Rose fought to keep her eyes open as she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. Every now and then, she would underestimate the strength of her sleepiness and let her eyelids drift down- only to jerk back up before she fell off the table.
"Oh, he is just so amazing. I mean, I've never met anyone like him before. Personally, I've never been one for Hufflepuff's but Jackson is just so romantic. And you would think..." Dom rambled off as Rose nodded her head and smiled, trying to stay awake.
"So what's up with you?"
"Nothing much. Just tired." She yawned.
"Why? You went to bed around eleven last night."
"I don't know. I just couldn't sleep." Rose shrugged. However, this was a lie. She did know. Rose spent nearly the whole night tossing and turning, trying to clear her mind of the ridiculous throughs rambling through. Something was clearly distracting her- or someone.
Scorpius Malfoy.
No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to get him out of her head. Now, contrary to what you may be thinking, this has nothing to do about his enchanting silver eyes or his devilishly handsome smile- even though those were the exact things that clogged her brain from thinking of anything relatively intelligent. In fact, if you ask her, they are pretty overrated. I mean, he's not all that.
"Hello? Earth to Rose?" Dom waved her hands in front of Rose's face.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I just-"
"Zoned out?" Dom asked with a knowing smile.
"Yeah." She said sheepishly.
Dom rolled her eyes and continued. After what seemed like an eternity of Dom and Lily gossiping, Rose found herself once again, zoning out. That was, until the dining hall doors flew open, following with Albus and Malfoy striding in. They were laughing about something and headed straight towards the Slytherin table. Her eyes followed Malfoy as he sat down right next to Alexis Yaxley. She whispered something in his ears, making him slightly smirk.
Rose tore her eyes away, in hopes that the gut churning feeling in her stomach would disappear. Merlin, what was going on with her?
"She's doing it again." Lily whispered, looking at her cousin weirdly.
"She's probably just daydreaming about Scorpius Malfoy." Dom replied, dramatically saying his name.
Rose snapped out of it and glared at the two giggling girls in front of her.
"I can assure you, that would be the last thing I ever do." She glared.
"Oh, sure." Dom stretched out. "I mean, it's not like you were just giving him a sad pair of dreamy eyes."
"I was not!"
"And your study sessions? I wonder what's going on there." Lily perked up, sharing a sly look with Dom.
"Oh gee, I don't know- maybe studying?" Rose huffed.
"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."
"Seriously, Rose. Look at him. You can't tell me he's not in least a little bit attractive."
The three girls looked towards the Slytherin table at the same spot Malfoy always sat in. He had his head tipped back with three spoons stacked on the tip of his nose while Albus meticulously attempted to place another one on top of it. It amazed her that those two morons had fangirls.
"You know, now that you mention it..." Rose drawled out, watching her cousins lean forward as if they have been waiting for this moment their entire lives. "Still no."
They slumped back down, glaring at Rose as she laughed at their reactions.
"The guy has nearly all of Hogwarts' female population drooling over him. And you're gonna sit here and tell me that he's not cute? I don't buy it."
"Are you guys really that surprised that I don't like the same guy who spent the last six years of his life to make mine miserable?"
"She's just in denial, that's all." Dom said, ignoring Rose and turning to Lily.
"It's perfectly natural. But you'd think for the smartest witch in our year, she'd be a little bit less naive."
"I know right! Like, how can she write a perfect three page essay about Venomous Tentaculas but can't even realize her own love-"
"You two must be going bloody insane." Rose interrupted. "I would rather snog a troll, bathe in frog mucus, and toss myself into the Whomping Willow at the least, than have anything to do with Malfoy."
The two girls in front of her collapsed in giggles, but they weren't laughing at Rose. Instead, they were looking right above her. Rose slowly turned around, dreading to see what she was already anticipating.
Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter were standing right behind her, with two totally different expressions. Al looked very amused and interested. Malfoy, on the other hand, looked taken back at her statement.
