Running Down Red

by flyinger123

Rose Weasley-Ravenclaw,smart, shy, needs to be prefect, quiet, elegant, sad. Scorpius Malfoy-Ravenclaw, smart, loud, golden boy, loved, thoughtful, sad. Dominique Weasley-Grffyndor,brave, misunderstood, judged, misfit, insecure, sad. 3 sad teenagers. 2 love stories. All at 1 school.

1. Unsteady

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Song for chapter-Unsteady by X Ambassadors.

Mother, I know

That you're tired of being alone

Dad, I know you're trying

To fight when you feel like flying

But if you love me then don't let go

Hold on to me, cause I'm a little unsteady

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It started with a whisper. Hushed voices that could barely be heard through the dark wooden floorboards. And then it grew louder. And louder. The voices got harder, harsher. Then it became shouting. Screaming. A boy runs into the room with his hands pressed against his ears. Tears are streaming down his face and his eyes are pinched up. He's little, maybe 7 years old. He hides under the bed and an older girl holds him in her arms and they fall asleep listening to rain pattering on the attic windows that help drown out the screams and shouting that comes from downstairs.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The first day of school always started the same. Rose woke up to yelling resonating from below her. There at least 3 different voices down there screaming about last minute dilemmas and lost summer homework. Rose's eyes fluttered open. If it weren't for all the screaming, her room would be very peaceful. Sunlight dribbled in from the sunroof and kissed her face and she could see out her windows into the deep misty forest that their cottage was conveniently place in. Rose loved looking out into the shadowy depths. She always wondered what went on underneath the trees where no sunlight hit the ground.

She started to smile a little.

"FUCKING WANKER".

The smile quickly faded from Rose's face. That was probably Hugo.

He probably stubbed his toe again, he's always doing that when he doesn't look where he's going.

"RON, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING? I TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE, THE RIGHT SHOE GOES ON THE RIGHT FOOT, DON'T BE FUCKING BLOODY STUPID." Hermione's annoyed voice screeched in Rose's ears. She rolled her eyes. Mum was always getting worked up about nothing. That's probably where Rose got it from.

"WELL HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? THE SHOES LOOK THE SAME. THEY'RE KNITTED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE."

Rose sighed into her pillow. It wasn't even 7 AM yet and already there was chaos. She just wished, for even a couple minutes, that her life could be steady. No bumps, no fights, no screaming matches lasting hours into the night. No stress. No worrying about how to be perfect. Rose sighed and rolled over into her pillow. She felt guilty for wanting for steadiness. She was unsteady herself.

BANG BANG BANG.

Rose gave a tiny squeal of fright. She should be used to it by now but it still took her by surprise. She put a hand over her racing heart. "ROSE, YOU UP?" Hugo's voice ran through the attic door. Rose scrambled out of her bed.

"Yes, yes I'm awake," She said.

"LOUDER ROSE I CAN'T HEAR YOU"

Rose made a soft strangled voice in the back of her throat. She hated yelling. She had a softer more delicate voice than the rest of her family. It barely reached above a whisper and everyone always struggled to hear her. It didn't help that she was also terribly shy. She approached the door and pressed her cheek to the door.

"Yes Hugo, I'm awake" She said slightly louder this time.

Hugo grumbled something under his breath that Rose couldn't hear through the door. Then he left, probably to go pack. Hugo had a horrible tendency to leave packing until the very last minute then leave a lot of stuff behind. He was always ridden with mail the first week at Hogwarts because Hermione had to keep on sending him the things he forgot.

Luckily for Hermione, Hugo was the only Weasley kid who was forgetful and a horrible procrastinator. Rose had packed the weekend before-there wasn't much. Rose didn't need a lot to survive: just toiletries, her wand, some clothes, Sasha her pet kitten, school robes and school supplies. Rose had only took a few minutes to pack, the only thing she really cared about were her books and she didn't even need to pack many thanks to Hogwart's massive Library. Her trunk was even half empty this year, unlike her cousin, Lily, who would probably be packing her whole entire room.

