Thank you for the fab comments/favourites/etc! Your support is much appreciated. I'm so glad the first chapter went down well.

Thanks (as always!) to Lisa - my beta/sounding board/long-suffering friend.

"Do you mind if I have this seat?"

"Why would I mind? It's not my seat," Rose answered, making a note of the properties of a Draught of Living Death. "I imagine Madame Pince will have something to say if you turn one of the library chairs into a Malfoy throne, though."

Roxanne sniggered, setting down her quill in anticipation of a Malfoy-Weasley battle. Rose ignored her, hoping that Scorpius would take the hint and leave. She didn't want the distraction today - and she really, really didn't want her library privileges suspended again.

"Sure, Scor," Albus said enthusiastically from Rose's other side. "I don't suppose you'd let me borrow your Defence essay? Rose is hoarding hers."

"You'll never learn otherwise," Rose said absently, unaware that her cousins were mouthing her words as she spoke. "Roxanne, do you know what-"

Roxanne laid a hand on Rose's arm. "Oh, Rosie. I could tell you, but how would you ever learn?"

"The time is?" Rose finished, glaring at her cousin.

"Quarter past twelve," Scorpius supplied helpfully, sliding into the spare seat. "Here, Al, I've got the essay on me. You wouldn't happen to have your Care of Magical Creatures notes on you, would you?"

Roxanne was looking from Scorpius to Albus with narrowed eyes. "You're being weird," she accused. Albus passed his notes across silently, darting a look at Rose. The latter had immersed herself in her work once more, however.

Time progressed as Rose had planned; quietly, until Roxanne left her seat in search of a book. Immediately, or so it seemed, the space was filled by Scorpius. Who had, apparently, taken it upon himself to read her essay over her shoulder. "Are you sure you should be referencing Chalmers there?" he whispered, pointing at her parchment. "I think Professor Tomkins is more partial to Malone's theories of potion making."

"Professor Tomkins is wrong," Rose snapped out, forgetting to lower her voice. Albus shushed her, and she scowled at him, but continued in a softer tone. "I won't compromise my essay for his preferences."

"Well, excuse me for trying to help. Didn't know that you liked getting Es in Potions," Scorpius hissed back.

Rose reeled momentarily - she had received an E for her last Potions essay, but how could Scorpius have known that? "There's nothing wrong with Es," she ground out, doing serious damage to the nib of her quill as she pressed it into the parchment. He was probably right about Malone over Chalmers. How could she change it without conceding the point?

"Whatever you say," Scorpius answered airily. "I really couldn't comment - I'm used to Os myself."

Briefly, Rose envisioned what it would be like to hurl her inkwell at Scorpius. She must have spent too long thinking about the ink splattering over his fair hair; he was giving her a confused look. She felt her face heat up, and returned to her work again. Except now, Chalmers's name was taunting her on the page. Would it be the difference between an O and an E? Maybe she should go to talk to Professor Tomkins, but he was never very receptive to Rose's attempts to discuss additional reading material with him.

"You know I'm right," Scorpius murmured smugly in her ear. She did her best not to squirm, finding his breath ticklish.

Instead, she chose to elbow him in the stomach.

He doubled over, groaning in pain, and at that same moment, Roxanne arrived back, and tipped him out of her seat. Unfortunately, he landed on the floor with a thud, which summoned Madame Pince.

"Right," she said, eyes glittering. "You again. Fighting again. My library is not a duelling club, young Weasleys. The four of you are banned until further notice."

Rose's eyes rounded. "He fell out of his chair!" she exclaimed, pointing at Scorpius. Roxanne's hands (which had been holding the back of said chair) flew behind her back, as though that made the scenario less incriminating. "We were just debating the finer points of-"

"Out," Madame Pince instructed, in a tone that brooked no discussion. "Now."

Dejectedly, Rose picked up her books and began cramming them in her bag. She would have to explain to her mother again how she had managed to get banned from the library again. Fortunately, there was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up, and she could use her time browsing in the bookshop there. Maybe her father would bring some of her mother's books up, so she wouldn't fall behind in her extra reading. Uncle Neville would probably give her written permission to take books out of the library, if she knew the books she wanted ahead of time. He'd done it before, after all.

"Al, I'm sorry," Scorpius said, the moment that the group were outside the library.

That made Rose feel wretched - Albus was only guilty by association. "Oh, Al. Do you want any help with your work? I guess we'll have to set up another study group."

Albus shrugged. "She just wanted an excuse to ban me," he replied, looking unconcerned. "Scor and I were, er, passing the Charms classroom earlier, and it looked pretty empty - we could go in there now."

Rose and Roxanne shared a look. It was obvious that Albus meant the four of them, but neither of the girls wanted Scorpius included.

"Oh, come on," Albus said, guessing the reason behind the girls' hesitation. "You elbowed him in the stomach, tipped him out of his seat-"

"My seat," Roxanne corrected.

"And got him banned from the library indefinitely. Scor, I'm sorry for introducing you to ruffians like these two."

Rose experienced a mild pang of guilt. There might be some truth to Albus's statements. Whatever she thought of Scorpius, there was no excuse for ganging up on him. "I'm sorry, Malfoy."

He grinned at her, and the guilt shrank. In its place came indignation. "That's okay, Weasley. I know you girls find it hard to keep your hands off me."

Unfortunately, Albus held her back, before the thought of slapping him had so much as crossed her mind. Scorpius's grin widened, and she struggled. "Get off me, Albus Severus," she snapped.

"Roxy, Scor, why don't you head on and start studying?" Albus suggested calmly. He did not, to her chagrin, release Rose. The two glanced at her, and then glanced at each other much less enthusiastically, before heading off down the corridor to the Charms classroom. Once they were a fair distance away, Albus relinquished his hold.

She rubbed her arms, though they didn't really hurt. What hurt more was the fact that her cousin had thought her capable of attacking Scorpius - it was hardly her fault if he provoked her!

"Say, Rose," Albus began, collecting both their schoolbags from the floor. She fixed him with a sharp look; Albus was terrible at feigning a casual air. This reeked of - well, something, anyway. There was definitely something rotten in the state of Hogwarts. "What do you think of Scorpius?"

Was this a trick? "I do not have a problem keeping my hands off Malfoy!" she exclaimed.

Albus had trouble hiding his grin. He started ambling away from the library, in the direction Roxanne and Scorpius had gone. "That's not really what I mean. Well, I guess it is. Would you date him?"

Had the world gone mad, or was it just Albus? Rose gaped at him. "Al, I can promise you that I will never date Scorpius Malfoy. He's rude, he's obnoxious, he just got me banned from the library again-"

"Actually, you were the one who got him banned this time," Albus reminded her helpfully. They came to a stop by an alcove, and he leaned against the wall there. "He's clever, you know. Probably almost as clever as you."

Rose made a dismissive noise. "Malfoy is so lazy that it cancels out any brains he might have. I swear I haven't seen him make notes in class for two years. It's a wonder he passed his OWLs. Get to the point, Albus. I think I need to entirely review the argument I put forward in my Potions essay." Okay, okay, that was because of the point Malfoy himself had made. That didn't prove anything.

"Would you date Scorpius if I asked you to?"

Rose raised her eyebrows, the Potions essay driven out of her mind. "Now why would you be asking me to do something like that?"

Albus spouted some absolute nonsense about Scorpius's girlfriend breaking up with him (good for her) and Scorpius wanting to get her back. That, apparently, was where Rose came in.

"The castle is full of gullible girls who might fall for your scheme," Rose said dryly. "It sounds like Scorpius's girlfriend doesn't like you any more than she likes me. Why don't you pretend to be his boyfriend? I'd say it's got as good a chance of working as anything. At least you actually like each other."

"The point is not getting Scorpius's girlfriend back," Albus answered. "I couldn't care less whether she dates him or not. I want you to spend time with him. Don't pull that face, Rosie. I really, really think that if you guys just spent some time together, you'd get along. And then we could all hang out. Please? For me? He's willing. You know, he likes you - if only you'd give him a chance."

