DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius or bickering.

Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Rose and Scorpius share a hate/hate relationship. So everyone thought. Even Rose and Scorpius themselves. It just took them a while to get anything right. :ScorpiusRose postDH NextGen:

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR: The Bickering One.

I believe the term is 'cloud nine'. Where you couldn't be happier, so you're basically on the ninth cloud in heaven. I think my aura is somewhere up on cloud a million.

Scorpius Malfoy is officially my boyfriend!

Five years. That's how long it took us. Nearly five years of taunting, yelling, tears, snogging and the occasional electrocution, but somehow, we finally got it right. What the hell was going on? This kind of stuff doesn't happen to me!

I must've done something bloody incredible in a former life to deserve this.

The news of Mal – er, Scorpius? Malfoy? I don't bloody know what to call him anymore, but the news of us travelled at quite frankly, an alarming rate. I was actually rather concerned at the fact that all anyone could talk about was us!

The amount of people who thought it was a joke was so large, it actually was almost funny. Libby and Jo were still trying to get their heads around it – together, they'd lost 14 Galleons and 6 Sickles to Lily (who was still pooling in the money. I'd lost count as to how many people were now in debt). The two had cornered me that evening in our dormitory room to ask me if we were putting it on, just so Lily could get her winnings. When I had assured them that we really were going out, it'd taken them nearly 15 minutes to stop gaping at me. Then, they had proceeded to ask me when the hell I'd started fancying him, which of course took a bloody while to explain.

Bea didn't show up during our lengthy discussion, however Geraldine did and of course she had to get in on the explanation as well. However, since my explanation involved having to go all the way to the beginning and we were currently on Third Year, I was naturally a little pissed off to have to repeat it and also, a little concerned as to where the hell Bea was.

Seeing as Lucy Bloody Harley had stormed off, she hadn't seen the actual snogging part of the Confrontation (which is what everyone seems to keep calling our row in the Entrance Hall for some reason. I shrewdly suspect Lily). Therefore, she got the shock of her life when she saw us walk into Defence Against the Dark Arts, holding hands.

"Oh my god, Sir I don't think she's breathing!" Tessa Bletchley had cried in alarm and there was pandemonium for a few minutes as Harley was sent to the Hospital Wing for shock. While Malfoy (Scorpius? I dunno) was naturally slightly concerned for his friend, I was pretty sure that life couldn't get much better than that.

At first, my cousins found the whole thing just damn impossible to believe. When they finally came around, they seemed to find it hilarious. My charming little brother just pointed and laughed when he first saw me the next morning, gasping something like "Merlin! Dad! Kill! Haha!" between his hysterics. Roxanne would giggle whenever I caught her eye, while Lucy and Fred tried to adjust to the idea that I'd done a complete 180 when it came to my opinion of Malfoy (even though that I had tried explaining that I still hated him – it was just I also loved him).

James on the other hand was taking the disbelieving approach, considering he'd lost what was apparently a small fortune to Lily. Whenever I saw him, he seemed to be complaining to everyone from his Professors, to Lily herself.

While these reactions were important to know, there were really only two that I was truly worried about. I woke up late the next morning, so I didn't see them until I got to the Entrance Hall, just before breakfast. I had caught up to them and they turned when I called, however didn't say anything. I didn't either. The three of us had just stood there, looking at each other. Then, I had practically asked,

"Er … I'm in love with him?"

And Bea had flung herself into my arms, Al grinning behind us.

"Holy flipping Merlin, Rosie!" she had said over my shoulder, squeezing the life out of me. "You love him!" To my absolute amazement, my best friend seemed to be sobbing. "Damn it, why d'you do this to me? I'm so bloody happy for you! Oh, it's absolutely mad of course, I mean Malfoy? Really? But Merlin, I'm just glad you've found someone!"

"Er, Bea?" Al had to peel her off me. "You might want to loosen up a bit … looks like you're strangling her …"

"Yeah," I had gasped, rubbing my ribs as Bea had finally let go. "But thanks."

Then it had been Al's turn to hug me. "It's been nice knowing you, cousin," he had said, simply. "I'll miss you when you're dead."

"Cheers, Al." I had said back, rolling my eyes.

