Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, places, ideas, events, etc. are not mine. They belong to the brilliant mind of JK Rowling.
When she finally woke up the next morning, Rose thought about the crazy dream she had had the night before. When she opened her eyes and saw the tattoo on her wrist, she realized it hadn't been a dream at all. Well that was just bloody perfect, wasn't it? She had definitely rushed into this stupid decision. Holy Hufflepuff, what did she get herself into?
Groggily, she sat up and stretched. She was so tired. "What time is it?" Rose asked no one in particular.
"Seven," the disembodied voice of one of her roommates, Stacy Smith, answered.
"Seven?" Rose threw open the curtains around her bed and scrambled out, running for the bathroom. Classes started at eight and she normally got up at six. Panicked, she showered as fast as she could, brushed her teeth, got her books together, ran a brush through her hair and sprinted to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Merlin's beard, where have you been?" Olivia asked as Rose threw herself onto the bench beside her friend at the Gryffindor table.
"I woke up late," Rose mumbled while stuffing her face with food.
"You look like hell. Didn't you sleep at all last night?" said Al.
"No, I actually didn't sleep very well. Hopefully I can catch up on some sleep tonight," she replied distractedly as she reached for more food.
"I grabbed your schedule for you," Olivia placed it in front of her and Rose looked it over while continuing to eat.
"It all looks good except Divination. I told McGonagall I wanted to take Arithmancy instead."
"Well you know McGonagall, she is getting on a bit, isn't she? I'm sure she'll let you switch," Olivia assured her.
As soon as Rose finished eating, she ran up to the staff table and asked McGonagall to fix her schedule. With a quick flick of the professor's wand, her schedule was changed and she was off to her first class; Charms. Professor Flitwick was wonderful and Charms was one of Rose's absolute favorite subjects.
Olivia, Al, and Rose were on their way to Herbology when they rounded a corner and Rose quite literally bumped into Scorpius. "Weasley," he sneered.
Feeling the random urge to laugh, Rose suppressed that urge and said just as menacingly, "Malfoy."
He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then he must've thought better of it because he simply straightened his robes and walked off. Rose turned her head to watch him leave and saw him glance back at her, wink, and then keep going.
"He must've been in a hurry," Olivia noted, "he didn't even pause long enough to insult your family."
"Either that or he knew that I would kick his arse if he said anything," said Albus. Olivia and Rose exchanged a glance before giggling behind his back and following him the rest of the way to class.
The rest of the week passed by fairly normal until Friday afternoon. Rose had just finished her last class of the day; Arithmancy, and she plopped down on her bed hoping for a nap. When she stretched her arms out under her pillow, however, she found a piece of parchment there.
Rose Nymphadora Weasley,
The Dragon Club will be meeting in the Charms classroom tomorrow evening at midnight. Attire is casual. See you tomorrow evening.
Yours Most Sincerely,
Senior Dragon Club Members Warrington, Selwyn, Rutherford, Hawley and Davies
Ugh. Another party? She didn't want to party, especially not tomorrow night because after only one week of classes she was up to her eyeballs in homework. Was it mandatory to go to the parties? She didn't think it would be, but just the same, seeing as how she was such a new member, she decided that it was important to attend. And Selwyn was a senior member? No, that couldn't be right, it must be her older brother, what was his name? Vance. Vance Selwyn. Well that explained how Viola got into the club.
How in the bloody hell had they gotten a note underneath of her pillow? Had they been in her dormitory? She glanced around, but didn't notice anything out of place. That was just one more mystery about the club that she was excited to unravel.
She had been hiding the tattoo by not hiding it at all. It was an ingenious plan, really. Hogwarts' school robes had long enough sleeves to cover it, and as long as the sleeves stayed down, no one could see it. Rose wondered more than once if it was permanent or not because she was hoping that she could remove it some day after she left Hogwarts.
Her entire Saturday was spent doing homework so that she wouldn't feel too guilty about going to the party that night. Thankfully, everyone was in bed by eleven o'clock and Rose figured the first week of school must've worn them out as much as it had worn her out. At about a quarter to midnight, she slipped out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a cute green top and made it down the girls staircase.
She was just inching open the portrait hole when, "Hullo, Rose."
Rose jumped in surprise to find Scorpius waiting just on the other side for her. "Um, Hullo," she replied timidly.
"I thought I would walk you to the meeting," he said casually.
"Why?" she was immediately suspicious.
"Because it's like I said, I wouldn't put it past Viola to try something, but you're safe with me."
