Chapter 10- Battle of Wits

Scorpius stared crossly at the man standing in front of him. He didn't have time nor did he want to make time. If he hadn't inherited all his looks from the man, no one would even know they were related. Over the past thirteen years, Scorpius had little he wanted to discuss with his father. Draco Malfoy had made countless efforts to try and reconnect with his son with there was no such luck. As Scorpius got older, he managed to escape every encounter, but today, his father had finally caught him.

Scorpius cursed under his breath; he was currently in the hospital lunchroom for his break. It would seem that his father just happened to be there today. There was no way for Scorpius to avoid him without making a scene and Healer Powell would surely reprimand him for his ill behavior. And he couldn't afford to jeopardize the position if he wanted to succeed in his mission.

"Scorpius, let's have a talk," Draco said calmly.

Scorpius snorted, "You're taking a mickey out of me. What could you possibly tell me that I don't already know?"

Draco looked around the room; everyone seemed to be chattering away but despite this, "Let's grab a bite at a restaurant."

Scorpius wiped his mouth and stood up abruptly, "I'm full."

As he made his way out of the room, his father grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him mid-step. Scorpius twirled around and stared his father in the eye with malice. "Stay away from me," he growled.

Draco reluctantly let go of Scorpius' arm and watched as his son leave once again.

As Scorpius exited the room, from the corner of his eye, he made out the confused face of Rose who was watching their interactions from before. She had entered the lunchroom and caught the exchange just in time. Normally, Scorpius would have said something but he was in no mood to discuss his personal life.

"Weasley, you're working in the lab again," Scorpius said nonchalantly as he leaned against the reception table where Rose was currently retrieving files.

"As I seem to recall, Healer Powell is the one who makes the schedules and I happen to know I'm doing rounds today," Rose refuted.

Scorpius smirked as he saw the old Healer round the corner. "Weasley! Why aren't you down in the lab?" Healer Powell asked.

He watched as Rose fluster in an attempt to explain her situation. "I thought you wanted me to do rounds today," Rose stammered.

"Yes but Malfoy here requested you to supervise the lab today. I think it's a good idea for you to help him get accustomed," Healer Powell said as she scribbled something down on a patient file and handed it to Heather, the receptionist. She gave one last look to Rose, one that said she wasn't going to ask twice, before she rounded the corner.

Scorpius whistled and stuffed his hands in his pockets before making his way down to the lab. He didn't look to see if Rose followed, he knew she was never one to disobey orders and after a few seconds, he heard the clacking of her heels as she followed him to the lab.

"I don't know what you told Powell but do that again and I'll break you're neck," Rose said briskly as soon as no one was in sight.

Scorpius clicked his tongue, "Violent tendencies; I should really report that to Powell, you know for the patients' well being."

Rose snorted, "Since when have you ever cared about anyone else's well being."

When they arrived at the lab, Rose immediately headed for the station she usually sat at and pulled out a cauldron to begin brewing potions. Scorpius walked up to her table and with a flick of his wand, the cauldron disappeared once again. Rose looked at up him with annoyance, "What do you think you're doing?"

Scorpius looked at his nails, avoiding her deadly gaze, "Weasley, I do hope you're much brighter than this when you're treating your patients."

When Rose didn't respond, he looked at her once again with a disinterested face, "Did you forget, you're suppose to be showing me around."

"You've been here for a week already! And I'm sure April has shown you more than enough," Rose retorted.

"Ah, but Powell did assign you to show me around and I do fancy a formal welcome, so…" Scorpius said, knowing that Rose would surely realize that she had no choice if she didn't want him telling Powell that she hadn't follow through.

Rose stood up with a huff and stomped to the cabinet in the back, "This is where all the ingredients are kept. If we're out of something, the last person to take it has to order more."

Scorpius feigned interest, enjoying her tortured face as she showed him around. In truth, April had shown him everything he needed to know but he took pleasure in pushing Rose's buttons.

She continued to the four tables in the center, "Here are the workstations. Make sure to keep them clean and make sure to keep an eye on your potions when you're brewing them. If you need to go somewhere, tell someone what you're doing before you leave. And you obviously know how to summon a cauldron."

Rose began walking forward until Scorpius spoke up. "No, you're going to have to show me."

"What?" Rose asked, clearly annoyed.

"How to summon a cauldron," Scorpius said simply.

Rose's mouth was agape as she stared at him in disbelief. Scorpius internally smirked; he was going to push her as far as he could today. It would come in handy later on so he would know how to work her.

When Scorpius made it look like he was serious about it, Rose growled before flicking her wand after which a cauldron appeared on the table. "There!" She flicked her wand once again to make it disappear, "And in case you wanted to know how to clean up. Happy?"

"Pleasantly," Scorpius smiled.

"Here are all the reference books in case you need to look up recipes and spells," Rose said as they made their way towards the large bookshelves.

"Now why would I need to know about this? I was the top student in our class," Scorpius smirked.

"Ugh, you insufferable git. Why are you really here?" Rose puffed.