Yeah ok, while I had won around my best friends, I knew it was going to take a lot more to get my parents on board. Not that my brother was helping matters. To my chagrin, those photos he took wound up in the hands of Professor Longbottom, as I subconsciously knew they would. At the end of Herbology that morning, he'd ended up taking me aside and sitting me down for a 'chat'.

"Rose," he had said, trying to look as non-threatening as possible, I'm sure. "I really can't ignore this. I'm talking to you now as a family friend, rather than your teacher. You do know that your father will probably try and kill him?"

I had sighed. "I do know that, Professor," I'd told him. "But I'm not just going to give up because my parents won't like him."

Professor Longbottom had looked at me for a moment, then finally smiled. "Well, I can't say I expected this, what with that personal vendetta you seemed to have kept up since you first arrived here, but I'm glad you're serious enough about it. You're definitely Ron and Hermione's daughter, Rose. Love, determination and public snogging …" He gestured to the photos on his desk and my neck went red.

Eventually he had let me go, promising that he wouldn't tell Mum and Dad until I did. I was kind of relieved it hadn't gone worse, but thanks to Hugo, I'd had to listen to my Herbology Professor say the word 'snogging'.

So I begged my cousins and wonderful brother to not tell any of their siblings, or parents, or basically anyone who had the potential to come in contact with Ron and Hermione Weasley, about Malfoy and me.

I planned to tell Mum and Dad … eventually. Or well, we only had exams and then we were out for the summer! So I figured that that would be the best time. Dad will probably have a heart attack, while Mum might possibly faint, so I need time to be prepared for any reaction. Like, get titanium-steel skin, or something.

My main reason for not telling them now however, seeing as a letter would be a whole lot safer in the long run (since there was no possible way of Dad strangling me, or my new boyfriend), was because I myself needed time for it to sink in.

I'd spent so long suppressing any kind of happy feelings towards Malfoy that now I wasn't really sure how to go about it. It felt … different. Not wrong, definitely not wrong. But different. To be honest, I found it a little weird, but then nothing's ever gone right for me – why should it start now?

After snogging him in the middle of the Entrance Hall, I had figured that I'd suffered through enough crap for one lifetime and that it would simply be the start of our relationship. But of course things never go exactly right.

After the Confrontation, Malfoy had led the way to an empty classroom. Even though he held my hand and it felt, to be honest completely thrilling, it was still bloody awkward. I barely even looked at him as we sat stiffly side by side on one of the desks, neither of us saying anything. I twisted my fingers together, not really believing that seconds before, it had been his fingers between mine.

Eventually, Malfoy asked, "Weas – er, sorry, Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me that you're just as awkward as I am?" He gave me a shaky smile.

"Bloody hell, yes." I answered.

Malfoy took a deep breath. "Good. Erm … I guess we should talk then …"

"Don't suppose there's any chance we can just snog and skip all that?" I asked, giving a weak smile.

Malfoy snorted. "Trust me, I'd much rather do that than sit here and talk about our feelings," he said. He turned and looked straight at me. "But we have to."

I sighed. I knew it too, but that didn't make me any more of a happy camper. When we were silent for a few moments and I still refused to say anything, Malfoy gave an exasperated sigh.

"Oh for God's sake, say something!" he said.

"Well, what d'you want me to say?" I snapped back. "I've told you pretty much everything you need to know!"

"Yeah, all right, you apparently love me!" Malfoy yelled and it felt like I'd just been electrocuted as he said it. "But since when? Because I'm sorry if you thought otherwise, but you've kind of given the impression over the years that you can't stand me!"

"Yeah and I'm sorry if I thought that was true!" I said back, hotly.

"You thought?"

"Oh my god!" I gripped my hair in frustration as I jumped off the desk. I stalked a few paces away before turning back to face him. "I hate you!"

While before Malfoy had looked angry, now he just seemed utterly bewildered. "Then why the ever-loving hell did you snog me like that?"

"Because I love you!"

Malfoy just shook his head, closing his eyes warily. "You don't make any sense at all! You hate me and you love me?"

"I – well – you're one to talk!" I pointed an accusing finger at him from where he still sat on the desk, watching me pace with that half-bemused, half-irritated expression of his. "You hate me as well!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Yeah ok, most of the time I think you're the single most annoying person in the world but sor-ry–" He dragged out the word in two syllables. "–if I've been in love with you since I was thirteen!"

