100 Rose and Scorpius Drabbles

Disclaimer: I disclaim!

Chapter IX: Halloween

Rosie's free period of the afternoon of Halloween had been spent preparing to ask Scorpius Malfoy one simple question. She would ask him this one simple question in sixth year Potions, which she had directly after her free period, and she expected a one-word answer and with that answer she could be satisfied and go back to never speaking to him again. However, it was not as simple as it sounded.

As Rose entered the Potions classroom, she noticed a loud vibrancy of the colour orange, which she normally would have found festive if the person she was about to confront didn't hate Halloween. Scorpius hated Halloween, and therefore he was probably in a very crabby mood.

Slughorn started the lesson and informed them he would grade them on whatever pleasant "Halloween" surprise each pair of table partners could brew up before the end of the period. Rose worked quietly with her partner and watched Scorpius out the corner of her eye. He seemed fairly timid. She moved to the front of the room to bring back a sample of root for her potion and mentally prepared herself as she grabbed the root and turned her heel, getting closer to Malfoy's table with each step. Suddenly she felt as if he throat was tightening and she couldn't find her voice. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she felt her jaw open, ready to form words.

She stood next to his table where he was working busily over his cauldron with his best mate and went ignored until Brutus Flint looked over at her and nudged Scorpius. She felt Scorpius' eyes on her. Whether he was glaring or just staring, she did not care to look to determine which. Her mind froze and for a brief second or two she stared blankly at his cauldron until she inhaled shortly and quietly asked, "Do you plan on going to the party in the Astronomy Tower tonight?" Her voice sounded stiff and a bit odd, but she had asked her question, and when he answered, she would go back to her own table and never speak to him again.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes coldly replied, "No." He then took the root she was holding and dropped it into his cauldron.

Rose tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat and nodded. Absentmindedly she retrieved more root and went back to her own cauldron.

He wasn't going. Good. She could spend the night with Nathaniel in peace, without having to worry about seeing his face. His last intrusion at the Slytherin versus Ravenclaw match had been too much for her to bear. Then she had almost spoken to him. Merlin only knew what she would have said! She remembered wanting to beg him to take her back, but clearly she was not that desperate, was she?

Rose shrugged to herself and tried to forget all things Scorpius Malfoy-related for the remainder of the afternoon. By the time Nathaniel was ready to sneak up to the party, the only part of her that wasn't convinced to forget about Malfoy was her stomach – it had a nervous little pain to it, as if something bad was going to happen. She'd had these little butterflies since her conversation in Potions.

Two hours and three bottles of firewhiskey later, Rose only felt sicker yet. And for some reason Nathaniel was very eager to go find an empty classroom for them to snog in. The snogging was not necessarily bad, but Nathaniel was not as good a kisser as Scorpius.

Rose felt her stomach lurch at this thought. She pulled away from Nathaniel's kiss slightly. Suddenly Nathaniel was planting sloppy kisses on her neck and trying to pull her sweatshirt off. He had her pinned down on the top of a desk and she knew exactly what he was looking for, but she didn't want to. Not with him. Bloody Merlin, not him. There would be no way she could get through that without comparing his pathetic hormone-driven lust to something ten times more meaningful she had experienced with him. She felt like she might be sick. The way Nathaniel was sliding his tongue along her throat made her shudder. It felt dirty and wrong.

Scorpius' face flashed before her eyes and she sat up abruptly, eyes wide. "Nate," she breathed, shoving him away gently. "I…I can't. Not here or now. I don't think I'm ready." She tucked her hair behind her ears and scooted off the desktop. "I don't think I really want to."

Nathaniel's eyes glazed over with confusion and a tinge of rejection. "Well…I guess if it's not the right time." He trailed off and shrugged.

Rose crossed her arms over her stomach and looked away. "I think I'm just going to head back to my room." She turned and headed for the door. Over her shoulder she added, "Sorry," as an afterthought.

By the time she was safely away from the noise and obnoxiousness of the party, she was sprinting and she hadn't a clue why. She didn't know where she was going, but she had passed the Gryffindor common room a long time ago. Something in her brain was screaming "Scorpius" at her while another thing screamed "go back to the party". Her heart didn't want either. So she soaked herself in water so hot it was almost scalding in the prefect's bath and scrubbed away all thoughts until she didn't feel like her brain was thinking anything at all.

Tucked away safely in her bed a couple hours later, all Rose thought about was how rude she must have seemed to Nathaniel. She decided she would have to make it up to him somehow. Sleep seemed to grab hold of her and she slept, dream free, until she was shaken awake by one of her roommates.

A few hours later, in the late morning of November 1st, she learned the outcome of the party after she had left it. Nathaniel had "hooked up" with Josephina Macmillan, and according to Saoirse Finnigan, they had been a secret item for a long time.

Rose made up for her behaviour by dumping him at breakfast.