Amortentia (a Scorose Fanfiction)

Chapter Twelve

        For the remaining hour before dinner, Rose and Scorpius poured over their essays.  At one point, he suggested they swap to proofread.  Rose couldn't stop herself from agreeing.  He was second best, after all.  They may have become friends, now, but Rose wasn't about to let that deter her from her striving goal to continue to beat him for the rest of their school years.

        Not that she'd ever let him find out about it.

        Rose had just finished scribbling the last word of a corrective note on Scorpius' essay when he pushed up from his chair and stood. 

        "Dinner is in fifteen minutes," he said.  "We should probably start packing up."

        She agreed and began to gather all her items together in a bundle.  She held them to her chest and stood up just as Scorpius finished with his.

        He smiled at her.  "Shall we?"

        Rose trailed after him through the library.  When they encountered a Ravenclaw girl, from her Transfiguration class, Rose slowed her walk until she was a noticeable distance behind Scorpius.

        Rose winced as soon as Emile disappeared from sight.  It had been an instinct to move away from Scorpius.  She wasn't ready for everyone to see them spending time together — she'd had no time to get used to it herself!  Having everyone else stick their noses up at them would put even more strain on the new friendship, which would do no good for them on top of the tension already there.  

        Rose nerves were jittering by the time they exited the library.  She had caught up by that point, grateful that Malfoy hadn't noticed her distance. 

        She felt slightly sick as he turned to face her, the smile still present on his pale face.  She knew she had to get away from him right now — at least until after dinner, where they could hang out somewhere without other students seeing them.  Most students retreated to their common rooms for the evening after dinner. 

        "I'm going to put my things back in the common room." Rose jumped in before Scorpius could say a word. 

        He looked slightly taken aback.  "Oh. Okay..."

        Rose chewed on her bottom lip, her nerves getting the best of her.  She knew this would inevitably lead to awkwardness. 

        "I guess I'll just see you at dinner, then?"

        She nodded in agreement.  "Yeah.  See you there."

        They both went their separate ways.  Rose shoulders dropped in relaxation as soon as she was round the corner.  She had to get a handle on her thoughts if she wanted to keep this friendship up.

        Rose wasn't the kind of person who would be ashamed of befriending someone who, as Scorpius was, wasn't particularly well-liked in the school.  It wasn't the fact that he was picked on — that was, in some ways, a strong reason why she did want to be friends with him. 

        In large part, Rose didn't want to have to explain to her family about her and Scorpius' newfound friendship.  She knew they wouldn't understand.  He's a Malfoy — they weren't supposed to be friends with Malfoys, that was a known rule with Rose's father. 

        So she knew she couldn't tell them.  She couldn't tell them how different he was to the stories she'd heard of the Malfoy family, couldn't expect them to accept him with open arms, either.  Although not pleasant, prejudice was ever-present between witches and wizards.  Blood lines were an important factor to many people — both her mother and father's bloodlines and had been spat about by Draco Malfoy and his relatives.