The Snake and the Rose

Scorpious frowned slightly, letting her get a few steps before pulling his wand down from behind his ear, setting himself straight again. He stuck it back and followed after her, his longer legs making catching up easy. "Hey," he caught her hand, stopping her once more. "Before you go to bed, may I ask you something?" he asked, looking down at her now.

She pouted at the lack of bunny ness and then said, "You didn't leave me much choice did you? :p Sure, what's up?" She said, waiting for his question, curious.

"The Yuel Ball. Do you have a date yet?"

She looked to the floor and said, "Wh-what? No. Why? I wasn't planning on going really....." She said, her ears turning red.

"It's next Monday." he pointed out letting go of her hand. "Seeing as how it's our last year here, Why not go?" he suggested. "With me, I mean."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back in surprise, tripping over her robes as she had dropped them. She fell against the wall between two suits of armor. "wh-why would you wanna go with me? I mean I'd like to..no Love to, but I would only bring your image down...." She said, staying away from the money issue.

Scorpious raised an eyebrow at her. "So, is that a yes or no?" he asked, not sure if her startled reaction was good or bad. "Honestly, my image is my own. I make it how I like it. If I like the image with you in it, well then..." he shrugged, showing he really found nothing at all wrong with it.

"What do you say?"

She blushed hard, she was pretty sure steam was coming out of her ears by this point, "I'd love to....I just don't have anything I could really wear....." She bit her bottom lip and looked to a separate part of the floor. She leaned against the wall between the suits of armor for support....she never dreamed anything like this would happen...ever. She focused and TRIED to get her heart rate in check.

"Well, that isn't a problem." Scorpious blinked. "This weekend We can go to my family tailor. She's got a shop set in Hogsmeade." he said waving a hand like it was no big deal at all. "She'll make anything you want."

"Uhhhhh...." She blushed harder, "I don't know the first thing about fancy dressing....and I have never worn much that is remotely girlie..." She shook her head, 'It sounds lovely....and thank you." She tackled him, turning him so his back was against the wall where she had been previously and hugged him around the waist....for a bit, enjoying his well toned ness from beneath his robes.

Scorpious laughed when she hugged him, returning the gesture and lifting her slightly off her feet before setting her back down. "I dont think Ive ever met someone so eager to hand out hugs." he teased slightly.

"How about we keep it out secret then, until the ball itself?" he suggested. "We'll shock the school."

She smiled softly and looked up at him, "Hugs are a wonderful thing ^.^....shock the school hmmmmmm ok. I like that." She still hadn't let go of him and as such used his waist as leverage to jump up and kiss his cheek softly. "Thanks." She said, beaming with a mix of pride, excitement, nervousness and just overall happy. She was almost jumping up and down with glee....."I...nevermind. It was a great event Scorpius, thanks for inviting me."

Scorpious grinned. "Any time." he said sincerely.

The weekend couldn't come fast enough for Scorpious. He had sent away a couple of messages to Gringots, beginning his own private account no one in his family could touch and removing a few hundred galleons to have Rose's dress made.

It was Friday morning that a familiar large owl landed near his plate if eggs and ham. His grandfathers, holding a dark green envelope in it's beak.

For a moment Scorpious just stared while the Slytherin table fell silent.

Scorpious Malfoy had just received a Howler.

The week went by slowly, but being able to tease Scorpius Malfoy through-out the day made it that much better. She found herself a lot more bold around people now, not scurrying in the shadows as much or looking at the floor. One morning though, she heard the whooole Slytherin table fall silent at breakfast. Everyone seemed to be trained on the Malfoy. She couldn't see what was going on, but didn't dare walk up to him now. She waited to see what would happen...wand at the ready from beneath her robes...just in case.

"You had best open it." Nott eyed the letter like it was some evil apparition. "The longer you wait the louder it gets."

"Right..." Scorpious frowned, reaching out to grab the letter. He slipped his finger under the seam and flinched when it sprung form his hinds tyo fold into rather thin paper lips.

"Scorpious," his grandfathers voice said in a deathly sweet tone. "We're all looking forward to seeing you on the Hogwarts express this Tuesday. As your father can be there to pick you up, you can expect myself to be there, ready to escort you to our family event. You will be there of course." the letter emphasized will. "And you're welcome to bring a friend along with you f you so choose. But remember, Scorpious, they had better be worthy of being a guest at Malfoy Manor."

Scorpious stared at the letter as it spoke in a booming voice. It didn't shout, but none the less the entire hall could hear.

"Best wishes with the Yule Ball. And remember to wish your friends a happy Christmas before you leave.
Yours truly, Your grandfather Lucius."

