Chapter 5: Why Won't The World Revolve Around Me? or, I Hate To Turn Up Out Of The Blue Uninvited

Rating: M mainly for language, and I can't discount any funny business later on

Disclaimer: I work with only what the infallible J.K. Rowling has given me.

"Trust our Rose to bag a guy like Christian Goldstein," Gen said around the sausage in her mouth as they sat in the Great Hall on Monday morning.

Rose hastily looked around the quickly filling room. "Could you keep your voice down? I don't need every person at Hogwarts knowing about Christian and me."

Al cleared his throat from beside her. "You might want to let him know that."

Rose raised her eyebrows in confusion and swivelled around to see Christian plonking himself down merrily beside her.

"Morning, Rose!" he said, leaning in to brush his lips against her cheek. "You don't mind if I join you?" He shifted his attention to Al and Gen; they shook their heads as he swung his legs over the bench.

"I heard about you making Captain, Albus," Christian said, helping himself to some toast. "Congratulations."

Al swallowed, and waved his hand noncommittally, but he was sitting up noticeably straighter. "Oh, you know, it's no big deal." He paused. "Rose was telling us about your um….choir."

Christian flushed slightly. "I hope she didn't bore you," he said, smiling bashfully. "I can get a little impassioned about it."

Rose, to whom this was already abundantly clear, almost choked on her scrambled eggs as she tried to hide her snort.

Christian patted her back. "Alright, Rose?"

She nodded, painfully. "Just…uh….wrong pipe."

Christian grinned jovially, humming as he continued to fill his plate. "Did you two enjoy Hogsmeade?" he asked, focusing on the other two. "Rose said you were on a date?"

Al began to cough loudly as Gen began furiously cutting up her sausage.

"Well, I mean, not that you two were on a date together," Christian amended, looking slightly concerned at the sudden kerfuffle. "That would be the day, huh?"

Gen pulled her lips up into a smile, while Al said nothing.

"It was fine," Gen said, once she realised that the table was still waiting on an answer. "I had a great time with…Ben."

"I thought he was Swedish?" Al said, and then winced.

Gen went back to looking at her eggs. "Oh, yeah, he is. He just has a complicated name, you know, one of those….complicated Swedish names. Ben something or other."

Christian chuckled. "I dated a Polish woman once," he said, thoughtfully. "I think her name might've been Natalia, or something. Though it was a while back," he said to Rose teasingly. "No need to be jealous."

Rose shook her head, smiling.

"Though I've never heard of a Swedish boy named Ben in our year," Christian said, peeking around behind him. "What House is he in?"

Gen, upon noticing the blue prefect's badge sewn onto Christian's robes, stifled a groan. "Uh…Ravenclaw."

"Huh," Christian said. "You'd think I would know him."

Gen gulped down a glass of water. "He's an exchange student, I think," she said. "You know, it was hard to decipher exactly what he was saying around his accent." At the silence around her, Gen grew noticeably pink. "Anyway, the date didn't really work out. Language barrier and all that. Plus, I'm sure he'll be going back to Sweden soon."

Rose nodded, patting her friend's hand consolingly, although now that she thought about it, she was quite sure that when she had asked, Gen had said that his name was Brendan.

"How was your day, Al?" Christian asked, filling his glass with orange juice.

Al shrugged. "It wasn't great," he said. "No chemistry, I guess."

Feeling Gen's furtive gaze, he looked up quickly to meet her eyes, and then focused back on Christian. "No matter though."

Christian, who had intertwined his hand with Rose's, pulled away. "Sorry the two of you didn't have a great time," he said, somewhat sheepishly. "Perhaps the two of you should've just gone together!" He laughed loudly.

Al and Gen cracked strained, painful grins before they went back to their food.

Christian inclined his head towards Rose, smiling at his own joke, and then, still humming, re-took her hand in his under the table.

"I do have to thank you, Toby," Scorpius said, scrutinising himself in the mirror as he adjusted his tie.

"Oh yeah?"

Scorpius, looking amused, turned to face his friend. "If you hadn't had Nicole and Angela in bed with you, Liv would've spent the night. Again."

"She wasn't in the mood for the Room of Requirement?"

Scorpius shrugged. "She wasn't bothered to climb all the way up."

Toby paused, and began to button up his uniform shirt. "So I take it you haven't told her that you found a way around the Transfiguring staircase leading up to the girls' dormitory?"

Scorpius flashed his teeth. "Not exactly."

Toby shook his head, stretching out his arms.

"Sore?" Scorpius asked piously, rolling his eyes as his friend pointedly flexed the arm he was holding over his head.