Instead of packing books this year, Rose filled the extra space with her nimbus broomstick and quidditch robes-usually she rented from the school but this year she finally saved enough to buy some new robes. See her dad would have bought her whatever quidditch gear Rose wanted no questions asked, but her mum was very strict in the sense that Rose had to earn her right to play quidditch since it was a hobby and therefore not equal to academics. It was also another thing Ron and hermione fought about. They fought about a lot of things.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Downstairs was a complete mess. Hermione was holding Sammy and her hair was frazzled-Hermione's hair only got frizzy when she was a mess. And she was. She had egg yolks in her hair and Sammy was crying. She was also trying to cook breakfast while yelling at Ron who looked clueless trying to put Sammy's shoes on.

"NO! THAT'S THE RIGHT SHOE FOR GOODNESS SAKE RON! YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS TWICE ALREADY AND YOU STILL CAN'T GET IT RIGHT."

Ron looked hurt. "You always dressed Rose and Hugo, why do I have to do it now all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm cooking the breakfast you bloody fool." Hermione quieted down a little. She looked a little sorry for causing Ron to feel bad.

Rose stood silently in the doorway until Hermione spotted Rose from the corner of her eye.

"Rose, thank god. Here take your brother and show your dad how to put his shoes on."

Hermione lowered Sammy into Rose's outstretched arms. Sammy immediately stopped crying and snuggled into the crook of her arm. He then tried to tug a piece of her hair out of her ballerina bun but Rose turned her head before her could.

She hated it when her hair was messy. Instead she rocked him up and down. He went right to sleep. It pleased Rose. How she was the only one in the family who could get him to stop crying. Hermione looked on with a bit of jealousy.

Ron looked amused. "Fucking wanker likes her more than you. I don't blame him though."

Hermione hit him with a dish towel.

Hugo ran into the kitchen, dragging a half packed open trunk with him. Clothes were spilling out and Rose could see a trail of underwear leading up the stairs.

"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY-" Hugo stopped and sniffed. "Hey why does it smell like smoke?"

Hermione looked confused for a moment. It did smell like smoke. Then she shrieked.

"OH NO! THE EGGS." The stove was on fire, hot orange flames leaping up from the burning eggs.

"Aguamenti!" Hermione pointed her wand at the fire. A spout of water splashed from her wand and onto the fire, putting it out but also ruining the eggs in the process.

Hermione looked dejectedly at the eggs and buried her head in her hands.

"Why is it that everytime I try, something always goes wrong?"

Ron rubbed her shoulders affectionately. They were always like this. Going from angry fighting and stressed out parents to ones who were hopelessly in love.

"It's okay 'Mione, the kids'll get something on the train. Right kids?" He gave Hugo and Rose warning looks.

"Course Mum." Rose and Hugo chorused together. Ron smiled at Hugo and winked at Rose. Hermione leaned into Ron gratefully.

"Okay then, let's get going".

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The Hogwarts express almost left without them. Rose hated it. She always liked to be at least 15 minutes early. The rest of her family however, liked to be 15 minutes late. Except Hermione. Hermione always made an obvious effort, but she was horrible at getting Ron and Hugo out the door on time. If it weren't for Rose, who ushered everyone through the door right on time, the family would probably miss the train every single year.

They met up with the Potters and the other Weasley's briefly before going onto the train. Lily Potter squealed when she saw Hugo. They were best friends, being in the same year, house, family, and all. Lily was also a pretty good friend of Rose's, but sometimes she was a little too eccentric for Rose. Well...not eccentric. More like, Lily was a wild child at heart. As in, she could sometimes be kind of a bitch.

"Rose, what's up? How're you doin?" Lily asked grinning widely and snapping her fingers into guns in Rose's direction.

"Oh, I'm doing very well, thank you Lily." Rose replied softly.

Lily nodded. She was used to Rose's formal way of saying...well everything.

James Potter rushed into the scene, his wild hair and handsome face attracting the curious stres and giggles of many young first year girls.

"DAD. DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD." He poked his father every single time he said "dad". And Uncle Harry, yes the one and only Harry Potter, rolled his eyes.

"Yes James?" He said, somewhat sarcastically.

Rose found Uncle Harry hilarious. He was always really sarcastic to everybody and nobody called him out because he was Harry Potter. The Harry Potter. Rose thought the Harry quite enjoyed it. Sometimes when he said something very sarcastic and witty he would smile secretly to himself and if he'd catch Rose looking he'd wink at her. It made her feel rather special.

