Disclaimer: I'm not JK, although I aspire to be even a fraction as awesome as her...

Sorry I took a little longer to update this time...

I would just like to say thank you so much to all of you who took the time to tell me what you think, I appreciate it alot; thank you also to those who added this story to their alert lists, it makes me so happy that people are interested in knowing what happens next! And to those of you who added it to your favourites, words fail me...are you sure you didn't press the wrong button? xD I can't believe people enjoy my ramblings so much! THANK YOU! ^^

Anyway...things start to heat up a little in this chapter. Just a teency bit...

If someone had told Rose Weasley this time last year that she would be working with Scorpius Malfoy of her own free will, with not even a sniff of an Imperius to be found, she would have told them to lay off the Doxy eggs. As it was, she sat opposite him, at exactly the same table as the time they had been paired up for Astronomy, doing homework. With Scorpius. Together. Her and him, on their own.

They had found themselves becoming 'Study Buddies' and she wasn't quite sure what to think. She wasn't sure whether she was ready to accept the fact that she had grown to like him; grown to actually like Scorpius Malfoy; and she certainly wasn't sure whether she was ready to forgive him yet for the whole first year debacle. Although she didn't just put up with him as an acquaintance like she had at the beginning of their arrangement; after two and a half months, she now considered him to be something like a friend.

He must have noticed that she had been gawking at him for the past couple of minutes, because he suddenly spoke, still looking down at the essay he was working on, "I know my aura of manliness can be distracting, Weasley, but weren't you moaning ten minutes ago that you needed that homework finished for first thing tomorrow morning?"

Rose smirked at the top of his head, "Sorry, I was just picturing you with a bludger for a face," She shuffled backwards in her chair, trying to wake herself up. The seats in the library should not be so comfy, she thought. Surely they could put some kind of charm on them to keep you from drifting off when you're supposed to be working? Raising her clasped hands above her head, she closed her eyes and yawned as all the muscles in her upper body were stretched out. She made a funny squeaking noise as she changed the direction of her arms, stretching them out in front of her instead and arching her back forwards.

"You look like a small woodland creature coming out of hibernation," came an amused voice from just in front of her hands. She unclasped them and wiggled her fingertips. Opening her eyes, she laughed at how close she'd come to prodding him in the nose. "A small woodland creature with a large orange bush on its head."

"Hey!" This time she did prod him in the nose, squashing the point on the end with her finger.

"Ouch, Weasley, watch the claws!" He rubbed the sore spot gently, looking disgruntled.

Rose rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat. "Don't be so pathetic."

Teasing Rose was Scorpius' favourite pastime, as it never failed to bring that pink tint to her cheeks. He watched her blush lightly now, as he tried to sooth the place where she'd skewered him with a sharp blue nail.

She looked back at her abandoned essay, read through the last couple of paragraphs she had written, and then started rummaging around in her bag.

"What've you lost?" He asked, as she became more frantic.

"I think I've left my copy of Standard Book of Spells next to my bed."

"Rose." He could not believe she was a Ravenclaw sometimes.

"Hmm?" She nearly had her whole head in now, as if that would help her see better.

"Where are you?"

"What?"

"You're in a library, Rose."

She stopped rummaging and slowly withdrew from her battered satchel. She glared at him before standing up and disappearing between two nearby bookcases, off to search for what she needed. Scorpius was delighted to see her entire face had blushed crimson, and he couldn't stop himself chuckling, even when she returned pushing a ladder along its runners and reiterated her evil eye.

He stood up and walked around the table just as she was positioning the ladder. "Which one is it?" He asked her. She pointed up at a green book out of her reach, not even needing to look properly, as she knew this library better than she knew herself. She started to climb, just getting to the third rung when a long arm reached up past her and slid her target off the shelf. "You could have just asked. I can be useful sometimes." He smiled as she muttered angrily under her breath; her knuckles white where she clutched the ladder, her whole body leant against its slope. "What was that?" He cupped his ear.