Toby grinned. "I'm getting too old for this." He jostled the bed as he bounced out of it.

"Maseltov."

"I told you going stag to Hogsmeade would make my day infinitely better than yours. And my night."

"I'm sure you're right."

Toby strayed by his reflection for a moment longer, and then grabbed his bag. "I said I'd come back with a lady on each arm, didn't I?"

Scorpius, unimpressed, reached for his rucksack as well. "I believe you said two on each arm."

Toby scrunched up his nose, balancing against the frame of the door as he held it open with his foot. "Well, it was a little ambitious. I was high on freedom. Ready to go?"

Scorpius nodded and joined him, running a hand through his hair to brush out the knots. He hesitated, looking around the room as the door began to close. His eyes dropped to his desk.

"Oh, hang on," Scorpius said, re-opening the cracked door. "I just need to grab something."

He returned with the patrols schedule from the prefects' meeting, and tucked it into his rucksack.

"What do you need that for?" Toby asked, inclining his head towards it.

Scorpius made for the stairs. "Just a copy for Weasley for the meeting tonight."

"Thoughtful of you."

"Whatever."

The door shut behind them. Scorpius took each step slowly, pacing himself as Toby whistled beside him, making exaggerated thrusting movements as he climbed down.

"Cool it, Romeo." Scorpius cast a dirty look his friend's way. "I know it's been a while since you've gotten laid, but if you're going to become a spectacle every time you get a girl into your bed, maybe moving into the Heads dorm isn't such a bad idea."

"Oh." Toby paused his exhibitionism and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey, man, so I was wondering — can I have your bed once you leave? You know, push it next to mine?"

Scorpius smirked. "Oh, I know you're going to miss me, Tobias, but do you really think that sleeping in my bed is going to help ease your suffering?"

"It'll ease my back in the morning. More space, you know. For…sleeping."

Scorpius scowled. "As much as I'd love for my bed to become your new locale for threesomes-"

"Oh, don't get hung up on the whole threesome thing," Toby said consolingly. "Angela was rubbish."

Scorpius resisted the urge to push his friend down the remaining three steps and directed his gaze instead to Toby's wrinkled appearance. Something caught his eye, and he snorted.

"You realise your pants are on inside out?"

Toby halted, his foot straddling the air as he looked down.

"Let me guess: it must be all that freedom."

"Fuck," Toby swore, pulling Scorpius in front of him as he surreptitiously whipped off his trousers and turned them the right way around. Scorpius' face conveyed his intense displeasure at the sudden turn of events.

"Do you mind?" he asked, marching ahead while Toby fiddled with his belt. "Personal dressing room is not on my to-do list today."

Toby puffed behind him as he caught up. "What day's that again? Shall I pencil you in—OW!"

Scorpius sniggered as Toby rubbed his elbow from where Scorpius' bag had nicked him, then led the way out of the Common Room.

"My day was going so well," Toby lamented as he still theatrically scrubbed at his arm. "Trust you to injure me at the height of my happiness."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I'd rather that than start my morning off with a visit to Weasley." Right on cue, they entered the dining hall. His gaze zeroed in on the Gryffindor table, soon after scoping out the red head of hair sitting on the end closest to the door. Scorpius was unsurprised to see Christian there; the new couple had - literally overnight - become the talk of the school. He was positive that Rose was ecstatic at her new celebrity status. The way she was grimacing at everyone who spared them a glance made it more than obvious.

As he approached, Genevieve stiffened from where she was sitting, and quickly tipped her head in his direction. Rose immediately sobered, as if somehow her friend had conveyed exactly who was standing behind her.

"Malfoy," she said, her lips thinning.

"Weasley," he replied, ignoring the boy to her left. And to her right, too, just for good measure.

"What is it?"

He reached into his bag and handed her the parchment. She opened it, curiously, and then relaxed. "Oh, thanks."

He grunted, and then without a word, headed back the way he and Tobias had come.

"So it's true, then," Toby said, darting a glance back. "Rose is dating Goldstein."

"You're becoming quite obsessive, Tobias," Scorpius sniffed, ignoring his friend's chuckles from behind him.

Rose was always early for night patrols, something Al and Gen frequently complained about when she would pull them out of the door with her ten minutes early for a two-minute walk.

It was a habit of hers; she could walk slow - though she never did - and tonight she might even enjoy the few minutes of solitude in the expansive hallway as she waited for Scorpius to appear.

She had settled comfortably against the cool stone behind her and was about to close her eyes when the unmistakable sound of shoes hitting hard floor sounded from the far end of the corridor.

She turned her head, and had to stop her lips from pursing up. "What are you doing here?"