"What? Can't stand the fact that you're not the best Weasley?" Scorpius asked before he sauntered away from her.

As if this was his idea. If it were up to him, Scorpius would never step into a room with her; much less voluntarily ask for her company.

Rose's POV

After the crap Scorpius had pulled yesterday, Rose decided it was time to get even. She had wanted to wring his neck with her bare hands but she knew that if she wanted to beat him, she would have to out wit him.

"Malfoy, why are there no calming draughts left," Healer Powell asked. She had called him up from the lab to clear things up.

Rose was standing by the receptionist table looking down but she could hear everything out clearly.

"That's impossible, I made a new batch just this morning," Scorpius replied.

"Oh? Then why am I hearing from the Healers that there isn't any left," Healer Powell said.

Rose decided it was time to make her move. "Oh Healer Powell, Mr. Malfoy is correct in that he did provide us with a batch of them this morning."

Scorpius looked surprised at her defending him and just as his lips curled upward towards Healer Powell, Rose smirked and continued. "But the thing is, they were all faulty. We didn't know that there was something wrong until the patients went through them like pumpkin juice and nothing happened. And now we're out."

She snapped her head toward Scorpius to gauge his reaction and sure enough, he was watching her darkly. She smiled again and held out a vial of the draught. "Here's one of the leftover draughts. After realizing something was wrong, I went to test it and found that it was lacking in moonstone. So I went to brew a new batch and found that there was none left in the supply cabinet. It would seem that Mal…Mr. Malfoy forgot to order new moonstone after we ran out and skimped on it when he realized he needed to make a new batch of draught for today."

Healer Powell threw a stern look at Scorpius, "Mr. Malfoy, please go make some more calming draughts and make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Oh there's no need, I went ahead and ordered the new moonstones and brewed them during my break," Rose piped it.

Healer Powell gave her a rare smile before it quickly disappeared, "Mr. Malfoy, you're quite lucky Healer Weasley caught it in time and that it was only calming draught. If it were something more serious, I should think you would be accountable for the lives you might have put at stake for your mistake."

Scorpius nodded before the old Healer walked away. As soon as she was out of earshot, Rose smirked at Scorpius. "What's the matter Malfoy? Can't stand the fact that you're not the best?"

Rose was hoping to relax when she got home but there was no such thing. As soon as she arrived, she was bombarded by her female cousins. Her wedding was a few weeks away and she had managed to keep it in the back of her mind. Don't get her wrong, she loved Grant and couldn't wait to marry him but the process of the wedding was stressful and something she could do without. But it was apparent that her cousins weren't going to let her put it off for any longer.

"Rose, we have to start looking into dresses. You can't marry Grant wearing your Healer robes," Lily cheekily quipped.

"Oh Lily, your humor never seizes to amaze me," Rose said with a yawn. She immediately started to fall onto her couch and began drifting off.

"Oh no you don't!" Victoire said as she pulled Rose up straight.

"But I'm tired! You try working on your feet for ten hours straight," Rose complained.

"No one made you be a Healer," Dominique piped in.

Rose stuck her tongue out at her older cousin. "That's enough," Victoire cut in.

"Now, Lily you go get a cold towel to wake Rose up. Roxanne, do you think you can whip something up; I'm sure Rose is starving from working on her feet for ten hours straight."

"Hey!" Rose cut in but Victoire continued to dish out instructions.

"Dom, you…well, just don't cause any trouble," Victoire concluded.

Dominique snorted and folded her arms before throwing her feet onto the coffee table, "Nice of you to think of me that way Vic."

Victoire waved her off before turning her attention to Rose and started babbling on about the wedding. Rose looked at Dominique with desperation but her cousin just shrug and smirked. There was no way she was getting any sleep tonight; if Victoire had it her way, she would plan the whole wedding. Apparently getting married once meant that she knew everything about weddings. Victoire married Teddy just last fall; but Rose did have to admit, it was a beautiful wedding.

It was midnight before the girls finally left and Rose was left to salvage what was left of her evening. Rose had to admit that having Victoire made the whole process easier, albeit annoying but the girls had really made some progress on the wedding. They managed to pick out the bridesmaid dresses, which included her cousins and her best friend Kyle, and picked out the flowers for the wedding. Grant soon arrived home and she was never happier to see him. "Where have you been?" she asked exasperatedly.

Grant chuckled, "I was told by your cousins that I wasn't allowed back until they were done."

"They locked you out?" Rose asked with a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"It's all for the wedding right?" Grant murmured as he joined her in bed and kissed her.

Rose grabbed his head to bring him closer, enjoying the intimacy. "I can't wait to marry you Mr. Barnes," Rose whispered. The happiness inside of her in that moment had made her forget about the ongoing struggle at work with Scorpius and her tiring evening with her cousins.

A/N: Soooo sorry for the late update, I couldn't write anything last weekend because I had some problems with my eyes, so had to visit the doctor. They told me to rest and take a break from the computer. Hopefully this sort of thing doesn't happen again (2 weeks, yikes!) Again, sorry for the wait.