Teddy's words spun in Rose's head for the remainder of the night; she couldn't stop herself feeling hurt by his words. Teddy was her family; that was a fact that she had never questioned. He had spent entire summers with both the Potters' and the Weasley's. He had been the one to first teach Rose how to ride a broom, although that remained their little secret. Her dad would be devastated if he found out; she always declined to fly with him and Hugo when he asked.
She let out a sigh, and pushed herself up off of her four poster bed just as the door to the dormitory opened. Tegan walked in, and the two girls smiled at each other, before Tegan perched on end of Rose's bed.
"What are you doing up here all alone?" She asked.
Rose shrugged, "I was just about to get started on some work."
Tegan looked confused, and then raised an eyebrow, "We didn't get any homework today." Rose was momentarily stuck for words; truthfully, she just wasn't in the mood to be with anyone, pretending to be happy right now, when Teddy's words were still clear in her head. Concern flashed over Tegan's face momentarily, before she shrugged and said, "I guess it is prefect stuff, right?"
Rose smiled slightly. She knew that Tegan was fully aware she didn't have any prefect duties tonight, and while she might not know why Rose was avoiding everyone, she wasn't going to challenge it. She had always been the most understanding out of her group of friends. Rose nodded in response to her question, and Tegan continued.
"I'll tell the girls you won't be joining us," She got up and headed to the door, and then turned back again, "and if I see Albus downstairs, I'll inform him of his fake prefect duties tonight!" The girls laughed, and then with a small wave Tegan left.
Rose stood up, and grabbed her cardigan. After pulling it over her shoulders, she headed for the door. She knew where she wanted to go, who she wanted to see, but she could only hope that person was where she hoped.
There were only a few students in the entrance hall, and even fewer around the steps outside of the castle doors. Rose descended the steps, and started on the route down to the Quidditch pitch.
She didn't make it all the way there; she paused before rounding the corner of the castle that led around to the pitch, hearing set of many different voices, giggling, talking or shouting excitedly. Moments later, the Slytherin's rounded the corner, and she caught sight of the blonde head she was looking for; only seconds later, he spotted her too, and weaved through the crowd to reach her.
"Hey!" Scorpius grinned as he reached her. "I wasn't expecting to see you tonight. What are you doing down here?" He asked. He stopped beside her, but after some complaints and grunts from those behind, he placed his hand on the small of her back to gently guide her forward.
Rose jumped at his touch; his usually cool hands had caused a burst of heat to erupt in her where he touched. Her shock propelled her forward further than his guiding hand, and Scorpius' dropped it back to his side. "I, er- I just wanted to talk to you." She said, "But you seem busy so I'll just head to the library."
"What? No, I'm not busy." Scorpius responded. "Even if I was, I'm never too busy for you Rosie, you know that." Rose smiled; she wasn't sure where these feelings were coming from, but she did know that that was what she had wanted him to say. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't seen him all summer; they had seemed to grow a lot closer during the last school year, and usually they would secretly plan to meet up in Diagon Alley, and pretend that it was a complete coincidence during the awkward encounters between both of our parents. But owing to holidays this summer, our schedules had clashed and we hadn't seen each other since leaving Kings Cross Station last July. Maybe she'd just missed him more than she realised.
He was peering at her, "Rose? Is everything okay?"
She nodded, "Yeah it's fine, really, but… you remember my cousin Teddy, right?" She asked; Scorpius had met him briefly on their trips to Diagon Alley, and Rose talked about him a lot. He didn't remember much about him, but he knew who he was. "Well, he is actually the new Astronomy professor, I just found out when I got to the lesson! But yeah, something he said… it just got to me."
He looked at her face, and noticing the hurt there, he glanced around, spying an empty area of the grounds not too far away. Ignoring the looks of his fellow house mates, and nodded in the general direction of the area, signalling for Rose to follow him.
After setting his broom down on the floor and settling down next to it, he leaned against the tree trunk and said, "So what happened?"
Rose looked into his eyes; he looked genuinely concerned, and suddenly she realised how silly this was. Maybe she was overreacting; maybe Teddy was too old to be calling Harry his uncle. "Actually Scor, on second thought it really isn't a big deal. How were try-outs? Did you make the team?"
"Yes," He said, "But something is bothering you, Rose, and if it will make you feel better to tell me, then tell me."
