Gryffindor Princess

The Halloween Ball and the Truth

Friday came quickly, and luckily for Rose, the rest of the week had been uneventful. She'd somewhat avoided Scorpius during their patrols. She could tell that he was a little confused about why she wasn't making conversation and jokes like they usually did, but she didn't care much.

Of course, she wasn't straight up rude; that wasn't a Rose Weasley thing. She was just a little distant. Besides, she had a date with McLaggen to think about. Every time she did, she felt disgusted, but it was for a good cause, right? She laughed at the thought.

Just the thought of Halloween was exciting, and the whole castle was buzzing with excitement. Everyone had the day off, and Rose spent morning with Jessica, Aurelia, and Emilia. Lily would pop in from time to time too, updating them with gossip about who was going to the dance together.

"I can't wait for tonight," Emilia said, smiling. "I'm just so happy that Al asked me to go to the dance with him."

"I can definitely wait," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "I have to spend a whole night with McLaggen. That's just a disaster waiting to happen."

"Why did you agree to go with him then," asked Aurelia, raising her eyebrows. "It's not like he put you under the imperius and forced you to go. Or did he?"

"I bet she has a reason for it," shrugged Lily. As far as Rose knew, Lily was the only person who knew who she fancied, and she intended to keep it that way.

"I guess," Aurelia shrugged, and changed the subject to how she planned to release spiders into the Great Hall later that night.

❖

The hours that day seemed to creep by slowly, but finally, it was time to get ready for the dance. Rose and her friends were crowded into their dormitory, putting on makeup and putting final touches on their outfits. After what felt like an eternity, Lily finished braiding Rose's hair and finally deemed her acceptable for the dance.

"You may not care what McLaggen thinks, but I know that Malfoy will see you at some point tonight," Lily whispered into Rose's ear. "And you've got to blow him away."

❖

The Great Hall was filled with candles, pumpkins, and enchanted leaves falling from the ceiling, and Rose smiled to herself. The party had come together so quickly, and she was proud of how well her prefects had done to plan it.

There was only one problem; she was stuck with McLaggen for the evening. She had tried to avoid him at first, but he'd caught up to her and was now making boring conversation with him about Quidditch and the House Cup. Rose carried on the conversation politely, but was completely bored.

"I'm going to go get some pumpkin juice," said McLaggen. "Do you want anything?"

"No, thanks," Rose replied, grateful for a chance to get away from him. "Actually, I think I'm going to go talk to Al, okay?"

"Sure," McLaggen shrugged and walked away. At least he didn't seem to care at all that she wasn't interested.

Rose skirted around the crowd of people to where Al was standing.

"Hey, Al," Rose said, relieved to be away from McLaggen. "Where's Em?"

"She's getting butterbeer," he replied. "What are you doing here with McLaggen?"

"Seriously," Scorpius said, coming up beside Rose. "We all know you hate him."

Rose glanced at Scorpius, surprised that he didn't have Maureen hanging onto his arm like usual. Why did he care who she went to the dance with? Wait... was her plan really working?

"I'm just going to a dance with him," Rose shrugged. "And you're right. I don't like him."

"Em's back," Al said, slipping away from the two of them. "See you two later."

"Anyways," Scorpius looked at Rose again. "I don't get it. Why are you here with him."

"Can we at least go outside before having this conversation?" Rose asked, a little irritated. "People are staring at us."

And it was actually true. The people closest to Rose and Scorpius were watching them, trying to see what they could possible be talking about.

"Sure," Scorpius replied, and they walked down the corridor for a bit before stepping outside.

"So," Rose resumed their conversation. "Why does it matter. You're probably here with Maureen. I'm surprised she hasn't come out here looking for you."

Rose was aware of how annoyed her last sentence sounded and cursed herself for sounding like she actually cared.

"I'm not, actually," he said. "I didn't want to go with her. But that doesn't explain-"

"Why do you care?" Rose nearly yelled out. This was kind of her plan, but she hadn't anticipated this conversation.

"Because I like you, okay?" Scorpius yelled back.