"Is it true?" James asked excitedly.

Harry looked slightly confused. "Is what true?"

James sighed exasperatedly. He never quite got why people never seemed to be on the same page as him.

"Is it true that there's going to be another ball?"

Rose had heard of the ball. The first one in over 20 years to be held at Hogwarts. It was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the defeat of Lord Voldemort. The battle had taken place at Hogwarts in 1998 and it was 2023 now. Rose was entering her 6th year art Hogwarts. What better way to kick it off with a ball? Too bad she hated them. Too many people all sweating and talking in the same room. It made her feel nauseous just to think about it.

"So?" James asked again.

Harry nodded. "Yes there will be a ball this year."

James shouted in glee and began to spin around. "Yes! This is literally the most perfect year for this to happen. I'm quidditch captain for Gryffindor and now I finally have an awesome place to take Sophie out!"

Ginny shook her head at her son, her sleek red hair becoming untucked from behind her ears. "Just remember, your Dad and I will also be there for the ball."

James stopped short mid-twirl. "Wha?"

Harry smirked. Rose giggled softly.

"Mione and I will also be there." Ron put an arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her close. She looked lovingly up at him.

"Ew gross." Hugo wrinkled his nose. Ron ruffled his hair. The adults then began talking among themselves, leaving the kids to discuss matters among themselves.

Lucy Weasley, another one of Rose's cousins sighed. Lucy was also a gryffindor 7th year like James and they were also very close like Lily and Hugo. Lucy was more of a dreamer though.

"I wish I could go." She said wistfully. James looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why wouldn't you be going?"

Lucy frowned. "I don't have a date and you're going with Sophie and I really don't feel like going alone." Lucy was almost as shy as Rose was. Not quite as much, but almost.

James looked at her crestfallen. "Oh." He said quietly and Rose knew he felt guilty. "Well maybe you can join along?" Lucy looked skeptical. "And have Sophie be annoyed with me for the rest of the year no thank you." Sophie was James's bitchy girlfriend that no one liked. She also hated Lucy with a burning passion. It was hard for James to maneuver around it but he did. That was the problem with James. He tried to make everyone happy and in the end everyone including himself ended up miserable.

"Don't be silly Lucy. You'll come with me and Rose." Lily said.

Rose looked sharply at Lily. "Oh I'm not"

"Do not say you aren't going Rose. I'm dragging you whether you like it or not. Rose opened her mouth.

"I….well I…" She struggled to find the right words "I suppose that I..." She licked her lips. She was going to make something up. Maybe as excuse like prefect duties or quidditch practice would do. But then she remembered that the whole school would be there so there was no getting out of it. She didn't finish her sentence though because the warning bell rang out for boarding the train and parents crowded around their children to say goodbye.

Ron pulled her in for a hug, "Do me proud Rose. And remember. Beat Malfoy on every test."

Ron always said that before she went on the train. It had become a tradition during first year when he had said it to Rose in front of her family. Now he said it as a joke.

"Of course Dad." She kissed him on both cheeks then pecked one on her mum's cheek as well.

Then she lifted her trunk and boarded the train.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rose always sat with her best friend. Yes, she had friends if you didn't know. Three friends. One best friend and 2 other friends who were best friends with each other.

Gabriella Wood was a 6th year Ravenclaw just like Rose. The two had first met in the Ravenclaw dorms when they roomed together. Their beds were right next to each other and they had roomed together ever since. They hadn't immediately clicked though. In fact it took Gabby several weeks to crack through Rose's shell. But now that they were friends they told each other almost everything. Or at least Gabby told Rose everything. There was still a lot Rose kept to herself.

They always met by the same compartment. Third door down from the eight car. Miranda, Ariel, Gabby, and Rose always hung out in that compartment. Rose had even put a confounding charm around it so that anyone who got near it would turn in the opposite direction if it wasn't occupied. Just in case they didn't claim it in time.

Gabby shrieked when she saw Rose. She threw her long arms around her pulled her in for a hug. Rose awkwardly patted Gabby's long blonde hair that was flowing everywhere.

"Hey Gabbs," She said.

"Rose! It's so great to see you. We have so much to talk about. Here sit down."

