"Love, can you pass me my quill?"
Rose looked over at the boy. She raised one of her eyebrows and took one of his quills and passed it to him. "I can't believe I was allowed to touch one of Scorpius Malfoy's quills," she remarked.
They were in the head's common room, studying. It was an awkward situation, considering none of them really liked to start conversations.
"By the way, Malfoy, we don't particularly need to pretend we're together. No one's around. Plus, we're in our own common room, you know." Rose said, obviously not liking his pet name for her.
Scorpius looked deep in thought until he finally acknowledged her. "Well, love, your cousin and my friend, Albus, just happens to know our password. Not to mention that Scamander scum." He said, proving his point. "Someone could come in at any time."
Rose rolled her eyes at his paranoia and looked at him, "It's not like they come in here often." She said, obviously not worried in the slightest.
Scorpius shrugged. "You never know."
Rose decided to put her concentration back to her potions project. She had finished a few nights before but she wanted to check on it just in case. She would be going over all the characteristics of the potion, making sure it was absolutely perfect. She conjured her potion quickly with her wand.
"Potions?" Scorpius asked.
"What do you think?"
"Well, are you sure you don't need help with it? Potions is obviously not your best subject, love." Scorpius said, smirking.
Rose frowned. She did not like to be reminded that she was not very good at potions. She managed to stay top of that class only after hours and hours of studying. There was a year when Scorpius had beat her at the end-of-year exams by one point. It had damaged her pride immensely. She hated the fact that Scorpius Malfoy might be better at something than her that had to do with school.
The thing was, Scorpius was captivated by Potions. He thought it was very useful and amazing. There was a potion for almost anything. This was very different from Rose, who fancied things like Charms and Ancient Runes. The only class they both seemed to find agreeable was DADA.
"Did you choose Amortentia or Veritaserum?"
Old Professor Slughorn loved choices and variety. He had given the seventh years a choice to do either Amortentia or Veritaserum. Both were quite difficult, but you were allowed to keep your potion afterwards, so some preferred one over the other.
Rose had chosen Veritaserum. She was a very honest person and thought it would come in handy, especially considering she had so many ill-behaved cousins. She also didn't really have anyone she wanted to slip a love potion to. She was not the type that wanted love-sick boys running after her. Plus, she hated the idea of having to make such a girly potion. Its purpose was absolutely horrible as well. She fancied the idea of true love and well, love potions did not make that happen.
"Veritaserum, you?" Rose actually didn't particularly care which potion Scorpius had chosen, she just felt the need to ask to sound like she had good manners.
"Amortentia, I find it more useful than Veritaserum. It's not like I need a love potion, though. Girls just automatically fall for me, unlike you. You need all the help you can get. I'm surprised you didn't choose Amortentia."
"I honestly think I would rather be respected and called love." Rose mumbled under her breath. She turned towards him. "I already finished it, though. Did you even start on yours?"
Rose already happened to know the answer to the question though. Scorpius Malfoy excelled in Potions and probably finished the project on the first day to the utmost perfection. She almost envied his talent in the particular subject.
"I finished." He said calmly.
He also conjured his cauldron with a simple wave of his wand. It appeared next to Rose's. There was a cover on it to prevent the alluring scents from escaping outside. He removed the cover slowly. Rose smelled the scents easily. She peered into the cauldron. It exceeded most expectations. It was absolutely flawless.
She admired the beautiful mother-of-pearl sheen. It was precisely the right color. The steam rose up into the air in wonderful spirals, disappearing once they passed a certain height. The potion released its appealing smells. She felt absolutely drawn to it.
Scorpius stood next to her and watched as she breathed in the different tempting scents. "What do you smell, love?" He asked. He was slightly interesting, wondering what Rose Weasley could possibly be attracted to, other than books, of course.
"Old parchment, freshly brewed coffee, melted chocolate, and…" Her voice trailed off as she breathed in the last scent. She could smell the scent. It can't be. The obvious scent of cinnamon wafted into her nose. It was crisp, fresh, calming, and utterly enticing. She could help but notice it was the exact smell that she had smelled on her "date"at Hogsmeade. She turned slightly pink and said, "That's it." She was a good liar and managed to fool Scorpius.
Her curious eyes led Scorpius to tell his own scents. He let the scent fill his nose. He had smelled the potion many times before but he never got tired of smelling it. His eyes turned a bit cloudy from temptation towards the potion. The inviting scents begged him to get closer. He closed his eyes, "A new bottle of ink, gingerbread, my broomstick, .."
He felt confused as he began to smell something new. It was soothing but beautiful. It smelled like a calm vanilla along with some wonderful floral scent he probably smelled in Hogsmeade. He immediately noticed where it had come from and shut hit mouth quickly. He opened it once more, "I think there's some other scent but I don't remember it. It's probably from my childhood."