Strangely, she believed him. So she didn't object as he walked close by her side through the castle down to the Charms classroom. As they approached, he pulled the door open and ushered for her to go in first. This was pretty much the opposite of the last party she had attended. The other party had been sophisticated and classy, where as this one was absolutely wild.
There were people running around and dancing not the classy dances they had been previously, but rather dirty raunchy dances. Everyone appeared to be drunk. "What is this?" she gasped.
"This would be our version of a rave," Scorpius said loudly into her ear. She still had trouble hearing him over the pounding music. "I guess everyone needed a good time to go crazy after the first week of classes," he was positively shouting for her to hear him.
For one moment Rose debated on going back to the common room, but then it hit her; she wanted to be here. Just like every other teenager in the room, she felt the need to blow off some steam that had been building over the past week. Plus, she belonged there; the tattoo that was showing on her wrist was proof of that. She was still, however, intimidated by this gathering.
"Don't worry," Scorpius yelled, as if he had just read her mind, "I won't let anything happen to you."
"Who made you my guard dog, Malfoy?" she snapped without thinking, "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" she poked him hard in the chest and took off toward the bar. Yes, that is correct, they had an actual bar set up in the Charms classroom being run by Steven Davies.
"Hey Rose," he greeted her, "What would you like? I can make a wicked margarita."
"Just water, please, Steven," was her answer. He shrugged and slid her a glass.
She had only taken a few sips when a semi-familiar voice said from behind her, "You look really nice tonight."
Slowly, she turned to find Vance Selwyn with a glass of alcohol in hand, swaying slightly on his feet, talking to her. "Thank you," she said stiffly.
"Do you want to dance?"
"No."
"Would you like to get out of here then? We can go up to the Astronomy Tower. On a clear night like this, all of the stars will be out."
"No." Couldn't this bloke take a hint?
"Well, Miss Weasley, I'm afraid I'm not taking no for an answer," Vance grabbed her upper arm hard and yanked her toward the door. Okay, this was definitely not how she expected this night to go.
"Let go of her," a deep voice growled threateningly. Scorpius Malfoy had the tip of his wand touching Vance's neck.
"What are you going to do about it, Malfoy? Hit me with a killing curse?" taunted Vance.
"Don't . Tempt. Me." Scorpius said between gritted teeth, pushing his wand even harder into Vance's neck.
"Take it easy, mate, I was just taking her into the corridor so we could chat," Vance lied, panicking slightly.
"You're not chatting with her out in the corridor. Nor will you ever chat with her again. I know Viola put you up to this, and tell her that if she tries anything else, I will Avada-Kedavra her arse," there was nothing in Malfoy's tone that let Rose know if it was an empty threat or not.
"Fine, let me go, you can take her," Vance, still holding her tightly by the upper arm, thrust her hard at Malfoy. Being pushed so violently forward doesn't exactly do wonders for a person's balance, that was for sure. Rose found herself falling toward the floor and wondered vaguely if she would be able to hide the bruises she was sure to have when strong arms caught her and hoisted her back onto her feet.
"You alright?" Scorpius asked, his arms still around Rose.
"Yes, I'm fine," she told him as she smoothed out her shirt.
"Still don't want me as your guard dog?" he quipped. Rose couldn't help it; she laughed.
"As long as you don't treat me like some sort of possession the way Vance just did, I'll let you be my guard dog."
Scorpius snorted with laughter and said to her, "I can't believe Viola would stoop so low as to talk her brother into…into…"
"Hurting me?" she offered.
"Yes," hissed Scorpius, sounding furious.
"Let's just forget about it and have a good time, alright?" she asked hopefully, trying to calm Scorpius down. She had never seen him this mad before ever, and that included the one time in second year when she had dropped a whole jar of beetle eyes into his hair growing potion, causing it to explode all over him and he spent an entire week looking like a big blonde werewolf.
"Yeah, alright," he consented and pulled her out onto the dance floor.
"Scorpius, I don't know how to dance to this kind of music," she told him nervously.
"That's because this isn't the type of dance you can be taught, Rose, you have to learn it yourself." He put his hands on her hips and guided them with the music. He was much better at this than she was. He held his body against hers and once she started to get the hang of what she was doing, Rose found this to be oddly sexual. She couldn't move any part of her body without touching Scorpius, and they were grinding.
If someone told her a week ago that she would be grinding on a dance floor with Scorpius Malfoy she would've told them that they had eaten one too many Nosebleed Nougats. But strangely, she was enjoying herself. Eventually, Zander found them.
"Damn, Weasley!"
"For Merlin's sake, Zander! Why must you address me that way every time you attempt to initiate a conversation with me?"