Albus's pleading eyes were almost enough to convince her. Almost. But it was Malfoy. "Al," Rose groaned, dragging her cousin's name out. "It's too much. I can't. I can't even sit at the same table as him without something awful happening."

"I didn't want to have to do this, Rose." Albus took in a deep breath. "You know Nana's old wireless."

Rose's eyes went wide. "I have no idea what happened to Nana's wireless," she recited, sounding mechanical.

"Well, I do. And, Rose, if you don't do this for me... I'll have to tell Nana it was you. My conscience is eating away at me." Albus held a hand over his heart.

"I'll bet," Rose muttered sourly. "Will you tell her it was Lily's idea?"

"Lily has no idea what happened to Nana's wireless," Albus said, and winked at Rose.

Oh, great. That was how things were going to go down. "One month. I'll pretend to date your foul friend for up to one month, and my involvement or lack thereof with Nana's old wireless goes with you to your grave," Rose said levelly, pointing at Albus.

"Three months. If necessary," Albus proposed.

"Two. And your grave. I mean it, Potter. You never threaten me with this again."

"Never," Albus promised, slinging an arm around her shoulders, and steering her down the corridor once more. "If we hurry, we've still got a good half hour before lunch. Think of all the help you could give me in that time."

Rose laughed, despite herself. "You're delusional. Delusion Al."

"Very funny, Rosie Dozy," Albus muttered, pushing the door to the classroom open with his free hand. Roxanne and Scorpius were inside in silence, sitting several desks apart. Rose picked the desk next to Roxanne, and pulled out her books.

It was hard to concentrate after that; Albus had driven away any previous inclination to work. Rose abandoned her Potions essay in favour of drawing up a list of rules for Scorpius. If she were going to do this thing, she wanted to do it properly.

It didn't help that Scorpius kept looking at her. She guessed it was because he knew Albus would have spoken to her and he was trying to gauge her reaction, but she really wished he'd keep his eyes on his own work. He was so distracting.

"Rose, what did you write about non-verbal charms?"

"They're useful if you've lost your voice," Rose responded, wondering if 'we only spend an hour together per week' was an unreasonable rule. Maybe she could try for half an hour first, and progress from there. If necessary. Was it enough just to let him tell people they were dating? Surely she could say yes if people asked her, and that could be the end of it. Of course, then they wouldn't be achieving Albus's civility goal, but that was only ever going to be a pipe dream.

"That's all you wrote?" Roxanne asked sceptically. "Well, at least I won't get the worst mark in class."

Rose snapped to attention at that. "Sorry. I was miles away." She caught Scorpius's smirk out of the corner of her eye. Was this really going to be worse than Nana finding out that Rose had been the one to destroy her wireless? She sighed. Yes, because this at least would be over in two months. Or sooner, if Scorpius got back with his girlfriend sooner. Nana would never forget who ruined her wireless, especially because Rose had lied to her about it. Not to mention that she'd have to suffer the disappointment of all the adults, bar Aunt Fleur. Aunt Fleur would probably buy her a new wardrobe. "Non-verbal spells are useful for the element of surprise, but they lack the power of a verbal spell."

"Are all non-verbal spells equally less powerful?" Scorpius asked. "Or does it vary from attack, defence, transfiguration...?"

Rose propped her chin up with her hands, staring at him but not really seeing him. How she wished she could look it up. "Atkinson says the strength of the spell depends on the caster," she responded. "I suppose it would vary according to their aptitude for a certain type of magic."

"I guess wizards are too variable for an actual study, although I'm sure you could work around it somehow," Scorpius mused. He was beginning to look unnerved under Rose's gaze; she shook herself, and returned her eyes to her page. Maybe she could handle an hour a week with him.

At that moment, her book floated off the table. She blinked at it, surprised, and then spied Scorpius with his wand out. Fine. Two could play at that game.

