"Where are you going?" Lily asked semi-suspiciously.
"Out," Rose said stiffly.
Lily could see that. Rose was wearing a lacey white top with a black skirt that clung to her hips and ended mid thigh.
"Where's Scorpius?" she asked.
"He needed a break from you lot," she said cruelly.
Lily blushed. If he didn't want to be around her then why did he kiss her? She didn't understand him at all.
"Well good," she said. "I think Uncle Ron needed a break from him too."
"Dad doesn't care," Rose said indifferently. She really wasn't bothered with pissing her father off anymore. His comment about settling down was something she honestly didn't care about. It was like a distant memory even though it had happened two weeks ago.
"Do you still want to be a bridesmaid?" Lily asked abruptly.
"Whatever you want dearest cousin," Rose said.
"I just want to get through this wedding," Lily said. "And then lets just avoid each other. I can't handle you Rose."
Rose just shrugged. "Sure," she said.
Lily looked slightly dissatisfied but walked away. Rose used to be her favourite cousin. She had idolized her when she was younger. She had always seemed so cool, so put together. But Rose was more screwed up than anyone she knew and she just couldn't be bothered to make an effort with her anymore.
Rose apparated to Scorpius's house.
"Honey I'm home," she called teasingly.
"And I for one am glad," a distinctly amused voice said. She froze. That was not Scorpius.
""Oh uh hello," she said a little bit flummoxed because the man sitting on the couch was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful she had seen in her life. He had smooth dark skin and curly hair. His face was simply perfect. He had high cheekbones, an aquiline nose and a strong jawline. His eyes were a chocolaty shade of brown and they were filled with mirth. He smiled at her. Goddammit he had perfect teeth too.
"You must be Miss Weasley," he said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. She noticed that he had laugh lines around his mouth and immediately felt more comfortable.
"And you are?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
"This is Daemon Zabini," Scorpius said walking into the room. He didn't seem too pleased to see Rose. "You're early."
"I got bored of my family," she said, though that was only half true. The truth was that she had missed having an ally at the Burrow and was already regretting telling Scorpius to leave.
"And where were you planning to go?" Daemon asked.
"Drexel's," Scorpius said shortly.
"You can come if you like," Rose offered because damn that boy was beautiful.
She didn't notice Scorpius's face darkening a little. And even if she had she probably wouldn't care because that was how attractive Daemon Zabini was.
"It would be my pleasure," he said.
"Shall we?" she asked, holding her arms out. Scorpius's ban on apparation hadn't been lifted yet so he didn't have a choice. He gritted his teeth and grabbed her hand.
"I'll meet you there," Daemon said as they apparated away.
When they got to the club Scorpius let go of her immediately.
"Merlin Malfoy," Rose said with smile to mask her hurt. "Is having to touch me really that bad?"
Daemon apparated in before he could answer and the three of them headed inside. Rose and Scorpius ordered Firewhiskeys and Daemon got something called a Brass Kneazle.
"He likes experimenting," Scorpius explained.
"Want to try some?" he asked, when they got their drinks. He offered Rose a sip and she almost choked. Merlin it was like drinking Fiendfyre.
"Not your cup of tea?" he asked cheekily.
"I think I'll stick to my Firewhiskey," she said with a laugh.
Scorpius just stared ahead, his expression stony. Daemon had already suspected something was up when Scorpius was more brusque than usual at the apartment and now he was almost seventy percent sure that his sometimes friend had feelings for the attractive Weasley girl.
"Want to dance Miss Weasley?" Daemon asked. Just because his friend may or may not like her didn't mean he wasn't going to have as much fun as he could.
Scorpius frowned as Rose took his outstretched hand. As he saw them dance he felt conflicted. Why did she have to come so early dammit? He would have had Daemon out in no time. She laughed at something his idiot friend had said and he just scowled.
"Another Firewhiskey Mr. Malfoy?" the bartender asked smoothly. He looked down at his glass and realised he had almost finished the whole thing. Merlin's pants this girl was going to turn him into an alcoholic.
"Why not," he said with a shrug.
Rose was actually having fun. Daemon was really quite cool. He flirted with her and made her feel desirable. After Scorpius being almost afraid to touch her it was nice.
