Chapter 11: I Hope He Was A Gentleman or, The Boys Get Lonely After You Leave

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.

"Hey, what did you get for question four?"

Rose looked up, the tip of her quill still pressing into her lip. "Four? Oh, um…Cistem Aperio, but if you add Harenis to the end, the spell will work on glass as well."

Gen clicked her tongue. "How do you even know stuff like that? You know what, nevermind."

Rose grinned and turned back to continue her homework, at least until Gen elbowed her in her side. "Ow. What?"

Gen jerked her head to her right.

"Hey, uh, Rose."

Rose looked up and smiled at the boy who had approached their table. "Hey, Dominic. What's up?"

"Uh…" He exhaled and smiled at her again, shaking his head a little. He flicked his eyes back to where his friend was sitting, and looked at Rose again. "I was wondering, would you want to uh...would you want to—to...lend me a quill?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "A quill? Uh…yeah, I think I have a spare." She dug around in her satchel and pulled one out. "Here you go."

Dominic took it from her and clenched it in his fist. "Thanks, I'll uh…bring it back." He gave her one more sheepish smile and then walked back to where his friend was hiding his laugh behind his hand.

Rose turned to Gen. "I swear, it's not just me, right? Boys are always forgetting their quills."

Gen shook her head, shooting her friend a reproachful look. "The only way he could've been more of a flying brick is if he actually sprouted wings and turned into clay."

Rose frowned. "Huh?"

"A flying fucking brick."

At Rose's unchanged expression, Gen simply shook her head again and went back to work.

"You know the number one reason for cheating is lack of attention and intimacy?"

Scorpius looked up from his book, and for a few moments there was nothing except the sound of the crackling fire again. "Oh yeah, how'd you figure that?"

Toby pointed lazily to the open magazine on the table. "It says so in that magazine over there."

Scorpius - for lack of anything else to do - wandered over and picked it up. "Huh. Who knew Weasley read trash like this."

Toby suddenly swung his legs over the back of the couch, and looked at Scorpius upside down. "There's a comprehensive guide to the best London medical universities in there. I figure she was looking at that."

Scorpius paused. "Medical universities in London?"

Toby still hung over the edge of the couch, and he cracked a grin at Scorpius' expression. "As far as I can tell."

Scorpius was silent, and he leaned over and closed the magazine with a soft thump. Toby, upon noting this, smirked. Scorpius, upon noting that, set his mouth in a thin line and quirked a brow. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing."

"Well, what can I say, Scorp, I'm a romantic at-"

"Not that," Scorpius said, and then after a moment, glared at his friend. "I mean, no-that doesn't even make sense. I meant you hiding out in here."

Toby held up a hand, finally returning to his upright position. "You were the one who said this couch had my name on it." He ran his hand along its back. "It's getting cold without me."

"Somehow you make that sound disgusting. And you are hiding out in here."

Toby made a face, grabbing the magazine from the table and flipping to a random page. "That's ridiculous."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What're you doing here then?"

Toby sucked in his cheeks, pursing his lips. "I'm…reading this magazine."

Scorpius fell back onto the other couch, grabbing the cushion on the floor and propping it up behind him. "I didn't realise there was something wrong with your old one."

"Come again?"

Scorpius nodded at the page Toby had turned to. "How To Find The Perfect Doctor For Your Lady Parts."

Toby immediately recoiled away, and the two of them watched the book as it sailed onto the floor and fell onto its side.

"Like I said," Scorpius added pointedly. "Hiding."

"I told you," Toby said, kicking off his shoes and stretching out properly on the sofa. "I refuse to take any part in this." At Scorpius' expression, he spread his hands. "I'm not saying she wasn't wrong, because she was, but I'm not getting in the middle of my two friends."

"You're my friend, Toby, not hers."

"Don't be childish."

"You're being childish."

They were silent for a few moments, and Toby reached down and grabbed the magazine, setting it back on the table.

Scorpius tapped his foot against his other leg. "You know, I heard that she and Horatio couldn't keep their hands off each other when they went out together on Saturday night."

Toby raised his eyebrows (though at his friend's tone, he tried not to). "May I remind you what you were doing last Saturday night?"

Scorpius set his jaw, and looked accusingly at Toby out of the corner of his eye. "I should never have told you about that," he huffed.

"Then why did you?"

They lapsed into silence once more - Scorpius didn't have an answer to give him, and Toby had expected as much - until Toby groaned and stood up. "I'd love to stay and not chat, but there's a girl waiting for me in the library."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Now who's withholding information?"

Toby chuckled. "I have tutoring." He paused suddenly, and shook his head. "Huh. Déjà vu. See you later."

"Bye," Scorpius said, rather absently.

Déjà vu.

It was like déjà vu in some ways, Scorpius thought. But then in some ways not like déjà vu at all. He and Liv had fought before; their fights usually resulted in the "off" part of their on-off relationship, but this was different. Usually, Liv would get pissed that Scorpius would forget about their anniversary - which somehow changed every year - or complain that they hadn't done anything special or couple-y in too long, or Why Do You Never Refer To Me As Your Girlfriend, Scorpius, or Why Does Toby Have To Come Along To Everything, Scorpius?

This, however, was somewhat uncharted territory. Scorpius had never been cheated on before. He supposed that was what made the "off" part of their relationship so successful, but then all the one night stands in the world somehow couldn't stop them from finding their way back to each other. Liv was the only real girlfriend he'd ever had.

And then she'd gone ahead and cheated on him anyway.

His gaze travelled towards the desk at the back of the living room. On it lay the silvery-blue waistcoat that Scorpius' mother had sent him at his request, and he stood up to put it away.

Dateless.

His first ball dateless.

He shook his head, the force of it shaking the waistcoat in his hands, the silky material rustling and lapping like water.

He didn't need Liv. He could find someone else. He could have anyone he wanted.

