A/N: Aha clearly I do have NO patience, as here is chapter 4...LOL

So there are an amount of AVPM reference in here...if you can count them all, I will give you a virtual prize :)

Feel free to review! Oh and this chappie is so much better than last...and the little exerpt I gave you last time? Had to edit out a bit to make it fit...oh well! Here we go!

A Fine Line

Chapter 4

"Hey! James!" I could see my cousin up further ahead, but he was completely engrossed in something Lysander was saying. "Oi! Pighead!" He looked then, confusion etched on his face.

I actually had to stop I was laughing so hard.

When I finally was able to approach them, I spluttered out, "C'can't believe you l'looked!" grinning as he smacked my arm. "Ow!"

"Sorry, now what did you want Thorns?" I smirked at the old nickname.

"Need to talk to you," looking at Lysander, I said, "In private."

James looked at Lysander, "You heard her, scram!" he said, grinning at the boy like an idiot.

"Aye aye Captain!" Lysander said, saluting before backing away.

James and I shook our heads at the oddity before I turned to him.

"OK, long story short; Hogsmeade trip this weekend. You know it, everyone knows it," he nodded, "Everyone has a date to the trip. Even Albus and Lily do. You and only one other person are dateless. And she just happens to be female."

James stared in shock, "Even Lily? And Lorc the Dork?" I nodded.

"In fact, Lorcan is my date," I grinned widely.

James eyes widened. "Didn't know you fancied him, eh Thorns?" he asked playfully.

"No, I pitied the poor boy since Lysander had a date and he didn't, so I offered to be his. Plus it solves the problem of me being dateless. Two birds, one stone."

James groaned. "So who is it? And please tell me we're not related…"

"Well you happen to be lucky, it's Alice." Smirking I watched as his face turned bright red with an inescapable Weasley blush. Good to know his mom's genes are in there somewhere.

"Er, and what gives you the impression she'd want to go with me? And vice versa…"

"James. OK, fess up. EVERYONE knows you like her. And judging from the way she looks at you, she reciprocates those feelings. Just ask her out! …or…"

"Or what?" he cut in quickly.

"We-ell…I've already managed to set Frank and Roxanne up. I could do the same for you. But you're a closer cousin than Roxanne. So I'll require a fee." I smirked.

"What Rose?" he said glumly.

"I require new quills. On Saturday you will buy me whatever ones I want, OK?" I said, knowing how much he hated Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. He groaned again.

"Fine. But only if she says yes…"

"Oh, don't worry, she will." My eyes glittered with mirth as I left him to return to Lysander.

Three down, one to go. This shouldn't be too hard. Alice was a pushover sometimes. Especially when it came to James.

Turning, I ran to the Great Hall, knowing for a fact she had a free period as well, as she didn't get a high enough mark in Potions to take the NEWT level class. Good thing she wanted to work for Auntie Luna and the Quibbler.

Sure enough, Alice sat playing a game of Wizard's Chess with a sixth year at the Gryffindor table.

Sitting besides her, I watched impressed as her Queen moved to E5, and she stated clearly, "Check mate."

The little King took his crown off and laid it on the board, defeated.

"Aw man!" cried the sixth year.

"Better luck next time Clearwater. Maybe you should practise some more," she grinned as he got up and left. "Oh, hi Rose!"

"Hey Alice! Look, I did something awesome, and you're going to love me for it!"

She looked wary, but waited for me to continue nonetheless.

"I got you a date with James this Saturday!"

Alice was in shock, that was clear. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates and her jaw had dropped a good few inches.

"No way…" she said quietly. "How'd you do that?"

"Just told him everyone knows he fancies you, and you were the only two without dates," I grinned, knowing what was coming.

"He fancies me? How can you be sure?" she asked timidly.

"Cause of the way he looks at you. And how he talks about you nonstop when you're not around. And he's always 'Alice this' and 'Alice that'. It's cute really. Although Albus finds it quite annoying now…"

Alice's face was practically beaming.

"And you won't be alone, so no need to be nervous. I mean we'll all be there. Well, me and Hugo got to leave around three, but other than that, we'll all be there!"

She grinned, and nodded.

"Good, I'll tell James the good news! See you Alice!"

I ran off, knowing full well class started in ten minutes, and I had Potions first.

xxxx

Running to the Gryffindor table at lunch, I was glad to see only the twins, Fred, Albus, Lily, Molly and Lucy were there.

"Guuuys! Guess what?" I said, sitting down rather clumsily, but I ignored that fact.