Scorpius frowned as he stopped in front of her, and then raised his voice, speaking slowly and enunciating each word. "We have patrols tonight, Weasley. You and I. At this time. Thus, here I am, and here, unfortunately, you are, too."

Rose rolled her eyes, drawing her wand.

"So we're back to the silence then? This "I take power in my quietude" shit?"

While his tone suggested he was only slightly irked, Rose had come to know that underlying frustration over the years. She merely shrugged.

"Shouldn't you be with Goldstein? Polishing your promise rings or whatever it is that celibate couples do?"

"I don't know, shouldn't you be with Liv, doing your daily STD check?"

He smirked, but made no reply, though he had the same satisfied look on his face that he'd had in the bookshop the previous weekend; he took no issue in any comment Rose made about his sex life. So long as she knew that he did indeed have a sex life.

Rose sighed. "I won't fight with you, Malfoy. I don't have the energy."

"How many times have I heard that before?"

"I'm serious," Rose said, crossing her arms as they began to walk.

"So am I."

Rose pushed her teeth onto her tongue in frustration, sidestepping slightly to increase the distance between them, as if somehow that would help.

Scorpius, upon noting this, grinned.

"So have you and Goldstein done the nasty yet?"

Rose turned to him, thunderstruck. "I beg your pardon?"

Scorpius only raised his eyebrows back. "You know." And here he clenched one hand into a fist and rapped it against the palm of his other hand twice.

"You're such a pig. I don't know how Liv stands you."

"You should ask her. She might even give you some tips on how to best appease me if you catch her at a good time."

"Do you think about anything other than your past or upcoming sexual encounters?"

"Of course," Scorpius said, seriously. "I think about my present ones. I take pride in my work, you see."

Sardonically, Rose drew further away, noting with disgust that somehow they had drifted closer as they had turned the corner.

"You never answered my question," Scorpius added. "I'll take that as a yes, then?"

"You can take your question and shove it up your-"

Scorpius made a gleeful humph, his eyes lighting up, and strode forward. "Finally," he muttered, drawing out his wand and pointing it at the broom cupboard up ahead.

"Honestly, Malfoy, what the hell are you-"

She was cut off as the cupboard door burst open and collided viciously with the wall behind it, exposing the two students huddled in a close embrace in the small area inside.

"Lovely," Scorpius said scathingly, as the two stayed frozen in place, evidently too traumatised to move. "I do have to thank you two, though," he admitted, casting a look behind him. "You just turned my two hours of indubitable dullness into an hour and fifty-eight minutes. Now, go."

Rose, huffing, shouldered past him, attempting to block him from view, but conveniently forgetting that his chin stood above the top of her head.

"No fraternising in broom cupboards," Rose chastised. "Or any other cupboards for that matter."

"Or anywhere else we might see you," Scorpius inputted, grimacing.

Still furiously red, the younger students edged out, avoiding meeting either Head's gaze. Rose held back a laugh as the boy made to intertwine his fingers with his companion as she constantly batted him away.

Scorpius, sighing, re-stowed his wand, and crossed his arms. "Where else do you think we might find unsuspecting cavorts?"

Rose pulled her fingers through her ponytail, feeling her way around the tangles. "You're turning this patrols session into a witch hunt."

"Well, what do you suggest we do instead?"

Frowning, Rose leaned against the corridor wall; Scorpius seemed to acknowledge her resoluteness to stop walking by increasing his own pace.

"Is spending two hours together really so unthinkable to you?" Rose scoffed.

Scorpius considered. "Yes."

And leaving Rose folding her arms crossly against the cold stone, he disappeared around the corner.

Rose scuffed her toe against a chip in the flooring. She hummed a soft melody, drumming against her robes in time. She couldn't decide whether Scorpius leaving had been a positive development; perhaps even bickering with him beat standing alone in silence. She sighed, and pushed herself fully upright, craning her head around the corner to check whether it would be a good place to patrol. She was just setting off when footsteps from behind her caught her attention.

That head of hair looked awfully familiar; she couldn't believe her luck.

"Christian!" she called, jogging over to where he had appeared.

He turned, raising his head out of his score, and beamed upon catching sight of her. "Rose!"

He leaned in to brush his lips against hers, and she could feel his lips widening into a smile. "You haven't finished patrols already?"

Rose's expressed dropped slightly. "No, not yet."

Christian scrunched up his face in confusion. "Weren't you complaining that you have to deal with Malfoy tonight?"

Rose nodded. "He uh…went somewhere."

"You must've scared him off," Christian said, winking as he pushed a loose strand of hair away from Rose's face. "He was too dazzled to stay in your presence. A problem we all share."