"I could have the fucking pick of the bunch," he said aloud, and the fire crackled on, and Scorpius realised how quiet the place was, how alone he was.

His gaze briefly flickered to Rose's closed door, but if memory served, she would be at Quidditch training.

Good thing too, he thought, opening the door to his room. That was the last thing he needed.

She had to have told him.

That had to be the reason why Rose hadn't seen Liv and Scorpius together for almost two weeks now. And it wasn't like she looked at Scorpius often, obviously, but even the most unobservant person couldn't have missed the tension between them.

At least, that's what she had said to Gen on the morning of the Christmas Ball when her friend had asked her why she was suddenly so interested in Scorpius' love affairs.

"I mean, did you see him at breakfast? Do you think he looked mad at breakfast?"

Gen laughed a little disbelievingly. "No, Rose, I wasn't looking at him at breakfast, and so what if he was? They break up all the time - let them sort their shit out. You couldn't get me near their problems with a ten foot pole—door, Rose!"

Rose started and her gaze shifted to where Gen's hand was clenching her forearm. She looked at her other arm, her shoulder just grazing the doors to the Great Hall. "Sorry," she muttered, stepping fully away and walking through.

She could feel Gen's eyes burning a hole in the back of her head, so she quickly scoped out the room, anxious for a distraction. "There's Al," she said, relieved, pointing at her cousin and leading them over to him. "I asked him to bring down the room plan, I just want to double check something on it…"

Gen wasn't being subtle, and Rose was being even less so. But Gen didn't need to be worrying about what Rose knew she was worrying about, because - and Rose knew this was terrible - the thought that was thrumming through her mind and causing her to collide with doors wasn't how Scorpius was coping with their break up, but whether or not he knew that Rose had known about Liv and Horatio. Well, the other thing had flickered through Rose's head too, but she wasn't supposed to be thinking about things like that.

Al waved as he saw them coming over, and finished draping lights over the twig tree beside him. "How's it looking?"

Rose nodded approvingly. "It's coming along."

"Hey, Scorpius was looking for you." Al pointed to the far side of the room. "He was over there the last time I saw him. Said something about wanting to do the charm on the ceiling for the snow."

Rose could see Gen looking at her out of the corner of her eye. "Alright, I'd better go. I'll catch up with you guys later."

She made it about two steps before something stopped her short, and she turned around with her hands cocked on her hips. "You called him 'Scorpius'."

Al rolled his eyes. "You don't miss a thing."

"Except doors, apparently," Gen muttered.

"Go," Al said emphatically. "You've got actual things to worry about."

Rose huffed and turned away again, heading for the direction that Al had pointed at. She reached the end of the room and furrowed her brow as she peered around the prefects.

As one of them walked by her, she raised a hand to catch his attention. "Hey, um…have you seen Malfoy anywhere?"

"Scorpius? Oh yeah, he's over by the fountain."

"Okay, thanks," Rose said with a smile. "This area looks great, by the way."

She walked past him, tapping her wand in her palm as she remembered that this would be the first proper conversation between them since, well, since she began having her suspicions.

"Hey, wait, Rose-"

She felt a light touch on her shoulder, and she blinked as the boy she had just spoken to arrived in front of her. Conrad, she was sure his name was.

"Yes?"

"I was uh…" He smiled at her, and pulled a hand through his hair, ruffling it. "Do you have a date? For tonight, I mean. I know I've left it pretty late so you've probably got one already..."

Rose raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, right! I completely forgot."

Conrad's smile widened. "Does that mean 'no'?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean…I don't have a date."

He smiled a little, and he lifted his hand down from his hair and entwined it with his other one. "If that's a no, don't worry about it-"

"No," Rose said hastily. "That wasn't a no."

She didn't know Conrad very well, which sort of made her wonder whether or not he knew her. He was a prefect though, so he would've attended the meetings she headed, but she didn't think they'd had a single conversation before this one.

"Is that a yes?" She could hear the hopefulness creeping into his calm voice.

She hadn't actually considered going with a date. She hadn't exactly considered going without one either. It had been easier last year, she thought to herself in a moment of despondency. And the year before, when she'd had Nate to go with.

And now, well…now Conrad was asking her, and he was waiting.

"Alright," she heard herself saying. "Sounds like a plan."

"What about her?"

Scorpius sighed as if he'd never been asked anything more inconvenient. "For the last time, I am not interested in going with anyone."

At his words, the girl a few feet away from them stiffened before she resumed setting out the silver goblets with a derisive pout on her face.

"It's almost selfish of you," Toby said, reproachfully. "All these girls throwing themselves at you so readily, and you're not going to take a single one." He flapped out a napkin so that the corner of it grazed Scorpius' jaw, the latter of whom smacked him away and scowled. "Do you know how many guys are going to be relegated to sloppy seconds because of you?"

"Your sympathy is a boon in this troubled time," Scorpius replied flatly.

"Oh, come on, mate." Toby flicked his wand and one of the ice reindeer sculptures began to paw at the ground. "You're not thinking of going alone, are you?"

That was precisely what Scorpius was planning on doing.

Liv would know if he took just anyone - and even he had to face the fact that the most eligible girls would already be committed - he'd only be doing it for the sake of not showing up alone. He needed someone breathtaking, someone so arresting she would awe the room with her presence, someone who looked so good that that would be reason enough to bring her.

And yet, there was no one who could fulfil that. No one, he thought even more firmly when his brain twitched as he cast his gaze away from the girl adding the finishing touches to the snow-charmed ceiling.

So he'd do it. He'd show up alone, and he'd get all of the girls anyway. A small voice in his head piped up whether winning without trying was worth the win at all, but then he remembered his girlfriend wrapped up in the arms of another man, and he didn't care.

His gaze snapped towards where two fifth year prefects were setting the arch of twig trees by the entrance, watching as one of them cast the whole thing to light a dark blue.

