Chapter Three

Herb

Over the course of the next few weeks, Scorpius Malfoy sat next to Rose Weasley a grand total of seventeen times. It became a sort of unspoken agreement that Rose would place her bag on the seat next to her, saving it for Malfoy to sit in, whenever he arrived.

She had always assumed he'd had other friends, but now she took care to actually look for them, she realised he was probably just as lonely as she was. The Slytherins he'd always looked a part of were actually nothing to do with him at all, she realised, and he only ever strategically placed himself close to them and never actually spoke with them, instead pulling out a book to read, or an unfinished essay to complete. He'd been camouflaging himself in, and it had worked.

The periods of time they spent together were usually in silence, although it was not an uncomfortable one. Both felt happier not speaking and simply enjoying the fact they'd been sought out. Conversations were limited to either the topic they were working on in that particular lesson, or else the weather, normally ending almost as soon as they had begun. Rose sometimes wished they talked more, although she didn't really know what they would talk about. Scorpius was so quiet; he never really gave much away.

During Potions, one particularly wintery afternoon, as November faded into December, Malfoy decided to start up a conversation.

"So your parents work in the Ministry?" He asked suddenly, grinding his dried Wrackburst roots with his pestle and mortar. Shocked, but pleasantly so, Rose looked up, but Malfoy gave no sign of having spoken; his brow was furrowed with concentration as dried powder flicked out of his mortar and onto the workbench.

"Yes." She said, turning back to her own potion. "My dad used to be an Aurour, but then he got a job as the Head of Incriminating Objects. He gets frustrated sometimes, what with all the paperwork and stuff, but it means he's home more. Which is good." She sprinkled some of her own neatly-ground Wrackburst roots into the cauldron, which turned a pleasant, grassy green.

"And your mum?"

"She used to be an Aurour too, although she now works for the Magical Creatures' Rights Infringement Protection Squad. MCRIPS or McRips as my Dad calls it. Mum stopped being an Aurour when me and my brother were born. What about you?"

"My Dad works in the Ministry too. Although, not that much recently..." He trailed off, stirring his potion, which had turned a yellowy, sickening-looking green." Getting the feeling she wasn't going to hear much more about his Dad, Rose looked down into Scorpius' cauldron.

"Hang on." Gently, she removed the ladle from his grasp and stirred the mixture three times in the opposite direction. "You've added too many powdered roots..." She cut off a hunk of minced rat liver and hastily threw it into the cauldron, wiping her hands on her apron. A faint hiss issued from the potion and it slowly turned into the same, grassy green colour that Rose's own potion boasted.

"Thanks." Malfoy sniffed the potion and crossed his eyes. "Yuck." Rose snorted and coloured immediately. Malfoy, slightly taken aback smiled too, although was rescued from having to say anything by Professor Slughorn.

Now extremely old and hairy, Slughorn was one of the oldest Professors at Hogwarts, along with Headmistress Professor McGonagall. Rose wasn't quite sure how she felt about him, especially once she discovered that he'd taught both her parents.

"These all seem to be coming along very well...normally I have at least one person whose potion looks like snot..." Malfoy blushed a deep red and desperately tried to occupy himself with reading through the instructions again. Rose stifled a smile and poured her potion into a small glass vial.

"What're you doing?"

It was breakfast next morning and Rose was sitting at the Gryffindor house table with Albus and Lily. It was Albus that had spoken, indicating the piece of parchment she'd been scribbling away on.

"Writing home."

"Don't you normally do that in the evenings?"

"Yes."

"You mean..." Albus gasped theatrically. "Rose Weasley did something out of routine?" He pretended to faint and Lily laughed.

"I was busy, that's all." Rose replied, not amused.

"Busy doing what?"

"I hardly think that's any of your business!" Malfoy had asked her to help him with his homework last night in the Library, although she was hardly going to admit that to Albus.

"Oho!" Albus exclaimed. "Not very friendly! Could this 'business' have anything to do with ...a boy?"

Much to her horror, Rose felt herself go red. Before she could say anything, Lily had ambushed her.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. "What's his name? Who is he? What's he like? Is he cute? I bet he's cute..."

