Scorpius's POV

"What about this rune here? Does it always translate to fire or when mixed with this symbol here?"

"What?" asked Scorpius, snapping out a minute long reverie.

"I asked about this rune here. See?" said Armene, pointing to the big symbol in the middle of the book they were both huddled over.

"Oh... yes it translates into fire, even when used in conjunction with other symbols. One of the very few runes with that property," said Scorpius wearily.

"Are you tired?" said Armene shutting the book in front of them. "Coz if you are, we could...you know..take a break and relax a bit," said Armene with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Scorpius colored a bit as Armene's hands started reaching dangerously towards his collar. Scorpius quickly took her hands and placed it on the table and opened the book once again.

"No. I'm alright. Lets just finish this up quick before Madam Pince runs us out of the library," Seeing the disappointment on Armene's face Scorpius quickly added. "We don't want her to think we are doing anything more than studying here. You know how our parents keep trying to set each other up. They might just set the wedding date if they hear such a rumor,"

Armene gave an unusually high pitched laugh which made Scorpius cringe a little.

"That's so true. Although I have to admit, I won't complain if they did," replied Armene.

Scorpius merely smiled and looked down at his book. Scorpius was quite aware of Armene's interest in him and going out with her would be received with full approbation from both their families. Armene was everything a guy could want from a girl. Stunning, smart, intelligent, ambitious. She didn't belong to the pack of nitwits who regularly bothered Scorpius. Armene was also quite hard to please and only the top notch guys ever had any chance with her. Most of whom she would dump soon after, stating that she wasn't 'satisfied' with the relationships. So when Armene Parkinson had asked Scorpius Malfoy to tutor her and dropped anvil sized hints now and then about how she wanted him to ask her out, Scorpius was indeed quite flattered.

Armene started talking about her cousins at Beauxbattons while Scorpius paid attention to her features. He couldn't deny she was anything less than gorgeous. Her dark blue eyes matched her long blond hair and her skin was pale and flawless. Add to that a slender figure that almost made her look like an angel. Armene was also one of the top students in their year. After Scorpius, Rose and Willeby Rezene from Hufflepuff, it was Armene who scored the best O.W.L.s the previous year. Scorpius knew Armene didn't need any tutoring as she was faring quite well in Runes, but couldn't refuse her a favor just like all the other girls who had asked him to help them with their studies.

His parents on the other hand, were constantly trying to set them up on dates, in hopes that they would interest each other. Scorpius knew very well the objective of these nefarious tasks. His father and most of his blood prejudiced friends were trying really hard to make sure their pureblood line remained untainted. His father was afraid, one of these days Scorpius would turn up on his door step with a Muggleborn in his arms.

The same concerns were going through the minds of Armene's parents, and judging by Armene's behavior she had no objection with dating him. And for the most part, neither did Scorpius. There was only one thing that stopped them from being together and it was sitting in front of them buried amidst a pile of books and heaps of bushy brown hair.

Scorpius for a moment forgot where he was, as he saw Rose picking at her hair and biting her lips as she tried to solve a particularly nasty problem, a habit of her's which he thought was unbelievably adorable. Scorpius quickly turned his head back to Armene, lest she should suspect anything, and felt himself drowsing off to his thoughts as Armene went on about French cuisine.

He couldn't tell the exact moment he fell for Rose Weasley. He didn't even know that he had fallen for her, until his friends started pointing out the usual symptoms of love. Rose wasn't exactly the prettiest of girls. Most of his friends rated her a three on a scale of ten, a game they often played and one in which Armene always scored a nine and a half. But there was something different about Rose, which none of his friends could understand as they didn't get to spend time with her like he did since they were both prefects.

For one, he always felt relaxed around her. There was a constant feeling of Deja Vu with her, as though they had known each other quite well in a previous life. The only thing that stopped them from being close friends was their opposing houses, which made it almost impossible for them to spend more than a few minutes together. But Scorpius always figured it was friendship, and nothing more than that.

But then they were made prefects and that changed a lot of things as they were constantly pitted against each other, owing to their prefect duties. It had let him discover Rose more as a person. Being with her was like unraveling a box of surprises. With each day he found out something new about her, something that attracted him even more.

Her brains was something not even Scorpius could compete with and the competition between them excited him in a strange way. Rose was also quite different from the usual girls, who spend each and every second of their day doodling in front of the mirror, trying to cover up their zits or eating miniscule proportions of food just to maintain a slim figure. Rose didn't care about her looks and it was this casualness that rendered her so beautiful in his eyes, even more beautiful than the nine and half sitting right next to him.

Rose also showed concern where other people wouldn't. Rose was the daughter of the famous Hermione Granger, a champion of creature rights. Her work had been an inspiration for Scorpius to pick up where she left off and start rallying for elf rights. Rose was the only person in the school, apart from his best friend who merely agreed to join to shut him up, who worked by his side even though they weren't eliciting much interest among the students.

He had also learned from this little tryst that Rose never gave up so easily. There was a fiery determination in her which endeared her to Scorpius a lot. There were also traces of that infamous Weasley temper he'd heard of from his father. But every time Scorpius found himself at the end of one of her smoking tirades, he would pay more attention to her features. In those fits of anger her face would lit up, her brown eyes adding a glitter to it making her look even more beautiful.

