It was the night of the Yule ball. Excitement pulsed through the castle like a magnet, as everyone gravitated to the great hall. Rose Weasley was curled up in the back of a nook in the corridor, her school robes wrapped around her legs. A suit of armor blocked her from the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years rushing through the hall. But she could still see them, eclipsed in the knights shadow.
Frilly dresses flew through the hall in ridiculous colors, each girl had her hair tampered with by magic, and their faces glowed radiantly through their masks of makeup.
Each guy had his hair slicked back rock solid. Hogwarts guys clean up pretty well she thought, as she caught sight of her cousin James leading a porcelain blonde girl in a dark red dress through the hallway. A group of red-cloaked Bulgarians strut slowly through the corridor. Rose's eyes followed one with a large build and a mess of dark hair. He laughed appreciatively at something his friend has said. His blue eyes twinkled mischievously.
Her younger cousins giggle caught her attention, bringing her back to her reality. She sighed; she liked floating into other people's worlds. It had been Lily's idea to spy on the "older kids," to which Rose had agreed unsurely. Lily stood directly behind the armor and peeked out more often than Rose liked. Rose couldn't decide whether or not this was bravery or stupidity. Either way Lily seemed immune to worrying about it. Leaving that up to Her.
"They're going to see us Lily!" Rose whispered to her fiercely.
"No they won't," she said, loudly. The constant chatter drowned her voice to the passerby's. "They don't notice anything. " On cue she stepped out next to the suit of armor, so that she was visible in the candle lit light. Not one head turned.
"Lily!" She practically shrieked, pulling her back.
"Calm down Rose" she said, "It's not like what we're doing is technically against the rules."
"Well you can explain it to McGonagall then" Rose muttered under her breath. "I'm going to have to be the one responsible, if we're caught."
The night passed and Rose's legs cramped. Secretly she liked the thrill of it, but she was still alert every time a teacher passed. Finally the last people began to trickle in at a slower pace. Lily peeped out less frequently, eventually retiring to sit at the back next to Rose. They were in greater danger in a more deserted corridor.
Lily gasped suddenly.
"What?"
She crawled forward in their nook, peeking out between the legs of the suit of armor. "It's Scorpius"
"But he's a third year" Rose replied suddenly.
"Yes I know that" she snapped. "He's with a fourth year I think," she reported. "Dark hair," she turned to Rose with a terror-stricken expression "She's pretty."
Rose edged against the back of the wall. She'd rather McGonagall catch her now than Malfoy. "I don't care," she said assuredly, as she pressed her back against the cold stonewall.
"Yes you do," said Lily as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"No I don't" she instantly snapped back, and pressed her fingers to her lips for Lily to be silent as they passed.
She didn't care she reassured herself. Scorpius was nothing to her. Her father had informally introduced them when he said, "So that's little Scorpius. Make sure you beat him in every test Rosie, thank god you inherited you mother's brains."
So Rose had expected, them to be rivals. Everyone did. She was smart, so was he. But she soon realized there was never a competition, as her father had led her to believe. He didn't care about her; he probably didn't even know her. They only ever acknowledged each other curtly, when occasionally paired together in class. He was polite, but avoided making simple eye contact with her or even remarking on the weather.
She was Gryffindor. He was Slytherin. They were expected to hate each other. But he ignored her, and secretly that stung Rose's pride a little bit. She wouldn't have minded an enemy, or maybe even a friend-emy.
Last year the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's bonded over a mutual delusion, that turned her life into pure hell. They were "meant to be." Star crossed lovers torn apart by their families, She and Scorpius. The Gryffindor's teased her, but eventually got bored and stopped (except for Hugo, who thought he was rather clever.) The Slytherin's however, were consistently brutal. They pushed them together, and mocked them if they happened to be in the same corridor. It had ruined her hope at a friendship with him. They both tried to avoid each other, this wasn't how it was supposed to be she thought.
As the footsteps of Malfoy and his "cousin" (as Lily had decided to address her) died, she and Lily cautiously climbed out of their hiding place. Malfoy was just turning the corner.
He turned back to face her.
"Nice hiding place Weasley." A white rose was pinned at his chest, it dropped there, as he spun back around sharply, and disappeared.