"I – what?" I momentarily lost my anger at him. "Thirteen?"

Malfoy had gone a slight shade of pink. "Er, well, yeah. It was, um, right after we kissed for the first time." He didn't elaborate, just continued staring at his hands.

I was sort of touched in a way, though I felt kind of bad for not figuring it out until much later. "I didn't realise until halfway through the Twelfth Night performance." I told him.

He gave me a weird look. "Is that why near the end, you suddenly looked like an owl had crapped in your face?"

"Charming."

"I'm known for them," Malfoy shrugged. "I'm serious though, that's also why you took off afterwards, smacking your head into a wall side-stage?"

"Er–" I cast around wildly for something to say that wouldn't make me sound completely mad. "–well, you were thirteen! Who the hell falls in love when they're thirteen?"

Malfoy rubbed his forehead in irritation. "Bloody Merlin, Weasl – oh, crap," he suddenly cut himself off. "I mean Rose – or – er – god, what the hell do I call you?"

"I don't know!" I said honestly, since I really didn't have a clue. "I'm still calling you Malfoy in my head!"

"You've always been Weasley to me," Mal – oh, I really should call him Scorpius, said. "But hell …"

"If it helps, it's still weird to call you Scorpius." I put in, shrugging.

He looked up at me. "You like to be called Rosie as well!" he said. "Dear god, this'll take some getting used to … I'm sorry, but 'Rosie' just feels plain strange to say."

"No shocker there." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Well ok, look … what if I just called you Rose?"

I had to supress a slight shudder. Hearing my name come from his mouth like that, simply had to be the sexiest thing alive and there was no way I was admitting that out loud.

"I … that's kind of hot."

Oh seriously, does my brain just not have a filter or something?

Mal – oh, Scorpius gave a slight twitch of his mouth, still sitting on the desk. I now leaned against the one opposite his. "Oh, really?"

I found myself nodding. "Almost as hot as Scorpius."

He closed his eyes for a moment before answering, "God, you're right. That is hot. Oh, that's just not fair," he added, looking back up at me. "Why does your name sound amazing whereas mine sounds like a brand of broomstick?"

"There's worse. Can I hear an 'Albus Severus'?"

Scorpius snorted, however that soon changed into a groan. "Oh bloody brilliant, I'm going to have to start calling your mates Albus and Beatrice now, aren't I?"

"Well, I'm sure they'd appreciate not being called 'Potter' and 'Bowmen' all the time," I pointed out. "This isn't a Military School."

Scorpius smirked. "Then it looks like my mates are Danny, Lucas and Lucy to you then."

"Oh, crap," I smacked a hand to my face. Even the thought of trying to call Harley by her first name made me squirm. "Though I must mention, call them 'Albus' and 'Beatrice' to their faces and they may just kill you."

Scorpius snorted with laughter and again, we fell silent for a few moments. The awkward tension was slightly less abated than before, but it was still there. Apparently, Scorpius could feel it too, since he was refusing to meet my gaze. Even though we'd both said the words out loud, neither of us seemed to have the courage to actually confirm anything.

I took a hesitant step towards him, then faltered when he looked up. Oh bloody hell, say something, Rosie! Anything will do, anything to stop him looking like that.

"So, I'm in love with you!" I blurted out.

Scorpius grinned. "Yeah, I've kind of gathered that."

"And I hate you!"

"I've figured that out too, funnily enough," Scorpius made a fuss of locking his hands together before glancing up. "And I know you already know this, but I'm in love with you too."

There was a moment where all we did was stare at each other. Then I had the two names ringing in my head and I found myself saying them out loud, as if trying them out for size. "So, Rose and Scorpius … Rose an–"

It was like something inside him just snapped. Scorpius stared at me hard as he heard our names said together and in the next second, he'd leapt off his desk, grabbed my waist, shoved me back into the desk I had been leaning against before kissing me fiercely.

I didn't even think about the fact that this had to be one of the few times that he had kissed me. I just threw my arms around his neck, gripping his hair and keeping his mouth on mine for as long as possible. Soon, his hands were trailing down until he lifted me up onto the desk and suddenly, I found myself with Scorpius gripping my thighs as he continued to practically attack me. Hell, I didn't mind in the slightest.

