CHAPTER 16

A/N: Hello lovelies! I hope you are all staying safe out there. I was forced to stay home for a bit, after suspecting having caught the virus (but I didn't), but that meant I got quite some time to write! Seriously, I think the whole Slugclub Christmas party is going to stay one of my favourite scenes for quite some time.

Disclaimer: Realised I completely forgot to do this last time! So, all the usual stuff. Don't own bla-bla Rowling bla-bla plot bla-bla.

Happy Reading!

Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! There went all her plans to confidently ignore Malfoy for the next couple of weeks. He was going to spend a whole ten days with her at the Burrow! It was just too horrible to think about. How was she ever going to sort out her feelings with him around? This was just so terrible.

"Excuse, I need to go find a wall to bang my head against," she excused herself.

Malfoy just laughed at her. "Sure thing Weasley. Think about what I said!"

Rose was positively fuming. She needed to have a talk with an adult member of her family right now, and Uncle Harry seemed to be the best solution. There was no way this was happening.

"Miss!" The photographer stopped her, and she glared at him. He shuddered. "Very sorry to bother you but here's your picture." Rose didn't even take the time to look at it and just stuffed it into her purse, positively furious. She was going to have a little talk with the saviour of Britain.

Rose managed to snag her godfather as he was making his way towards the buffet, finally free of Slughorn, admiring Hogwarts students and an over-enthusiastic photographer. He looked a bit tired, as Rose knew his position as head Auror taxed him a lot and he was growing older, but otherwise pretty happy. He had reached the stage where his salt and pepper hair was more salt than pepper, and a couple of wrinkles had permanently etched themselves onto his face. Apart from that, he still looked remarkably similar to the young boy of 17 whose face was etched on the commemorative tea set the Ministry had sent him and which Aunt Ginny thought was hilarious so they had kept it (though if it had ever seen one drop of tea was still to be debated).

People were beginning to dance and Rose had to avoid a couple of more energetic couples as she walked over to him. Deep breath Rose, she reminded herself, you are a calm, polite young lady and you will not scream at your godfather, especially not at the first sentence. You will not let the Weasley temper get the better of you, she added, hoping that her inner self would be able to be poised.

"Rosie!" Her godfather waved her over. Rose knew being someone's godfather was very important to Uncle Harry. He had practically raised Teddy and his own godfather had played a very significant role in his life, his death having devastated him. She herself was very lucky because unlike him and Teddy, she had grown up with both her parents and an adoring family, so of course it had seemed only natural that Harry be her godfather with her parents being his best friends, but she was less in need of a fatherly figure so she knew it was normal he didn't quite share such an important connexion with him as Teddy.

"Uncle Harry!" she chirped. Remain calm, Rose.

"How's my favourite goddaughter?"

"It's not very difficult being your favourite goddaughter, seeing as you only have one."

"Nonetheless. Looking forward to the holidays?" He handed her a glass.

"About that, I heard some rather interesting news."

"I don't like that interesting."

"Why is Malfoy coming over?" Rose cried indignantly. Oh well, there went all her composure. Here she was sounding like a whiny little child. How wonderful.

"Oh, come on Rose. He really isn't that bad."

"Yes, he is, I hate him and he hates me!" Well, except for the terrible confusion she was going through at the moment. "Just look what he did to my dress!"

"I was telling myself I'd never seen you in that colour. Suits you."

"Not you too," Rose groaned. "please, can't we get rid of him somehow?"

"Rose, Scorpius is a perfectly charming," Rose snorted, "young man. And besides, I couldn't possibly refuse, how rude would that be?"

"But it's Malfoy, he's already rude."

"I didn't think so when I met him. Are you sure you're not just confusing this with your prejudice?"

"No of course not! I know him and he keeps cursing me!"

"Isn't that because you keep cursing him first?"

Rose sighed, exasperated. "I'm pretty sure he started it."

