As half term came around, Rose realised that she'd spend the week moping around the castle on her own if she didn't sort out the problems with everyone she had offended. However, as she'd discovered during her 'date' she was appalling at reading emotions. Therefore, she needed some advice from someone with great people skills.
"Roxy," Rose began, spotting her cousin sat with some of her sixth year friends in the corner of the Common Room. "Can I talk to you?"
"More boy trouble, Rosie?" Roxannejoked. Rose knew that her cousin was only messing, but the laughter that came from the other sixth years wasn't friendly at all. To them Rose was just a baby, not worthy of their time or kindness.
"Not really, it's just..." Rose trailed off, her eyes clearly asking Roxanne to leave the older girls, and Roxy obliged.
"Come over here, Rose." The cousins moved to the other side of the room, leaving the giggling 6th years alone. "Sorry about that. I was a bit thoughtless."
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I need your advice again." Rose explained everything that had happened, from James asking Molly out, up until her argument with her best friend in the girls' dorm. "So I get why James is mad at me, but why Molly?"
Roxanne pondered. "Can you remember her exact words- after you had told her that you don't want either of you to be upset or hurt, so why would you pretend to believe that James liked her if he didn't-?"
"Yes. She said something like 'Who knows? Maybe because that way you and Nathan can get your 'happily ever after'!'"
Roxanne laughed, and didn't stop for an entire minute. "And you can't figure out what that means?" she asked Rose, once the older girls laughter was under control.
Rose pondered for a minute. Molly was implying that Rose thought that if she and James got together, Rose and Nathan would live happily ever after. That meant that something to do with Molly and/or James would mess with Rose and Nathan's relationship. Which only lasted half a date, Rose added. Something clicked in Rose's immensely slow part of the brain, which was used for reading people's emotions. She gasped slightly; shocked that she could be so stupid. "Molly likes Nathan?"
"Well observed, Sherlock." Roxanne grinned. "That's why she was so annoyed with you, and snapped at the slightest thing. You're her best friend, but you accepted a date from the guy she likes."
"How did I not realise that? I wouldn't have gone out with him if I'd known!"
"Well, Molly probably thinks you could tell that she liked him, but said yes anyway. You should go and tell her 'mates before dates'."
"What?"
Roxanne sighed. "Tell her that you put friends before boys, and that you wouldn't have gone out with Nathan if you'd known how Molly felt about him. You aren't seeing him again, are you?"
"No."
"What happened?"
Rose wondered if she should tell Roxy about Scorpius. She was a good friend, and wouldn't tell anyone, but would she judge Rose for it? The Weasley's had a blood-stained history with the Malfoys, and the Weasleys were always loyal to their family. Rose's feelings for Scorpius didn't change that, but Roxanne might think that they did...
"Rose?"
Time to be honest: "I saw Scorpius kissing that slut of a Slytherin- you know, Katie Thompson? And I got a little distracted. Then I realised that I couldn't learn to like Nathan past friendship because I liked someone else: please, please don't judge me, but I like Scorpius."
Rose had made this statement whilst staring at her hands. She needed to look up and see her cousin's reaction. When she did, it wasn't pleasant.
"I take it you aren't serious."
"I am."
"Rose, he's a Malfoy."
"I know."
"Well, it just won't work. Uncle Ron would never forgive you, and I don't think my parents would be over the moon either. James and Al are like brothers to you- they'd curse Malfoy into the middle of next week, and Hugo would probably try as well."
"But it's not about anyone else, is it? It's about me and Scorpius."
"I wish. It would make relationships so much easier if only two people were relevant, but that's not the way it is. You have to consider all your family and close friends too, as you've already discovered with the whole Molly-and-Nathan thing. And you and Scorpius would turn out a whole lot worse than you and Nathan."
"Thanks for the support, Roxy." Rose snapped.
"I'm sorry, Rose, but I need to be honest with you. He's a player at best, and the son of a Death Eater, who was one of our parent's worse enemies and worked for Voldemort at worst! You can do better!"
"Really? Because I don't know if I want 'better'. What if I just want Scorpius, and for us to be accepted by the people who mean most to us?"
"Then you're asking for a hell of a lot. Look, Rose. I can't let you go around moping over him. I'm going to be honest with you, because I don't want you getting hurt later."
"So you're going to hurt me now instead?"
"Look at it that way if you want. Rose, he's a cold-hearted, foul-mouthed bastard, and probably isn't capable of ever feeling real love for anyone, thanks to his father. If you allow these 'feelings' for him to grow, he'll just play you along, use you and dump you for someone in his league. A pureblood. A Slytherin. But not a Weasley, with a Muggleborn for a mother, and a blood-traitor for a father." Rose gasped, anger growing inside her. Was this Roxanne insulting her family? Roxy read her cousin's expression. "This isn't what I think, Rose, you know that I believe all wizards and witches are equal. But it's what Malfoy will think. If you let him know how you feel, he'll use it as an opportunity to hurt you. He hates us, Rose. He hates you."

