.*. For Entertainment Purposes Only .*.

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Clichés

Rose woke up the next morning to find that her dormitory was already empty. She thought about leaving her room, but the idea seemed thoroughly unappealing. The only person she had any interest in seeing was Caitlyn and there was a very strong chance that she was with Albus—the very last person Rose wanted to face right now. Seeing Albus would just make her feel guilty.

But when she thought about it, Albus wasn't the last person she wanted to see. That honor would have to go to Scorpius.

Rose sat down on her bed once more, trying to gather the strength and courage to face Hogwarts. She didn't know what was bothering her so much anyway. It wasn't like she had just gone through a vicious public breakup or anything. All that had changed was the fact that Rose and Scorpius were no longer "just snogging."

She had just stood up to try and leave once more, when the door opened. Caitlyn was standing there, a plate of food in her hand.

"I figured you wouldn't want to eat in the Great Hall," she shrugged, handing the plate over.

"Thanks," Rose sighed gratefully as she grabbed the fork and began shoveling eggs into her mouth.

"Scorpius wasn't at breakfast either," Caitlyn said as she took a seat on the edge of Rose's bed. "Word about him and Danielle is spreading like wildfire, edged on by Owen I think. But you and Owen are going to patrol together tonight until Malfoy is brave enough to come out of his dormitory." Rose nodded. "Owen was looking for you this morning," she added. "He feels bad about snogging you last night."

"He has nothing to feel bad about," Rose mused. "I've wanted to snog him for a while now."

"Well then goody," Caitlyn deadpanned.

"I'm going to have to see him again eventually. Scorpius, I mean," Rose said seriously, her spirits dropping once more. "We can't run from each other forever."

"At least you can put it off another day," she shrugged.

"I feel like I've been dumped," Rose admitted. "And I don't like it."

"You need to get out of this room," Caitlyn said sternly, standing up. "Let's take a walk or something. I cancelled Quidditch practice."

"You cancelled Quidditch practice?" Rose asked incredulously. "We play Slytherin in less than a week!"

"I cancelled Quidditch practice," she repeated, "Come on, let's go take a walk."

It turned out to be a nice day outside and Rose was relieved to find that the autumn chill she had been waiting for had finally arrived. The girls took some of their homework outside with them, but barely any of it got done. They decided to skip lunch, but shortly after the lunch hour ended, Albus joined them with a plate of food for "his two favorite girls."

Although Rose felt a bit awkward in his company at first, she came to realize that it was just Albus. And if it ever came down to it, he'd take her side over Scorpius's any day.

The three friends sat outside joking around and talking late into the afternoon. It was only when the sun was starting to set that Rose realized there was a question she had forgotten to ask last night.

"Are you two going out?" she asked, interrupting Albus mid-sentence. He exchanged a quick look with Caitlyn.

"We are," Caitlyn grinned. Rose smiled giddily and Albus rolled his eyes, but he looked rather pleased with himself otherwise.

"Oh Merlin!" Rose cried, leaping up from her spot on the ground. They looked at her as if she'd gone mad. "I'm totally ruining your first day alone as a couple! I'm so sorry!"

"Rose, sit back down," Albus demanded. "You're being ridiculous. Just because we're dating doesn't mean we can't all hang out. You're my bloody cousin—I can't get rid of you."

"Well as sweet as that is," Rose sighed, "we really should be heading back. Dinner's in five minutes and I've got patrol afterwards."

"Caitlyn told you that you're patrolling with Owen, right?" he asked as he stood and then helped Caitlyn up.

"Yeah," Rose muttered. "Is Scorpius too busy shagging people's girlfriends to come to patrols?"

"Okay, now that was out of line," Albus muttered. "He makes mistakes, but his heart's in the right place. Normally."

"Yes, it's just his dick that's out of line," Caitlyn said, surprising both of them. "It was my brother he helped Danielle cheat on. I'm not quite fond of Scorpius Malfoy at the moment."

"Well if it's any compensation, he looks bloody horrible," Albus said as they entered the building and began making their way towards the Great Hall. "I went to see him right before lunch and he was even paler than usual."

