Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling sighs no matter how much I type.
4
Rose examined herself in the mirror: she wasn't too dressed up, yet, she didn't have on any too casual wear. She wasn't wearing her Hogwarts robes, but she was wearing the long sleeved white shirt that went underneath it with her Gryffindor tie hanging loosely around her neck. She tied it halfway and then smoothed out her skirt. On her ears she wore a pair of pearl earrings her Grandmother Molly had given to her as a Christmas gift. She then checked her hair, with which one part was tied up in a pony tail and the rest of her red locks were let down. She had held the ponytail together with a butterfly pin her mother bought her in a muggle village.
It was already Saturday, the night of the Slug Club party.
Lily had come up to the fifth year dormitory and was lying across Rose's bed reading a Quidditch magazine. She had looked up from it briefly watching Rose. She looked up again, and then a mischievous smile spread across her face. "Why is this party so different?" she asked.
Rose turned around and tried to look innocent. "Whatever do you mean?"
Lily closed her magazine and then sat up straight. "Well, each time you go to a Slug Club party, you're always complaining and you never try to make yourself look decent." Rose raised an eyebrow after the last statement.
"No offense," Lily added.
"Some taken," Rose answered, rolling her eyes. Lily watched her for another minute and then asked again, "So, seriously, why is this party so different?"
"Well…usually I don't have a…a reason to go to these parties." Rose smiled.
Lily's brown eyes stretched wide with curiosity. "A reason?? Oh! Did someone ask you?" Lily was now practically jumping up and down the bed with excitement. She had always enjoyed gossip.
Rose grinned. "Maybe…maybe not."
Lily groaned and then went to stand by Rose's side, now literally begging. "Rosie, please! I won't tell them," she promised, referring to the rest of their family as 'them'. Rose thought for a moment, still teasing Lily. At the same time, though, she really was thinking about what Lily's reaction would be when she said, 'Scorpius Malfoy asked me to the party.' Would she be overprotective, like James, or enthusiastic like how she had been in the Great Hall?
Rose decided to spill. "Scorpius Malfoy asked me to the party."
Lily's expression turned bright and then shouted, "I knew it! You do fancy him! He fancies you too! Why else would he have asked you?!" Rose put her hand over Lily's mouth to keep her from shouting anything else that would be heard down in the common room. "Maybe because he doesn't know anyone else in the club and he didn't want to go alone?" I suggested. After all, that was what he had said when he asked her.
Lily snorted. "Yeah, sure, and James will stop pulling pranks," she countered. "Rosie, this is great! I mean, well, not great for our family, but still! I just knew it when you two walked into the Great Hall together! I got a good vibe from the both of you."
Rose smiled weakly. "Alright, alright. I don't know if I like him in that way, but alright. Just promise me that you won't say anything."
Lily's face fell. "But he asked you to the party, why wouldn't you—?"
"Focus Lily: promise me you won't tell."
"I already did, remember?"
Rose was beginning to get frustrated. The party started soon. "Yes, but that was before you knew who it was. This time you have to swear on your broomstick." Lily put her hand on her heart and said in a solemn voice, "I swear on my Nimbus 2000, my most prized possession, handed down to me from my mother that I shall not tell that you and Scorpius Malfoy are going to the party together."
Rose clapped. "Very good. Now, I don't want to be late." She started for the door and bounded down the steps to the common room, Lily trailing behind her. Rose found her entire family sitting down there (except for James and Dominique, who were sharing the Head Dormitory two floors above them). Hugo and Louis were playing wizard's chess together, and Hugo had on a frustrated expression as the younger Weasley took out another one of his pawns. Fred was chatting to Albus about a new product Uncle George was working on for his joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Roxanne was practicing her homework for Transfiguration: transfiguring human appearances. She had already successfully changed Molly's hair to bright neon orange and her own eyes to a gray color. Her stomach fluttered as if there were a million butterflies in there. The color of Roxanne's transfigured eyes reminded her so much of…
"Hey, Rosie, Lils." Albus' voice brought Rose out of her short daydream. She shook her head. No, of course it wasn't a daydream about a certain boy's eyes…
"So, Albus, are you going to the party?" Lily asked, sitting down next to Molly. Albus had also been part of the club as well. "Nah, I think I'm going to skip this one," he answered and gave a lazy flick of his wand to make the fire in the fireplace glow brighter. Lily gave Rose a 'look' and she knew what it meant: no one from her family would see her with Scorpius. "Alright, well, I'm going to go. I'll see you all later." Her family waved at her and acknowledged that she was leaving. Lily gave her thumbs up without anyone noticing. Rose nodded and then stepped out of the portrait hole.
