The Music Still Plays On

Chapter 5: I could care less for things like that

May was now here. Now, in our weekly meetings, Scorpius and I were furiously preparing for exams, leaving no time for idle chitchat. This week, Scorpius even had to cancel our meeting- something about judging an eating contest between Blair and Blaine Carrow. I still wanted to get some studying done, though, so I gathered my books and walked up to the Gryffindor Common Room. As I started to study for Charms, I overheard my classmates talking to their friends.

"Don't be such a drama queen..."

"You should just do what makes you happy, without feeling guilty..."

"You're not fat, honestly..."

I sighed. I knew I should be happy to have so much uninterrupted study time, but without someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of, the time crawled by at a snail's pace. I tried to concentrate, but the words on the page of A History of Magic all seemed to blur together on the page. I was just starting to doze off when I heard Victoire calling me

"Rosie! Come here! I have something to ask you!" Victoire said. Awaking, I walked to the other side of the room, where Victoire and her friends were arranged in a small circle. I felt important to be included in Victoire's conversation, as she usually pretended that I didn't exist. Victoire then proceeded to hold up two virtually identical "exploding necklaces".

"I want your opinion, Rosie. Which one looks better, the pink one, or the blue one? The blue one matches my eyes, but the pink one looks so pretty!" Victoire exclaimed. She interrupted my nap for this?

"Why don't you bewitch the necklace to change color when you want it to?" I innocently suggested.

"Oh my God! What a great idea! Rosie, you're the greatest," Victoire said sweetly.

"But what happens when the necklace explodes?" Alana Agrippa, Victoire's best friend, asked.

"Oh, well, then I'll just buy a new one," Victoire dismissed. "They don't cost that much, anyway. So, guys, did you see how Everett looked at me yesterday? I just about died."

"That new guy? Bad choice, Victoire. He kinda creeps me out," Alana remarked.

"Yeah- didn't he transfer from Durmstrang or something? Who does that?" Nita Towler remarked. I felt slightly guilty for eavesdropping on my cousin's conversation, but since she wasn't actively shooing me away, I decided to listen.

"Shut up, you guys! I like him. He seems like such a bad boy."

"You got that right- he almost killed Ken McGreevy in the hallway yesterday!" Maryanne Boomer added.

"You guys don't understand! He's a nice guy!" Victoire pleaded.

"Yeah, nice until he punches you in the face!" Alana giggled. "Besides, whatever happened to Teddy? Weren't you dating him last month?"

"I was. We had a fight. But I'm over him, don't worry," Victoire blushed.

"No, you're not! I bet you're only pursuing Everett to make Teddy jealous!" Nita commented. As I looked at Victoire's friends, I wondered why Victoire was friends with them. According to her, they were the coolest students in Hogwarts, but they sure didn't seem like good friends to me.

I knew the guy Victoire was talking about- Everett Sloper. A couple months ago, he had transferred to Hogwarts from Durmstrang. Transferring schools in the wizarding world was virtually unheard of- usually, unless you did something really bad, you stayed in your school until you graduated. People had been rumoring that Everett had done something bad, though- bad enough to get him expelled. Victoire seemed attracted to that kind of guy, though- Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill nearly fainted when she started dating Wallace Rosier, who almost got expelled after he entered a violent duel with another student last year. While I was glad when they stopped dating, I felt almost empathetic for Victoire in this case. Even though Scorpius and I weren't in a relationship in the slightest, it was becoming harder and harder for me to hide the fact that I was studying with him once a week.

I ended up spending a couple more hours in the common room, trying to study. Soon, only Victoire and I were left, as her friends went up to their room a couple minutes ago. While Victoire gathered her stuff up to join them, I stopped her for a second. I wanted to know what was up with her boy troubles. Her life seemed so more sophisticated than mine.

"Victoire?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not really going to go out with Everett Sloper, are you?" I asked. I wanted to see what insights she would give.

"I don't know, Rosie. It's all so complicated...he's a good guy, but... I still kinda like Teddy," she admitted.

"So Nita was right!"

"I guess. Well, what was I supposed to do? Mope around like some loser?" She had a point. I was still curious about her falling-out with Teddy, though.

"What happened with you two, anyway?" I asked.

"Oh...it was stupid. You wouldn't understand."

"Come on, you can tell me."

"Fine. Well, Teddy and I were talking, and...I told him I loved him." I was confused, not knowing why this would cause a fight.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I knew you wouldn't understand. Teddy was just afraid of commitment, that's all. And then I told him that I didn't want to get committed, that wasn't my intention, but then he accused me of using 'love' too lightly, and then I told him that I was getting a 'love' vibe from our relationship anyway, and then he told me that he needed some time to figure things out, and then I told him that he definitely should. And then he told me I looked fat." I was completely lost.

"Wait...what?"

"The point, Rosie, is not to tell a guy you love him too early in a relationship. It messes everything up. Not that you'll have to worry about that, of course, you're still young, but still..." She checked her watch. "Wow! I can't believe I spent such a long time talking to you. My friends must be wondering where I am. Bye!"

I didn't understand most of what Victoire said about boys, but I kept mental notes of what she said in case I needed it in the future. Personally, I thought she and Teddy should just make up, but it obviously is more complicated than that. I was glad that Scorpius wasn't as complicated as some of the boys in Victoire's life- then I would barely be able to string a sentence together in front of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was now the week before finals. It seemed like everyone at Hogwarts was studying. Instead of chatter, the common room was now full of students feverishly studying for their exams. Scorpius and I still met as usual, but mainly just hit the books and didn't leave any time for conversation. Today was no exception- we didn't say a word to each other when we first walked in, instead focusing on memorization and how to perform spells. After half an hour had passed, though, Scorpius burst out laughing. His laughter scared me as it broke the silence.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I was just thinking about something Dad said."

"What?"

"On the first day of school, before I got on the train, Dad said, 'Son, I have one piece of advice for you,'" Scorpius said, imitating his father. "'Stay far, far away from that Weasley girl over there- her family is nothing but a bunch of mudblood loving freaks. You'll have no problem beating her on all of your exams.'" He chuckled. "And I was just thinking about that, because now we're helping each other with our exams...and I'm deliberately going against his advice. I don't think I've ever done that before."

"You're kidding! My Dad said almost the exact same thing to me when we left! Minus the 'mudblood loving freaks' part, of course, which we are most certainly not, I might add."

"I never said you were! That's just what Mum and Dad think. I didn't know you, so I decided not to pass judgment until I met you."

"Well, I'm glad you did," I added. We stared in silence for a while as I looked into his large, icy blue eyes. Many girls in my year thought that his eyes looked evil and piercing, but to me they weren't that bad.

"No one in my family likes you, either, if it makes you feel any better," I added. "You saw how my cousins were on the train. If James found out we were spending so much time together, he'd send a wicked curse your way."

"Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but...they can be so dumb sometimes!" Scorpius lamented.

"I thought you never went against any of your father's advice."

"I don't, but...this is different. You're different. You're totally not like I thought you would be like."

"And what exactly did you think I would be like?" I asked.

"I don't know. A mudblood-loving freak, I guess, because that's what Dad said. I had no idea why you wanted to hang out with me on the first day."

"It's not like I had a choice in the matter- I kept losing track of Al and James," I admitted. "If they saw me now, they wouldn't believe it," We both laughed. "I don't know what our parents would do if we saw that we were practically falling in love," I said nonchalantly. A horrified look crossed Scorpius's face.

"Love?! You think we're falling in love?" I then realized what I had said.

"Scorpius, I didn't mean it like that...it just came out of my mouth, I didn't realize..." I sadly pleaded.

"Rosie, love is stupid! We're 11! I could care less for things like that. You know that!" Scorpius yelled. "I never even wanted to study with you, anyway! You talk too much! I'm leaving!" He slammed the door of the classroom.

Why did I just do that? Did I even listen to what Victoire had told me? I'm such an idiot. I gathered my books and walked out of the classroom in tears.

END OF PART 1