"Lily!" Rose said, frantically trying to swallow the bit of toast she'd stupidly decided to try to eat. "There is no boy!"

"Erm...yes there is, Rosie!" To her surprise, James leaned across the table, accompanied by the latest of his girlfriends. Rose frowned. "I keep seeing you around school looking very friendly with a Mr Scorpius Malfoy from The Land of the Green..." He jerked his head over towards the green-clad Slytherin table, where Malfoy was sitting facing the Gryffindors, flicking through a black, leather bound book.

"Oho!" Albus clapped, triumphant. "We have a name."

"He IS cute..."

"No!" Rose was now bright scarlet. "We're just friends..."

"A Slytherin, Rosie?" Albus asked, ignoring her. "Really!"

"He's nice and anyway it doesn't matter. We're. Just. Friends."

"Methinks thou doth protest too much..." Lily chipped in. Rose glared at James.

"This is all your fault..." She growled.

"Just keeping it real, Ro'."

Fuming, Rose grabbed her letter and left the table, leaving her cousins to gossip happily without her. Finally, she thought, she'd found someone that actually liked her and now those idiots were going to ruin it by telling everyone she fancied him. Which she didn't. At all. Even if he did have a nice nose.

She reached the common room, still in a bubble of anger, and sat down at a coffee table in the corner. It was Saturday, which meant she could spend all day writing home, if she wanted. She wouldn't though; she'd arranged to meet Scorpius in the walled gardens for a walk later on.

Suddenly, her stomach lurched. How exactly was she going to communicate her new, timid friendship in a letter to her parents? He was too big a part in her life to simply leave it out, and yet she had no idea how to put it across in words. She would have to address the subject carefully, make sure there was no misunderstanding. She couldn't help wondering how her father would react to the news; his introduction had been rather ominous all those years ago, yet she was sure that any prejudices he may have had against the Malfoy family would surely become inconsequential once he realised how nice Scorpius was.

Although, now she thought about it, she wasn't sure 'nice' was the right word to describe him. He didn't seem mean and she'd never heard him say anything bad about anyone, yet there was a sort of underlying sense that he was always thinking, always working people out. The constant scrutiny sometimes worried her and made her anxious; it was as if he was assessing her, wondering whether he should stick around any longer.

To Rose, it was most important that he should stick around. The last few weeks had gone in a blur, quite different to the usually long, dragged out term that school tended to become. All of that was because someone was sitting next to her, talking to her. It might not even have been that. Maybe it was just the fact that he, for some unknown reason, didn't seem to hate her, and Rose was going to make the most of that while it lasted.

Although, if she was entirely truthful with herself, she desperately hoped it wasn't just the fact that he didn't hate her that brought them together. She liked him, a great deal. She wasn't entirely sure why. He was odd, sometimes annoyingly obtuse and had perilous mood swings: one minute he was a talker, the next he was almost a mute. Also, he was incredibly timid and she wished he'd stick his neck out more, stand up for himself. Yet, there was something about him that she found herself attracted to. He seemed genuine and clever: traits she'd been taught never to take for granted, and she couldn't deny the fact that he was good looking. Not classically so: he was too skinny for that. He had quite a long, pointed face that his nose and clear blue eyes complimented well. His hair was strange, yet she liked it; the bright blonde meant she cold spot him easily in a crowd. Now she thought about it carefully, she realised she did like him. She imagined seeing him with another girl and her heart roared, infuriated at the prospect. She liked him, although was not about to put the relationship at stake by pressing for things that may never come; she was lucky as she was.

Rose blushed. She'd never truly liked anyone before, not properly anyway, and she wasn't sure how to deal with this revelation. How would she act around him? She'd have to be as normal as possible, until she got used to the new feelings now stirring within her.

Sighing dramatically, she smoothed the parchment down on the desk and began to write.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Don't worry about Hugo. He's fine. I'll tell him to write more although he is busy with schoolwork and stuff.

Give Victorie my congratulations. I'm sure Teddy will be ok. He always is.