"Come one Rose, it's only for a bit more than a week; you can very well ignore him."

No ,she bloody well couldn't and that was very much the problem. How was she even supposed to sort out her emotions with all this? "But Uncle Harry-"

Luckily, someone tapped her on the shoulder, avoiding her making another stupidly childish response. Clearly, Malfoy was making her sound completely ridiculous. She hated him. No, she didn't. But she did. She turned around to see Thomas who was fidgeting nervously with one of the sleeves with his robes.

"Umm, hey Rose. Do you want to dance?"

"Sure!" Rose smiled at him, eager for the distraction.

But, of course, things could never be that simple. Uncle harry raised an eyebrow and said: "And this is?"

"Oh right. Introductions. Uncle Harry, my boyfriend Thomas Vance, Thomas my uncle Harry Potter."

Thomas was looking very nervous indeed, but he held his head high and stood tall. Uncle Harry mouth lifted in a small smile at the word 'boyfriend' (which Rose largely suspected was going to result in a conversation with her parents soon enough).

"Lovely to meet you," he told him.

Rose handed him back her cup and her uncle whispered into her ear: "Well, you did good enough. You should have seen who your mother went with at her own Slugclub Christmas party."

Rose raised a quizzical eyebrow but let herself be led onto the dance floor. She was sure she was going to have an interesting conversation with her mother later on; this was bound to be good. Thomas led her into a slightly awkward waltz. Clearly, he wasn't the best at dancing but it was fine. Dancing wasn't part of the must-have qualities; really, being able to dance was more an obnoxious pure-blood thing more than anything else. Rose herself could dance quite well, but that was only due to the multiple galas she had had to attend because of her well known parents.

After a couple of awkward stumbles around the dance floor, Rose decided to go for a drink and hopefully make some connections with important people. Thomas was truly a wonderful person, with whom she had very interesting conversations, and although dancing did have the plus side of being so close to him, it still wasn't the best for her feet. You would've thought Rose was clever enough to wear flats or something (especially since she was already tall) but an annoying thing called a best friend had convinced her heels were a must, so her feet had started hurting from being up so much and especially stepped on all the time. She was planning on giving them a rest by discussing the newest potion regulations with some old man over canapés. Unfortunately, things couldn't always be that simple and the most annoying guy on the planet walked up to her. Guess who it was? That's right. Scorpius Malfoy, again.

"Seriously, Malfoy. If I didn't know you better I would think you were stalking me. Talking once per evening seems largely sufficient."

"Har, har. Your humour astounds me Weasley."

"What do you want then? Please make it quick. I haven't got all evening."

"Really, planning on doing that awkward fumbling all evening? Pity."

Rose immediately dismissed the plan of slumping on a plush leather chair and removing the shoes. This sounded like a challenge. "Believe it or not, I can dance very well."

"Well, it sure didn't look like it." He taunted.

"Why were you even looking?"

"Let's say that when you risked being squashed regularly by someone close by, it does rather attract your attention."

Rose winced. Thomas had been really disastrous now, and she knew it wasn't just her feet that had suffered the unfortunate consequences of his atrocious dancing skills. "I am a fabulous dancer, though perhaps not my partner at all times."

"Fabulous dancer, huh? Prove it." This sounded like a challenge and Rose was grinning under her frown.

"Maybe I will then."

"With that boyfriend of yours. Sure as hell you'll be able to prove anything."

Rose paused. True. Well, she could always trap him at his own game. "Fine, I guess I'll just have to dance with you."

Malfoy's expression matched her own, that strange cross between annoyance and a grin. "Are you asking me to dance, Weasley?"

"No, I'm not. I am proving to you that I am a fabulous dancer. Probably better than you, anyway."

"Yeah right." He told her, taking her hand in his, cool against her own warm one.

"Trust me, I am. Besides, you agree, don't you? I still have a lovely bit of parchment that clearly states that you do."