*

Rose found herself crying into her pillow in the girls' dorm a few minutes later. She didn't want to cry in front of Roxanne, who was now on her 'avoid' list, which meant she had to take someone off that list; otherwise she'd just be worse off after her talk with Roxy.
Molly entered the room, sat on her bed and picked up a book, careful not to look at Rose.
"Molly?" Rose asked quietly, wiping her face and sitting up.
"What?" the other girl snapped, without looking up.
"I... I wanted to apologise." When no reaction came from Molly, Rose continued. "I've discovered recently that I'm really stupid when it comes to reading emotions, but I've finally figured out why you're upset with me. So you'll be pleased to know that I didn't actually know that you liked Nathan when I accepted his offer of a date. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone. Mates before dates, Roxanne said."
That caught Molly's attention. "So you've been discussing this with your dearest cousin, have you? Well, you should probably know that I don't appreciate being talked about behind my back, especially when it's so you can be given an apology speech! Have you any idea of how fake you sound? What did Roxanne do? Write down a speech for you to learn and recite to me? So now that big-mouthed bitch knows how I feel about Nathan, which means all of Hogwarts will do soon! Thanks a whole bunch, Rose! You're completely forgiven!"
Rose had only just recovered from her last bout of tears, so the way Molly responded left her crying again. However, the dark-haired girl just thought Rose was attention seeking. "Oh, that's right. Turn on the waterworks! I have plenty of time for whiners! You know, you're pathetic, Weasley."
Weasley. How long had it been since Molly had last called her that? Probably never. Her surname was only used by Professors and those who extremely disliked her. But that was the final straw. Rose got up, wiped her face hurriedly, and stormed out of the dormitory.

