Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. It belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also do not own Scorpius or Rose. However, I own this story idea and the characters of Josephine and Esmeralda. However, I do not own their last names, which were mentioned in the last chapter. Oh, and the title of the story is credited to my friend Kaley and me. Also, the character of Josephine is slightly based on a character she role-plays as.
Author's Note: I am sorry for the long wait. I have been busy this last school year and summer but have returned for my senior year so I think that I should finish this chapter soon. I've had more than half of it done for at least a month but I have been slowly working on it. I need to plan out the next few chapters and ideas are a little short right now. I plan things out in little sections. I plan out the next few chapters, not the entire story. I want to make the story long, if possible. I will be applying for colleges and I'm sure most of that will be done before the semester is over. So, during breaks and other things, I'll be trying to update. I'll always be writing because I love to write and I love this story but chapters may come slowly. If anyone has ANY IDEAS, please feel free to send me a private message and if you want to talk more, I'll give you my MSN address / E-Mail. As for the direction of the story, I don't know it. I know, not the best way to start writing a fanfiction. I want to make this story quite long and I have a feeling I'll probably continue this story into the seventh year, maybe past that. So to keep this going, I may include some dramatic bits and include some bits about the drama and romance of other characters in this story. Ideas are appreciated!
I also know that my punctuation is bad. I might consider getting a beta. If you are a beta and would like to help, please contact me at my e-mail or private message me. I would like to make this the best story possible. I would love a beta who could toss around ideas with me, help me with blocks and my terrible punctuation problems and sometimes, sentence structure. Thank you so much. So, let's get the story started!
--
"Oh no, Rose Weasley. You aren't going anywhere."
Rose and Josephine stood there in shock and as Precious moved more into the bathroom, made it their mission to move back in order to avoid colliding with the angry girl with the ugly expression. Josephine was the first to speak up, of course.
"Of course she is going somewhere. We are both going somewhere and that somewhere is to our next class. So if you'll excuse us…" Josephine trailed off smartly as she grabbed Rose's arm and made way to push Precious to the side so both of them could make their way out of the bathroom. However, Precious used the outside of her arm to stop them but yet not push them back. She still had that ugly expression on her face but this time, a spark of determination 'graced' her features.
"No, I don't think so, McDougal. I have some business to settle with Weasley, here," Precious said looking Josephine straight in the eye. Josephine once again tried to push her way through with a look of indifference, Rose still in tow. Precious stopped them once again, Josephine took an almost haughty step back and Rose knew exactly what expression her friend had on her face. She knew her friend all too well. "I said that I have business to settle with Weasley. Stop playing the role of overprotective watch dog and get lost. This is actually important and it has nothing to do with you," she said once again. It was obvious that Precious Pucey was not going to back down and out of this one. Rose moved about to feet away from Josephine, shaking her arm out of her grip. She had no idea why Precious was so intent on talking to her alone but on some hidden level, she was glad that she has her smart-mouthed best friend, Josephine, to watch her back, not that she couldn't hold her own of course. Rose knew that she had to get the next word in. She would not let Josephine fight all of her battles. She stepped forward, stating her participation in this conversation.
"What do you want, Precious?" Rose stated calmly but in a firm manner. She really did not know what this was all about but she was determined to find out.
"I want to know why you are hanging all over my boyfriend, Weasley! That's what!" Precious exclaimed. Josephine gave her the most funniest "What-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?" look Rose had ever seen and it took all her guts to suppress her laughter. Anyway, she had to focus on the conversation at hand.
"I have not been hanging all over Scorpius. Where on this earth did you get that idea?" retorted Rose, surprised at her accusations.
"You're such a liar. I saw talking to him yesterday and you were sitting outside of your Arithmancy class this morning. You were sitting almost against him, pretending to pour over his notes!"
"Excuse me? We are classmates, Precious! I was talking to him about the incident in Potions and today, all you saw was the two of us studying for our Arithmancy quiz. To be honest, I asked to look at his notes because I can barely read my own. My handwriting is untidy. We were studying and I was not all over him. You might need to get your eyes checked!" she retorted strongly and a moment later, she felt surprised at herself. Usually, she was much more soft-spoken and rarely raised her voice. She quickly glanced at Josephine and even she seemed surprise.
