Winter wasn't a particularly nice season in Scotland, but today was one of the rare occasions where walking around the castle grounds was appealing, especially since the other option was being cooped inside the library trying to finish a Charms essay. Christmas holidays had just ended and already Rose felt swamped with homework, chess club and her attempts to avoid the random family members who seemed to appear out of thin air all over the castle.
Rose shivered as she remembered her firecracker cousin, Lily, popping up while Rose was on the loo. The redheaded second year was far too chipper for a student returning to school. It puzzled Rose how her time at home over the holidays felt like the only time she was able to get away from her intrusive family. Sure, there were times when they would have to go to the Burrow for supper and such, but there was also a lot of time Rose was able to just be alone in her house while her parents were at work and her brother was with friends.
But there were also times when she wished she could've met up with Albus, but every time Rose wrote to him he was always with Malfoy or his other Slytherin friends. Albus didn't bother trying to force them together anymore.
Once Al realized that it wasn't him being a Slytherin or a Malfoy that bothered Rose, it was simply Scorpius's abhorrent personality, Albus gave up on the civility that he had been campaigning for.
But now everyone was back under the same roof and Rose was having difficulty finding a place where she could study in peace without fear of running into any family or arch-enemies. She had attempted to set up camp in the courtyard, but her cousin and Head Girl Lucy had been there reprimanding James and Freddie for some mayhem them had undoubtedly caused.
So she had tried going to the bridge so she could overlook the canyons and mountains as she studied. Unsurprisingly it was also a popular snogging spot.
After wandering around the grounds in search of a lovely spot to study, Rose gave up.
Everywhere was occupied.
So she headed back to the Gryffindor common room and headed straight for the fourth year girls' dormitory. After sneaking past Roxanne and some of her friends, she bolted up the stairs until landing on the fourth platform. She pushed the door open and was grateful when she saw that her five roommates were not in the dormitory. Her relief was short-lived as two voices floated from the bathroom.
She dropped her bag on her perfectly made bed and started walking towards the lavatory to let them know that she was back and would just study up in the tower. But as she approached the cracked door, she could make out Haley and Sybil talking in low tones.
"...but maybe if we asked nicely—"
Haley cut Sybil off, "Rose would never."
Rose's eyebrows shot up as she crept closer.
"I'm just asking for an introduction…"
Haley scoffed, "you've met them before."
"But not in a social context! Only in passing and I don't think I've ever directly spoken to Scorpius."
Rose blanched! And realized that they were talking about Al and Malfoy spawn. What in Merlin's soggy trousers would they want to speak with Malfoy for? Although it was unclear if Sybil wanted a formal introduction to Malfoy or Al. Rose couldn't imagine Sybil being interested in Malfoy, her roommate knew how horribly he treated her.
"You don't need Rose to give you an introduction… in fact, Rose and Malfoy aren't even on speaking terms. You know how they are—" Haley argued.
"—but Rose is Albus's cousin and she could introduce us to him." Sybil whispered, but not so low that Rose wouldn't eavesdrop.
"What's the point of this? You've been stalking him in potions class for weeks. Why don't you just ask to partner up one day?" Haley suggested. Rose still couldn't piece together exactly what it was that Sybil wanted.
Sybil balked, "Scorpius Malfoy is the cutest boy in our year and you think I'm just going to walk up to him without any proper introduction?"
Rose was so startled by Sybil's words that she tripped over the corner of their other roommate's dresser, causing a loud ruckus. Haley and Sybil flew through the bathroom door on high alert and stumbled upon Rose who was trying to right herself.
The first thing that came to Rose's mind was, "YOU THINK MALFOY IS ATTRACTIVE?" She didn't mean to say it as loudly as she did, but she was flabbergasted. The image of Malfoy sitting alone on the Hogwarts train first year flew into her mind. He was a pointy-faced little rat with no redeemable qualities or features.
Sybil blushed deeply and took several long inhalations before saying, "Rose," she paused, "Scorpius Malfoy is objectively attractive. You cannot deny it."
