Chapter 1

"Rose! Hey, wait up a minute!" Scorpius Malfoy called

"What in the world are those?" Rose Weasley asked, staring at the contraptions under his arm.

"They're called crutches. Muggle invention."

"And why do you have them? You look ridiculous, Scorp."

Scorpius sighed. "I know. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me take skelegrow. She said I've had too many accidents from Quidditch, and I need to learn to be more careful. And to not fly so recklessly."

Rose laughed. "She's got a point. Most people just go to the infirmary occasionally after a game. You're in there always after a game, and often after practice."

"That's an exaggeration."

Rose looked at him skeptically. "Name one game where you haven't gone to the infirmary."

"Well… I can't think of one since I'm still suffering from this broken leg."

"That's because there isn't one. Now here, I'll take your books to class."

"Rose, no."

"And why not?"

Scorpius huffed. "Because I'm the man. I can my own books for Merlin's sake!"

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Really? Being prideful now, are we?"

Scorpius's eyebrow followed. "Always. It comes with being a Malfoy."

Rose huffed and started walking. "Stupid boys."

"Ahem. I believe you are mistaken. I am a man." Rose looked over at him.

"I'm not so sure. You're 17… You look like a boy." She turned away again so that Scorpius couldn't see her grin.

"Hey, now, you take that back!"

"Nah, that's alright."

"Okay, well, will you at least slow down? I can't go very fast on these things."

Rose slowed her pace.

"Are you actually going to go to Hogsmeade this weekend for the first time?" Rose asked, changing the subject.

"I've been to Hogsmeade!" Scorpius defended.

"Yes, I know. You go there in the summers. You've been there with your parents. But name one time you've been during the school year!" Rose challenged.

"There was that one time for your birthday!"

"Nope. You were deathly ill and Madam Pomfrey said tried to sneak out and got caught. You've always been playing Quidditch the other times."

"It takes a lot of work to get this good." Scorpius shrugged with his hands up in the air, and his crutches fell to the ground. "Oh Merlin. This is going to be annoying." Rose picked them up.

"That may be true, on the Hogsmeade part. But hey, I'll be there this time, and we can drink lots of Butterbeer together!"

Rose didn't comment.

"Uh oh." Scorpius said. Still nothing from Rose. "Don't tell me you have a date."

"Yes, I do have a date."

"With who? And how long have you been dating him?"

"A lot has happened while you've been so involved in your Quidditch practices."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

They'd reached the classroom door. They were late, because walking with crutches had taken so long. "We'll talk about it later," Rose said, entering the classroom.

"What do you mean, you don't know who your date is with?!" Scorpius demanded.

Rose grimaced. "You make it sound so bad."

"It is bad! What have you been doing?"

"It's not that bad, Scorp. Lily just has a hard time deciding between guys. So she'll date two guys at once, and I date whichever one she doesn't particularly want to go with that day."

"Wait, what?"

"She's currently dating Mark and Lysander. So she'll decide sometime before the weekend which one she wants to spend the day at Hogsmeade with, and then I'll spend the day with the other one."

"And they're okay with this?"

"They seem to be."

"And you're okay with this?"

"Look, Scorpius, I've been doing fine so far. And I don't need you interfering in things."

Scorpius threw up his hands and his crutches fell again. "Okay, okay. All I'm saying is it sounds like a good way to get your heart broken."

Rose gave him a sad smile. "Thank you for your concern. I take care of myself just fine."

Scorpius just nodded. "So do you snog them on these dates?"

Rose smacked his arm. "OW! I'm sensitive, remember?"

"Well you deserved it! Because that is none of your business, Scorpius Malfoy!"

Scorpius wandered around the Hogsmeade village. He really didn't see what the fuss was about. It was the same as the summer, except more crowded, because most of Hogwarts was there. He much preferred playing Quidditch. Besides, it was such walk down here. And he'd taken forever because of his crutches. It was awful. And he hadn't even had Rose to walk slow with him.

Albus was probably playing Quidditch. Probably not even thinking of poor Scorpius Malfoy, wandering all by himself around Hogsmeade. He might as well get his sorry self some butterbeer. He saw Rose with a boy whose name he couldn't remember. Neither of them looked up when he walked in the door. They were pretty involved in their own conversation. Rose was smiling, and he said something funny that made her laugh. Scorpius felt sick. Butterbeer forgotten, he decided he needed to leave. He knew he had a good reason to not come to Hogsmeade.

"How was your date?" Scorpius asked Rose the next day as they walked outside.

Rose smiled. "It was good. Really good."

"Do you like him?"

Rose shrugged. "He's a nice guy. And we have fun together. But I can't really see it going anywhere."

"So why do you keep dating him?"

"Because it's really Lily who's deciding if she wants to date him. So until then, I just keep going on dates with the other guy."

"But that makes it seem like you're the leftover. The second choice." Rose slowed her pace, and Scorpius knew he'd said the wrong thing. "I just don't understand why you're doing this. You're better than that. You deserve to be someone's first choice."

Rose let out a bitter laugh. "That'd be nice."

"But you could be Rose!"

Rose stopped and looked at him. He was surprised by the anger and hurt in her eyes. "Really? Then why did I never go on any dates until Lily approached me with this deal? I've always been the second choice, Scorpius. Always."

Scorpius took her hand. "That's not true, Rose. I-"

"Oh, no! Don't you start, Scorpius Malfoy!" she pulled her hand away and put it on her hip. "You and Albus are the worst at it!" Scorpius's eyes widened in surprise. He spent the most time with Rose over any other girl! "You and Albus are supposed to be my best friends, we made a pact in first year. But the last few years, I've been second choice to both of you. Second choice to Quidditch." Scorpius stared. "It takes a Quidditch accident for you to even spend time with me." She tried to blink away the tears in her eyes, but he saw them. "So don't you go preaching to me about how I deserve better. You're right, I probably do. But I haven't been getting that from anyone, you especially. So don't tell me how to live my life, when I'm the second choice in yours." Rose turned and walked away to leave Scorpius in stunned silence.

AN: all characters belong to J.K Rowling. I do however, own the plot. It's one I've been thinking about for a while. Let me know what you think! Favorite, follow, and review! I've got some fun plans for this story.