"It's obvious that you have the hots for him. But he's my boyfriend—"
"EX-boyfriend, might I remind you," interrupted Josephine.
"That's just for the time being. I know we are getting back together soon!" Precious weakly responded.
Josephine was doing well in this argument and Rose was not going to burst her friends bubble when she was on the ball in a battle of wits which was now more like battle of the witty and witless. Josephine being the witty one and Precious being the witless one, of course. Rose did not understand, well, she rather understood why she would attack some innocent bystander who just happened to be female and who just happened to be talking to her ex-boyfriend not long after the break up occurred. It was obvious that Precious was still upset and not over Scorpius but they broke up and that was that. Precious just needed to move on but it was obvious that she was having some trouble with this…task.
"I really would love to stay and chat, Precious, but I have History of Magic next and I would really not like to miss class notes. It takes me a lot of time to make things up and the Professor locks the door after lessons start," Rose stated calmly, wanting to get out, but only taking a few steps forward and to the site of the girl. Josephine decided to catch Precious off-guard and pushed her roughly to side, letting Rose slip out first. Josephine was larger than Precious and had more athletic strength. Rose was not non-athletic but she did not inherit the Weasley talent for sports or other things, but she got her mother's brains and her father's loyalty.
"I'd watch my back if I were you, Weasley. You don't know what I'm capable of," Precious warned but weakly. Her threats were not shocking or really worried over. She hadn't done much damage in the past and Rose and Josephine were not about to let her menial threats bother them, Rose especially. She did not like being accused of 'throwing herself' at newly-on-the-market males and at Scorpius no doubt. Of course, she would not talk about the reality to Josephine. Josephine was pureblood but she had a meaningless grudge against the Malfoy boy.
Finally, Rose and Josephine made their way out of the bathroom and into the corridor and speed-walked to their next class, which just happened to be History of Magic. Rose was glad to be out of that predicament. She usually held her own but Josephine was just dying to let out some pent-up anger on someone she found most definitely annoying. Rose could not blame her. Rose had never been that close with Precious but they were never butting heads and throwing nasty remarks at one another. Just recently, she worked with Precious on a Potions assignment, even though Precious would not condescend to pick up an eye of a newt. However, now, Rose was definitely not font of Precious. Why and how did she get the idea that Rose had it bad for Scorpius Malfoy? Rose did not have it bad for Scorpius Malfoy. Of course, she thought he was attractive. Rose was not blind and far from it, actually. She admired his handsome features, not exactly but not unlike his fathers.
Did Rose Asphodel Weasley have feelings for Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy? Rose did not think so. They were just acquaintances to many and secret friends amongst one another. Rose admired Scorpius, sure, but she did not have deep, emotional feelings that went beyond friendship. There was still a lot about Scorpius that Rose did not know and why he went out with Precious Pucey in the first place was definitely one of those things. However, Rose was not so insensitive that she would just ask him that flat out. She knew much better than that and besides, she respected Scorpius, little did her two best friends know. Both of them were not so thrilled about Rose calling Scorpius by his first name and because of that, she knew that they couldn't handle her being friends with him. The idea of a secret relationship, romantic or not, thrilled Rose in a strange way.
Rose remained in her thoughts until finally, the two friends arrived in the History of Magic classroom right before the professor charmed the door shut so that late-comers would not get it. Josephine had started to see it close and flicked out her wand to counter the spell. Rose admitted that she admired Josephine's charm work. It actually surpassed Rose's abilities. Rose was good at most of her classes but Josephine's charm work was always sharp and somethings, Rose's could have been a little dull and not as sharp. Rose was better at Potions, Herbology and her other classes but that was not to say that she was bad at Charms though. Josephine was just better. Rose looked around the room and then, she and Scorpius greeted each other with a lingering glance at one another and a small smile appeared on Rose's face as she greeted him wordlessly, with her eyes. Anyway, the two of them took their seats next to Albus, Rose's cousin. Albus turned to Rose and smiled with his silent greeting and then he turned back to his attention on the Professor.
