An unsolved mystery

For the Characterization Competition and the Cycling (Road) category in the Hogwarts Games 2012 both on HPFC.

Happy reading!

Note: Flashbacks are in italics.

Scorpius Malfoy was no ordinary boy. He was different; he was complex and a mystery to her. Maybe that's why he caught the attention of inquisitive and curious little Rose Weasley.

Now if anyone asked, Rose Weasley would downright deny the fact that she liked Scorpius Malfoy. She wasn't lying, but she wasn't being entirely truthful either.

She wouldn't admit that she thought about him like a detective obsessed with finding a criminal and solving a mystery.

The truth was that she thought about him a little too much than was necessary as an enemy of his.

From the first day they met, she thought he was too good looking for his own good. He had sleek, platinum blonde hair that he liked to keep messy, but never succeeded. It was always perfectly in place. She hadn't even known what was platinum blonde, until she met him. He had striking silvery grey eyes that always betrayed his emotions too well. One look into his eyes and she could tell what he was feeling.

As they grew older, he became even more good looking, if that was possible. He was tall and lean, and she quickly realized that it was hard not to look at him when they were in the same room. It was like he was a magnet, pulling her eyes towards him even if they did not want to be pulled.

He had enough intelligence; that, she could not deny. Even though she was the better student, he was more adored by the Professors. He was more liked and a common favorite among the teachers. She didn't know how, but he got more favoritism from the Professors than her.

Maybe it was his irresistible charm. He could be late to class and get away with it with a charming account of how he stayed up late the night before studying the chapter that they would start next week. And just like that, he won their hearts.

Yes, he may not have her intellect, but he had his charms.

Obviously, he came second in every class. Except Transfiguration. He was a natural in that subject, and even she thought he was good.

Because of this knack of pleasing people, Malfoy was never short of friends, or for that matter, girlfriends. Though she wasn't sure they were actually his girlfriends. They were just girls who ran after him which made him pity them and he ended up shagging them and then breaking their hearts. That was his pattern. He was known everywhere around school as the ultimate "playboy".

As far as she could see, he wasn't ashamed of it at all.

Instead, he strutted around the school acting like he owned it, and always bragging about the fact that he didn't even have to try to make girls fall for him.

She remembered back in third year, she had called him a braggart and he had asked her innocently what a braggart means.

Yes, he was a braggart.

He would boast about things that weren't true at all.

Actually, she was the one who wasn't being truthful to herself. Everything Malfoy boasted of were all quite true. And that irritated her more than anything in the world.

Like the fact that his parents were stinking rich, or his talent with Transfiguration, or his apparent irresistibility or his good looks. It was always something or the other. It was always about him. For which reason, she thought he was the most arrogant and self centered bastard that she had ever met in her life.

Unfortunately for her, Scorpius Malfoy also happened to be the best friend of Albus Potter, who coincidently happened to be her cousin and her best friend too. It was a good thing and a bad thing for her. It was a bad thing because Albus sided a lot with Scorpius during their frequent fights. But the good thing was that a boy like Albus Potter, who she knew had the best heart even though he never showed it, could never be close friends with a boy like the one Malfoy showed he was form outside.

She had always been certain that there was a good side to Scorpius Malfoy. Today, she was determined to know it better.

A few years ago, she could never admit that. But now, when she saw him in a different light, she could.

Maybe it was how he supported Albus through a rough patch with his girlfriend that made her think that; maybe it was the way he treated her family like his own.

Or maybe it was the incident from last week that changed her opinion about him.

"Don't be a bitch, Rose," Robert's voice echoed around the common room. People who hadn't paid them any attention before looked around. She could feel the eyes of the other Ravenclaws on them, and could hear many sniggers and whispers being carried around the room.

Tears stung her eyes, and it was all she could do not to break down then and there. Instead, she spoke in a steady voice, "Me, Robert? What about that bitch who you slept with last week? Or the other one the week before?"

She could see the truth in his eyes. He turned a shade red, but he didn't look ashamed.

"So, what? I told you I wasn't serious about this. Whatever we had is over now, alright? It was never anything at all actually. You were just too hung up on me that you weren't ready to let this go-"

The rest of his words were drowned by a loud cry, as Malfoy's fist all of a sudden appeared from nowhere and hit his nose. The impact sent him flying down to the floor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He exclaimed looking around at Malfoy, who was red in the face and looked ready to smash him to pieces.

Her jaw dropped. She looked from her ex-boyfriend on the floor with a bleeding nose to Malfoy looking calm and dangerous, standing beside her.

"Don't talk about her like that," he growled at Robert, who cowered in front of his glare.

It was then that Rose decided that Malfoy wasn't too bad after all.

So, long story short, Rose Weasley was intrigued by this certain blonde haired boy called Scorpius Malfoy. There was more to him than the arrogant bastard that he was from outside.

He was a mystery to her; a mystery waiting to be solved.

Maybe that was why Rose Weasley realized one day that she felt a little more than intrigue towards Scorpius Malfoy.