"You know, for someone who talks an awful lot about me being the rude one, you sure do have a big mouth." Malfoy grumbled, his ego clearly hurt.
Rose shrugged and flashed him a smile, to which he returned with a glare.
"So, how is my lovely family doing today?" Al asked cheerfully- much to happy for eight o' clock in the morning.
They all grumbled in response.
"Good, good. Now, I have a small favor to ask you guys."
This can't be good.
"So, there's this girl that I...you know." He trailed off, but sighed when their raised eyebrows indicated that they clearly did not know. "Like, you know?"
"Just spit it out." Lily blurted as the other girls- and Hugo, nodded in agreement.
"I- like, I don't know, she's cool and all and I just think that- well..." Albus began to ramble on, confusing everyone even more.
Malfoy sighed and patted his friends back encouragingly. "This is gonna take a while." He said to himself as he sat himself down next to Rose. She tried to ignore the goosebumps that ran through her as his knee brushed hers.
"Oh my god Al, just tell us who she is?" Dom asked.
Rose would have listened in on their conversation if it wasn't for the distraction next to her. She turned to her side to see Malfoy holding a lock of her hair. He was staring so intensely at her hair that she only got his attention after flicking his head.
"Stop that." She hissed, snatching her hair out of his hands.
"Sorry." He murmured, not sounding in the least bit sorry. "It's just so...red."
"Yes Malfoy, thank you for the observation."
When he only smirked in response, she decided to turn the tables on him. Lets see how he likes it.
She grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled it, sending him leaning forward in surprise. "Wow, it's just so...white. Kinda like my muggle grandpa's." She said, mockingly inspecting his hair.
He laughed as he was pulled forward closer. "Oh yeah? At least my head doesn't look like a bowl of beets."
His laugh must have been contagious because Rose herself couldn't keep in the small giggle from escaping her lips. "Okay mayo head."
"Freckleface."
Rose glared at him, well aware of the pool of tiny brown dots scattered across her nose and cheeks. She was also aware of the fact that she was still holding onto a fist full of Malfoy's hair. Granted, she didn't want to let go for two reasons: one, it was really soft- like really soft. She made a mental note to ask him what shampoo he uses. And two, she now had the advantage of yanking it when he got on her nerves. Like now, for example.
"Ow." He glared and reached forward to grab one of her curls. One pull was all it took for the two to get into another quarrel of pulling each other's hair and bickering.
"If grandma Molly saw them now...phew." Dom said, looking both concerned and amused.
"She would whoop both of their arses on the spot." Al added.
The chatter reached a spot when someone loudly cleared their throat. Freezing, Malfoy and Rose looked up to see a very angry looking Jacob. He tried to hide it but the clenched fists and red face was a giveaway.
"Hey Jacob." Rose said, letting go of Malfoy's hair and slapping his hands out of her's.
Jacob appeared to not have heard a thing Rose said. He was busy glaring savagely in Malfoy's direction. Of course, Malfoy only made things worse by smirking back.
"Hey, Mclacking."
Jacob ignored him and turned to Rose. "What are you doing?"
"Er, eating?"
Before Jacob could respond, Albus interjected.
"You ready for the game next week?"
Albus and Malfoy shared a look before looking back up to Jacob.
"Absolutely. No doubt we're going to win."
Malfoy and Albus seemed to find this funny because as soon as Jacob said that, the two Slytherins began snickering. Rose scrunched her nose as she watched the scene fold out infront of her.
"Is that so?" Malfoy asked, unsuccessfully trying to hold in his laugh.
"Yes. Because unlike you Slytherins, we're not a bunch of cheating pricks. And we are going to crush you."
"Oh shiver me timbers." Al sniggered- sending Malfoy into a fit of laughter.
Dom looked back and forth between the three boys, suddenly interested in the drama. Lily and Hugo rolled their eyes and Rose watched as Jacobs temper rose. This is not going to end well.