The professor started the lesson and Rose was taking notes while concentrating on the lecture. Rose was not about to let her confrontation with Precious Pucey get to her. She knew that the jealous girl was not worth getting distracted from her studies. However, occasionally, Rose would think about the events and as she did so, she would glance over to Josephine who had an almost-vicious, determined look on her face. Rose knew that she was dwelling on what happened before they went to class. Josephine was a stubborn, proud creature who was loyal to the core. Rose admired her for it but at the same time, she hoped that Josephine was not going to suffer in this class because of the 'distraction.' Rose was determined to not let the previous events distract her from her work.
Fifty minutes after the start of the History of Magic lesson, it was over. Rose and Josephine made their way out of the classroom and down the corridor. Charms was the last class of the day today. On Friday, she only had two classes, Arithmancy and History of Magic and to be honest, Rose was thankful for that. Rose and Josephine soon parted ways because Josephine had quidditch practice and Rose well, did not. Rose was like her mother in the aspect that she was not that athletic to be on a quidditch team. Of course, being a Weasley, Rose loved to play but she was rather hopeless and clumsy on a broomstick up in the air. So, she decided that being a student was enough. Besides, last year, she was made prefect of her year and house and she had enough to do when she was not studying for her classes.
Rose knew where she was going and it was not to the library. She was heading to the small alcove in the ivy-covered sunlit and shaded courtyard, where she always relaxed on Friday after her classes were done. Sometimes, her friends would join her and they would work on Herbology homework together. Then they would talk about things, Esmeralda and Josephine usually brought up the latest gossip from around the school and Rose, not being the one to gossip, just listened to them griping about who's going out with who and who got completely humiliated in front of a large mass of other students. However, as she said before, she didn't really play into her friends 'juicy' gossip, especially what was going on right now. The entire school was still buzzing about the news of Scorpius Malfoy and Precious Pucey's very public break-up. Someone wise once said that gossip spreads like wild fire and that person was right on their mark. Everyone was talking about the break up and rumors were going to be starting soon. Rose was just glad that she did not make her friendship with Scorpius the most obvious thing in the world or rumors would start flying about her too.
Rose pushed all the thoughts from her mind and sat on a minimally cracked, worn stone bench underneath a shaded part of the courtyard wall, her favorite spot on the school grounds. Rose pulled out a scrap piece of parchment and her quill and doodled. She attempted to draw a unicorn but she did not succeed. Rose was the worst artist she knew. Her drawings of people were so bad that they would make stick figures look like great works of art in comparison. Nevertheless, Rose loved to doodle even if she was the worst artist ever. Rose continued her doodling until she could see the shadow of someone approach her in her secluded little spot in the courtyard out of the corner of her eye. She raised her head slightly and lifted her eyeballs in their sockets to see who it was and to her surprise it was Scorpius Malfoy, the would-be king of Slytherin. However, he was not a jerk, nor did he have ice in veins instead of hot, warm blood. He was competitive and determined and that was why he was placed in Slytherin. When Rose and Scorpius were in second year, they were constantly competing in their classes. There was this large rivalry between them and although they were not enemies, things got a little nasty when both of them were thrown into competitive activities or subjects in class. But there are times when Rose wondered why he hadn't been placed in Ravenclaw. He was the smartest boy in their year if not the entire school, something that Rose admired about him.
"Hey, Rose," Scorpius greeted Rose with a small smile as he maneuver over to sit next to her on the bench. As he did so, he noisily dropped his designer, brown, leather messenger bag to his side.
"Hi, Scorpius," Rose responded happily, though she tried not to sound too happy, "What brings you here to my little alcove?" Rose could not look him in the eye after what happened in the bathroom with Precious. It was all somewhat awkward to her and Rose did not want to talk about it, though she doubted that Scorpius knew, unless Precious confronted Scorpius as well.
"Well, I've seen you and your friends come out here a lot on Fridays but I know that Josephine has quidditch practice. They are sharing the field with Slytherin today," Scorpius said looking over at Rose, who looking like she was concentrating on the scrap paper she had drawn a really bad unicorn on. Scorpius followed Rose's gaze to her paper and could not stifle a chuckle at her paper. He quickly went to cover his mouth, not wanting to offend her but it was too late for that.
