Chapter 8

Rose had sped to her dormitory, which was, thankfully, completely deserted.

He'd kissed her? Had he really? Or had she just imagined it? Maybe she had, because why would he do that...

No, she hadn't imagined it. It had been real.

And the worst of it was, she liked it.

She groaned, pulled her pillow over her face, and tried to reason with herself. She'd never had a boyfriend. Or, in fact, had a boy kiss her, not since she was in first year, and a Hufflepuff boy had kissed her as she left Charms one day.

She hadn't even known his name at the time, and had been unsurprised - however crushed - when it emerged he'd done so simple because she had famous parents and was Harry Potter's niece.

But Scorpius hadn't done so because of her family. At least, she hoped not.

Her old prejudice made her consider the possibility that she was part of some kind of revenge against her family. But no. She'd gotten to know him somewhat over the last few weeks, hadn't she? And she was sure he wasn't the boy she used to think he was.

But surely he couldn't actually like her? She'd grown used to the fact that boys just didn't. It upset her sometimes, sure, and whenever any of her friends had boyfriends, she'd be a little envious. But she didn't need a boyfriend, did she?

"I'm just not pretty enough." She'd sobbed to Hermione during the Easter holidays last year. Hermione had, of course, told her she was beautiful, but that didn't mean anything to Rose because mums were supposed to say that.

"And I'm a know-it-all, I annoy people." She'd added.

"There's nothing wrong with being smart. And if someone doesn't like you for that, they're not worth your time."

Which was, of course, true, but it didn't make her feel all that better.

"You'll see, sweetheart." Hermione had soothed. "One day you'll find the person who doesn't care about your imperfections, and then none of this will matter to you."

"Really?" She'd asked, hating how pathetic she'd sounded.

"Yes. Trust me, I'm always right."

Well, Rose told herself, she'd just have to wait a little longer, because Scorpius Malfoy wasn't that person.

----

"You'll have to talk to her." Albus said, as they made their way back to the castle, and Scorpius shook his head, horrified. "You have to."

"What would I say?"

"Just...well, I guess you have to find out if she's mad at you." Albus said finally. "Then you can apologise. Or...well...maybe she likes you too." He said it mostly to see how strange the idea sounded, and found it didn't seem as weird as he had thought it would.

Scorpius winced, already regretting his little confession.

"She doesn't." He replied flatly.

"You don't know -"

"She doesn't. I...I'll talk to her. When I see her."

"Go find her." Al said.

"No." Scorpius replied.

"But -"

"No. I don't know where she is. It can wait." Scorpius said abruptly. "I'm hungry, I'm going to go eat. See you."

And then he sped into the great hall.

"I knew I should have just kept them apart." Al muttered, then started up the marble staircase.

----

Rose was torn. She didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. Should she just pretend it never happened? Or should she find him, talk to him, sort it out? Would it be more awkward to ignore it, or talk about it?

What she really wished for, was someone to talk to about this. But she didn't want to tell her friends about it, and while Lily probably wouldn't laugh or anything, it seemed a little weird asking your younger cousin for advice on boys. Lily was like her little sister. No. That would be too weird.

Rose got to her feet, deciding she'd go into the common room, and see how it felt to pretend nothing had happened. Because, while she didn't usually take the easy way out, the idea of finding Scorpius and talking about what had happened seemed to humiliating.

The common room was relatively empty, with a lot of people, Rose assumed, still eating. She made her way to a chair by the fire, and threw herself into it, trying to fight the paranoia that everyone was looking at her.

She wasn't facing the portrait hole, and so didn't see Albus enter, survey the room, and see her. Only when he was stood in front of her did she look up.

And she knew he knew what had happened.

"Are you...OK?" Al asked, sitting down on the chair next to hers.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" Rose asked, not meeting his eyes.

"I know." Al replied simple.

"I know you do." Rose sighed. There was a brief pause, while Al waited for Rose to speak. When she didn't, he did.

"Are you mad at him?"

"No." She replied instantly, finally looking at him. "Does he think I'm mad?"

"He doesn't know. He said you just...rushed off."

"I...was shocked. Stunned." Rose replied, aware of how uncomfortable the conversation was. For them both.

"So you're not mad? Or...upset?"

"No." Rose replied firmly.

"Then what are you?"

She raised her hands to her face. "I don't know."

----

As soon as he took his seat and began eating, Scorpius knew he'd made a mistake. Well, a couple of them, really, but the one currently worrying him was the fact that he'd left Al alone. And Scorpius knew him well enough to know that the first place Al would go was to Rose.

Right now, Al was probably quizzing her, and if Rose wasn't already mad at him, Al's questions would only make what he'd done sink in, and she'd realise she should be mad. And Scorpius was pretty sure that he didn't want to take on an angry Rose Weasley.

He pushed his half empty plate aside, and jumped to his feet, walking from the hall as fast as he could - running would draw too much attention - and straight for the marble staircase. He ran up the stairs, as there was no one in sight and it wasn't too strange to run up stairs.

The down here...through that short cut...up those stairs...skip the trick step...and round here...behind the tapestry...

He'd known the way to the Gryffindor tower for years - once, during a late night wonder, Al had shown him the inside, and then a few days later, Scorpius had shown him the Slytherin common room. They'd been tweleve at the time, curious and exhilerated by the rule-breaking.

Scorpius halted outside the portrait, unsure what to do now.

"Password?" The fat lady asked, with a look that told him clearly she knew he wasn't a Gryffindor.

"I'm just waiting for someone..." He muttered, looking up and down the corridor. The best plan, he decided, was to wait for someone to come out, or try to go in, and ask them to tell Al he was waiting outside.

Scorpius waited for several long minutes, knowing that Al was in there, knowing that Al wasn't helping, and when the portrait hole started to swing forwards, he almost cried out with relief.

And when Rose Weasley climbed out, he almost turned and ran.

"Oh." She looked at him, just looked, because she didn't know what else to do. And Scorpius couldn't find any words to say. So for a full minute, they just looked at each other, until the fat lady, her portrait still swung forward, cleared her throat.

"Sorry." Rose muttered, and swung it back into place. "Ah...are you waiting for Al?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean..." Scorpius paused, trying to figure out what he should do now. And because she was waiting, and he knew what she was expecting him to say, he shook his head.

"I think we should talk." He said, and she nodded.

"I guess so. Um..." Rose looked at the fat lady, who was listening with interest. "We'll go...outside."