She had only walked a few feet when she bumped into someone.
A chuckle emitted from the person and she looked up to see Scorpius. "Really, you should learn how to walk, Rose, and to break this habit of yours." Rose's cheeks flushed a deep red which made him laugh harder.
"What habit?"
"Well, you just can't seem to stop running people over."
Rose managed a laugh. "Right. So we should just go—wait, what were you doing outside the common room?" How does he even know where it is?
It was Scorpius' turn to blush. Rose had never seen him blush before, and she couldn't help notice that it made him look more attractive than he already was. His skin was always so pale, and the bright red on his cheeks made a lovely contrast to its usual color.
"I happened to be walking by. I…I didn't know the Gryffindor common room was there." Rose could see through his lie, but she didn't say anything. Instead, the inside of her head was whirling with more questions: Was he waiting for me? Why did he lie? Is he ashamed of me? Did he not want me to know that he was waiting for me?
"Oh," she replied. "Okay, let's go then."
Rose and Scorpius walked side by side, their destination being the dungeons where the potions classes took place. The whole walk there, Rose's heart was beating frantically against her chest, threatening to pop out. It was so loud, she was sure Scorpius could hear it. To confirm her thoughts, a wide smirk appeared on his face. Besides the thumping of her heart, the whole trip there was silent.
Music and laugher was blaring from the dungeons. Scorpius pushed open the door and led Rose in. It looked the same as any of the other parties she had attended. Rose took a couple more steps into the party and almost tripped over something. She bumped into Scorpius and he held her up, chuckling. Rose's ears turned red and she looked around for the source of her clumsiness. Then, when she spotted it, instead of anger she felt happiness: the house elf, Sunny.
"Sunny!" Rose called and the tiny house elf turned around and squeaked. She ran over and bowed low to the ground. "Hello, Missis Weasley!" Scorpius gave Rose a puzzled look, but she ignored it. "Sunny, how is everything going?" Sunny stood up and smiled. "Perfectly wonderful Missis Weasley! Sunny is sorry to leave, but Sunny must get back to serving, Missis Weasley!" she bowed low to the ground again and tumbled through the crowd, squeaking at everyone if they wanted more food.
Rose smiled. She often visited the kitchens late at night when she wanted a midnight snack. Sunny was the first house elf she had met, and she had been at the school when her parents were there. Sunny told her stories of the courageous house elf Dobby, as did her mother and father. Rose had taken a liking to Sunny, so it was only polite to say 'hello' whenever she saw her.
"You speak to house elves?" Scorpius asked.
Rose smiled. "Yes, they are so pleasant!"
"Why would you talk to them?"
Rose bit her lip and remembered her mother always ranting about SPEW, and her father shutting her up. Her mother had taught her to respect all magical creatures, because none of them are lower than wizards. She had said that all creatures were equal.
Rose didn't say this to Scorpius though. She thought about showing him the kitchen instead. "I'll show you sometime," she answered. Scorpius stared at her for a long time after that before shrugging it off.
"Rose! Scorpius! Come over here for a second!" Rose turned around and saw Slughorn motioning to the both of them. Scorpius grabbed Rose's arm and she tried to pull away. "What's wrong?" he asked. Rose groaned. "He's going to introduce us to someone. I always hate being the center of attention!" Scorpius laughed and ignored her complaining as he started to pull her to where Slughorn sat. Rose thought quickly and pulled out one of the pearl earrings and stuffed it in the pocket of her skirt.
She gave a believable gasp. "Oh!" Scorpius stopped pulling her and asked, "What is it now?" Rose started to look around and scan the floor. "My earring! It's gone!" Scorpius rolled his eyes. "We'll find it later, now let's go."
Rose whimpered. Scorpius stopped again and looked at her exasperatingly. "What, Rose?"
"Those were given to me by my Grandmother, Scorpius." Scorpius was standing in front of her now. He stealthily stuck his hand down her pocket, reached in, and pulled the earring out, holding it in front of her face. "You, Rose, are a terrible actress."
"Dammit," she replied and took the earring back. "Please, please, please. I don't want to meet another person. Trust me, it's boring, he does this to me at every party." Scorpius looked over at Slughorn, who now had his arm around another student and was introducing them to a tall man in blue dress robes. "I would hate to be rude, but I guess he has already forgotten about us." Rose exhaled, relieved.
Then, the music turned into a slow, elegant song. Scorpius looked at the band playing the music and then back at Rose. "Do you want to dance?" he asked.
Rose's answer got stuck inside her throat. It took her a few moments to answer. "I…I guess so." Scorpius smirked and twirled her onto the dance floor. Rose put her hand on his shoulder and grasped the other hand. His hand was soft, but cold. Then, he placed his other hand on her waist. A shiver was sent down her spine and her heart stopped beating altogether. Then, moving as one, they slowly danced to the music.
It wasn't awkward, but it was completely nerve-wracking. Rose was afraid she would step on his foot or trip over herself. Scorpius noticed her irregular breathing. "Something wrong?" he asked. Rose shook her head. Then, she realized that people around them were staring at them. They were dancing, but they were too focused on Rose and Scorpius. Rose's face flushed pink and Scorpius looked around as well. "It is a funny sight. The two of us: dancing." He laughed and looked down at Rose. His gray eyes melted into hers.
"So what?" Rose said. "Let them stare." She didn't care. She was having a great time.
Even when the music had changed to a more upbeat song, Rose had not let go of his hand, and Scorpius had not let go of her waist. Soon the surrounding students became bored of observing them and went about their own business.
It all seemed to end too soon in Rose's opinion. They were now walking back towards the common room, but they weren't touching each other at all. Rose was still in a daze about the dancing. Scorpius' mind seemed to be somewhere else too.
They stopped in front of the portrait hole, the Fat Lady snoozing in her frame. "That was fun, Rose. We should go to the next one together." He said. Rose smiled. "Yeah, that was fun. But the next one isn't until Christmas."
Scorpius frowned. Then his face brightened. "Are you going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"
Her heartbeat accelerated. "Yes. Are you?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can hang out there."
Rose nodded. "I'd like that."
By now, she wasn't even focusing on what she was saying. All she was looking at was Scorpius' features. Her eyes traced his light gold hair, his gray eyes, his nose, and then finally…his lips. His lips. His lips were a perfect shape and shade, and all she could imagine was if they were soft like his hands. She imagined herself, closing the distance between her lips and his.
"Goodnight, then." He said. He waved goodbye and walked away.
Rose waved her hand in farewell. She felt so…blissful. The Fat Lady woke up and Rose muttered the password. Like a zombie, she floated up to her dormitory and she didn't even remember getting undressed for bed. Her mind was in a different place than where her body was.
Was his hair as silky as it looked? She would love to run her fingers through it. Even touching it would be good enough for her.
His eyes were a cold gray, but they seemed so warm whenever she looked into them. Her brown eyes melting into his gave her the shivers…the good kind.
The only perfect feature she could think of on Scorpius was his lips. A minute ago she had daydreamed about kissing those lips. Lips that looked so soft and inviting. Her stomach flipped around again. Rose was sure about everything now.
She was sure of why she had agreed to be friends with him.
She was sure of why she agreed to go to the party with him, and to dance with him.
She was sure of why she imagined kissing him.
As she started to fall asleep, she accepted the truth. The truth seemed scary. She knew she would get disowned if her family found out.
The truth: She was hopelessly in love with Scorpius Malfoy.