Amortentia (a Scorose Fanfiction)

Chapter Thirteen

       Rose was waiting for Scorpius outside their last class the next day.  She had to find amusement in the changing of roles.  She had been first out the room this time, making sure she would catch him before he left. 

       She had told Albus that she wanted to exchange notes with Emile and, knowing how studious Rose was, he believed her without question. 

       Scorpius noticed her the moment he stepped out of the room.  He cast a glance around them, most likely wondering if she was waiting for him.  He had been the last to leave the classroom, luckily for Rose, so no-one else was outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

       "Hey," he greeted, coming to stop in front of her. 

       "Hi," she replied.  Now that she was here, Rose didn't know what to do.  Losing her head was something that seemed to happen a lot when Scorpius was around. 

       She had rehearsed this conversation for the past twelve hours, running it through her mind in and between classes.  She had perfected a script — one that flew out of her mind the second he noticed her. 

       Her mouth was now a blank sheet of parchment; her mind a quill with no ink. 

       "Are you waiting for me?" Scorpius asked unsurely when she failed to speak.  His light eyebrows were knitted together in a frown, his mouth turned down at the corners.  His blonde hair was dishevelled and his pale hands were shoved in the pockets of his trousers.  His DADA books were tucked between his arm and side. 

       He wasn't wearing his robes and instead had opted for a black sleeveless v-neck jumper, the bottom of his white shirt untucked and hanging below the hem of it. 

       "Um, yes," Rose confirmed, pulling her gaze away from his attire.  "I wanted to talk."

       He raised his eyebrows.  "Okay? What do you want to talk about?"

       "Well, that's just it." She laughed shakily, nervously.  She knew how choppy this was.  She hated it.  "I think we should just talk... get to know each other more."

       Scorpius smiled.  "Yeah, I agree. Friends are supposed to know about each other, right?"

       Her stomach clenched.  Friends.  That reminded her of the other thing she needed to talk to him about.

       "Right," she said instead.  She didn't want to bring that up now.

       "So what do you want to do?" He asked. 

       Great, she thought.  So much for that.

       Rose bit her lip.  Her stomach was churning with nerves.  She was on the fence about telling him she wanted to keep their friendship a secret.  Part of her was so worried about what everyone would say — about what her family would say.  And she knew what it would be — Lily had cleared that up for her at dinner the night before. 

       The other half of Rose knew how strained it would make her new friendship with Scorpius.  Was a secret any foundation to build a friendship on?  She knew it wasn't.  They already clashed over so many things and creating another obstacle was only going to make things worse.

       In the end, Rose chickened out.  "I don't know... should we walk down to the Black Lake?"

       Scorpius agreed and they headed on their way.  They walked in silence through the castle.  Rose fiddled with her textbooks when they passed through a particular busy corridor.  They weren't walking close enough that the other students paid them attention, and Scorpius continued to walk inconspicuously with his hands in his pockets, his gaze ahead of him.