"I guess he finally just fucked more than he could handle," Rose shrugged.

"With all due respect, Owen seemed fine at breakfast," Albus pointed out.

"And that makes cheating okay? As long as Owen's not bawling his eyes out at the breakfast table?" Rose asked.

"I'm just saying that I think there were bigger problems in that relationship than Scorpius. And I also don't think it's fair for you to hold a grudge against him when you're not the one he's done wrong to. You and him had been getting along well, hadn't you?"

"Just peachy," Rose agreed. Albus rolled his eyes at her attitude and dropped the subject. The three Gryffindors arrived at their table just as the serving plates filled.

Even though Rose tried her hardest not to look, she couldn't stop her glance from wandering over to the Slytherin table. It took her several peeks over her plate of spaghetti before she accepted the fact that Scorpius wasn't at dinner. And the fact that he was moping around his dormitory instead of eating with everyone else made Rose suddenly angry. Was she supposed to feel sorry for him?

Shortly after dinner, Rose had to meet Owen in the Entrance Hall for patrols. Unlike Scorpius, he actually beat her there.

"I'm not late!" she said, but immediately regretted it because it reminded her of Scorpius who constantly said the same thing.

"You're later than me," Owen smiled. "That's late."

"How'd you get this job, anyway?" she asked as they made their way towards the fifth floor where they would be patrolling that night.

He sighed. "I just happened to be sitting with Caitlyn when Albus came in complaining that he had to find someone to take Scorpius's patrol. He was leaning towards Scott Belby, so I figured I'd save you."

"Well thanks for that," Rose laughed.

"You better be thankful; now I have double patrols tonight!"

"Poor baby," she pouted. He grinned at her smugly and then suddenly lunged in her direction. Rose screamed as his arms closed around her and began tickling her mercilessly. She tried kicking him, but he just lifted her off of the ground and continued attacking her. "Stop it!" Laughing, he pulled away after about a minute of the torture.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said sincerely as she found her footing once more.

"It's fine," she shrugged. "We always said we'd end up snogging eventually."

"And this way, Caitlyn can't even be mad at me," he smirked.

"See?" Rose laughed. "There's a bright side to everything!"

Their patrol was relatively quiet and although Rose enjoyed Owen's company, he was no Scorpius. Scorpius had a way of making patrols seem so short. Or maybe that was just the fact that they spent most of them snogging…

Owen seemed to realize that Rose wasn't in much of a talking mood and he didn't press her. After a long hour, the patrol was over and Owen said goodbye to her with a kiss on the cheek.

As Rose made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, she couldn't help but wonder how in the world she was supposed to suffer through patrols with Scorpius for the rest of the year. They'd only been in school a little over a month and she'd already managed to make things awkward.

.*.:.:.:.:.*.

Rose didn't see Scorpius at all until break the next day and even then it was just by accident. She was running late for Transfiguration and as she made her way down a deserted corridor that she typically used as a shortcut, she came face to face with him heading in the opposite direction.

They noticed each other at the same time, both of their faces morphing into a look of surprise. Rose regained her senses first and turned back around in the direction she had come. Screw Transfiguration. She'd rather skive of the class altogether than face Scorpius right now.

He, however, had other ideas. "Rose!" he called and she heard his footsteps rushing towards her. She quickened her pace. "Rose, I am begging you to stop!" Almost as if his words were a spell, Rose found herself pausing. Letting out a sigh of relief, Scorpius slowed his pace. "Thank you."

His polite words reignited Rose's temper and she felt the anger well up inside of her, an anger that her father always promised would surface one day if she truly was her mother's daughter. As if she were being controlled by something other than her own will, she spun around to face Scorpius. The smirk that he had been wearing disappeared from his face instantly when he saw the look of sheer madness on her face.

