The Bet
Chp 4, Jealousy at its Best
The next weeks that passed went by more smoothly than anyone could have ever expected. Before long, they were able to tolerate each other's presence without huge, catastrophic fights exploding in the air. People began to notice a difference in the way they acted together, everyone whispering about how though Rose and Scorpius still bickered, it didn't feel like they were ever genuinely upset anymore. It was a friendly teasing, healthy competition, couple's taunting. Rose herself hadn't noticed this famous change one bit, and she'd swear up and down to anyone she was allowed to (herself, Albus, Roxanne, Louis, and Scorpius) that she still despised the guy more than words could say.
"You don't think that you guys have been getting along rather well lately?" Albus asked one day while they studied underneath the tree by the lake. The day was bright and pleasant, a comfortable breeze swaying through the branches and a quiet beauty issuing from the grounds. The matter of the fact was, it was a wonderful day outside and it seemed to have reflected on everybody who noticed. Rose hadn't heard a single professor nagging, any first years crying, or an unexpected battle between students. In fact, Rose herself found that she was at peace as she hummed a nameless tune while scribbling down notes.
"No, not at all," she said casually, as if she was only half-paying attention and speaking more to her parchment than to Albus "We, uh, we fought over whether the pudding tasted good just last night, didn't we?" She continued writing as she spoke, not even bothering to give her best friend a peek at her deep sea blue eyes.
"Oh come on, Rosie. You know that fight was watered down. Had it been before the whole bet, you two would have ripped each other's faces off." He piped, pressing the line between upsetting Rose and keeping her calm. He knew he was treading on thin ice, but he figured that absolutely nothing would be accomplished with doing nothing. Rose huffed and shut her books, flicking her face over at him.
"Al, what are you getting at? Don't tell me you're one of those idiots who believe that Scorpius and I could possibly have fondness for each other. I have no idea why everyone just ate this story up." She said, shaking her head in disbelief. She was almost offended by how little struggle it took to making everyone believe they were a couple.
"I'm just sayin'." he mused, ripping his eyes from her and flipping through the pages of his book, not wishing to face the wrath of Rose's unmerciful gaze.
"Just sayin' what, exactly? I don t know how to make this more clear to you, but I do not like Scorpius Malfoy- not even as a friend!"
"Good afternoon, darling. I got you those notes from Potions." Scorpius drawled, boredom etched all over his pale face. Rose reckoned he was the single handedly most condescending person in the world, always seeming to speak down to her rather than simply speak to her. He was analytical and calculative, and extremely shady, all together creating a psychological tyrant. Rose seriously doubted whether someone had ever been able to unravel through the barricade of arrogance he'd built around himself. Just who had the power to do that? Was it a girl? She didn't think that anyone of the little skanks he'd snogged had ever bothered to get to know Scorpius on a deeper level, or even any of his so-called friends for that matter. It was in that moment that Rose realized that Scorpius- though surrounded by friends and admirers- must have felt awfully alone. "Just what are you staring at, Rose? I don't think I said anything strange. I suppose I can t blame you for wanting to take a peek at my beautiful self."
Rose hadn't noticed that she'd been staring at the boy, though obviously not intentionally. Her head lay gently in her graceful palm, a contemplative expression painted across her freckled face. She instantly shook her head and blinked her eyes a couple times, trying to find some reason to excuse herself from acting so queerly. She didn't particularly feel like being sassy to Scorpius at the moment. After spending so much time with him, the novelty of constantly facing the chores of thinking a witty comeback lost its charm. Besides, she was much too drained from a full day of working to feel anything other than apathy and acute annoyance. "Uh, sorry. I was just thinking." She said dismissively, waving her hand to signal that the conversation s topic should be switched.
Scorpius made a sound close to a grunt of agreement, and sat in the chair beside her, simply dropping the notes he'd brought on the table. The loud thump struck through the silence like a knife through an apple. They were currently in the near-empty library, so the loud noise contrasting with the silent library was enough to frazzle any person. She gave him an irritated scowl, but no more. Rose looked absolutely exhausted. Though she still retained her natural beauty, she wasn't looking as nice as she usually did. There was a certain dullness to her, her curly red hair not nearly as shiny, her face not nearly as flushed, her eyes not nearly as sparkly. All in all, she looked just about as tired as she was.
Their N.E.W.T.s were coming up very soon, and they both had the intention of getting excellent marks on it. Therefore, a lot of time had been spent in the library. At first, they'd both gone separately. Rose would walk in and be annoyed beyond expression to find that Scorpius, too, was there studying. A few days past and they realized it was silly to be sitting a few feet from each other and not study together, so they joined forces. Before long, they just automatically went with each other each night to the library without much complaint. It was more efficient and less boring to study with a partner, and that was a fact even the stubborn Rose had to admit.