"Yes, I can!" She protested. There was nothing about Scorpius that was attractive. He was too pale and too skinny and too… irritating.
Rose knew that she was about to be out-maneuvered when Haley sighed. "Rose, all Sybil wants to do is have a civil conversation with a boy she finds attractive. It's not so difficult really. And Al is your cousin… and Scorpius is Albus's best friend."
"And that means that I have to like Malfoy?" Rose blurted. No, no, she could fathom anything worse.
"Didn't Al set conditions that you two had to be civil?" Haley raised an eyebrow.
Rose snorted, "Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to like him. And trust me, as someone who unwillingly hangs around with Malfoy, you don't want to have a 'conversation' with him."
"So you won't introduce us?" Sybil asked hopefully.
Rose stared at her in disbelief.
"NO!" Rose gasped, "and this isn't prejudice or whatever! I just don't like his personality."
"What exactly don't you like?" Haley asked, giving Rose a smirk.
"For starters, he's an arsehole."
"Yes, because you're mean to him."
Rose folded her arms indignantly. She couldn't argue that she was unpleasant to Malfoy, but how could she be nice to the boy who has sniped her cousin out from under her. That moment that Albus because friends with Malfoy… it was the first step he took away from Rose. And a big part of Rose had always resented Malfoy for taking Al away from her. Of course, Albus insisted that they could all be friends, but he lived with Malfoy, ate with Malfoy… he was so engrossed with his Slytherin life.
"Rose."
Rose looked up quickly. "You know, I'm not really the best person to introduce you to Malfoy. He would probably run away just because of our association."
Sybil sighed, "that's true. I was hoping things had eased up a little bit."
Rose pressed her lips together. Things had absolutely not eased up. They were just being more secretive and subtle about their hatred and plots. For example, Rose had a little surprise planned for Potions.
Scorpius tilted his neck to the side until he heard a crack. He was trying, and failing, to release some of the tension so as to avoid an explosion of emotions. He rubbed his singed eyebrows and his burned skin pulled.
He paced in the hallway until Albus nearly bowled him over.
"Mate!"
Scorpius fumed, "don't start! She, she, she…" he couldn't even finish.
Albus sighed, "But you don't know—"
"Oh come on! Of course it was her," he seethed. "She added something, probably dragonhide to my potions and nearly blew my face off—"
"It might not have been her!"
"Albus, get real!"
"It might've been an accident."
"Rose is too—" Scorpius stopped short. He didn't want to words to come out of his mouth. Luckily Albus filled in for him.
"Too smart?" Albus suggested.
Al sighed again when Scorpius looked away stubbornly and shoved his hands into his robe pockets. "You should go to the hospital wing before Quidditch practice."
"Why can't you see that she has it out for me? She hates me!"
Albus shoved his hands into his hair, "You both are out for each other! Please, for the love of Merlin, just take a break." Albus was running out of energy. He couldn't keep getting in the middle of Rose and Scorpius any longer. "If the two of you can't stop fighting…"
"You'll stop being friends with us?" Scorpius doubted that.
Al groaned, "Just stop fighting. Just… ignore each other. I don't expect you to be friends, but I expect you not to fill each other. And for the record, I'll be having this same conversation with Rose."
Scorpius couldn't imagine that. Not fighting… just ignoring each other. How would that even work? Somehow that seemed more impossible that even trying to be friends.
Rose was sitting in a window on the first floor when Albus came up to her fully dressed in his quidditch gear. She started to smile until she saw the solom look on his face and her smile wavered. She knew it probably had something to do with that little "accident" in potions yesterday.
"Hey, Rose." Albus said.
"Hi, Al. On your way to practice?"
Albus had been on the team since last year and Malfoy had just made it this year.
"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you beforehand." That didn't sound good.
Rose closed her book, "Sure, what's up?" She asked confidently. Maybe if she didn't look guilty, Albus would believe her.
"I need you and Scorpius to stop fighting."
