Rose's POV

You know that thing I said earlier about things being okay? It turned out that wasn't true. Things just went more to Azkaban than they already were in the first place.

First of all, I have the worst headache since the beginning of time. It feels like my head will implode any second now. Also, I've been late for every class the latest two days. Why, you may ask? I've been kind of distracted lately, but we'll get to that later.

The major thing that's currently making me stab the waffle on my plate with my fork so viciously I can feel Anna's concern from the other side of the table is, you guessed it, Scorpius Malfoy. Will he ever not be a problem? I honestly don't know.

Yesterday, I sought him out in the library after being bothered by Jennie the entire day. I was going to do like she told me and finally ask him if he's dating Lisa Bynes, like I've been wondering since they started hanging out after that Quidditch game two weeks ago. Even though it might seem very unlikely, I don't do this regularly. Question my friends to find out stuff about their love-lives, that is.

So, I found him in the library where he was busy with his Potions homework. I said hi and he gave me a quick glance and mumbled a hello. I didn't want to bother him so I took a seat beside him and started reading a book. My concentration didn't last for too long though.

Soon, the words started making no sense at all, and I had to look up from my book. Scorpius was quite a sight, actually. His tie was rather loose, probably from being tugged at so much and that hair, that lovely platinum-blond hair was in his face.

I had the biggest urge to just lean over and stroke it away from his forehead, but as that probably would have been seen as rather inappropriate, I refrained. Instead, I cleared my throat. He didn't look up. I bit my lip.

'Are you dating Lisa Bynes?' I asked him, and immediately cursed my stupid brain for acting on its own.

He looked up at me and didn't even look shocked. He probably knew I was going to ask him that. I swallowed.

'Why do you care?' he asked me, and sounded just a tiny bit annoyed with me.

I decided to joke about it.

'Eh ... I'm just asking. I mean, as your self-proclaimed best friend, I kinda feel like it's not a completely stupid question,' I said.

I realised it was a mistake the moment he put is pen down in a very dramatic gesture (damn those Malfoy-genes) and stared at me. I swallowed. Again.

'You've never cared before, so why the sudden interest?' he asked, and I swear to Merlin I had, and still have no idea what I did to make him so defensive.

Baffled, I searched my brain for the best answer.

'Eh ... I mean, I like Lisa ... so I was just wondering ... ' I said, stupidly enough.

'You didn't like my previous girlfriends?' he drawled.

I raised my eyebrows. Still too baffled to answer I stuttered:

'Eh ... Of course I did! I mean, I ... eh ...'

His answer was immediate and with a more annoyed tone than ever.

'Just leave it, Rose,'

'I was just wondering, because Al said-'

That was a lie, of course. Al hadn't said a thing, but I couldn't tell him that.

'Please, Rose. Just mind your own business,' he said, and this time he didn't even look up.

By then I was furious. I had the biggest urge to just smack him over the head and leave, but instead, I composed myself.

'Fine, then,' I said, and stood up.

He glanced at me, and for that one moment when our eyes met, I saw a shadow of regret on his face. I didn't bother to stay and wait for him to apologise though, and instead I just walked away, cursing that stupid temperamental git that I call my best friend.

You can see why I'm pissed, right? I mean, how much crap is a girl supposed to be able to take when she's already in the worst mood ever?

'Hey, Rose, that waffle hasn't done anything to hurt you,' Jennie says. I turn my head to her. The look on my face makes her look at me, concerned.

'Alright, what did that git do this time?' she asks.

I pretend to have no idea what she's talking about.

'Nothing,' I lie.

Or, technically, he hasn't done anything. I'm probably overreacting.

'Then what's wrong?' Anna asks.

'Nothing, he was just in a pissy mood,' I say, continuing to stab my waffle.

I feel them glare at me, but try to ignore them anyway. When I look up and they're still staring, I sigh and tell them what happened yesterday.

'What a git!' Anna says, which really isn't like her. I resist the urge to smile and instead stand up.

'Gotta get to class,' I say.

Better start now. I don't want to be late again. I run off to class and the very first thing that happens when I get out in the hallway is that I drop my books on the floor. Great. This day is going to be bloody fantastic, really.

By lunchtime I'm already in such a foul mood I can't even believe Jennie and Anna have agreed to eat with me. The Scorpius-thing is bothering me more by the second, and seeing him being all talkative with Lisa does not help. At all.

