~~Chapter One~~
~~Beautiful~~
-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-
'Sometimes it hits like a car crash…
And it's too late to reverse…'
-'Little Too Much' by Natasha Bedingfield
-Scorpius-
My infatuation began with a smile. Of course, being thirteen I was unaware that I was anything more than slightly intrigued. I remember the moment quite clearly, actually. It was the second week of third year. I was leaning against one of the windows lining the corridor on the way up to Muggle Studies talking to my best mate Albus Potter. The first week of school had been rather…hectic to say the least, so this was the first time we'd managed to catch up with one another. We'd attempted to stay in touch over the summer, but with my jet-setting and Albus' quite loud, quite large family always celebrating something or other it had proved quite difficult.
"So how was your summer, Scor?" Albus asked the question while his green eyes roved the rushing crowd. I knew he was waiting to set eyes on Alice Longbottom, the blonde daughter of Professor Longbottom. Albus had had a crush on her for as long as I could remember, possibly longer. He thought no one knew, but I'd seen the way he'd stared after her on the train, when she'd walked by with a group of giggling girls and tossed him a quick grin.
"Eh, same old. Mum and Dad insisted that I travel with them to the South of France, and if I refused, it'd be off to Grandfather's. You know, the usual." I slanted a glance at Albus when he let out a muffled snort. I stayed silent, knowing he was going to voice his thoughts eventually. Our friendship was strange to many, to say the least. The first time I'd set eyes on Albus he'd walked right up to me, clapped me on the back and said, "Mates?" We'd been friends ever since.
"Only you would see going to the South of France as punishment, mate!" He chuckled, slapping me on the back.
I opened my mouth to let out what was sure to be some sort of witty remark, when a small body was shoved into me by the rushing crowd. I instinctively braced myself and put my arms out, grabbing the person securely.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot what the first few days of classes are like!" The person glanced up at me, and I stopped breathing. Her eyes were blue, a regular observer would have said they were dark blue, but at that particular moment, I thought they were a beautiful navy, peppered through with small dots of gray. Like a night sky, covered in clouds. She smiled at me, a quick, broad showing of teeth that crinkled her eyes at the corner and made me tilt my mouth in return…and then Albus exclaimed loudly, "Rosie! Where are you off to?"
"Al! Muggle Studies. You know Mum is going to be filling in for the first month or so, right? Professor Griffin is out on sick leave, so you'd better get on your way there. Did you want to walk with me?" Her voice was soft, sweet; it touched my ears like honey. I blinked in shock at my poetic thoughts. What the bloody hell was going on with me? As she carried on with Al, I took the time to look at her.
Of course I knew who she was, Rose Weasley, exceptionally bright daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, sister to Hugo Weasley, and cousin to Albus and the rest of the impressive Weasley/Potter Brood. Best in our year, of course, top marks in every class, bar none. I was simply stunned by the fact that we were in close proximity. Despite my friendship with Albus, I'd always steered clear of the rest of his family. None of the older cousins had ever seemed quite as welcoming, and Rose was always off with Alice, her best mate.
I took the time to study her. Letting my eyes trace from her head to her toes. I must admit, Rose Weasley has definitely matured some. Her hair, always a vibrant shade of red, now hung to her waist in a riot of soft waves, not too orderly, but not quite unruly either. Her nose was pert, and slightly upturned at the tip. She was overall, very small, but I could just catch the beginnings of a slimly curved body underneath her school robes. She smelled, ironically enough, of her namesake, a slight musk, that you'd actually have to try to notice.
"And you're Scorpius Malfoy, right? It's delightful to finally meet you! I've heard quite a bit about you from Al here, of course. Are you taking Muggle Studies as well?" Her abrupt inclusion of me in the conversation shocked me into reality.
"Yes. It seems an interesting course." It was the only suitable reply. I wasn't quite comfortable with explaining, even to Al, that my reason for taking the class, stemmed from my Grandfather's abject intolerance of anything Muggle, and my Father's refusal to discuss them at all.
"Oh, wonderful! We can partner up. You, Al and I. It'll be great fun." Her easy inclusion of me was unexpected and quite shocking; it was as if my last name meant absolutely nothing to her. I would later learn that that was all a part of Rose's unique beauty, the ability to see past a name and to the person beneath. "Come on then. We'll be late if we don't leave now, and Mum would never let me live that down."
We set off down the corridor to Muggle Studies, with Al and Rose chatting all the way there, and my eyes admiring the soft swing of the heavy mass of red hair. Her scent drifted towards me every time her hair moved. It was like she perfumed it, and nothing else. I glanced up as we turned into a mildly crowded room, and let my eyes drift to the front, where a brown-haired witch was letting her wand inscribe her name on the board behind her. She saw Al and Rose and spared them a quick wink before putting on her serious face. We settled in a block of seats toward the middle, I assumed because Al and Rose were trying to avoid being stared at.
"Hello class! For those of you who don't know, my name is Hermione Weasley," there was small amount of laughter following this statement. "I work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement regularly, but will be teaching Muggle Studies…" I tuned the introduction out; none of this was new information to me, my father made sure to stay up to date with the Potter's and Weasley's.
I chanced another glance at Rose and found her blushing furiously behind the curtain of her hair. I tapped a quick note into the wood of my desk, using my wand. A handy trick Albus had taught me second year, courtesy of his Uncle George. It simply stated: "You okay?" She glanced at me in surprise, and smiled again, that heart stoppingly gorgeous smile. She gave me a quick nod and tapped back: "Yea, everyone's staring that's all."
I glanced up and noted that, indeed, a good half of the class was sneaking glances in our general direction. It amazed me. She had to be used to the stares by now. Her whole family was bloody near royalty in the Wizarding World. Every time something happened in her family, it was in the Daily Prophet. Even I was used to attention, although it was generally negative when it came to me and mine. I quickly tapped a few more words. "Don't worry, it'll blow over."
She nodded quickly, and then picked up her quill and nodded toward the front. I guess the lecture had begun. I picked up my quill, and took extensive notes throughout the class, noting that despite Rose's embarrassment at being noticed, she never hesitated to shoot her hand up to answer a question, and when called upon, she was always right. I grinned and made one small note in the margins of my scroll, "She's beautiful…"
-Rose-
My infatuation began with a smile. Of course, being thirteen I was unaware that I was anything more than slightly intrigued. I remember the moment quite clearly, actually. It was third year, almost Christmas break. Scorpius, Al and I were eating dinner in the Great Hall. All of us were sitting at the Gryffindor table, despite the fact that Scorpius is most decidedly a Slytherin. Al, was staring angrily over at the Hufflepuff table, where Alice Longbottom, my best mate since age 9 sat, studiously ignoring him.
"Al, I could just get her if you'd like," I offered. Scorpius smirked, but continued to eat his bangers and mash. It was one of the things I'd first noticed about him. The ability to communicate so much emotion, without ever saying a word. You could always tell what he was thinking when you looked in those eyes of his though. A very pale gray, like the first sliver of sky, right before the sun peeks through the clouds, they tended to tell you everything he was thinking, that is, if he allowed it. Sometimes I feel as if Scorpius mastered the art of being aloof in the womb, and was simply born looking superior.
Al scoffed. "If I wanted to get her, I'd have done it myself, wouldn't I have?" His voice was tight with anger and I knew this was never going to work out. Alice and Al had gotten into a massive argument yesterday about, of all things, the proper ladling technique, in Potions. They hadn't spoken at all today, which was quite awkward seeing as how they were partners in nearly every class. He went back to roughly poking at his dinner, while Scorpius and I shared a look.
"Rose," Scorpius began.
"Mm-hmm?" I hummed around a mouthful of potato.
"Did you want to go to the library with me tonight? I've yet to finish my Muggle Studies essay and I thought you could offer me a unique perspective." As usual, he spoke formally. I hate to think what Malfoy dinners must be like.
"Sure, did you want to go right after dinner? I'm almost done, and I do not plan on waiting for Al to finish sulking and eat." A muffled "Hey!" came from the seat next to me.
"I'm done now, so that works. " I watched as his plate magically cleaned itself, and finished the last bite of my own sausage.
"Alright, I'm ready. See you around Al!" I hopped up, grabbing my satchel and waited for Scorpius to climb from his seat at a more sedate pass. Everything about him, it seemed, was smooth and deliberate. If Scorpius Malfoy ever did anything spontaneously, I think the world might combust on the spot. I snorted a laugh at my thought, and gave Scorpius a quick shrug when he shot me a quizzical glance.