"Jacob. What did you come here for?" She asked before Jacob did anything he would regret.
He looked as if he was debating on which conversation to continue: the one with Malfoy and Albus, who were teaming up to get a reaction out of him or the one with Rose.
He turned away from the boys and faced Rose. "I wanted to talk to you."
"So talk." Dom butt in.
"In private?"
Rose sighed and got up. Taking that as a 'yes', he led her out of the dinning hall and down the vacant corridors.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"Rose, I made a mistake."
She raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going.
When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I shouldn't have cheated on you. It was a douchey thing to do and I regret it everyday."
Oh, so that was where it was going.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry and I promise it will never happen again. I really like you Rose. I love you."
She was speechless.
"Do you think we can make this work?" He asked, holding her hand.
"I don't know Jacob..." She trailed off, pulling her hand away.
"Rosie, please. I miss you so much. And I know you miss me too. We have so much chemistry. Ask anyone! We belong together. So will you be my girlfriend?"
"No."
Jacob looked up at her in shock. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, no. I'm sorry Jacob but I don't like you like that. And it would be unfair to the both of us if I said yes."
"Rose, please. Just give me another change and I swear-"
"Enough!" She snapped. "I'm not going to tell you again. We can be friends but that is all."
Jacob's face was burning red with anger but simply stood there, trying to keep his composure. After a long moment of silence, he sighed. "Okay...so friends?"
"Friends."
~~~
Nearly a whole week has passed and Rose was currently waiting in the same spot she and Malfoy always sat at to do their study sessions, waiting for him to finish practice. She wasn't sure why though- it wasn't like they needed to do it anymore. Their professor had only just dismissed them from it, claiming they did a spectacular job (if only he knew that they hardly even studied) and giving Rose the 'O' she deserved.
And yet, for some reason- in the past couple of days she found herself back in the same spot she had sat previously, right next to the Great Lake. You can't blame her. She had grown quite fond of this specific spot; the sun never failed to light golden rays upon her and the grass acted as a soft, lushy blanket- unlike the other patches of grass that were itchy and uncomfortable.
But still, laying there with her books in one hand and parchments in the other didn't spark the same feeling she normally got. You know, the ones she got when he was with her.
Rose closed her book, tossed it on the grass, and looked out to the large body of water that mirrored the sky with a tint of blue. She felt her heart hammer as she watched Malfoy walk towards her through the lake's reflection.
Speak of the devil.
"Miss me?"
He threw himself down next to her, flashing her a smile that could melt butter.
"Oh yes, I was just dying to spend the only free time I have listening to you deliberately insult me." She rolled her eyes. Her sarcasm masked the truth- which was that she did miss spending this time with him. Not that she'd ever admit it to herself. It was bad enough that she didn't hate how he started to sit next to her every morning for breakfast (something he and Al had been doing ever since they only recently found out the breakfasts at the Gryffindor table were much better than theirs).
"You know what I think?" He asked, leaning his head on her shoulder.
She decided to ignore both this gesture and the feeling spewing in her stomach as a response.
"Frankly, I don't care." She said as she summoned her water bottle over with the flick of her wrist.
"I think that you actually enjoy my company."
Rose snorted, nearly choking on her water.
"I'm serious. You've been sitting here, all alone- probably dreaming of my heavenly existence for what, two, three days? It's pathetic, really-"
Rose grabbed her book and smacked his head. "You are the most insufferable, annoying, obnoxious thing I have ever encountered."
"It's not my fault I'm perfect." He shrugged.
"If your definition of perfect is being a conceited troll, then no, it's not your fault."
"Careful Weasley, your jealousy is showing."
Rose rolled her eyes, turning her head so he couldn't see the small smile playing on her lips. He's impossible. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Perhaps with one of your fangirls in a broom closet?"
He smirked as his eyebrow quirked suggestively. "You know, I was thinking we should take this slow but if that's what you want then-"
Rose grabbed another one of her books and chucked it at him, furiously blushing.