"I said: You bloody Slytherin smart arse! I ought to have poked your eyes out with my 'claws', never mind your precious snout." She said loudly, so there was no doubt of him hearing her. They both froze as they heard the telltale creak of wood, waiting until it sounded again to signal that the nosy Librarian had leaned back behind her desk. If people could really glare daggers, as the saying went, Scorpius Malfoy would have been a pin cushion right now. Although he seemed to be delighted at the idea, because he hadn't stopped grinning yet.

"Well if that's what I get for helping…" He reached up and replaced the book, watching her scandalised expression as her eyes followed his hand.

"Wai--!" She cried automatically, and he paused with his arm still in the air, eyebrows raised expectantly. She turned her face back again, which he now realised was on his eye-level and closer than he had thought. His Malfoy smirk froze in place. She gave him a forced smile, "Fine, if you're going to be like that, I'll just get it myself after all."

Rose ascended to the next rung carefully, glad of the anti-slip charm as she watched where she put her feet; they were feeling oddly unsteady all of a sudden. Holding on with one hand, she made to grab the book that was now in easy reaching distance. But discovered there was a hand in the way, which she automatically wrapped her fingers round instead. They both snatched their arms back and stared at each other for a few seconds, eyes wide.

"I said I'd do it," said Rose after she managed to swallow her heartbeat.

"Fine, you do it then," said Scorpius, suddenly very serious.

He didn't take his eyes off her face as she reached up once more and dragged the hardback from the shelf. Had he been the only one to feel that jolt? Maybe she was just breathing unevenly due to the surprise of finding skin beneath her hand instead of book binding. He'd liked how it felt, and now he just wanted to reach out and wrap his fingers round her hand. And keep them there.

She climbed down the ladder holding the book. A little careless, he thought; she could have just given the book to him. Then maybe he would have got to touch her again as it passed between them.

She was still rather flustered as she descended. What had just happened? It had felt like a static shock when she's grabbed Scorpius' hand, and then she had just frozen, staring into his blue eyes for what felt like ages. She felt the heat spreading up her neck. She'd never even acknowledged what colour his eyes were before.

As her feet touched carpet again, her right ankle decided not to support her anymore. The reason was presumably that it hated her, because as she stumbled backwards she saw movement in her peripheral vision, and the next moment, her back was pressed up against what felt like a rather warm wall, which let out an "Oof!" as she crashed into it.

Scorpius immediately wrapped an arm around each of her shoulders to stop her from overbalancing sideways, he told himself. The top of her head came to just under his chin, and a few fiery strands of hair had whipped up and stuck to his lips. He licked them reflexively, which meant the hair was then inside his mouth. He could taste her shampoo. This is not very good, was all he could think. She was leaning against him completely for support, so her back was pressed up against his torso. He felt her shoulder blades move against his chest as she lifted her hands to grip the arms around her shoulders; her only support. Also not very good.

"Um, thanks Scorpius…" he heard her speak awkwardly. Her head turned as she tried to see if he'd reacted and he saw the blush creeping across her cheeks, down her neck, and down her collar. Really quite bad.

He immediately let go of her as if her hair really was the fire it reminded him of, and took a couple of steps backwards, one hand going up to mess with his hair. "No problem," his voice came out slightly higher than usual, and he wished he had cleared his throat before saying that. He did so now instead, "Um, did you hurt your ankle or something?"

"Er, yeah, it just decided to give out…"

Rose had to grab the back of the nearest chair when Scorpius let go of her so suddenly. Her face was bright red, she could tell; and it seemed her lungs were finding it unusually taxing to send oxygen to her brain. There was something in the air that was making her feel woozy. It's Scorpius, said a little voice in her head.

"Shut up!" She hissed.

"What?"

"What? Oh nothing…err, right." She sat back down at the desk and made a show of dipping her quill in her ink to write. Until she realised she didn't know what to write unless she looked it up in the book she had just gone to so much trouble to get. She grabbed it quickly and opened it in front of her face.

Ahh, hormones...

I always love to know your thoughts, whatever they are, even if it's just a "Rose's hair sounds nice" or something... xD