I knew that if someone happened to walk in here right now (and that was highly possible since empty classrooms were often used this close to exams for students practising spells), we would probably scar them for life, but I didn't care. Instead, I tightened my hold around him and wished I could freeze this moment. I mean, I know it'd probably get uncomfortable after a while, since this desk isn't the most comfy thing in the world, but … oh, shut it Rose.

Eventually, Scorpius pulled away slightly, just enough so he could breathe and I could take a shuddering breath. Foreheads still pressed together, he muttered, "So I take it you want to go out?"

I laughed, our faces still so close together that I could feel his lips beneath mine smile. "Oh, sure."

"What, only 'sure'?" Scorpius didn't sound completely outraged, since there was a kiss there between every word.

"Convince me otherwise." I challenged.

I felt Scorpius smile again. "Merlin, I love you."

"Love you too." I managed to get out before his lips crashed onto mine again.

"Even if I live to be 100, I swear I'll never get used to that."

I looked up to see Bea shaking her head slightly and I let go of Scorpius very quickly, feeling my neck go red. Brilliant. Ever since Scorpius and I had talked (and I use the term 'talked' very loosely, since it'd mostly been snogging after the actual talking part) and the shock had worn off, I had realised that I happened to be rather embarrassed with public displays of affection. Never mind the fact that I had kissed Scorpius numerous times in front of an audience – hell, I'd snogged him in front of the entire castle!

But when I was with Trevor, we mainly just snogged in empty classrooms. Now … well, I could safely say this was a different case.

I ignored Bea's comment and placed my arms back around Scorpius's waist. After the Confrontation a week ago, I'd been taking any opportunity to touch him out of the curious eyes of the students who were constantly staring at us (which actually proved to be rather difficult, but it wasn't for the lack of trying). Mainly because I could finally show him that I loved him, and not have to A) pretend it was nothing, B) get thrown off him, or C) be completely intoxicated.

"Oi! It took me a while to get used to you and Al." I reminded her and she rolled her eyes as said Al arrived moments after Bea. He threw himself down into an armchair next to the sofa Scorpius and I were currently snuggling on and pulled Bea down with him.

"Rosie, this is completely different!" she countered, settling on Al's lap as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Not only do you have a boyfriend for the first time since you were thirteen, but you're going out with … erm, well that one."

I raised my eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry, which one?"

"Y'know – that one." Bea gestured to Scorpius, who raised his hands with a seriously? face.

"I have a name." he said and I snorted.

"Well, yes," Bea's eyebrows narrowed as she thought. "But … well, now I have to call you 'Scorpius' and that's just plain weird! You've always been Malfoy, but now you're going out with my best friend and … bloody hell, this is madness …" Bea shook her head while Al just laughed at her, his arms around her waist.

Scorpius scoffed. "Well fine, I'll give you that. It's not like I'm used to calling you two 'Albus' and 'Beatrice'–" he began, however he was cut off as my best friends yelled at him in perfect unison,

"It's Al and Bea!"

"–yes, ok, got that …" Scorpius said, giving me an I can't believe you're friends with these freaks look.

"For God's bloody sake, no one ever calls me Beatrice!" Bea complained.

"Hell, if our parents knew about this, they'd probably attempt to throw us all into a cage of Blast-Ended Skrewts." I muttered under my breath.

"Be grateful I'm even agreeing to call you by your first names," Scorpius countered to my best friends, tightening his arm around my shoulders. "I'm still trying to get used to that, let alone nicknames," Bea scowled at him as he bent down to mutter in my ear. "Geez …" Then he caught my glance. "Erm, I mean Rosie is ok, I guess …"

I felt myself smile. Calling each other by our first names was such a foreign concept to us that we'd still slip up every now and then and let out a 'Malfoy' or 'Weasley'. Since Scorpius was having such trouble with just Rose, we'd agreed that Rosie could probably come later.

My name sounds so much better when he says it.

I couldn't think of anything to say in reply, so I just kissed him instead (because y'know, I can actually do that now!). However, not only did we get groans from Al and Bea, but also from two other voices that I was starting to recognise.

"Oh, c'mon mate, d'you really have to do that?" Lucas Nott complained, throwing himself down onto the other end of the sofa we were on. Danny Parker just looked disgusted as he sat in another armchair opposite Al and Bea's. I'd never really had much to do with Scorpius's mates and addressing them at all was weird enough. Calling them Lucas and Danny just seemed plain wrong.

