Chapter 4: The Ball

Scorpius paced back and forth in the dark corridor. Each time he turned, he glanced up the spiral staircase that led to the Ravenclaw Common Room door, which was annoyingly still. He checked his watch. 7:34. All right, don't panic. Maybe she just needed a few extra minutes to get ready…he thought to himself, trying very hard to forget his best friend's words that were echoing in his head.

"She's not going," Albus stated as he looked in the mirror and straightened his tie.

Scorpius scowled at his mate from his bed where he was putting on his shoes. "You don't know that."

Albus scoffed before turning around to face Scorpius. "You do know who we're talking about, right? Rose Weasley? The girl whose life goal is to not be seen?"

Scorpius shoved Albus out of the way of the mirror and looked into it himself. He was wearing dark gray dress robes and a white tie. He had applied Sleakeasy Hair Potion to his hair-an attempt to keep his usually messy locks out of his eyes. It wasn't working very well. He grabbed a comb and continued to try to tame his bangs.

"Well unlike you, I have faith in your cousin. She'll come tonight, I know it."

"Listen, I love my cousin, she's one of my best friends. And I would love to see her at the ball. But it's a ball. A ball," Albus emphasized. "Where she'll have to eat with others and, Merlin forbid, she might even have to dance."

"She'll be there," Scorpius said slowly, turning around to Albus and giving him a significant look.

"Yeah, okay," Albus conceded wearily. He started walking towards the door. "I guess I'll see you after the ball. I'll sneak you a piece of pie to cheer you up."

Scorpius threw his comb at Albus, who ducked out of the door just in time. "Save two seats at your table!" he yelled after him.

Scorpius looked down at his watch again. 7:36. He rubbed his hands roughly over his face and continued to pace the hallway. Never in his life had he wanted a door to open so badly. He ran different scenarios through his mind as he waited. Rose had been noticeably out of sight since he asked her to accompany him nearly a month ago. She stopped going to the library, she was the last one to enter class and the first to leave… he never really had a chance to speak with her again. It was possible that she simply forgot. Yeah, that's likely…He gazed at the stairs again, seriously debating running up them and trying to solve the doors riddle. Maybe he would find her in the common room. Maybe he could talk to her and convince her to come with him. Maybe…

Maybe she's just not coming, he thought dejectedly, leaning against the wall across from the spiral staircase and sliding down it. He sat on his rear, his knees bent to touch his chest, the heels of his hands covering his eyes. Somewhere deep inside he knew that she wouldn't come. Albus was right, it's just too much for her to handle. And why would she want to go with him? She completely blew him off last year, what made him think that anything had changed?

Scorpius was so focused on berating himself that he hardly noticed the click of the door in the distance. When he realized what he had heard, he promptly glanced up the spiral staircase and he saw her. She was wearing a floor length off-white dress that modestly covered her arms and shoulders. The dress flowed silkily as she slowly walked down the steps, sparkling as the glitter caught the light of the torch in the corridor. Part of her crimson hair was clipped behind her ear, the other half laying gently behind her shoulders. Scorpius didn't know if he had ever seen anything more beautiful in his entire life.

She stopped on the second to last step, her eyes on the ground and her hands wringing.

Scorpius stood up quickly and brushed himself off before making his way over to her.

"You… you look radiant," he said, his awed voice making Rose glance at him for a moment before returning her attention to the stone floor.

Scorpius' temporary reprieve of criticizing thoughts ended and began flooding his mind once again. It was clearly evident to him that this was painful for her. She didn't want to go.

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply in defeat. "Listen, I know that you don't want to do this. You can just go back in and-"

"No," Rose said quietly. Scorpius raised his eyebrows at her, surprised. "Albus was right. I… I need to go. My parents, they were part of the deciding factor in the war. They destroyed a bloody horcrux, for Merlin's sake…" Scorpius shook his head slightly. Now she cursed? Just when he thought he couldn't like her more…

"Well then I suppose we should head to dinner," he said, gallantly offering his arm. Rose looked at it for a moment, biting her lip, before descending the remaining stairs and tentatively looping her arm through his.

"I…" she started. She seemed to think about what she was going to say for a second, and then gave herself a tiny nod. "Scorpius, I don't want… I'd rather not have a lot attention drawn to us, if that's okay with you."

Scorpius rubbed his chin for a moment in pretend thought. "Well, I'll see what I can do, but it's going to be somewhat difficult, I feel." Rose looked up at him, trepidation etched on her face. "You're going to be with the most handsome guy there."

Rose rolled her eyes and let out a soft giggle. Scorpius' heart sped up at the sound.

