Author's Note: I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I have multiple reasons, (such as school and stressful things like essays that actually count towards my final mark) but still, I apologise! I am working on the whole balancing-my-life thing, so hopefully when I get off the holiday I'm on right now I will be able to keep up the updating! But I am back now, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.
On Monday, Scorpius went to breakfast early, dragging a grumbling Theo with him.
"Why? Why would you make me walk at this ungodly hour? You're a terrible friend..."
"Oh, shut up. It's eight o'clock!"
"Eight? Seriously? You're making me eat breakfast at eight in the morning? What is wrong with you?"
Scorpius didn't reply, letting Theo rave on about how he never ate before twenty past. He wanted to see Rose that morning; he was going crazy not knowing what had happened with Felix. He was almost certain she had been planning to break up with him. Aly had hinted as much to him, but he wasn't sure if he had interpreted her correctly. He pushed Theo through the doors of the Great Hall first, then followed, scanning the Gryffindor table. Rose wasn't there yet. He made Theo sit with him on the opposite side of the table than they usually did - the side facing the Gryffindor table. He snuck glances at it over his scrambled eggs, waiting for her.
"Scorp. Scorp! You're not listening to me, are you?"
"What? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"
"I was just saying that I've figured out why you dragged me out of bed inhumanely early."
"Mmmm?" Scorpius resisted the urge to look at the other table again.
"You want to know if Rose has broken up with her boyfriend."
Scorpius choked a little on the pumpkin juice he had been swallowing. "What?"
"Aly told me what she told you. Ray and I are her friends too, you know. But I still don't know why you had to bring me with you for you to drool over her."
It's not like there was any use in denying it if Aly had spoken to him. "I can't sit here alone. It would look weird."
"Is that all I'm good for? Making you not look like a lonely sod?"
"Would you just stop it now? You've thoroughly embarrassed me, so you've achieved your aim. There's nothing wrong with wanting to know if she's broken up with him."
"You should start paying attention now if you want to know."
Scorpius looked up and saw Rose sitting among her fellow Gryffindors, buttering a piece of toast. Felix wasn't with her, but he wasn't anywhere else in the Great Hall, so that didn't tell him much. Scorpius looked to Rose's right and saw Alatheia smirking at him. When he looked at her, she stuck her tongue out. He rolled his eyes in reply. He realised Rose had become aware of this exchange and was looking at him. He met her eyes and tried to think what to do with his face.
"Smile at her," Theo whispered out of the corner of his mouth. It was at times like this that Scorpius was thankful his friends knew him so well. He gave Rose a tentative smile across the hall. She smiled in return, looking a little confused, but she was stopped from communicating any more with him by the arrival of The Boyfriend. Scorpius tried not to scowl as he watched Felix lean over Rose, his arm around her back as his hand rested on the table beside hers. He whispered something in her ear. Scorpius saw Alatheia roll her eyes. Rose didn't look particularly happy. She turned to Felix and said something Scorpius had not a hope of hearing, stood up and led a frowning Felix out of the hall.
"What do you think that means?" He turned to face Theo once the pair had left the hall.
"Ask your cousin."
Scorpius hadn't thought of that. He looked at Aly again, catching her eye and beckoning to her. She shook her head, smirking again. He rolled his eyes dramatically.
"I'll see you in Charms, okay?"
Theo looked up at him. "Do I even need to tell you how obvious it is that-?"
"No, actually."
Theo grinned and patted him on the back. "Fine, see you later."
Scorpius nodded and left their table, sitting down again next to his cousin.
"Oh, hello, Scorpius, fancy seeing you here."
"What did she say to him?"
"You could at least say good morning."
"Aly, please, just be nice to me. I feel stupid enough as it is."
She grinned at him. She leaned closer and whispered, "Why? Because you're falling for my gorgeous best friend who also happens to be your arch nemesis?"
"Yes, now can just tell me what she said?"
"So you admit it?"
"Aly, seriously..."
"Alright, alright. He came over and started talking about how he'd been thinking about her or whatever. He said something about hexing your balls off, I think." She flashed him another grin. "Then Rose just said they needed to talk and they left. He didn't look too happy. When your girlfriend says you need to talk, it generally doesn't end well."
Scorpius had shifted closer to her as she spoke. Their heads were very close together. "So you think she's going to break up with him?" He spoke quietly, glancing around to make sure no-one was listening in.
"She might do. She generally plans to do things and ends up chickening out. She's quite a terrible Gryffindor, really. At least, she is when there are boys involved." Alatheia gave him a pointed look. "So, how are your Malfoy charms working on her?"
Scorpius looked away, his cheeks flushing a little. "I'm not using any 'Malfoy charms'. I don't think there are any."
"But Scorp! You're such a notorious womaniser! How did you ever do it? You can't even woo one little Weasley!"
"Shut up! People will hear you! And I was never a womaniser."
Aly raised her eyebrows.