To make everything worse I've already been given a tonne of homework! And it's Friday! I'm supposed to rest over the weekend, not work like a bloody slave in the library!

I don't really have anything else to do, though, as Scorpius is probably going to Hogsmeade with Lisa or something equally uninteresting. It's not like I care. He can do whatever he wants, and besides, I'm still too angry to even think about coming with him anywhere.

Luckily, me and Jennie share the next class, so at least I have moral support.

It turns out I'm going to need it, I think as I see Scorpius and Lisa walking towards us on our way to class. I sigh. Of course. They're laughing and talking loudly, like they've been doing a lot these past two weeks. Scorpius laugh seems to trail off when he sees me though. I ignore him. It's not like this day can get any worse, but I don't want to take any risks.

'Hi!' Lisa greets me.

I force a smile on my lips and say hello. What does she want? Isn't it enough that she's stolen my best friend? She's going to act nice about it too?

Deep in my soul, I know it's not her fault that Scorpius happened to inherit his mother's terribly jumpy mood, and that I really have no excuse for being jealous, seeing as I don't own him. I ignore that, of course. I mostly do.

'On your period, I notice,' Jennie says to Scorpius when she sees the look he's giving me.

I feel like putting my tongue out at him, but that would probably be a bit too childish.

Jennie takes care of my need to hurt him by bumping in to his shoulder when she passes him. As soon as we've passed him and Lisa, we high-five each other. This day just got a lot better.

The day didn't get to stay good for very long. Soon, I found myself glaring at Lisa and Scorpius in every class we shared with Slytherin for the rest of the day. The jealousy was serving like a constant reminder of how utterly pathetic I am for falling for the one person that I can't ever have. Remind me to never do that again, please. However, I was distracted in every class, which made the professors less than pleased with me.

By the time I get to the common room, I'm already in my worst mood again. It doesn't help that I have so much homework to do I can barely wrap my head around where to start.

Just when I put the finishing touch on my Charms essay and smile proudly to myself, I hear the portrait hole swinging open. In runs Ashleigh, flailing as she's trying to dry her tears and hold on to her bag at the same time. She's already passed me by the time I react. I waste no time on arranging my things neatly, but simply throw them in my bag and set off after her. By the time I reach her, she's already in our dorm, on her pink, fluffy bed, crying her eyes out.

'Ashleigh!' I call out.

I run over to sit down beside her at her bed. Her blonde hair is spread out around her head on her pillow. She's sobbing furiously. I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

'Are you okay?' I ask in my softest voice, that's reserved for these kind of things.

I'm rather sure she's not okay, but it's the only thing my lousy brain can come up with at the moment. I seriously want a refund for it.

Ashleigh looks up at me with the most crushed expression I've ever seen on another human being. In that moment, I swear that I will hunt down whoever did this to her and hurt that person severely.

That may be my sudden thirst for blood speaking. The tears come streaming down even more frequently when she opens her mouth to answer.

'I-I gu-guess,' she says, and tries to dry her tears. 'ju-just su-surprised, I suppose,' she continues.

She drops her head down on her pillow after that, like she can't even bear to hold it up. I frown.

'Why? What's happened, Ashleigh?' I ask.

I've read somewhere that addressing a person by their name might help calm them down. It's obviously bullshit. Ashleigh starts sobbing even more, making the entire bed shake.

'A-al,' she says, and I'm immediately sure that there will be blood. 'sno-snogging that Pa-Patil s-slut ... right in front of me!' she finishes. Oh no. Oh hell no!

'I thought he had fe-feelings for me!' she yells in to her pillow. 'I know we weren't da-dating! But he said ...' she trails off.

She's crying more violently than ever now.

'I'm so sorry, sweetie,' I say, as calm as ever.

But inside, I'm boiling. I'm going to hex Al so hard, he isn't going to be able to hurt another girl at least a week. I sit there with Ashleigh for a while, trying to comfort her, until her friends arrive. I give her a hug before setting of towards the common room.

I get some confused looks from James and Hugo when passing through, as they find their greetings unanswered. Right now, my focus is on Albus Severus Potter and his upcoming demise. I step out of the portrait hole and push myself through a group of baffled third-years.

I'm driven purely by rage as I power-walk through the castle in search for some poor Slytherin. Unfortunately, the one I happen to run in to is the one I least desire to speak to.

'Heey!' Scorpius calls out when I'm a few feet away from him. I walk determinedly towards him.

