DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN IT.


"Arrogance is the camouflage of insecurity."

A red haired girl sat alone in the library, hunched over the latest novel of her favourite series that her mother had gifted her. Her keen brown eyes darted furiously over the pages, as she sucked in every word, as though trying to imprint it in her memory forever. She didn't notice when a boy in her year sat opposite her, and picked up his own book. When she heard her cousin's laughs outside the library, she sighed, rolled her eyes and put her book away, noticing the blonde boy in front of her. He was reading his book intently, his tousled hair masking his pale face.

Her mother had raised her to treat everyone the same, no matter which house they belong to. She remembered fondly that her father had said, "Yeah, be nice, just don't get too nice with them snakes." She chuckled slightly at the memory, causing the boy in front of her to look up at her, clearly annoyed by the look in his cool grey eyes.

She blushed slightly at having been the cause of disturbance and smiled pleasantly at him, extending her hand. "Hello, I'm Ros –"

"I know who you are," said the boy in a pronounced drawl. "Red hair, freckles, and being an absolute insufferable know it all in class. You're the Granger-Weasley kid," he said with distaste.

Rose felt furious as she whipped back, "No need to ask who you are, unpleasant smarmy git. Must be a Malfoy."

The boy in front of her stiffened and swallowed visibly, looking pointedly away from her.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"Why, does your Daddy own it? Or perhaps your uncle?"

"It was just an honest question," said Rose sincerely, looking slightly affronted.

The expression on the boy's face dropped, and his eyes flickered for just a moment, like he was genuinely shocked.

"I – I..uhh…just wanted to read."

Rose nodded slightly and went back to reading her book in peace. She heard an occasional sound from the other side of the table, but made no action to show she had heard it. As the sky grew darker, she glanced at her watch, and gasped. Merlin, she had told the others she would be there at eight. She got up hastily and stuffed the book in her bag, and headed out, before turning around briskly.

"Sorry, didn't catch your name," she said warmly.

"Well, that's because I didn't tell you," he retorted.

Rose felt her face lose its colour, as she was insulted once more. She slung her bag across her shoulder and rushed out of the library.

Scorpius cursed the minute he heard the footsteps fade. He never knew why, but he put on a farce in front of some people, an arrogant façade, which he later hated himself for. He was so scared people would hate him for what his father and grandfather had done, he never wanted to come off as easy to talk to. Perhaps that was the reason he hardly managed to have many friends. This girl had seemed so polite to him, being the daughter of two of the Golden Trio. She was taking a step, and he had gone and kicked her away. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He banged his fist on the table. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"Malfoy, stop that incessant horrid noise, or get out."

Scorpius let out a gust of anger, and plunged his face into his hands.


"Aargh….that Malfoy is such a git," said Rose frustratedly as she sat down at the table amongst her cousins.

"What did he do?" demanded James.

"Well, nothing, really. He didn't do anything, he just said something."

"WHAT DID HE SAY?" growled Fred.

"Oh, would you stop it. He was just being a…..a pompous arse."

Fred and James grinned wickedly at each other, Roxanne rolled her eyes, Molly made a disapproving clucking noise, and Albus gave her an apologetic frown.

"Oh, Merlin. No, you will not hex him. It wasn't that bad," she said reasonably.

"Fred, James, no, control yourselves, just –" tried Rose hopefully.

But it was too late, Malfoy was sprouting blue facial hair all over, and his lips were growing abnormally larger by the second.

"Godric, I cannot believe they actually did that," moaned Rose.

"I can," said Roxanne between bites of treacle tart.

"Albus, go tell them to take off that ridiculous hex. The boy doesn't deserve that."

Albus looked at her frighteningly, as though the thought of telling his older brother not to do something was crazy.

"See, that's your problem, you're too quick to look for the good in people," pointed out Dominique.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's a Malfoy. He deserves that," said Roxanne.

"You can't punish him for what his family did. You can't choose family."

"Well, all he would have to do to show people he isn't like them, is be a decent bloke, and instead, he decided to be a git. Calling for trouble, eh?" said Victoire pleasantly.

"Well, maybe if we give him the chance."

"So, what, you're going to save him?"

"No, but everyone deserves a chance."

"Look, all we're saying –"

"Wasn't that brilliant?" asked James.

"Haven't done that before," added Fred.

They grinned as they explained the spell to everyone, including Molly who had surprisingly put her book down to actually listen. Malfoy walked past them as he made his way to the hospital wing, his face covered in blue, his lips painfully plump.

"Love the colour!" yelled Fred.

"Reckon I still look better than your entire family," he retorted menacingly, before scrambling away.

Rose casually picked up a strawberry dipped in chocolate, and bit into it. "Next time, maybe bubble gum pink. It suits him better, don't you think?"

Everyone at the table in the near vicinity laughed, and James wiped the fake tears from his eyes dramatically. "Look at Rosie, all grown up. Learning the ways of the world. You make us proud."

Rose threw a piece of pie at him, and he promptly shut up.


A/N: Scorose, yay! I think Scorpius wasn't a complete good guy in the start, because of his upbringing, but most of it was just a farce. Rose is like her mother, willing to accept people. Anyway, let me know what you thought!

Reviews mean a lot to me, and give me the drive to go on, so please leave a review. Constructive criticism is always welcome. (: