Chapter Text
Scorpius Malfoy was an asshole. There was no way around it, no denying it. He was just a pessimistic dick, and it made perfect sense than he was in Slytherin.
Rose Weasley was a cinnamon bun, too good for this world, too pure. She was nice to everyone, she smiled at people in the halls and helped first years with directions and homework. It made no sense whatsoever that she was in Slytherin.
No one understood why Rose was nice to Scorpius. No, they weren’t friends, they didn’t even really talk to each other. She would simply smile at him from time to time and pretend she didn’t see the scowl he would send her way in return.
--
“Fuck off, Finnigan.” Scorpius sneered at the boy at the other end of the desk in History of Magic.
“Shove it, Malfoy. You’re just jealous.” The boy replied with a smirk.
“What the fuck am I supposed to be jealous about? That my ego isn’t as inflated as yours?” Scorpius asked indigently.
“Yeah, right, Malfoy. You’re the most egotistical person I know. But I’m talking about the fact that I got Seeker, and you didn’t.”
Scorpius never really participated in school events. He didn’t go to dances or Hogsmeade. But he really liked Quiddich, and this year he tried out for the first time. Scorpius had been so sure that he got it, and now the Finnigan idiot was boasting obnoxiously about it. Scorpius clenched his wands tightly and a made a move to stand, to wipe the smug little grin off-
He froze, because, quite suddenly, Rose sat down in the vacant seat beside him. Scorpius stared at her. Finnigan stared at her. Rose’s cousin from across the room stared at her. She ignored them all and calmly took out her parchment and quill. Slowly, Scorpius sat back down as Binns floated through the chalk board.
Goblin rebellions seemed particularly tedious today, mostly due to the fact that Scorpius wanted nothing more than to get as far away from the girl beside him as possible. With her just sitting there, he couldn’t even concentrate on not concentrating. His eyes kept slipping in her direction as she doodled aimlessly on her parchment. She was alright at drawing, Scorpius supposed, though he grew more and more unnerved are her drawings went from pretty flowers to full portraits of dementors sucking souls. When the class finally ended, Rose just rolled up her paper as though nothing strange had happened and walked out the door, followed closely by her cousin.
Scorpius was late to dinner that night. He had gone to the boy’s locker room to throw a quaffle around to blow off some steam and lost track of time. By the time he entered the hall, students were already halfway through dinner and most of the seats had been taken. There was one near the staff table, one beside some scrawny second year, one right in the middle of a group of chatty third year girls, and one right beside Rose.
Every step Scorpius took made him want to just turn around and leave. The seat near the staff table was looking more and more appealing as he neared the tiny red-head. Before he could change his mind, Scorpius sat down beside her, took the last roll off of her plate (she hadn’t eaten it yet, and rolls were his favourite, so he felt his theft was justified. She didn’t say anything about it, anyway) and started to load up his dinner in silence, well aware of the stares of half of the student body on him and the girl beside him.
She didn’t always sit beside him, and he only sat beside her at meals if there was no better alternative (there was rarely a better alternative). He started to notice a trend in her seating, however. Scorpius found that she would take a seat beside him when he was feeling particularly frustrated or angry, and her sudden presence would shock him into forgetting what he had been so upset about in the first place. He supposed that was her intention.
--
“Oi, Malfoy!” Scorpius stopped mid-step in the hallway on his way to class. “Still angry about the seeker position?” Scorpius turned around slowly to stare at Finnigan’s smirking face. “Upset that Daddy didn’t buy you a place on the team?” Taking a step forward, Scorpius felt a rush of satisfaction at the falter in Finnigan’s smug expression. He raised his wand slightly, ready to strike the boy, when he paused at the sudden movement in the corner of his eye.
“Hello, Scorpius.” Scorpius and Finnigan both stared dumbly at Rose as she stood beside him. “I was wondering if you would like to be my Potions partner. I know you’re good at the subject and I could use a little help in that class.” Scorpius said nothing, and simply stared at her unwavering smile. “Great!” Rose acted as though Scorpius had readily agreed. “Let’s go to class, shall we?” Automatically, Scorpius fell into step with her.