No one turned their heads. I huffed. This was going to be hard, they were focused on whatever it was they were talking about.

"Guuuuuys!?" I questioned. Hoping to get someone's attention. "You'll never guess what I did!" I said, referring to my totally awesome matchmaking skills.

"Albuuuus! They won't listen! They're all meanies..." I huffed.

"What is it this time Rose?" he asked, seemingly annoyed.

"See, even you didn't listen..." I pouted. I hated being ignored. "You're such a twat!"

"Well at least I'm not a sissy like you!" he said, sticking his tongue out childishly.

"You bumble...at least I have a reason...I AM a girl," I rolled my eyes.

"Will you two SHUT UP!" Lily boomed.

Albus and I stared at her wide eyed, "No!" we replied in unison. Heh.

"Now that I have two people's attention, guess what I did?" I said in a sing-song voice.

"What did you do now Rose?" Albus asked, as if I'd done something wrong.

I grinned ear to ear. "Why I managed to set up not only James and Alice on a date, but Roxanne and Frank, too."

This seemed to get everyone's attention.

"Seriously?" Fred asked incredulously.

"Yes silly. Now that we all have dates for Saturday, we can all be happy." Lorcan's face dropped then and I looked at him curiously, but all he did was mouth After to me.

I managed to eat a fair bit of lunch (What? I was hungry!) before up and dragging Lorcan out of the Great Hall, demanding an explanation for his non-happy manor.

"Er well. You see. I didn't think you'd mind, since it's obvious you don't fancy me and all, and well I've kind of liked her for a while, and she asked me and…"

I held my hand up to shut him up. "Say no more lover boy, I understand. I don't care, go ahead! Who is it anyways?"

"Bella Greengrass…" he said quietly.

"Oh, Scorpius' cousin right? She's nice, hope you have fun!" I said, before stalking off.

OK, so what if I lied. Of course I cared. Now I was the only one in our group going alone. I pouted.

"What's wrong? Dumped again Weasley?" I heard a sneer from the other side of the hallway. Great, could the earth just swallow me up whole please?

"For your information, we hadn't even been dating. He was just my escort. And nothing's wrong…" I glared. I hated when he poked into my personal life like this.

Geez, Scorpius and I really had an up-and-down relationship going on. Wait. Relationship? More like acquaintance-ship. That's better. One minute we could be eating at each other's throats. Next we could be simple. I'll file this conversation under the former title.

"Nothing, eh? That why you look like your puppy just died?" he leered.

"No. I just don't like thinking I'm going to be the only one alone, that's all," I sighed. This was going no where, and fast.

"Haha lonely loser Weasley."

I had my wand out in seconds, as did he, ready to protect himself.

"For your information Malfoy, I am not lonely, nor am I a loser. It just means now I'm free to do what I want on Saturday."

"Oh like shoving your nose in another book? You know, for being so smart, you can be such a dumbass sometimes," he smirked.

I was fuming, but I would not let my temper get to me. "Malfoy, sod off." I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not a dumbass, I know how to have fun. So what if that means reading?"

"Because that makes you all alone. No one could like you anyways. You're thorns keep them away. And why be friends with you anyways. Bet you've only got friends cause you're related to James and Albus. The famous Potter boys, heh."

I felt tears spring to my eyes. That wasn't true. … was it? I swiped at my eyes furiously with my sleeve. "That's – that's not true…" I said quietly.

"See, even you know it is. Why else would you be crying mudblood?"

My spine stiffened. He had not just used the 'm-word' on me. Flicking my wand, I cast a quick Levicorpus and watched as he flipped upside-down by his ankle.

"You ever say that about me again, I can do worse…" my teeth were chattering because of how upset I was.

"I know spells that would make even your skin crawl Weasley," he sneered again. "Like Sectum – "

Malfoy would have continued, had it not been for Professor Longbottom arriving at that particular moment.

"What the devil is going on here? Rose, explain yourself!" he said, appalled.

"He – he…" I looked at him. Using the 'm-word' was a serious offence. I wasn't about to get him in THAT much trouble. "He made fun of me professor. My date for Hogsmeade decided to cancel on me. And he also insulted my intelligence…"

Malfoy was looking at me as if he dared me to go on. But I shut up.

"Ten points from Gryffindor Rose. You know better. And detention, Greenhouses, Friday at eight in the evening. You as well Mr. Malfoy," he said, before stalking off after making sure Rose had returned Scorpius to the ground.

