A Slight Twist

"He asked you if you were going with anybody?" Albus asked, his bright green eyes as wide as Fanged Frisbees. A little over a week had passed since Scorpius had inquired Rose about the Halloween Ball. It was a crisp Thursday afternoon; Rose had just finished lunch and now had spare period, and decided to spend it doing her homework with Albus in the common room. His leg was completely healed now as it was expected to be, though he had a slight limp to his step ("It feels a little wonky; maybe I just need to get used to it." He explained sheepishly), but Madam Pomfrey assured him that it was only temporary.

"Yeah, it was so unlike him, really. I mean, he can be a nosy little git, but he seemed so eager, so bent on finding out who I was going with." Rose answered thoughtfully. She opened her textbook and unrolled her parchment, which was already three quarters filled up with her neat cursive writing. Albus shook his head, bewildered at her work.

"I really don't understand how you can write so much in so little time. Weren't we just assigned that this morning?" He pointed to her parchment as she attempted to lie it flat on the table. She laughed as she bent over her bag to take out her quill.

"Some people prefer to use their work periods to their advantage, Albus." She said as she resumed her essay. Albus sighed and dropped his quill. He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated with his own essay.

"I can't work here. It's so distracting." He looked over his shoulder to see a group of second years trading Chocolate Frog cards. In another part of the room Thomas Finnigan and Carleigh Brown were talking animatedly about the Halloween Ball and how they should wear corresponding costumes. Albus groaned. Rose sighed and dropped her quill as well; she rolled up her parchment and stuffed her book back into her bag. Albus raised an eyebrow. She motioned for him to do the same.

"Let's go to the library. You're getting that paper done whether you like it or not."

Albus groaned again and Rose suppressed a smirk. Together they walked out of the portrait hole, down the winding staircase and into the vast library. They moved to their usual study table, the one by the window overlooking the mountains.

"Is this good enough for you? It's a nice quiet environment for you to start on that essay." Rose said with a sweet smile. She tapped his blank parchment with her wand and the words 'The Difference Between an Animagus and a Werewolf, by Albus Potter' appeared in fine calligraphy. "There, I gave you a head start."

Albus gave her a weary eyed stare and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Open your textbook and start working, Al. You can't pretend your leg is broken anymore. It's due tomorrow." Rose stood up and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm going to get a few books, I'll be back. Don't think I won't be coming back to check on you!"

She whirled on her heel and began walking towards one of the towering bookshelves, examining the shelves closely. She was looking for a book that would help her on her Herbology assignment.

"There has to be something around here-oh!" She was trailing the spines of the books with her index finger when she found a book that seemed to touch on the very subject she was writing on. As she reached to grab it, another hand reached out for the book. Rose quickly withdrew hers, a faint blush visible on her cheeks. She also felt her ears growing warm.

"Sorry," Her voice chimed with another's. She turned to see who it was, and her blush only intensified. He was a few inches taller than her, with neatly combed black hair and dark brown eyes. He had an almost aristocratic aura, almost like Scorpius, except there was a kinder look on his face, and he was wearing a Ravenclaw tie.

"You can take that book if you'd like. You were reaching for it first." He had an Irish accent, she noticed. Rose shook her head and motioned for him to take the book.

"No, no! I insist, it's yours." She said quickly, and stepped backwards for him to take it. The boy chuckled and plucked the book out from its rightful place, examining its worn cover.

"The History of Devil's Snare, hm? I'm guessing you're in one of Professor Longbottom's seventh year classes?" He asked. His voice was thick and deep, like syrup. Rose felt her knees quiver and she leaned back on a nearby study table to keep her balance.

"Y-yes, I am. You too?" Stupid question, of course he was, why else would he be looking for the book? She inwardly cursed herself and cleared her throat. The boy laughed and held the book towards her. Rose stared at it wordlessly.

"Here, take it. I insist." He smiled, and her heart skipped a beat or two. She took the book, and for a small fraction of a second their fingers brushed. His dark eyes locked on the badge on her robes.

"Head Girl, eh? Just my luck, you must be Rose Weasley." He held out a hand to her, and she shook it with a nearly non-existent grip. She felt her cheeks grow warmer and she cast her gaze to her shoes.

"I'm Damien, Damien Byrne. S'nice to meet you." He said and he flashed her a handsome smile; she forgot where she was for a minute. Rose recomposed herself and smiled a smile reminiscent of her father's: crooked, wide, and goofy.

"Erm, it was nice to meet you too, Damien." She looked behind her shoulder and spotted Albus waving at her desperately. She groaned inwardly; her perfect moment was ending. "Um-"

"Albus, hey!" Damien was already halfway towards Albus' table. Rose raised en eyebrow; so he was not waving to her…

"I haven't seen you in awhile. How's that leg of yours?"