"Do you want to come for my cousin's rehearsal dinner on Saturday?" she shouted over the noise of the club.
"Isn't that just for family and friends?" he shouted back.
"I'm family and you're my friend now," she said. "It'll be better if you're there too."
"Sure," he said smiling his incredibly sexy smile.
He put his hands on her hips and she marveled again at his attractiveness.
"Come on boy," she teased. "You can do better than that."
She positioned herself so that his hands were now touching her butt.
"As much as I'd love that," he said, moving his hands back to her waist. "I'd rather Scorpius not murder me."
"Oh we aren't really dating," she said. They were quite close to each other so they didn't really have to shout anymore.
"Oh I know," he said kissing her cheek. "Still, never tickle a sleeping dragon."
And with that slightly cryptic remark he walked back to the bar. Scorpius was sitting there looking thoroughly put out.
They didn't spend too much time at the bar. Rose had decided she was hungry so they stopped off at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Hello Rose," the smiling landlady said. Hannah Longbottom was a friend of the family. She was also Ariana Longbottom's mother.
"Hey," Rose said. "Could we get something to eat?"
"Sure," Mrs. Longbottom said. "What would you like?"
"I'll have the pickled eel," Daemon said.
"Eel?" Rose mouthed to Scorpius, semi-horrified.
Scorpius nodded and made a face.
"I'll have the steak and kidney pie," Rose said.
"I'll have fish and chips," Scorpius said. "And a Butterbeer wouldn't go amiss."
"Ooh I'd like a Butterbeer too," Rose said.
"Me three," Daemon piped up.
"Coming right up," Mrs. Longbottom said.
"I told Daemon he could come for the rehearsal dinner," Rose said brightly.
"That'll be fun," Scorpius said, though his tone suggested it would be anything but.
Rose realised to her surprise that she felt more comfortable around these people than she did with her own family. Even though she had just met Zabini and had only really known Scorpius for about a week they were her friends. Rose hadn't had friends in the longest time. At school she had always had Al. She hadn't needed anyone else. They had both gotten sorted into Gryffindor, they had both been on the Quidditch team, and they had even taken similar classes for their NEWTs.
But after school she hadn't had anyone. She had people she partied with and people she worked with, but no friends. And this was nice.
Friends. The thought made Rose smile as she apparated back to the Burrow. She was still smiling when she nearly squashed Al by apparating straight on top of him.
"Oi watch where you're going woman," he said, sounding so much like her dad she just had to laugh.
"I see you've been having fun," he said massaging his head and looking at her balefully.
"You could say that," she said.
"Look Rose," he said. "Don't screw him up."
"What?" she asked.
"It's just that at first I thought you were dating because you just wanted to annoy Uncle Ron," Al said. "And then I figured it was because you're both disgustingly horny. But-"
"But what?" she asked sharply.
"Well I was just coming to that wasn't I?" he said, sounding injured.
"Fine fine," she said impatiently.
"This morning…well you obviously hadn't had a very good night," he said carefully. "And you weren't looking at him but he kept shooting you like the weirdest looks."
"Weird how?" Rose asked slowly.
"I can't explain it," Al said. "Its just that Scorpius doesn't look at anyone that way."
"You're delusional," she said.
"Just don't do your normal Rose thing," Al said.
"And what's my normal Rose thing?" she asked.
"Y'know, string along a bloke for a while and then laugh as he falls hopelessly in love with you and then run off to the next poor bastard," Al said. "I mean you did it all the time in school."
"Well there's no danger of that happening here," she said. She almost wished what Al was saying were true but she knew it wasn't. She had slept with him for Merlin's sake and now he refused to touch her.
Al looked utterly unconvinced.
She just shook her head at him. "You're an idiot," she said, but quite kindly.
He sniffed and walked back into the house. As he left a piece of paper fluttered out of his pocket, probably dislodged by his collision with his cousin.
"You forgot this," she called after him, but he didn't hear her.
She looked at it critically. The letter smelled rather nice. Why on earth would anyone send Albus a nice smelling letter she wondered? And then, even though she knew it was wrong, she opened it.
a/n: Well we all know who that letter's from :P Hope you liked the chapterr :P Please review :)