The letter tore itself up, leaving Scorpious to sit with green ribbons over his eggs. He stared for a moment before grabbing a slice of toast and standing up. "Not a word." He warned his fellow Slytheirns, his voice taking on a rare icy tone before grabbing his bag, setting off to class silently.

Rose, along with the rest of the hall heard the letter. She was highly upset, but she stealthily followed Scorpius unnoticed. She caught up to him quickly, and judging by the way he was walking, she was going to have to really work to get him to talk. She cut in front of him and said, "Scorpius, wait..." She reached out and grabbed his arm gently, but firmly.

Scorpious stopped and frowned refusing to look at her. He was silently fuming and she could actually feel the anger leaking off of him. "Now isn't the best time, Rose." he said bluntly.

His jaw was clenched and so were his fists. Wile no one likes a howler, Scorpious' wasn't bad enough to deserve this type of reaction. Not unless there was something laying under it.

She persisted, feeling the anger that was coming off of him she had a feeling and she chased it, "This has something to do with that letter...doesn't it?" She looked straight at him, even though he refused to look at her. She was NOT about to let an older Malfoy stop her from caring about this one. "Please, talk to me."

"If I talk right now, I'm going to say something I'll regret." he snapped, attempting to warn her once more that now was not a good time to talk to him.

He dragged a hand over his face, realizing he had snapped and took a deep breath before sighing. "Look, it isn't something worth talking about. I jut need to calm down."

She grit her teeth adn nodded. "Fine, just come find me later please." She gave him a pleading look before going off to class. Her demeanor was one of worry all day, to the point where even Albus and Lilly asked her if she was alright. "Huh? Uhmm yeah. Sorry, just not sleeping well is all." She smiled softly, a sad tone in her words and facial features. She tried her best to NOT look at Scorpius in the classes they had together. She didn't send him the usualy paper animals with silly drawings that would make him smile.

She left him be, as he had requested, hoping he would eventually come talk to her.

It was around dinner that Scorpious seemed to snap out of his funk. In potions, he had even burnt his brew.

Dinner though, he sat at the Griffindor table beside Rose, earning a multitude of odd looks. "Evening." he greeted simply.

She jumped slightly, surprised as she had been lost in swirling her soup around absently, biting her bottom lip. She looked up and smiled softly as she realized who it was. "Well hello there. This is new." She smiled wider, fighting every urge not to just glomp him off his chair in the middle of the Great Hall. At this point Akuma came flying through the window, soaring over the students and then landing happily in between Rose and Scorpius. His tail swished slightly as he picked up on Rose's joyful mood, to the point he licked Rose's cheek and then Scorpius's. "Akuma..." Rose giggled, "Sorry." She wiped Malfoy's face off with a napkin, grinning shepishly. Akuma had a package on his back from Gramma Weasley. She removed it and gave Akuma a huge steak, which he devoured whole before walking to the Gryffindor tower to rest. "So, what's up?" She asked Scorpius, ignoring all the weird stares and not noticing the glares.

"Yeah really." LIlly leaned over the table with a grin of her own ."What's up Malfoy? Got the hots for my cousin?"

"And if I do?" scorpious raised an eyebrow, grinning like a cat at LIllys expression. It looked like someone just slapped her across the face with a dead fish.

"Uhhh--"

"When you've finished eating, come grab me. We can talk then." he said, standing up againn, stealing a carrot form her soup with a wicked grin. He even sported her a wink before walking off again.

She giggled softly and playfully glared and pouted. She quickly finished eating, stealing glances at Malfoy.

Lilly and Albus cornered her, "Ok, what's going on with you two? You have been hanging out together...I think, or at the very least been making a lot of contact...spill it." Lilly said while holding one of Rose's arms down, and Albus did the same on the other side, giving her a grin and playfully evil interrogation look. "Nothing, we're just getting to know each other. We're friends, besides, he was really upset this morning and I tried to help and he warned me then was not the time. Relax...nothing is going on." "^yet^" She thought to herself. The two seemed appeased by the answer so they let her go and continued their dinners, seeming to forget all about it....mostly.

After dinner she set off to find the blonde...starting with the Slytherin table.

It wasn't hard to find him. He was eating some mashed potatoes when he spotted her.

He swallowed, excused himself and stood up, ignoring the odd looks from his fellow Slytherins. No one seemed to have the nerve to question him after that morning.

Scorpious grabbed his bag and walked around to meet Rose, leaving the Hall with her, leading her to the room she had pinned him in a few days before. "So, can you make it open again so we can talk in private?" he asked, eying the blank wall.