Dear Rosie,
We are glad that things with Albus have cleared up. I told you it would blow over right?Regarding the Quiditch drama, it doesn't matter that you got turned down for the team. Probably the captain, whoever they are, feels that as a first year, you still need to assimilate into school life and Quiditch may just add more pressure than necessary. Personally I agree with that viewpoint dear. When your Uncle Harry got accepted in his first year, he barely had time for his work. It's always good to prioritize. But I'm sure that if they had let you try out for the team, you would have gotten in. Of course you father is ranting about how if your were Griffindor they would have let you on the team but I wouldn't worry about that too much dear. You know your father and I are still proud of you, Griffindor or not.
With the exams coming up we hope that you're studying hard. Your father has asked me to remind you to "destroy Scorpius Malfoy" but I think that might be a rather extreme course of action. All the very best for the mid-term exams and make us and yourself proud! Your brother would like you to know that he is eagerly awaiting your return home.
All our love,
Mum, Dad and Hugo
Rose smiled at the letter. Letters from home always seemed to make her feel better. It was true. She hadn't made the Quiditch team. It was a good thing she hadn't told anyone about it either. It would have been much too embarrassing to tell everyone she had been denied the opportunity to even attend the try outs! But then what was she? Only Rose Weasley, nothing special. Her mother was right. She had to set her priorities this year. That meant no distractions, not even Quiditch. She would get them next year, she thought, smiling to herself. For now, she would be content just watching the matches.
Tucking the letter away in her drawers, Rose made her way down to the Great Hall. It was unusually quiet. But Rose was hardly surprised. After all there were exams going on. Most people were either off in the library studying or having one to one sessions with their Professors. Rose had been studying for weeks now and this afternoon was the day of her DADA exam. Yet this morning she had slept in a little. She planned to have breakfast alone, then take a short walk to clear her mind. While others were trying to cram in last minute revision, Rose felt it pointless to stress, especially on the day of the exam. After all, she had done her work. To get herself focused, Rose had always found, "self time" very helpful. Sitting herself down at the Slytherin table, Rose glanced around to see if there was anyone she knew there.
As far as she could tell, there were no first years around. They were probably all revising. Sighing to herself, she grabbed a couple of slices of toast and eggs and tucked into her breakfast. Since there wasn't anyone to talk to, she got through it pretty quickly. Once she was done she decided, as planned, to head to the lake. The lake was one of the few places in Hogwarts that she really enjoyed visiting. It seemed to put her mind at ease and it distracted her from her work at hand. She also liked the water. Not swimming in it, but the appearance, how it represented something unknown and mysterious, something fluid and ever changing. She liked the idea of it.
It was a cool day and Rose hugged herself to keep warm. The sun was shining though and the dark surface of the lake glistened from the rays that dappled on the water. Rose breathed deeply and sat down beside the lake. She was soon lying down on the grass, her fingers running through the soft green blades. She closed her eyes and thought. These past few weeks had been so stressful. She had barely had any time to socialise partly because of her determination to excel in every subject and partly to avoid distraction. While she missed the company of her friends, she knew it would all be worth it in the end. It was just today, then a Potions exam tomorrow and she was done! She couldn't wait till then but for now, her mind had to stay in the present. It had been a good decision to come to the lake. All this time to do some personal reflection had helped her to unwind.
Rose smiled slightly as the gentle breeze blew across her face but shivered a moment later. She opened her eyes and saw that the sun was hidden by ominous looking rain clouds. "I better get in" she thought to herself, standing up to leave. Suddenly she saw someone, a figure sitting only a few metres away from herself, staring into the murky depths of the water. Whoever it was seemed very lost and focused on the water. Rose suddenly heard the rumbling of thunder. Should she call the stranger? Yes she should.
"Hello?" she called out.
There was no response.
"I think it's going to rain" she felt ridiculous stating the obvious.
Still no response.
"I think you better come in, exams and all, you don't want to catch a cold." she warned.
There was no response.
"Hello?" she called again.
Suddenly the person seemed to have snapped out of their trance. They looked up. Rose caught her breath. Grey eyes met brown.
"Scorpius?" she called, half shouting over the sound of thunder.
She saw Scorpius get up and approach her. For a moment she just stood there, still, not knowing what to do. His usual slick hair was ruffled and unkempt. His tie was hanging, loosely from his shirt. His shirt was tucked out of his pants. But the worst part was his eyes. There were great eye bags under them and they looked dull, like all the life had been sucked from them. Scorpius looked like a man of seventy who had seen the worst parts of life, not a strapping eleven year old. As he reached her, she just stood there, trying to absorb what she was looking at. He, in response, stared at her back. Both seemed oblivious to the increasingly bad weather.
"Are you alright?" she choked out.
Scorpius was just staring at her, blankly.
Rose felt uncomfortable and rubbed her neck. "Erm..." she began
Scorpius blinked and seemed to come back to Earth. HIs eyes suddenly lit up. Like a renewed spark. He immediately seemed conscious of his physical appearance and began to slick back his hair.
"We should go in..." Rose mumbled.
Scorpius, who was still adjusting his hair nodded, "Quite right Weasley."
The two silently and hurriedly headed back to the castle and just in time as well for just as they arrived, it began to pour down. By now Scorpius had adjusted his hair and was now straightening his tie. The difference, Rose noted, was astonishing.
Rose chuckled, "Glad we missed that"
Scorpius just nodded.
She looked at him closely. He seemed rather disconcerted at this and shuffled his feet. But he still threw her a smirk.
"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked him again.
Then she saw something in his eyes, it was resignation.
"Pressure's getting to me I guess. I don't wanna screw up." he mumbled.
Rose was surprised. Malfoy hardly gave any indication that he was under any form of stress. In fact in the days leading up to the exams, he had been boasting about how utterly confident he was feeling.
"Your family?" she asked.
He shook his head, "Not just them. From me as well."
Rose raised an eyebrow. "You put pressure on yourself?" she asked.
"Don't you?" he suddenly snapped.
Rose was taken aback.
Scorpius seemed to realise what he had done. "Sorry" he mumbled.
"You're not the only one feeling the pressure. And hey, we are only in first year now, imagine what it's be like when we do our NEWTS..." she murmured, trying to lighten the mood.
Scorpius seemed to gaze at her for a moment. In that moment Rose felt it, a bond, that singular link that joined arrogant little Scorpius and her together. They were both afraid to disappoint and thirsty to succeed. In that one look, Rose understood that both of them would do anything, to get what they wanted and if that meant being driven insane by all the pressure, then so be it. She suddenly realised, they were, in a warped way, so alike. Both of them were like pressure cookers, building and building up until finally they had to release it somehow or they would breakdown.
"Why were you at the lake?" he asked her.
"It calms me" she replied.
He turned to her in surprise. "Me too" he seemed to say.
"Oh" Rose didn't know how to respond.
"I guess we all have our coping mechanisms" she continued.
He nodded.
"It'll be ok." she told him.
He smirked. "Easy for you to say, top of class."
She laughed, "Well your second only to me!"
He smiled at this. It was the first time she had truly seen him smile.
She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
At this he pulled away. "Watch yourself Weasley" he sneered playfully and turned to go.
"Hey Scorpius" Rose called out.
Scorpius turned back.
"Good luck" she smiled.
His face seemed to light up at this but he merely nodded, "Good luck... Rose."