They began their decent through the empty hallways to the Great Hall, her arm never leaving his. They talked about her parents, Rose regaling Scorpius with a more in depth explanation about their destruction of the horcrux. She laughed again as she talked about her parents' first kiss and her Uncle Harry's reaction to it. Scorpius subtly pulled her a little closer to him, which she didn't seem to notice. He thought she would feel his quickened heart beat, but she never reacted.

They arrived at the Great Hall entrance ten minutes later. They doors were closed, so Scorpius pushed one open slightly and allowed Rose to enter first. He walked in after her, and saw her standing completely still, staring into the crowd, her wide eyes frozen in terror. Confused, he followed her petrified gaze and saw nearly everyone in a very quiet, very still crowd looking at them from the round tables situated around the hall.

He rolled his eyes at the masses and took Rose's hand. Snapping out of her stupor, she looked up at him, her features still riddled shock and embarrassment. He pointed a finger at himself and said, "Most handsome, what did I tell you?" Rose's gazed stayed disconcerted for a moment before she let out an exasperated scoff and shook her head. Scorpius gave her a goofy smile. "Come on, Albus saved seats for us."

Keeping a hold of Rose's hand, he walked them to their table. As they travelled, Scorpius glowered out at the crowd, trying to relay that they should get on about their business, nothing to see here. As he looked around, his attention was caught by Harry Potter and his wife, Ginny, sitting at the faculty table. He knew Albus' parents from the times he had spent at the Potters' home. They were always very pleasant with him, welcoming him back whenever he wanted to come. Next to the Potters he saw Ron and Hermione Weasley.

If looks could kill, Scorpius would have been dead by Ron Weasley's doing. He kept a steady glare on the young Malfoy as they made their way though the crowd, his face turning redder and redder by the second. He noticed Hermione whispering to him, but it seemed nothing was going to pull his attention away from the young man who held the hand of his only daughter. Scorpius looked away from the faculty table, afraid that the older Weasley might jinx him if he didn't.

When they arrived at the table, he pulled out Rose's chair for her, which she sat in quite quickly, before taking his own seat. After he was settled, he looked at his best friend across the table, whose conversation with his date and fork rising to his mouth had halted, his eyes wide in surprise. Scorpius grinned at him arrogantly. Albus blinked a few times, then shrugged his shoulder and continued to enjoy his dinner.

The people at their table conversed as they dined—well, except Rose. Scorpius glanced over at her every few minutes. She daintily picked at her food, eating very little. By the time dessert popped up on their table, Scorpius once again doubted his decision to drag Rose into a very uncomfortable situation. That is, until Albus flicked a piece of apple pie at her, which landed on her plate. Rose glanced up quickly at her cousin, who had his head ducked and was shoveling pie into his mouth at a rapid pace. She raised her eyebrows and gave her cousin a playful glare. "Was that really necessary?"

Albus raised his head, his mouth full of the pastry, and nodded slowly.

Rose shook her head. She took her fork and played idly with the pie crumb on her plate. A few seconds later, another piece joined it, supplied by Albus.

"Albus Severus, do not start with me. You know you will lose," she said, putting down her fork and crossing her arms.

Albus seemed to weigh his options for a moment. Mind made up, he picked up his fork, took a large chunk out of his pie and turned it around in his hand, ready to launch it across the table at his cousin. Scorpius looked from him to Rose, who was still sitting with her arms crossed, her stare never leaving Albus' cantankerous form, as though she was daring him to make his move. Albus pulled the fork back further for a greater trajectory, but stopped when he glanced over Rose's shoulder. His face fell and he lowered his fork. Puzzled, Scorpius turned to see what stopped his immature mate, and saw Ginny Potter staring her son down from across the room. Scorpius turned back to Albus, giving his friend an impish grin.

"Not a word, Malfoy," Albus groused at Scorpius, stabbing the remaining pie moodily.

Scorpius laughed silently. He turned to Rose and noticed a smug smirk on her face. "Does this happen often?" he asked her quietly.

She lowered her head, a smug grin turning to shy smile. "About once a year since we were six," she replied.

"Yeah, and she always cheats," Albus grumped.

Rose shook her head at her cousin. "How do you cheat at a food fight, Albus?"

Her cousin glared at her. "You have your ways."

She rolled her eyes, amused.

Soon enough the dinner portion of their evening was over and Headmaster Copplestone was standing in front of the faculty table. "Good evening, students and guests. I hope the meal prepared by our well paid house elves was to your satisfaction." He bowed slightly to Hermione.