Rose slammed her face into her arms on the table in defeat, hiding her face in the crook of her elbow and sighing dramatically. "Thes tho mush wor." she mumbled into her soft skin, before turning her head so she could look at the blond boy next to her.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you over your arm fat. Mind repeating?" he asked sweetly. Rose hated how horribly facetious he was, belittling others with his patronizing tone and sugar-sweet words. He said the rudest things in the nicest ways, which really got under her skin. What bothered her even more was that he never really emoted much of anything. How he was able to cause such a rise out of her without being affected by anything she ever she drove her crazy. He only had two different modes: annoyed and amused. She honestly couldn't remember in all five years she'd known him, a single time he'd raised his voice, or ever even appeared to be upset.
"There's so much work." She looked at him with irritated eyes, but nonetheless repeated what she'd said. To this, Scorpius only nodded his head and pulled out his books, flipping through notebooks and parchment and sorting through quills. Rose wasn't sure what she would have replied to that, but she needn't worry about it anyway because at that precise moment, she was distracted by a peculiar situation. Just beyond the book shelf nearest to her table, a gaggle of giggling girls peered coyfully at Scorpius. They'd peek out from behind the wall of books to point and blush and exclaim how 'he's just so sexy!'. Rose thought she was going to puke it was so nauseating. She even went so far as to feign illness and pretend to be vomiting in her hands, much to Scorpius confusion.
"For Merlin's sake, what are you doing?" he inquired, looking at her as if she actually had up-chucked all over her robes. Rose still kept up her sick facade, acting like she was going to speak a couple times before cutting it off in a faux gag. She continued this until the blond boy let out a frustrated "Rose." in which case she gave him a dead panned straight face and pointed to the girls. Scorpius turned his head towards them and gave them a friendly wave, much to Rose's disapproval. Their faces were of shock and embarrassment at being so blatantly caught with their hands red. It quickly changed to boiling outrage directed towards Rose who had been the one to do it to them. Rose only chuckled deviously, and might as well have been rubbing her hands together and laughing maniacally.
The group of four, two Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuff, had a gang meeting consisting of hushed whispers and seething looks before one of the girls, Lauren Gibbs, flounced over to their table. She glared at Rose for a moment and then immediately flipped her composure as she looked at Scorpius adoringly. She gave a disgustingly sweet smile and leaned over just enough that her unimpressive cleavage was clearly seen. Rose did everything in her power to stop herself from punching herself in the face, but she honestly couldn't help but to make a stank face at her.
"Hey, Scorpius. What's up?"she asked, a flirtatious smile playing on her lips. The question is what had thrown Rose off guard. It seemed much too vague to possibly be what she'd come over for. Scorpius too found the question odd, and he shook his head while replying with a befuddled "Uh, not much."
"Oh, cool. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?" she asked, and then the question Rose had been asking herself ( 'Why is she here?' ) was suddenly very clear. She was getting back at her for making her seem like an idiot (not a difficult task, have you) by flirting with her 'boyfriend'. The girl ripped her gaze from Scorpius for just a second to give Rose a malicious smile, but before she could blink, her eyes were glued hungrily back onto Scorpius body. Rose was positively furious. How dare this girl flirt with Scorpius right in front of her- the bloke's bloody girlfriend. I mean, Rose and Scorpius weren t actually a couple, but as far as this girl knew they were. The downright rudeness in her promiscuity made the red head teen want to blast her head off. She wrung her hands and ground her teeth, eying the twig's overrated body. She was sure that if anyone were to look at her in that moment, they would have either wet themselves or been turned to stone because she had never before felt such rage coursing through her veins than she did in that moment, and she had been told she had a wicked glare even when she was just mildly upset. 'It's alright, though. Scorpius will show this wrench who's in charge'. she thought vengefully but little did Rose know, Scorpius did not have the same intentions that she thought he would.
"Oh, sure Lauren." he said casually, as if he hadn't just accepted a date from a whore but instead just ordered a hot dog.
"Excellent." The girl said, starting to bounce away.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute. No, Scorpius will not be accompanying you to Hogsmeade next weekend, nor will he ever. He has a girlfriend, you tramp. How dare you ask him that?" Rose hollered, flying from her chair and standing in a warrior's pose.
"Oh, is that right? I didn't know you got to decide who he did and didn't hang out with, Weasley. Jealous much?" the girl said, looking her up and down like she was filthy.