"You know what?" she cried shrilly. "There's absolutely no point in you talking! I think I know your type well enough to know what's coming." Scorpius opened his mouth to make a smart reply, but Rose held up her hand to stop him. He flinched out of the way and she continued. "Let me just take a guess at what you're about to say: You're sorry? It was a mistake and you wish it had never happened? You like me so much better than you like her and you just weren't thinking straight. It meant nothing, am I right? And you want more than anything for me to forgive you. Are there any more clichés that I missed, or is that about it?"

Scorpius stared at her hard for a few seconds before he shrugged. The silence was deafening for several long moments before he spoke. "No, I think you pretty much covered it."

"Don't ever speak to me again," Rose huffed, turning around once more. She could feel her eyes burning with unshed tears, but this time they were tears of anger. How could one seventeen year old boy be so insufferable? She took slow, deliberate steps down the hall, cursing herself for hoping that he would stop her.

He didn't.

As soon as she turned the corner, she began to run.

.*.:.:.:.:.*.

Although it took a little convincing, Caitlyn was more than willing to adjust Gryffindor's practice schedule so that Rose was unable to make her patrols for the rest of the week. She knew that this quick fix wouldn't be able to last for long, but she hoped that after they beat Slytherin at the first Quidditch match of the season on Saturday, Rose would have an excuse to petition Albus for a partner change.

That was a believable excuse, right?

She hadn't, however, accounted for the fact that Scorpius wouldn't stop trying to speak with her. It didn't matter whether Albus was around or not—he took every available opportunity to try and get Rose alone. He'd corner her in the hallway before classes (even if it wasn't a class they shared), he'd come to her Quidditch practices until Caitlyn spotted him and kicked him out. Albus had even said something about how Scorpius was lingering longer in the Head's Common Room, almost as if he were waiting for someone to show up.

Rose had neither the temperament nor the time to deal with him. She didn't want to hear excuses; she wanted to move on. But it's hard to make your head move on when your heart's not ready.

It was dinnertime on Thursday before Scorpius managed to come up with a workable plan. Rose was sitting with Albus and Caitlyn when he walked over. It was the first time since Monday that Rose had bothered to really look at him and even she, whose eyes were blinded by infatuation, couldn't miss the dark circles highlighting his pale face.

So what if he hadn't been sleeping? She shrugged off that fact. She hadn't been sleeping either.

He paused right behind Caitlyn, who turned around once she felt his presence. Albus and Rose just looked at him expectantly.

"I need to talk to you," Scorpius said plainly, never taking his eyes off of Rose. She found that she couldn't quite look away either. Her anger was boiling under the surface, but she didn't know how to answer. With Albus there, her hands were tied. If she refused to talk to him, Albus would get suspicious.

"Ok," Albus shrugged. "But can I finish my dinner first?" Scorpius's gaze broke away from Rose long enough to look at Albus curiously.

"He's talking to me," she groaned at her cousin's own stupidity.

"Oh," he said. "Why do you need to talk to her, mate?"

Scorpius looked at Albus, then at Rose, and then turned back to Albus. Fearing the answer that he was about to give, Rose stood up. "I tutor him in Muggle Studies," she said loudly. "Come on!"

Without checking to see whether he was following her, Rose walked down the length of the Gryffindor table and out of the hall. She didn't stop once she reached the doors to the Great Hall, but just kept walking. She didn't know where her feet were taking her, but she wasn't forced to decipher their actions as Scorpius took the lead and lead them straight out the front doors onto the grounds.

The stars were already out and twinkling and the weather was now cool enough that Rose was grateful she had remembered to put a jumper on under her school robes this morning. Without speaking, the couple took a seat by the lake. Rose had half a mind to reprimand Scorpius for his dangerous and unorthodox way of forcing her to speak with him, but she wasn't in the mood to fight today.

She was tired. She was done with all of this. She just wanted it to be over and if listening to Scorpius was what it took to have what she wanted, then she was willing to do it. She just feared that the price she would pay would be a broken heart.

"I need you to listen to me," Scorpius said, his voice outlined by the sound of waves the Giant Squid was making in the lake. "Rose, I need you to listen to me and to not interrupt."