Scorpius snorted. "Says the bloke who snogged Nancy for two hours the other day," he said. "That was not something we needed to see before our morning coffee."

"Oh gross, you're not talking about Nancy Carter?" Bea asked.

"That girl from Slytherin who was in Twelfth Night?" Al asked, considering. "I actually get that, she's rather hot … erm, I mean," he added, catching the snort from Bea. "She's hideous, ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life! I love you …" he hastily added on the end and Bea gave him an oh, Al look before kissing him.

"She might be hot, but you've been on and off with her for over a year, mate," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "Just go out, get it over with."

"Like you can talk!" Lucas countered. "I swear you haven't been single since Second Year!"

"Scorpius!" Danny practically whined.

"Oi! I'm not your personal referee!" Scorpius said. "Sort this out yourselves!"

Bea gave me a very exasperated look. "Don't tell me I'm going to have to get matey with the Slytherin's now?" she asked.

"Hey!" Lucas said. "Don't get mad at us! Blame those two," He pointed a thumb at me and Scorpius. "It's thanks to them that we're facing the weirdest bonding between two groups Hogwarts has ever seen."

"You don't have to hang out." Scorpius told them, frowning.

"Yeah, but it's been a week and you've been practically attached at the hip the entire time," Danny pointed out. "How else are we supposed to hang out with our best mate?"

"I don't know, stay with Lucy?"

"She's kind of miserable company at the moment, mate," Danny said, gesturing to the other side of the joint common room. Lucy Harley was sitting with some Slytherin girls, shooting us resentful looks every now and then. Ha. "Knew it was bad the day she fell for you."

"That's bollocks, you wanted them to get married so you could use their future pool!"

"… oh dear Merlin." Al muttered.

"Scorpius, your friends are insane." I told him. Scorpius just snorted.

"I know," he said. "Lucy was normally the one who stopped the arguments between us all. Dunno how we're going to get by now."

Ok, I started to feel a bit bad about that, since Harley really was one of Scorpius's best friends, as well as Danny's and Lucas's. But that still didn't stop me from saying, "Ah well, she'll get over herself eventually."

Scorpius just rolled his eyes at me, but I still got a kiss for good measure.

"Bloody hell, I am not putting up with this rubbish every day!" Bea insisted as Danny and Lucas continued to argue about Scorpius's love life.

"I do, Beatrice," Scorpius pointed out. "And I turned out ok–"

"For Merlin's bloody sake, it's Bea!"

Scorpius gave an exasperated groan. "Is she always like this?" he asked me. I laughed.

"Hell, all the time," I answered. "Sometimes, I dunno why my cousin puts up with her."

Scorpius glanced over to where Al and Bea were now arguing with Lucas and Danny about whether Muggle Studies or Arithmancy was the better subject. Merlin, this is the weirdest situation I've ever been in. "Because they love each other," he answered, shrugging. "Our friends may not get along … but we're what counts, right?"

I was slightly shocked at how sincere his voice was and I ended up saying, "Yes … we are."

I didn't know what was weirder. The fact that Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's were somewhat attempting to get along, or the fact that Scorpius and I had just agreed on something for the first time in nearly five years.

During lunch, I ran into Lily.

"Rosie!" she cried, throwing her arms around my neck the second she saw me. "I can't believe you got it right! Merlin, I love you! You've made me as rich as hell!"

"Oh right, the bets," I muttered, hugging her back. "How's that going?"

"Couldn't be better!" Lily exclaimed, happily. "I'm still raking in Galleons! Georgie Benjy from my year bet 21 Galleons and 12 Sickles against you and she still owes me! Didn't think she'd have to pay up in a million years."

"Yeah, you're probably the richest person in Hogwarts right about now," I said. I glanced around the corridor we were walking down and noticed that a few people were pointing us out resentfully. "Or possibly the most hated …"

"Oh, they're just mad that I was right and they were wrong," Lily said, waving a hand dismissively, as if this was totally beside the point. "Merlin, James hates me so much, I love this!" She did a happy little twirl in her walking and promptly crashed into a suit of armour.

