A/N: Thanks SO much for the reviews. This chapter is really long so hope it pleases. PLEASE review, its really the only thing that keeps me writing! Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Don't own it!
Rose led Scorpius down to a large tree by the lake which was positioned on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. The tree had oversized, hanging branches that almost touched the ground and made a makeshift shelter against the outside world. The tree's roots had began to surface, leaving a selection of perfectly arched logs to either sit upon or lean against. Rose sat on one of the tree roots while Scorpius gingerly leant against another, not sure where to go from here. Rose let out an exaggerated sigh, and looked through the branches to watch the lake.
"I absolutely love it here." She said, breaking the silence. Scorpius followed her gaze and was blown away by the view.
"I can see why. Do you come here often?" he asked, visibly cringing at his words.
"Not to pick up guys, no." Rose laughed.
"Very funny, you know I didn't mean it like that," Scorpius retorted.
"Sorry, couldn't resist. I do come here quite a bit. No one seems to come this far into the grounds, seeing as though it is so close to the Forbidden Forest. I like to come here and read from time to time, get away from things. Not surprisingly I often come here after my classes with you. It calms me down."
Scorpius rolled his eyes at her jibe but luckily for him, Rose was still looking toward the lake. There was a comfortable silence for a while.
"Did you come here when your Pa died?" Rose had almost forgotten why they had come down here in the first place.
"No, not really. I needed distractions. This is my 'alone' place so I come here when I want to get away from people. When Pa died all I wanted to do was be around others so they could distract me. I think too much here, it would have gotten to me."
Scorpius nodded.
"So, did you ever get over it? Your Pa dying I mean." He asked sombrely. Rose furrowed her brows and finally looked toward Scorpius.
"Well I'm used to it now; it has been over a year. But I'll never be over it. I don't think you can get over someone dying."
Scorpius nodded yet again. When he spoke, his voice was lower than usual.
"So does it still hurt?" Rose smiled at him.
"Yeah, sometimes it does. But you get through it. When he first died, I was mostly sad out of selfishness, you know 'what am I going to do now' and 'I feel really sad for losing him'. Then after a while I was sad for my Nan because she had lost the person she had been with for over 50 years. Then after more time it just feels better and you adjust. I mean there are still times when I go back to being selfishly sad but I find it helps to look at things in perspective. I mean it's not like he died a horrific death like in our parent's time. Imagine living your life in fear all the time." Rose finished wistfully.
"I think the fear my parents felt would have been a bit different from what your parents felt." Scorpius commented rather bitterly.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked. Scorpius looked at her disbelievingly.
"Your parents never shared their stories about the war? The goodies, the baddies?"
Rose looked disgruntled.
"Of course they did. I just don't see what that has to do with how their fear would be different. Fear is fear."
"Yes but your family were in fear because they were –" Scorpius stopped abruptly at the death glare Rose was sending his way.
"If you are going to go on and say that your family's fear was superior to mine then I'm going to have to ask you to piss off." Rose's ears had turned red, a clear warning sign. "And you think I'm the prejudiced one." She added in an undertone.
Scorpius gritted his teeth. Obviously the war was not the topic to remain on civil terms with the red head.
"I wasn't going to say – oh never mind."
"No please, enlighten me!" Rose challenged.
"Look, I don't want to argue with you right now!"
"Why not?"
"Because I just don't – I thought you were supposed to be 'Rose' today, not 'Weasley'." He answered, almost pouting. It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes. She took a big breath to calm herself and chanted in her head 'he just lost his nan, he just lost his nan…"
"Okay, okay, I've calmed down now." She finally said. However, Scorpius remained sceptical as he saw her ears were still glowing red.
"You sure?" he asked, looking at her out the corner of his eye.
"Yes!" Rose shouted back. She clenched her fists to regain her composure. "I promise, I'm calm now. Just, tell me about your Nan or something."
"Grandma," Scorpius corrected.
"Okay, tell me about your Grandma then."
"I don't know what there is to tell you about her really." Scorpius said. Rose noticed his face had fallen a little as he said this. Finally her ears faded back to their normal colour and her sympathy returned.
"Just tell me anything. What did she look like, what was her personality like, how was she to you?"
Seeing Rose finally recover from her 'Weasley' fit, Scorpius was once again comfortable talking to her.
"She was father's mother and seeing as though Grandfather was in Azkaban for most of my life, she lived with us at the manor. I always remember her being really cheerful and she was one of the kindest people I know." Scorpius almost laughed at Rose's expression to this statement. "Yes shocking I know, a death eater's wife being kind."
"I didn't say anything!" Rose defended. Scorpius just laughed.
"You didn't have to. Anyway, as I said, she was always kind, but family always came first to her. She used to drive father mental at times with how protective she could be. Apparently she didn't really approve of mother when they started dating, but mother persevered and eventually gained her respect. There were times when I saw Grandma's disapproval return throughout my life, but she never openly voiced anything. Mother makes father happy so she always just left it alone. It would have also been hard for Grandma to share her house with another woman. Anyway, Grandma was always protective of mother when it mattered most. There was some shady business going on at Gringots one day and mother somehow fell victim to this weird scheme…anyway, Grandma went down there and sorted everything out, screaming that no daughter of hers would be swindled into anything unlawful – kind of a strange statement for a Malfoy to make given our history – and I just remember the look on mother's face was priceless. I think she nearly cried she was that touched. Unfortunately Grandma had a go at mother when they got home, saying something like she was so stupid to get involved in all of that business, even though it clearly wasn't mother's fault. But after yelling at her, Grandma gave her a hug and it was all back to normal."
Rose laughed. "She sounds like a strong personality."
"Yeah. I don't think she was always like that, but when your husband is in prison and you have to protect your family and their reputation, you would have no choice but to grow a backbone." Scorpius paused for a moment.
"She used to help me get away with things at home. She was the one who taught me how to steal the freshly baked biscuits, and how to sneak out of my bedroom if I had been sent there. She was the one I went to for advice. Sometimes her advice wouldn't work out but no matter what she always made me feel better. I was her pride and joy. The first time I ever saw her sad was when Grandfather died a few months back. The roles turned then – I was the one who was giving the advice and trying to cheer her up and she was like the sad teenager."
"That would have been so hard trying to deal with your grandfather's death and having to look after your Nan."
"Grandma." Scorpius corrected. "It wasn't that hard I suppose. I had only ever met grandfather a few times and never really got to know him. I was sad for grandma and father, but I didn't feel that selfish sadness you described. I didn't feel I was allowed to. The stories I've heard from other students about my grandfather back in the war…well it was hard to feel sad for someone like that."
"Just because he was a death eater doesn't mean you can't be sad that you lost him! I mean, he was your grandfather, you're allowed to be sad for yourself!"
"I think you're missing the point. I never really knew him, I couldn't be sad for myself!"
"Well that doesn't mean you couldn't be sad for never getting to know him!" Rose challenged. It seemed she couldn't have a conversation with Scorpius without wanting to disagree with something he said.
"Sorry to break it to you but having to visit your grandfather in prison with dementors making you feel like every woe on the earth is true, really doesn't pave the way for a great relationship. It sounds horrible but I didn't really mind that I never got to know him better. And cool your ears down you're turning back into 'Weasley' again."
"Sorry, Scorpius," was all she said.
"That's okay, Rose." Rose smiled and shook her head at their once again civil banter. They sat in silence for another few minutes.
"Sounds like you'll really miss your Nan then."
"I already miss Grandma. It's helped talking about it though, so thanks."
"You're welcome. So is there going to be a funeral?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"Yeah, next Tuesday." Scorpius ran his hands through his hair as if he was only just realising this fact.
"I know this is going to sound strange coming from me, but did you need someone to go with?"
Scorpius looked at her incredulously. He really couldn't figure this girl out, one minute she was at his throat and the next she was asking if he needed her to accompany him to his Grandma's funeral.