She didn't reply, but simply continued to stare straight ahead. "And what needs to be said includes a few clichés," he continued. "But I really am sorry. And it really was a mistake that I wish had never happened. It did mean nothing—she means nothing—and I do want you to forgive me more than anything else in this world. Did I cover all of your clichés?"

"I believe so," she replied sternly.

"This isn't an excuse for what I did, but you deserve an explanation. Do you want to hear it?" He took her silence as permission to continue. "What James and Fred said to us at the Three Broomsticks messed me up. And not just because they were being pricks, but because they were being right. I'm not good enough for you, Rose. And if you and me were to do anything remotely romantic with each other, our lives would shatter around us. We'd pit our families against each other again—and I don't even want to think about Albus!"

He paused for her to speak, but she had nothing to say. She was too busy listening.

"So I got to thinking about all of this," he continued eventually, "and I couldn't make sense of anything except for the fact that I didn't care about any of it! I don't care that I'm not good enough for you or that being with you is threatening a seven year friendship with Albus. I don't care about any of that! All I care about is you!" Scorpius was ranting now and he was shaking his head back and forth as if her were trying to deny the truth that he had worked out. "And I knew that I couldn't allow myself to feel that way. Danielle was the first girl of questionable morals that I saw and I…I needed something to convince myself that I wasn't falling for you."

Silence fell between them once more and the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of crickets.

"My plan kind of backfired," he continued. "I haven't slept in days, Rose. I can't get you out of my head. The look on your face when you saw me with Danielle….I know you're not going to believe me, but I have never regretted anything more than I regret being the one to put that look of hurt onto your face. I hate myself right now and all I want is for you to forgive me if you can. I would love a second chance."

Feeling that he had run out of things to say, Rose finally looked over at Scorpius. He was looking at the lake and she had a feeling that he was too embarrassed to look at her. He would never admit it, but Rose highly suspected that he had never been that open with his feeling to anyone else and it warmed her cold heart just a little bit.

"Would you have told me?" she asked finally. He turned to look at her curiously. "Would you have told me that you shagged Danielle if I hadn't caught you?" she clarified.

Scorpius looked to be taking her question seriously, but he finally shrugged. "I don't know."

"Take a guess," she said, making it very clear that she wanted an answer. He shrugged helplessly.

"I can't possibly know that!" he defended himself. "Everything I do that has anything to do with you is a complete surprise to me! You make me act like a mad person! With every other girl I have cheated on, I wouldn't have told them in a second. In fact, I even tried to convince the ones that caught me at it that they were hallucinating. But considering the fact that you make me do the complete opposite of what I normally do, then yes I probably would have told you!"

Rose smiled slightly even though she didn't particularly want to. "I forgive you," she said. "But that's all I'm doing. The second chance thing…I need to think before I make that decision."

"I completely understand," Scorpius said hastily. "I will wait as long as you need me to."

"I don't know how long it's going to be," Rose muttered and began to stand up. Scorpius stood up with her but when she began to turn away, he pulled her back gently. The feel of his fingers around her wrist sent a thrill through her body.

"There's one more thing that you might want to think about. While you're thinking, I mean. If you decide to give me a second chance, I'm not interested in 'just snogging' or 'just shagging' or 'just' anything. Not anymore. I want you to be my girlfriend. And I know it's complicated with Albus, but….Rose, what are you thinking?"

It was only then that she realized her face was probably contorted into a look of pain. She decided that there was no point in lying. "I'm just thinking that all of this pain I've been feeling for the past few days would only be multiplied if it happened again. And while we're actually dating at that. If—not when, but if—I decide to give you a second chance, that's it. There are no third chances. Or fourth chances. Normally there aren't even second chances but you make me do nonsensical things also."

"This will never happen again," he promised. "Ever. Under any circumstances."

"Well then all I need now is a little time to think. And a little space."

"I can give you that." They stared at each other for several more seconds, both wanting to reach out to the other in some way but both knowing that they couldn't. Against her better judgment, Rose leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Before he had a chance to recover, she was gone.

.*.

A/N: This chapter is shorter than usual, so I'll update faster next time! Review, please :)