"You could say you won a little unfairly," I pointed out to her once Lily had shaken off the helmet that had fallen on her and the clang had stopped echoing down the corridor. "I told you how I felt. You could consider it cheating."

Lily was shaking her head before I'd even finished. "No, no," she said. "I reckon I knew before you told me. I started noticing something way back – probably before even you knew a thing."

"Normally I'd protest that, but it sounds about right."

"I think it was about Second Year?" Lily said, thinking. "You would've been in your Forth."

How could a mere 12-year-old know about my feelings, when I didn't even know until I was dressed as a man and bearing my soul to the entire castle? For Merlin's sake, she's only 14, now – she shouldn't be that damn observant!

"So, what's it like now that you're with Duke Orsino?" Lily asked me, grinning. "I'd ask how the snogging was, but you knew that way before you even started going out."

"I seriously hate you, sometimes." I told her, punching at her arm, only she ducked away, laughing.

"Y'know what I mean," Lily said. "C'mon! What's it like?"

I sighed. "It's … well, incredible, really. I mean, really, really weird, but amazing at the same time. I dunno, it just feels … right." Geez. I had planned on just giving a simple 'good', not all of that blather! But I suppose Lily's always been the one who knew too much anyway.

"Wow," she said. "You're more suited than I thought."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he says the same mushy crap as you do."

"What?" I said, taking this in. "How the hell d'you know what … erm, 'mushy crap' he says?"

Lily sniggered. "He didn't want me to tell you, but I had a little chat with him myself."

"Oh, crap," I said. My cousin, Lily had a 'chat' with Scorpius. I'm surprised he hasn't ended it by now, considering the things that could've come out of her mouth. "Well, it was nice having a boyfriend while it lasted."

Lily just laughed. "There's no need to freak out, Rosie," she said. "For some reason, he knew how much I knew about you and him. He was rambling on and on about at the Quidditch Celebrations and how I kept staring at you two. I don't know, I mean I don't remember much from that night to be honest – only don't tell my Dad that," she added hastily, shaking her head. "I think it was because of that third drink I had … anyway, he basically wanted to thank me for helping you and to ask if I was bloody ok with it! As if I wouldn't be – I've made about 300-odd Galleons!"

I rolled my eyes. "He's amazing."

"Oh, yes," Lily agreed. "But I have to say, if you hadn't have told him last week, he would've gotten one hell of a talking to by me. I knew you two were right for each other, but no, no one believes Lily Potter …"

As I let her mutter under her breath, I considered how different things were. A week ago, I had been a nervous wreck, hiding my feelings by arguing and teasing. Today, Scorpius Malfoy was my boyfriend.

And for some reason, we were … agreeing on things. This had happened on only a couple of rare occasions.

It was kind of unnatural and quite frankly, I was worried about it.

"LL?"

"… stupid fire-eating brother – pardon?" Lily came out of her rant.

"Could I possibly ask you something?"

Lily snorted. "Why not?" she said. "You always do."

I shot her a look, but continued anyway. "Er, well …" God, I didn't even know how to phrase this. "Ever since Scorpius and I started going out, we've been getting along so much better. We used to hate each other, we'd never agree on anything! And I mean anything, spells, homework, friends, right and wrong …"

"I get your point." Lily said, grinning.

I nodded. "I could go on for ages! But well, I didn't think it'd ever actually come to it, but … I sort of miss the bickering."

Lily just snorted with laughter. "Oh, Merlin. Look, you are Rose Weasley and he is Scorpius Malfoy. You two will always bicker. It's like … a rule."

"But–"

"Rosie," Lily cut in. "Bickering is how you communicate. You won't lose that just because you're going out now."

"But that's what I'm worried about!" I said. "We haven't bickered at all since the Confrontation! We've gotten rid of the tension! What if we don't bicker anymore, because we don't need to anymore? And then we won't be able to communicate, it'll be so awkward trying to talk and I'll have to break up with him and – oh bloody Merlin, I never even thought of that!"

"Geez, calm down!" Lily said, halting our aimless wandering of the corridors to place her hands on my shoulders. "Rosie, you definitely won't break up because you can't communicate. That's crap. You love him and you've been through too much to give up now!"

"Well, I do love him." I muttered. Lily thought for a moment.

"Well, look at it this way," she said. "You've had civilised conversations before, right?"

I thought back to the time we had ended up in Hogsmeade together. That had been one weird day. "I suppose."

Lily nodded. "See? The two of you could've been great friends, only his rather irritating nature took over and you couldn't see past that. It grew when you developed feelings for each other and because you thought you 'hated' him, rowing seemed the only way to show how you really felt. That's where all the bickering came from, it's not because you're not compatible. Now that you've seen each other beyond the bickering … well, there's not such a huge need for it any more … you get me?"

"I … guess …" I said, still unsure. Lily sighed.

"Here," she said, handing me five Galleons from her pocket. "By the end of the day, if you somehow come to the conclusion that you and Malfoy are not a match made in heaven, then you keep the money. If you are, then give it back."

"Deal," I said, shaking Lily's hand and pocketing the money. "Also, his name happens to be Scorpius, LL. It's not too hard to actually call him that, is it?"

Lily just looked at me for a full ten seconds before she burst out laughing.

Oh, for Merlin's sake.

"Scorpius!" I yelled, running down the corridor. The doors to the joint common room were about halfway down and Scorpius was just about to disappear inside.

"Scorpius!" I yelled again, ignoring the stares I was getting from the rest of the students to the best of my ability. However it didn't exactly help when Scorpius stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" he said, distractedly and of course, I bowled straight into him.

When he noticed who he had his arms around to stop them from face-planting into the ground, he laughed. "Bit keen, aren't you?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

I just wriggled out of his arms, punching him for good measure. "Shut up." I said.

My ever-so-wonderful tactic of 'ignore everything and hope for the best' was slowly getting beat down by the coins clinking in my pocket. Damn Lily. Her voice was going to haunt me forever until I finally approached the topic and I wasn't exactly keen to have her whispering to me in the afterlife, saying, "You should've taaaalked to him! Now you're dead and he's married to Lucy Haaaarley! LL is amaaaazing!"

My mind really should have an 'off' function.

"I miss the bickering." I blurted out.

Scorpius looked confused. "Sorry?"

"The bickering!" I cried. When he didn't look any wiser, I grabbed his hand and led him over to the opposite side of the corridor, out of the direct line of sight of everyone else. "Look, I mean how before we got together, we were rowing all the time. Now it's all sunshine, happiness and rainbows and I'm saying I miss it. Do you?"

"Er … is that a trick question?"

"What–? No!" I said. "I'm honestly asking, do you miss it?"

"Us fighting all the time?" Scorpius shrugged. "Maybe, I dunno, I've never thought about it … you have to admit, it was rather tiring."

"But it was who we were." I argued.

"Yeah," Scorpius admitted. "But there's more to us than just fighting. Besides, you always won."

I snorted. "You've got to be kidding!" I said. "Before we got together you were at 38! Granted, I was only at 37, but you had been winning for months! Only now we're at 75 since I managed to tackle that camera off Hugo–"

"Pardon, but what the hell are you on about?" Scorpius cut in.

I snapped my mouth shut quickly. Merlin, no one was supposed to know about my weird obsession with point scoring, much less Scorpius Malfoy! It only made me sound like a bloody mad person. Well, y'know more than I already was.

"Erm, nothing …"

Scorpius laughed, leaning against the wall and folding his arms. "You are by far the strangest person I've ever met."

"Can't be, you know James Potter, right?"

"James Potter is in a completely different league of his own, Rose."

I grinned at that. "Got to admit, Rose doesn't sound so bad when you say it."

"Oh, I can vividly remember the last time you mentioned that." Scorpius said, grinning. My face went red. Last week in that empty classroom had been the last time.

"Still," I said, determined to get the topic off me. "It's nothing like your brand of broomstick."

Scorpius gave an exasperated groan. "You're not seriously bringing that up?" he asked.

"What? I think it's cool! 'Out now by Brooms'r'us, the Scorpius 3000! Shoot for the moon and play to win with this brand new and improved model! Featuring drag-resistant brushes and a colour of your choosing! Buy one and get one half price!'!"

"Shut up!" Scorpius complained.

"'And that's not all! Spend over 200 Galleons at our store and receive a bonus broom-waxing kit, absolutely fre–!'!"

"I'm going to kill you!" Scorpius said, glaring. When all I did was laugh, he pushed on my shoulder and shoved me up against the corridor wall.

I glanced up at him. "Y'know technically, I could haul you up for abuse now." I pointed out.

"I'll show you abuse." he practically growled, however before I could even retort back, his mouth was on mine. I gave a small noise of surprise, considering this was a very full corridor no doubt full of gaping people, but then his lips were moving and I fully didn't care. His hands gripped the sides of my face tightly, his entire body pressed into mine so I couldn't have moved, even if I'd wanted to. Despite being completely confused, I kissed him back, clutching at his waist and wondering what the hell I'd said that had brought this on. I kind of wanted to say it again.

I thought back over the past five minutes and then suddenly pushed Scorpius away from me.

"Oh my god!" I cried. "This is bickering!"

"… you what?" Scorpius said, looking faintly hurt that I'd just thrown him off me.

"Bickering!" I said. "Just before, we were bickering just like we used to! Oh, crap!" I added, my sudden elation now crushed.

Scorpius managed to look concerned. "What's wrong?" he asked, immediately.

"I … well, we were bickering," I said. "I guess … ok. Look, I was sort of afraid that once the bickering stopped, we wouldn't know how to talk or communicate at all, but for some reason, we were getting along great and that confused the hell out of me. I wanted to go back to how we were, like just now, but when we did bicker we hated each other!"

"You've lost me."

"Look, what if we keep fighting so much like we used to that we end things, because we can't get along?"

"Hang on, end things?" Scorpius asked in amazement. "Who said we were ending anything?"

Even I felt slightly confused now. "Er … me?"

"You want to end this?" he asked, now just looking shocked as he leaned away from me.

"Wha–? No!" I said, quickly. "No, no way, no I don't!"

"Then what the hell are you talking about, because you seriously lost me at 'this is bickering' …"

I groaned angrily. Why the hell couldn't I explain this?

"It's like … I don't want to lose the fighting, because that's just who we are. But I don't want to fight so much that we break up. Does that make any sort of sense?"

Scorpius actually laughed. "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Rose," he said, tugging on my hand and hugging me tightly. "Yeah, we'll probably fight a lot, but it's not the only thing keeping us together."

"It's not?"

"We fell in love," he said simply, seeing my confused face. "Even though our parents will probably have a mental breakdown when they find out. That's why we got together and that's what will keep us together. The bickering will just make things interesting. Because let's face it, we can't go one day without wanting to murder each other."

"If it helps, I don't exactly want to murder you right now?" I said.

Scorpius snorted. "I don't want to murder you either."

"Hey, LL!" I called out. Lily turned and grinned when she saw me.

"Well?" she asked.

I held out my hand to give her back the five Galleons.

Conclusion to I, Rose Weasley, Going Out with Scorpius Malfoy:

-Al and Bea won't stop fighting with Lucas Nott and Danny Parker, Scorpius and I argue every other conversation and everyone in the castle thinks our 'group bonding' is a disaster waiting to happen.

-I think it's all going to work out. Despite the fact that if Scorpius calls Bea 'Beatrice' one more time, she'll probably hex him to hell and back.

-Lily overall collected 358 Galleons, 16 Sickles and 14 Knuts. She's about the richest person in Hogwarts, after bleeding practically everyone dry.

-I'm going out with Scorpius Bloody Malfoy! Screw Lucy Harley, he's in love with me!

Rose and Scorpius: 76, Lily: 1, Harley: 0.

(Now that I think about it, Lily's received a lot of points over the years. And she's not even meant to be in the competition).

A/N: Updated, 12/02/12: Thank you so much for your reviews. I remember flipping out when I realised how many I got for The Right One. The next chapter is unfortunately the last full chapter. It involves appearances from Ron and Hermione, Lily burning her elbow on some mashed potato and Scorpius's honestly comes under question, so you can probably guess what happens!

I never wanted this story to end, but unfortunately it did. There are The Extra Ones, however which are a bunch of companion oneshots related to this story of things that I wanted to write, but never made it in.

I hope you all liked it. When I originally posted this chapter, I asked you all what is it you love so much about GIR? because I had no idea what made this such a popular story for me. Most of you answered that you enjoyed the characters, so I'd like to know what else made this story interesting for you to read thirty four chapters of it. : )

Thank you again for your reviews!

Until next time -

- Moon. : D