Malfoy and Potter [Harry Potter](Scorily Fanfiction)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Rose could tell that they couldn't get along. Lily and Alex had something that they would always fight over. She didn't know what it was. It was something none of them talked about. Rose could see Lily push it down inside of her and Alex subtly trying to bring it out more. She wanted them to be okay with each other, at least. She wasn't asking them to love each other or even like each other, but just be acquaintances with each other— to not argue or hate each other.  

Rose recognized that she could have been more mature in handling their distaste for each other many years ago, but the fear of losing the closest friend she had outside of family pushed any thought of standing up to Alex completely went away. 

The anger between them was something she knew she could never fix. She hated thinking it was her fault. She never wanted to make two people hate each other, but it was too late to fix the mutual distaste for one another. It was an anger that formed years ago and bloomed into a dark flower of hate. Rose thought of ways to fix the relationship between them. She didn't want to have to choose between her cousin whom she loved dearly and a friend who was like a sister. 

Rose didn't question Alex's intentions. The feeling she got from Alex was enough proof that she was not a bad person. She never got a bad vibe from her in the past, and she didn't get one now. Surely she would get the feeling that Alex was up to something evil or involved with dark forces if it was true. Her mother taught her so much that she could tell, didn't she? Her mother was, of course, incredibly intelligent and knew so much about the world and the books in the library, so why should Rose's intuition be any different?

She watched from the sidelines as the tensions grew in the hallways as they walked to breakfast in the morning. She felt like a mediator that shouldn't have to be there. Why has so much happened in the first year of being there? Not everyone's first year at Hogwarts was so exciting or so challenging, was it? Or was it just something else in her genes considering her parents' past? Whatever it was, Rose wished it would stop. She just wanted to go to school and experience a normal seven years at Hogwarts. 

She looked at Alex and saw someone she's trusted and loved for years. Alex was someone she could talk to about her family life when it got too stressful. They knew a lot about each other's pasts and family lives. Rose had no reason not to trust Alex.

When she looked at Lily, she saw someone who would always be there for her. Lily was family and someone who knows, in detail, the ins and outs of their family. She shares the same drama and same problems within the family. 

She could feel the question she dreaded coming: Who will she choose? Her family or her friend?