*

Rose found herself in her favourite location- the library. It was easy to relax here- it was so quiet and peaceful, and she was surrounded by her favourite thing in the whole world: books. She grabbed a text book on Divination: a subject she was terrible at, and believed very little in, but it fascinated her in a weird way. If it was real, and one could really see the future in a tea-cup, she'd love to be able to do it. If there was one thing Rose hated, it was uncertainty.
"Hey." Said a voice. Rose looked up to see that Scorpius had slipped into the seat opposite her, without her even noticing. Panic! She thought. How do I react- what do I say? Do I pretend not to be pissed off about the whole Katie thing? Then, she decided to do what heroines of books were always told to do in this sort of situation: be yourself. Except don't mention Katie. She thought. Sneak it into the conversation somehow, but don't yell at him, or you'll have to add him to the list of people who hate you.
"Hi, Scorpius, how are you?"
"Not bad. However, I'm rather annoyed about half term. We're not allowed out of the grounds! What are we supposed to do for a week in this drafty old building?"
He paused for a minute, before realising that it was Rose's Mum who ran this school, and her expression clearly read 'you're about to cross the line Mr Malfoy, don't you dare insult my family'. "I mean, it's obviously for safety reasons, Professor Weasley couldn't have us going to and from the village whenever we liked, or she'd lose track of where everyone was. Someone could get kidnapped!"
Rose laughed. "That escalated quickly."
"Erm... yeah. Anyway, how are you?"
"So-so. Pretty much everyone's pissed off with me for some reason or another. And no, I don't want to talk about it." She added, seeing his face.
"Ok, I just thought that girls are supposed to want to talk about everything, and, well, you're a girl..."
"Well spotted, Scorpius." Rose said, with a hint of sarcasm, but a grin on her face. He smiled back, and the pair stared at each other for a moment, before hurriedly looking down at their hands.
There was an awkward silence which was only broke when Rose decided to go against her intentions and ask about Katie. "So, how was your Hogsmeade trip? I saw you with that sl- I mean, I saw you with Katie."
Scorpius grinned to himself. It had worked- Rose wanted to know if there was anything serious between him and Katie. And she had nearly called her a slut, which showed feelings of hatred towards her, and possible jealousy that she was confident enough to dress and act the way she did, whilst Rose was the opposite end of the spectrum. Whoa, when did I become a psychiatrist? Scorpius thought.
"It was good... I guess we made rather a scene in that innocent little tea shop, where I suppose they never see anything beyond hand holding." Scorpius smiled smugly again. He could see the affect his words were having on Rose, but he was now feeling guilty for doing this to her. "But we're not going to see each other again. She's too... well, I could tell that she doesn't value any form of romance, she's been with too many people to ever have a serious relationship."
Rose nodded, feeling disgusted at the amount of relief she felt upon hearing that statement.
"So what about you? You were with that Ravenclaw weren't you?" Scorpius asked, pretending that they weren't the reason he went in the teashop in the first place. "How did that go?"
"Alright, I guess. But we aren't gonna go out again. That reminds me, I'm really sorry about the way he treated you when you came to talk to me. He was really rude, and I'm not sure why." Rose lied.
"Oh, it's fine. I've had worse insults."
They grinned at each other again- remembering all the times they had insulted each other, and thinking how ridiculous it seemed now, now they knew that they could get along really well. But in the back of both their minds were the reasons for those arguments, which were also reasons why this friendship couldn't- shouldn't- exist, and definitely nothing more.
"I'd better go." They said simultaneously, and then laughed slightly. Once they had stopped, a serious air set on the scene, although neither could think why.
"See you, Scorpius." Rose said, forcing a smile.
"Yeah, bye, Rosie."

*

Rosie? She thought. That was the pet name she got from her friends and cousins. Why had Scorpius used it? Rose doubted he knew that people called her that. Was he giving her an affectionate nickname? She tried to subdue the excitement that arose at the thought of the reasons for why he might do that. Don't get your hopes up. She told herself. You'll just get hurt.

*

Rosie? He groaned inwardly. What on earth had possessed him to call her that? If he'd given her a funny nickname, one that was a reference to a joke shared between them, it would've been ok. The sort of thing friends did. But Rosie? That had just slipped out. It was the name he'd imagined calling her if he ever managed to become her boyfriend. Her boyfriend in an ideal world, where their families were happy for them, and they'd be together during the holidays. They could go to Rose's house for Christmas- her Dad would shake Scorpius' hand, as would Hugo, and her mum would peck him on the cheek, (which would be weird, considering the fact that she's also his headmistress, but whatever,) and the two of them could just curl up on the sofa together and listen to all the Wizarding Christmas songs on the radio. Her parents would call them into the dining room for Christmas dinner, and Scorpius would stand up first, holding out an arm for Rose, saying something like "C'mon, Rosie." Then they would sit down to a lovely meal, holding hands under the table, whilst Mr and Mrs Weasley asked Scorpius questions about his home, and how they celebrated Christmas, or how school was, and which his favourite lessons were. "The one's that Rosie's in." He'd say.

Scorpius hated to admit, even to himself, that this was the sort of thing he imagined, because he felt childish because they were so... so innocent and unrealistic. But that's how the name had slipped out. He wanted the right to give her an affectionate nickname so badly, that he'd done it anyway, in the moment when it had felt like he could.
What an idiot.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it was quite short, and not a lot happened, I just wanted to establish Rose's relationships with everyone.
I think the next chapter will contain the announcement of the Ravenclaw task and what it will entail, so be sure to follow this fic, or you'll miss it ;)
Anyway, thanks again. As always, feel free to review- it means so much when you do- and for those of you who celebrate Christmas: Merry Christmas!
Lucy x