Scorpius laughed and they stopped dancing. "Why is it that every time I attempt to initiate a conversation with you, I find you even hotter than the last time we spoke?" he added snippily.
Rose flushed red and Scorpius saved her from having to reply by saying, "Zander, mate, you're drunk. You should go sit over in that corner and wait for me as I go return Rose to her dormitory."
"What?" she asked, "We're leaving?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because everyone here is drunk and you look far too appealing in that outfit." Without waiting for her to say anything in response, Scorpius led her out of the classroom and back up to Gryffindor Tower.
"Are you going to walk me home after every meeting of the Dragon Club?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I worry about you. You're not like any other members of the club. You're innocent and trusting and naïve and beautiful-" he seemed to catch himself then and stopped talking.
"And that makes it your responsibility to watch out for me?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. Did you or did you not just accept my request to be your guard dog so long as I don't treat you like a possession?"
"I guess I did," she mumbled.
"That's right, now here we are. Say your password to the portrait and go in to get some sleep. Or do homework. Or whatever it is you're normally doing at two in the morning."
"Well, normally I'm sleeping, but tonight I think I might stay up and read for a bit. Also, I'm not saying the password in front of you. You're a Slytherin."
Scorpius chuckled appreciatively, "Thanks, Rose, but I know what house I'm in. Goodnight," just like the previous time, Scorpius kissed the back of her hand softly.
"Goodnight, Scorpius," she said. With a quick wink he turned and strode off. Smiling to herself, she turned to the Fat Lady, "Flobberworms."
Without any teasing this time, she swung open and Rose climbed through. "Rose Nymphadora Weasley!" The loud and angry voice of her older cousin, James Potter, yelled.
Rose nearly died of a heart attack in shock. Nearly all of Gryffindor Tower was awake and in the common room. "What's…what's going on?" she asked nervously.
"Where have you been?" Shrieked Olivia, "I went to wake you up and you weren't in your bed! I panicked and got your cousins up to help me look for you. We've been searching for you for over an hour now!"
"Why were you going to wake me up?" she asked.
"Does it matter?" Olivia yelled, though she was blushing, "The point is you weren't there!" Rose would have to ask her later what the reason was for Olivia wanting to wake her.
"I was just studying in the library because I was worried about my transfiguration homework that I did earlier. I thought that I might not have done a good job on my essay about-"
"Don't lie to us, Rose," Albus looked shocked that his favorite cousin was lying to him. But how did he know she was lying? "We searched the library. Not to mention, look at how you're dressed! You don't dress up that nice to make a midnight trip to the library!"
"I…I…" Rose stuttered around and for a split second debated on telling them the truth, but as soon as the idea popped into her head, she felt her tongue curl back on itself and knew she wouldn't be able to tell them even if she wanted to. "It's none of anyone's business where I was. I'm sorry if you were all scared, but as you can all see, I'm perfectly fine. So if you don't mind, I'm sure we're all tired. I'm going to bed," Before anyone could stop her, she ran up to the dorm, and flung herself into bed.
To her immense shock and relief, nobody bothered her for the rest of the night. She stayed curled up in her four poster bed, reading a good book about Quidditch until she fell asleep. The next morning, she was awake before anyone else. It was a Sunday, so she went quietly on her way to breakfast.
She was sitting at the table, eating breakfast and minding her own business when suddenly, "Is it true?" Grace squealed as she ran to Rose and tackled her in a hug.
"Is what true, Grace?"
"That our little Rosie snuck out of her dorm last night and refuses to tell everyone where she was!" Grace grabbed a sausage off of Rose's plate, helping herself.
"That, er, I guess is the truth," Rose mumbled.
"Finally! Some of my Slytherin-ness is starting to rub off on you lot! And here I thought all of the time I have invested in my friends was wasted!" Grace was excited about this? Sweet Merlin maybe Rose's father was right after all and all Slytherins really are messed up in the head. "So," she asked, "where were you?"
"I'd like to know that myself," inquired Phineas.
"I'm not telling anyone," Rose said firmly, "it doesn't matter anyway."
"Good for you, Rose," Lorcan said, "it's nobody's business but your own!"
"Lorcan, you prat! We're her best friends! She's supposed to tell us everything!" Lysander argued.
"What are you all doing up this early?" Rose decided it was time for a topic change.
"We knew you would be up early. You see, dear Rose," Lorcan began, "we completely understand if there's something you don't want your family to know, but you can tell us! We promise we won't tell Al. Or any of your other cousins."
"Yeah, Rose, you can trust us," Phineas seconded.
"I'm a Slytherin," said Grace openly, "if anyone can be sneaky and lie, it's me."