Gabby dragged Rose over to the seats and pulled her down next to her. Gabby always got very excited on the first day of school. Actually, she got very excited over everything. It was something about her that tired Rose, but also made her smile at times.

Ariel Chang and Miranda Air were also there. Ariel was a pretty girl with a petit frame-though not as short or slim as Rose- and had delicate asian features and long brown hair. Her father was a wizard from America and her mother had actually attended Hogwarts the a year above Rose's parents.

Miranda was just a wispy little thing. She was easily the shortest, thinnest girl in the whole entire year. Black hair and tan skin with almond eyes also made her the subject of many boys conversations. She was just as sophisticated as Rose and looked like even the slightest gust of wind could blow her away. She was also the school's best quidditch beater which earned her a lot of respect from other houses other than Ravenclaw.

When Rose had arrived, Miranda and Ariel were deep in conversation, but stopped when she had entered the compartment.

Miranda grinned widely. "If it isn't the famous Rose Weasley, joining us at last!"

It was a joke among the girls. They knew how Rose hated being the last one there; she always was on the first day so they always made fun of her for it.

"Well, I got held up on the landing. Talking to James about the ball." Rose said, her voice barely reaching above a whisper. Miranda's smile faded. Rose knew Miranda had a crush on her cousin.

"So uh." Miranda's voice had gotten a little strangled, "Is he taking Sophie?" Miranda's dark eyes flooded with sadness because she already knew the answer.

Rose nodded. "Sorry." She said softly and she meant it. Miranda looked down dejectedly and Gabby and Ariel each put an hand on her arm in comfort.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Gabby slept with her head in Rose's lap and Ariel and Miranda played exploding snap. Rose didn't have anything else to do so she just read Hamlet again until she had to leave for the prefect meeting.

Ariel wrinkled her nose when Rose told her where she was going. Prefects were respected but also disliked at the same time by Hogwarts students. This was Rose's second year of being a prefect and to be honest, she absolutely loved it. She loved walking around at night by herself or with her patrol partner Winter, a now 7th year Hufflepuff whom Rose was politely acquainted with, she loved having the castle all to herself and being able to stay out after hours. She loved having access to the restricted area in the library (I know this isn't a prefect privilege in the books but it is 25 years later so I made some changes) and she loved drawing up timetables of patrol schedules and detention lists.

She didn't actually like docking points or giving out detentions, it was just fun to schedule everything. Gabby always said Rose was off her bloody rocker whenever she talked about how being a prefect was actually pretty fun. But Gabby hated responsibility and enjoyed being in detention rather than organising it so it was understandable.

Rose reached the prefect compartment and let herself in quietly. She was early as always. She sat down in one of the wooden chairs around a large round table. She sat for maybe around ten minutes, admiring the intricate carved designs on a piece of furniture until the first couple prefects started spilling in.

There were 24 prefects in all. 2 from each house in 5th year, 6th year, and 7th year each pair consisting of a boy in a girl. Rose was the 6th year Ravenclaw girl prefect. Then there were the head. The head girl this year was Alyssa Finch, a 7th year Hufflepuff with a huge smile and friendly face. Head boy was Spencer Zambini, a very tall 7th year Slytherin with dark swishy hair tan skin, and a jawline that could cut diamonds. He was also in love with Alyssa. Like, very in love. It was funny because she was also very oblivious. Like, very oblivious. To be fair, Spencer was very dark and brooding so he wasn't very good at getting his feelings across. Still, it was funny for the rest of the prefects to watch as Spencer literally handed his heart on a silver platter to Alyssa and her rejecting him without even knowing it every. single. time.

Alyssa clapped her hands twice to signal silence. All the prefects had been talking amongst each other, except Rose. She didn't have any friends in her prefect group and she wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"Welcome guys, I hope you all had an amazing summer break." Alyssa smiled, flashing white teeth that contrasted with her toffee colored skin and hair. Rose liked it when Alyssa smiled because you could always tell that Alyssa meant it. She really did hope that your summer break was amazing.

"So, to start off I want to welcome our newbies." She gestured to the new 5th year prefects. The prefect system was organised so that every year there would be ⅓ new people and ⅔ of old people. Everyone clapped for the new prefects. It was feeble clapping because no one really cared, but Alyssa still remained enthusiastic.