Rose couldn't help but sense a small feeling of disappointment. She found it rather frustrating that she had smelled him in the potion while he hadn't. He looked at the potion with distaste, hoping that there might be a flaw in it. She almost laughed out loud from the thought that maybe, just maybe, the "perfect" Scorpius Malfoy made a mistake in his potion. She knew that could never happen, but she hadn't wanted to smell Scorpius in the potion. It was distressing.
Rose felt convinced that she only loved the scent. This had nothing to do with the person it had come from. She did love cinnamon, after all.
"Can I see your veritaserum?" Scorpius asked after covering his potion once more.
Rose nodded as she made her way to her own potion. Not to sound arrogant, but she really did think that her potion was quite above average.
"You did let it mature for a full lunar phase, right?" Scorpius asked. He raised his eyebrows as he once again mentioned how incompetent Rose was in Potions.
"Of course, what do you take me for, an idiot?" Rose shot back. "I pay attention in class and I do take notes."
Scorpius, of course, already knew this. Scorpius and Rose were basically the only two in the class that didn't fall asleep. Slughorn was a rather interesting teacher who tried to keep his class educational but fun. His age had gotten to him though, and he was not the same bright teacher he had once been. Rose and Scorpius both took very careful notes, but Scorpius had always wanted to have Rose's notes. They were neatly organized and her handwriting was elegant and perfect. He would've liked them much more than his own notes. His handwriting was quite a bit messy. He had often been scolded from his mother because of his illegible handwriting. It was not "gentleman-like" in her words.
Scorpius turned to Rose as she revealed her potion. He looked at the potion, slightly impressed (though he did not show this, of course). The potion fit all the requirements perfectly. It had absolutely no color, appearing like water at first glance. It also had no odor, unlike the potion they had just seen. It was a great potion,
Scorpius wanted to see it in action. "Do you want to test it, love?" He asked with a smirk on his face.
She nodded. She found no harm in telling him honest answers. In addition, she had always wanted to know a couple of things about the Slytherin. She pondered over a few questions she could ask him before facing him. "You first?"
"No, love. Ladies first."
Rose scowled at the boy before sitting down. "Ask away, Malfoy." She smiled as she waved her wand and conjured a dropper. She put it into the cauldron to gather some of the potion. Afterwards, she quickly put three drops into her mouth. She looked at him, indicating she was ready.
"Were those three things the only things you smelled in the Amortentia?" He asked curiously.
Rose had thought that she had completely fooled the boy into thinking there were only three. Obviously, Scorpius Malfoy was not as gullible as he seemed. She frowned. Evil brute.
"No."
He looked rather happy with the answer. "What was the fourth?"
She bit her lip, trying to find a way out of answering. She knew she would eventually have to, though. "Cinnamon."
He looked at her curiously before asking another question. "Do you still have feelings for Lorcan Scamander?"
This is easy. "No."
"Do you like someone else?"
"Yes."
This surprised herself quite a bit. She had no idea she liked someone. This was odd. She didn't like anyone, did she? Well, this was the truth potion, but she didn't particularly have anyone on her mind.
"Do you hate me?" He asked, his eyes piercing into hers.
"No."
This surprised both of them. She was beginning to wonder if she did her potion correctly. Scorpius's eyes got as round as quaffles as he stared at the girl. Perhaps Rose didn't hate him, just disliked him immensely. There was an awkward silence lingering in the air before Scorpius let out a cough and continued with his questions.
"Do you think I'm handsome and good at Quidditch?" He asked.
"Yes."
This was the truth, considering Scorpius Malfoy was far from ugly, even Rose knew that. He was good-looking to say the least. He was also amazing at Quidditch, a fool could figure that bit out. This didn't keep Rose's cheeks from turning slightly pink, though.
Scorpius laughed at the answer.
"Do you think you're smarter than me?"
"Yes." She smiled smugly. She knew she was smarter than him. She was continuously top of the class and not even Scorpius could possibly beat her.
Scorpius frowned and stared at the Head Girl. "You are not smarter than me." Rose rolled her eyes. "Continue the questions, Malfoy."
Malfoy suddenly had a mischievous look in his eyes as he thought of his next question. She felt a bit uncomfortable and worried about what his next question could possibly be. He stared down at her.
"Did you shag Lorcan?"
"Yes."
She instantly felt the blood rush up to her cheeks. She turned a similar shade to a tomato as she said the word. Of course, Scorpius would think of these types of questions. It was so predictable, but it was embarrassing nonetheless.
"Was he your first?"
"No."
Scorpius was slightly taken back. He felt a bit bothered by this, though he didn't have a clue why. It had absolutely nothing to do with him whatsoever. Also, he, himself, had shagged many girls before, so it wasn't that big of a deal. It was nothing, absolutely nothing important.
"Did you think I was a good choice for head boy?" He asked, sincerely wondering.
He had always been afraid that he had done a terrible job. He had skipped a few rounds here and there, but overall, he had tried his best.
"Yes."
Rose was no idiot. She knew that there was probably no better candidate for Head Boy. The only others she could think of was Albus Potter and Louis Weasley, but Albus and Louis both had had a slight problem with their grades lately. Scorpius was the only one for the job. It was a bitter truth, but still the truth in the end.
