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Chapter 10

"Rosey, the sexual tension between you two is unbelievable. You cannot deny it!" Lily practically shrieks at me.

I give a disgruntled sigh. "Lily. I slapped him. This was in no way related to our sexual attraction for one anoth-"

"AHA!" I am cut off. "So you admit it! There is sexual attraction between you and Scorpius Malfoy!"

I really have to watch my words around this girl. "No, Lily. That isn't what I meant. I just meant that me slapping him does not have any undertones other than my hatred of him. I slapped him for making fun of you and Randy, for goodness sakes! It's not like I slapped him for kissing some bimbo. And I would not slap him for doing so, even if that were the case. Because I have zero interest in what he does in private with presumably countless numbers of idiotic females."

I say this rather heatedly with few breaths, so I pause for a short time before saying, "Malfoy did look rather guilty, though, after I went off on him back at the dormitory."

Lily rolls her eyes. "Can I just interject something here? Just, you know, point out one tiny detail?"

Okay, I will admit to dreading this. But I say, "Sure, I guess so."

Lily takes a deep breath. "Alright. Don't get mad at me or anything. This is just me stating a fact."

Oh no. Do I really want to listen to this?

"Let me first preface this fact with a question. How is it possible that you don't like Malfoy?"

"Lily, stop right there. I don't wa-"

"Ahem. Please let me finish." It is all I can do to stop talking. "Anyways. How is it possible that you don't like Malfoy when the only thing you have talked about all day is him?"

"I'm just venting to you, Lily! I am angry and annoyed with him. I can't bottle all of this up!"

Lily gives a nervous look before saying, "Then why have you not even mentioned that Tyler Wood is now your boyfriend?"

I won't lie, I am pretty stunned by this. I had to have mentioned it, right? There is no way I forgot to mention my ecstasy due to my new boyfriend. Right?

"Helllloooo, Rosey. It is true, right? That you are now dating Tyler Wood?"

Okay. Keep calm. "Yes. I just was so aggravated that I forgot to ment-"

"Oh, don't give me that rubbish, Rosey. You have talked nonstop about Scorpius Malfoy all day long, yet forget to mention the most important thing that happened to you all day yesterday. Actually, probably the most important thing to happen to you this school year. You know, the fact that you now have a boyfriend! Don't you think, and I'm just going out on a limb here, but don't you think that it is pretty odd when a girl starts dating the supposed guy of her dreams, and not only doesn't mention him once, but talks about a different guy all day long instead?"

Okay, so I guess it is a little odd. But Lily just doesn't understand my extreme frustration at the bane of my existence. So instead of admitting this, I say,

"Lily. Would you relax? I just needed to get this Malfoy stuff off of my chest so I could fully enjoy my newfound happiness with Tyler. I needed to purge myself of everything bad so as not to taint the experience of telling you about my boyfriend!" Well done, Rose! Clever, foolproof argument!

Lily gives me an annoyed look before saying, "Okay, Rosey. If you are still going to play this game, I'll go along with it." She holds up a hand to silence me before I can protest. "I just want to say one thing before I pretend that Malfoy doesn't exist and stop bringing him up."

"Alright, go for it."

Lily sighs. "I'm just a little worried about you, Rose. I don't want you to date Tyler if you don't have true feelings for him. I really think you should give the situation some thought. You may end up hurting Tyler, and you may get hurt even more. Just be careful, Rose. This is just my advice, but I want you to know that no matter what I will be here to support you. So anyways, now that Malfoy no longer exists, tell me about the new boy!" She squeals rather loudly, and I am thankful to get back to some normalcy.

After I leave Gryffindor's common room, though, I can't help but hear Lily's voice echoing in my head. "Just be careful, Rose..."

I am being careful. I know that I like Tyler. I know that I want to be with him. Scorpius Malfoy has nothing to do with my personal life and my relationship with Tyler. Malfoy is just an annoying prat that drives me insane on a daily basis.

I can handle the situation perfectly fine. I just need to stop thinking about Malfoy. I mean, thinking about how much he aggravates me.

Over the next few days, I spend a lot of time with Tyler. The evening before my detention with the prick that is Scorpius Malfoy, I am hanging out with Tyler, hoping that he will keep me optimistic.

"I'm sure detention will be fine, Rosey. I mean, as fine as detention can be."

"Ugh. I highly doubt that." I give a groan and Tyler pats my arm.

"I mean how bad can a detention be, right? You are McGonagall's star pupil. She can't do anything too harsh." Tyler smiles, but I can't bring myself to return it.

