The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

“You lost your temper in Defense today,” Scorpius observed in the Heads’ common room that night. “I don’t mean to say I don’t appreciate that you said it in my defense…but calling a Ravenclaw stupid?”

“I have it from Lily, who is friends with that particular Ravenclaw’s cousin, that she was in the girls’ lavatory crying until lunch.” I replied as carelessly as I could muster.

“Rose…” Scorpius trailed off.

“D’you think I like being the one who caused that?” I asked in a level voice, when what I wanted to do was shout at him. “Yeah, yeah. I went too far, I know. I never wanted to make her burst into tears, trust me! But I just can’t let them insult you like that. It’s not fair of them to judge your future career based on lineage!”

Nothing was said for a very long time.

He sighed and returned to working on our Transfiguration essay that we’d been assigned. He pulled a parchment closer, and I finished the last sentence of our Defense Against the Dark Arts essay with an unnecessary flourish. I moved to Charms - after all, I’d finished the Transfiguration work at dinner. During dinner, really. I’d gone down to the kitchens, as Scorpius was engrossed in conversation with Sandra when I walked by.

What I had really wanted to do was go in there and pull the slutty looking girl away from Scorpius and blast her with a hex - what was I thinking? I’ve been acting like Ariel Montague. But I really had wanted to pull his attention away from Sandra, even though I’ve seen him talk to tons of other girls before and never felt anything like that. I sighed, looking down at the Charms essay, and finished my third of twelve inches.

“I guess I appreciate what you’ve done for me,” Scorpius said slowly, breaking the silence after a long, torturous half-hour, “but I do wish you wouldn’t go so far.”

“Go so far?” I asked, masking my incredulity as well as I could. “The only reason anyone would cry at being called stupid - especially a Ravenclaw - is if they had doubts and thought they were!”

“That’s not quite the truth, Rosie, and you know it.”

I sighed, frustrated at how easily Scorpius could read my expressions. “I stick to what I said earlier,” I finally said, “it’s stupid of them to make that decision based on your family. They need to know you before they make assumptions.”

“And you and Al are the only ones who know about the Auror business because it was you two who stole my journal that week.” Scorpius tossed out nonchalantly, ending his Transfiguration essay and turning to finish his already halfway done Charms one.

“Oh, no.” I shook my head. “Al and I didn’t still it that week. It was actually Al who stole it, and then I borrowed it from him. There’s a difference.”

Scorpius raised his eyebrows at me, and I grinned, unabashed.

After a few more moments of silence, I sighed again and said, “Look, I don’t like it when people are mad at me. And I know I was out of line with what I said, but I can’t stand by while people just belittle your aspirations and make such stupid assumptions.”

He chuckled. “I can’t stay mad at you for too long, Rosie,” he admitted, grinning at me, “I don’t know why, since I should be a bit mad that it’s my fault you made a girl cry, but I just can’t stay mad. Trust me, I’ve tried. That doesn’t mean I can’t still be disapproving of what you’ve done, though…just not exactly mad.”

I was silently, secretly, thankful. I mean - really? If my best non-family mate were to be mad at me, I’d practically have no one else to turn to. That would kind of suck…okay, so it would super-suck. Not really fun at all.

“I’m glad,” I murmured to myself. Scorpius kind of perked up, as though he’d heard, but turned away when he realized I’d been addressing myself more than I’d been addressing him.

“Rose?” Scorpius asked a few moments later.

“Yeah?”

“D’you know what’s happening tomorrow?”

I paused and thought for several long moments. Finally, I looked at him curiously and replied, “No, I don’t. is it important?”

“They’re announcing the Exhibition Quidditch teams.”

“Hell!” I burst out. He chuckled weakly as I added, “That’s tomorrow?!”

“Yeah. Who d’you think will get picked?”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure you will, and then most of my cousins also. Except for Molly. And I don’t think Hugh is quite up to par yet…but then, I’m sure Olivia will get picked. Olivia Wood, y’know. Of course she will, being Uncle Oli’s daughter--” Uncle Oli was Oliver Wood, an acquaintance of the Potter/Weasley clan who’d also had a hand in my Quidditch upbringing…and who played keeper for Puddlemore United. “and, of course, Jacob. That Hufflepuff chaser? He’s pretty amazing, on the field.” I stopped, pausing to think, before saying, “That’s all I can pinpoint right now.”

“You’re definitely in,” Scorpius said, “after all, you’ve just picked all the house captains as players, and you’re a captain, too. Just like Jacob, Olivia, and I.”

“We’ll see tomorrow, I guess,” I shrugged. “Shall we finish our essays?”

He agreed and I was glad to leave this dispute behind, no matter how trivial in content. However, I had a notion that, even though the teams were announced tomorrow, this wasn’t going to be the last time this was discussed. Hell, I think we’ve even discussed it several times before.

I woke early to rush around and get my shower. Today, I would find out if I got to play against Beauxbatons or Durmstrang - granted that my team (if I was chosen) beat the other Hogwarts team. It sent tingles to the very tips of my toes, just thinking about it. I grinned, but just as I grabbed my skirt and reached for my robes, it turned to a groan.

Scorpius had beat me to the shower. I could hear the water running from my dorm room. I sighed in defeat and gathered together the rest of my school attire, heading downstairs to wait for Scorpius to get done. I, once again, took Eragon to an armchair and settled in to read until he was out of the shower.

Quite a bit later, the door to our bathroom opened. I jerked out of my trance-like state (I’d switched to Eldest, by the way, about ten minutes earlier) and looked up, only to nearly fall into a trance-like state of a completely different sort.