“Yeah, that’s right, hide behind a girl!” Finnigan called after him and Scorpius could just hear the smirk on his face.
“I need to give something to Al, so we’ll take a bit of a detour. It may take slightly longer, but I hope you don’t mind.” Rose said just as Scorpius clenched his teeth in anger and prepared to turn around and hex Finnigan into oblivion.
Scowling, Scorpius shoved his wand back in his pocket, wondering why he was going with her in the first place. They walked together in silence, receiving more than a couple bewildered looks from other students.
“Hey Al! I have your Charms notes. We’re doing silencing charms, and you’re supposed to practice it before next lesson.” Rose said with a smile, giving a very shocked Albus a roll of parchment. “See you later!” She said before he could say anything.
She was a good Potions partner. She was competent enough with the coursework and simply seemed to get too impatient with what she was doing.
“Seven stirs.” Scorpius said to her angrily. “Not six.”
Rose blushed. “I’m sorry!” Scorpius rolled his eyes.
“Yes, yes, good work! I see you and Mr. Malfoy are working together splendidly!” The professor said at the end of the lesson when she admired their potion. Scorpius scowled at her and left without a word. The potion was just as good as ever – the only difference now being that little Rose Weasley had been present during the process. Of course, the only way he would be able to receive praise would be when the girl made of sunshine and rainbows sat beside him. Not that he particularly wanted it – it was the principle of the issue.
Nevertheless, Scorpius sat beside her at dinner and let her continue to almost ruin his otherwise perfect potions.
Their silent arrangement continued neatly through the rest of the term and rolled over after Christmas as well. Now, however, gossip had increased. Some assumed they were dating, others claimed they were just sleeping together from time to time, and a few daring romantics thought they were in love with each other but their relationship was forbidden by their families.
As OWLs neared, Scorpius discovered Rose’s secluded table in the back of the library and decided to join her in studying.
“I actually found Denise Lawrence’s book on goblin revolutions to be more informative than Bagshot’s.” Rose said, breaking the silence one day when she noticed Scorpius’s mounting frustration over the paper he was trying to write.
“Whatever, Weasley.”
Rose pretended not to notice when, half an hour later, Scorpius took her textbook on goblin revolutions from the massive stack she had in front of her.
--
“She doesn’t have any friends.” Scorpius was passing by a pair of girls talking to each other quietly, not paying attention to the people around them. “Just that Malfoy kid.”
“Al said they aren’t actually friends, though.” There was only one person in the entire castle that could even remotely be described as Scorpius’s friend and, for some reason, Scorpius felt curiosity over whatever the girls were saying about Rose. “He said she just felt sorry for him.” That wasn’t altogether surprising. It was what Scorpius had assumed, too. He had a strange feeling of anger and disappointment at the girls’ words, though.
“I don’t know, Lily. Why would she feel sorry for him? He never asked for any sympathy.” The other girl countered.
“Rose is just weird like that.” Lily replied, and the two girls laughed. Scorpius felt something so unfamiliar to him that he almost couldn’t place it.
Protective. Scorpius felt protective over Rose as the girls insulted her.
What the fuck? Why would he feel that way? Before he could freak himself out any more, Scorpius rushed down in the hall, through the throng of people, as far away from anyone as he could get.
He liked going to the Astronomy tower. No one went there any more, ever since his dad went to school here. His dad didn’t like to talk about it, though, and Scorpius knew better than to ask. He wasn’t sure he would like the answer, anyway.
“Hey.” A soft voice said. Scorpius managed to say indifferent as Rose sat down beside him.
“The fuck are you doing here.” Scorpius didn’t ask, so much as state it. Of course she was here.
“You weren’t at the library.”
“Why do you care?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m just used to it by now.” The two sat in silence for a long time, probably missing dinner as the sky darkened and the stars came out.
“Weasley?”
“Yes, Scorpius?” If Rose was at all surprised by is softer tone of voice, she didn’t show it.
“Are we friends?”
“Yes.” She said with an air of obviousness, as though she wasn’t sure why the question was being asked in the first place.
“Okay.”