"No, for Merlin's sake, light blue! Doesn't anyone have vision?"

Toby snorted beside him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rose straighten, apparently roused by his unexpected outburst, and she trailed over, her eyebrows raised. "I didn't know you cared so much."

Scorpius spared her a glance, suddenly annoyed when his brain did that stupid twitch thing again, and looked back at the entrance, satisfied to see that it was now glowing the colour he wanted. "I don't half-ass anything."

The two prefects moved away, so now he was looking at an empty entrance. He turned back to look at his fellow Head, and his gaze drifted to where she was cradling three sisal glowing presents. "You have a wand, you know."

She shrugged. "A little manual labour never hurt anybody." She glanced at her watch. "It's almost five. We really should be wrapping up."

"We are." Scorpius nodded at the room. "We just need to finish the table settings and animate the rest of the sculptures."

"Sculptures are done," Toby called out, pointing behind him.

"Looks good," Rose said in approval, reaching out and straightening the silver fork next to her. "Very good."

"It almost makes the trip to Gwyneth's worth it," Scorpius said unthinkingly, and Rose snickered.

"You loved the attention, don't lie."

"What, you didn't notice as I swiped her address and office hours before we left?"

She shook her head, grinning, and Scorpius nodded behind her as Genevieve appeared.

"We're all done in our section," she said, looking at Scorpius curiously for a split second. His eyebrow raised the most diminutive of a fraction. "You ready to go?"

Rose glanced back at her friend before turning back to face Scorpius. "Yeah, I think we're all done here. Are you leaving too?"

Scorpius shook his head, lifting his chin as the girl moved on to her last table. "I'd better make sure everything is finalised properly."

Rose looked conflicted. "I can stay too," she offered. "It wouldn't be an issue."

Scorpius waved her off. "Go. We'd lose all of the prefects' respect if they thought we were both needed to oversee the menial task of table setting."

Rose nodded slowly, and pocketed her wand in her back pocket. "Alright. Thanks. I'll um...see you later, then."

"Bye."

She turned away, her friend at her side, and as they left, he heard Genevieve say, "So, who're you bringing as your date?"

Rose didn't usually consider herself to be the most girliest of girls. Yes, she enjoyed making herself look presentable for dates and things, but there was something she loved about twirling around in a pretty dress, and playing with her hair and make-up and the way it just made her feel like such a…girl.

"Up or down?"

Rose turned away from the mirror and looked at her friend. She squinted. "Down."

Gen nodded in agreement and continued to charm her hair into curls, placing them carefully around her head. "I do love that colour on you."

Rose smiled, skimming her fingers along the fabric of her dress. "I didn't want white, but…silver works."

Gen cleared her throat, and stood up, nudging Rose away with her hip so she could sit down in front of the dresser. "I know what it's about, you know."

Rose lowered her arm from where she was about to twirl up her hair in a bun and paused. "Know what what's about?"

Gen eyed her in the mirror's reflection, and though she was fiddling with mascara, her gaze couldn't have been more direct. "There is a palpable difference in the way that you two are interacting. Come on - give me some credit as your best friend, alright?"

"Difference? There's no difference."

"Please. You spent half the day together, and the times you weren't spending together, you were looking for each other. Also, he asked your opinion on something. I've never heard anything akin to that out of that boy's mouth."

Rose made a show of rolling her eyes. "We were just setting a good example. You know, "Even enemies can put aside their issues and work together"." Even as she said it, the word 'enemies' tasted wrong on her tongue.

"Nice try, Rose."

Gen was resolute, and Rose could only sigh. "I suppose there might be a possibility that we're acting somewhat differently."

Gen's eyes glinted. "It was Saturday, wasn't it? That day you two went out in Hogsmeade?"

Rose nodded. "Day. Night. Morning, I don't know — no!" she said hastily when Gen's eyebrows flew up. "No, no. Not that." She pressed her lips together, words swirling and dissipating in her head as she tried to make enough sense of that night to tell it. But this was Gen, and for God's sake, if she didn't tell someone it was going to eat her alive.

She sighed so harshly that all of her breath left her. "Alright, but you have to promise not to be judgemental."

"You know what? I would fuck me."

Scorpius readjusted his bow tie, glancing at his friend behind him. "Well, that's what's important, I guess."

"No, really. I would."

Scorpius bent to pick up his jacket from where he had slung it over the back of the couch, and inspected it for creases. He heard footsteps behind him, and straightened. "Let me guess, you still don't know how to tie a bow tie."

He turned around to see Toby sheepishly holding out the scrap of fabric in his hand, and crinkled his nose before obliging him.

"Look at us," Toby sighed. "Two bachelors on the first ball of our final year. Can you believe it?"

Scorpius finished doing up the knot and pulled out the parts of Toby's collar that had folded back over themselves. "One of us, yes."

"Thanks."

Toby struck out a foot in front of the mirror, twisting his leg as he inspected the cut of his slacks. "I mean…you'd fuck me, wouldn't you?"

"You're absolutely irresistible, Toby."

Scorpius shook out his jacket a little and pulled his arms into it, joining his friend and surveying himself in front of the mirror. He looked good. Of course, Scorpius always looked good, and he made a point of it. Toby looked good too — too good in fact, there was almost no way that he had picked out that outfit himself-

"Gold was an interesting choice," Scorpius said.

"Oh, it wasn't mine," Toby confessed, airily, waving a hand. "It was Li-"

He broke off so quickly that it would've been far less noticeable if he had just taken that last half second to finish saying her name; not that it mattered, how could Scorpius not be thinking it anyway.

Toby looked genuinely guilty, and Scorpius clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go do what bachelors do."

Toby swiped his jacket from where he had piled it onto the chair next to them, and swung it over his shoulder. "Ready?"