"Anyway, let's get down to business. Spencer, do you want to start off with some changer this year?" She smiled back at Spencer. This was another thing Rose liked about Alyssa. She always called everyone by their first names. Unless you were a Potter or Weasley (There were too many to use last names), you were referred to by last name by peers. Friends were different of course, but the rule of the last name was pretty much unanimous. Only a couple of students actually broke that unspoken rule, Alyssa and Rose both being two of them. Rose just didn't see the logic of calling someone by their last name. It was stupid.

Spencer stood up next to Alyssa. Their height difference was tremendous and Rose stifled a giggle.

"Um, so yeah. There are going to be a lot of differences this year in the scheduling. So last year we had patrols and all the other activities with partners and it'll happen this year but we are putting a stop to the inter-house partnerships."

A murmur of groans and sighs broke out across the room, one of them being Rose's. Winter was the only one she really knew and she didn't want to have to pair up with one of the other 5 prefects in Ravenclaw.

Spencer was getting nervous, Rose could tell because he was wringing his hands. He always did that when he got nervous.

Alyssa saw this and jumped in for him, "Look guys, I know you're disappointed and I'm really happy that you guys are so close but last year there were so many complaints from quidditch captains about practicing and having to work around 6 different prefect schedules. So many of you are needed on the pitch and we thought maybe if we made the partners all the same house, the captains will have more room to breath and schedules practices around your guys' prefect duties."

Rose shrugged. "Okay. Let's do it." She said. It made sense. Now the captains only had to worry about 3 times not being open for practice rather than 6 or however many people were on the team.

Alyssa, who was sitting right next to Rose and therefore able to to hear her voice, grinned widely at Rose. Probably because Rose almost never talked during the meetings. Or during anything really.

"See, Rose agrees with me." Alyssa gestured to Rose and everyone turned to looked at her.

She felt a horrid blush coming on. She always turned a bright bright red whenever she got embarrassed. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked down at the table while simultaneously tucking her hands under her thighs and biting her lip. She hated it when people stared.

Alyssa seemed to be a bit guilty for putting Rose on the spot and she quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway, your partners are going to be posted on the boards after the meeting ends. So yeah. Also, sorry I totally forgot. We are also handing out paperwork about things that are banned and what to do in certain situations and stuff. But this is only for the newbies. Oldies know what to do so you guys can all leave. See you later." She waved energetically and 16 out of the 26 people in the roomed went to crowd around the doors to see who their partners were for patrols. Rose waited until most of the group was cleared out. She didn't like getting smashed against people when it was avoidable.

She fingered the list, looking for her name. Oh, she had the 11 o'clock night shift in the towers on Wednesday and Thursday nights. She had that shift last year and she loved it.

And she was partnered with-oh. Oh. No. No that wouldn't do at all.

Rose frowned and bit her lip. Scorpius Malfoy? She hardly knew him. Well, actually she knew him quite well, but she didn't know him in a friendly way. Like...she never really talked to him. Well she did. Sometimes. They were classmates. Actually they talked quite a lot. Whatever, it didn't matter.

She just didn't want to do patrol with him. Anyone else but him.

Here's why she didn't want to do patrol with Scorpius Malfoy:

1. He was best friends with James. Yes. James. The Gryffindor quidditch captain and her cousin. It was funny because Scorpius was a year younger than James. At least school wise. He was actually one of the oldest in their year. He was turning 17 at the end of the year while Rose, the youngest in the year, was turning 16 in February. Anyway, They became friends on the first day of Scorpius's first year and now they were inseparable. In fact, most of Scorpius's friends were 7th years. He just gave off an older, mature vibe that they liked. At least that's what Rose thought.

2. He wasn't like other boys in their year. He was mature. See above. He was also quidditch captain of the Ravenclaw team, the youngest to be in over 3 decades. That's why they talked quite a lot. Because Rose was a chaser and he was the captain and he had to talk to her and vice versa. But that did not mean that they were friends. No, they were definitely not friends. At all.

3. He was good at quidditch. See above.

4. All the girls in the school had a crush on him. Even Professor Mcgonagall had a soft spot for him. He was one of the school's golden boys. Seriously if he, James, Spencer, and Albus all got together and formed a cult, they would probably get the whole entire school falling over their feet to do their bidding. Maybe it was his good looks and charming charisma or maybe it was his convincing voice that could literally make anyone do exactly what he wanted. Rose didn't know. But she didn't like it. At all.