Scorpius heard a groan next to him. When he looked over at Rose, her hand was covering her eyes, a faint blush brushing her cheeks. Scorpius smiled in amusement. He had seen her embarrassed before, very recently in fact, and never relished in making her live through it very long. But there was just something different about being embarrassed by one's parent that tickled Scorpius' funny bone. He lightly elbowed Rose in her ribs, making him the recipient of a typical teenage glare, before Copplestone caught his attention again. "If you would all please stand away from your tables for a moment?"

Everyone in the hall stood up and took a step back. In a moment, the tables were pushed against the walls, staggered to allow people to still have a seat, but leaving a large open area in the middle of the hall. Professor Copplestone waved his wand again and a dance floor and large stage appeared.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for tonight's entertainment, I would like to introduce… The Purple Pixies!" Professor Copplestone announced exuberantly. The students all cheered vigorously as the four band members dressed in various shades of lilac, magenta, and periwinkle entered the Hall from an attached chamber room, carrying odd shaped instruments.

After the crowd calmed a bit, Professor Copplestone dimmed the torches with another wave of his wand, and created three magical spotlights that shined on the dance floor. "As is tradition, Harry Potter, Ginny Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley will now lead us in our first dance."

The Purple Pixies began playing a slow waltz. Scorpius watched as Harry and Ginny stood up from the faculty table. Harry offered Ginny his hand, which she took lovingly. They made their way to the dance floor and began to slowly dance to the beat. Noticing that the rest of the Golden Trio was missing, he looked up at the head table and saw Hermione and Ron Weasley in a bit of a heated argument. Hermione was standing behind her chair, and it appeared that she was trying to talk her husband, who was resolutely staying in his seat, on to the dance floor.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Scorpius asked Rose, who was standing next to him. He saw her and Albus looking at the older couple, trying to decipher what was being said across the hall. Scorpius looked back as well. Hermione's attitude seemed to change as she spoke to Ron, now having a high and mighty demeanor. Ron, on the other hand, was growing red again and sputtering about something.

In an instant, the cousins' eyes lit up in mirth. "Viktor Krum," they said in unison, then began to laugh.

Scorpius turned his attention back to them, perplexed. "Viktor Krum? The Quidditch super star? Why would they be talking about him?"

Rose caught his gaze and smiled at him. "There's a history."

Scorpius tried to put two and two together. "Your mom… wait, you're mom dated Viktor Krum?" he asked amazed.

"For a bit," Rose answered, watching in amusement as her mother began walking out onto the dance floor, her father, red faced with embarrassment, following after her.

Scorpius hummed. "Well that's just fascinating, isn't it?"

"I'm sure it is when you haven't heard about it a thousand times," Rose scoffed, shaking her head at her silly parents.

As the song went on, more and more couples joined the war heroes on the dance floor. Albus took his date by the hand to spin her around the room, leaving Scorpius and Rose standing by themselves. Peeking out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Rose picking at her nails in an attempt to be nonchalant, but her shoulders were hunched as though she was trying to make herself smaller.

He considered asking her to dance, maybe on the edge of the dance floor so no one would really pay them any attention. He imagined that wouldn't go over very well, though. Even a little bit of attention was something he knew Rose would hyperventilate over. But he couldn't come to a ball and not dance…

He searched the room, trying to find a dark corner or someplace hidden where he might have an opportunity to take Rose into his arms. His eyes landed on a forgotten door, and the idea appeared to him in a flash. He walked over to Rose and offered his hand. She looked at it for a moment before staring at him as if he were absolutely insane.

Scorpius chuckled softly. "Trust me."

Rose gazed at him skeptically before placing her hand in his. He began to walk around the outskirts of the Great Hall, weaving between tables and talking couples. He led them behind the tall band podium and opened the door to the room the Purple Pixies emerged from. He quickly ushered her in and shut the door before unwanted gazes found them.

Rose looked around for a moment, somewhat confused about their new location, but her face lit up with a small smile as she realized where she was. She walked forward into the darkened room, took her wand out from inside her sleeve and lit a few torches. "I haven't been in here since first year," she mumbled softly, looking around reverently. She giggled gently. "I remember how terrified I was before the sorting. James told us that if the sorting hat couldn't figure out where to put us, it would eat all of our hair."

Scorpius laughed and continued to watch her meander around the room. It seemed as though she was almost comfortable with him now that they were away from the rest of the school. He saw her lightly tap her fingers against their thigh and hum to the muffled music coming through the closed door. He loved to see her like this, so peaceful and at ease. But he had a plan, and he was determined to go through with it.

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, walked over, and tapped Rose on the shoulder. When she turned to him, he offered his hand. "May I have this dance?"

Rose gulped.