Right. Now it was time to drop the bombshell.

I've made friends with a boy from my class. He's a Slytherin, although I'm not sure why. He's really nice. His name's Scorpius Malfoy. He's really shy and doesn't talk a lot, but he's really clever. I'm sure you'd like him. I was thinking of inviting him up during the Christmas holidays. Would that be ok?

There. The deed was done. What would the response be like? Rose found herself rushing the ending, garbling out a hasty goodbye before sitting back in her chair and re-reading the letter. It wasn't perfect but it would have to do; she couldn't think of any other way of writing it.

She stuffed the parchment into an envelope, grabbed her coat and hurried off to the owlery.

It was quite a long walk, yet she enjoyed it. The greyish, slightly foggy atmosphere seemed to wash out her brain and she found herself able to focus on things better when she was outside. She crossed the courtyard, birds whistling into the breeze, and started to descend the stone steps that ran down the side of the castle into the owlery.

Below her, the valley stretched out into a vast carpet of evergreen, with occasional eruptions of birds issuing from the green mass of trees beneath her. Mist enveloped the mountains, casting an eerie impression of their summits, and Rose found herself wondering what their peaks really looked like; she'd never seen the mountains when they weren't blanketed in mist. Perhaps her ogling of the mountains was the reason she walked straight into the person standing on the bottom step, also gazing out into the valley.

She smacked into the hard barrier of a shirt - clad chest and rebounded, accompanied with a muddle of apologies.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was... Malfoy?"

Scorpius Malfoy smiled down at her.

"Hello." He grinned. Rose suddenly felt a bit hot. He sobered at once. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine. It was my fault; I wasn't looking where I was going..."

"No, you weren't." He grinned again and Rose couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be something different about him. He seemed happier, freer than usual. Rose smiled back, unable to help herself. A long, thin sports bag lay at him feet, stretched into an odd shape. His hair was untidy, ruffled from the fresh air and his cheeks were flushed. He seemed to be wearing very little; a t-shirt and jeans seemed inadequate protection against the cool, late autumn breeze and Rose pulled her coat tighter around her body.

"Are you not cold?"

"No. I've been for a run." A run? Jeans weren't much good for running in. She was about to question him further, when he spoke.

"The view's good isn't it? I've never been able to see this far before..."

As he turned his head back to the mountains, in the process of making a flippant comment about the weather, Rose noticed a smudge of mud on his cheek, near his earlobe. Without thinking, she reached up and wiped it off his pale skin. He stopped mid-sentence. He turned to look at her, his face suddenly pink.

"You had a bit of mud..." Rose trailed off, feeling herself redden also and held up her finger as evidence.

"Oh." Scorpius smiled nervously. "Thanks."

They fell into an awkward silence. Rose marvelled at how soft his cheek had been. Subconsciously, she rubbed her thumb and forefinger together, trying to recreate the texture.

"What's in the bag?" She asked suddenly, hastily trying to change the subject. Unfortunately, this seemed the wrong thing to say.

Malfoy turned even redder than he had before, running a hand through his pale, blond hair.

"Oh..er..." He stalled. "...running...equipment..."

"Oh." No matter how clever, funny or nice he may have been, Malfoy couldn't lie. "Do you enjoy running?"

"Yeah...I do..." Malfoy squirmed. Rose relented; he was obviously uncomfortable.

"I'm posting a letter. Want to come?"

"Yeah...do you want to borrow my owl?"

The Weasley's owl, Ernie, was already on an errand for her Dad, and wouldn't be back for some time.

"If you don't mind...that'd be great." Malfoy flashed another one of his dangerously distracting smiles and Rose's inner organs seemed to flip happily. Having recovered, Rose watched as Scorpius climbed the ladder leading up to the rows of owls and blushed, having discovered the perfect opportunity to analyse his physical attributes.

She had always thought him skinny, although she wasn't so sure now. Although, yes, he was slender, his arms showed strength as he lifted up the heavy trap door that Rose herself would have definitely needed a hand with. All in all, not an altogether unpleasant sight, quite a nice one in fact. A very nice one.

