Over the summer, Scorpius visits Rose's house.

It's… weird.

Scorpius doesn't want to assume anything, but he gets the feeling that Rose's mother doesn't exactly like him. It's a weird feeling, that's for sure. Scorpius has been disliked before — he has a little sister, after all — but never by an adult. Adults aren't supposed to dislike kids. Or at least aren't supposed to dislike them openly.

To be fair to her, Scorpius can tell that she's trying to push down her dislike, for the sake of Rose and Scorpius' friendship.

Unfortunately, Scorpius can tell.

Scorpius can tell by the way that Hermione's eyes will narrow when Scorpius sits close to Rose. Scorpius can tell by the way that Hermione keeps a close eye on him when he and Rose are playing Quidditch outside. Scorpius can tell by the way that when he cracks a joke, Hermione looks like she's suppressing an eye roll.

And Scorpius is staying here for five more days.

"Do you think your mum dislikes me?" Scorpius asks, as he and Rose sit at her dining room table and work on their summer homework side by side.

"What?" Rose asks, sounding surprised. She places down her quill, ink still dripping at the bottom, and fixes Scorpius with one of her looks. "What are you on about?"

"I don't know," Scorpius mutters, picking up his own quill and decidedly not looking over at Rose. "It's just a feeling I get."

"Why wouldn't she like you?" she asks. Scorpius can still feel her eyes on him. "You're my best friend."

"I don't know," he repeats, and when Rose doesn't press him any more, he drops the subject.

…

Scorpius wakes up in the middle of the night and his throat is dry beyond belief. He's so comfortable in his guest bed, but after laying there for several minutes, his thirst wins out.

With a groan, he pulls himself out of his bed and pads down the stairs in search of some ice water. He's been at the Granger-Weasleys for a few days — long enough to find his way around, even half-asleep.

He's half-asleep, though, so as he's pouring himself a glass of water, he really doesn't expect a voice to come out of the dining room, asking, "What are you doing?"

Scorpius jumps, out of surprise at the voice and from the harshness of the words. He ends up spilling water on the countertop, which. Great.

Turning and squinting, Scorpius can see Hermione coming out of the darkness, wearing pajamas, but looking like she hasn't slept. Scorpius' stomach turns.

"Getting water?" he says, slowly, feeling like there's a wrong answer.

Hermione raises his eyebrows at him and doesn't say anything else, but she doesn't take her eyes off of him. Scorpius averts his eyes and takes a big drink of water, trying to force it down as quick as possible so he doesn't have to spend a prolonged amount of time with Hermione. It makes his stomach feel weird.

Scorpius finishes, and puts the glass in the dishwasher, and when he's all finished clearing the counter, Hermione still has eyes on him.

"Sorry, did I do something wrong?" Scorpius asks, not meeting Hermione's eyes. He's not sure he wants to know the answer.

His asking seems to take Hermione by surprise — at least, she blinks a few times and it takes her opening and closing her mouth several times before she answers.

"Nothing," she says, and she sounds genuine, like she means it. They're both quiet for a moment, and Scorpius isn't sure what he should reply to that, because he doesn't feel like that's the truth.

After a few moments of silence, Hermione finally speaks again, saying, "You look so much like your father." Again, Scorpius isn't sure what to reply.

"Thanks?" he says, the uptick of his voice making it sound like a question.

"It's just —" Hermione looks down quickly, like she doesn't want to continue. She's quiet for a moment, before getting out, "Well, he wasn't the nicest to me in school."

And, oh. That makes more sense; why she was apprehensive around him, why she didn't seem to like him.

But…

"I know you're not your father," Hermione says, before Scorpius can get the words out himself. "It's just taking me a little to get used to it. I'm sorry."

Scorpius nods. He's not going to apologize to Hermione about something his father did. That's not his job. He's not sure what to say next.

Finally, Hermione breaks the silence again, and says, "I'd like to know more about you, instead of your father. Tea?"

Scorpius nods, and gives Hermione a smile.

for challenges:

wicked webs - scorpius and hermione with extra strength arachnid needles #6, (emotion) apprehensive

feel box fun - box 7, prompt 4, must contain a muggleborn character

bobbing for word counts - 777 words

777 words by gdocs