Rose, as it had become customary when Christian dolled out his usual compliments, coloured. "Whatever it is, as long as it keeps him gone."

"Your luck appears to have run out."

"What?"

She followed Christian's gaze to see her fellow Head stalking towards them.

"Weasley, where the hell have you been?"

Rose, clenching Christian's hand in hers, unconsciously stuck out her chest. "Don't give me that rubbish. You were the one who walked off."

Scorpius, ignoring this, shifted his gaze slightly upwards. "What is he doing here?"

"You could ask him," Christian replied, icily.

"Last I heard, this was a Heads patrol." Scorpius' expression turned into one of such disgust that it was as if he had smelled something unpleasant. "Couldn't go an hour without your babysitter, Weasley?"

"That's rich coming from the only one of us behaving like a petulant child," Rose said, her eyes going cold.

Scorpius' frame went stiff. Christian bent, lowering his lips towards Rose's ear. "I'm gonna go, alright?" he said. "Don't want to make things worse between the two of you."

"I'm amused you think that that's still possible."

He smiled at her, somewhat pityingly, and pecked her on the cheek.

"Before the hour's up, Goldstein."

With a defiant expression, Christian shot him one last glare and turned on his heel. By the time he had reached the end of the corridor, his head was already back into Stubby Boardman's Greatest Hits: Volume III.

"You're fighting a losing battle, Weasley."

"What now."

"You haven't noticed the way he looks at that thing? I wouldn't be surprised if he unzipped his pants and pulled out his-"

"What is wrong with you?" Rose cut him off, violently. "Do you always have to be so nasty?"

"Only when you're being so disgracefully obtuse."

"I am not being obtuse."

"Why him?"

Rose, caught off guard, recovered, and threw him an ugly look. "How or why I choose my boyfriend is none of your business."

"What, so you'd rather us walk in dead silence for rest of tonight? Especially when I'm craving to know the hidden appeal of Christian Goldstein. Would you really be so cruel?"

Rose weighed her options. She could either answer the question or - as Scorpius had pointed out - prepare to walk in the uncomfortable silence. She went with the lesser of two evils.

"He's nice."

"However have you resisted him until now?"

"He's attractive."

"I'm attractive," Scorpius pointed out.

Rose snorted. "If you say so."

"You have nothing in common."

Rose turned to look at him. "Don't pretend to know anything about Christian, Malfoy. Or anything about me, for that matter."

"Please," he said, rolling his eyes. "I know you better than most." He inclined his head back to where Christian had disappeared. "Better than him, for sure. Or does he not notice that you couldn't be less fucked about his unhealthy obsession with old and dead musicians?"

"Indulge me: did you only bring Christian up so you could swivel the conversation around to insult him?"

Scorpius shrugged noncommittally. "If there was another avenue, I would've taken it."

Rose straightened. "You know, the more you insult Christian, the more insecure you come off."

"What are you, my fucking therapist or something?"

"You're projecting."

"It's not my fault you've chosen to date a gay musician."

Breathing deeply, Rose closed her eyes, though she wondered if her thudding heart might give her away. "You can insult him all you like," she said, slowly. "Even if he was a gay musician, he'd still be leagues better than you."

Scorpius smirked, though when Rose looked back down towards the floor, she could see his hand balled into a fist.

She sighed. "It's your fault, you know."

"A welcome change."

"If you weren't so rude about Christian, we wouldn't be fighting."

"Weasley, we're always fighting."

Rose checked her watch and exhaled. Silently, she pivoted around, tucking her wand back into her robes.

"Where are you going now?"

"It's twelve," she called without turning around. "I'll see you at the prefects' meeting tomorrow night."

It was true, Rose thought as she continued up towards Gryffindor Tower. She'd take bearding over dating Scorpius Malfoy any day.

Any day of the damn week.

"Right," Rose called. "Can everyone shut up, please?"

The room quieted, and Rose sighed in satisfaction. "Good. Now, as you can all see, our Head Boy is apparently otherwise occupied, so I think we'll get a move on without him." Something - or rather, a lack of - caught her attention. "Hang on," she said, looking at the empty spot next to her best friend. "Where's Al?"

Gen shrugged. "I lost him after dinner."

Rose pursed her lips. "Anyway, since everyone's extra curricular timetables should've been finalised by now, we can re-examine the patrols schedule and deal with any switches. Can everyone who strongly feels that they cannot switch put up their hands?"

A few hands were raised. Rose waved her wand, and their names glowed on the parchment before switching back to their normal colour, among them, the new dates for her two rounds with Christian. She waved her wand again, and the rest of the writing disappeared.

"Right, it's a free for all, then. I'll pass it around, see me if there are any problems."