"What is so funny, Scorpius?" Rose said defensively, finally raising her head to look at him. With his outburst of chuckle, her awkwardness and thoughts went away and now, this was in the place of it. At least she wasn't avoiding his gaze now.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. Your horse looks like a sausage with legs!" Scorpius exclaimed, not being able to contain his laughter any longer. Rose was fuming.
"Scorpius! I'll just leave if you're going to make fun of my artwork," she said, crumpling up the paper and throwing it to the ground as she started to get her bag and get up. As she walked a few steps, Scorpius reached out and grabbed her wrist but missed and grabbed her hand.
"Don't leave, Rose. I'm sorry about that. That wasn't very polite of me," he said, still having hold of her hand. Rose flushed a light pink at the warmth of his hand but she didn't turn around to see his face. Still holding onto her hand, Scorpius realized that he was holding her hand and almost-hesitantly let it go.
"Fine," Rose said with almost-mock suspicion. She turned around and sat back down.
"You have to admit that the horse does look a little funny," Scorpius said smiling, a hit of smirk in his smile.
"It agree that it does but I'd like to see you do any better, Scorpius," she said, holding out another scrap paper and a quill. Scorpius took them, unintentionally brushing his finger against hers. Rose felt heat rise in her cheeks and she didn't know why.
Rose shook any thoughts from her head as she observed Scorpius as he started to draw a horse. She leaned over to look at Scorpius's work and although at the time it only looked like a bunch of sketchy lines, an image started to form. Soon enough, Rose could see the contours of a horse's body, muscles and ligaments. Scorpius was really good at this. She enjoyed watching him draw the horse and got caught up in watching him sculpt the horse with his pencil. After quite a few minutes, Scorpius finished and Rose shook herself out of the artistic trance and looked at the horse clearly. The drawing was wonderful. It really was.
"Scorpius, that's amazing. Where did you learn to draw like that?" Rose asked excitedly, moving a little closer to the drawing as she examined it.
Scorpius smiled as a hint of pink touched his cheeks. "Well, my mother taught me. She's really good, much better than me, though," he said.
"Well, I think you're really good," Rose said, looking Scorpius in the eye, "I wish I could draw like that." She didn't notice the light blush to his cheeks.
"I could teach you, if you want," Scorpius offered.
"Oh no, Scorpius! Don't waste your artistic talent on me. I'm all numbers and logic. Remember, my drawing of a horse looked like a sausage with legs," Rose said, laughing lightly as she spoke. Scorpius couldn't help but smile at her statement.
The two of them continued talking about this and that until they noticed the sun started going down. Scorpius looked at his time piece and gathered up his bag. "Dinner should be served any moment. We should get going," Scorpius said, as he gathered up his things. Scorpius picked up the parchment that had the drawing of the horse he did on it. He was about to put it in his bag but then he hesitated.
"Rose, take this," he said sincerely, a small smile fighting at his lips. Rose's eyes widened as she accepted the piece of parchment.
"Thanks," she said as she fumbled slightly to get her belongings together. She carefully folded the drawing and stuck it in her bag nicely. Scorpius had walked a little ahead of her and as Rose finished up getting her things together, she walked quickly to catch up and they walked together until they entered. Scorpius lingered behind before they entered and sat at their respected tables.
Rose sat down at the Ravenclaw table next to her two best friends, Josephine and Esmeralda. Both of them had already gotten there and it seemed as if food had already been served.
"Where were you, Rosie?" asked Josephine, "We waited for you in the common room to go to dinner but you never showed."
"Sorry. I was in the alcove this afternoon and I ended up staying there for a while," Rose said, trying to end it then and there.
"What could you be doing for so long at the alcove, Rosie? I'm pretty sure that you have had all of your assignments done by now," Esmeralda piped up.
"I was just reading some more of my book and I drew a little," Rose said.
"But you can't draw your way out of a paper bag, Rosie!" Josephine exclaimed a little loudly. Rose clutched her bag to herself a little to obviously as she took a large spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth so she wouldn't have to answer.
"I know that, Josie. I still like drawing, " Rose retorted, only the slightest bit offended.