"I thought you said you didn't try to pick up guys under this tree, and yet here you are asking whether I would like you to be my date to my Grandma's funeral. Way to take advantage, Rose!"
Rose's mouth opened and closed silently as if imitating a fish.
"Well, I was just trying to be polite in case you wanted some company."
"No offence Rose, but you yelling at me during my Grandma's funeral may not be entirely appropriate, not to mention the fact that everyone would be shocked that a Weasley was at a Malfoy's funeral."
Rose looked a little put out.
"Well I was only offering."
"It was a nice thought, but I'll have my family there. I'll be fine."
"Good." Replied Rose.
For the rest of the afternoon, Rose and Scorpius sat mostly in silence. Apart from the occasional comment or short conversation, they simply enjoyed each other's presence while getting lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, they realised it would be pertinent to head back to the castle and not to cause suspicion amongst their normally inquisitive school mates, they made sure to leave at separate times. Just before Scorpius left the confines of the tree, Rose called out to him.
"Scorpius?" He turned around, indicating for her to continue.
"You feel you'll need to talk after the funeral on Tuesday?"
Scorpius smiled and looked toward the ground.
"Again, as nice as your proposal is, I think I'll be alright."
Rose nodded, and then walked over to stand in front of Scorpius.
"I'm really sorry for your loss," she said before bringing the boy in for a hug. Scorpius felt a little awkward at first but realised Rose was being genuine and returned the hug. Not for the first time today did Scorpius feel like he was about to cry. Unexpected displays of sympathy always made him well up slightly. Rose was the one to pull away first and both her and Scorpius' arms fell to their sides. Rose searched Scorpius' eyes, noticing that they were somewhat glassier than before.
"So I'll see you round Malfoy?" Rose said deliberately. Scorpius didn't miss the meaning in her words.
"Yeah, you too Weasley." And with that, Scorpius walked back to the castle, pondering the very emotional and strange day he had encountered.
Rose and Scorpius lasted the whole of the weekend without running into each other. This was not unusual however, as they normally did not associate with one another outside class or during random encounters in the library or corridors. Both were surprised that they never received news of an impending detention, for it was obvious that Rose's cover story would only work for as long as it took for Professor Eaves to ask the school nurse about Scorpius' condition. It seemed for now that they had gotten away with it. Come Monday, Rose and her cousin Albus were sitting at the Griffindor table tucking into breakfast.
"Why do we have to have potions on a Monday and a Friday? It is the epitome of cruelty, I mean, Monday you need to get back into the swing of things before doing any difficult work and Friday you want to have an easy day before the weekend. It's so unfair we have to share classes with the Slytherins on both those days."
Rose laughed at Albus' comments while filling her bowl with cereal.
"Suck it up Al, we've had potions with the Slytherins for as long as I can remember. At least you have a decent partner!"
Albus looked at his cousin sympathetically. He knew Rose and Scorpius didn't get along very well.
"Well from what I've heard, you ladies seem to think that Malfoy is a bit of a looker so can't you at least look at the positives?" Al offered. He knew this conversation would rile Rose up. He enjoyed seeing how quickly her ears could change colour.
"You have got to be kidding Al, his personality negates any other positive qualities."
"To be fair Rosie, you don't really bring out the best in him. I've never seen you so aggro at someone and, please don't hit me, but when you're aggro, you're really quite scary."
Al shuffled slightly away from Rose before waiting for her to respond.
"Can you blame me? I'm no different to him than he is to me. We're both on equal ground and we both accept that. Just think of it as a healthy challenge between us both."
"I don't think it can be healthy to raise your heart-rate so high so often Rosie."
Rose rolled her eyes and flicked some dry cereal at her cousin with her spoon. This effectively ended their topic of conversation and they both completed their breakfast whilst talking of trivial things.
Rose never once looked up to catch Scorpius' eye. Scorpius never once looked toward the Griffindor table. They barely had a thought for one another because in their eyes, their Friday afternoon may as well not have happened.
