Scorrose

nine

Rose knew Oliver looked familiar, and when he finally mentioned that he was a beater on the Ravenclaw team, it came back to her. She had definitely seen him on the field before— she might've even played against him at some point.

"I'm Gryffindor's seeker," she said.

"Ah, I knew I'd seen that fiery red hair somewhere." She touched her hair at the mention of it, almost self-consciously. "Gryffindor's pretty good, huh?" He said, throwing out his now empty punch cup into the trash. "Aren't you playing Slytherin next week?" She nodded. "Think you'll win?"

"We have to."

"That blond kid's quite the competition," Oliver said.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Are you saying he's a better seeker than I am?"

He laughed. "No, no I'm not. I've seen you play. You're good."

"Well, I can't comment for sure on how well you play," Rose admitted. She hardly paid attention to the beaters during a game. "But I'm sure you're not too shabby yourself."

"Nice save."

"Thanks."

The two loitered near the punch table, finished with their drinks and yet hesitant to go out onto the dance floor together. Rose wished Siobhan would return from wherever that boy had taken her, so that they could all be together and the potential for things to go awkward would be minimal. She felt sort of jittery, alone with this guy.

Was this what a first date was supposed to feel like? She wouldn't know, she'd never gone on one.

As she pondered whether to continue standing around the table or ask him to join her on the dance floor again, familiar voices caught her ear.

She looked around and sighed in relief. "Albus!" She said, waving.

He smiled and waved back, coming over. "Hey, Rose." Scorpius followed right behind, although she made a point to avoid looking in his direction immediately.

"Where's Shannon?" She asked.

"She and Polly have gone to fix their hair," Albus said.

"This is Oliver," Rose said. "Oliver this is my cousin, Albus. And his best friend, Scorpius."

She felt sort of cruel, referring to Scorpius as Albus' friend and not her own. Oliver shook hands with the both of them, smiling pleasantly.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

Scorpius' smile seemed forced. "Pleasure." He paused. "You're on the Quidditch team, aren't you?"

"Ravenclaw," Oliver affirmed.

"Right. I've heard about you." It didn't sound like a compliment.

Rose cleared her throat. "He's a beater," she said, purely to fill the silence.

Scorpius looked at her then, cocking an eyebrow. He seemed less than amused, which ignited a tiny spark of anger in her. He had no right to judge who she danced with, not after being glued to Polly's side all night.

She looked away from him, making a conscious decision to brush something off Oliver's shoulder, though she knew the two of them weren't nearly close enough for her to be making any kind of move like this. From her periphery, she noticed Scorpius look up at the ceiling, almost like he was rolling his eyes.

Oliver began small talk with the boys, continuing on the topic of Quidditch as that seemed to be their only common factor. Rose tuned out, trying to find Siobhan in the crowd. She needed her moral support. What was even happening right now?