Curiosity Is Not a Sin

An Encounter in the Library

It took a concentrated effort, but Rose managed to put Scorpius Malfoy out of her mind for long enough to finish her assignments for the following day. If she seemed distracted to Albus or Roxanne, who spent the evening working at their favorite corner table in the Gryffindor Common Room with her and James, the mention that she wasn't feeling well was enough to defuse any curiosity.

James, of course, knew exactly why she was distracted, but other than a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth when she told Roxanne that she was feeling under the weather, he didn't comment. She'd known he wouldn't - James was good at keeping secrets, probably because James was also a good liar.

When she woke up the next morning, she was surprised to find that she felt refreshed. She still wasn't sure how she wanted to approach the situation with Scorpius - whatever James said, she still wasn't at all convinced that the Slytherin didn't hate her, but her cousin had planted a seed in her mind that was going to take some time to come to fruition.

She was out of the bathroom before the other girls in her dormitory were even out of bed, though they were moving around by the time she was finished getting dressed.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Colleen asked. The other girl was sitting on her bed brushing out her dark hair. Though she kept it cropped short, it was so fine that it tended to tangle easily. "You've been at the mirror for five minutes. Your hair looks fine."

Rose started. "I have not."

"You have." Colleen raised her eyebrows. "Is there some boy I don't know about?"

"No!"

The denial came out more adamant than Rose had intended, which only increased her friend's interest. "Girl?"

"No. There isn't anyone."

"Then why have you been scrunching your hair up for five minutes?"

"I haven't been. Shut up."

Colleen looked inclined to continue the line of questioning, but at that point, one of the other girls they shared the dormitory with emerged from the bathroom. Holly Zeller, though she was perfectly nice, had a tendency to also be very nosy. Colleen changed the subject, though the glance she sent to Rose promised that she would follow up on their conversation later.

Rose beat a hasty retreat down to the Common Room. She needed to write her letter and send it off before breakfast, anyway.

When she got to the owlery, she scanned the rafters for Albus's owl. "Hazel!"

A barn owl glided down to her, and she pulled an owl treat out of her pocket. Hazel ate it happily, and Rose stroked her head for a moment before pulling the letter out of her bag. "Hazel, can you take this to Fred for me, please?" Hazel stuck out her leg. "Thank you!"

As she stepped back into the corridor, it occurred to her that she was alone, and that if Scorpius Malfoy had any sense, now would be the perfect time to surprise her. The letter she'd sent to her cousin would probably take care of that particular problem, but she doubted the solution would arrive that day.

She kept her wits about her and managed to reach the Great Hall unjinxed. On her way up the table to sit with Albus and Damien Bell, she stopped to whisper in James's ear. "I need the map."

He grinned and pulled a book out of his bag. "Make good choices."

She shoved the book into her bag. "Don't I always?"

He reached up to ruffle her hair, which would have effectively ruined the extra primping Colleen had definitely noticed. Rose stepped back so she was just out of his range.