A.N.: Here's the next update. I'm doing this as I'm faithfully watching Harry Potter Weekend on ABC Family, and no doubt I'm feeling inspired haha. I must mention that I did misnomer the chapters, there are two chapter sixes, for which I apologize. They're correctly labeled when you select one, but not when you read the chapters themselves, if that makes any sense? Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I don't own anything.

Eight: Notorious Playboy Takes on Unrequited Love

Scorpius Malfoy had never felt more pathetic in his entire life.

On the outside, he appeared as careless and effortlessly cool as usual, always joined by Al or Roxanne or Rose, in attendance to the biggest parties. Girls fell all over him, and his grades were outstanding, as usual.

But behind all that, all he wanted to do was sulk.

With the arrival of the American, Bekah Grant, it was obvious that she was the focus of Al's attention, as far as girls went. And Scorp could easily see why: she was hot, and probably a good shag. And he reckoned that Al needed to actually like a girl for once, instead of hooking up with them and then casually blowing them off.

Perhaps, if Rose Weasley didn't exist, Scorpius would share his best friend's interest. But the his red headed best friend did exist, and he knew that she was the source of his unrest.

It was the sort of thing you would read about in a Muggle fiction novel; guy and girl are childhood friends, then one of them ends up liking the other, the likeness becomes mutual and they ride off into the sunset holding hands.

Unfortunately, Scorpius didn't see the story of him and Rose ending that way. This was because of a fellow fifth year named Kevin Bones.

Every time Scorpius saw him, which was quite often, seeing that they shared multiple classes and Kevin was in the same dorm as Al, Scorpius wanted to punch him. Screw dueling; he wanted to beat Kevin Bones into the ground until he couldn't remember his name. Because who was this bloke, to think that he had a right to touch and kiss Rose Weasley? To think that he could dance with her and make her laugh and smile, her sky blue eyes sparkling the way they did when she was happy. Those rights should belong to Scorpius alone. No one knew Rose better than he and Al and Roxanne. And Al and Roxanne being her cousins, that meant the duty of falling in love with Rose fell on Scorpius.

He often wondered why people phrased 'falling in love' like they did. As if you could gently float downwards into the arms of your beloved. In reality, it felt more like pitching yourself off of a cliff and tumbling violently through the air at a thousand kilometers an hour. Nothing about it was safe and comforting. In fact, it made him feel sick most of the time.

No one knew, not yet. He had thought about telling Al more times than he could count, but what good would it do? Al would only feel sorry for him, because he would see the impossible predicament that Scorpius was trapped in. Telling Roxanne was unthinkable, because her and Rose shared everything. Plus, even on the off chance that Roxy did keep the secret, Scorpius knew she talked in her sleep. With his luck, she would burst into a childlike chorus of: "Scorpius and Rosie, sitting tree…"

No, this was a secret he would carry to his grave, because Rose was clearly into Kevin Bones, and that was the end of everything for Scorpius.

James was making his way towards the doo of the Transfiguration classroom when he bumped into Anna Wood.

Perhaps bumped wasn't the right word. It was more of a full on collision.

"Wotcher, Potter," Anna snapped, brushing her dark locks away from her face. Her books had tumbled out of her arms, and James had caught himself above her, his arms on either side of her. For a second, all he could think about was the implied activity of their position, but that lasted a split second before Anna planted her hand on his chest and heaved him away. All thoughts of her fit figure and soft, cinnamon scent were banished from his mind.

"Sorry, Wood," he apologized sincerely. "Wasn't looking."

"Clearly," she muttered, kneeling to collect her belongings. James knelt beside her and collected her textbooks and papers from the floor, shuffling them together and handing them to her.

"Poor, Wood, really?" he joked, not failing to notice the red P scrawled across the top of her Transfiguation quiz.

"Shut it, Potter. Not all of us are naturally gifted in everything they do," she told him defensively, snatching it away.

"I've never seen you get anything less than Exceeds Expectations before, Wood, so forgive me if I don't think I'm the only one who's naturally gifted here. But thanks for the modesty," he remarked, unable to resist smirking at her frustration.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Look, Transfiguration is just my problem subject. I get the theory of human transfiguring, and I did alright with it last year, but I just can't do it. I don't know why," she fumed, neatly packing her books into her bag. She stood, slinging the strap over her shoulder and crossing her arms over her chest. "I was going to ask Sturbridge for some extra pointers before you tackled me."

"I didn't—" James started, before stopping abruptly. "Look, I owe you for saving us that match against Hufflepuff. I was nervous as Captain, and so I let my arrogance get the better of me on the field and I ended up being a complete arse to you."

"Potter, if you're suggesting you'll shag me as payback, I'm going to tell you I'm not interested straight up," she replied cocking a hip and narrowing her eyes.

"You sure you won't take me up on that?" he teased, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning unabashedly.

"You really are an arse, James Potter," she told him, brandishing her wand in his direction.

"Relax, Wood, I was only joking. What I was actually going to suggest was that I can help you with your Transfiguation grade," he offered coolly, barely holding back a laughter at the expression of shock that flitted across her face. "But if I'm such an insufferable arse, I think I know what your answer will be. Excuse me, but I want to grab lunch before I have to get to Defense."

He turned towards the door, and only made it three feet from the room.

"Wait," she called, stopping short in the door. James turned, and Anna had that look of serious contemplation on her face, the one she wore when she was calculating the effectiveness of a new Quidditch play. "I could actually use that help. How about Friday, after practice? And don't go spreading it around, because the last thing I need is people thinking that you and I are shagging."

He wondered briefly how much it pained her to admit she needed his help, to look past her contempt of his cocky attitude and her jealousy of the Captain's badge on his robes. It was no small blow to her pride, he knew.

"Deal. But we both have to shower first. It's been raining for days now, and Pince will murder us if we get mud in the library, yeah?"

"Agreed, so long as you don't think we'll be showering together, Potter. See you," she agreed, and with one last look, she turned her heel and walked down the hall towards her next class. Leaving him with the image of Wood's naked figure shrouded by shower steam in his head. An impossibility, but the prospect wasn't an entirely unpleasant one.

"Al, I know you think Bekah is hot, but could you please stop looking so fascinated?" Roxanne said, jerking her cousin out of his reverie.

"Can't help it. She's hot as hell, and her accent…" he grinned.

"Is like sex. Merlin, you sound more and more like Jamie every day," Dom remarked dryly, stopping by their table and sliding into the seat next to him. "Just shag her already. You and your youthful hormones."

"Dom, you're only two years older than us," Rose pointed out.

"Hey, I never said I was a saint," Dom replied, holding her hands up in fake surrender. "But you have practice in forty five minutes, so you'd better finish whatever your doing, or James will kill you. You have a match against Slytherin this weekend, and you know how he is during practices leading up to a match."

"An arrogant tosser?" Anna appeared by Dom's side.

"Exactly," Dom agreed.

"Samara needs to copy your Runes notes," Anna reminded Dom. "See you at the pitch, Al."

"Well I have other things to do, so I'd best get going," Dom echoed, ruffled Al's hair and followed her best friend out of the hall. Al opened his mouth to say something, most likely about Dom's extracurricular activities, but Rose interrupted him.

"Shit," she cried, glancing at her watch. "I've got patrol in five minutes, I'm supposed to meet Kevin by the prefect's office right now." She grabbed her sweater and bag and hurried out of the hall, her red braid swinging behind her, the last rays of sunlight from the ceiling making it seem as if it had caught fire.

"You reckon she really likes Bones?" Scorpius asked, his eyes following her as she slipped through the doors to the Great Hall. Roxanne looked up and raised her eyebrows, joining him in his analysis of the new couple.

"Dunno. I mean I guess they make sense. Rule abiding and all that," she mused, shrugging. "He's cute. Not hot, but cute."

"Yeah, I guess they do," Scorpius agreed coolly.

"She probably likes the stability. To be honest, I think he'd get boring," Roxanne told her blond friend. "It's dead hot when guys just kiss you, you know? Random and spontaneous and all that."

"Well, I'll leave you two to dissect Rosie's stale love life. I've got practice," Al said, standing up. "See you."

"And the trio's down to two," Scorpius sighed. "You finish your Charms paper yet?" Roxanne's stomach turned at the thought of the two blank sheets of parchment waiting to be filled with the proper thesis on the use of Silencing Charms.

"No," she said. "It's due next Monday, but I suppose we should get it done. After all, there's bound to be a party this weekend because of the match."

"Library?"

"Library it is."

"Well, I'm crashing," Bekah announced, returning from her talk with Professor Flitwick. "And luckily for the two of you, I did Silencing Charms last year in the States. This thesis will be cake." She stood expectantly, drumming her nails on the table.

"Good. Then you can do my paper for me," Roxanne offered her new dormmate a hopeful smile as she collected her things and the three of them exited the hall.

Their usual table in the back of the library was mercifully vacant. Roxanne slumped into a chair and dragged out her textbook and ink bottle, brandishing her feather quill with all the eagerness of someone walking into a duel against an undoubtedly superior wizard.

"Roxy it's just Charms," Scorpius snickered. "Not a death sentence."

"I know," she snapped, opening her book. A stray slip of parchment fell out, fluttering to the floor. She bent to pick it up, unnoticed by either of her friends. It was a note, crumpled as if it had been carried in someone's pocket before it was slid into her book. She unfolded it in her lap.

We need to talk.

The scrawl was familiar, she easily recognized it from her brother's summer correspondence. A lump formed in her throat, as her recollection of the last rager's experiences threatened to seep into her brain.

They'd sworn to never mention it again. So why was Niall Finnegan sending her a cryptic note, demanding that they talk? And not just talk as in a casual greeting in the hall. That wouldn't have required a secret request. Roxanne was thankful for her mocha skin, because she could feel her face getting hot and the last thing she needed was Scorpius and Bekah asking her why she was blushing while working on a Charms assignment.

She looked down at the words again, and her stomach lurched with foreboding, her heart pounding in her chest. Somewhere in the background, she could hear Bekah talking about Silencing Charms, but she wasn't listening.

He wanted to talk?

Godric, then they would talk.

So this chapter was a bit of a filler. I played a little with Scorpius's perspective, and I have great plans for James and Roxanne in the next few chapters. I will have to bang out another Quidditch match chapter, which might be a bit troubling for me, and will obviously take some time. I'm also really excited for writing the Christmas holidays in this story, because I plan on having Victoire and Teddy's wedding take place then. So Dom will be featured, and more insight on Bekah's backstory will come, don't worry. Thank you so much for reading, and please review! Love you all!

Xoxo-NotsoSugarQueen