"As much as I love you all and am thankful for the fact that I can trust you, I'm not telling anyone where I was. End of story," she said with finality.
"Rose," Scorpius was suddenly at the Gryffindor table, looking uncomfortable but determined.
"Scorpius," Rose said, with only a slight sneer.
"I believe this belongs to you," to her complete embarrassment, he held up an earring. Rose's earring. That she had been wearing last night. She instinctively reached up and felt her ears. Sure enough, one was there and the other was missing. "I found it in the corridor just now on my way to breakfast," Rose knew he was lying.
Scorpius Malfoy was lying to keep her on good terms with her friends. What the hell? Where was the Malfoy that she had known and despised for the past four years? Suddenly he wasn't two people at all, just one; Scorpius. "Thanks," she said quickly as she snatched her lost earring from his outstretched hand.
Rose remembered then exactly the moment when she had lost it. It was when Scorpius and her were dancing. She had felt something tug on her ear but didn't really think about it at the time. It must have gotten caught on his shirt. She felt herself flush with embarrassment at the memory, but tried to hide her blush from her friends as Scorpius turned and went back to the Slytherin table.
"What the fuck was that?" Grace broke the silence.
"Apparently I lost an earring on my way down to breakfast," she said a bit too casually.
"Rose," said Grace seriously, "First of all, I'm a Slytherin. I'm a professional liar. You, however, are not and that was a terrible lie. Secondly, since when are you two on a first name basis? He called you Rose and you called him Scorpius. So let me repeat myself. What the fuck was that?"
"Just drop it alright?" Rose growled and went back to breakfast.
"Um, no we're not just going to drop this!" Said Phineas in surprise, "You and Malfoy were almost…almost friendly with each other!"
"I swear if any of you ask me any more questions this morning about last night or Malfoy, I will hex you!" Rose snatched up her wand to make sure they knew she wasn't joking.
"Woah, what's going on over here?" asked Albus as he and Olivia sat down across from Rose.
"Rose," said Lysander, "was just almost nice to Malfoy. And he returned her earring."
"Lysander!" She screamed and flicked her wand at him. Immediately his legs started flailing and he fell to the ground, hit by her jelly-legs jinx.
"What the bloody hell?" yelled Grace, "First Rose lies about sneaking out, then she speaks civilly to Malfoy, and now she just jinxed one of her best friends? Are you sure the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor, Sweetie?"
"Why did Malfoy have your earring?" Al asked, glaring at his cousin.
"I must have dropped it on my way down to breakfast, it's not a big deal," Rose said quickly.
"That is the shittiest excuse I've ever heard," said Olivia, "because for one thing, I noticed your missing earring last night. Not to mention, how in the hell would Malfoy know the earring was yours?"
"Because, you idiots, I was still wearing the matching one," she motioned to her ears, "and I must have dropped my earring last night then. You already know I snuck out, so I must have dropped an earring while I was out."
"Rose," Olivia was looking at her with concern now, "It's pretty obvious that you were sneaking around last night and at the least bumped into Malfoy. Maybe you even met up with him on purpose, I don't know. I'm just saying that this isn't like you. If you're in some sort of trouble, or if he's trying to blackmail you or something, girl, you can talk to us. We can help you." All of her friends nodded enthusiastically.
"Merlin's fucking pants!" she shocked them all by yelling. Rose never swore, ever. Let alone shout swear words at her best friends, "I'm not in any trouble! It's nobody's bloody business where I was last night, so leave me the hell alone!" she flung her plate, still full of food, down the table and stormed out of the Great Hall.
She didn't look back until, "Rose?"
She flung around, wand at the ready, "Oh," she said, "it's just you."
"Just me? I'm insulted! Most women would kill to have me chase them out of the Great Hall to make sure they were alright."
"You came out here just to make sure I was okay? Who are you and what have you done with Scorpius Malfoy?"
"I don't think you ever really knew Scorpius Malfoy until this term. Just like I didn't know Rose Weasley."
"Fair enough. How about we start with introductions then?" she extended her hand to him, "I'm Rose Nymphadora Weasley," he raised an eyebrow at her middle name but didn't comment.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," that was when she realized why he hadn't laughed at her middle name; because his was even more ridiculous. He took her outstretched hand and shook it.
"Looks we already have something in common. Both of our parents were intoxicated when naming us," she said. He laughed.
"Looks like it," they smiled at each other, still shaking hands, and in that moment they both knew it was the start of a beautiful friendship. "Now are you going to tell me what just happened back there?"