'I was looking for you. Look, I'm sorry about yesterday, I-'

I cut him off by grabbing his stupid Slytherin tie and pushing him up against the wall. I don't even care about being so close to him that I can feel the heat of his body through his shirt, or that he has obviously just showered or that he looks so very adorable when he's shocked. Right now, I'm seeking revenge.

'Ro-'

Once again, I cut him off, this time by placing a finger on his oh-so-soft (but it's not like I care) lips.

'Where's Al?' I question.

He seems to notice the determination in my features and decides to answer me.

'In the common room,' he answers behind my finger, and I'm reminded to remove it.

I've got no time to spare though, so I take a tighter grip on his tie and start walking towards the Slytherin common room.

'Where are we going?' he asks, sounding rather worried, which he should be. I'm still mad at him.

'To your common room,' I growl.

He seems to understand his role in this mission, and doesn't say anything. When we've finally reached the dungeons, I let go of his tie. He adjusts it slightly before glancing at me worriedly. I glare at him.

'I'm not supposed to be letting you in here,' he says, and I know that he's just trying to win some time. With our generation, it's become far less taboo to spend time in another house's common room.

'Do I look like I want to negotiate?' I ask in my most serious tone.

He looks like he wants to say something, but refrains. A good choice, if you ask me.

He looks at me one last time before gracefully striding towards the door. He murmurs a password I cannot hear, and a path to the common room is opened. I brush past him when I walk in to the common room, and immediately start scanning the room.

Surprisingly, Al is all alone on the sofa, reading a book (what is going on in this world?). Al stands up and turns around. He has the most annoying smile on his face, which makes my blood boil. I take a few quick steps towards him

'Hey Rose! What-'

He's abruptly interrupted by my fist colliding with his jaw. As you can probably tell, my plan went to hell. This will have to do instead. Al staggers backwards from the punch. There's no blood or anything, but I'm pretty sure I hit kinda hard, as my fist hurts. I shake it a tiny bit.

'What the hell, Rose?' Al asks as he looks at me with a rather comedic expression on his face. He rubs his jaw.

'That was for Ashleigh, you bloody git!' I yell at him. Realisation creeps on to his face.

'I didn't mean to, it was stupid!' he says to try to defend himself, which, of course, makes me even angrier.

'Do you think I care?' I yell. If the Slytherins didn't hear that, they must have reduced hearing. 'You always do this! And I've had enough of you!' I yell. Al looks guilty. Like he realises what he's done.

'I'm sorry,' he says, and looks at the ground. Right now, he looks more like a scared boy than a misogynistic wanker. I feel a bit bad for punching him now.

'Rose ...' I hear Scorpius say behind me.

All of the sudden, I feel like I'm about to explode. I don't know what it is, but I feel so angry at the sound of his voice. It's something about it that makes me want to punch him too. I turn around so quickly I almost lose balance for a second.

He's looking at me like he's going to tell me to calm down. That's the final straw. I finally lose it. My anger explodes like a ticking bomb all over the room, burning everyone in sight. Figuratively speaking, that is.

'And you!' You bloody wanker!' I yell at a absolutely terrified Malfoy, who seems to have no idea what's going on. 'You think you can do whatever the fuck you want! Oh, treat Rose like shit and ignore her. Oh, she won't mind, as long as I apologise afterwards! You fucking idiot!' I yell so fiercely I have to catch my breath for a moment.

Damn, that felt good.

'I'm done with you! I'm done with both of you!' I scream.

I don't mean it, but for some reason, I want them to think I do. Bloody twats, they are. Scorpius is so shocked he can't say a thing, and I guess Al is in a similar state. I give Scorpius my meanest glare before stomping out of the Slytherin common room.

The tears don't come until I'm safe and sound in my own common room. Anna, who's sitting with Jennie by the fire, immediately reacts and sits me down between them. When both of them have rubbed my back for at least five minutes, I can finally start talking.

'Boys suck,' is all I can say before I start sobbing again, even more violently than ever. I feel ashamed that those two annoying prats were able to reduce me to this state, but I don't really care.

'Oh, Rosie, I know. I know, ' Anna says. I rest my head on her shoulder, while Jennie gives me a napkin.

This weekend is going to suck.

The rest of Friday and the entire Saturday is spent by me and Ashleigh laying in our beds talking about how much we hate the boys in our lives, eating ice-cream and singing along to Anna's muggle music.