"Oh, it's getting better...a little limp to my step but it's supposed to be only temporary…"

Rose trudged back to her and Albus' table, where she dumped her book and plopped on her chair. Albus cheerfully turned to his cousin.

"Hey, I'm guessing you met Damien. He's an old mate of mine; we had a few classes together." He explained. Rose nodded and Damien smiled at her again; she turned away so he would not see her blush. Albus stifled a laugh.

"Anyways, I should get going. It looks like you've got a lot of work to do, Al. We should catch up some time." Damien said, pointing to Albus' essay. Albus gave him a sad smile and nodded.

"Course. Later Damien." With that the Ravenclaw boy rose from his seat, shouldering his bag as he did so. He cast Rose one more look before leaving.

"Goodbye, Rose. Hope we meet again." He said with a wink, and he left the library. Rose's eyes followed his back until she could not see him anymore. Albus shook his head, a smile on his face.

"Taken a fancy to dear ol' Byrne haven't you? He's not a bad bloke; maybe you should get him to go to the Ball with you."

Rose bristled at the mention of the Halloween Ball. Her cheeks reddened even more (Albus did not even know if that was possible, but he was just proved wrong) and she laughed nervously.

"What-? No, no! How could I possibly-? No...he's probably gotten someone to go with him. How could he not?" She ended the sentence in a sort of faraway tone, as if she was dreaming. Albus raised an eyebrow and scratched his head with the end of his quill.

"Erm, well it doesn't hurt to ask does it? Try it out-he doesn't seem to mind you. Maybe he'll ditch his current date for you." He said with a wink. Rose made a face.

"That's horrible, Al, and besides I already said I was going to the Ball on strictly business. I'm going there to keep things in order, and I highly doubt Malfoy's going to do any of that." She said, but with a hint of uncertainty. Albus ran a thin hand through his wild black hair, exhaling in frustration.

"Loosen up, will you Rose? It's a ball for Merlin's sake. You go to these sorts of things for fun. Does the word fun sound familiar to you? 'Cause it certainly looks like you haven't been having any of that lately." He picked up his quill again and tried to start on his essay. He seemed to have given up on her. Rose sighed and stared at the Devil's Snare book sitting in between them.

"I don't know, Al…"

"It's really up to you, Rose. I don't know what else to say. I've given up trying to convince you that you're not going to have fun if you're just going on strictly business. You had a chance at a date just a few minutes ago. With brains like yours I'm pretty sure you were able to see that." He replied without looking up from his parchment. Rose sighed again. Usually she was the one who had something to say, but this time she could not find the right words. Albus was now playing the role of disciplined, knowledgeable supporter, while she was the one in need of support.

"Sorry." Those were the only words that she could manage for now. She hung her head, ashamed. Albus finally looked up from his parchment (he barely wrote a sentence) and reached towards her to pat her hand.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Rose." He said, smiling. "At least you're going to be there. I'm looking forward to that."

--

Where the bloody hell is she?

Scorpius' metal grey eyes shot to the clock for the umpteenth time in the past tenth minutes. It was half an hour before supper and he had arranged to meet Tatia in the Slytherin common room to break the news to her; he was going to get her to go with him to the Halloween Ball. He ran his thin fingers through his messy hair and shook his head. He could not believe he was doing this. He told Holden earlier that same morning and he almost fell off his chair.

"And I thought you weren't going to go through with it." His words were flat, merely a statement. Scorpius would have agreed with him earlier if he did not have that dreaded discussion with Rose Weasley a few nights ago in the prefects' common room. For some reason when she said she was going to the ball alone it made him change his mind about having Tatia as a last resort date. Maybe going with the half-Veela was not going to be so bad. He was going to be envied by most of the male population of Hogwarts that night, that was a plus.

"You're going with Tatia Schultz, aren't you?"

How did she even come up with such a question? Maybe she was as observant as Holden was. Why would she be so interested in Tatia's personal life though? It did not make any sense at all…

"Scorpius?"

He turned his head towards the source of the sound, and his heart automatically skipped a beat when he saw Tatia standing a few feet away from him. She smiled warmly, and he swore he could not feel his pulse anymore.

"You wanted to see me?" Her sing-song voice was drenched with hope; he could read the eagerness in her hazel eyes. He nodded wordlessly and motioned for her to sit on the armchair across from him. Once she got herself comfortable, he straightened himself up and cleared his throat. He sensed that she already knew what he was going to ask her; she was probably anticipating this for awhile now.

"So, uh-" He tugged at his collar and pulled at his tie; she giggled at his nervousness. Damn her and her Veela charm. She's going to be the death of me.