Rose and Scorpius took their usual seats in potions. Rose did have to agree with Albus that it was unfair to have such an involved subject as their first class for the week. Rose glanced at Scorpius.
"Nice to see you're on time today Malfoy." She jibed.
"Well I couldn't leave you to ruin a potion all on your own Weasley. You know you need my expertise in these matters."
"If by expertise you mean a constant irritating presence, then yes, that is exactly what you bring to the table."
"I carry you in this class Weasley, just admit it."
"The only thing I will be admitting is that you are an arrogant pain in my arse."
"Your language is not very lady like. Are you consistently this vulgar or do you save those niceties for yours truly?"
"Oh believe me I tone it down considerably for your juvenile ears. And don't go thinking that I do anything specifically for you."
"Oh if anything Weasley dear, you have only solidified my belief that you keep these behaviours for me and me only."
Rose was about to reply when the professor began addressing the class. After being presented with their instructions, Rose went into study mode.
"Right, you go and collect the ingredients and I'll go get the utensils." She ordered, knowing that a comeback was coming her way.
"Don't tell me what to do Weasley, I know more about potions than you know hair taming spells." He retorted, but left to go to the store cupboard anyway.
"Oh, you take notice of my hair? Didn't know you cared that much Malfoy."
"Don't flatter yourself Weasley, you're hair was far better before you chopped it off. When it was long I could at least see you coming from a distance and avoid you."
Rose bit back a smile. She was glad that their time together the previous week seemed to have changed nothing.
"You're just jealous that you can't change your look. You'll forever be fair, gangly and gruesome."
Nothing had changed. Yet.
As Tuesday approached, Rose spared a quick thought for Scorpius. Tuesdays were normally a Malfoy free day as they had completely separate classes, but today she knew that she would definitely not run into him as he would be leaving school to attend the funeral. Rose was a little worried for the boy, knowing instinctively that he wouldn't have confided to his friends about his loss. She figured he was a man's man and didn't want to seem weak among his friends, which was why he confided in her instead of a more appropriate ally. While Scorpius had said he would be fine, she wanted to make sure. She knew what he was going through and could sympathise. Despite her inward concern, Rose continued her day trying to minimise her thoughts for the absent boy.
Once the evening came around, Rose finally lost her battle against her Scorpius obsessed thoughts. Rose finally couldn't stem the flow of her curiosity and decided she would do something about it. Somehow she had to get Scorpius on his own and once again return to civil discussion in order to determine whether he was alright. Only then could her obsessive thoughts be reduced. Rose descended the stairs to the common room and noticed that Albus was about to leave on his prefect rounds. Rose quickly grabbed her cousin's arm before he was able to exit through the portrait hole.
"Rosie, what do you want, I have to get going on rounds!" Albus exclaimed, rather irritably. He looked at his watch to make sure he wasn't going to be late.
"Sorry Al, but I quickly need to ask a favour."
Albus stared at Rose, expecting her to continue. He looked at his watch again to prompt Rose to be quick.
"Shit sorry, I know you have to go, but could I please see your copy of the prefect's roster?"
"If this is because you are planning something and don't want it to be during my shift, you know I do Tuesday nights…" Al explained.
"No no, nothing like that. I'm just planning to do a bit of an all nighter in the library this week and need to see who is on when. You know, so I don't get caught with the most power hungry patrollers."
This was not a new request for Rose. She had asked Albus this same favour when she was studying for her OWL's. Albus simply sighed and checked his watch again.
"I gotta go Rosie, but you can go up to my dorm and get it. It's in the front compartment of my bag. You might just have to search around a bit until you find my bag though…I'm not sure where I threw it."
Rose hugged her cousin.
"Cheers Al, you're a diamond!" and with that comment she waved goodbye to Albus and took off in the direction of the boy's dormitories.
No matter how many times Rose entered the seventh year boy's dormitory, she never got used to the mess. Unfortunately when they first started at Hogwarts, the sorting hat seemed to select Griffindor boys for their lack of hygiene rather than their courage and determination. Rose made her way over to the bed which she knew to be Albus' and began searching. After flinging some banana peels out of the way and surviving an encounter with a suspicious viscous fluid, Rose finally found Albus' backpack and opened the front compartment. She pulled out the Prefect's roster. It was exactly where Albus said it would be. He may have been as disgusting as the rest of the boys who inhabited his dorm, but he knew exactly where everything was. Rose called it organised chaos.
Rose unfolded the parchment and skimmed the names. She eventually found what she was looking for: Scorpius Malfoy and Holly Green, Thursday evenings 9.00-12.00pm. It was common knowledge that seventh years always got the latest shifts, even though they were in their NEWT year. Rose smiled. Two more days to go and she would find her time to settle her obsession.
As Thursday finally arrived, Rose was almost annoyed that her day was mostly full of free periods. This meant she had to keep herself busy which was difficult as her thoughts would consistently turn to what she had planned for that evening. Somehow she bided her time between the library and her personal thinking space (her lake-side tree) until it was time for dinner. Rose made sure to scan the Slytherin table quickly to make sure that Scorpius was indeed going to be completing his prefect duties, and sure enough, he was there. Rose wolfed down her dinner and then headed up to the Griffindor common room before collecting her books and homework and then heading to the library. She waved Albus goodbye as she exited the common room and he winked at her, figuring she was choosing tonight to pull an all nighter in the library.
Rose set herself up in the library at around eight o'clock, figuring that she could actually take advantage of her time there until curfew when her plan would take place. She sat at her usual desk toward the back of the library and took out her study materials. Rose sat there for two hours until the librarian decided it was time to leave as it was almost 10 o'clock which was the curfew time. Rose packed up her belongings and smiled at the librarian before leaving the library and heading to the fourth floor corridor. By the time she reached her destination, it was 10:05 and officially past curfew. The fourth floor corridor was well known for its empty classrooms and closets which seemed appropriate for couples to cavort. Unfortunately most of the prefects knew this so they always included the fourth floor west corridor in their nightly rounds. Only ignorant couples thought to come here. Rose went up to one of the cupboard doors and opened it swiftly. Predictably, there was a couple embracing very tightly in the small space whilst leaning up against the wall. Rose simply cleared her throat and nodded her head, indicating for them to leave. Neither of the occupants questioned whether she was a prefect as they counted themselves lucky that they did not receive a notice of detention. Rose smiled at the empty space and went into hiding. Unfortunately the girl who had occupied the space before her had a very fruity perfume that lingered in the air. Coughing slightly, Rose cast a super-sensory charm on the door before closing it quietly.
Rose waited for at least half an hour before almost considering giving up. However, just as she was about to exit her hiding space, her super-sensory charm picked up the sounds of footfalls. Rose smiled to herself as she heard the two mumbling voices approach. When she figured they were about 10 metres away, she began to make soft moaning noises. Rose continued with these sounds as she listened in to the prefect's conversation.
"Dammit, Scorpius how come every time we come down here we have to bust up some disgusting couple?" Holly asked, clearly sounding put out.
"Aw come on Hols, it's not that disgusting, you know we've seen pretty much the worst of it in our patrol times." Rose heard Scorpius reply.
"That doesn't mean I want to keep seeing kissing couples, or worse." Scorpius chuckled.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with you breaking up with your boyfriend last week perhaps?"
Rose heard nothing for a moment and then another chuckle from Scorpius.
"It's alright Hols, in a minute you can keep going and I'll meet you at the great hall entrance. I'll take care of this seeing as though your delicate Hufflepuff sensibilities can't handle this at the moment."
"Thanks Scor. Did I ever tell you that you were the best patrol partner ever?"
Rose could almost hear Scorpius smiling.
"You may have mentioned it. Just hang around for a sec in case I need your help."
Rose continued to make her apparent noises of pleasure and saw the light around the door get wider as Scorpius opened it.
"Alright you two are going to have to break it up I'm afr-" Scorpius stopped abruptly as he saw Rose leaning against the wall and smiling widely at him. Scorpius stood staring at her bewildered before prompting himself into action. He closed the door slightly and Rose heard him address his patrol partner.