She whipped out her own wand, and Scorpius's desk began shrinking. He'd been leaning an elbow on it, grinning at her, and nearly toppled over as he lost his support. Her book crashed back down, just missing her head. "Malfoy!" she exclaimed, stunned at how close she'd been to death-by-textbook.

"You made me lose my concentration," he snapped back. "That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't shrunk my bloody desk. Engorgio."

"Children, children," Albus said wearily. "Roxy, let's go to lunch before we get caught in the firing line. These two can sort out their differences here." He collected his bag, and handed back Scorpius's Defence essay. "If anybody comes to lunch missing limbs or having turned a funny colour, I'm going to be very unhappy."

"Your desk is bigger than the others," Rose pointed out as her cousins left the room.

Scorpius shrugged. "At least it's fit for more than pixies now." He paused, resuming his previous pose of leaning against the desk, minus the wand. The nonchalant air felt rather more studied now, and she was aware that he was eyeing her carefully. "I take it Al spoke to you?"

Rose toyed with the idea of saying no, and making Scorpius explain it himself. Then, she relented. If she were going to have to get along with him for two months, she might as well start now. "Yes."

"And?"

"And he had sufficient blackmail material on me," Rose answered. "Here. I wrote out a list of rules."

Scorpius took the sheaf of parchment with raised eyebrows. "No touching? Weasley, no one will believe we're dating if I don't touch you."

"Limited touching," Rose conceded, aware that her cheeks were beginning to heat up. She pressed her hand against one, willing it to cool down before he noticed.

"An hour a week together? No discussion of Quid- wait, no kissing? Weasley, have you ever dated anyone?"

"Yes," Rose mumbled, refusing to look at him. She was worried that she would try to punch him if she did, and that would contravene rule #13. This was all Celestina Warbeck's fault.

He took his quill out, dipped it in her inkwell, and hunched over the parchment, blocking her view. After a minute or so, he got to his feet, standing over her as he handed the page back to her.

All her rules had been crossed out.

"Malfoy," she ground out, rising to her feet in indignation.

"They're all stupid, Weasel." He slipped an arm around her shoulders, fingers tightening when she tried to wriggle free. "Here are my rules. You pretend that you actually like me - it shouldn't be hard. We spend time together, mostly in this little study group. We try not to kill each other." He tapped her lightly on the nose. "How does that sound?"

Repulsive, Rose thought. "No open mouth kissing," she said, instead. "No inappropriate touching. No telling people or otherwise insinuating that we're sleeping together - because we're not, and we won't. If you're not back with the girl by the end of two months, I choose how and when to break up with you."

"Two months? That's-"

"The deal," Rose said evenly. "Take it or leave it. Obviously, I'd prefer that you left it." When there was no response, she asked, "Why are you doing this? Surely it would be best to give her some space. If she finds out about this, it's just going to upset her further."

Scorpius shrugged. "She's getting space. If she's not interested, this won't bother her at all. This is simply a nudge in the right direction. I think. I hope."

"You're an idiot," Rose said, with no real heat. "I hope your scheme falls flat on its backside."

He turned to her, and now they were face to face, Rose was very aware of him - the height difference, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement. He leaned over her, and she instinctively grappled for the desk to support herself. Probably, he knew what effect he was having on her, because he laughed. "That's just because you want me all to yourself for two months, Weasel."

"No calling me Weasel," she said hoarsely. Rules, yes, get back to rules, Rose.

Thankfully, Scorpius pulled away from her then. She fumbled for her books, suddenly eager to keep herself occupied. "Whatever you say, my little stoat. Want to hold hands on the way to the Dining Hall?"

If only looks could kill.

He grinned, obviously not having expected a verbal response, and waited whilst she packed up her things. "Hurry up, darling. The first thing you should know about me is that I like my food like I like my women." He winked at her. "Hot."

For a moment, Rose weighted her textbooks in her hand, and then decided she probably shouldn't throw them at him. "You can carry my bag, Malfoy." She silently reversed the spell that lightened her books, and smiled at him as she handed it over. "Let's get this over with."