We walked to the library, his strong sandalwood scent occasionally brushing my nose. I inhaled slightly, it was very comforting, that smell. I snuck a sidelong glance at him. As usual, his profile was hard, almost as if etched in stone. Scorpius has very classical features. I could almost picture him as a part of a Renaissance painter's collection of models. He has this strong, partisan nose, and very pale blond hair. Its longish, it reaches his shirt collar. In fact, that may be his only rebellion. He's muscled, leanly, probably comes from all the practice he gets as the Slytherin Seeker, a position that he is exceptional at. Although he's only just turned fourteen, he's being scouted, rather early, it drives Albus quite mad!
"Rose? Are you alright?" His voice is deep, but not too deep. It sends shivers up my spine. Especially with his tone, always so darn formal! "You're rather quiet tonight."
"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking." He laughed. I jumped slightly, startled. Scorpius rarely truly laughs, he'll tilt his lips slightly, and smirk, and give a quick chuckle, but a full out laugh is a prize.
"You do that too often, you know. The world is going to pass you by one day, because you're so busy thinking about it." He grinned at me and I was astonished…I'd never seen Scorpius smile before. His gray eyes sparked with merriment and delight, and his left cheek caved in ever so slightly, giving him the single most adorable dimple I'd ever seen. I almost ground to a halt in front of the library doors, before realizing that would have been completely obvious. I gathered my senses about me and made a conscious effort to place one foot in front of the other.
We made it to the library without further ado, and settled in our usual area, a rather dark semi-secluded table with only one candle light. I'd started coming to this table first year, as sort of a refuge, a place to hide from the constant assault of people with questions about my family. I'd managed to keep it a secret, right up until the week after I met Scorpius. Some of the older girls in our Muggle Studies class had been obnoxiously whispering the whole period that my mother was showing me favoritism. I had successfully hid my burgeoning blush, by swinging my hair over my cheeks, and as soon as class was out, I'd rushed off to my secret spot. Unbeknownst to me, Scorpius, concerned over my uncharacteristic silence during the question and answer part of class, followed me. And it's been our usual area ever since.
"So, what do you have questions about?"
"For starters, how precisely is the television powered?" His question was full of skepticism. As if he couldn't possibly believe that such an invention could actually exist.
I began to explain the precise mechanisms of the television set, how electricity powered the set, but in order to use it you have to place the pronged end of the cord into something called an "outlet" that was a port attached to the wall. As I spoke, Scorpius' frown grew deeper and deeper. I found myself chuckling ever so slightly as I wound up my explanation. He wrinkled his nose at me in disgust, and my chuckle turned into a full out laugh, that I quickly shushed.
"These Muggle contraptions. All so…confusing. Why on earth would one want to pay to send mail, when you can simply send your own owl for free?" His genuine perplexity was so adorable.
"You have to understand, Scorpius. Most Muggles don't own owls as pets. Their mailman helps them exchange information relatively quickly and for very little money."
"Mm-hmm." I laughed at his noncommittal answer.
"Why are you taking this class again?" Immediately, his face grew tight and his eyes lost their bright sparkle. I found myself wishing my mother hadn't turned in her Time-Turner and instead had passed it down like some sort of bizarre family heirloom.
"It's of no importance. I needed something to fill my schedule." Even his already formal voice was more clipped.
"Oh, alright then."
Not long after that very awkward exchange of words, we called it a night and packed up our bags. We exchanged small talk on the way towards the steps and parted at the split toward our various dormitories. Scorpius waved sullenly at me and trudged down the stairs toward the Slytherin dungeon. The Fat Lady was snoring persistently, when I made it up to Gryffindor Tower, so I had to whistle loudly to wake her, she let me in only after much fussing and grumbling about "those disrespectful Weasley whelps."
I walked up to my room, and quietly let myself in, got into my jams and pulled the curtains around my four poster. I whispered "Lumos" and watched my wand tip glow for a few minutes, and then set to work on my latest journal entry.
'…He's arrogant. Sometimes he's even an impossible git. But he makes me laugh and he listens to me. His smile lights up his face, and when he gives you his full attention, you feel as if nothing else is as important in the world. Despite his almost physical perfection, it is his spirit that makes him…beautiful.'
A/N: This will be a blanket disclaimer for the fic: I do not own Harry Potter or any related merchandise, or characters created by J.K. Rowling. This fic will be written from the Point-Of-View of both Rose and Scorpius. I will include the song I feel would best goes with the general point of the chapter at the beginning of each chapter. Feel free to YouTube it, while you read. Please enjoy…and don't forget to read and review!