Curiosity Is Not a Sin

Scorpius's Birthday

Rose was about to take a deeply disturbing and frightening step into the unknown.

Dating Scorpius had been strange enough, and she still wasn't quite sure how she felt about falling for a Slytherin - though she was sure that how good he was at kissing and how her stomach always seemed to turn over when he smiled at her were strong mediating factors that made it okay.

But this was something different. This was going above and beyond sneaking off to kiss wherever they thought they could get away with it, holding hands in public, and even beyond his meeting her cousins during the October Hogsmeade visit.

"Oh, come on, Rosie," Albus said impatiently. She had frozen in the doorway to the Great Hall, overcome with real panic at what she was about to do. Her cousin grabbed her elbow and pulled her inside.

She made one last-ditch attempt to talk herself out of it. "Albus, don't you think -"

He didn't even let her finish. Instead, he spun around and put both hands firmly on her shoulders. "Rosie."

"Yes."

"Do you like your boyfriend?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I do, he's brilliant. Otherwise I wouldn't be dating a damn Slytherin."

"Don't you want to make him happy on his birthday?"

"Of course I do, don't be stupid! But I got him a present. Isn't that enough?"

Albus didn't even respond. He just raised his eyebrows in that annoying Albus way, and she sighed. He didn't have to say it - she knew what he was going to say, and he was right.

"Oh, fine. Lead on."

He released her, but just as she was considering fleeing to the safety of the Gryffindor table after all, he grabbed her arm. "You'll survive," he said dryly. "I promise."

She surrendered. She hadn't really wanted to get out of it, but if she hadn't put up a little last minute resistance, she'd never have been able to face James and Roxanne.

When they got to the Slytherin table, Albus - who was still gripping her arm firmly - pulled her up it until they were across from Claire MacDougal. She looked up from her plate, smiling. "Hey, Al - oh my god, you actually got her to do it."

"Good morning to you, too," Rose grumbled, climbing onto the bench and feeling very uncomfortable with this entire thing.

"Sorry," the other girl said. "I mean, mostly. I guess. But when Albus said you'd be joining us for breakfast, I was sure he was delusional." She studied Rose closely. "Wow. You really like Scorpius, don't you?"

Rose stared resolutely down at the empty plate in front of her. "Yes."

Albus, who had started serving himself immediately with none of Rose's reticence - he joined his friends at the Slytherin table on a fairly regular basis - nudged Rose. She looked up, and he jerked his head toward the door. Scorpius and Noah had just walked in.

Rose clenched her hands in her lap. "He'd better appreciate this," she muttered to Albus.

Scorpius started toward the Gryffindor table, and Rose realized with a start that he'd been planning to sit with her rather than his house on his birthday. That made her feel a little guilty, so it was immensely gratifying when Noah said something to make Scorpius look over at their own table.

When he saw Rose, his face broke into a very bright smile, and she felt her heart melt a little.

"All right," she said to Albus. "It's worth it just for that."