She surveyed the room as the parchment made its way around; she noticed Gen talking animatedly to the boy beside her, and caught a few glimpses of their conversation. He appeared to be asking Gen which nights she was free. Rose frowned and averted her attention to where Tobias Nott was balancing the parchment on his knee as he wrote, his teeth biting down on his lower lip.

Once it had been seen by everyone in the room, the document was given back to her. She perused it, noting with surprise - and slight satisfaction - that Scorpius' name remained on its own for the two nights that they didn't do rounds together. Her brow furrowed as she located Tobias' name under a fellow Slytherin's.

Her stomach twisted as she quickly put two and two together.

"Oh, Merlin."

The door was flung open, and a disgruntled Scorpius entered. "I know I'm late, Weasley, but tell me you managed to sort out this desperately difficult task without my guidance?"

Rose smiled at him sweetly, though her stomach still churned in conflict. "It's all sorted."

"Good," he said. "Let me just check that you haven't moved my night or anything."

She held out the parchment to him, and watched as his eyes scanned it over. Just as she suspected, his gaze froze.

Toby sidled past her, and laid a hand on Scorpius' shoulder. "Listen, Scorp, I ah…"

Scorpius glared at his best friend. "When the fuck are you doing rounds, then?"

Toby shrugged apologetically. "I have to tutor a third year in Arithmancy now. Our timings didn't really work out, and I couldn't hold everyone else up."

Despite the overwhelming pity she was feeling for her cousin, Rose began to snigger.

"I'm Head Boy!" Scorpius squawked indignantly the minute he noticed this, puffing himself up to his full height. "I should get priority!"

Rose tutted. "Not if you show up to your own meeting fifteen minutes late."

"Weasley, I swear to Merlin, if you don't sh-"

It was then that Al burst through the door. "Sorry, Rosie! I swear, this is the first time-" He paused at Scorpius' infuriated face as he glared at the filled up parchment. "What did I miss?"

"It's for ditching you at the Hogsmeade trip, isn't it?"

"Don't be so ridiculous, Al," Rose said, rolling her eyes as everyone filed out. "Christian asked if we wanted to do rounds together. I thought you could pair up with Gen." She sneaked a glance over to where Gen was laughing with the same Gryffindor she had sat next to. "I didn't realise she was wanting to do patrols with Charlie."

"Sorry, Albus," Christian added sincerely. "I didn't mean to inconvenience you like this."

"We can do rounds together when we switch around again," Rose consoled.

"I don't want to do rounds with Malfoy," Al said, sulkily.

"Oh, and I'm over the moon about the turn of events?" came the bitter reply.

Al's jaw tensed he met Scorpius' glare from his position by the door. "It's not like I came late to my own meeting, is it?"

"Well," Scorpius said, his lip curling into that trademark sneer. "As Head Boy I have other appointments and they occasionally overrun." He turned to leave.

"If I was Olivia I'd run too," Rose muttered quietly, though obviously not quietly enough because Scorpius whipped around, his face grim.

"Not all of us have the sexual urges of a tea towel, Weasley."

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if you were found dead mid-coitus," Rose said, just as loftily. "Like that Australian marsupial. You know, the one that literally sexes itself to death?" She picked up her bag and took Christian's hand, meeting Scorpius' withering gaze. "You remind me of that."

She pulled Christian along with her as she made to leave the room.

"Be careful, Goldstein," Scorpius said, grabbing Rose's arm and pulling her around to face him. "You think she's like this now, but just wait until you-"

"Don't you dare touch me," Rose snarled, shouldering out of his hold and jabbing a finger at his face.

He swiped her hand aside and muscled his way past. "I'm so fucking sick of you," he spat, his face like thunder.

"Watch your fucking language!" Rose screamed shrilly after him as he disappeared, Toby scurrying to keep up.

Someone cleared their throat.

Rose turned around, her pretty face still red with fury. She stilled at Gen's raised eyebrows. Gen cleared her throat again. "I…uh…just invited Charlie to dinner. Mind if he sits with us?"

Rose gave a pronounced exhale and forced a strained smile. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Where the fuck is Liv?" Scorpius fumed, craning his head around the Common Room. "I swear to Merlin, she's never here when I need her."

"Scorpius," Toby said, seriously. "I think you need some fresh air. We'll have a game of Quidditch, okay? Help you blow off some steam."

"I need Liv," Scorpius repeated, leaning over the sofa in case she might be laying down out of his sight.

"She's not here, mate," Toby said, tiredly. "Listen, I'm going to go up to our room, okay?"