"He's up here somewhere..." Malfoy called down, making Rose jump and bringing her out of her less-than-owl-focused daydream. Scorpius was walking along the gangplank at the very top of the tower, his feet making the beams and rafters creak.

"Be careful!" She called up, knowing full well he would ignore her. Sure enough, he stumbled high above her, across the owl-excrement encrusted beams, occasionally swearing as he tripped or slid on something unpleasant.

"Found him!" He called down, after a few more minutes of searching Rose could hear the dull, slightly ruffled hooting of an annoyed owl, swiftly followed with another colourful exclamation.

"Shit!" She heard Malfoy yell. "The bastard just bit me!" Desperately trying to cover her giggling with her mitten-clad hand, Rose blushed furiously; this was the first time she'd heard him swear, or be relaxed enough to be himself. She liked it.

"Are you alright?" She called up, her voice slightly wobbly from trying to contain her laughter.

"Yeah...I'm fine." Footsteps crept across the beams far above her and soon Scorpius' feet appeared on the rungs of the ladder. As he emerged, she saw he was unceremoniously dragging a huge, dark grey owl with him, shaking his wrist whenever it gave him trouble.

"This," He said, irritably flicking his fingers as the owl pecked at his ear. "...is Herb."

Herb was one hell of a beast, that was for sure. His feathers were smooth and well-kept, each one groomed into the same direction. His eyes were large and a rich shade of amber. He stared at Rose smugly, obviously fairly pleased with his appearance.

"My God..." Rose said, looking him up and down. "...he's huge."

"He's bloody heavy too..." Malfoy wheezed, his arm pulled into a funny position.

"Oh, sorry." Rose heaved Herb off Malfoy's arm and immediately appreciated Malfoy's discomfort. It felt as though Herb ate bricks. Hastily, and with the assistance of Malfoy, she tied the letter to Herb's talon and launched him out of the window, glad to regain the feeling in her left arm. They watched him soar through the mist together, the atmosphere suddenly slightly awkward.

"When did you get him?" Rose asked, nodding towards the slowly dissolving silhouette of the huge owl, now enveloped in the fog.

"He's older than me." Malfoy replied. "He's my dad's, really but he lends me him most of the time."

"Don't you want to send a letter home?" Scorpius' brow suddenly creased.

"Me and my dad..." He began slowly, measuring each word as it came out of his mouth. "...we don't really get on..."

"Oh..." Rose took the hint and was surprised when Malfoy continued.

"My mum died four years ago... since then, Dad's been really...well, he doesn't really want much to do with me."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I think he blames me..."

"Why would he blame you?"

"It's a long story..." Suddenly, Malfoy's eyes began to look a little dewy and tearful. While Rose desperately didn't want to cause him pain, she wanted to know the rest. In the end she decided not to press; it wasn't worth losing Malfoy's friendship over.

"He's ashamed too." Malfoy continued and Rose was relieved to see that the threat of tears had gone. "The Malfoys aren't very nice people, Rose." He trailed off.

"What do you mean 'The Malfoys aren't very nice people'..." She asked, frowning.

"My family...we're...they've done bad things, Rose. People don't tend to like us. We're too closely connected with Dark Magic. Nowadays, people are either scared of us or they hate us. Either way, they tend to keep a wide birth..."

"But...you haven't done anything!"

"That doesn't matter." Scorpius stopped and looked at her. Rose's stomach flipped as his grey eyes settled on hers. "People don't care."

"That's not fair."

"Tell me about it." They were quiet for a moment, staring out into the mist. Suddenly, Rose took Malfoy's hand from the windowsill and held it in her own gloved palm. He looked at her, surprised.

"I care." She said quietly and smiled before turning back to the window. His hand remained in her gloved grip.

He didn't move it.

A/N – Thanks to everyone that left a review! It's great to hear your comments, even if they're negative. Like I said, I'm new to romance so if I'm completely crap at it, let me know.

I'm not sure if I like this chapter but I've posted it anyway. I think their relationship might have moved too fast... Anyway, I hope you liked it.

Thanks for reviewing, reviews would be great.

Ellen