5. He was very smart. Second best in the class. Next to Rose of course. She beat him in every test. But he was catching up quickly and that scared her.

6. He was nice. Like Alyssa, he was one of those few people who smiled and meant it. And you could tell he meant it. He was never mean to anyone. Ever. And whenever a girl he didn't like tried to go with him, he let her down easy and was so gentle about it. It made Rose angry. How could someone be so nice and so smart and so talented? It wasn't even fair.

7. He was confident.

Long story short, Rose did not want to spend 6 hours a week with Scorpius. No she definitely did not want to. Argh, but she had too. It was going to be a long year.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The rest of the ride the Hogwarts was uneventful. Literally, nothing else happened. When they finally got to Hogwarts, the feast was waiting for them. Rose looked forward to the feast every single year. She liked it because of the sorting. She loved seeing the hat being dropped on every student's head and deciding where the student would go. She liked it because there was no influence on what the hat chose for you.

See a lot of kids thought the hat just chose kids based on legacies and parentage. Rose had heard that when her father had first gotten sorted the hat had shouted, "HA! ANOTHER WEASLEY! I KNOW JUST WHERE TO PUT YOU!", and then proceeded to put him in Gryffindor. But Ron had always said that the sorting hat wouldn't put you in a house unless you truly belonged there. Or unless you picked it. Ron belonged in Gryffindor and that was why he was sorted into it.

Rose remembered when she was first sorted into Ravenclaw. She finally felt independent. She made her own friends. She was the only Potter Weasley child that wasn't in Gryffindor. You heard that right. Out of all her numerous cousins, all the children and extended family of the Potter and Weasley's, Rose was the only one not in Gryffindor. And she loved it. Sometimes her family suffocated her and she loved being able to get away from them, even if she always went back to them in the end. They just made her a little unsteady when she was around them. She never quite fit in.

Anyway, sorting was fun and every single time a new boy or girl was sorted into Ravenclaw,

Gabby squealed in Rose's ear causing her to giggle and slap Gabby and tell her to calm down.

Later, after the feast and after sorting out trunk and getting ready for bed, Rose, Gabby, Ariel, and Miranda pushed their dorm beds together and lay underneath the covers pressed up against one another. It was the closest to someone that Rose had ever felt, giggling underneath bedsheets like schoolgirls. She quite liked it.

"So," Ariel adjusted herself so that she was lying on her stomach with her head resting on her hands and her elbows digging into her mattress. "I was talking today with Freya."

Gabby groaned. "Not Freya." Rose stifled a giggle. Freya was in Ravenclaw in their year but she wasn't very smart.

See, Gabby had a theory. See everyone always talks about how Hufflepuff just takes the leftovers and the kids who aren't smart, ambiguous, or brave. But that's not true. The kind-hearted and loyal go to Hufflepuff. So Freya couldn't go to Hufflepuff because she wasn't kind-hearted….or loyal. She also wasn't brave. At all. Or cunning and ambiguous. And even though she also wasn't smart, the thing about being smart is that a lot of people can fake it. You just have to memorize and study a lot and you can be smart. It's the love of learning that Ravenclaw is really supposed to be about. But since there were those special cases of people who didn't fit in anywhere, they were stuck in Ravenclaw. Perhaps the sorting hat thought that some of the environment would rub off on them? So it wasn't Hufflepuff that took all the misfits, it was actually Ravenclaw. Because you can always learn facts to be smart, but you can't learn to be kind. You either are or you aren't. Sure, some people can change. But that usually takes a traumatic life experience. Like what Draco Malfoy went through or something. And Freya certainly wasn't changing anytime soon.

Speaking of Malfoys Rose was dreading having to go to patrol with Scorpius tomorrow night. Sighing internally, she pushed the unwanted thought into the back of her mind and concentrated on the conversation.

"Argh, I know I really shouldn't be mean, but I can't help it. She literally told me that my eyes looks like slits. That's so mean and I'm half asian and she keeps calling me fake Chinese. Like fasion of something weird. Like, that's not even valid, I still identify as Chinese. She's so inconsiderate. She's the one with the fake tan trying to copy Miranda" Ariel gestured to Miranda's pretty tan skin.