"Fine, maybe a little," he said. "But not anymore. And it is so much harder to make someone like you when they've spent their whole life hating you. The girls I dated did not hate me."
"Oh, Rose doesn't hate you," Alatheia said as she reached out to grab another bread roll. "She might have before, but that was just on principle. I wouldn't say she likes you. I think she is far too confused to like or hate you, but confusion is better than loathing, in my opinion. Just keep smiling and I think she'll warm to you, Malfoy charms or no."
"It would be easier if she didn't have her stupid boyfriend coiled around her at every waking moment."
"He might not even be her boyfriend anymore, so stay positive. Come on, Loverboy, get up or we'll be late for our first lesson."
"I'm really not in the mood for Arithmancy right now. It's a Monday morning. I swear the person who does the timetables has it in for me."
"I have Herbology and Professor Longbottom loves me, so I am feeling perfectly happy."
"You're so smug. It's extremely unattractive."
They bickered with each other until they reached the Entrance Hall, where they split, Alatheia going through the doors to the grounds and Scorpius climbing the Marble Staircase, heading for the Arithmancy classroom on the seventh floor. There was one bonus to Arithmancy: he shared this class with Rose, but not with any of her cousins or her boyfriend. Also, they did not have assigned seating. When he entered the classroom, Rose had not yet arrived, but most of the other students had so there were very few desks left. There was one desk completely free, space for two people to sit. Scorpius placed his bag on it. Other straggling students entered, all Gryffindors. None of them took the seat next to him, which left it as the only one available. Scorpius allowed himself a small smile of triumph. He would at least sit next to her, even if they didn't speak. He reached down to pull his number charts out of his bag. With his head bent low he heard footsteps approaching the desk. Someone cleared their throat. He sat up, the charts in his hand, and looked at Rose.
"Can I sit here?" She pointed at the desk next to his. He nodded. As she sat down and rummaged through her bag, he wondered if he had imagined the slight thickness to her voice and the red rim around her eyes. He wasn't sure, but she might have been crying. However, he might have just imagined it as his desperate brain searched for some clue as to the outcome of her conversation with Felix. She caught him looking at her and gave him another smile. He returned it, then turned to watch Professor Vector, who was now quite magnificently old. The witch's hair was a bright white and her fingers bony, but it had not at all diminished her movements, her strictness or her exceptional magical skill. In his peripheral vision, he saw Rose staring at her parchment, evidently distracted.
"Miss Weasley?" Professor Vector had just asked a question, and it was obvious who she wanted to answer it. Rose's head snapped up.
"Um..." she said. Not listening in Arithmancy had serious consequences.
"Seventy-three," he whispered, so quietly that he wasn't even sure if Rose had heard him.
"Seventy-three," she said to the professor, who gave a small "hmph".
"Do try to look as though you are paying attention, Miss Weasley."
"Sorry, professor."
Vector turned away and carried on with the lesson. Rose looked at Scorpius.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"You're welcome. You looked upset enough without Vector on your back as well."
She smiled, but didn't look all that happy. "Yeah, I was preoccupied."
"With Felix?" He probably shouldn't have said it, but Rose made him do stupid things. Rose stared at him, her expression unfathomable to him.
"Yes. I broke up with him."
Scorpius had to work very hard not to smile. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I feel much better, actually. It was just a bit shocking. You made me realise that it wasn't a relationship I really wanted. So...thank you, I suppose." She held his gaze, the corners of her lips lifting so that she was smiling at him again. His body, seemingly of its own accord, leaned towards her slightly. She either didn't notice or didn't mind. She shifted in her chair, turning a little towards him. Scorpius' eyes flicked down to the desk, where her hand was lying. His brain was telling him that he was going insane as he reached out to it and wrapped his fingers around it. He looked up at her again, trying to ask her if this was okay. She moved her hand and he began to withdraw his, but she entwined their fingers. Scorpius stared at her. He didn't know what they were doing, but he wasn't going to stop.
"Mr Malfoy, Miss Weasley." Professor Vector was standing in front of their desk. Scorpius and Rose moved at the same time, pulling their hands apart. The professor gave them a glare. "Keep your private conversations for outside my classroom. If I catch you talking again it will be detention for both of you." She turned from them, her cape sweeping behind her. Scorpius didn't look up for the rest of the lesson. He was sure that everyone in the class was staring at them. By lunch time, the whole school would know that Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley had been having a 'private conversation'. He also couldn't look at Rose. He had no idea what to say to her. He bent low over his charts, wishing, for the first time in his life, that he could have been born a Creevey.
Author's Note: So? Please review, guys, it makes my day better! Although I probably don't deserve them after being such a neglectful updater...ALSO, can any Classics nerds (like me) guess why I named this chapter 'Erosmancy'? Yes, you can use the Harry Potter wikia page on Arithmancy to help you half the way. Wow, I am SUCH a nerd. Is there anyone else like me out there?
