A Rose in a Million • Rose Weasley

Chapter 17

A/n: Hi guys! I'm so so sorry for the lack of updates. School started recently (if you can say that two months ago is recent) and so far sophomore year has been kicking my butt. The schoolwork has been insane and I've been trying to keep up. On top of that I've had major writers block to the point that even when I had free time, I didn't feel inspired enough to write anything. Anyways, hopefully I will be able to update more in the coming days, but for now enjoy this chapter. Happy reading! :)

Before I say anything else, I should just add that this wasn't my idea. At all.

It hadn't been my idea to use the last Hogsmeade trip we had before Christmas break to go dress shopping. It also hadn't been my idea to invite Nicoletta to come with us.

See, if it had been up to me I would have chosen not to invite Nicoletta to begin with. I mean okay, so I was trying to be nicer to her, but I wasn't exactly feeling good vibes when it came to her.

But of course, Nicoletta was tagging along and strangely enough, Emma had been the one to invite her.

I had expected Alice to invite her just because Alice is kind to everyone and that's something she would undoubtedly do, but I hadn't expected it to be Emma. Emma had a particular hatred for all shallow girls, which Nicoletta definitely was, no matter how many times Scorpius tried to convince me otherwise. However, Emma and Nicoletta really seemed to hit it off.

I kind of went along with it, mostly because I did need to go dress shopping and I didn't want to be outright rude. Although, I did sneak a couple of glares at Emma when I made sure that Nicoletta was looking elsewhere.

Finally, we arrived at Hogsmeade. Scorpius and Albus had already split from the group and had gone to the Three Broomsticks, preferring to go drink butter beers than spend time waiting for a bunch of girls to do their shopping. I was glad that they had left, mostly because it meant I could relax now that Scorpius was gone.

Ever since, I had seen Scorpius and Nicoletta kiss, I had been on edge. I avoided them like the plague, fearful that I would be forced to watch another round of PDA and have to pretend to be happy for them. I was happy for them. Really.

I just needed time to convince my heart of it.

Even worse was the fact that for the first time, I felt awkward around Scorpius, unsure of where we stood. And it was a feeling that I didn't really know how to deal with.

We headed to the only store in Hogsmeade that sold special occasion dresses. I sighed as I pushed open the door, and glanced back at the street, knowing that I would likely not leave this store until later that day.

As I saw the front rack of clothes, I grimaced. This wasn't exactly what I would call a trendy store. The clothes displayed were clearly dated, looking like they came more from my mum's era than mine.

"Yeesh, you'd think that they're purposely trying to repel people from this store." Emma, remarked as she too noticed the clothes.

"Emma!" Alice chided, astonished at Emma's rudeness.

I shrugged, and grinned. "You never know, maybe that is their objective."

Nicoletta rolled her eyes. "Hey don't knock it, till you've tried it. This place is a hidden gem."

I wrinkled my nose, in slight repulsion. "The clothes here are ancient."