"Anyway," Esmeralda said, "Rose, Josie and I came up with an idea that tonight, we should have a sleepover in our dorm. It's Friday night and we don't have classes tomorrow. I think it'll be fun!" Esmeralda was smart but not as smart as her friends but she was always the instigator of fun. She was more bubbly and friendly than Josephine. Josephine was often brash, harsh and intimidating. Josephine towered over her friends and Esmeralda was definitely the shortest, but a bundle of fun in a small package.
Josephine just rolled her eyes at the idea but Rose turned to look at Esmeralda and said, "Actually, that's a great idea, Esmie. We haven't done one since the first weekend of school. That sounds like fun." Josephine agreed but she wasn't as excited as Rose or Esmeralda. They chattered away as they finished their supper. Esmeralda told her that their other dorm mates would be joining them. The other two dorm mates of the three friends were Rebeckah Lewis and Thalia Carmichael. Esmeralda, Rose and Josephine were friends with them and they had all been really close when they were in their first three years at Hogwarts. However, Thalia and Beckah were more interested in boys and makeup to be bothered with the three friends.
Esmeralda left dinner a little early, wanting to get everything set up faster. Rose and Josephine left together. They caught eyes with Precious as they left because she was leaving while they were living and all they got was a nasty glare from her now blotchy face. It looks obvious as to what she spent her free period doing.
Josephine and Rose walked until they got to the entrance of the Ravenclaw Common Room. They said the password and entered the common room. Quite a few of their housemates were already in the common room, hanging out by the fire and playing chess on the tables off towards the side. They entered their dorm which was at the top of a small staircase on the right side of the blue and bronze common room.
Esmeralda already had her pajamas on and dragged out some things like sweets, gossip magazines and her bright neon pink wireless. The wireless was currently playing the latest single by the Wonderkynks, "Pixiedust." Rose was never fond of the Wonderkynks because they were too loud for her but she had to admit, she loved the softer but still edgy vibe they gave off. She actually preferred muggle music, especially oldies. She loved Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. They were really quite old because they were old when her mom was growing up too. Her mom really liked the Beatles when she was younger. Rose knew that her mom had her secrets and one of them was that she liked the Sex Pistols as well. She saw that in her old, school trunk she had some muggle paraphernalia. Not to say that Rose did not like some of the wizarding groups or singers, she was just brought up on muggle music that her mother loved and well, the Weird Sisters, obviously. They were a little old now and Rose was sure that they were planning a comeback tour of some sort.
"Esme, it looks great!" Rose piped up as she entered the room. She headed over to her trunk to get out her pajamas.
Josephine just lumbered into the room, her usual scowl on her face. She grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the floor on her messy side of the room and a shirt that was crumpled and sitting on top of her unmade bed. She was the messiest person in the dorm and Rose often asked her to clean up but Rose often got snapped at when she did so. Rose would usually just back down. Josephine was a cranky one but she was extremely loyal and well, she was just one of Rose's best friends.
"Josephine, are those the cutest pajamas you have. They look all old and dirty," Esmeralda said, with her nose crinkled. Esmeralda was not the smartest of the Ravenclaws but she excelled in a few subjects and in those, she shone. Esmeralda was better in Defense against the Dark Arts, which is for sure. She even beat out Rose's cousin, Albus, who was the son of the famous Harry Potter and one of the best students in their year. Rose was certain that he inherited that gene somehow from Rose's mother. James and Lily were nowhere near as smart as Albus was.
"I don't care, Esmie. I prefer sweatpants," Josephine said in an almost-snappy tone. Esmeralda just raised her eyebrows and then lowered them quickly and went back to what she was doing. Rose had been changing into her pajamas. She had chosen out the classic pajama top and bottom set. Hers had little cakes and pastries on them and they were rather cute. She had a pair with little unicorns on them but she would not dare wearing them around other people except her family at home. Her cousins teased her as well about them.
Thalia and Beckah—Rebeckah, but all people called her by her nickname—soon arrived and quickly got changed into their silky pajama sets. They were excited to be doing something girly, which they believed to be rather unlike their dormmates, whom they referred to as the Antisocial Musketeers. They had not seen any of them go on a date or have a boyfriend. However, they often forgot that Rose had dated Nathaniel Smith for a while or that Josephine had been on several dates and had made out with quite a few guys but none of the prospective boys seemed to stick. Josephine was rather…well, she was quite aggressive and bold. Some of the boys did not understanding. The only boy that would even remotely stand up to her was James Potter, Rose's older cousin. He was in his seventh year, just a year above Rose and Albus. Once, Rose pondered the idea of James and Josephine dating but then she stopped thinking about it because James was her cousin and she hated it when Josephine would talk about how fine he was from behind, if you know what I mean. Oh yeah, Josephine's mind often wandered into the gutter. Rose shuddered, thinking about it.
Thalia and Rebeckah were quite the boy-crazy girls. Thalia had gone through two 'boyfriends' this year and it was not even Christmas yet. Rose had seen Rebeckah in abandoned corridors a few times, making out with different guys. Rose told her mom through a letter about this and her mom said that the two girls reminded her of two of her dormmates, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. However, her mother said they were not as scandalous. She knew that her dad had dated Lavender Brown and did not push the subject with her mother. Apparently, her mother had gotten very jealous and sent canaries after him once. She asked her uncle Harry about it and he said that Ron was being a bit of a dense fool. He obviously did not see how Hermione felt about him at the time. But Rose was rather happy that they found each other the next year. Otherwise, Rose and her little brother, Hugo, might not be here.
Rose was the first to pipe up.
"Hey Beckah, Thalia! We're glad you could make it!"
Thalia was the first to respond. She might have boy issues, but she was the sweetest of the two, much like Parvati was when her mom was in school, as her mom told her. Lavender was a bit envious and put off. After Ron had broke up with her, she was a 'bitter old braud' as her auntie Ginny described her. Ginny was one of the funniest of the family, right behind uncle George of course. Anyway, Thalia had a smile on and looked rather excited.
"I'm excited too. It was nice of you, Esmie and Josie to include us," Thalia exclaimed in honest excitement. Thalia was more close with Esmeralda than with Josephine. She found Josephine to be rather harsh and unforgiving, as most people at the school did.
"Actually, it was Esmie who planned all of this. She's the party planner of the three of us," Rose said with a light chuckle. She really wished that she was closer to Thalia and Beckah. They were both nice, even though the five of them all had their differences. At least, the two girls were rather nice, even though they had their issues.
Thalia smiled at Esmeralda, whom she considered a good friend. In due time, the five of them had settled down on the ground with large blue velvet cushions around the center of the room, where Esmeralda had laid out the sweets, deck of cards, the wireless and various gossip magazines. Rose grabbed a piece of some lemon-flavored chewy candy and bit into it, pulling at it between her teeth as if it was a muggle, sour, gummy worm.
"So what do you guys want to do?" Esmeralda asked, grabbing for the Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Rose had eaten another piece.
"Truth or dare," Rebeckah stated simply. Rose gulped down the rest of the piece of candy that was in her mouth. She never liked that game. It was worse than 'I Never…" and she hated that game with a passion too. Who knew where the answers Rose provided would end up.
"That sounds good but first things first. I want to know what happened with Precious Pucey today. Rosie, you never told me," Esmeralda piped up, leaning towards her friend.
Rose glared daggers at Esmeralda and then at Josephine. "Josie, you told her? I told you that I did not want this getting out," she said to her friend with stern look on her face.
"Rosie, it is going to get out soon enough. Precious will probably tell everyone that you beat the shit out of her, anyway," Josephine said with a smart-alack tone.
"What?" Rose said incredulously, slowly steaming at Josephine.
"She'll want to victimize herself. She would not say that she beat you up because she likes to be seen as dainty and well…Precious. Haha. I love that I can come up with puns that include her name," Josephine said with a small laugh to herself.
Rose just glared at her.
"So, Rosie, what happened?"
Rose sighed and decided that she was not going to avoid this. "Well, I was talking to Scorpius in some place or another. We were talking about our Arithmancy assignment. Apparently she saw me and assumed that I had my 'hands on her man' or something equally stupid. It was all nonsense."
"So, you don't like him?" Rebeckah piped up.
"Not in that way. I mean, we are on friendly terms—" Rose said, but she was interrupted.
"Friendly terms? Do you even know who you are talking about Rose? This is Scorpius Weasley, son of Draco Malfoy and grandson of Lucius Malfoy. I think you've been smoking something," Josephine said, interrupted Rose as she always did.
