Scorpius looked at the parchment then back up at me with a dazed expression on his face that said, 'I don't care about the summer exams or the implement they could have on the rest of my life, Rose.'

I added another library book to my pile in response. My arms were starting to go numb with the weight of the volumes. The dust from the books was turning my robes grey.

"Wow," he said in a tone of fake boyish wonder, taking the top three books from my pile. "You made me a study timetable and still had time to do a defence essay and study the whole History book for the third time."

And proofread your essay." I said instead of 'don't touch my books'. I was trying to keep our good moods going for as long as they could last. "The timetable works miracles."

"Let's not forget the no sleeping part of your timetable." There was a shush from Madam Pince a couple of stacks away. She should've been more preoccupied with the Hufflepuffs two shelves away. They were getting awfully frisky awfully close to the restricted section.

I started walking back to our study table. "I've even colour coded it. You'll have a different group of subjects every day- if you follow it."

"I'm more worried about you," he said, sounding much older than he was. That got on my nerves. Or maybe it was the pub songs Abby was leading in the common room at one am still making my nerves sizzle. Some of us liked to spend their Friday nights sleeping or studying.

"You're sweet," I smiled at him.

"It's just the summer exams, Rosie, not the NEWTs." He warned, setting the books down on our table. The summer morning light streaming through the window gave his hair a golden tinge.

I sat down. Not this conversation again. A week ago at the lake after Divination, he had started this. He stroked my hair and spoke softly but slowly, trying to nudge me off schedule.

"Everyone needs a hobby." I shrugged.

"Then do something… fun like-"

"I swear to Merlin if you say quidditch-"

"I was going to say scrapbooking." He held up his hands in defence. "Or duelling, you have to put that snappiness somewhere."

I sighed and didn't argue. I would replace snappiness with 'being on edge'. The bra thing was still bothering me and the thought of his parents knowing gave me chills, bad chills. Exams were a happy distraction.

"What your grand plan of action for the exams then, Scorpius?" I raised an eyebrow.

He waved me off. "Three weeks is ages away. Plus we got that quidditch game later. I really, really hope Gryffindor kicks Slytherin off the pitch. I mean Hobbs as the keeper is the best thing to have happened to that team in years. I saw him during practice and he is a freaking eagle-"

"Am I being replaced?" I laughed.

"Yes." He beamed, putting his arm around me. Our corner by the window protected us from Madam Pince's glare and a group of Hufflepuffs giggling.

He kissed my neck briskly. I leaned into him, shutting my eyes and half forgetting about the 400 paged magical creatures volume staring at me.

I tried to throw my legs up on his lap but I hit the table as I went, making the whole thing jolt and creak. I hissed.

"Graceful as always." He commented, rubbing my injury. Someone was going to have a bruise on their knee for the rest of the week. "Want me to kiss it better?" he teased.

"No, just hug me." I murmured, burying my head into his chest, not caring how pathetic I sounded. I knew it was just a bruised knee, I'd probably forget about it ten minutes from then but somehow it felt like something more. It felt like ever since Easter, the universe was trying to trip me up… ummmm why was everything so deep and stressful? Why couldn't my emotions just be as straightforward as my textbook (excluding Divination)?

He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. Scorpius was reliable that way. It made my 'top ten fantastic traits Scorpius had' list.

"Any news from your parents?" he asked, after a long couple of beats.

I shook my head.

"They'll write soon," he said, reassuringly. "They probably just… forgot."

"Forgetting you mean."

"Well, your Granddad Arthur wrote to you." He reminded me. "What the hell is a rubber duck again?"

"A children's bath toy that squeaks, Scorpius," I said. "It's easy to forget you're so pureblood."

"Hey, I'm learning." He said, and there was a pause. "And what does it look like?"

"A yellow duck."

"Why do the muggles need that? Why does anyone need that?"

"I don't know," I grumbled.

"That old man in Godric's Hollow definitely didn't own one of them."

"Why are we talking about this?"

"Because rubber ducks are cool, Rose," he said seriously.

"Cooler than us anyway," I replied, my hands sneaking over to the book.


There was a hard bang on my shoulder. I hissed. All my books crashed onto the corridor floor.

"Weasley." A horrible but familiar voice followed. I turned, there stood my cousin and enemy Albus Potter. He reeked of sweat and hair potion, the smell of evil. He wearing his quidditch uniform, his ultra-shiny broom in hand.

"Potter, shouldn't you be latched onto Voldemort's grave?" I said darkly, going to pick up my books. I wished Scorpius was there but at the same time, I didn't. The two of our tempers together couldn't equal anything good.

He put a paw on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me," I warned. "Or you'll-"

"Weasley, I don't care!" he said, suddenly hysterical. "Where's your friend Malfoy?"

"I don't know, try the Forbidden Forest."

"Tell me, I know you know. This is an emergency." He proclaimed.

"Emergency?" I raised an eyebrow.

"A quidditch emergency."

"Not an emergency then."

"We have less than forty minutes to fly time tell me where he is now or-"

"Why?"

"I need a bloody keeper that's why!" he snapped. He looked ashamed, not for snapping at me, I guessed, but for needing Scorpius. "No one else will do it!" he added. "Everyone wants to be a chaser for some reason and no one's warmed up- pathetic first years!"

My heart started pounding.

"I'll get him." I found myself saying and just like that no books, no Albus-bashing comments I took off down the corridor at full speed to where Scorpius had left me to go back to the common room after our library date.

Potter cursed after me as I left him in the dust.