Rose scoffed, "We've had this conversation before—"
"I'm not talking about being friends," Al interrupted bluntly, "I'm not stupid enough to think that you two will ever be friends. I just
want the fighting to stop. Physically and verbally attacking each other is no longer an option… not if you want to stay friends."
Rose blanched, "We're family!"
"And Scorpius is a part of my family, even if we're not related by blood. But if we need to take a break from being friends, then I can do that."
"From both of us?"
"Yes."
Rose folded her arms. "So we have to…"
"Just ignore each other."
She bit her lip hesitantly. How would that work? Was it even possible to avoid or ignore Malfoy, he always seemed to be there, ready to set her teeth on edge.
"Alright, I suppose I can try."
"Hullo... Scorpius." It felt so wrong to use his first name.
He responded with the same forced politeness, "Hi... Rose."
And to make it even more impressive, Albus was nowhere in sight. The had bumped into each other in the library and Rose felt that if she let up on the nice act, it might never come back. Rose played with the fringe of her jumper and waited for him to leave. She was just about to sit down and crack open the Ancient Runes textbook, as exams were only in a couple months.
"Studying for Ancient Runes?"
Rose blinked, not sure if he had actually spoken or if she had just imagined it. "Hmm?"
Scorpius gestured to the book she was holding, "Ancient Runes... I was actually coming here to write the essay on hieroglyphs." He showed her his book. Rose's breath caught. That essay had only been assigned today and wasn't due for another two weeks. She had been planning on doing it over the weekend that way she had plenty of time to revise it. But of course Scorpius was doing it right then, so she had no choice but to follow suit.
"Me too." She said quickly.
"Do you want to work together?" Scorpius asked hesitantly.
Rose's eyes widened, "Right now?"
"I understand if you don't want to." Scorpius glanced at the table Rose had been about to claim. "I just thought since we're both here... and none of my friends are taking it..."
Rose immediately felt like she had to reciprocate his gesture, "Yes, of course. It's smart to have a study partner." She sat down and plopped her backpack onto the bench next to her. As she began flipping open her book she realized that he was still standing awkwardly, so she motioned for him to sit across from her. He sat rigidly, like he didn't trust that she was being this nice.
Rose pulled out a roll of parchment and dug into her bag for a quill. "Oh..." Rose muttered in surprise.
"What?" Scorpius craned to see what she was doing.
"I forgot... um, my quill." Rose said stupidly. "Sorry, I guess you're on your-"
Scorpius interrupted, "You can borrow mine, if you want?"
Rose gave him a quizzical look, "What will you write with?"
He presented two quills and placed them in the middle of the able. Annoyance prickled at Rose, feeling like he had outdone her simply by being prepared. But she couldn't let it show. It seemed as though their game had morphed and it became that whoever was nicer to the other would win. Whoever lasted longer without breaking would be the victor.
"Thank you." She said and took one of the quills.
They sat in silence for two hours, writing away. Rose didn't think she had ever worked harder or written faster than when she was competing with Scorpius. She glanced up briefly several times and each time she saw his scribbling furiously on his parchment and flipping through his book for references.
Finally, they both put their quills down.
Rose let out a long breath and stretched her fingers, "I don't think I'll be able to move my hand for a week."
Scorpius let out a short laugh, "Me too." Rose looked down at her long essay and felt proud. "You were right."
If Rose had been drinking water, she would have spewed it all over the table. "Could you repeat that?" A small smile played on her mouth.
Scorpius made a displeased sound, "You heard me. It was a good idea to have a study partner."
Rose raised her eyebrow, "I find that I work better when-"
"When you're racing against someone?" Scorpius gave her a challenging look. Rose could tell he expected her to argue with him, but that wasn't how she was going to win.
"We do make good rivals. I suppose there are some advantages to being enemies."
Scorpius's eyes narrowed teasingly, "Why do you think we're the best in our year?" He leaned back into his chair and closed his book. Rose couldn't deny that he was right next to her at the top of her class. She glanced at the other books he had and felt a tinge of excitement.
"Want to do the Defense essay?"
Scorpius met her with a grin.