"Yeah, go," Scorpius replied, distractedly. "Too late for her to still be at dinner," he muttered to himself, checking his watch. "Goddammit, Liv."

"Are you looking for Olivia Roux?"

Scorpius whirled around, face still screwed up in annoyance when he came face to face with a timid third year.

He hastily recovered his expression, remembering suddenly of his tutee, and then quickly blocked out her image. "Yes, I was — I mean, am."

She nodded, and then pointed at the Common Room's exit. "She said something to her friend about going to take a bath in the prefects' bathroom."

Scorpius flashed his teeth. "Perfect."

Wednesday afternoon meant a working afternoon; mainly due to the fact that McGonagall's Transfiguration homework was a bitch to do, even for a student like Rose Weasley.

She yawned as she entered the library, rubbing her eyes and deciding that perhaps sitting with Christian in front of the fireplace until half past two - while highly enjoyable at the time - only reaped short-term benefits.

She set her work down, glancing at her watch and noting that she had about fifteen minutes until Christian was due to join her. As she opened her texbook, a tinkling laugh caught her attention.

Having recognised the voice instantly, she looked up in slight annoyance to see Liv drawing away from Scorpius' ear, pulling her hair up into a bun as she stretched. Scorpius, chuckling as he shook his head, went back to his writing.

Rose flipped forward until she reached the subchapter they had been assigned to read as homework, studying the introductory paragraph.

One of the most dangerous issues faced by practitioners of Human Transfiguration is the possibility that with the incorrect conjuration, the user risks permanently adopting his or her new transfigured state.

Another high pitched laugh.

Rose looked up to see Liv's hands acquainting themselves with Scorpius' shoulders as she rubbed her knuckles against the base of his neck.

If he was in such discomfort, Rose thought, he should go and work in the Hospital Wing. And take his girlfriend with him, while he was at it.

There are differing levels of Human Transfiguration. For instance, Full-Body Transfigurations, wherein the caster takes on the full appearance of another, require a far greater mastery of the subject than simply altering the caster's hair colour.

Rose was already anticipating the next laugh, but it didn't lessen the annoyance of it; she could feel her eyes straining as she rolled them. Was it so much to ask that the two of them could respect the nature of library work? After all, she was dating too, and she kept her relationship out of the study area. She observed with deep dissatisfaction that no one else seemed to take any notice of the couple's actions.

Looking around, she realised that there were other couples in the library, other couples giggling together or sitting too close. She frowned; she and Christian enjoyed the little things, understated, subtle and quietly-

"Rose! There's my beautiful library partner!"

Christian dropped into the seat next to her, sprawling slightly in his chair as he folded his arms loosely across his chest.

"You're looking awfully chipper," Rose said, her eyes lifted in question as she smiled.

Christian's expression turned into one of such passion that she knew immediately the next topic of conversation-

"During choir practice, Flitwick insisted we learn the song that Stubby sang to his mother on her deathbed to celebrate the anniversary of her passing."

"Stubby's...mother's death?"

"Yeah, it's quite a haunting tune. I could sing it for you, if you'd like."

Like many other girls, Rose was not immune to the attractiveness of a partner who showed a passion for something he enjoyed, but she wondered if it was too much to ask that the thing he enjoyed wasn't so mind-numblingly dull. To be clear, Rose liked music too, but she capped at anything written or performed two hundred years prior.

"Oh, if we were anywhere else but a library."

Christian smiled bashfully. "Right." He exhaled. "I brought my Potions textbook too in case we wanted to work on that after the other stuff; did you get the same homework from Xavier?"

"You're kidding." Scorpius barked out another laugh and shook his head with amusement.

Liv giggled, stretching out an arm in front of her. "I swear, they were talking about it five feet away from me."

"Toby will be crushed." Scorpius rubbed his thumb against his chin.

Liv shrugged. "It could be worse. We could have Marie Gibbons 2.0." She paused. "And 3.0."

Scorpius laughed again, putting down his quill as he gave up working. "So, am I going to be the one to tell Toby he was just a beard?"

Liv spread her hands in front of her. "He's your best friend."

Scorpius considered. "He did mention something about Angela being rather forgettable. Maybe he won't be so cut up."

"He waved at Nicole this morning though."

"Oh?"

"She ignored him."

"Oh."

Liv raised a hand to tighten her ponytail. "But rumour has it, there's a rather attractive Ravenclaw who has her sights set on him."

Scorpius whistled. "I guess Casanova's still got it."

Liv craned over the desk and then glanced behind them. "Maybe she's here." She lifted herself up in her seat. "Huh."

"Do you see her?" Scorpius straightened.

"What? Oh, no, I just saw uh..." She settled back into her chair. "Nevermind."