"Oh it is so silly, Scorpius! Just, T eddy said he wasn't really part of the family. And I know that he isn't, by blood, but to me he is. I've never thought he isn't, and it just hurt, that's all." Suddenly all of the emotion filled her up, and she slammed her fists down onto the grass. "What is so bad about being related to us? They didn't bother telling us they were going to be at my Nana and Grandad Weasley's. And do you know what, while I'm at it, I'm annoyed at my Dad, the way he treated you at the train station. My Dad probably got Teddy the job here anyway, so he could keep an eye on me and keep us apart. Teddy did say my Mum had been testing him on all his stuff; maybe that's why Teddy said that. To make me angry with him, and make it easier to keep us apart; I'll probably have detention with him by this time next week." She stopped as Scorpius chuckled, "It isn't funny."
He stifled his laugh to a smirk and then shook his head, "No I know, but I think you're reading too much into this. Your Dad did not get Teddy this job so he could look after you; I bet he had no part in it. And as for Teddy… Well I've studied the war too, Rosie, and I don't know much, but I know that his Dad was a professor here too. Maybe it's just stirring up emotions for him; he will come around." He patted her hand and she let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding, "And," He continued, glancing at her with a look that made her instantly relax, "I am used to your Dad. So don't you worry about me, Weasley."
She giggled, "It shouldn't be that way though. We live in an entirely different world now than when they were at school; we are entirely different to they were."
Scorpius shrugged, "I'm a Malfoy, and you're a Weasley. We knew starting out that our friendship wasn't going to be well accepted. My Dad is far from your biggest fan either." He winked, pulling some grass out of the ground and through it at her. She swiped it out of her hair as they both laughed.
And suddenly she was calm. Talking to Scorpius did that to her; he made her laugh, but he also knew when to be serious, and when to listen to her. "Hey," he said, pulling her from her thoughts. "Those days might just be a story in a textbook to us, or photos of family members on the wall, but for our families…they are memories. They live with the remnants of that time every day of their lives, and Teddy…he lost everything in that war. So try not to be too upset with him."
She nodded, and after he had stood up, she accepted his hand to pull her off the ground, and they walked back to the castle together.
The rest of the first week back at Hogwarts went by without much more drama; the only thing that was worth mention to Rose was the arrival of a letter, carried by her mother's owl, Flit, one morning.
Dear Rose,
I hope your fifth year started well, but I miss you so much! I hope you are looking after your brother too. I suppose homework has already started piling up, but I imagine you are keeping well on top of it, as always. I have no doubt that you will pass your O.W.L's with no issues when they finally arrive!
I really just wanted to apologise for your father's behaviour at the train station. But you should excuse his behaviour, Rosie. You have got to understand that our entire family, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny included, have a lot of bad history with the Malfoy family. And, darling, I know that you like Scorpius and you value his friendship, but it is going to be difficult for your father to accept this; just bear that in mind, okay?
I hope to hear from you soon darling, and make sure you and your brother both stick in with your work!
All my love,
Mum xx
It had made Rose angry to read it. She had never had any doubt in her mind of her father's feelings towards Scorpius, but her mother had always been more understanding. She knew that in school, she had suffered prejudice, being a muggle born, and Rose had always felt like that was why her mother seemed more accepting of her friendship with Scorpius. Some part of Rose had always hoped that her Mum could have gotten through to her husband, and that eventually Ron himself could have come around to the idea. But now it was clear that that wasn't going to happen; her Mum had sided with her Dad, and now none of her family was in support of her best friend.
Scorpius had known she was upset. She always arrived at the Great Hall before her breakfast; Rose was definitely a morning person, but Scorpius could never drag himself out of bed until the very last moment. When he made it down to breakfast that morning, she was seated alone at the long Gryffindor table, and she was holding a piece of parchment in her hands, her long red hair falling forwards, hiding her face. But he didn't need to see her face to spot her in even the largest crowd.
She sat about half way the Great Hall, at the centre of the table. "Morning Rosie," He said, as he sat down beside her.
She jumped, and quickly folded up the letter and stuffed it inside her robes before turning to look at him, "Hey," she smiled, and then reached out for bacon, sausages and an egg to put on her plate. Scorpius picked the plate of toast that was to his right, and passed it to her, knowing that she would ask for that next. She smiled in thanks as she took two slices from the plate, and picked up her knife and fork and began eating, while Scorpius reached around for his own breakfast.
"Letter from home?" He asked, and Rose looked at him. She didn't reply. Instead, she just looked confused. Scorpius raised his eyebrow slightly, himself confused by her reaction, "The parchment I saw you reading, was it a letter from home?"
"Oh… yeah." She shrugged, "Nothing important at all. Just my Mum… she was reminding me to do my work and all that." She shook her head, "It's not important. I need to get to class, I'll see you later."
Rose stood up and grabbed her bag, swinging her legs around. It took Scorpius a second to collect himself, before he grabbed his own stuff and followed her. He thought better than to cause a scene in the hall; Rose was shy, he knew that all too well from when he first tried to get her attention in first year. She had responded to his efforts by throwing a jug of gravy at him during dinner, and then running off to her dormitory. He hadn't seen her at all for a week, except for classes, but he had learnt his lesson. From then on, he made sure to use much more discreet measures to gain her trust and affinity.
