Scorrose

four

Approachable.

Rose was approachable, wasn't she?

She sat curled up near the fireplace in the common room, deep in thought. She had always assumed so, but now she was having doubts. Ever since she'd seen Polly Chapman ask Scorpius to the ball, she had become unusually aware of other ball proposals throughout Hogwarts.

Not a single one for her.

Was Scorpius really the only one willing to put up with her?

~

"It's because you're unapproachable," Albus had told her flatly. "People are afraid to come near you."

They hadn't quite been on the topic of the ball— she had kindly asked him to be his partner for a research assignment for Professor Binns, their first class of the day, and he had rejected her in favor of a Slytherin boy named Bernie, who he'd already promised to partner with. And Scorpius— well, Polly had claimed him the moment the words "partner" left Binn's dull, ghostly lips. When she looked around, she found everybody else had partnered up as well; she was the only lone student.

She lamented over this fact as she followed Albus and Scorpius out the room, but his response had been less than kind. "That's what you get when you scare everybody off."

"That's not true," she argued. "I am extremely approachable! I've spent every year at Hogwarts being careful about the way people view me—"

"See, that's your problem," Albus cut off. "You're obsessed with how people view you. You try to show everybody up and wind up scaring away anyone who tries to befriend you because you're a control freak."

She stared at him in shock. Scorpius seemed keen to stay out of the conversation.

"I am not a control freak."

"I'm not exactly wrong, am I?" He asked. He nudged Scorpius in the side, as if asking for assistance.

Scorpius glanced at Rose and hesitated. "No," he said to Albus, finally. "You're not."

"Excuse me?"

Scorpius frowned, pausing again, perhaps unsure whether it would be wise to word his thoughts. "Well– yeah," he said. "During our first year, you refused to sit in the train compartment with me and Albus because you were afraid of what people would say if you were seen with a Malfoy. The son of a line of Death Eaters." He added the last part as if it were a bitter afterthought.

"That was not why," Rose said defensively. "Our parents, they hated each other—"

"So what?" Albus said. "His father was my dad's biggest enemy at school, but it hasn't stopped us from being best friends, has it? Just admit it."

Rose sputtered. She was being cornered two against one. How was this a fair argument? "Yes, well, we're all friends now, aren't we? So what if... if..."

"If you spent the first four years ignoring me out of sheer, blind repulsion?" Scorpius offered, when she trailed off.

Her face felt hot. She could hardly believe he had such an awful view of her.

As if all of this wasn't bad enough, Albus' next words only added salt onto the wound. "Not to mention, the only reason you started tolerating the pair of us was when we returned from time and our faces were all over the Daily Prophet, applauding us on our 'successful heroic pursuits' after we locked Delphi up. Up until then, you ignored Scorpius entirely— up until the rumors that he was Voldemort's kid finally stopped and everybody else started to be his friend. All you've ever done is follow the crowd! And—"

But this time, Scorpius stabbed his elbow into Albus' ribs to shut him up. Rose knew her eyes were glistening with tears, and quickly turned her head so they wouldn't see. How pathetic of her, to feel this way when she knew everything they'd said was true.

"If you think so negatively of me," she said, straightening her spine although her voice was quivering, "I suppose I'll leave you two alone."

"Hey," Scorpius said, his voice softer now and tinged with slight regret at having set Albus off. "I don't think—"

But Rose ducked into the nearest restroom before he could finish, just as the first teardrop fell onto her cheek.