Rose had seen him before. The pale boy from the train. "The arrogant Malfoy kid" James had said. "Let's teach him a lesson, shall we?"
Rose choose to ignore James but she saw the Malfoy boy afterwards. He limped. Rose went to James and asked if he had done something to the boy. James denided everything she said but Rose knew he lied.
Three days later the boy walked past Rose in the corridor, heading to the lake. A few seconds later Rose saw James and his gang going to the same direction.
"That's it" Rose said to Albus. "I'm not going to just sit here. Not this time!"
"Rose, it's James! This will end when he finds another 'victim'. Besides, he has probably bullied other kids before Malfoy, you know that" Albus said. He was getting used to calm Rose down. She had always had such a strong sence of justice, which could be bad in some situations. This was one of those moments.
"Al, do you even know his first name?" Rose snapped and left towards the lake.
"Do you?" Albus shouted after her.
There they were, alone, as Rose has suspected. James, clearly as the leader, and his mates: Liam, a boy with blond dreadlocks, and Dan, the muscular one. The one who did the beating.
Rose was about to step out, but then the three bullies hit him to the ground. Rose didn't know why she waited till they left. She was ashamed of herself. There she was, watching a defenseless boy get beating up, just like that. He tried to fight back though but the other three were just too strong. The situation itself was so unfair that Rose trembled of anger.
As laughing James, Liam and Dan walked away, Rose cautiously went towards the pale boy sitting on grass looking at the lake.
"Hi" Rose started as she stood behind him. "Do you need..."
"No. Go away" the boy scowled. Rose felt a bit wonded, but she decided not to give up. It's just wasn't her nature. She sat next to him and searched a tissue from her bag.
She startled a bit when she saw his face. His nose bled to his hands. Blood was everywhere. The boy didn't move an inch but he clearly was embarrased. Rose handed him the tissue and for her amazement he took it. He pressed his nose to the tissue that quickly dyed into red.
"I don't mind, really" he said. "Just...an awful lot of washing to do. Not for me, but...still." He looked at Rose. "I saw you in the train. You're Weasley."
"I would prefer Rose" she said a bit offended. The boy quickly responded:
"Sorry. Rose. I'm Scorpius." He smiled and so did Rose.
"Why do they do that to you?" Rose breaked the silence that had been between them for several minutes now. They had just sat there, listening to the sounds of the lake.
"Well, my father told me that Potter's father, and yours too, and mine...that they weren't exactly the best friends." Rose nodded. Countless time her own father had told her about the annoying, selfish Malfoy, meaning Scorpius' father.
"That might be it" Scorpius continued, looking to the ground. "He dispises me because of my father."
"No, I don't believe that."
"My father is marked, Rose" Scorpius said a bit louder. "I guess somehow I am too!"
"No you're not!" Rose argued.
"To him I am!"
"But he won't hurt you anymore! No more bloody laundry, I promise" Rose said and rose up. Scorpius looked at her suspiciously.
"What could YOU do about it?"
"I'm his cousin" Rose said and Scorpius was a bit suprised. "I know...what scares him and...other things. I also know a lot of spells he hasn't even heard of!"
Scorpius still didn't believe the stubborn girl with the big red hair but he felt better. She didn't even know him and yet she offered her help, no demands or trades. Somehow Scorpius knew that she truly would keep her promise.