Scorpius nodded, and led the way to the door. Almost instinctively, he paused, and tilted his face towards the door next to him. It was ajar, and the room was quiet.

Toby's eyes widened, and he pointed a finger at Scorpius' face. "You were going to!"

Scorpius shook his head defensively. "I wasn't."

"You were!"

"I—no, I wasn't."

"Okay, you weren't."

Scorpius glared. "Ignoring you." He passed Toby and left the room.

"You can't ignore me," Toby protested, his footsteps clambering to catch up. "I climbed seven floors to make sure you didn't show up looking like a prat."

"I'm sure that was the main motivator behind your visit."

"I mean, sure you have a nice, big bathroom, and Shane's hair gel does smell sorta funky, what the fuck is in that stuff anyway…"

Toby prattled on as they descended towards the Great Hall, but it was about nothing in particular, and Scorpius knew he was only doing it to keep Scorpius' mind occupied after his faux pas, but he appreciated the gesture all the same.

Professor McGonagall sought them out as soon as they arrived at the entrance, and she placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes crinkling as she smiled. "Mr. Malfoy, I must congratulate you on your work; the Hall looks absolutely splendid. Have you seen Miss Weasley, by chance? I must offer her my congratulations as well. Ah — there she is!"

Scorpius followed her gaze and stared.

It wasn't as if he had never seen her in a dress before, but there was something about the way she was wearing this one that made his throat tighten and his head light, and he wondered why they insisted on fighting so much, why they couldn't simply get along and spare themselves all of the aggravation.

Then he frowned, suddenly aware that there was a boy next to her, a boy whose arm she had intertwined with her own. He self-consciously relaxed the tightness in his forehead.

Professor McGonagall was pointing towards the towering Christmas tree by the edge of the room, and as Rose moved her gaze to settle on it, their eyes met.

He cleared his throat, and turned away, startled by the subsequent rising of heat underneath his collar. He turned back to look at Toby, but found that he too was staring at the Great Hall's entrance. He furrowed his brow, and looking around his immediate area, it became obvious to Scorpius that he was not the only one roused by Rose's appearance, and his jaw set as soon as he realised all of the other boys were looking at her too.

"Let's get something to drink."

Toby blinked, and then turned back to face Scorpius. "Huh?"

"A drink, Toby. Let's go get a drink."

As soon as he turned away from her he wished he hadn't, and then he wished he hadn't thought about that either. Toby whistled low and soft, lingering for a second before following Scorpius away.

Scorpius sighed, feeling a headache coming on, and he shouldered past two guys who were staring, transfixed, at the entrance and consequently failed to move out of his way as he came past. His head twitched, but he kept his gaze forward, even as he heard his Headmistress compliment her on her dress. Maybe he was holding onto a lingering shred of sanity, he thought, relieved. Even McGonagall had something to say.

Therefore, objectively, she must look very nice tonight.

"You look absolutely stunning," Conrad said. "If I hadn't mentioned."

"You've mentioned it," Rose said, smiling. "But thank you."

She readjusted her hold around his neck and looked around them. "The Hall looks beautiful," she breathed. It had looked good during the day, but now that there was only darkness outside, the lights illuminating the Hall gleamed all around them in splendour. Rose thought it all looked incredibly romantic.

"It's your vision," Conrad praised. "Of course it looks amazing."

Rose flushed, and she became acutely aware of the weight of Conrad's hands on her waist. "Can I ask you something?"

Conrad's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Ask away."

Rose felt a small smile tugging at her lips. "Why did you ask me here tonight? I mean - and don't take this the wrong way - but we don't know each other very well." Her blush deepened. "I don't think we've ever really talked before today."

Conrad shrugged, and his gaze was briefly caught by a friend who waved at him as he danced by. "I mean, I…I sort of feel like I know you. You know, everyone knows you — you're Rose Weasley."

Rose felt her smile slipping.

"But of course, you're right, we don't really know each other at all, but you know, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't noticed you or anything." He grinned at her. "Everyone starts off as strangers, right?"

Rose summoned the smile back to her face, and nodded. "That's what they say."

They danced in silence for a minute or two, and with so much to look at in the room it was acceptable, but even with all that to look at, it still wasn't enough to stop Rose from glancing back at the tall blonde boy in the silvery-blue waistcoat at the concession stand. She had seen that waistcoat on the desk in their shared living room, and it had looked good there, but it looked even better on.

A little voice was crooning in her brain, and she struggled to ignore the whispers of Where's his date? as they continued to prod at her. After all, trying to wrap her mind around Scorpius showing up to a Ball alone was like trying to force a square block to fit into a circular hole.

Every other time he'd broken up with Liv it was like he'd brought another girl into the bed while the sheets were still warm, each girl prettier than the last. That girl would cling to Scorpius' arm, enthralled that he had chosen her, but by the time the night had come to its close, her moment would be over, and often by the next day, Liv would have her boyfriend back.

She had inadvertently still been staring at him as her mind had swum, and he caught her gaze now. It wasn't unkind, and it really was nothing like the glare he used to return, but still it was unreadable, and she coughed, and turned back to her date.

"It's Malfoy's," she said abruptly. "Not mine."

Conrad frowned, cocking his head. "What?"

"The Hall," Rose elaborated, reddening. "It's Malfoy's vision."

Almost as if she now had an excuse, she tilted her head to survey him again, and Conrad followed her gaze. He was still at the concession stand with Toby, talking to another seventh year and seemingly occupied, but there was something about the way he was angled that made her — no. It was nothing.

As if sensing their gazes on him, Scorpius flicked his eyes back to Rose, and then to her hands around Conrad's neck. She interlaced her fingers tightly, ignoring them as they became cold and clammy.

"Huh," Conrad said. "I thought it was only me who had noticed."

"Noticed what?" Rose said, though she knew exactly what he was about to say.