"Tyler, I know you want to be optimistic, but this detention doesn't depend on McGonagall. Malfoy is the factor of misery here. I just cannot stand him. You don't get it. I can't be in a room with him for that long. I see him all the time. Everywhere. Even in classes. Because apparently teachers like to see us attempt to work together as partners."

Tyler sighs. "I'm sorry you have to partner up with him, Rosey. I know he must be awful to work with. You probably do all of the work."

For some reason, I get a little defensive towards this comment. "Actually, he's smart, as much as I hate to admit it. We work well together when we aren't arguing."

"Rose, I dunno what you want me to say. I was just trying to understand your predicament. But honestly, all that I'm getting out of all of this is that you sure do talk about Malfoy a lot."

I give a snort. "Don't be ridiculous. I barely mention him. I am just annoyed that I have to spend the night with him."

Tyler gives a wary look. "Whatever you say, Rose. I mean I'm just saying that you have been talking about him pretty often for the past few days…"

"Tyler," I say sympathetically, "Are you being a little jealous?"

"I dunno. Yeah. Maybe," he says sheepishly.

"It's fine, Tyler. You have nothing to worry about. Malfoy and I are sworn enemies. It's just that living with him really gets to me sometimes. I'm sorry I've made you listen to my complaints about him so much. Once this detention is over, I'll cheer up, I promise." I give him a peck on the cheek and he smiles before pulling me in for the real thing.

"Thanks, Miss Rose. I'll walk you to detention. Just promise me that you won't let him get to you."

"I promise, Ty."

We walk to my detention and I think to myself how cute it is that Tyler got jealous of me mentioning another guy.

"You sure do talk about Malfoy a lot…"

Ha! Yeah right. Just some complaining here and there.

Tyler has nothing to worry about.

Malfoy and I are enemies.

Nothing to worry about at all.

I arrive at detention before Malfoy and sit in silence while McGonagall towers over me. She really is an intimidating woman. I hope Malfoy is late and she gives him another detention. That would seriously brighten up my day.

After a few minutes, Malfoy decides to show up. It's about time. Prick.

"Right on time, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall says curtly. "Please take a seat."

Malfoy sits down next to me. We avoid all eye contact.

McGonagall clears her throat and continues. "Tonight, you both will be cleaning the trophy room. Obviously, there will be no use of magic to aid you in this task. If you use magic, I will know, as I have cast a spell over the room. You may leave when you are finished or when I come collect you."

We walk to the trophy room. I am dreading this more and more as we get closer. Please, McGonagall, tell us you've changed your mind! Or better yet, tell me you've realized that I was provoked and Malfoy is the only one in the wrong here, so I can go on my merry way while he cleans until dawn.

Unfortunately, she just bids us good luck and swiftly exits the room.

Malfoy and I start cleaning in awkward silence. This will be the first time we've spoken outside of classroom assignment talk since the slapping incident. Or maybe we can just not talk at all. That would actually make this detention much more enjoyable.

But of course I never get what I wish for when Malfoy is involved. He breaks the silence. "So. How about the Christmas ball?"

"What about it, Malfoy?" I snap.

Okay. So I sounded a bit hostile. It was just an innocent question. No need to get fired up or anything.

"Cool it, Weasley. I'm serious. We need to start planning this thing since we never got around to it over the weekend…"

I sigh. So he's being civil. I can deal with that.

"Well, what do you have in mind, Malfoy?" I ask.

His eyes lock onto mine for the first time since the slap. I have to force myself to look away.

"Well," he says, "I was thinking we should do a theme that couples will appreciate. Put a little romance in the Hogwarts air." Ha. Malfoy. Romance. "Which means everyone must go with a date. No date, no dance." He smirks.

Hmm. "Actually, that's not a bad idea," I say thoughtfully, thinking of Randy and Lily. Lily will love this idea. Well, she will once Randy asks her. "Plus," I add as an afterthought, "that will guarantee no dealing with Zabini for the night."

Malfoy laughs. I look at him in surprise.

"What?" he asks. "I agree with you. I'm sick of her." I grin. "Who knew you were actually funny, Weasley?"

I roll my eyes. "I'll take that as a compliment." Malfoy always knows how to turn a perfectly good compliment upside down. It's really a fine-tuned skill that he has. I almost respect it.

Almost.

We continue to work in silence for a while. I wouldn't say it's comfortable, but at least it isn't awkward anymore.

"So," says Malfoy, breaking the silence yet again, "I'm betting you finished that transfiguration already."

I frown at my reflection in the trophy I'm cleaning. Of course I did, but what exactly is he implying? That I'm a bookworm with no life?