The steam around him only accentuated his already godlike physique, blessed by endless hours of Quidditch and perhaps secret training to be an Auror, and I caught my breath for a moment. His platinum blonde, wet hair was stuck to his forehead slightly, water droplets still dripping from it, as though he hadn’t even attempted to dry his hair. The shocker was that his school uniform’s white shirt was still mostly unbuttoned. He was in the process of covering up his Quidditch-blessed body by buttoning it hwen he looked up. It jerked me out of whatever trick my mind had played on me, and I stood up.

“Took you long enough!” I chuckled as I brushed by him, clothes in hand while trying hard not to notice how perfect his forearms were. Forearms, of all things to be turning red over. And I knew I was turning red because I felt the head in my cheeks.

“Sorry,” he said, his own cheeks tinged slightly pink as he began buttoning more quickly. “I didn’t know you were up.”

“I’m up,” I said easily, grinning back at him before I turned tomato-red. “Too nervous to stay asleep any longer.”

With that, the door closed behind me. My heart thudded in my chest as I leaned back against the door, taking a deep breath.

“What’s gotten into you, Rosie?” I asked myself softly, bewildered. I shook my head and went to the shower. “Yes, Rose, I know he’s gorgeous. He’s always been gorgeous,” I continued mumbling to myself, “the epitome of sexy. To everyone but me…usually, anyway.”

I climbed into the running water, letting it run down my back.

“But now,” I whispered now, staring at the water collecting in the bottom of the shower, and I turned to watch it flow into the drain. “Now…it’s like I’m someone else entirely. He…he’s never seemed this way before.”

I let my thoughts fade, remaining in my head. Unspoken.

If I started viewing Scorpius like some other girls did, I probably wouldn’t be able to form a coherent sentence in his presence. Besides, I didn’t like him that way…not really. He was just…sexy? - no, Rose. Stop thinking that way right now.

Well, he is sexy.

I sighed, putting my face in my hands as I let the warm water soothe me. I realized that I can’t deny that Scorpius really is sexy, and I never would be able to. It would be like denying that I had any female emotions in me. Like denying the woman inside of me that thinks of Scorpius as more than just a friend.

“This is not happening now,” I told myself firmly. “There is nothing different about Scorpius Malfoy. We are Head Boy and Head Girl, Slytherin and Gryffindor, Quidditch captains, and we have a - however miniscule - possibility of being chosen for the Triwizard Tournament. We might also get picked for the same Quidditch Exhibition team. There is nothing more.”
It hurt when I told myself that, and I had absolutely no idea why, so I shook it off. I couldn’t worry about things so…I just couldn’t worry about things like that right now.

My possible Quidditch career was on the line!

I hurried the rest of my shower after thoroughly confusing myself and rushed out to find Scorpius flipping through Eragon, boredly.

“You’ve finished that one already,” I teased, causing him to jump. “Ready?”

“We’re early, but yeah.” he shrugged. “I’m hungry.”

“I could eat.” I supplied before adding, “a lot.”

Scorpius chuckled and pointedly rolled his eyes at me. I grinned and dried my hair quickly (with, of course, one of my favorite charms) and we both picked up our bags and left the room.

“Nervous?” I asked, noticing him fidgeting with his tie and the strap of his bag.

“Oh - ah - yeah. A bit…”

“You’re more than a bit nervous,” I grinned at him teasingly. “Don’t worry, Scorp, you’re practically the best beater at Hogwarts!”

“Your cousin and brother are brilliant,” Scorpius retorted.

“Sure, Fred’s great. And Hugo’s good - but, as I said yesterday, they’re probably the weak links of the Potter/Weasley Quidditch prowess.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re not brilliant,” Scorpius groaned, “it just makes them bloody fantastic!”

“You’re better,” I shrugged. “As their relative and their captain, I should say that they’re the better players, but I’m practical and I won’t lie. I honestly think you’re the better beater.”

“Then what’s your professional analysis of the other teams’ beaters?”

“Compared to you? Rubbish.” I said shortly.

“And actually, Rosie, yesterday you said Molly and Hugo were the weak links, not Fred and Hugo. What’s with this sudden change of mind?” Scorpius pointed out as we headed downstairs.

“Oh, I never said Molly’s a weak link; just that she probably won’t get picked.”
He looked awfully confused. “Well, why not?”

“There are chasers that are better than she is - Olivia wood, is an example, as I mentioned her as a surefire participant yesterday. And about Molly - she gets slightly nervous towards the middle, when it matters most. She’s more of a strategy-based chaser, if you know what I mean.”

“She is a Ravenclaw,” Scorpius said, stating the obvious.

“Yeah, I know,” I nodded, “and she got a touch of the ‘I’d rather keep my feet on the ground’ paranoia from Uncle Percy. She’s good…but she’d rather keep both her feet firmly planted on the turf. That’s why I don’t think she’ll be picked. But I’ve got no guarantees that she won’t be, you see.”

“D’you think they’ll adjust it so that people who are seventeen are the only ones who can be picked?” was the next question he asked me.

I thought for a moment before replying, “Actually, that’s a fairly high probability. Especially if we’re playing against pros as the special guests…so that would put Hugh out of the picture. Unless, of course, it’s not just for seventeen - maybe sixteen - year olds. If they do that, a few more students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will probably arrive soon. By the end of the week, perhaps? Maybe when the Triwizard teams are announced this Friday, since the Hogwarts versus Hogwarts match is this Saturday…”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. The Triwizard teams get announced this Friday?!”

I blinked and turned to look at Scorpius. “Yeah. The announcement has been on every bulletin board for like, two days, and Professor Collins even announced it at lunch one day.”

“Oh.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at my best friend for his moment of stupidity. They don’t come often with Scorpius. When I laughed, he pointedly looked away. I only laughed harder.