Rose snorted, "My friends were being a bunch of prats. They think that I was up to something bad because they caught me sneaking back into the common room last night."
"Well, for all they know, you could have been doing something bad," he said slowly.
"What?"
"Just think about it," he said, "you'll never be able to tell them where you go. They're bound to catch you again. It comes with the responsibility of being a member of the Club. It's hard on all of us; especially the few Ravenclaws because they're all so intelligent, you know? Their friends are pretty sneaky about figuring out where they disappear to."
"I guess you're right," she paused then thought it wise to add, "they know I was with you. They think that I snuck off with you."
"Wow, I bet you were pretty insulted, having them assume that you would willingly be in my company," he didn't say this with much heat.
"Strangely, Scorpius, I find that I don't mind being in your company nearly as much as I used to," she admitted while staring at her hands.
"I feel the same way," he hesitated and she looked up at him, sensing that he was about to say more, and eventually he did, "I've found that I enjoy your company, Rose. More than I thought I would. I'm actually, erm, starting to feel like we're friends."
"You know what, Scorpius? I think we are. I can already confide more in you than anyone else."
"It's not just that," he sounded enthusiastic now that he knew she wouldn't throw his feelings back in his face, "it's that you're good for me, you know? Our personalities mesh well and I think you're actually a lot of fun now."
"Now?"
"Yes, you were a prude before."
"I was not!"
"Yes, you were. Obviously you still kind of are."
Rose made a face at him so he said quickly, "If you want my advice as a friend, it's that you don't give a shit what your friends think and do what makes you happy. If they're really your friends, they'll accept that, right? I mean, Zander became a member of the Dragon Club a year before I did, and yeah it got on my nerves not knowing where he was, but I knew Zander and I trusted him."
"Obviously you have more trust in your friends than mine have in me," Rose said this very bitterly, spitting the words out as if they tasted bad in her mouth.
"I would trust you, Rose," he said this very quietly, "I've only really known you for one week and I can already tell what sort of person you are. You can trust me, too, you know."
"Scorpius, as crazy as this sounds, I do trust you. If it weren't for you, who knows what Vance would've done last night? I was sincerely scared, but when you intervened I felt…safe," as she said the words, Rose felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders because she had finally told him, and herself, the truth.
"I'm glad. Because you are safe around me, Rose. I meant what I said about feeling like we're friends now, and I wouldn't let anyone ever hurt you. With all of that being said, how about we sneak down to the kitchens?"
"The kitchens?" she repeated, "why?"
"Well seeing as how the vast majority of your breakfast ended up on your friends, I think you could use some food."
"I can't argue with that, Scorp, so lead the way," she motioned for him to start walking, and after a quick smirk in her direction, he strode off down the hall.
Over the next week, Rose and Scorpius didn't talk much. After all, they each had an image to uphold. Rose was the good girl who never got into trouble and Scorpius was the bad boy who was always in trouble. The only problem was that now, Rose didn't seem to have any friends.
Albus was still mad at her for not telling him where she had disappeared to, Olivia was ardently ignoring her, and even Grace was being a bit distant. "Um, can't we talk about this?" she asked them one evening as they all sat around in the library studying.
"About what?" Grace asked without even looking up from her Potions textbook.
"About the fact that you're all avoiding me!"
"If you would just tell us the truth, we wouldn't be ignoring you," said Lorcan casually.
Rose's eyes began to fill with tears and she remembered the words that Scorpius had spoken to her a week previously, "You guys know me. You should trust me. I'm not under any obligation to tell you everything I do. We're friends, and that should mean getting over your issues and having a bit of faith in me."
Nobody said anything to this. They were ignoring her again. Olivia looked like she might break down, but she bit her lip in defiance and kept her eyes on the essay she was writing. "It's not," Grace hesitated then continued, "it's not that we don't trust you. It's that we feel like you don't trust us because you won't tell us anything."
"Is that really what you all think?" Rose asked, the tears in her eyes starting to spill over, "You bunch of stupid gits!" now she was yelling, "how could you possibly fool yourselves into believing, for even a moment, that I don't trust you? You're my best friends!"
Albus glanced up at her, straightened his glasses and said, "Rose, could you keep your voice down? We don't want Madam Pince to throw us out of here."
"Fine!" she screamed, "if this is how it's going to be, then so be it!" she turned on her heel and strode out of the library, purposefully knocking over a large stack of books as she went. They thundered to the floor and Madam Pince appeared screeching, but Rose was already long gone.
A/N: Don't sorry, Rose and Scorpius are not that good of friends that fast. They had a moment of bonding, but will it last? Also, what do you think of her family's reaction?