Scorrose

seventeen

Rose sat in the Gryffindor commons, her knee moving up and down restlessly. She kept glancing at the time on the clock up by the mantle of the fireplace, but what felt like ten excruciating minutes would only be one.

The closer it got to seven, the more nervous she began to feel.

It's just Scorpius, she told herself. It's just Scorpius.

She almost jumped out of her seat when the door opened, but when she turned, she saw it was just Siobhan returning from dinner.

Siobhan waved excitedly and walked over. "Hi," she said. "You look nice."

Rose touched her face self-consciously. She had worn a bit of make-up for this, and hoped it wasn't too obvious. She didn't want to look too different.

"I'm waiting for somebody."

"Who?" Siobhan cocked her head. "That guy from the ball?"

"Yeah."

"The curly-haired one?"

"What?" Rose blinked, almost having forgotten that she'd spent some time with Oliver. "Oh – no, I'm waiting for, uh, Scorpius."

Siobhan raised her eyebrows so high Rose suspected they might fly off her face. "Scorpius?" She repeated. She looked shocked for a moment, before breaking into a mischievous smile. "I knew you liked him."

Rose rolled her eyes, trying to look nonchalant even though she could feel herself blushing from the comment. She couldn't even bring herself to deny it at this point – why would it even matter? Who was she kidding, anyway?

"And what about your guy?" She said, wanting to take the attention off of herself.

"Jamal's nice." She smiled. "We're going to Hogsmeade together next weekend."

"That's amazing!" Rose said. "A real date."

"I know." She paused, then moved to sit in the seat across from her, scooting it close – quite ungracefully – towards Rose and grabbing her hands. Rose almost jumped at the intensity of her actions.

"Are you—"

"I just want to thank you," Siobhan cut off, giving her hands a squeeze. "For inviting me to the ball, even though we only spoke once. You had no reason to. We weren't friends. To be honest, I thought I annoyed you. But I feel like we're friends now, and I'm really happy that I met Jamal, and dances aren't always fairytales for most people but for me it feels like my life's turned into one, and I'm really happy you invited me."

She spoke like she couldn't get the words out fast enough. She took a breath, possibly to speak more, but Rose raised her hand to stop her before she could.

"It's not a problem," she said. "At all. Thank you for coming with me. You were the best date I could've asked for, seriously."

She beamed, then threw herself onto Rose for a hug, taking her aback. "Sorry," she said, untangling herself. "I'm just buzzing."

Rose laughed. "It's okay."

As Siobhan pushed her chair back to its spot, there was a knock at the entrance. Rose perked up, turning to it, then glancing at the time. About five minutes past seven. That had to be him – only somebody who didn't know the password would knock.

"Is that him?" Siobhan asked, echoing her thoughts.

"Think so." Rose glanced down at herself, her heart fluttering.

"You look beautiful," Siobhan said. "You always do."

Rose gave her a grateful smile, although her words didn't ease her sudden wave of anxiety. "Thanks."