Here is the second chapter....

We have both Rose's and Scorpius' point of view this time :D Enjoy!

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Before the Dawn

Chapter 2

Rose's POV

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to look someone in the eye when you are conscious of every single particle in their being? I mean, if you were conversing with a friend or a dorm mate or any generic person really, it would be so easy and so relaxed. You wouldn't be concerned at all about how you look, how you stand, how you talk and how you hold your hands. And you definitely wouldn't over-analyse everything single little thing that would come out of his mouth or yours that's for sure.

But nothing is ever simple or easy when you are confronted with the intent look of the guy you've had a crush on for three years.

At first you kind of freak out a bit and think 'omg! Omg! He's looking at me?'. And then, once you've overcome the intense shock of it all you're hit with a crippling shyness as you start to wonder what on earth you are going to say. To make matters worse, at some point in all that confusion and angst your brain tells you in an awfully mean voice just how stupid you must look floundering around for words and just what a pathetic person you must be for letting this all get to you.

It's not nice that's for sure.

I'm positive that my stomach is going to jump through my mouth at any second and I'm so aware that I've been standing staring at him for what must be nearly a minute.

Why won't he hurry up and speak!

"Uh…hi," he mutters obviously embarrassed. It's from my staring I'm sure.

"…um…hey?" I strangle out. It's all I can manage.

We stand and stare at each other again for what seems like an age.

Scorpius Malfoy and I rarely talk even though we're in the same house. If he's not with his friends he's usually surrounded by hordes of admiring girls or crawlers trying to be cool by being seen with him. Being the head boy also means that he gets very busy, even busier than me, with head duties. Add to that the fact that teenage boys often have difficulty relating to us girls and it's not hard to understand why we've never talked much.

Scorpius' mouth starts moving and I snap my mind out of the clouds and focus all my energy on absorbing what he says to me.

"…Halloween is a big task so I came to see you because I needed some help."

Him need me for help?

"Marisa is just not going to cope with the two of us doing all the main work and so she suggested that we each find some help from people in our year."

Marisa? Oh, Marisa! She's the head girl this year. She's lucky, getting to spend all that time during head duties with Scorpius.

I was a bit miffed at first when I didn't get chosen for head girl. If fact I was actually quite pissed to be honest. But then I realised why I hadn't been chosen for the job and it all made sense (not that I liked it mind you). You don't have to be the smartest to be head. In fact half of it is responsibility (which I have) and the other half, the ability to relate to people and help them. I'd never really demonstrated this publicly and so, Marisa had been chosen over me.

To be frank, I'm over it really. Who wants all those duties on top of our intense NEWT workload anyway?

I force myself to respond. "But what about the prefects? Surely they can help?"

What am I doing? Refusing to help him? I can't do that!

Scorpius' mouth twitched slightly. "Well they will be helping to some extent but there are spells that Marisa and I want to use for the decoration that most of them can't handle. They're pretty advanced spells."

"Oh," is all I say.

Scorpius stares at me for a little more and then glances off to the side. "Look, I'd really appreciate some help and I promise to make it up to you if you help me. But I can always ask someone else if you're not interested."

Shocked I respond. "No! I mean yes, of course I'll help you. You don't have to make it up to me."

A relieved smile spreads across Scorpius' face.

"That's great! Thanks so much and I will be making it up to you. We're having a meeting tomorrow during lunch to discuss it all. If you could make it….well that'd be great too."

"Sure." Frantically I search for any previous engagements that I may have made in my head, but Scorpius is already walking down the hall.

I half open my mouth to shout out I'm free, but then half swallow it at the last second. I just said 'sure' didn't I?

Sighing I turn back to my sofa and my eyes instantly pick up the dog-eared pages of Albus' practice essay. I groan. More work to do. Lovely.

But as I work I also contemplate….

I wonder how Scorpius knew where to find me?

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Scorpius' POV

Scorpius didn't hate his father.

How could you hate someone who had strived for the best for his son since the day he'd first held his tiny red newborn. Even though the best had not always been to Scorpius' liking the thought had always been there. It was what convinced Scorpius that his father did care for him through all the Malfoy arrogance and repression.

Love did not come easily to Draco Malfoy that was for sure. At one point in his life Scorpius had been convinced that the Great Wizarding War against Voldemort had squeezed any love that there may have been out of his father. Left cold and very unresponsive, Draco never expressed emotion the way normal people would (or so Scorpius believed).

But despite this, it was the little things that counted.

