Scorrose

three

It was during the last class of the week that the door to Transfiguration flew open and a flash of black robes and white-blond hair stumbled in breathlessly. Everybody's head swiveled at the interruption.

The professor paused in his lesson and sighed in exasperation. "Late again, Malfoy?"

The class snickered and Scorpius shot the professor an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Professor Titus. I was... er..."

"Find a seat, boy," Professor Titus urged, waving his hands impatiently. "We are already mid-way through class."

Scorpius started towards Albus but paused, finding no seat available. Albus gave him an apologetic look from across the room and shrugged. "Any day now, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Titus said.

"Sorry, sir. Er, but I don't see any open seats."

"There is one right next to Miss Granger-Weasley."

Scorpius glanced at Rose and his shoulders slumped slightly, as if he'd already known his options and was not at all thrilled by them. "Any others?" The class laughed and Rose felt her face redden in humiliation. "Not that— not that there's anything wrong with her," he said quickly, eyes widening. "But I know she prefers to sit alone and I would rather not—"

"Mr. Malfoy."

Scorpius flinched and nodded. "Yes. Sir."

Rose didn't acknowledge him as he sat down beside her, and other than a timid sideways glance, he ignored her as well for the rest of the lecture. Rose had been avoiding him since the awful night he'd kissed her and even more so since she'd realized he'd not been lying when he'd claimed that Polly Chapman had asked him to the Yule Ball, and other than a few polite pleasantries he had not tried to strike up conversation with her either.

Once Professor Titus had finished explaining the instructions for the day's lesson, he dedicated the last twenty minutes of class to transfiguring a golden chalice into a goldfish. Transfiguration had always posed the greatest challenge for her because it required a higher understanding of magic than her other subjects and intensive focus; a level of focus she could not quite achieve when Scorpius was not-so-subtly looking over at her every few seconds.

"What?" she said finally, when her chalice had, for the third time, grown furry legs and attempted to run away. Scorpius caught it right before it could throw itself off the table.

"I'm sorry," he said, not missing a beat. He handed her the chalice, which she accepted without a word. "For... er, for that night." He scratched his ear, pausing to give her a chance to respond. She didn't. "And for sitting here," he continued. "But you know as well as I that there were no other seats available."

"Perhaps if you were to get here on time," she replied drily, flicking her wand and muttering a spell. The little goblet swayed for a moment and she held her breath, hoping, but the legs only morphed into thin flippers. Close, but not quite.

She sighed, turning it back to normal.

"I have obligations."

"This is the second time you've been late this week."

She noticed his lips quirk up. "You've been keeping track?"

"No." She glared at him for an instant before turning away. "But it is hard to miss when you are disrupting class by showing up late."

"Like I said, obligations."

"Do these obligations include Polly Chapman?" She asked, immediately wishing she could take it back. He raised his eyebrows at the bitterness in her tone.

"And what if it does?" He said slowly, watching her carefully.

"It's none of my business," she said. "Spare me the details."

He finally dropped his gaze and muttered, "You brought it up."

She shouldn't have fallen for the bait, but before she could help herself she said, "Believe it or not, Scorpius, but I have better things to do than hear about the girls you're snogging between classes." Rose wrinkled her nose. "Disgusting behavior."

He nodded. "It is, isn't it?" He said, not seeming the least bit ashamed. She noticed him smile slightly out of the corner of her eye. "Would it be less disgusting if I were snogging you instead?"

Rose shot him a deadly glare, gritting her teeth in annoyance. "I would never—"

Scorpius' expression cut her off. She knew how he would respond if she were to deny it— you already have. Although she hadn't, not really; she'd pulled away almost immediately. She felt the memory of his lips on hers all over again and her face flamed in embarrassment and anger. She waited for him to use the silence to bring it up, but he just turned to his own chalice, muttering a spell and flicking his wand.

It turned into a goldfish on the first try.