Not the best chapter I've ever writen, but next one with be more interesting. I promise.
Chapter 6
Most of Hogwarts noticed the friendship developing between Rose and Scorpius. Because of Rose's relative fame, it was a subject of gossip during the week after the Christmas holidays.
Of course, Rose had other friends, and, although she found herself wanting to spend more time with Albus and Scorpius, she was careful to spend more time with her old friends.
And, being the smart girl she was, she was able to arrange one occasion where she got her friends and Albus and Scorpius together. There were six of them, outside in the freezing cold courtyard to begin with.
Scorpius was silent.
Rose knew he felt uncomfortable around her friends, and by the looks Al was giving her, he knew too. So maybe it wasn't such a bad thing when Cassandra and Elizabeth left, claiming to have homework to finish and a letter to write, respectively. Rose knew it was simply to get out of the cold and the slightly tense atmosphere.
She should have known, really, that she couldn't merge her friends with Scorpius and Al. She'd forgotton how shy Scorpius was, forgotten all the things she said to Cassie and Elizabeth about Scorpius, bad things that she hadn't taken back yet. And so it was too optimistic to think they could all be one big happy group.
"Rose, I think -" Allison began quietly, then stopped when Rose gripped her arm tightly.
"You're not leaving." She hissed. She knew Al heard, by the way he quickly engaged Scorpius in a conversation.
"I'm cold." Allison muttered. "And I don't think Scorpius wants me here. He doesn't know me."
"And he's not going to know you if you leave, is he?"
"Rose..."
"Stop whining." Rose whispered. "Try talking to him."
"About what?"
Rose tried to think of a reply to that, and came up with nothing.
"You're not leaving." She said again, instead. Allison sighed audibly. "Please?" Rose tried, and Allison sighed louder.
"Fine. Fine." Allison muttered, then fell silent. Inconveniently, so did Al and Scorpius.
And so, faced with an awkward silence, Rose racked her brains for something to say. And came up with a question she'd been wanting to ask but had been unsure if she should.
"Scorpius, can I ask you something?" She said suddenly.
"I guess..."
"I was just wondering. From what we've been told, about your dad, and his dad, and the Black family...well, they always believed pure-bloods were best. Do they still think that?"
Scorpius looked at her for a moment, and Rose got the impression that he was deciding whether or not to be mad at her.
"My grandfather does." He answered finally. "And I guess my dad still does. Grandma once told me that, during the war, she thought my dad would be killed, and she said she realised that there are more important things. But she still prefers the old wizarding families."
"So...didn't you ever believe in it? Not even when you were little?"
"Nope. I didn't really understand it when I was little. I once asked my grandfather why a wizard needed to be inbred to be the best." He replied with a huge grin spreading across his face.
Albus and Allison laughed, and Rose smiled. "What did he say to that?"
"Nothing." Scorpius replied, and then before she even had time to looked surprised, he raised a hand to his left ear. "He hit me across the head so hard I fell out of my chair."
Al and Allison laughed harder, but Rose looked at him in shock.
"How old were you? Didn't anyone try to stop him?"
"I was eight. And my mum and grandma went mad at him for it."
"And your dad?" Rose asked. Scorpius shrugged.
"He didn't say anything. But after that I just let Grandfather lecture me, and didn't say anything. And then when I came to Hogwarts, I knew for sure it didn't make sense. Nearly half the people in this place are muggle-born, and a lot of them are really good at magic."
"True." Rose nodded.
"Hey, Scorpius." Allison said suddenly, and he looked at her uneasily. "What would Lucius Malfoy do if you married a muggle-born?"
"I don't know. But I think it'd hurt." Scorpius replied solemnly, then grinned again.
And then the ice was broken, and for the next half hour the four of them were talking and joking and laughing. By the time they headed to the great hall for dinner, Rose was grinning widely.
"He's not so bad." Allison said, as they took their seats.
"I know." Rose replied, and glanced over at where Scorpius was taking his seat.
Allison looked at Rose speculatively, opened her mouth, then seemed to decide not to say what she was thinking.
-----
"Rose - guess what?" Rose was heading to her dormitory, but stopped a few feet away from the staircase as her brother's shout. He was hurrying towards her, a piece of parchment clutched in his hand.
"What?"
"Guess who's getting married?" He asked, grinning at her and waving the parchment.
"Who?" Rose asked, with interest.
"Guess."
"No. Tell me."
"Take the fun out of it, why don't you." Hugo muttered.
"Hugo." She snapped.
"Teddy and Victoire." He said, then winced when Rose squealed.
"Really?" She cried, and snatched the letter from him. She recognised their mother's neat handwriting, skimmed it, and found the words she was looking for.
...Teddy and Victoire are officially engaged...
"Wow. Does Lily know?"
"Yeah. She's over there." He waved his hand vaguely, and Rose saw her cousin. All thoughts of sleep had vanished, as she muttered "see you" to Hugo, and bounded over to Lily.