"Well," Scorpius said, picking up his quill again. "Maybe he can ask her to Hogsmeade next time." He cleared his throat, and then bent again, silently scratching at his parchment.

Liv paused, pressing her lips tightly together.

Scorpius frowned as he wrote, glancing at Liv from the corner of his eye. Her tenseness seemed to radiate out from her, and he looked up to see her expectant gaze.

"Scorpius, I've been meaning to talk to you," she said in a very different voice.

He looked up in surprise. "We have been talking."

"No," she said, folding her hands together, and then separating them. "About us. This."

"Do you really think this is the place, Liv?"

She frowned. "I think now's as good a time as ever, Scorpius."

Sensing that she wasn't going to concede, Scorpius put his quill down, and then picked it up again, fiddling with it.

"Do you remember when we were in Gladrags?"

"You were buying that dress. I mean, that belt."

"Yes, but it's not about that."

"Okay."

She sighed. "You told Mr Murray that you didn't consider yourself to be my boyfriend."

Scorpius searched her unfathomable eyes. "I did." At the sight of her raised eyebrow, he hastened to elaborate. "Liv, I was with Claudia at the end of last year, remember?"

Liv scoffed. "You were hardly with her, Scorpius. On top of her, maybe."

"And you're going to sit here and tell me that you spent the last week of school crocheting in your room?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't mock me, Scorpius."

"It's unhealthy, Liv. This is unhealthy."

"I know." Suddenly, she brightened. "That's why I think we should give this a proper go."

Scorpius broke into a coughing fit, grabbing the edges of the table as he leant over it. Recovering, he turned back to face Liv's concerned expression. "Haven't we tried that already?"

"Not really."

"Are you sure? I swear beginning of sixth year we tried that-"

"No."

"Last Christmas? We made some sort of-"

"Weekends off."

Scorpius' chest flopped. "Oh."

Liv nodded slowly. "I just mean…we can't say this never worked if we never even really tried, you know?"

Scorpius thought back to five minutes ago when they were laughing at Toby's misfortunes. He summoned Liv's grinning face to mind, flushed as she lifted up her face towards the ceiling.

"So, what do you say?"

Scorpius, jarred back to attention, studied her face, those big baby blue eyes almost glistening in the light. He turned away, focusing on the bookcases near the back of the library.

"I, uh-"

He paused as his gaze fell upon the couple studying together at one of the back tables. His eye twitched as Christian pushed a strand of hair away from Rose's face. She ducked and smiled, blushing as she resumed her work.

He turned back to face Liv, absentmindedly noticing that she smelled exceptionally nice today. "I say that's a grand idea."

The late dinner crowd had just left, leaving the library in a temporary state of quiet, when a shadow appeared over Scorpius' textbook.

"So I guess you don't have a thing for Rose Weasley."

Scorpius' lip twitched as he looked up to meet his tutee's gaze as she sat down opposite him.

"Well," she said, solemnly. "She doesn't have a thing for you."

"Is this going to be a weekly thing?" Scorpius asked, tiredly.

"I would think so. They're weekly tutoring sessions, yes?" Juliette gave him a look that was beginning to feel quite familiar to Scorpius; he often came face to face with it whilst staring into any reflective surface.

"I meant this little foray into my private life," Scorpius elucidated flatly.

Juliette shrugged. "I thought it might spice up our sessions. Make the time between you and I more fun."

"Me and you," Scorpius corrected automatically. "Have you always been this chatty and intrusive?"

"Oh, just since last week."

Scorpius struggled to hide his smirk. "I'm guessing since you called this session two days early you have something important to hand in?"

Juliette opened the textbook and pointed to the heading. "Consequences of an incorrectly brewed Shrinking Solution."

Scorpius racked his brains; a few outcomes came to mind. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

"Yeah, I guess." She pulled out a quill and parchment. "Well, one idea."

Scorpius pursed his lips. "If we go down to the Potions lab, we can brew the potion with minor issues, and then you can see firsthand."

Juliette nodded and then promptly closed her textbook. "Sounds good."

Scorpius too closed his book, and followed his tutee out of the library.

As they walked, he caught her glancing back at him a couple times. Once he caught her eye, and his gaze narrowed. "What."

Juliette smiled impishly. "So, do you know that Rose is dating Christian Goldstein?"

"You know," Scorpius said, surveying her critically. "For someone who accuses me of being in love with Weasley, you talk about her an awful lot."

Juliette grinned up at him. "I only said you might like her." She skipped ahead of him. "You came up with the love part all by yourself."

