Scorrose

eight

The Great Hall looked so unlike itself that Rose held her breath as she entered, eyes wide as she took in the blue walls and the frost-dusted Christmas trees. Silver candles with blue-green flames floated along the high ceiling. The tables had vanished in lieu of a stage with live music and a dance floor, crowded with bodies Rose didn't recognize. Her classmates had all cleaned up very nicely— some looked so different she did a double take.

"Wow," Siobhan breathed in awe, voicing Rose's amazement.

Rose glanced around the room at the other students; some were dancing, and some groups were congregated around in random areas, talking and laughing. Now that she was here, she didn't quite know what to do with herself. She steered away from the dance floor, suddenly anxious to head straight in that direction.

"Should we take a look over there first?" She asked, pointing to the long table of refreshments.

Siobhan nodded. Rose poured herself a drink, while Siobhan sampled the many dessert items. Over her cup, she scanned the crowd, not knowing what she was searching for until she spotted it— a flash of white-blond hair. She quickly turned away.

"Shall we go dance now?" Siobhan suggested, still chewing on food. Rose nodded, somewhat hesitantly.

They headed to the dance floor. Rose didn't usually like dancing, but the lights were low, and the room was loud, and Siobhan was already starting to yell and jump around with the rest of the crowd. "C'mon, Rose," Siobhan said loudly, grinning. "Loosen up! Close your eyes."

"I am loosened up," she said, but closed her eyes anyway. She could still see the pulsating lights past her eyelids, but gradually her body began to move with more ease. Three songs in and the two of them had started to spin each other around, laughing, when the song went from dance music to waltz. Siobhan groaned.

"Must they really play the waltz in the middle of the dance? We don't have partners."

"We can still dance," Rose said. "They did teach us this dance in class."

"I've only learned the girl part," Siobhan said glumly.

"Oh. Me too."

She sighed, and the two of them headed to a round table littered with empty cups and heels. "My feet are tired, anyway," Rose said. "I need a break."

She sat down and began taking off her shoe when she noticed someone approach. Her heart sped and she looked up, strangely disappointed to see it was just a Hufflepuff boy from one of her classes.

"Hi," he said to Siobhan.

She looked flustered. "Oh— hello."

"I saw you standing here, and, erm, wondered if you wanted to...?" He gestured to the floor where all the couples were waltzing, and though it was hard to tell in this lighting, Rose could tell he was blushing.

Siobhan looked over at Rose questioningly. She waved her approval with a flick of her hands and a small smile. Grinning, Siobhan took the boy's outstretched hand and said, "I'd love to join you. I'll be right back, Rose."

"Take your time," Rose said.

She continued to take off her shoes, sighing in relief when her feet were free from the restraints. It didn't truly occur to her until she sat up that she was completely alone now. No date. No friend.

And, as she'd been doing so often all evening, she mindlessly scanned the crowd. She saw Albus and his date Shannon waltzing, the girl clearly doing most of the leading, and then— though she wanted to push them out sight, out of mind— Scorpius and Polly.

They made a good pair, she thought for what might have been the umpteenth time that night. Polly stepped on his foot, but he just laughed it off and kept dancing. The sight made her sick.

Stop this, she thought. You've got to stop thinking this way.

Albus was right, after all. Scorpius had asked her, much more frequently than necessary. And she had rejected him, every time. How many times did she have to remind herself this?

Out of impulse, she quickly put her heels back on, stood up, and approached the first boy she saw standing alone. He was somebody she had seen around the castle, although she didn't think they had never met. "Hello," she said brightly, smiling widely.

He seemed taken aback at her eagerness.

"I'm Rose," she said, plowing on through the awkwardness. "Would you like to dance?"

She had asked purely because she felt restless, because she felt like if there was any a time to take a chance, this was it—but when the boy agreed, suddenly she felt lost. What now? She'd never actually danced with a boy before.

Refusing to let her nervousness show, she walked ahead of him and let him put his hands on her waist, falling in step with the other dancers on the floor. She was surprised to find herself actually having fun as the dance went on, laughing despite herself when he lifted her into the air during one part of the song.

"Not bad," she said.

"Thanks." He grinned. He wasn't bad looking, she thought. Curly-ish brown hair and big eyes, though she couldn't make out the color in this light. Maybe steely grey or black. "And, sorry, I know I must have seen you around before, but I didn't quite get your name?"

"Rose," she said. "I'm fifth year."

"I'm Oliver," he said. "Seventh year."

The song stopped much too quickly, though Rose remembered they had only just joined halfway through. For a moment, the entire room went still but for the flutter of a few dresses. When the dance music started up again and couples began to make room for the rest of the crowd who'd chosen to sit out the waltz, Rose held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Oliver."

He shook it, smiling. "Likewise," he said playfully, still holding her hand after they'd stopped shaking. He hesitated, then said "Can I escort you to the punch table?"

She felt something inside her flutter. She'd assumed their brief meeting would end with the dance, so she found herself blinking at him, unsure but oddly flattered. "Um, yeah." And then, reciprocating his playfulness, said, "I'd be absolutely delighted."

She looked up as they walked away, eyes flitting around until she saw him again standing near a table with Polly, who sat rubbing at the heel of her foot. For the first time that night, Scorpius was looking at her. Their eyes met, his expression pulled into a frown. She realized then that Oliver still hadn't let go of her hand, and she hadn't made any move to either, but at Scorpius' gaze she almost did. Almost.

Scorpius mouthed something.

She squinted. What?

He mouthed it again. Something that looked like, him? Really?

She shrugged, then shifted her eyes momentarily to Polly and back to Scorpius.

Her?

She looked away before Scorpius had a chance to mouth anything else, feeling weirdly pleased as she let Oliver lead them to the punch table.

A/N: Sorry this update took so long! Finals and the holidays were all so busy, but now that I'm on break, the next few updates shouldn't take so terribly long.

I'm really just writing this story for fun but if  you have any constructive criticism or notice any redundancies, inconsistencies, awkward phrashing, etc., please let me know! I'd be happy to take them into account.

Please vote/comment if you enjoyed, and I hope you all have a happy holiday! (: