Origami

By Zhong Wanting

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even a Knut…

A/N: My first HP fanfic ever. So that accounts for my being a little nervous…Reviews will be most enormously welcomed.

Rose/Scorpius is really starting to grow on me…

Possibly a one-shot. Possibly more chapters coming up. If I do not drown myself in college-packing affairs, that is.

-

Rose Weasley settled herself in one of her favorite library seats, which was positioned next to an airy window. She proceeded to empty the contents of her bag onto the desktop, making way for her Potions essay.

She was sucking her quill and flicking through a thick reference book when something white and airy floated past her ear and landed gently on top of her ink bottle. Dropping her quill in alarm, Rose peered at the object which was now quivering lightly in the breeze from the open window. Rose stretched out her hand and picked it up; it turned out to be a delicately folded paper crane.

Rose turned it about in her hands, and frowned at the words ‘To Rose Weasley’ scrawled across the paper crane’s wings. The handwriting seemed somewhat familiar. She held her breath. But surely, it can’t be…She shifted slightly in her seat, stealing a glance around her. Sure enough, several rows behind her, a pair of shrewd grey eyes were peering surreptitiously in her direction over a thick leather volume. The eyes quickly disappeared behind the book when she darted her glance towards them.

Finding it hard to suppress a smile, Rose reverted her attention to the paper crane in her lap. She unfolded the tiny work of art gingerly, carefully smoothing the piece of paper out. Slowly, her eyes traced the single sentence scribbled on the slightly wrinkled paper. She caught her breath. She read the message again, a mingling sense of surprise and anxiety starting to well up inside her. Her hand went up to her hair instinctively as she tried to puzzle the whole thing out. She picked up her quill to write something back, paused midway with the point of her quill dangling precariously above the paper, and decided against it. She was very much aware of the pair of grey eyes still fixed intently on her back, and she felt her fingers twitch almost uncontrollably as she tapped the piece of paper with her wand, making it refold itself into a rose blossom…

And she wondered, for that fleeting second, just why her heart seemed to be pounding a little faster than usual…

But Rose decided that she had to keep a hold on herself, and she promptly went back to checking up on the usage of the Essence of Dittany. She was determined to forget about the paper crane, and the message it brought to her, and the queer tingling sensation it seemed to trigger down her spine.

And now, repocketing her measure (her essay had exceeded the required length limit by a satisfactory two feet), Rose stretched herself, feeling distinctly happy with her work. She unrolled her Potions homework again, scanning the lines for some last-minute proofreading, when…

‘I can’t help but admire at the unrivalled efficiency and competency you exhibit with your work, Weasley.’

Rose jumped so violently that she upset her ink bottle, which spilled half its content onto her newly polished Potions essay. Feeling the heat building up in her cheeks at remarkable speed, Rose pulled out her wand in a great flurry and prodded vigorously at the roll of parchment in an exasperated attempt to repair the diabolical damage.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry to have startled you, Miss Weasley. And I seemed to have ruined your immaculate Potions assignment. How thoughtless of me. Here, let me help you…’ The tall, blonde boy, who had seemed to materialize of nowhere behind Rose, bowed and drew out his wand in a flourish. His long slender fingers brushed past Rose’s face and she was suddenly too aware of the fact that her ears were threatening to get even redder.

‘Oh, no, it has been most clumsy of me! I mean, er, it’s got nothing to do with you, Mr. Malfoy, I’m perfectly sure I can fix it myself!’ Rose spluttered in her great urge to refuse the boy’s help, and she gave her parchment a prod so vigorous that it siphoned up a whole paragraph.

‘Watch out, Miss Weasley, you might make matters worse if you stubbornly maintain your overexcited state.’ Scorpius Malfoy’s grey eyes twinkled as he gently took hold of Rose’s wand arm and tapped her essay lightly with his own wand. The blotchy mess cleared up at once. Turning to look at Rose in the eye, he chuckled softly, ‘It’s most shocking that you need help with this simple kind of household magic. But I thought that I wouldn’t stand the look on your face if you get anything short of “O” for once.’

Regaining her cool, Rose snatched her essay from Scorpius’s grip and stuffed it into her schoolbag. She was secretly hoping that he hadn’t noticed the startling change in her complexion when he walked up behind her all of a sudden. She scratched at her ear absent-mindedly--his warm breath was making it tingle in the oddest of ways.

‘Er, well?’ Rose demanded in her loftiest, most detached manner. ‘What is it you want this time? And stop sneaking up behind people, it’s been downright creepy, you narrowly missed giving me a heart attack!’ The adamant line of her jaw was plainly intimating the fact that ‘one more try, and you’ll have James to deal with’.

‘I never thought you’d have such vulnerable nerves…’ Spotting the now deadly glint in the girl’s eyes, Scorpius dutifully changed the topic. ’Seems as though you have a deft hand at origami too. Never dreamt of it…’

‘Eh? Sorry?’

‘That’s some pretty flower you have made.’ Scorpius chuckled, reaching out a hand to pick up the paper rose from the desktop. ‘Means that the message is successfully delivered. So--‘ He took a deep breath, then pretended to be as casual as he could. ‘What do you say?’

‘What?’ Rose tried to arrange her face into the most innocently ignorant expression_r_r_r she could possibly demonstrate.

‘What I mean is, what is your reply to the message I just wrote you?’ Scorpius turned the paper rose in his palm, his gaze fixed on Rose’s face. ‘Yea, or nay?’

‘Huh?’ Fearing that she might do something stupid if she uttered anything longer than one syllable, Rose persisted with her feat of maintaining a most sweetly ignorant countenance. All the while, she chose to fix her eyes on Scorpius’ collar with immense care, feeling that it might aggravate matters if she dared a look into those intoxicatingly charming grey eyes (Merlin’s beard she hated hearing herself admit this, but it was a fact notheless).

Scorpius heaved a great sigh, and just a tinge of exasperation figured in his normally cool, measured voice. ‘Are you going, or aren’t you going to Hogsmeade this weekend with me, Rose?’

Presumably it was the startling note of sincerity in his voice. Or that earnest look in his handsome grey eyes (which chanced a glance at, naturally). Or presumably it was just the sheer registration of her first name instead of last. Whatever.

Crash.

And Rose succeeded in knocking her ink bottle flying (She did have a thing with ink bottles…).

She was devoutly grateful that Madam Pince stormed into sight at exactly that moment, and muttering very incoherently under her breath, Rose shoved everything on the table into her bag and bolted out of the library as fast as her legs could manage.

Having cleaned up the scene of havoc and pacified the scandalized Madam Pince, Scorpius Malfoy resumed his seat. Bearing the expression_r_r_r of being half amused and half crestfallen, he prodded a random sheet of paper on his desk.

‘Why in the name of Merlin is she that worked up against me…’ He enclosed the paper rose he had just created in his palm. ‘Well, I suppose that’s good, in a way…’

-

It’s all very inconsistent and incoherent, I don’t know…anyway, R & R please…

- hell butterfly

Reviews for: Origami

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