"Really, Weasel, you're not going to get you colours back if you keep talking that way."

"Shut up," she told him as the band began to play a lively Rock tune.

He was a great dancer. A fabulous one really. Much, much better than Thomas (unfortunately for him). And Rose was just as good as him and they responded perfectly to each other's movements. He truly knew how to lead and a sense of exhilaration and fun filled her, but she maintained her brow furrowed and a concentrated look on her face, eager to prove she was better. The pace of the music increased and the dance became more and more acrobatic, going from simple twirls and pushes to complicated lifts and twists. It was a fabulous feeling, dancing like that. Rose often ignored how much she loved the feeling of being lifted into the air, and both of their Quidditch practices made them strong and agile so they were very easy.

They never broke eye contact as the music flowed and Rose could tell this was just as much fun for him as for her. Her skirt flared around her and her hair was slicked back with sweat. Soon enough, they were now the only ones dancing and everybody had stopped to watch them. Rose only became conscious of that when the music began to fade away and a huge outbreak of claps filled the room.

She blushed and immediately let go of Malfoy who was sweating as much as her. His hair was slightly out of place and it oddly reminded her of the time she had stolen his hair stuff, but it was still wholly unattractive, right? Anyway. Back to the subject. She gave him an 'I told you so look': "See. I am a fabulous dancer."

"Yeah, only because I know how to lead." He told her back as people came over to congratulate them.

"As if." She taunted back and they separated. Thomas came over to her and she suddenly felt a bit guilty about dancing with the stupid prat (but who could unfortunately dance).

"Wow, Rose. You can really dance." His voice was monotone and Rose had trouble reading what emotion was going through it.

"Oh, Thomas. Don't worry, it wasn't anything like how people could imagine. Really, I was only proving to him that I was a fabulous dancer."

Still the same voice. "Yeah, sorry you had to dance with me."

"Oh don't worry about that. Who cares if you dance well or not. I love spending time with you, whatever the activity is."

He gave her a small smile. "Okay then, I guess. I think I'm going to head back now. I'm kind of tired."

Oh no this was going bad, very bad. Trust Malfoy to always ruin everything. "Is everything okay? Really, It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"I'm fine."

"I'll come back with you."

"No really, you can stay. Surely you want to dance again."

"I'd love to dance with you." Oh why was she such a terrible girlfriend? Surely there had to be a book about this or something. She could definitely use with one called Be a fabulous girlfriend, as easy How-to book rather than Appreciate Malfoy hair, an easy How-to book.

"Really, Rose I'm a bit tired. But please stay."

"You sure?"

"Certain." They were now at the door of Slughorn's office and she handed him his coat.

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

Rose looked up and saw what they were standing under, a very voluminous ball of guy "Hey, Thomas." She smiled at him and looked upwards. He smiled back at her and she pressed her lips to his in a small kiss. Just something to say, I'm sorry, and don't be jealous."

"Bye Rose." And he left her.

Oh seriously boys. They got jealous over the silliest things. Seriously, Thomas should know that there was absolutely nothing between Malfoy and her. Apart from hatred of course and that the stupid blond twat was no threat whatsoever. (Oh really, whispered both Rational and Irrational at the back of her mind. Oh curse those two! They were ganging up on her).

She quickly found herself someone to talk to, a certain Miss Wilma Charity who was very interested in Muggle History and with whom Rose had the most interesting conversation, avoiding the odd looks she received from Lizzie, Albus and Uncle Harry. She could push back that confrontation till later.

A/N You guys have no idea how much I fangirled when I wrote this chapter. I was literally squealing in front of my computer and had to slam it down for a couple of minutes just to recompose myself. It was absolutely fabulous to write and I hope you enjoyed just as much as me. Coming up next: Burrow stuff? (Doesn't that sound exciting. I'm bad at summaries). Please leave a review, they are better than triple-chocolate cookies!

Butterflies765