His legs were longer than hers, so despite her head start he managed to reach her at the bottom of the staircase. He grabbed her arm, "Rose," she turned to him and he couldn't miss the moment of hurt on her face, before she hid in a smile, "we're in the same class, you idiot. Potions?"
"Oh yes of course," She smiled softly, "For some reason I thought I had Charms. Sorry."
He shook his head, "No problem." He began to descend the stairs, and after a moment's hesitation she followed him. "Rose what's wrong?" She shook her head, and he rolled his eyes, "I know you, Rosie, and I know when something is wrong."
"Nothing is wrong." She said, smiling to make her statement more convincing, "I just didn't sleep very well last night, that's all." She hated lying to him, but it was necessary. Scorpius already felt guilty enough, feeling that he was causing a rift between herself and her Dad. He only stuck around because Rose had convinced him that her mother understood, that eventually she would get through to him and they would all accept their friendship. If her Mum was really taking her Dad's side in this, then Scorpius would feel even worse. Rose was prepared to fight for their friendship, she always had been; she liked Scorpius ever since first year, and his first attempt to get her attention by nicknaming her 'ginge' and shouting it across the Great Hall to invite her to go with him to the first Quidditch match. Rose remembered being horrifically embarrassed and hating him for it, she'd responded by throwing a jug of gravy over him and ending up with detention, but really she found it amusing, and he hadn't stopped amusing her since.
She was prepared to fight, but she knew he wasn't prepared to let her. He would walk away so to prevent a fight in her family. Family was so important to him, more than anyone she'd ever known. But she had read about the Malfoy's; they had always been that way. She knew that his grandmother had helped to defeat Voldemort in the war only to save her son, Scorpius' dad. Family was the most important thing to the Malfoy's, and Scorpius felt no different.
"Well if you say that that's all it is Rosie then I'll accept that," He said, "but you do realise that we are now going to be really early to class, and I didn't get chance to eat any breakfast. This is going to murder my reputation; Scorpius Malfoy has never been early to a class in his life. And now I'm going to be a hungry loser, because you made me skip out on breakfast." He shook his head teasingly, "I blame you for my downfall, Weasley."
Rose giggled and shrugged, "I would accept the blame, but I don't recall ever asking you to follow me, Malfoy. You did that by your own choice."
"Yeah I know," He said, his voice turning serious. "But you looked upset, and I'll never let that anything get in the way of making sure you're okay."
Potions class went by as normal; Rose seemed to forget the letter in her robes, and Scorpius accepted that everything truly was okay. The days passed as normal, but eventually the time came for his first Quidditch practise.
Having been on the team last year too, he knew many of his fellow team members well, but there was still a couple of new faces, replacing those that had left school last year. There weren't many of them though; one new girl, a chaser, and two boys, a chaser and a beater.
Scorpius knew the two boys from the common room; he knew they were loud, cocky and generally acted like clowns. They were together a lot of the time, and he assumed they were best friends. They were talking to the other team members, and Scorpius was already spying a divide between those who were chatting and laughing with them, and those were rolling their eyes and walking down to the pitch several paces ahead of them in an attempt to blank them out.
But the girl walked alone. She was several steps behind those in the lead, and several ahead of those bringing up the rear, and Scorpius himself. He sped up enough to catch her in a short few seconds.
"Hey," he said as he reached her, and the girl turned to him, a look of shock on her face. She had long blonde hair, pulled back in a sleek ponytail. It wasn't as bright as Scorpius', his was more white blonde, but hers was a yellowy shade. "I'm Scorpius."
She nodded, "I know." He raised his eyebrow at that and she shrugged, "Everyone knows who you are. I've seen you around a lot."
"Have you?"
"Yeah. I'm in fourth year; I've seen you around for the past four years. I take it you haven't seen me." Scorpius shook his head, suddenly feeling guilty. He never really paid much attention to any, except his group of friends in his house, and then Rose. The girl just shrugged again, "I wouldn't expect you to. I'm not the type of person to draw attention to myself. I'm Rhea, Rhea Blackwater."
Scorpius smirked as they stepped out into the grand Quidditch stadium. Although the stands were empty, the stadium also felt full of life. "I don't know if you've noticed, Rhea, but joining the Quidditch team is certainly going to draw attention to you." He laughed as she smirked.
"Maybe I wanted a change." She responded, before mounting her broom and kicking off from the ground.
Scorpius remained on the ground for a moment, watching her as she soared upwards, her long ponytail flowing behind her, before kicking off into the air himself.