"Why do you care, Malfoy?" I ask. The hostility is back. I really need to learn to keep that under control.

He smirks. "So that's a yes then," he says with finality.

I glare. "Excuse me. Don't act like you have me all figured out, Malfoy."

"But you did finish it didn't you?" he asks, now with a full grin. Boy, he looks good when he grins. He should do it more often. Not that I care.

Back to reality. "Don't assume. You don't know anything about me, Malfoy," I say with contempt. So he thinks I have no life and go around writing papers ahead of time for fun? I don't care how good he looks. He's a twit. I continue to seethe while polishing a trophy a bit too heavily.

"Actually, Weasley," he says conversationally, "I know more about you than you think."

I give him a suspicious look. "Oh really," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes dramatically. "Enlighten me."

He gives me a challenging glare, his silver eyes ablaze. "Well, I knew your favorite flower, didn't I?"

I am slightly stunned. I mean he did know it. But I won't admit defeat. "It was a lucky guess. A vast amount of girls like orchids."

He looks away. We continue cleaning in silence. I feel his eyes on me and look up. That flash of emotion that I've seen so many times now crosses his face. He looks back to his trophy.

"I also know," he says, not looking up, "that you hate the name Rosey."

It's true, I absolutely despise it. Not that I've ever told anyone. I don't want to crush my family by telling them that their nickname for me has been a right pain in the arse.

"And what makes you say that, Malfoy?" I ask in a bored tone.

He glances at me briefly. "Different things, Weasley. I dunno."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever, Malfoy. I'll have you know that I love being called Rosey. I think it's quite a nice nickname."

He snickers. "Yeah right, Weasley. Just admit that I'm right."

"I would if you were," I lie.

"Well, Rosey, I've seen the way you look when people say that name. It's in your eyes. If one looks closely, there's this flicker in your eyes and one can tell that you don't like it."

He says this so diplomatically. I open my mouth to protest, but I can't think of anything to say. "It's in your eyes." What does that mean? Since when does Malfoy pay attention to my eyes?

My thoughts are interrupted when Malfoy snidely says, "I guess I won that battle."

"Yeah right, Malfoy," I say, throwing my towel at him. But I can't think of an argument.

He tosses my towel back and says, "You know, Weasley, this detention isn't as bad as I was expecting. You can actually be kind of tolerable sometimes."

I glare, but can't help but grin a bit. It was almost nice. "Thanks, Malfoy. You're a real charmer with lines like th- "

"Hey, Miss Rose!"

I turn around and see Tyler standing in the doorway. I'm a bit stunned and don't really react as he comes over and hugs me, giving me a peck on the cheek.

"I figured I'd stop by and say hello," he says, grinning that signature grin of his. "I brought you this…"

He pulls a daisy from his robe. Okay, it's not my favorite flower, but it's a nice gesture. It's no orchid…

What am I thinking? It's a beautiful flower. I feel Malfoy's eyes on me but I force myself to keep looking at Tyler.

"Thanks, Tyler," I say, coming to my senses. I give a small smile. What is wrong with me? I should be thrilled to see him!

Tyler is still grinning away. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rosey. I hope detention goes fast."

I hear Malfoy scoff, but Tyler doesn't seem to notice. "Yeah, see you," I say lamely as he leaves the room.

Okay, so the awkward silence is back. Is it just me?

I continue polishing.

No. Definitely not just me. Malfoy hasn't even looked at me. He stops cleaning and stares at his trophy for a while.

"Friend of yours, Weasley?" he asks quietly. Oh God, now I have to tell Scorpius Malfoy about my love life.

I notice my hands are shaking and I grab a trophy. I look at Malfoy and see that flash of emotion once more. I take a deep breath.

"He's my boyfriend," I say.

Why, oh, why am I nervous right now? I should be happily telling Malfoy that I have a boyfriend. I'm not the loser he thinks I am. Someone actually does like me. I should be rubbing this in his face. But I can't bring myself to do it. I almost feel bad telling him and I have no idea why.

Malfoy walks towards the door.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

He tosses his towel to me with a dark look, and I catch it.

"Clean the rest yourself."

And with that he leaves me alone.

A/N: So, Malfoy is clearly upset about the Rose/Tyler situation, and from here on out things are only going to get more complicated! Next chapter is the longest yet, and you won't want to miss it, trust me ;) I hope to have it posted by Wednesday!

Thanks again to all my reviewers/followers/faves... especially the wonderful people who have diligently been reviewing every chapter! You guys are the best! Can't wait to hear more from everyone :)