"I'll handle this Hols, you keep patrolling yeah?"
"Okay, entrance hall it is. See you then," she replied. Once her footsteps had faded, Rose saw the door swing open wider again.
"What the fuck are you doing Weasley?"
Rose just shrugged. "Hanging out in a cupboard. Nice to see you Scorpius."
Scorpius was taken aback slightly by the use of his first name but caught on quickly.
"I can see that Rose but why the fuck are you hanging out in a cupboard and, and making those kinds of noises?" he asked perplexed.
"To catch your attention of course. You were hardly going to go into a cupboard that had no noises coming out of it were you?"
"Why the hell did you want to get caught in the first place you idiot?"
"Meh, I knew you were patrolling and thought it would be a good time to make sure you were doing okay." Rose answered truthfully. Scorpius yet again looked at her bewildered.
"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
'It was your Nan's funeral on Tuesday. Just wanted to make sure you were doing alright."
"Grandma," Scorpius automatically corrected, "and why would you care?"
"You have got to stop questioning why I do things Scorpius, it does get annoying. I only ask that you are grateful. So how are you?"
"I don't know I'm…well I'm fucking weirded out right now. Kind of wasn't expecting this you know. You do realise if Holly had of opened the door instead of me that you would have been screwed?'
"Yes but I knew that being the gentleman you are that you would offer to check this situation out first."
"What so now I'm a gentleman?' Scorpius asked almost amused.
"You call your parents 'mother' and 'father', of course you're a gentleman. So you haven't answered my question. How was the funeral, and how are you?"
Scorpius paused for a moment and leant against the other wall, putting his wand away and running his hand through his hair.
"I'm…well the funeral was a bit sombre but that was expected. Came back Tuesday night and didn't really do anything. But I'm slowly getting there. It was good to say goodbye." He watched as Rose nodded, showing she understood. He then continued.
"What I'm not okay with is you hiding out making moaning noises trying to get my attention!"
"What, got jealous did you?"
"Jealous of a guy with you Rose? Please, give me some credit." He replied with an incredulous intonation.
"Well I'm glad you're okay then." Rose replied.
"Ah yeah, me too."
There was a pause as both students looked around the cupboard. It seemed to be much longer than it was wide.
"Do you really not like my haircut?" Rose asked seriously.
"Um, excuse me?"
"The other day, you said you liked my hair better before. Do you really not like it now?"
"Ah yeah, sorry but I tend to like longer hair on girls?" Scorpius replied with a rising intonation, as if not sure why he was answering her.
"Oh, okay," was all Rose replied. There was another pause.
"It's not that I hate your hair, it's just that I like longer hair."
"That's okay, I just wanted your opinion."
"Right so, we're cool?"
"Yeah, sure!" Rose replied cheerfully. She wasn't quite sure why she had brought up the hair issue, she just wanted to know.
"Um so, I have to get back to rounds. Holly will be a bit suspicious if I don't meet up with her soon. We're heading toward the great hall so just don't go toward the kitchens or anything and you won't get caught."
"Cheers for that."
"Yeah, see ya," Scorpius replied as he opened the door again.
"Scorpius, I'm glad you're going okay." Rose said before Scorpius could leave. Scorpius laughed slightly and shook his head.
"Yeah so am I. See you round Weasley."
"Sure thing Malfoy."
And with that, they once again went back to normal.
Once again, Rose and Scorpius went back to being on their usual terms. This meant no acknowledgement of each other outside their shared classes, consistent insults and their usual banter. Still no-one had suspected the two of any civil interactions. Originally Rose had thought that her cupboard escapade would be a one time event, but as the next Thursday rolled around, Rose found herself once again hiding out, making some very interesting sounds.
"Sounds like the same people as last week. Don't they learn?" Rose heard Holly say. Rose could almost imagine Scorpius shaking his head.
"Clearly they don't," she heard Scorpius' voice reply, almost as if it was directed straight at the door she was behind.