"You two, you know, looking at each other." His eyes widened. "Of course, you two are both Heads, and you set this whole thing up, it makes sense, right-"

"I'm confused," Rose interrupted, slowly, squinting. "What are you saying?"

Conrad shrugged. "I think he must be planning on asking you to dance."

Scorpius, in fact, was not planning on asking her to dance. Yes, she looked nice - objectively, of course - and even if he was having trouble removing her from his line of vision, the hand he raised was to signal to Toby to grab him the punch he wanted at the other end of the table. The misconception was not thoroughly bemusing, however; as much as he had tried to avoid it, he had caught Conrad's eye once or twice as he kept a watchful gaze on the Hufflepuff's dance partner.

Conrad parked himself in front of Scorpius, clasping Rose's hand in his. She was clinging onto his arm, and from the way her body was twisting away, Scorpius could tell that this visit was not her idea.

"Alright, Scorpius?" Conrad said, offering him a smile. "I was just telling Rose I'm really not the territorial type; if you two want to dance I'm completely fine with that."

"I'm sorry," Rose said, immediately affirming Scorpius' previous thoughts. "He dragged me over, we don't have to do this-"

"I don't mind." The words sounded hollow to Scorpius' ears, as if someone else had spoken them. He met Rose's gaze, wide-eyed and unblinking. "If you don't."

"Me?" Rose said in a voice that sounded much higher than usual. She quickly recovered her disbelief, and her gaze turned towards the outstretched hand that Scorpius hadn't quite registered he had been holding out.

For a moment, Scorpius seemed to falter in his head, staring at Rose's hand as her fingers twitched. Oh, God, he thought to himself. You've fucked up. You absolute id-

And then she placed her warm hand into his, and those thoughts fell away.

He led them across the dance floor to an empty spot, his eyes focused ahead of them as he fought against the urge to look at her hand in his. She wasn't clasping his hand; no, just resting lightly in it, apparently as unsure as he was about their predicament.

But then he had to turn around and meet her gaze again, and he did. He chanced a look around them, and just as he had expected, the couples dancing around them looked like actual couples - the girls with their arms entwined around their partners' necks, the guys with their arms wrapped around their partners' waists. Like the way she had danced with Conrad.

When he looked back at her, she was a second too late looking back.

Her hand was still in his, so he manoeuvred them around so he was raising their hands together at shoulder height, and he applied a little pressure, just enough to be firm. He wound his hand around her waist, pressing lightly into the small of her back. Tentatively, she rested her hand on his shoulder, and he didn't miss how she had to take a half-step forward to reach.

"Snob," she whispered, though the corner of her mouth twitched.

"Amateur," he whispered back, and then they began to dance.

"Am I dragging you away from anyone?" she asked, lightly, and he paused before twirling her, and when she returned back into his arms, she looked like she'd gotten the hint. "You're good," she commented, nodding approvingly. "I didn't get to see these fancy moves that night."

"A packed club isn't really the place for ballroom dance," he replied, relieved she'd moved on. She was the last person he needed to confess anything to.

"So, indulge me," she continued, her eyebrows arched. "Don't tell me you got this good for some family Christmas ball?"

Scorpius pursed his lips. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Don't get me wrong," she said, and then inhaled sharply when he overbalanced her for a brief second before grabbing her again. "Show off," she muttered. "I mean, I get that you're an overachiever, but…dancing?"

He shrugged. "I had my reasons."

"Had?"

"Tell you what, Weasley," he proposed, and her eyes seemed to light up in anticipation, but maybe it was just that they had moved underneath the chandelier again, "if you can tell me the name of the hold I'm holding you in, I'll allow you a little insight."

She smiled, a satisfied little smile that Scorpius had come to know. "You know when you wanted to be good at something, and you did everything you could to learn about it in the hopes that maybe everything was learnable if you could just follow a book?"

"That explains a lot."

She smirked at him and reached behind her, grasping his hand down so that it moved from her shoulder blade to the small of her back. "Ballroom hold."

"You don't disappoint." His hand felt oddly cold from where she had released it, and oddly empty.

"You did tell me this was a ballroom dance," Rose pointed out, her voice taking on a teasing edge. "I suppose I would've impressed you more if I'd've called it a closed hold instead."

A spark of surprise that he was sure she'd seen crossed his expression, though he quickly shook himself out of his thoughts and met her gaze. "As much as it may surprise you, I didn't pop out of the womb this painfully handsome and accomplished."

"I thought this would feel more rewarding," Rose mused.

"Truth be told, I didn't really come into anything extraordinary until I was about seven."

"And let me guess, dancing was your first calling?"

"Miss Viola said I was the best student she'd ever had."

Rose cracked a grin. "Miss Viola?"

"My seven year old self found her quite lovely. Though between you and me, I have the sneaking suspicion that she may have since become an underground stripper."

Rose laughed, and shook her head. "You never really answered my question though," she noted.

"Sure I did," he countered. "You asked me why I started dancing, and I told you that I was good at it."

"So, what, you don't do it because you love it?"

"That, Weasley," Scorpius said, with an air of crushing condescension, "is completely beside the point."

She pressed her lips together, nodding. "Well, you're good."

"I know."

She narrowed her eyes. "Humility isn't a crime, you know."

"Modesty is a waste of time," Scorpius said, dismissively.

Rose pressed her lips together as if fighting a smile, and they were silent again. Her hair seemed to catch the light and sparkle, and Scorpius was about to chastise himself for being an idiot until they moved out from underneath the chandelier and he could see that she had tiny crystal hairpins in her hair, and that her hair was, in fact, sparkling.

"You must be into Voltaire."

Scorpius blinked. "Scarcely heard of him. It is a him, right?" Her hand brushed against his shoulder as she adjusted her grip, and he hastily pushed down each new wave of whatever it was that washed over him every time she unwittingly reminded him of her touch. "Why?"

"Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world," she recited.

"He's obviously never seen Cabaret."

"So you don't know Voltaire, but you don't seem to have a problem with pop-culture references." Scorpius thought it almost sounded like an accusation.

"Is there a question in there?"

"Is there an answer in there?"

Scorpius considered, and something in him wanted to surprise her, to show her that she didn't know anything there was to him, not anything at all.

"I mean, I only know Cabaret because my Muggle grandparents are musical buffs. What's your excuse?"

He scoffed a little, and led them into another open space. The beams of light that managed to evade the twigs shone onto her face, one blue eye engulfed in shadow, the other flecked with gold. He swooped them to safer territory.

"I have an appreciation of history."

"But not of truth telling, it would seem."

Scorpius felt the side of his mouth tugging upwards. "I like the music."

"But you don't sing?"

"Don't I?"

Her eyes widened, and a line appeared on her brow. "Then you're a liar."

"Am I?"

She clenched her hand in his, and then suddenly seemed to realise that he could feel it too. She lessened her grip. "Why do you do that? Be so completely obtuse and cryptic about everything?"

"Frankly, Weasley, if you knew enough about me you'd fall in love with me instantly," Scorpius said seriously. "Stronger women than you have caved."

She let out a disbelieving laugh. "How do you get that ego past the door?"

"Well, I mean, it has to be a double entrance or-"

"You're being evasive again."

"I don't owe you any answers, Weasley," Scorpius said, levelling his gaze at her, though he knew he didn't look serious at all.

"Please," Rose said, not one to be outdone, "I don't think you acted on that philosophy when you insisted on butting into my relationship with Christian. And Nate, come to think of it."

"What you saw in either of them was baffling, Weasley." The boy next to them dipped his partner clumsily, and Scorpius was sorely tempted to show him how it was really done. "Anyway, you should be thanking me: you got rid of Goldstein well enough, didn't you?"

Her eyes flashed, and the grip that was beginning to feel comforting suddenly clenched against his shoulder, and he wondered why he continued to make her angry, though that feeling was par for the course these days. "I didn't get rid of Christian. I just…realised we had conflicting interests."

"Your only conflict was whether you were interested in him at all."

"Do you insist on drowning every girl you talk to in your sage relationship advice, or is it just me?" Rose asked, dryly.

He supposed it was ironic, given his current predicament. Something in the back of his mind flared, and he wondered if this was what karma felt like. "Only the ones who really need it."

For one of the startlingly first moments of the night, he moved his gaze away from Rose and settled it on the concession stand. Conrad was there, he noted, and he'd lost track of the amount of songs they'd danced to, but when Conrad smiled at him, it didn't quite reach his eyes.

If only Scorpius was one to care about things like that.

And Scorpius wound his fingers around Rose's as he twirled her again, and he found himself caring even less.

It was only mere minutes later, when the song finished, that Rose's date appeared.

"Mind if I cut in?" Conrad asked pleasantly, but his tone was unnaturally bright, and then he was taking Rose's hand before it had fully left Scorpius'.

"Not at all," Scorpius said, and without a further glance, walked over to the empty punch table and began to ladle himself a drink. He sipped it, surveying the room, and then halted.

There she was, in Horatio's arms again. And she looked absolutely miserable. Good.

"Hey, stranger." Toby grabbed the ladle out of Scorpius' hand and began to refill his empty goblet.

"What is it, Toby?"

His friend shrugged, turning around and leaning against the table behind him as he too took in the room. "You two seem awfully friendly. And I do mean that in an awful sort of way. What gives?"

Scorpius tossed him an idle look, and ditched his punch before reaching out for the mead next to them. "Did you know that Magizoologists have found that if you put two rats in an enclosed space they'll eventually stop trying to kill each other and start sharing their food?"

"Funnily enough, I-"

"Scorpius!"

The two turned to see a fellow Slytherin approaching, the train of her dress so long that she had half of it draped across her arm.

Scorpius gave her some semblance of a smile. "Lucy. What can I do for you?"

She shrugged, and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You're not uh…here with anyone, are you?"

Toby surreptitiously raised a hand.

"Oh, hello, Toby. So you're not, then?"

"Not," Scorpius affirmed, and his gaze was drawn down towards the flash of skin at her thigh when her dress flared at its slit. "Care for a dance?"

She flashed her teeth. "I thought you'd never ask."

Scorpius crooked his arm out for her to take, and then threw his friend a smug smile. "See you later, mate."

They had made it a few steps before the sound of Toby's voice stopped them. "So are you just two rats beginning to share your food, then?"

Scorpius turned around and raised his eyebrows. "Don't be daft, Tobias. We're people, not rats. Finish my drink, will you."

As he walked arm in arm with Lucy, she pointed up at the ceiling above them. "You know, I can't imagine how anyone could do that charm. It seems terribly difficult."

"Not just anyone," Scorpius said evenly. "Yours truly." He hesitated. "And the Head Girl."

"Well, I wouldn't even know where to begin."

Something began to brew in Scorpius then, something that felt a little like annoyance, and then he wondered when he had become so snobby about dates. Granted, he would never accept a date with a girl who looked more air than brain, whatever he had said before, but he didn't know when or why this philosophy applied to a simple dance, especially when the point of a dance was one night when things really were about the way that everyone looked. And Lucy looked good.

They reached the dance floor and Scorpius raised their hands up, placing his other hand on her waist.

"Ooh, that's a fancy way to dance," Lucy said, her eyes widening. "What do you call that?"

Scorpius sighed, wondering whether or not he was going to trip on the train of her dress. "Closed hold."

When he twirled her, her dress flared out like a flower blooming, and that slit seemed to creep even higher, not that Scorpius noticed.

Rose looked at herself sternly in the bathroom mirror.

Calm down. You are a composed, elegant Head Girl. You do not come into bathrooms to freak out.