Scorpius felt himself wanting to sneak a glance at Rose as he thought about her, and to his surprise saw her looking right at him in an almost dazed expression. He felt his heart leap as their eyes met and quickly passed her a smile. Not to seem too awkward he quickly turned back to Armene.

Great. How is she supposed to know how you feel about her if you can't even muster the courage to look at her for more than a few seconds, he thought miserably.

Scorpius wondered how she felt about him. Those few times he tried to declare his feelings to her, he would find himself unable to say more than a few words, most of which would be incoherent, leaving her confused. Scorpius knew he could get any girl at Hogwarts and never had any trouble asking anyone out which was mainly due to the bets he placed with his friends, and Scorpius had won every single one of them as no girl could resist his aplomb. But Scorpius always wiggled out of those dates and managed to stay single all these years, mostly because he wasn't interested. Also, he barely had time, what with Quidditch and studies. But unbeknownst to others, there was also another reason as to why he didn't have a girlfriend. The fact that he couldn't manage the nerve to ask out the brown haired girl sitting in front of him.

Scorpius would stay back in the library in hopes of asking her out, but would always fail to do so as he would keep worrying of its consequences. He didn't want to lose her friendship in any way and he wondered if it would somehow make their acquaintance awkward. With any other girl Scorpius wouldn't have feared rejection, but with Rose Weasley anything was possible, as she was one of a kind.

Scorpius felt his body rising automatically as his mind ordered him to make his move.

"I'll be right back," he said to Armene as he left his chair and strode towards where Rose was seated.

Rose was sucking on her quill and staring at a page in her book, something she did when she was deep in thought.

God she is beautiful, thought Scorpius. What is she dreaming about? If only I were a part of it, he wondered longingly.

"Hey Rose," he said, as she quickly snapped out of her thoughts and smiled weakly back at him.

"I was wondering whether you finished that essay on Charms. We had to turn it in next week," he said

"I haven't finished it yet. I have a few more pages to go. I was busy with Potions. You know how I need to work extra hard on it, seeing as Professor Goldstein loves me to bits," she said sarcastically.

Scorpius chuckled as he heard he reply. He always calmed down around her except when he had to ask her out. Most of the time he would forget what he had come to ask her and this time it seemed no different as he stood there talking to her for a while. It was only when Armene interrupted that he realized he missed his chance yet again. He bid goodbye and promised himself he would ask her when they left the library together. Scorpius quickly sat down beside Armene and drew his book close to him. Armene meanwhile started playing with his hair talking of how it had lost its texture and recommending conditioners.

Scorpius during this time looked towards Rose and to his disappointment saw that she was leaving. Scorpius couldn't hide the expression of longing from his face as he looked at Rose who meanwhile was looking at him skeptically. He felt embarrassed for giving himself away in this manner and quickly looked down to read his book. It was only after he had looked down that he realized Rose had just smiled at him, and to his horror realized that he hadn't returned it.

Way to go Scorpius. So much for making an impression, he thought as he heard Rose stomping out of the library.

Scorpius sighed as he watched her bushy brown hair disappear from view. He had lost his chance yet again.

Armene meanwhile had started playing with his collar again and Scorpius was starting to get quite annoyed with her antics.

He turned to look at Armene and spoke with an extremely serious expression.

"Look Armene. I know how you feel about me. But I want you to know that I'm not interested. I'm really sorry but I...I like someone else,"

Armene looked as though she had been slapped on the face. For a moment Scorpius was afraid she might hex him, but then her expression softened a little.

"Who is it?" she asked finally.

"Rose...Rose Weasley," Scorpius answered.

Armene burst out laughing as she said "Nice one Scorpius, nice one," continuing to laugh hysterically.

But on seeing Scorpius's face, she realized he wasn't joking.

"You can't be serious. You like that thing...that thing that just sat in front of us?" she said

Scorpius felt his blood boil as he jumped up, letting his chair fall down in the process.

"You will not refer to Rose as a 'thing' !" he shouted as Armene's smile faltered.

"She is the most beautiful, intelligent, sensible, honest person I've ever met. She may not be attractive by your standards or anybody elses, but to me she is everything and if you ask me a reason, I won't be able to give you one. But I don't need a reason to love Rose Weasley. There..I said it!" he finished.

Armene looked at him with a frightened expression. Feeling slightly guilty for having shouted at her he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that. Its just that..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Madam Pince came crashing down on them like a vulture. After shouting at them for about ten minutes, she asked them to pack and leave. Scorpius gave a slightly apologetic look to Armene, which she clearly didn't respond to. Scorpius knew this was the last time they would be speaking to each other as Armene was famous for her ego and wasn't used to being rejected by boys.

If only I could have said those things in front of Rose he sighed as he packed away his books and quills.

Outside the library a girl was standing in the hallway, clutching her bag to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks as she heard Scorpius Malfoy declaring his love for her.

A/N: Hope you liked it. I was planning on only two chapters. But I couldn't leave their fate hanging on like that. So I've decided to write a third chapter as well to add a finishing touch.

It would be really nice of you if you could leave a review. It would certainly encourage me to write more. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter.