*Disclaimer* All original plotlines, characters, settings etc. belong to the lovely Ms. J.K. Rowling. Much thanks for letting me borrow them :)
September drifted seamlessly into October, and Rose fell in to the pattern of her classes. Ancient Runes was by far her favorite course. She'd never admit it, but Arithmancy was just a step above her level. Her mother had been wonderful at it but she never got the knack of the class and was simply too stubborn to drop it.
The other reason she didn't like Arithmancy sat just one row behind her and pelted her incessantly with notes, often stupid little poems addressed to 'Mary.' And despite the fact that he always seemed preoccupied with these notes, Scorpius Malfoy was first student in the only class Rose was not.
On a particularly chilly day that October, Rose shivered in her seat, pulling her light cloak tighter around her. The lesson was just so boring, the only thing keeping her awake was the cold that nipped at her ears. Just then, something else nipped at her ear, sharply.
Rose sat bolt upright and looked around her. A little folded paper bird was floating in the air just next to her head, clearly trying to get her attention. Checking quickly to see if ancient Professor Vector had noticed - she hadn't - Rose snatched the bird out of the air and twisted around in her seat to glare at Malfoy. The prat nodded to the paper in her hand. Hesitantly, she unfolded it.
There, in Malfoy's neat scrawl, read "Halloween party tomorrow night, 8:00. Slytherin common room. Al wants you to bring Lovegood. -S." She turned the paper over to show a loosely drawn map of the dungeons, with an arrow pointed to one bit of the wall. Scribbled at the bottom was the word "Salazar."
Rose twisted in her seat to face Malfoy again, who held up a piece of parchment in front of him with the words "And dress up!"
Rose rolled her eyes and shoved the note into her book bag with the rest of her belongings as Professor Vector dismissed the class.
The next night, Rose waited impatiently in the girls dormitory for Lorelei to get ready. It had taken a great deal of pleading on Lori's part to get Rose to go at all, but currently she was considering just going alone.
Finally, Lorelei emerged from the bathroom, sporting an electric blue jumpsuit with green ballet flats and purple and orange striped horns protruding in spirals from the top of her head.
"So, what do you think?" She asked, twirling around.
"What are you?" Rose countered, stumped by the horns.
"I'm a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. My Mum taught me all about them," She replied, adjusting a horn, "she's off studying them in Sweden. You look fantastic!"
Rose's eyes sparkled and she gave a slow turn. Her flowing white dress was stunning, secured over one shoulder with a gold clip and fastened high at her waist with crisscrossing gold straps. Even better, it was cut provocatively low at her chest and slit high up her thigh on one leg. Her chestnut hair was flowing elegantly down her back, adorned with ivy leaves and a gold headband.
Rose blushed prettily and looked down at her gold sandals. "Thanks."
"Someone you're trying to impress?" Lorelei asked, "Malfoy?"
"I do not fancy Malfoy!" She insisted, a little too loudly, and blushed again.
"Well, he did invite you, so maybe he fancies you too!" Lori went on, as if Rose hadn't said a thing.
"Al invited us, Malfoy just passed it along."
"No, Al invited me and Malfoy specifically invited you."
Rose pursed her lips, knowing it was pointless to argue.
Meanwhile, in the Slytherin common room, a wild party raged. There had been a fantastic turnout and people had gone all out on costumes. Scorpius Malfoy, however, paced in the back of the room, not seeing the one girl throughout the common room whom he really wanted to.
"Would you relax, Scorp? She'll come." Assured Al, from his perch on a stool as he observed his friend.
"How can you not be nervous? She's bringing Lori."
"Lorelei's coming?" Al asked, his expression brightening considerably.
"Yeah, but I told Rose you wanted her to," He muttered.
"Well, I do want her to. She's bloody gorgeous."
"Bit weird, though."
"Oh, that's alright. I've known her forever, her mum's friends with mine, so I see her all the time."
"Are you sure she'll come." Scorpius whined.
Just then, the door creaked open again, and Scorpius looked up sharply. Rose Weasley stood there, looking lovely, as usual, and scanning the crowd for some familiar face.
Rose had discovered that, as a rule, she was not fond of parties in which she knew no one. Unfortunately, as she had thought, there were very few people she was friendly with in the Slytherin common room. It was mostly Slytherins, though there were a good few Ravenclaw girls. She had thought Lorelei and herself were the only Gryffindors, but briefly caught sight of Gwyneth Harrow snogging a Slytherin boy - Richard she thought, though she couldn't quite see his face.
Finally, she spotted her cousin who flashed a smile and waved. Next to him, a tall boy looked down quickly so that she didn't catch his face. Lori, behind her, waved to Albus and stumbled through the crowd, Rose in tow. Al's friend kept his head tilted downwards. His face was hidden in shadow from a tri-cornered hat that matched his long coat - embroidered red silk. She couldn't decide if the extravagance of the pirate costume impressed her or made her want to puke.
"Hey," He greeted Rose.
"Hi." She murmured with a friendly half-smile.
"Would you like to dance?"
Rose tiled her head and tried to get a glimpse of him. "Malfoy?"
He took her hand hand led her to the floor and, to her surprise, held her modestly at arms length, his hand on the small of her back- though the slow dancing seemed out of place with the fast paced song. As the music softened, he softly pulled her forward, holding her close to him.
"You are a goddess," he whispered.
"Is that a complement or an observation?"
"Both?"
"Malfoy..." She chided in a slightly sing-song voice.
"I'm really glad you decided to come, Mary," he said softly in her ear.
"What are you doing, Malfoy..." She trailed off
She dared to glance at his eyes and saw a flash of panic.
"I, um..."
He pushed her away and hung his head again.
"Malfoy?"
"Just go away."
"Don't speak to me that way."
"Can you just go?"
Suddenly, he reached forward and pulled her forward by the nape of her neck. And Scorpius Malfoy was kissing her. And it was incredible. He pulled away and waited for the worst. Rose's mind went blank.
That bastard. That complete bastard had kissed her.
She did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
Scorpius turned to Albus, an utterly confused expression on his face. The couples surrounding the two hadn't even noticed the outbreak. Lorelei and Albus, who had not been dancing, but talking by the side of the floor were laughing silently at Scorpius' rejection. Lori politely excused herself and went after Rose. She stopped briefly to lay a consoling hand on the shoulder of a stunned Malfoy, who left the floor.
"I dunno what happened. I just...I dunno how to talk to her.""
"Sorry, mate - but you should have gone after her. For some one with such a reputation, you are shit at girls."
Scorpius sat beside his friend and put his head between his hands.
"I am spectacular at girls. I'm shit at feelings."
*Author's Note* So? Whadja think? Review, review, review, PLEASE! I'm begging!