"And they lived happily ever after," she finished, closing whatever book she had been holding. She hadn't really been reading from it, just making up some tale to appease her cousins and their weird friends. Scorpius despised falling into the latter category, but he knew that was all Rose Weasley thought of him as, and probably all she would ever think of him as. "Any questions?" she asked, looking into each of their eyes, daring them to challenge her "superb" storytelling skills. When she looked into his eyes —ocean-blue meeting cold gray — he knew he had to ask, if only to anger her.
Before her eyes could continue around the room, he raised his hand. Her pupils narrowed and she nodded, giving him permission to speak. "But what happened after their 'happily ever after,' or whatever you're trying to feed us?"
All eyes in the room darted to Rose to see her reaction. She just swallowed calmly and answered, "Scorpius, tales have to end somewhere, don't they? IF not, they could go on forever and I really can't stay here forever because I have to study for my Runes exam."
A shaky round of laughter filled the room, while the eyes of his peers turned to Scorpius. He racked his brain for some sort of witty reply, but all he could come up with was: "I'd be more than happy to help you study, seeing as I'm doing excellent in that class, if only you'd enchant me with the rest of this tale you're weaving."
Rose muttered something, probably something along the lines of, Slytherins, but he didn't really care. He had got under her skin, and the promise of studying insured even more alone time with her. This was shaping up to be a great day for Scorpius Malfoy.
He remembered the first day they met. He was playing a scrimmage game of Quidditch with his pals when she came running through the courtyard. He was just coming to a landing when she tripped over a bag and went crashing toward the ground. He rushed over to see if she was okay, but she just pushed him away and continued running, with nothing but a "I'm late for Potions!" as an excuse. Everyday since, he had made it a point to get to know a bit more about Rose.
Now he was sitting in from of her, two years later, and he had long since realized that he loved — well, maybe not love. After all, he is only fifteen. He should probably go with liked — this girl more than anything else. And he planned to slip his little secret into the casual conversation about Ancient Runes later that day, and would pray that his father wouldn't disown him.
Thanks to xXIceshadowXx and Elodie the Scribe for betaing. :D
Merry Christmas, Sofi!