"I think it's wearing off now." Rose said. She no longer felt the heavy burden on her tongue to tell the truth. She had gone through enough embarrassment and was extremely relieved.
She took the dropper and once again brought up the potion. She turned to Scorpius. "Open up, it's your turn now."
Scorpius opened his mouth as Rose dropped three drops into his mouth. She sat down in a chair opposite him, not wanting to stand.
"Ready?" She asked, obviously excited.
"Yes."
She pondered a bit on all the questions she could possibly ask. Scorpius looked at her, slightly nervous about what she might ask after all the things he had asked her. She wanted to give him just as much embarrassment.
"Have you ever liked a girl you were with?"
"No."
Shameless bastard.
She decided to repeat one of his own questions back at him after that. "Do you hate me?" She honestly wanted to know, considering she did not want to be the only one of the two that didn't despise the other.
"No."
She bit back a smile.
"Do you think I'm smarter than you?"
"Yes."
Scorpius, himself, seemed very surprised at his answer. Did he just admit that someone was better than him at something? It was extremely amusing to Rose. She started to understand why Scorpius was having so much fun asking her questions and listening to her answers. She held back a laugh as she proceeded.
"What's your favorite color?"
Rose knew this was sort of a waste of a question, but she had always wondered. She expected it to be one of Slytherin's house colors, but if it wasn't, she wanted to know.
"Ocean blue."
Rose nodded, not realizing the connection at all. Scorpius's eyes widened at the girl. He stared at her, slightly gaping at her eyes. He was staring directly at the color he was seeing in his head. The exact shade of ocean blue he was imagining in his head was staring directly at him. It was an absolutely breath-taking color, though he would never admit it out loud.
"Favorite scent?"
"Vanilla." He said automatically.
Rose looked at him, raising an eyebrow slightly. She didn't remember him saying that for his Amortentia scents. She shrugged this off easily, moving on to the next question.
Scorpius officially deemed Rose as dense. Rose was a clever, smart, and witty person, but she seemed to lack some intelligence in the common-sense department.
"Favorite kiss from a girl?" Rose asked. Scorpius had snogged more than his fair share of girls and she was curious to know which one had been his favorite.
"Yours"
Rose stared at him with curious eyes, wondering. Instead of thinking deeper into the situation, however, she came up with her own explanation. "No wonder, most of the others probably ate your face off." He shrugged at the girl, excepting her answer. He didn't particularly want it to be anything more than that.
If you were to ask why Scorpius had chosen Rose's kiss over everyone else's, he would not have answered truthfully. The honest truth was that Rose's kiss was the only thing he hadn't done for fun. He felt a little something more with Rose than a kid playing with a toy. Whether it was burning hatred or passionate lust, he didn't know, but he didn't want to admit this out loud either way. The thing that was absolutely special about her kiss was it left him absolutely clueless and confused. It was as if he was hit by a confundus charm.
"Do you honestly think I'm ugly and horrid looking?" Rose asked.
This was one question Rose had really wanted to ask. Rose had always suffered from a lack of self confidence. She had low self esteem since she was a young girl. She personally thought that she was ugly, not at all pretty. She felt incomparable to those muggle celebrities she saw on advertisements or even some of the girls at Hogwarts. She especially felt insecure around her cousin, Lily Potter, who was a rather pretty girl. Other than comparing herself to others, she had suffered numerous criticisms from Scorpius, such as: troll, buck-tooth, gnome, frizzy-haired monster, and freckle face, that had lowered her confidence even more.
"No."
Scorpius looked away from her gaze, avoiding her accusing eyes. He always believed that Rose Weasley could never be ugly. The other Slytherins had agreed. They might've believed she was an insufferable know-it-all, quick tempered, and a complete bitch sometimes, but never ugly. It just wasn't something that you would think of when you thought of Rose Weasley.
Rose felt her cheeks get hot, not from embarrassment but from anger. She felt furious at the fact that Scorpius had lied to her all these years, making her feel like a low, hideous bitch.
"I'll stop, now."
Scorpius nodded.
"I do believe that was the longest talk we've had without criticizing each other."
Rose nodded, her anger diminishing. She couldn't help but laugh at the comment.
Scorpius looked at Rose as if she was sort of looney. He was not used to her laugh at all. Rose was not a usual laugher, considering she was usually in a serious mood. Plus, if she ever truly laughed out loud, it would not be in front of Scorpius Malfoy. He had never really heard her true laugh. It was not a girly giggle, like most girls, but a genuine whole-hearted laugh.
Rose noticed him staring and stopped, biting her lip.
"You're still an arse." She said simply while cleaning up her books. She tapped her cauldron once with her wand, making it vanish. She picked up a few of her quills and held her various books in her arms.
"I know it, love. And you're still a crazy bitch." He said, winking at the girl.
Rose rolled her eyes while walking away into her dorm.
Who knew potions could help bring people, might as well enemies, together?