Al, who apparently realised what a git he is, has stopped by several times, according to Jennie and Anna. He's left a bunch of gifts too. Looking at Ashleigh's cupboard, you could think she's a patient at St. Mungos.

He was even kind enough to leave me a bouquet of lovely flowers, with a little note attached that said 'Sorry you had to punch me,' which made me giggle.

Scorpius has stopped by too. He left me a book and a box of chocolates, testifying just how well he knows me. Anna was so touched by that gesture that she tried to convince me to come down and speak to him. I just told her to tell him to go away, which I kind of regret right now, on Sunday morning, when Ashleigh's left to hear Al out and Anna and Jennie have left for Hogsmeade.

I look around my bed a bit. There's no chocolates left and the only entertainment I have is reading the book Scorpius gave me again. Sigh.

After a few seconds of contemplating it, I decide to get up. I have barely left this bed for 24 hours, I realise, as I swing my legs over the edge.

After a shower, some make-up and some clean clothes I'm like a new person. Happily, I make my bed, and even bother to clean up a bit around it. That tantrum was really needed, I realise, as I once again read the note Scorpius sent me without a trace of anger left.

'Please don't leave me. The world is scary without you.'

I smile the biggest smile I've smiled in days and decide to go looking for him. The first thing that hits me when I leave my dorm is the blinding sunlight. It burns my eyes and makes me realise just how isolated I've truly been. I'm met with many greetings in the common room, that I cheerily return. Before I've even left the common room, I feel way better than I did before.

In the hallways, things are like they've always been. The stonewalls are as solid as ever and the ceiling is still majestically high. The sun is peeping through every window, leaving patterns on the walls. The castle is even decorated, I notice.

Wonderful Christmas decorations can be seen all over the castle. In my isolation, I'd almost forgot how quick time passes. Soon, it's Christmas, which means holiday. I'm by no means glad to leave Hogwarts, but I have to admit that I've missed the Burrow and my family.

I slow down for a while to watch the decorations. I wonder if grandma has decorated yet. She probably has. She always does. That woman will never grow tired of doing stuff like that.

'Rose?' I turn around curiously.

'Al?'

He looks at me carefully, and I can see that his jaw is slightly red still. I feel so bad, but I can't help but giggle a bit. He did deserve it.

He doesn't say anything. His intense green eyes look at everything but me, and I can see why. This is awkward. Very awkward. He probably thinks I'm going to punch him again.

'I'm sorry for punching you,' I try.

Baffled, he looks up at me. Is me being kind really that strange?

'I deserved it,' he says, ' I shouldn't have tried to make her jealous.'

He rubs his jaw slightly. I smile apologetically.

'I should probably go find Scorpius and apologise.'

Al looks up at me curiously.

'He deserved it too.'

'He probably just had a lot to do. You know how bad he is at dealing with stress,' I say, although I kind of agree with Al.

'Rose, I don't think ...' Al starts.

I give him a look, urging him to continue.

'What?'

Why does it seem like everyone's suddenly keeping secrets from me? What happened to telling your friends everything?

'Are you back together with Alex?'

Al's question takes my by surprise, and my initial reaction is to laugh at him. Why would I be back with Alex? I have barely seen him since we broke up.

'What?'

I continue laughing, an Al just stares at me.

'He's been sneaking away from dinner and missing Quidditch practices, so I guess we jumped to conclusions a bit.'

Al stutters a bit, which only makes me laugh harder.

'Why didn't you just ask me?' I ask, and by then I'm almost on the floor.

'Well, uh... We, err... I don't know,' he says and in that moment I seriously wonder, for the first time in my life, how this bloke gets so many ladies.

'Right. Because you're boys.'

I laugh a bit more, but trail off when I see the face Al makes. He honestly looks so much like a confused little child that I can't bear to laugh at him.

'Oh,Al.'

I hug him. He hugs me back, but not before flinching a bit.

'Now, where's your better half?' I let him go.

'He's in the library with Lisa.' Al seems uncomfortable when saying that. He really is a generally awkward person when it comes to feelings, isn't he?

'Okay!' I say, as happily as every.

It's not like I can ignore her forever. Scorpius deserves to be happy, I convince myself as I wave goodbye to Al and set off to the library. Besides, Lisa being around might help me get over this silly crush so that all of us can move on with our lives.