She braced her hands on either side of the sink, feeling the cold marble pressing into her palms. She sighed, and turned away from the mirror, unwilling to leave. She halfheartedly opened her bag and dug around in it a little, finding only a tube of lipgloss inside, though with the excess of lights around the room, she feared if she applied anymore shine to her lips she might blind anyone who stood too close. She recapped it and put it back.

She scrutinised herself, liking the way a few more strands of hair had escaped her bun; it made her look more relaxed, more approachable. A few other girls greeted her as they passed by, all of them fiddling with their powder and blotting pads. Rose bit her lip, now feeling stupid just standing there gazing past her reflection.

Still, she fluffed out her hair a little, and drew a finger under her eye, pretending to fuss with her makeup. Her eyes hardened as she silently willed the girl in the mirror to focus, to go and find her date, and to stop thinking about things like closed hold and Cabaret.

She stepped back outside, her eyes still searching the ballroom even after they had settled on Conrad.

She suddenly inhaled sharply, blinking furiously as her cousin suddenly guided the girl he was dancing with towards the outskirts of the fray. She recognised her best friend instantly, and it wasn't as if Gen and Al hadn't danced together before, but she didn't think Al's hand had rested so low before. At least, she hoped that it hadn't.

She shook her head. Focus.

She would find Conrad, she would dance with him, she would smile at him, and absolutely nothing would distract her from-

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

She jumped, and made a tiny surprised noise at his words, though of course it was him. She took in his raised eyebrows before lowering her gaze to the goblet of punch he was holding out to her.

He followed her gaze and coughed. "I got this for Toby but he went to the bathroom, and you know, no one likes warm punch and obviously it would look stupid if I just poured it back in, not to mention unsanitary-"

She took it, a half-smile on her face, and cupped it within her hands. "No ghost," she said, laughing a little uncomfortably. "I just saw…um…" She trailed off and instinctively looked back towards her friends.

"They had it coming, Weasley."

She frowned at him a little, but perhaps she was just frowning to herself. She coughed. "Where's that girl you were dancing with?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I'm sure she's doing just fine without me."

A flash of gold attracted Rose's attention, and she bit her lip as Liv twirled by, though she remained a safe few feet away from Scorpius' back. Rose took a breath.

If he knew, he wasn't showing it. If he knew, he would've been mad at her right? Then again, he was always mad at her, and she was always mad at him.

Except today — today they didn't seem to be quite so mad at each other.

"So."

Rose snapped back up to look at Scorpius, who was looking across the room. He tilted his head at where Conrad was queuing in the punch line. "A Hufflepuff, huh? What, did you just grab a guy as you walked in?"

She rolled her eyes. "Go ahead. I happen to think Conrad is lovely."

"You don't actually like him?"

She shrugged. "He's nice, nothing to write home about, I suppose. He seems to really appreciate this 'open date' thing, whatever that says about him."

"So you like him because he gives you an excuse to get away from him?"

"Your wit is boundless."

He smirked at her, and the silence between them was made all the more obvious when the song in the background faded out as well. Rose reached up, curling her hand loosely around her bun before letting it go again. A soft violin chorus began to play, and Scorpius' mouth suddenly and inexplicably parted, his eyes softening before they dropped to the floor.

"Something wrong?" Rose asked, craning her neck to look at him.

He blinked, raising a hand to pull through his hair. "What? No, nothing."

Rose raised a brow. "Your lack of faith in my observational skills is kind of insulting."

He seemed to hesitate. "I was just…reminded of something."

"What kind of something?"

He raised an arm, pointing vaguely at the direction of the orchestra on stage. "My mum taught me to waltz to this song. And I haven't heard it in a while."

Rose straightened, staring at him as he stared at the orchestra, and she had no idea of what she could say apart from, "I haven't a clue how to waltz."

Scorpius focused his eyes on her again for a moment before looking into the sea of people on the dance floor. "It's really not as difficult as people think, you just sort of-"

He raised his hands in a pose much like he had held her in an hour or two before, and then lowered them, and instead crossed his arms before turning back to face her. "Well, obviously, it's hard to show by myself, but you know, the most important thing is the one-two-three rhythm, and then the footwork sort of comes with that…"

He had that look on his face again; the look that he had whenever he talked about something he cared about, but the more he cared about it, the more he refused to show it.

Rose took another deep, steeling breath, and before she could change her mind, she held out her hand. "Why don't you show me?"

"So."

Rose shook her head, smiling as Gen bumped their arms together. "I knew it was only a matter of time."

"Two dances, Rose."

"It's just dancing," Rose pointed out. "You were doing it with Al. Three times, I noticed."

"Yes, but Albus is our friend, Rose. Malfoy's your…well, I don't know what he is anymore."

"That makes two of us," Rose muttered, unconsciously raising her gaze to seek him out. He was standing at the edge of the room, chatting with Toby.

Gen furrowed her brow. "Where's Conrad?"

Rose pointed into the mass of people still dancing. "He's just dancing with a friend. It's good; I needed a breather."

Gen scrutinised her friend. "You've never expressed interest in him before. I don't think I've heard you even say his name before. Are you sure it's Conrad?"

Rose flicked her hand away. "Yes, his name is Conrad." She shrugged. "I didn't want to be rude. Anyway, he's very sweet and nice."

Gen sighed, and then nodded. "Alright, interrogation over."

"Want some punch?"

"Actually," Gen said, hugging her arms around herself. "I've drank so much I'm bursting. I'm gonna run to the bathroom, be back in a few."

Rose watched her friend leave, and after she had disappeared, her gaze idled back towards the outskirts of the room, as much as she wished it wouldn't.

Some of her Professors were conversing nearby, and suddenly she remembered something about a toast, something McGonagall had said, and she cast her gaze up to the ornamental clock above the doors. Almost eleven. It would probably be anytime now.