"Scorp, you want me to-"
"It's okay Hols, I can handle it again. Meet you in the same place."
Once Holly's footfalls became faint and distant, Scorpius opened the door and stared once again at Rose.
"Sounded like you were having slightly more fun this week Rose," he commented.
"I gotta entertain myself in here somehow," she replied, not understanding or reacting to the innuendo in her sentence. Scorpius had to shake his head to deter some rather scandalous thoughts before continuing.
"So what is it this week Rose? Still checking up on me or are you worried that when I insulted your freckles in potions the other day that I was serious?"
"A little from column A, a little from column B. Just thought I would pop by."
"This is hardly popping by Rose, you are quite frankly disturbing my rounds. And these cupboards are usually full of students making out, how the hell did you find one that was empty."
"Oh it wasn't empty,' she replied with a grin.
"So you kicked out an innocent young couple just so you could hide in here and make sexy noises?"
"Pretty much. Desperate times, desperate measures and all that. You think my noises were sexy?"
"Don't flatter yourself Rose, they sounded fake as anything. Intriguing yes, realistic? No."
"Pfft, like you'd know!" Rose retorted keeping a serious face.
"I'll have you know – " Scorpius was cut off by Rose bursting into laughter.
"Oh it's so great to actually torment you and laugh about it."
"That was hardly fair!"
"Oh I think it was! So what's been happening Scorpius?"
"You know, putting up with you in class, homework, prefect duties and that. You?"
"You know, putting up with you in class, homework and hiding out in closets."
"Touche. Seriously Rose, why did you come here?"
"I don't know, I was just on my way back from the library and realised it was your patrol night. I found that after last week, morphing from 'Weasley' to 'Rose' wasn't as hard as it seemed."
"Did you ever think to morph during potions? It would make the whole class go much smoother."
"Yeah but then everyone would know that we had exchanged civil words. I don't think anyone would be happy with that."
Scorpius laughed. "I suppose you're right. But you do realise you slide right back into 'Weasley' mode pretty quickly during these interactions?"
"I do not!" Rose shouted. Scorpius just raised an eyebrow and flicked her increasingly red ear.
"Oh wipe that smug look off your face you wanker," she huffed, slapping his hand away from her ear."
"Well, as long as Weasley is back, I'm gonna go. Meeting Holly and all that you know."
"Yeah okay. See you Malfoy."
"You too Weasley."
Next Thursday, Scorpius didn't even take notice of the sounds coming out of the fourth floor cupboard door and simply gestured for Holly to continue patrolling without him. He was beginning to wonder whether Holly found this routine a bit suspicious but he didn't think of it for long as he opened the door to greet his sometimes acquaintance.
"Rose."
"Scorpius."
This routine continued for six weeks. Rose would study in the library until it was curfew time and then detour to the fourth floor corridor. After week four the couple that usually occupied the cupboard had learnt that this was now Rose's turf. Rose would hide out until she heard Scorpius and Holly coming down the corridor and Scorpius would wave Holly on and meet Rose. For 10 minutes each Thursday, Rose and Scorpius would enjoy a civil conversation. Sometimes they would talk about school. Other times they would talk about their insults during potions. On occasion they would slip up and resort to their 'enemy' personas and leave each other in a huff. Whatever happened in the cupboard, stayed in the cupboard. It was their unspoken rule. Once outside the realms of the cupboard, they would go back to being Malfoy and Weasley. Not once did one attempt to glance at the other. Not once did they attempt to change their interactions in public. To the outside world, nothing had changed. As far as Rose and Scorpius were concerned, nothing had changed. That was until week seven.