He caught it as quick as a seeker, laughing.
"You are disgusting." She huffed, slightly disappointed the book didn't get to knock some sense into him.
"And you are violent. That's like the third time you lunged a book at me today. Good thing you have terrible aim." He smirked.
"Good thing I have more books." She threatened.
"Now, if you can go somewhere else, it would be greatly appreciated. You see, I have to study for the transfiguration test tomorrow." She huffed.
"You still won't get a better grade than me."
"Really? Is that why I'm top of the class right now?"
"You may be top of the class but I get better test scores. The only reason why my grade isn't as good is because the professor has had it out for me since day one." He scoffed.
"Excuses won't boost your grade." Rose shrugged, turning a page of her 'A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration' textbook.
After a moment of reading, she glared down at the paragraph she was supposed to start. She didn't however, because someone scooted obnoxiously close to her.
"Do you mind, Malfoy?"
He raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I'm just trying to study."
"Get your own book."
"I can't. I left it in my dorm before practice and now Albus is spending some quality time there with a girl. What kind of friend would I be if I interrupted them?"
She sighed, glaring at his face. His stupid, pretty face. "You better not distract me."
"I don't plan on it."
She went back to reading- correction, tried. She couldn't exactly concentrate with his arm brushing hers and his hair hanging down as he read the page.
And his breathing.
Of course he's breathing, dumbass.
Well he can at least breathe a little quieter.
As if that's the reason why you can't focus right now.
Rose argued with herself in her head, but was brought back into reality when he gently shook her shoulders.
"It's rude to ignore people, Rosie."
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you. Say it again?"
"I asked if I can turn the page."
"Yeah. I already finished." Liar.
They spent the next twenty minutes or so studying. Or well, he did. She spent her time trying to ignore his presence. Instead of reading up on turning flobberworms into fritters, she managed to distract herself with him. From the many black, emerald, and silver rings on his hand to his pleasant smell, it was all just so annoying.
Why is he so distracting?
He let out a yawn, luxuriously stretching. "We should go. Dinners starting in five minutes."
She nodded, standing up with him and walking back into the castle. They walked in a comfortable silence, one that was ruined by her dolt of a cousin.
"Hey, buddy." Malfoy smirked, waving at what seemed to be absolutely nothing.
When they were given no reply, Rose sighed. "We can see you, Al."
After a few more seconds of Rose and Malfoy staring at the invisible man in front of them, Albus finally gave up.
He threw off his invisibility cloak his dad gave him. "What, it doesn't work anymore?" Albus asked, concernedly examining his cloak.
"Oh, no it does." She smiled.
"You're just really clumsy." Malfoy added.
"Yeah, whatever. If you don't mind Rose, I'm going to steal Scorp away from you." Al smiled back, waving bye to her and dragging Malfoy along with him.
"Thanks, Al. I owe you!"
After a filling dinner and many ridiculous talks with her family, she threw herself onto her bed. Dom, her dorm-mate, had already fallen sound asleep, much to Rose's dismay. Lately, she has been waiting to have a 'discussion' with her about a certain someone.
She laid awake, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. You see, this person has been infiltrating her mind all week, leaving her confused and unable to focus on anything else. Her stomach would knot itself up anytime he was near her and her brain would suddenly find things hard to process. And don't get her started on his stupidly handsome face. And his stupidly obnoxious smirk. And his stupidly cute laugh. And stupidly breath-taking eyes.
Then it hit her like a truck.
She likes Scorpius Malfoy.
♥️♥️♥️
Hey guys! Finally got this chapter in and it's a bit long so lmk if you enjoy longer or shorter chapters. Also- we've made progress. Rose has finally admitted her feelings for him to herself :) Baby steps :/ but anyways, stay safe and wear your masks; this pandemic is getting crazy bad in my state. like always, thanks for reading and don't forget to comment what you think, vote, share, and follow =)