Gabby snorted. "Please, don't worry about being mean to Freya. She can take it. She deserves it. Did you know she told me once that my hair was fake? My hair. Fake. Can you believe it? It's totally natural." Gabby gestured to her wild golden waves.

Miranda giggled. "Yes Gabby, you literally remind us like, every day."

Gabby frowned, "What no I don't. Do I? Rose?" She looked at Rose.

Rose shrugged and grinned sheepishly. Gabby glared. "You're supposed to back me up. Whatever. I know I brag a lot about my hair, but I do really like it." She fingered her locks lovingly.

Miranda sighed. "You guys are so lucky. You all have nice hair and mine sucks." She fingered her straight black hair that went down to her waist. Rose was pretty sure that Miranda was of Filipino descent and her hair went really well with her tan.

Miranda continued, "I know it goes with me and it's nice and all. But it sucks because I can never do anything with it. I can't braid it because it's so slippery, I can't curl it because it's so heavy, and I can't cut it because it I do it'll stand straight up and make me look like a freaking hippogriff." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Gabby and Ariel immediately began consoling her about her hair and Rose self-consciously touched her own auburn hair. It was still in it's big bun that took up almost half her head. The only time she ever took it down was to rebraid it and put it up again. She had never left it down in all her 6 years at Hogwarts. She didn't even know why. She just felt weird when it was down. She wondered what it would feel like to look different for just once. Would she feel pretty? Like Gabby-she was always doing crazy things to herself and changing the curl and shape of her hair. Rose wished she'd had the confidence to do that. But she also got the feeling that no one would really notice or care.

Miranda huffed air through her nose.

"Whatever, I'm over it. Let's talk about something else. How was the prefect's meeting today?"

Rose shrugged. "It was okay", She said.

Gabby frowned, her features deeply shadowed by the dim light in the room.

"You don't sound very excited. Well, less excited than usually anyway."

Rose rolled onto her stomach, "Yeah I'm not. The whole schedule has changed this year and I'm not too happy about it."

"Oh yeah that sucks." Mirandal kicked her foot over the side of the bed and when it came up there was a bag of strawberry gummies clenched between her toes.

"Look what I brought!" Gabby squealed and grabbed the bag.

Miranda was a muggleborn and she always brought back muggle candy from America.

Gabby stuffed a couple of gummies into her mouth and groaned.

"Oh, I forgot what these taste like."

Ariel snatched the bag away, "Hey share!" She grabbed a couple then tossed the bag onto the covers where she, Gabby, and Miranda snuck out pieces from it until it was finished.

Rose didn't take any. Instead she rested her head on Gabby's shoulder and fell asleep to soft giggles of Ariel and Miranda and an occasional snort from Gabby.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next day started with a bang. Literally. Turned out, Ariel fell out of the bed. She crashed onto the floor, bringing the sheets and Miranda with her. Gabby screamed.

Rose sat up groggily.

Miranda and Ariel were on the floor struggling.

Gabby groaned and held her head. "Argh, going to sleep at 3 in the morning was not a good idea. Rose you are so lucky you fell asleep at 1."

Rose shook her head. "Well I have prefect duties so I'll see you later."

She got up from the bed and left Miranda and Ariel, who were just getting off the floor, and Gabby, who was braiding her hair.

Rose threw on her robes and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She applied some magic sunscreen to prevent from getting freckles-her whole family was blessed with them and Rose detested them. She liked her skin to be clear. Perfect. Untouched. Free of the scattered dots that she hated. The only problem was she got them every single time she stepped into the sun. Hence the sunscreen.

Anyway, Rose was early to breakfast. She always was. She liked eating when there was almost no one in the Great Hall. Today, the Hall's ceiling was enchanted to look as if there was a arch of flowers extending from the head where the teachers sat, all the way to the end doors.

Rose grabbed an apple from a fruit platter and took a couple of bites. She was one of the only people at the Ravenclaw table. There were even fewer students at the other house tables. Gryffindor only had 3 students eating toast sluggishly. They were all late sleepers. Rose chewed on her apple slowly then looked down at it nonchalantly. It had lost it's flavor after a couple bites. It tasted like nail polish remover. She dropped it on the table.