"The Halloween Ball, y-yes, I wanted to-"

"Oh Scorpius, of course I'll go with you!" She answered cheerfully, clapping her hands together. "Who wouldn't say no to you?"

He laughed shakily and rubbed the back of his head, causing his hair to stick up. She laughed and it was music to his ears.

"So it's settled then." He said and she nodded; they both got up at the same time, ready to go down to the Great Hall.

"Walk with me to dinner?" She asked. He nodded and dumbly followed her out of the common room.

--

Rose was so furious she thought her head was going to pop off, and the part that angered her the most was that she did not even know why she was so furious in the first place.

She just had supper in the Great Hall, and mind you the food was delicious as usual, but while she was eating she took a quick glance around like she usually did, and saw the most nauseating thing she had ever seen in her entire life. She was almost compelled to bend over and throw up the roast chicken she had devoured just moments before.

Across the room, at the Slytherin table, Tatia Schultz was sitting with Scorpius Malfoy, and she was feeding him food. Feeding him. And he looked like he was enjoying it.

Actually, to be honest it looked like he was half-asleep, or in some kind of trance, but still, maybe he was in a state of euphoria or something. Rose was storming up to the library; she was glad she did not have to see that stupid git this evening. He had Quidditch practice.

She felt a part of her anger wash away when she opened the doors to the library, her favourite place in the school. Like her mother before her, she usually did work to distract her from whatever was bothering her at the moment. She decided to work on that Herbology assignment to wear down her frustrations.

Albus promised to meet her later. She moved to the back of the library, at their usual table by the window, and got straight to work. She unfurled her parchment and opened The History of Devil's Snare and began to skim through its pages. She was feeling better already.

"Hello, Rose." A deep, sultry voice distracted her from her work, and she almost thought it was Scorpius for a mad second. She jerked a little, startled, and looked up to see who it was. A bright splash of scarlet tinged her cheeks when she realized it was that Ravenclaw boy she met earlier, Damien Byrne.

"H-hello Damien." She spluttered, blinking rapidly. He chuckled and eyed one of the empty seats beside her.

"Mind if I sit down? I'd like to talk to you for a bit."

Her heart racing, she nodded mutedly. He took a seat to her immediate right, his eyes never leaving hers.

"So I heard that being Head Girl, you don't really have a choice in going to the Halloween Ball. Is that right?" He started. His chestnut orbs were boring holes into her wide blue ones. She merely nodded. Her throat felt constricted, preventing her from speaking.

"And I also heard that you were planning on going alone...strictly business, apparently?"

A burning rage licked at the walls of her insides; she made a mental note to kick Albus' arse later. Rose found her voice and cleared her throat.

"U-um, yes...that was the plan, originally-"

"Would it still be considered business if you came with me to the Halloween Ball?" Damien asked, smiling slightly. Rose's mouth opened a little in surprise. Her eyes drifted to the side.

He just asked you to the ball-say something! Agree! What are you doing? You look like an idiot!

"O-of cour-I mean, well, it can be arranged." Stupid, stupid, stupid. You sound so stupid.

"Very well then." He stood up and flashed her one last dazzling smile; she almost literally felt her heart melt. "I'll meet you by the entrance to your common room at ten before eight." And with that, he left. Rose stared off into the darkness, bewildered. She was not sure if what just happened was real, or if she was just imagining it.

Don't be silly; you have a date to the Halloween Ball now. You lied to Scorpius Malfoy. Happy?

Her elation suddenly whisked away at the thought of that. She technically did lie to him, but it was not like she knew that Damien was going to ask her. She did not even know Damien existed until earlier today!

What's there to feel remorseful about? It's just Malfoy…

That's what you think.

She shook her head, hoping to rid of her conscience for now. Scorpius was a prat and she did not want to be reminded of him at the moment. Damien was a far better off person than him anyway…

"Hey Rosie."

Albus stolled into view, a goofy grin on his features and his green eyes twinkling. Rose smirked at him.

"I am going to kill you once we get out of here." She whispered in a dangerous voice. Her cousin could not help but laugh.

"I simply can't let you go to the Ball on strictly business. Do you know how boring that sounded when you told me that the first time? I had to do something about it! Don't kill me, I might have just saved your social life!" He protested half-jokingly. He took the seat Damien occupied previously. Rose playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Al." She said with a smile.

"I only did it to preserve our family's reputation, you know. I'm pretty sure none of our relatives would want a standoffish Weasley going by herself to the Halloween Ball on strictly business." He replied, and she hit him again. They broke out in laughter, only to be shushed by Madam Pince.

"I hate you." She choked in between giggles. Albus smirked and pulled her into a one-armed hug.

"I love you too, Rosie."