Curiosity Is Not a Sin

House Loyalties

Rose had never really gotten on well with most Slytherins. However, as the weekend wore on, it seemed to her that there were a lot more unfriendly stares and mutters that followed her whenever she was out of the Gryffindor Common Room, and by the time she reaching History of Magic on Monday afternoon, she was fairly certain that she wasn't just being paranoid. Her confidence in this assessment was strengthened by the cool way one of the Slytherin girls she'd never had a conflict with before thanked her when Rose held the door to the classroom open for her, and she slid into the seat next to Albus feeling thoroughly irritated. Even Noah was sitting on the other side of the room, though he did manage a friendly nod in her direction.

Hey," she hissed to Scorpius, who was sitting on Al's other side.

He glanced over at her, his eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"Is there any reason everyone in your house is looking at me like I killed their kitten?"

Upon hearing this, Albus abandoned his doodles and turned his head toward Scorpius to hear his answer.

Scorpius rubbed his forehead, looking slightly uncomfortable, but was given a reprieve by Binns floating into the room through the chalkboard. "After class," he said softly.

She had the distinct feeling that he was buying time; it wasn't as though he ever paid attention in History of Magic, or like Binns would notice either way.

Sure enough, he and Albus spent most of the lesson playing hangman. As Rose struggled to follow the drone Professor Binns never seemed to deviate from, she resolved that neither of them was going to see her notes. If they failed their O.W.L.s, it was their own damned fault.

When class had ended and everyone else had filed out, both she and Albus turned expectantly to Scorpius.

"Well?" Rose asked. "Is it just because of you?" The idea that what was starting to feel like every Slytherin in the school but Scorpius was so resentful of their relationship all of a sudden felt outlandish, but she couldn't think of any other explanation.

He shook his head. "No, most people don't care - or they've said 'good one' or something like that. It's because of the Quidditch match."

Rose could see her confusion reflected in her cousin's face as they started toward the door. "Why should that matter?" Albus asked. "We're not even playing Slytherin."

"Well, no, you're not," Scorpius said slowly, "but there are still some hard feelings about the Cup last year, and most of them are really hoping to see Gryffindor flattened by Hufflepuff."

"Thanks for the support," Rose snapped. She was already feeling more than a little irritated with him for avoiding the subject long enough to come up with a good cover story if he wanted to.

He rolled his eyes and, as usual, refused to rise to the bait. "Rose, I didn't say I was hoping that. I said that most people in my house are. Though," he added, thinking about it, "I totally would be too if I wasn't sneaking off to kiss you all over the place."

"But why?" Albus asked.

Scorpius bit his lip as they started slowly down the corridor. "Albus, you know Kitty Roshan, right?"

"Of course," Albus said. "I make a point of knowing the people my cousins date."

"Right." Scorpius looked vaguely amused. Rose suspected that it was because of the similarity of Al's response to her own the night before when the two of them had been enjoying cups of hot cocoa in the kitchen, though the context had been a bit different. "Well, Kitty was..." He stopped, frowning, and then started again. "It's fair to say that Gryffindors worship your brother, right?"