She was about to pour herself a glass of water but was then interrupted by a pair of hands slapping over her eyes.

"Guess who?" A sing-song voice coed in her ear.

"Lily, stop it." Rose sat perfectly still as Lily removed her hands and sat down next to Rose.

"So, how's my favorite Ravenclaw cousin?" Rose rolled her eyes.

"I'm your only Ravenclaw cousin."

Lily smiled. "Exactly...although, I guess that makes you my least favorite Ravenclaw cousin as well."

"Lily, why are you even up so early?" Lily was probably one of the heaviest, latest sleepers that Rose knew and it was rare to see her up so early.

Lily's eyebrows rose. "Oh, no reason. None at all." Lily's voice suddenly became high-pitched and tight.

Rose sucked in a soft breath and held in for a moment. She knew exactly what this was about.

Rose bit her lip. Hard. She braced herself for whatever was about to happen.

Then she said, "So what it is that's bothering you?" She looked down at her apple then back up at Lily who was shifting in anticipation in her seat.

Lily, "It's nothing. Why would you think something is bothering me?" Lily looked panicked.

"Well, I just...well I. I just kind of assumed, you know?" Rose fiddled with the apple in her hand. She hated when these conversations got awkward.

"Well there's nothing bothering me so I don't really know what you're talking about." Lily shook her head. She was also shaking her leg vigorously under the table.

Rose bit her lip hard. She knew that Lily wanted desperately to tell her something important. Everyone in the family always went to her for this kind of stuff. She was quiet and gave good advice. And they knew she would never tell anyone. Rose was invisible to her family unless someone had a problem. Then she was showered with groaning cousins and various other family members who just needed her advice or someone to listen to.

Rose always tried her best to help out her family, but sometimes it was very taxing. Especially last year when James and Albus got into a huge fight and she spent 2 entire months listening to each of them bitch like little children to her about the other one.

Lily usually came to Rose about boys or school help. Rose suspected that this time it was boys. Probably from the way Lily's eyes kept shifting over to the Slytherin table and she kept ringing her fingers.

"Well, I'd better get going." Rose made to stand up, even though there was still half an hour till class. "I'll see you at-"

"I had sex with Zambini."

Rose tripped back into her seat.

She opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again.

Rose bit her lip. Hard. Then she spoke. "Okay." It sounded shaky.

"Okay. Okay. Okay."

"Enough with the okays! You're making me nervous." Lily looked on the verge of tears.

Rose sighed. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

Lily groaned frustratedly. "So tell me what to do. I mean, I don't even like him in that way."

Rose made a small strangled noise in the back of her throat. It wasn't fair. Not to Theodore. He was perfectly nice and he was also in love with Lily. It was horrible that she led him along and only to break his heart.

"You have to tell him the truth."

Lily snorted. Her face looked more annoyed than sad. "What truth? I had sex with him because I felt like it and now he's following me around. He thinks he means something I can't tell him he doesn't."

Rose shook her head. "Why?"

Lily looked up at the ceiling, "Um, because he's friends with literally all the hot Slytherin boys? And he can me firewhiskey. Seriously, if I break it off right now I'm not going to be able to supply for any of the Gryffindor parties and Albus will kill me. He's relying on me to help him out this year ever since his stash got busted last year by Creevy."

Rose couldn't believe her ears. It was like Lily's words were registering but they seemed detached, as if they weren't coming from Lily Potter the person Rose grew up with. Rose suddenly felt sad, she felt like crying. She didn't cry though. Instead she bit her lip. Hard. To keep herself from being sad. She had to be happy. Because if she wasn't happy, then they'd realize that Rose's perfect life wasn't very perfect and then everything would be ruined.

"Okay then don't tell him."

Lily nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Rose, thanks so much. You give the best bloody advice ever! I gotta go. Bye!" Lily threw her arms around Rose for a second then ran off.

Rose bit her lip. Hard.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A/N I know you all are expecting a Scorose story and it is. But I also want this story to be about Rose. Her insecurities, her life, her friends. So Scorpius will have the POV of the next chapter and Rose is going to be in his thoughts a lot more just because he already likes her a lot. But just because this is a Scorose story does not mean that this story will center around the ship and it's not going to happen very quickly at all. But give it time and I'm hoping this'll develop into what I've been imagining.