Take, for example, Scorpius' disgraced grandfather. Lucius Malfoy had spent many years leading up to Scorpius' 11th birthday trying to persuade his parents to send him abroad for his education. But, come August when the Hogwarts owls came knocking on the front door, no decline was sent on behalf of the Malfoy family. Scorpius could go to Hogwarts just like every other normal child.

It was one of the happiest days of Scorpius' life.

Yes, Scorpius' parents were definitely very unlike his grandparents. Not wanting to stand out from the crowd anymore they had long since abandoned the lavishly decorated halls of Malfoy Manor still haunted by Lucius and Narcissa. Scorpius did not live in an expensive mansion and nor did he get showered in gifts or receive luxurious clothing or toys. He lived on the outskirts of London in a house that was of wealthy origins but not ridiculously luxurious and he had been allowed to intermingle with children his own age in the muggle suburb.

In the scheme of things, Scorpius considered himself lucky. Lucky to be born in this age. Lucky to have escaped the horrors of the war. And distinctly lucky to have had a normal childhood free of the guilt and blame placed on his family.

He knew the real story and if he was honest with himself he knew that what had happened long ago, whilst not very becoming of his family, shouldn't hold him back in life.

Scorpius was not his father and definitely not his grandfather.

Still, it had hurt standing at platform nine and three quarters all those years ago, overhearing the red-haired father instruct his daughter not to talk to him and to beat him in every class. What had he ever done wrong? Why did he deserve this treatment? Would his worst fears be confirmed? Would he be that bullied kid in school just because of his family name?

At first Rose Weasley had cast him suspicious glances whenever he was near and he knew she had been surprised when she had realised she'd have tough competition in most of her classes. But as both of them had been sorted into Ravenclaw and Scorpius had quickly proved his innocence, no more suspicion or hate ever came from the Weasley family again.

In fact, he'd actually been approached by the pretty and very promiscuous younger Potter, Lily on many occasions. He didn't date girls he barely knew though, and she was one of them despite her looks. Too many bad things came out of those sort of relationships.......

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'They still follow me around, why can't I just have a moment of peace?' Scorpius groaned. Today, as usual, there was a horde of girls to accompany him to every class. It was very annoying.

Clearly he was the only one who thought that too because next to him Albus Potter was lapping up the attention. It was the latest contest between these girls to see who would be invited to attend the Hogwarts Halloween celebration with Albus or Scorpius.

"Alby oh Alby! How was your holiday?" The irritating tones of Lacey Price, a 5th year Hufflepuff, squealed.

Albus grinned cockily and brushed her off with a "Good…we've got a new next door neighbour, she's very hot."

'Ooohh, burn!' I thought smugly. Lacey wasn't put off though she kept on at it right up until we crossed the doorway into our classroom. Her voice was like the constant slam of a sledge hammer into the side of my brain.

Walking into that classroom felt like a sharp blast of relief. Finally! Some peace and quiet.

Just as I relaxed I immediately tensed again. 'Oh great…' I'd been made late to class by those girls and Professor Goldstein was not impressed. I hurried to take a place.

Rose Weasley looked up as I took the spare seat next to her. Surprisingly her fresh page was blank, no notes, nothing. Well, unless you counted the obvious doodle of a owl in the corner. Strange, I'd have thought she'd have half a page of notes written by now. That owl was nicely drawn though…

"Hi." Her whispered voice caught my attention. "You'd better hurry up and get your stuff out, Goldstein looks pissed."

Nodding in agreement I hastily pulled out paper and a biro. No one bothered with quills any more, they broke too quickly. Rose seemed to like them though because she usually has a different coloured one for every day of the week. Today she had a nice silvery-blue one. No, I'm not gay, I just notice the small things.

Sooo, today at lunch was it? Her sharp print appeared on my page.

Yep, that's the plan, although some of the prefects will be absent because of duties. My smooth looped script wrote in reply.

What about food?

You like food too much to skip a meal?

…………

?

I like my food and besides they have chicken sandwiches for lunch today.

Hey, how do you know that?

Someone told me…

…Riiight, well anyway we'll have lunch at the meeting

Oh, good…

Apparently she then ran out of things to say to me so I returned my attention to the class at hand.

And the funny thing too is that by the end of the class, Rose's owl had morphed into a fully fledged forest with deer, oak and a rather impressive mountain backdrop............

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And that's chapter 2. I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope you're having fun reading it XD Anyway, I'll try to update soon.