Me and my burning lungs smashed into Scorpius. I sent both me and him toppling onto a bench. Maybe he wouldn't be playing today.

He gasped out. "Rosie, if you wanted me that badly-"

"Quidditch. You." I panted out, grabbing the front of his robes. "Dream." The cold air in the dungeon was turning the layer of sweat covering my skin to ice.

"What?" he sat up confused. "Take a breath."

"You're the Slytherin… keeper."

"Yeah," he patted me on the back.

"Seriously." I snapped, sounding angrier than a hungry hippogriff. "Right now. Potter told me."

Scorpius jumped up. I still clung to the front of his robes in case he disappeared and missed his shot. My head was spinning now.

"Merlin, are you sure?"

"YES!"

Scorpius' face quickly crumpled from 'confident wizard' to 'I think the guy you need is in the next corridor.'

Then his problems came out in a list. "I haven't flown in three days, I don't have robes-"

"Just do it," I said breathless, clutching his robes tighter. He had to do this, he had to do it, it felt like it was the only thing that mattered in the world. His fast ticket onto the team, if that was how the idiotic sport worked. "I believe in you!"

"What happened to 'this is a brutal sport that'll only end in unproductive tears'?" He frowned in disbelief.

"Scorpius, get your broom," I released his robes. "Stop thinking about me you can question my motives later."

"You know it's impossible for me to stop thinking about you." He said as he leaned in to kiss me.

"Later!" I pushed him away. "We don't have time!" I shrilled, pushing him in the direction of the Slytherin common room.

"I love you!" he yelled over his shoulder, running towards the common room.

"You too." I beamed, putting a hand on the rough dungeon wall. I felt like I was going to collapse. I threw myself down on the bench, still panting and waited. I ignored the looks a couple of passing Slytherins were throwing me. Yes, the red-faced sweaty ginger girl was waiting for the Scorpius Malfoy.

I thought about owling Scorpius' dad, I didn't think the match would last long enough for the owl to make it to the manor. I dropped the idea, the last thing Scorpius probably wanted to think about was his father.

"Give these to your boy-toy, Weasley." Potter had returned to snarl in my face. I ignored him and as result got a pile of mouldy smelling green robes thrown on me. "Tell him to hurry up."

"We're just friends," I said quietly.

"I have eyes, Weasley." He hissed. "Today is about quidditch, not your 'love triangle.'"

"What in Merlin's bloody name do you think a love triangle is?" I called after him. He disappeared up the corridor again with a Voldemortish swirl of his quidditch robes.

No one would believe him anyway. But maybe- Can you stop with the 'but maybe's for one second, Rose? Focus on the wizard Scorpius, not the forbidden relationship you have with him.

I marched up to the Slytherin portrait-

"Step back, little Ravenclaw." The portrait scowled.

-And continued walking up to its frame with a glare stretched across my face now. I ignored the death glare the portrait was trying to banish me with.

"Can you get, Scorpius?" I asked, high and polite. "Please?"

He didn't say yes or no he just vanished from his frame. I guessed that was a yes. I took a proper look at the robes, holding them up in the limited light of the dungeons. The green was brighter than the Slytherin uniform colour, it had to be at least twenty years old. On the back, it said 'Malfoy' in what was once white letters but now was yellow letters- something a quick charm could fix. Under it was the number ten in white but if you looked closely at the stitching the shadow of a number seven was still there. Seven was the seeker's number, I knew that much. I shivered. I was holding Draco Malfoy's old quidditch uniform. I stretched the fabric out in front of me, it would fit Scorpius all right. There was something eerie about that.

"Potter gave me this," I said when Scorpius appeared in the door with his broom and gear.

He blinked, catching onto the Draco 'Malfoy' uniform a lot faster than I had. I could see it in his face.

"It'll do." He gave me a lopsided smile. "Let's go win the house cup."

"There could be scouts in the crowd." I tugged on his sleeve expecting him to be a lot more excited than this. "You think it's too late to get Abby to change from Gryffindor colours?"

"Stay in Gryffindor colours." He said, with a wobble to his voice.

"You'll be great," I linked his arm. "Don't be nervous."

"I'm not nervous." He said, roughly.

"Be careful though," I said, slowly.

"And Rosie's back again," he said.

"Just don't get yourself injured. I won't think less of you if you let the ball in, which you won't." I walked faster. The school was empty thanks to the match. Everyone was at the quidditch pitch and Abby and Kenny were probably waiting for us.

"Let's talk about something else."

"Let's get excited." I fist pumped the air.

"I'm trying not to be sick, Rose," Scorpius said. He did have a pale glow to him. More like seasickness than excitement. "We really shouldn't have eaten all those Bertie Botts."

I scowled at him. "I can't believe you said that."

"Okay," he admitted, his face scrunching up, frowning at the end of the corridor. "Maybe I am nervous. I'm getting it all out before we get to the pitch… we're going to the pitch…"

"Do you think you'll be able to see me from up there?"

"The red hair makes you easy to spot in crowds."

I waited for the punchline to his comment.

"And your gingerness is the only reason I find you attractive."

I waited again, feeling something else coming. The air around him shifted to a less serious aura.

"There's a chance I'll become a permanent member of the team and captain." He grinned, finally loosening up. "I wonder if this is how Harry Potter felt when he raised his wand to Voldy. I can fecking kill this bitch."


Author note's: Don't worry the next couple of chapters will be more exciting than this. :) Thanks again for the follows, favs and reviews it makes my day. I hope you're enjoying this! The next update will be a lot sooner.