't voiced it out loud. 

        "I'm not sure, exactly," she said, thoughtfully, deciding that speaking the truth — no matter how confusing it happened to be — was better than trying to spin a story.  "I suppose that you've just proved me wrong, so far."

        "In what way?"

        "Well... you're not who I thought you were," she admitted, somewhat begrudgingly.  "I was wrong about you."

         "And who did you think I was?" Rose could see the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

        She felt her own smug smile curve her lips.  Her words were about to smack it right off him.  "An arrogant arse who insults other people to make himself feel better."

        Scorpius scowled at her.  "You expect me to be friends with you after that?"

        "You've said much worse to me."

        He simpered.  "Fair enough."  With another look at Rose — his stare filled with a curiosity that made her insides churn — Scorpius extended a hand across the table.  "Okay, Weasley. Friends it is."

        Rose placed her hand in his, feeling her stomach clench.  They shook hands over the table in the library — the place that Rose couldn't help but begin to think of as theirs.