Scorpius' eyes widened. "Now, just wait one second-"

Juliette, who seemed utterly unconcerned about her tutor's furious expression, continued to bounce ahead. When she arrived at the door leading into the lab, she stopped, her small hands resting on the frame of the door in surprise.

"Did karma catch up with you or something?" Scorpius asked, haughtily, as he came to a stop behind her. He was about to comment again when he lifted his eyes above his tutee's head and towards where she was staring. His eyes narrowed as he moved his gaze from the jar of beetles to the face of the one holding it. "For Merlin's sake."

Rose huffed, gripping the jar tighter. "I thought my day had been suspiciously positive." She turned around and held up the jar in her hands. "Did you need anything else, Christian?"

Scorpius craned his head further around and groaned. "This only gets better," he muttered, and Juliette inclined her head slightly at his words.

"We could come back?" she offered, far more subdued now.

Her words jolted Scorpius out of his sulkiness. "No," he said, leading the way into the room. "This is a Potions lab, isn't it? For doing Potions work?" He passed Rose and Christian. "I can't say the same for what these two are doing."

"Fuck off," Rose muttered, quietly enough that only he could hear.

Scorpius pointedly ignored the way Christian's arms wrapped around his companion as he grabbed the spines from beside her, when really it would've been much faster and far less vomit-inducing if he had just reached in front of her and taken it.

He dropped his gaze to Juliette, perplexed to see that she was already watching him, her eyes lit.

"What?" he asked, sternly.

She shrugged. "Nothing."

Scorpius rolled out his neck, and hiked up his sleeves. "Let's just get on with it."

Scorpius' bad mood seemed to project itself as an invisible force field around him as he stormed back to his dorm.

Juliette had muttered a fairly hasty goodbye before scarpering off towards the Great Hall for a late dinner, and Scorpius noticed she had departed without her usually snarky farewell. People usually gave Scorpius a respectfully wide berth as he walked, but it didn't escape his notice that even were he to stretch out both of his arms, his fingertips would touch empty air.

Was he being so unreasonable to ask that the Potions lab stayed only as its name suggested: a laboratory for making potions? Was it too much to ask that all handholding and….neck nuzzling could stay the fuck outside?

He bit out the password as he reached the stone wall, slinking inside before the opening had fully widened. He entered the Common Room, his line of vision a mere metre wide as he honed in on the route back to his room. A blonde mass appeared in front of him, and he blinked as he refocused his attention from the ponytailed hair to Li—his girlfriend's face.

He sighed in relief.

Liv's mouth lifted up in a small grin as she noticed his posture relaxing. "Hi."

Scorpius grabbed her hand, murmured a quick "Hello," back, and then led her up to his room. He groaned as he saw Toby sprawled across his bed, his head in his Defence textbook.

"Hey, Scorp, so I was thinking, this whole essay thing, it's—OI!"

"I need the room," was Scorpius' reply as Toby followed his textbook out of the door. Scorpius shut it rather unceremoniously in his friend's face, and was unbuttoning his shirt before he even turned around.

"What's up with you?" Liv asked, suspiciously, crossing her arms. "You're not nearly as…cheerful as you were before."

Scorpius shrugged. "I just want to spend some time with you. We are dating now, aren't we?"

Liv pulled her mouth up on one side, her eyebrows furrowed. "Well, yes, we are, but-"

"Exactly," Scorpius said, ending the conversation as he grabbed her arm and reeled her in. She smelled as she always did, like vanilla and pomegranate. He buried his face in her neck, running a hand through her soft hair.

"How was tutoring?"

"Brilliant."

Liv frowned again, but Scorpius blocked her expression as he moved to kiss her.

"Something go wrong?"

"You could say that."

She was stiffening, Scorpius could feel that. He wasn't sure exactly what was stirring in him, but it was something that wouldn't stop him from responding so tersely, and instead kept his lips moving for a whole different reason.

"Scorpius, I'm serious. What the hell's up with you?"

He finally looked up to meet her furious gaze. "Can we not do this now?"

Her stare hardened. "I was thinking exactly the same thing."

"Liv—"

She was shaking her head as she re-buttoned her shirt, sparing him no glance as she wrenched the door open. Scorpius heard her footsteps clattering noisily against the stone as she climbed down.

He covered his eyes with his hand, massaging his temple as he leaned against his headboard, before sinking down so he was staring up at his ceiling, counting the cracks he only just noticed were there.

A/N:

Hi guys! Sorry for the wait, but I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter anyways! I can't promise regular updates with all the work I have at the moment, and I may have to do a Xmas hiatus, but please be patient, and I'll upload as often as I can :) Chapter titles come from Fall Out Boy's America's SuiteHearts and Adele's Someone Like You.

~ Rach