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Scorpius sat down at the Slytherin table with a frown on his face, his eyes scanning the Great Hall for his favourite friend Rose Weasley. Rose never missed lunch, so where could she be, he wondered.
“She’s not here,” his god sister Violet Longbottom told him knowingly.
“Who’s not here,” he asked, a blush rising to his face at been caught searching for his secret crush.
“Rose isn’t here Scorp, there was an incident in Defence, she left the classroom crying and told her cousins who were in the class to leave her alone. Nobody has seen her since,” his friend told him with a knowing smirk, which reminded him instantly of her mother, his Auntie Pansy. Violet didn’t have Defence with the Gryffindor’s, but Scorpius knew the witch was always knowledgeable on the latest school rumours.
“What kind of incident,” he asked worriedly, imagining Rose getting hexed in the class.
“I wasn’t there but apparently their class were fighting Boggarts and Rose couldn’t face her fear,” she said before taking a delicate sip of her cup of tea.
“That doesn’t sound like Rose,” he commented as he gathered up some apple and cinnamon pastries as well as a couple of apples into a small basket that was on the table. He also grabbed two plates before hurrying away with his treats in search of the redheaded witch, barely pausing to say goodbye to Violet in the process.
It didn’t take him long to track down the witch for whom he was searching. When Rose was sad, she tended to go to one of two places: the school library or an old oak tree near the pumpkin patch. On a mild Autumn Day, he’d figured she’d be by her favourite tree. Rose adored Autumn.
He found her crying, sitting amongst a canopy of falling fall-coloured leaves. Even in misery she was beautiful. Her red hair and Gryffindor uniform made her fit seamlessly into the autumn picture she made, he wishes he’d brought his camera so he could capture her this way, she was perfect.
“Scorp, I want to be left alone,” she spoke, wiping furiously at her eyes to remove the tears with her Gryffindor tie.
“I don’t think you do, what happened Rose,” he asked her as he settled himself on the ground at her side. He plated up a pastry and an apple, holding out both as piece offerings to the girl that he fancied.
“My favourite treats, you know you didn’t have to bring me these,” she said quietly, ignoring his question entirely.
“They’re my favourites too, you know, apples are fantastic. I thought we could eat them together and I could cheer you up. I don’t like seeing you sad Rosie,” he commented while lightly tugging on one of her loose curls. This made her smile, batting his hand away as she took a bite into one of the pastries.
“Oh, this is good, the perfect combination of apples and cinnamon,” she breathed before taking another bite. Scorpius watched her eat, mesmerised.
“What,” she questioned, noticing him staring at her, he shook his head., picking up an apple.
“Nothing,” he replied, taking a bite of the fruit, waiting in silence for Rose to speak as he knew she would.
“I froze in class, we were facing Boggarts today,” she confessed after five minutes of watching him eat his apple, he nodded, and she continued talking.
“It was so stupid Scorp. It turned into my parents. They were shouting at me because I wasn’t living up to their expectations,” she said, he frowned.
“Rose, that’s, they wouldn’t,” he struggled to find words to articulate what he wanted to say but Rose didn’t need his words.
“I know Scorp, they don’t expect me to live up to their expectation, not really anyway. They want me to just try my best, but its society isn’t it. I’m the daughter of Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Both are decorated war hero’s, my mums the Minister of Magic and my dads a distinguished Auror. Everyone expects me to be great, like they are, and I put pressure on myself to live up to their legacy,” she told him.
“I get that Rose. It’s not the same but there are those in society who expect me to be evil because of my dad's past. It doesn’t matter that he’s repented and been an Auror for over a decade. There will always be those who see him as a Death Eater and by extension see me that way,” he confessed.
“Well then, they are idiots, you would make a rubbish Death Eater, you’re the kindest person I know,” she smiled at him beautifully and his heart melted.
“Don’t let the other Slytherin’s hear you say that as I have a fierce reputation to uphold,” he joked which had the desired effect and Rose let out a wonderful musical laugh that made his heart sore and a beaming smile light up his face.
“Speaking of house pride, why are you wearing a Gryffindor tie,” she questioned, tugging on the tie in question to make her point.
“We were doing colour modification charms in Professor Flitwick’s class, but I couldn’t get it to change back,” he told her sheepishly, she grinned, pulling out her wand and fixed it without uttering a single word.
“You know Rose, I think you are living up to your parent's legacy, you are by far the smartest person in our year, perhaps the brightest of the age, just like your mother,” he told her.
“Thank you for cheering me up, Scorpius, I think I might be ready to face my boggart now,” she said, leaning over she kissed his cheek before rising to her feet. He watched her make her way back towards the castle, his hand rising to cover the blushing spot where her lips had touched him. One day he’d be brave and confess how he felt about her but until then he was content to be Rose’s best friend. Scorpius had a feeling that she felt the same anyway because she’d also blushed prettily after kissing his cheek too. He should ask for her to be his date to the next Hogsmede trip on Bonfire night or ask her to visit him during the holidays and they could collect apples together from his family’s orchard.
The End