"You could have told him Weasley. Surprised you never, considering how much trouble I could get in…"

"I don't stoop that low," she said, before letting one of her pent up tears fall and tearing off for Gryffindor Tower.

xxxx

That night I cried myself to sleep. I had only been called a mudblood once before. And it was on the train in first year. However it was Malfoy himself who had come to her rescue, saying 'No one deserves to be looked at by their blood-status' before bumbling off.

Dominique being in my room, tried to get me to tell her what happened, but I simply shrugged her off before closing the curtains around my four-poster. I really did not want anyone in my family to know what Scorpius had said, they would rip his head off.

Grabbing a book off my nightstand, I curled into bed and began to read. Smiling at the book I had chosen, I realized I would need my Ancient Runes book, just in case.

Her mother had given her the copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard when she had come to Hogwarts, telling her the story about how it helped them defeat Voldemort thanks to Professor Dumbledore and Xenophilius Lovegood.

It took me until well into the night to even translate the fourth story, but I was glad I had. The first three I had already completed, but I'd never gotten around to finishing it. The tale of Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump sat before me, and I had to laugh. My parents had told me this story when I was younger. Mum of course, reading straight from the book, but dad telling me from memory. Needless to say, both stories of the King trying to obtain magic were completely different, yet both carried the same ideas.

Turning, I looked at the clock on the bedside table. Three? Yes time for bed.

I turned back over and pulled my duvet over my ears. It had gotten chilly. It took a while before I fell asleep, but I let myself fall into a restless slumber and thinking of the words of Scorpius Malfoy.

xxxx

"Rose. You look like you were hit with a bludger. Go get a pepper-up potion or something."

I yawned. "Thanks Lily, but I'm fine. I just – I couldn't sleep." I glanced over to the Slytherin table, and sure enough, there was Malfoy himself, sneering at me.

"What did he do this time Rose?" Lily asked, following my gaze. I told her. Even the 'm-word' part. Lily wouldn't tell anyone. I trusted her.

"Bastard. Don't worry Rose, we'll get him back," Lily said through gritted teeth when Rose had finished.

"No Lily, I just want to pretend it never happened." Rubbing my eyes, I ate some toast.

"Hey Lily, Haggard." Albus plopped beside us. I glared at him.

"Leave her alone Al," Lily snapped. Albus looked at her curiously, but shrugged it off.

"Anyways, Rose they're holding Quidditch try-outs next week. Not sure why, we all know who's going to make the team. Same as always," he smirked.

I glared, "You know Albus, maybe it's time we gave others a chance. I mean our whole damn team is practically family."

Albus looked at me like I was bonkers, "And what's wrong with that?"

"Ever think their might be people better? Have you ever seen Alice on a broom? She's wicked fast…bet she'd make a great chaser! Or Carl Blackwood in fifth year? Ever see him practising his beater skills? He can aim better than anyone I'd ever seen!"

I know I was overreacting, but Albus had hit a nerve this morning.

"Fine fine, but I still say it will be the same!"

"I'm encouraging everyone I can to try out this year. No unfair family business. And I'm making sure someone un-biased helps James. Perhaps a Professor."

I could hear James groan as he came up behind me. "Sadly I have to agree with her bro, she has a point. You helped me last year, and it was very biased."

I grinned. Sometimes I loved James. "Oi, James. By the way, Alice said yes."

His grin matched mine, and was even bigger if possible. "I'll be looking forward to my new quills." His grin seemed to falter slightly. Heh.

xxxx

The rest of the week passed without almost any hitches. I ran into Scorpius only twice since the incident, but I would turn and walk back the way I came. I would not be near him alone, except when it came to our detention tonight. I refused to.

Professor Longbottom was going to have us re-pot all the Screechsnap plants for the fifth-years. As well as pruning the Flutterby bushes. It was simple really, but would take a long time to do. They probably wouldn't finish until well after curfew.

Grabbing my dragon-hide gloves and anything else I would need for detention, I hugged my robe tighter around my body and made my way out to Greenhouse Four.

Scorpius had yet to arrive, so Professor Longbottom set me up with the Flutterby bush first, handing me a pair of pruning shears. Luckily the bushes were still young, and there weren't many of them. Perhaps it wouldn't take as long as she thought.

Just as she began pruning the first bush, Scorpius waltzed in, with an apology for being late to the Professor, saying he had been held up by Professor Flitwick. Professor Longbottom nodded, and pointed him over to me, giving him some pruning shears as well. Scorpius seemed reluctant, but made his way over nonetheless.

"Hello Weasley," he said.