With that attitude, I walk into the library. The first thing I notice is them, of course. They're sitting opposite from each other at a very small table, seemingly reading. When I come closer I notice that they are in fact whispering. About what, I couldn't tell you, because they really are quiet. Before I can speak up, Lisa notices me.

'Rose!'

She smiles at me, which makes that stupidly perfect face of hers light up. Isn't she supposed to be a mean Slytherin?

'Hi Lisa!'

I put as much joy as I can in my voice, and pray that it didn't come out as sarcastic. It probably did.

Scorpius, who seems to be a bit out of it, stands up so abruptly his chair nearly falls over when he sees me. Both me and Lisa give him a look clearly stating we think he's gone mental.

'Rose?' he breaths.

I feel like laughing at his surprised face.

'No, Hugo,' I joke.

He smiles a tiny bit, but he still seems to be too shocked to say anything. Poor guy probably thought I'd never speak to him again.

On the other side of the table, Lisa is watching me expectantly.

'Oh my, it's almost lunchtime! I have to go!' she exclaims. I don't bother to look at her in distrust, as she's very aware that it's not lunch in at least an hour.

Quickly, she assembles her things, nods at Scorpius, who still looks dumb-founded and starts walking away. As she passes me she gives me a meaningful look, that I cannot for the life of me comprehend. Does it mean she wants me to stay away from Scorpius? In that case, she's got nothing to worry about. Seriously.

I walk over and sit down at the chair Lisa's just abandoned. Scorpius sits down obediently, but his grey eyes are watching me carefully.

'I'm not going to hex you.'

I smile reassuredly at him. He goes on staring. Looks like that charm of his doesn't work when he's in shock, which makes this a lot easier for me.

'I wasn't expecting you to.'

He sounds a tiny bit doubting still, which makes me want to laugh. Again.

'I'm so sorry I treated you that way, Rose. I just had so much to do, and... well, you know...I really didn't intend to hurt my favourite person in the entire world,' he says.

Finally, he smiles. Looks like the charm is back on, and I must act fast. Without looking at him, I shoot him down.

'Why are you lying?'

I say it with a smile, so he won't run away in terror. When I look back at him, he's staring at me in disbelief. I would like to say it makes him look comedic, like with Al, but it doesn't really. It just makes him look like the most snoggable creature on this planet. Ahem.

'What do you mean?'

He clearly has no idea what I'm speaking about, which makes this even more amusing than I expected it to be.

'You didn't have a lot to do. You were mad at me because you thought I was back together with Alex.' I say it in my most confident tone, which is hard, because Scorpius has started to regain his composure and is piercing my brain with those eyes.

I blink a few times. Focus.

'I... don't know what to say. You got me,' he says in his most charming tone.

He's very well aware of what he's doing, I'm sure. But he won't get me this time.

'I'd like to know why.' I feel proud of my delivery of that line, which was flawlessly cool and not stuttered at all. Hah!

'Eh ...'

Now, it's him who is insecure. This is really working better than I expected it to. Better than it should've, I realise, when he starts rubbing his neck with his hand, which draws my attention to it. You can't really blame me! It's a really nice neck.

'I don't ... Err ...'

It really is frightening how incredibly irresistible a neck can look. It's just not fair. Suddenly, he turns at me and stares at me so intensely I'm caught off guard. No trace of insecurity is left when he opens his mouth to speak.

'Rose, I-' he starts, and in that moment, Ashleigh decides to waltz right in and drop a box of chocolates on the table. Both me and Scorpius jump in surprise, but Scorpius looks more relieved than surprised.

'He gave me another box of chocolates! Can you believe it?' Ashleigh exclaims.

Scorpius shakes his head excitedly, like it's the most interesting thing he's heard all day. For some reason, he seems to be very glad he didn't have to finish his sentence, which probably means it was something that would've made me hex him.

I squint at him and shake my head.

You got away this time, Malfoy, but I won't let that happen again.

Author's Note: Hullo! I don't have much to say so I'll just shortly explain why I did what I did with this chapter. I feel like I've made Scorpius a bit of a Gary-Stu, and I hate that. So, for that reason, I wanted to show a bit of his meaner side (basically being a possessive jerk at times) that I've imagined him having.

Anyway, that's it, and once again, thanks to all the people who read, review, alert and favourite this story! It wouldn't be half as fun to write without you! :)

If you feel like it, you're welcome to write a review! Constructive criticism and feedback is always appreciated! :D

Yours,

Moon