"I am not jealous. You're just a despicable human being!" she retorted poutily, still managing to seem more like a chipmunk or a four year old than an intimidating witch. In a hurry, Rose's wand was out of her robes and in her clenched hands. She found herself pointing the wooden instrument at the girl's neck, a ferocious snarl on her face. The girl matched her, but not quick enough for Scorpius to have gotten in between them. Scorpius was faced towards Rose and her back was at Lauren- something Rose was quite happy with. What she wasn't pleased with was the look he gave her, asking 'What in bloody hell are you doing?' though he didn't say anything out loud.
"Scorpius, you can't... that's not allowed." She explained, suddenly feeling extremely foolish and guilty. For some reason there was a desperate pain clenching right in her chest, one she hadn't felt before. Betrayal, hurt, and anger all swirled together in a cauldron known as her mind. "If you do this, I swear to Merlin our little deal is over." She finally hissed, crossing her arms.
He gave her an insufferable sigh and shook his head, "Rose, darling Rose, green does not suit you. She's just a friend. She's been my friend for years. Why am I not allowed to hang out with her at Hogsmeade just because I'm dating you?" he asked, and added a "Plus, we're not even dating." in a very quiet whisper. Lauren Gibbs stood there seething, not happy to have her back turned on by the boy she so obviously thought was attractive. "Rose, listen, why would I severe all ties with the women I associate with, when this only lasts another 13 days of this?"
Rose felt a sharp intake of breath when she realized that there was only 13 days left. She was suddenly very, very worried. Why? Who knew. All she knew is that 13 days did not sit comfortably with her. "No, Scorpius. You can't go with her because... um... The color blue does not go well with her skin tone. How could you want to go to Hogsmeade with a girl who doesn't even understand her color palete? I mean, it has to bother you. You're practically a gay designer, am I right?"
"Rose, she's forced to wear those colors. She's in Ravenclaw."
"... So?" she said childishly. "Please just don't do it. You only have to wait 13 days before you're snogging your skanks once more. Surely you can wait for that long?" He let out another sigh and glared daggers into her soul for a few moment before smiling sweetly once more.
"Yes, darling. Anything for you, darling." he said, and strutted back over to Lauren. Rose couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but it sounded very close to "Lauren, I won't be going with you to Hogsmeade. It was an error on my part to accept. I'm sorry." He then speedily trailed out of the large room, giving Rose one more irked look before opening the large doors. The gang of girls followed right on his heel. And that was how Rose found herself sitting alone in the library, glaring at her parchment but not writing anything at all. Why did she care so much that he agreed to going on the date? She didn't like him at all, this she knew, but she couldn't shake off the soreness that clung onto her chest. She guessed it was just the fact that the girl's behavior had been so out of line and so horribly vindictive, or maybe it was her pride that made it seem impossible to let any boyfriend of hers, fake or not, go out with other women.
For at least an hour she stayed there, not having moved an inch from her tense position, hunched over the table. She had always been the type to silently brood over simple things, dragging them out until it had gotten out of hand. Someone could take an animal cracker and by the end of the night, Rose could convince herself that they'd bombed Hogwarts. She didn't even twitch until a pitter patter of footsteps reached her ear and she instinctively flung her head up to see who was interrupting her silent isolation, only to find the familiar lime eyes of Albus Severus Potter gleaming concernedly at her. He shuffled the way only Al could shuffle, a modest motion that wasn't timid, but not at all arrogant either. "I, um Scorpius was kind of ranting to me in the common room and I figured I should probably see how you were, er, feeling." he said sheepishly. How would Albus have known she was upset? How could he have guessed that, if she couldn't even guess it? Of course Albus, the most thoughtful person in the world, would have known. Albus always seemed to know everything that had to do with other people, and just how to make things alright again. She was sure that they were connected by the mind.
In that moment, she was more grateful for her best friend than she could ever tell him. She got out of her chair to stand up next to him, staring into his bright eyes, speaking volumes with just a glance. Her slender arms wrapped around him in a melancholy hug that, quite frankly, Rose really needed. Albus simply hugged back, and just like that Rosie knew she'd be okay. No words were exchanged, but there was a mutual understanding: Rose cared about Scorpius more than she knew herself.
A Word from the Author:
Wussup y'all? Sorry I'm late... by a lot. I finally figured out exactly where this story is going. Dramadramadrama is sure to come in the next couple chapters. By the way, I'm thinking there's going to be a total of about 10 chapters, so prepare for an ending~ :D I'm quite excited. It's now just a matter of extracting my thoughts and splattering them across the screen.