A/N: Almost, kind of, sort of, but not really sequel/companion to the previous chapter. Rose and Scorpius bear the same characters as they did in the previous, so I suppose you could treat it as a sequel-ish thing.
Scorpius was giving her a weird look.
Truth be told, Rose was used to getting weird looks, what with the facts that a) her parents were famous and b) she had a professed "off her rocker" gene, but she wasn't used to getting them from Scorpius. Scorpius just wasn't the sort of person to give weird looks. He gave smiling, charismatic looks; he gave wincing, sympathetic looks; in short, he could give every sort of look that an easygoing, generally liked person gave. But weird looks was just something he didn't do.
Scorpius made a point of never judging anybody at first glance, she had learned, in her several months with him as a new acquaintance, and, incidentally, her patrol partner (which was probably the reason she knew him as well as she did. Three hours straight of wandering the castle all alone did give for a wide range of conversation topics.) So one can easily see how Scorpius giving off any degree of weirdness was unnatural.
This was why Rose decided to seek him out immediately after class, under the pretense of a prefect question of some sort, (even though she didn't really need excuses anymore), and demand the reason for this oddness.
As it turned out, Scorpius was looking for her too, and fate brought them together at 9:32 on Tuesday morning after Arithmancy class.
"Why were you giving me a weird look today, Scorpius? What ghost is possessing you to act weirdly on this otherwise very fine morning?" Rose did not have the quietest of voices to begin with, what with growing up in an exceedingly large family and all; add that to the fact that she was rather concerned for her acquaintance, and there were several people passing by that gave her strange looks.
Strange looks – the whole point of this madness; the irony did not escape her.
Before starting on whatever it was that was making him act so strangely, however, (stalling?) Scorpius leaned against the wall, evidently amused, (or so she gathered from the grin on his face), and commented, "You know, ghosts don't possess people. And if any of the ghosts were around to hear you saying that, they would probably be highly offended."
"And that, of course, would make you highly offended as well," Rose retorted, "for that would mean that they were judging me at first glance without knowing that I, in reality, have a very high regard for ghosts, and was simply speaking carelessly in the heat of the moment. And Scorpius, of course, cannot condone judgment at first glance."
Scorpius inclined his head diplomatically to acknowledge that this was true, but the amused grin did not fade from his face. Rose huffed and shook herself as if pulling herself out of a deep dream.
"Anyways, that's beside the point! The point was the weird look. You," Rose pointed an accusing finger at Scorpius, "simply do not give weird looks. You don't have the assertiveness for that – don't take that as an insult," she added quickly, before Scorpius even began to feel offense, "rather, take it as a compliment of your easygoing nature." She declared this last bit rather dramatically, and Scorpius bit his lip to repress a grin.
"Well, in that case, I thank you very much, Rose," he said, another amused grin twitching the corners of his mouth however hard he tried to repress it.
Living with Rose Weasley was quite a bit like a constant laugh. Her quirks were simply hilarious. Even Al, who was the first Weasley Scorpius had noticed acting a bit odd, paled in comparison to Rose. It was what made her personality so enjoyable. She was quick to jest, and though not half as easygoing as Scorpius, was still more likely to laugh at herself with the others than to stick her nose up in the air and be offended at the slightest laugh pertaining to her words.
This train of thought brought him back around to the subject which had started this conversation, which was his weird look. The thing was – which he couldn't very well simply admit to Rose – was that she was different today. Her wild hair seemed brighter, blue eyes livelier, every simple comment twice as interesting. He looked forward to their patrols as much as he looked forward to after-practice conversations with Al, and that was saying something. There had been nothing, not even seeing his relatives after a long absence, which had been quite the same as talking and laughing with Al as there had been no one to talk and laugh with before he came to Hogwarts. And now there suddenly was.
No, Scorpius admitted, it was never the fact that Al was his only friend. Scorpius was friendly with most of the people in his House, as easygoing and good-natured as he was, and he never had a problem with company itself; but there is a difference between being friendly and being friends.
Rose was nearing very fast the category of being friends, no more than an inch away, really, and it slightly scared Scorpius how quickly it had happened. It had taken him and Al nearly three years to reach the comfort they were at now, and with Rose it had taken barely three months.
Yes, Rose was different, but Scorpius had yet to figure out why. And here was the source of those weird looks; but he wasn't planning on telling her anytime soon.