Scorrose

two - edit

On her way to breakfast the next morning, she noticed Albus standing by the door to the Great Hall. He caught her eye, then fell into step with her as she entered the room. They were met with a hum of lazy, morning chatter.

"I don't know what happened," Albus said, "But Scorpius wanted me to tell you he's sorry."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I don't need to hear this from you."

"He thought you'd be too angry to listen to him."

"Well, he's right," she muttered.

She noticed Albus turn to look at her. "Care to tell me what happened?"

"No, I don't," Rose said simply. "He did something stupid. I don't want to talk about it, and I don't want to talk to him."

She sat at the Gryffindor table while Albus hovered behind her. "I know he can be stupid," Albus said, "but he means well. The bloke's been in love with you since first year—give him a break."

Rose slapped a textbook onto the table in front of her. "I don't care if he openly flirts with me sometimes, Albus, but he crossed boundaries. If he wants a response from me so desperately, you can tell him that I do not plan on forgiving him anytime soon." She gestured to her book, opening it to her bookmarked page. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an assignment to attend to."

She began to read, waiting for him to walk away. When he did, she sighed in relief.

She grabbed a blueberry muffin from the basket in front of her and chewed on it as she read, until high pitched voices from just across the table tampered with her focus. She glanced up at three girls who had just sat down, discussing the ball, gushing over their dates and their dresses. Trying to ignore them, she looked back down, frowning.

"Who will you be going with?"

Rose snapped her head up from her books to find a third year Gryffindor girl staring at her from across the table a few seats away from the girls. Though she couldn't remember her name, she had seen this girl before – she remembered her from a week or so ago, when she had approached Rose in the Gryffindor common room to ask for tips on dealing with a strict professor.

"What?"

"Sorry," the girl said quickly. "The Yule Ball. I was just wondering who you're going with."

Rose trained her eyes carefully on the third year. "Why would you assume I'm going with anybody?"

At Rose's intense gaze, the girl visibly paled, seeming to regret having struck up a conversation. "I knew you were a fifth year, and I-I just thought... because you're pretty, and... I thought a boy would have asked you by now."

Rose lowered her head back to her book, feigning indifference on the subject matter. "Well, yes. But I've... I've refused."

As much as she tried not to think about Scorpius and what had occurred with him the previous evening, she found her eyes gliding up across the Great Hall towards the Slytherin table, where Scorpius sat conversing with Albus, passing a roll of bread back and forth in his hands. Right as he took a bite, Albus said something that made him laugh, causing his hand to fly to his mouth as he nearly choked.

Rose stifled a smile, annoyed at herself for feeling amused by him, and looked away before he had a chance to notice her watching.

"Oooh," the third year spoke up, startling Rose. "Are you waiting on him? Scorpius?"

Rose frowned. "No, of course not." She paused. "And how do you know his name?"

"He's on Slytherin's Quidditch team," she said, as if Rose had just asked a stupid question. "Everybody knows him. Just like how we know you as the seeker for Gryffindor." She shrugged. "You were staring at him for a long time."

"Rubbish."

"He's very cute, isn't he?" the girl sighed, dreamily placing her elbow on the table and resting her cheek on her hand. "I wonder who he's asked." Her eyes brightened. "Suppose he asked me? Oh, I'd be ecstatic. I'm too young to go on my own."

"I really must be finishing my assignment," Rose said in annoyance, shutting her book. "It was lovely talking to you, but I should get going now."

Before she had the chance to get her things together, she noticed Polly Chapman approaching Scorpius. Rose froze. Polly placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled widely, showing off her perfect white teeth.

"What is she doing there?" Rose muttered.

The third year followed her gaze and sucked in a quick breath. "Polly Chapman," she breathed. "She is so beautiful."

Rose wanted to roll her eyes, but it was true— Polly had always been the prettiest girl in their year, perhaps even the prettiest girl in all of Hogwarts. She didn't understand why such a sensible, attractive girl would ever flirt with somebody like Scorpius, although recently she had noticed the uncanny amount of attention— especially female attention— Scorpius had been receiving since he'd become the new Slytherin seeker at the beginning of the year.

Before then, she hadn't even realized he knew how to play Quidditch— in fact, up until last year, she had been almost certain that both he and Albus hated the sport. The first time her team had played against his and he won them the game, she couldn't look at him for a week. She'd been playing so much longer than him— she couldn't believe he had the nerve to show her up like that.

Even worse, he didn't gloat about it. In fact, he seemed almost guilty, which angered her more.

She refused to stand for his pity.

She had trained thrice as hard to beat him after that loss. There was a game coming up after the Yule ball and she was determined to make sure he didn't win. Slytherin would never humiliate her house like that again.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Scorpius' gaze landed directly on hers from across the room. She hadn't meant to stare in his direction for so long, but now that their eyes had locked, she refused to be intimidated into looking away. Polly still sat beside him, that charming, flirtatious smile lingering on her face. Scorpius broke the staring contest for just a second to focus on Polly before looking back and raising an eyebrow at Rose.

She wasn't sure what that expression meant, but when his eyes subtly gestured to Polly, it slowly sunk in. She jumped when the third year gasped dramatically. "Do you think she's asked him? Polly Chapman, going to the Yule ball with Scorpius Malfoy?"

Even though Scorpius had said so himself that Polly had asked him, Rose found the thought hysterical. "No," she said. "There's no way. He would never..." she shook her head. "She would never..."

She trailed off, watching as Scorpius returned his full attention back to Polly and smiled. There was a moment of hesitation, and then a nod.

He said something that made Polly grin and kiss his cheek before she returned to her friends. Albus, who had watched the whole thing happen, looked just as shocked as Rose felt, although he overcame it quickly and raised his hand for a high five from his best friend. Scorpius enthusiastically obliged, laughing, confirming all of Rose's suspicions about what had just happened.

For the shortest of seconds, her heart clenched.

Silly, she thought. This is ridiculous. I'm going mad.

Scorpius' enthusiasm at being asked out by Polly should not have affected her the way it did. She grabbed her book bag and, slinging it over her shoulder, stood up with her textbook in hand.

"Where are you going?" The third year asked.

"I told you," Rose said, her words coming out harsher than she'd meant. Taking a deep breath, she softened her tone. "I have to study. I'll be in the library."

As she began to walk away from the Hall, she glanced up at Polly Chapman and her clique of friends loitering near the doors. Though she had never had any opinion of the girl before, the sight of her now made her scowl.