"Josie! You're one to talk. You got some strange shit from a muggleborn boy in Hufflepuff and you smoked it outside instead of going to Herbology on Tuesday last week. You came back after dinner smelling like death. It was disgusting, Josie," Rose exclaimed. The girls looked around, never having seen Rose act like that, or curse, nonetheless. Josephine looked genuinely shocked…and a little frantic at the same time.
"How did you know that?" Josephine exclaimed, still frantic. Esmeralda let out a cackle and Thalia's jaw just dropped and from Rebeckah, came a very unladylike snort.
"I saw you, that is how I know. Merlin, Josie!" Rose said, trying her best not to smile at the flustered expression on her best friend's face.
"Stop changing the subject, Rosie. The subject is Scorpius Malfoy. It's rather odd that you would be on friendly terms with Scorpius, with your family and all—" Josephine did not get to finish because Rose interrupted her.
"My family has got nothing do with this or any of my social risks as you may call them. I can't talk to someone without getting lectured," Rose said on the verge of being furious.
"But, Rosie! It's Scorpius Malfoy, for Merlin's sake. He is not just a social risk. He is a social stab in your skin!" Josephine spouted, almost just as angry.
"You don't even know him, Josie. Don't make such judgments," Rose said, trying to calm down and compose herself. She wasn't going to go off and let them think that she had a thing for him by being overly protective of Scorpius.
"Just how well do you know Scorpius, Rosie?" Josephine said in a mocking tone.
"Merlin, Josie! What is with you? I just talked to him and you know how Precious takes everything to heart and has to exaggerate. She is the most dramatic person in our year and you know it," Rose exclaimed.
"Well, remember when Lavanya Entwhistle got mixed up in Precious's plottings. Lavanya was such a sweet girl but then she had to reveal her secret crush on Scorpius. Precious just about ruined her. She also tried the 'friend' card with Scorpius but she was rather clingy and I don't think that set well with him. Hopefully you didn't get clingy either. He might spread word around that your desperate…and loose," Josephine said, flaunting her words on the air. She thought she was so clever with words.
"This conversation is done," Rose said in a scarily stern and calm voice. It was almost creepy the way that she said it. Thalia, Esmeralda and Rebeckah were all stunned and silent.
"What?—"
"I said this is done. I am sorry to break up the party, girls, but I think I'll just set off to bed. I am not really in the sleepover mood. However, you all should enjoy yourselves."
Rose went to her bed and climbed in. She grabbed her wand, journal, The Catcher in the Rye and then shut her sparkle-speckled, midnight blue curtains and let her roommates to their sleepover doings. She felt like a 'party pooper' and no matter how much Rose loved her best friend, there were times when she wanted to just tell her to "Get bent." Not that Rose would use such foul language, though. She did not 'look down upon' or 'hate' her best friend in the entire world. How could she? In third year, she spent the entire time holding her when Rose told Holden McKenna that she had a crush on him and she found out that he did not like her back. He was her first 'love,' if you can even call it that. However, Josephine was not acting like a friend right now.
Her best friend was convinced that Scorpius Malfoy was a monster, just like his father and grandfather had been...for a portion of their lives. Scorpius was interesting, fun to be around in a calm kind of way and he was handsome. However, she was not going to admit this to Josephine for all she would get is some backtalk and some foul language coming out of her mouth.
Rose wrote about what happened today in the courtyard with Scorpius. However, she did not record how many times she could remember the heat rising in her cheeks when he smiled. She did not know what her journal to know or anyone that might happen upon it by accident. She did not like Scorpius Malfoy in that way. He was her friend, her not-really-but-kind-of-secret friend. She was not extremely, extremely close to him but she admired him and wanted to get to know him better. She really enjoyed talking to him and picking his brain. Also, looking at him was not too bad either but she would never let anyone know that. She would never hear the end of it from her brother, her cousin James, her cousin Fred or Josephine, for that matter.
She read more from her book by wandlight and soon, she felt herself drift to sleep. Her dreams were not boring. Scorpius Malfoy made a small appearance and she would remember this, is Rose ever remembered her dreams when she got up. She never did though.