Rose waited in her usual cupboard on Thursday, eagerly awaiting Scorpius' arrival. She had heard some gossip throughout the week from some of the Hufflepuffs involving Scorpius and his so called Thursday night hook-ups. The rumour stated that Scorpius had busted a couple making out over a month ago, but that he had apparently broken this couple up and continued to meet up with the girl on the fourth floor each time he had rounds. Some people told the story and explained that he was a genius. Others had told the story and sounded rather jealous. Then there were the rest of the people who were simply disgusted that Scorpius would abuse his privileges as prefect in order to make out with his secret girlfriend. It was only prefects who thought this. Rose was so amused by this rumour that she couldn't wait to tell Scorpius. She waited in the cupboard for half an hour as usual. Then an hour went by. Then two. Rose realised with a huff that Scorpius wasn't coming at all tonight and decided to leave her hiding place. On the way back to the common room, she pondered why he mightn't have shown. Maybe he had heard the rumours and stayed away so Holly wouldn't fuel more rumours. Perhaps he wasn't on patrol tonight. Perhaps he had simply grown bored of their short interactions. Rose tried not to let it bother her as she eventually made it to her own bed. She slept badly that night.
The next week went on as usual. Rose and Scorpius had potions together yet again. The class was filled with the usual insults to one another and competition that defined their relationship. For the first time, Rose wanted to break character and ask him why he didn't meet her the previous week. She fought the urge and instead settled for waiting until Thursday night.
Thursday night came and went again without any visit from Scorpius. Rose decided that maybe it was time to take a hint. There would be no more friendship as 'Rose' and 'Scorpius' that much was clear. Once again, Rose attended potions class on the Friday and sat with her partner. She called him ignorant for almost adding an incorrect ingredient to their potion. He called her an ungrateful wench for yelling at him when he had saved her from a flying beaker that was accidentally sent their way by another student. They left class not talking to one another, as usual.
By Sunday, Rose found that she needed some alone time. She had spent all day Saturday watching her cousin play Quidditch and then celebrating Griffindor's victory. She didn't tell her cousin that throughout the whole game she was actually reading a classic novel and only cheering when the people around her began to clap. After spending a whole day and night with a large group of excited Griffindors, Rose figured it was time to retreat to her tree again. She quickly scooped up the novel that she was reading the previous day from the breakfast table and headed out the great hall doors while shovelling some toast into her mouth. She didn't notice the eyes of someone at the Slytherin table follow her out the door. After a lazy five minute walk, she reached her tree and sat down on one of the protruding roots. She quickly admired the view of the lake and was about to open her book when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a tall figure approaching her tree. It was very rare for anyone to venture this far into the grounds, so one quick glance at the figure indicated that Scorpius was heading her way. In a huff, Rose violently shut her book and then threw it on the ground. She may have loved reading but Rose was never one to show obvious respect to her books. She liked the 'worn' look of second hand books. As Scorpius quickly approached, she went into battle stance. Ears red, arms crossed over her chest and mouth ready to spout any insult that would come to her mind. Scorpius entered the shade of Rose's tree and Rose took a deep breath, ready to berate him.
"Malfoy you've got some-"
But her words were cut short abruptly. Scorpius had not stopped his strides before he reached Rose. Instead he had kept going and rather hastily grabbed her around the waist and held her tightly against his body. He cut Rose's speech off mid sentence by pressing his lips against hers. He held Rose's top lip between both of his but hardly moved as he stood there. Eventually he eased the pressure slightly and went in for another kiss. Rose hadn't reacted throughout this whole ordeal. She stood there; arms slightly bend and not quite touching his shoulders, while her lips remained open slightly. Scorpius finally pulled his mouth away from hers and looked Rose straight into her eyes. His brow furrowed severely as his eyes flicked between hers which were still wide. Scorpius let go of her waist forcefully and almost pushed her backwards. He ran a hand through his hair, then swore.
"Fuck it!" He yelled and kicked one of the tree roots at the same time as punching the trunk.
He turned a murderous glare toward Rose and then stormed off. Rose finally found her voice as he was about 100 metres away.
"Malfoy! MALFOY!" she yelled. The Malfoy in question did not turn around. Rose took an unbelieving glance at her surroundings.
"What the fuck just happened?" she said to herself.
A/N: Please please please review. Also, you ask the questions, I shall answer said questions! Cheers