She looked back at Scorpius. He'd know. But he was talking to a friend, and she didn't know if the two of them dancing together meant that it would now be considered normal for her to impinge.

She sighed, and shook her head. Head Girl, Rose, she said firmly to herself. You are a composed and elegant Head Girl.

She squared her shoulders and headed in his direction.

"I see Lucy was only afforded the privilege of a single dance?"

"She has the personality of a plank."

Toby nodded in apparent thoughtfulness. "Not, you know, like someone you might dance with twice. They…they would have to-"

"Not have the personality of a foot of timber, yes."

"Well, I mean, two dances tonight. Who knows what the cumulative number is now."

Scorpius met his friend's innocent gaze, and his eyes narrowed. "You know, if you didn't have enough product in your hair to poison the entire student body, I would stick your head in the punch."

"Fine," Toby said, raising his hands in surrender, "I'll just ask you straight out then. What's up with you two? And don't fucking mention any rats this time."

"Honestly, Toby, don't make something out of nothing."

"Is that your answer?"

Scorpius sighed. "There's nothing up with us."

"So you don't like her?"

"Of course I don't fucking like her, Toby, what an idea."

He looked down at his half-full goblet of mead, aching to down the stupid thing, and aching even harder to push his meddler of a best friend face-first into the nearest Christmas tree.

"So why'd you go to a club with her?" Toby pressed.

"Oh, I don't fucking know, Toby. We were already there, for fuck's sake. I just wanted to see if she wasn't as boring as I thought, that's it."

"But you don't mind spending time with her anymore?"

Scorpius pursed his lips. "I have to spend time with her, whether I mind it or not. We live together, if you recall. Well, whatever, it's just easier to get along with her than to not."

"She looks nice tonight."

Scorpius paused for a breath. "What?"

Toby shrugged. "She looks nice."

"She looks...better than usual."

Toby crooked a brow at him. "That's a pretty substantial compliment, given the circumstances."

Scorpius set his drink down on the table behind him with a loud thump. "Jesus, Toby, you look better than usual." He pushed back his sleeve, studying the watch on his wrist. "How much longer do we have to stay at this thing, anyway?"

"What time is it?"

"Almost eleven."

Scorpius' gaze flickered back to his drink on the table, and he lifted it up to scrutinise the pattern on its rim, if only to give his eyes something to do. A few seconds in he gave up, draining his cup dry before setting it back down again. "The second that clock strikes midnight, I'm fucking outta here."

Scorpius' remaining hour seemed to inch to a close, but underneath that boredom was a touch of agitation; he was not an exchanging farewells sort of person, but unfortunately it seemed that whatever sort of person he thought he was, any ideas of that were promptly thrown out of the window when it came to her.

He supposed if he left now he would show Toby exactly what he was advocating: that Rose Weasley did not — could not — affect him, that she meant nothing to him. And he wouldn't say goodbye to someone who meant nothing to him.

People were starting to leave the Hall, flushed from the dancing and the excitement, and the floor had begun to grow sparse. He had seen Liv slip out an hour before, Horatio Reed in tow, and she had not returned, not that it made any difference to him.

Suddenly, the back of his neck began to prickle, and Scorpius wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something in him made him turn around, lift his eyes from his drink and onto the middle of the dance floor.

And then he stopped.

The orchestra's music, now merely a jumble of noise, receded under the hood of his mind, and then it all came crashing back down on him at once, meaningless in its chaos as Rose kissed Conrad. Conrad who was nothing to write home about, Conrad who had surely been absent from her side for at least half of the night, Conrad who wouldn't know closed hold if it hit him in the fucking face.

Scorpius squinted; the lights were suddenly too bright, and now the music was too loud, the people were too close and when the fuck did it get so goddamn hot in here?

He pulled at his collar, dragging it away from his neck and letting the air cool his skin.

She was still kissing him.

He needed fresh air, needed to escape the stuffiness of the room, the headache of the noise. He filled his champagne flute to the brim, his sights set on the blackness he could see from the Great Hall's open doors. He paused.

He could keep going straight and head for the gardens. He wouldn't be able to hear the music from outside, he probably wouldn't even be able to hear the party. It would be as if it weren't even happening.

His gaze flicked towards the staircase. Or he could go that way, climbing up and up until the noise might disappear, take off every layer of his suit and crawl into bed, and the party wouldn't be happening from there either.

He wanted to leave with purpose, with the air of finality that said that he didn't care for this Ball anymore, but he had the sinking feeling that no one would even notice his disappearance. Toby was dancing with some Slytherin girl, and he didn't know why but he chanced a look at Albus, who he saw was dancing with Genevieve Chang. And her. She wouldn't notice he was gone either.

He set his jaw. She was perfectly at liberty to kiss whomever she wanted, he couldn't care less.

The clock in the Hall began to chime, signalling that midnight had arrived, and Scorpius, true to his word, lifted his glass to his lips, emptied it, and went to bed.

A/N:

Hihi :)

I know the wait was long guys, but this chapter was an absolute bitch to write, though finally getting it done was a huge weight off my shoulders :) If it's any consolation, this chapter is easily the longest so far, as my significant chapters tend to be (I probably could've cut it down more if I wasn't so stubborn about keeping Scorp/Toby interactions). As always, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and that I justified it enough to not just be the token Ball chapter that's inserted into every fic :P We are also - as it currently stands - half way through the fic! Chapter titles come from Fall Out Boy's Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy and The Fratellis' Chelsea Dagger.

~ Rach

P.S. I usually like to keep my own opinions and reasonings behind my fic to myself, but since a few of you have voiced your opinions on the whole Liv-cheating-extravaganza, I thought I'd put my two cents in as briefly as possible: I write imperfect characters, some of whom are spiteful, a little selfish, and maybe more than a little rash.

(Also, realistically, people do dumb shit sometimes. Such is life.)