"Malfoy," was all I responded with.

"I noticed you've been avoiding me. My words hurt you then?"

"No," I snapped. "I just can't stand seeing your revolting face anymore.

Snipping at the leaves, I continued my pruning in silence. He started his work, grabbing a second pot and beginning to prune.

We got through every Flutterby bush in the same manor. It was nearing nine thirty, and we had yet to begin on the Screechsnap.

Luckily I remembered from the year before that the pot must be perfectly filled three quarters with dragon manure, otherwise they would wriggle and screech loudly.

Measuring out the amount of soil, she placed it into the pot before grasping the plant near its roots and hauling it out of its original pot. It seemed to wriggle for a moment before going still. Instinctively, she quickly placed it into the second pot, and covered its roots with the manure. It sighed contently before becoming still.

Malfoy was gawking at me. "How'd you do that? When we re-potted these last year, mine screeched like a banshee!"

"It's all about patience and the right amount of manure. Three quarters of the pot," I replied in a bored tone.

He tried to copy my manner, but the plant wailed until I had successfully covered it in the right amount of soil Malfoy stared at me with what appeared to be awe.

"I always hated Herbology," he said. I grinned.

Looks like we were doing OK, for now. But I was not letting him off that easily.

It was well after eleven before we finished, and Professor Longbottom came to check our work.

"Well done, well done!" he said, eyeing the plants. "Now I trust you two to get back to your dorms without killing each other. The Professors on duty know you had detention, so no need to avoid them. Off you go!" he said, waving good bye.

Pulling off the dragon hide gloves, I shoved them in my rucksack. Malfoy did the same, and we left.

The air was cold, so I wrapped myself up tighter. Suddenly something green was shoved in my face. A scarf.

"Here, it's cold. And if I remember correctly, you look good in green," he winked.

I blushed before wrapping it tightly around my neck. It was warm, so I assumed there was a warming charm on it. I sighed, happy to have some warmth.

"Look, Malfoy – "

"Look Weasley – "

We looked at each other before snickering. I told him to go first.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have called you a m- … well you know what I called you. It was very rude of me. And I had no right to call you it anyways, I mean you come from Weasley's too, that's pureblood there. It's just I was not having a good day, and you were the first person I saw, and I lashed out…"

"Malfoy, it's OK. I know you didn't mean it. Remember first year? What you said on the train? I knew you still believed in that. It just hurt a little…" I said, swiping another tear from my eye. I was not going to cry now.

"Is there any way I can make it up to you? Honeydukes? Saturday? Me and you? I'll buy you whatever you want…" he goaded.

Grinning, I nodded, "Sounds good to me."

We departed ways then, him heading down the stairs to the Dungeons, and me making my way up to the seventh floor.

A/N: So how many did you count? It's less than ten, I'll tell you that!

I don't like writing fighting scenes, but I think mine turned out good...next chappie will be the Hogsmeade trip of course, so we'll see mommy Hermione :D

Anyways, that's all I got to say, so here's a little exerpt:

"They tortured you?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't believe it. I was positively fuming.

"Yes Rose, but the past is the past, and that's no reason to get angry. You can hardly even blame the Malfoy's, just because it was there house. They did no harm to me. Only Bellatrix Lestrange did. And if anything, Scorpius' grandmother saved Harry. She told Voldemort he was dead. She lied to Lord Voldemort to protect him and her son. Sure Lucius and Draco did a lot of nasty things, but what Narcissa did made up for it all. Draco couldn't even kill Dumbledore in the end. Not because he was a coward, but because he knew it was wrong. Please don't judge Scorpius because of this..."

I looked at my mum, she had a point. He didn't blame me for anything in the past, and I had no right to do so in return.

"Mum...I just don't understand him. One minute he can be one of the nicest people I know. And the next, he's calling me a ... a mudblood. But he told me after he didn't mean it. But why would he even bother in the first place? I just don't understand..."

Hermione sighed. Her daughter was experiencing similar things to what she had in school, and she was proud to see her growing up.

"Rose dear, you'll find out soon enough. You know your father and I. He used to make fun of S.P.E.W. so much, it hurt almost as much as being called a mudblood sometimes. But he was doing it to get my attention," Hermione smiled, hoping Rose would catch on.

"There is NO WAY Malfoy likes me mum, trust me. Told me so himself in fifth year ... never could think of me as more than a friend, and we're barely even friends!" I groaned. She couldn't be right, could she?

Who knows? Moms can be right sometimes...Or not... :D

Keep checking back for chapter 5!