Chapter Eleven: Fooling Around

"I said get out," she put the broomstick down and crossed her arms. "There is nothing you can say."

"Please, just give me 2 minutes," he pleaded desperately. "There is nothing going on between Natalie and I."

"I'm not an idiot, Scorpius."

"You can't believe a word in that article."

"I don't have to believe the article. I believe my own judgement."

"What does that mean?" Scorpius asked incredulously.

"I saw you," she replied curtly.

"You what?"

"I went all the way to Kenmare. To see you. And instead I find you there laughing and flirting with Natalie Thomas."

"That wasn't what it looked like, you have to believe me."

"I don't have to do anything. I saw everything I needed to see. Now leave."

"Clearly you didn't see anything, because if you had stayed instead of knocking over the bloody broomsticks, you would have seen me tell her there was nothing between us. That I could never be with her again," he had connected the dots and realized it was her that he had seen. He was growing increasingly frustrated with her stubbornness at this moment. Pointing out that he knew she had been there made Rose embarrassed which only increased her anger.

"Then why in Merlin's name was she on the bloody cover of Witch Weekly bragging about you being together again?"

"I dunno!" he yelled incredulously. "She's lying because she is desperate."

"Of course! Because every woman is just so desperate to be with you that they would make up lies for magazine covers."

"I never said that."

"Right, but you did wish all the rest of us better luck next time when they asked you about her, no?"

"I thought they were asking about you," he yelled incredulously and Rose scoffed.

"Why would I ever believe you?"

"I can't make you believe me. But, Rose, she means nothing to me and I told her that. I'm not with her. I don't want to be with her. I want to be with-"

"Don't," her voice cracked slightly. She walked towards him and for a moment he was scared of what she might do. She brushed past him, clearly heading for the door to force him out. Without thinking about it, he grabbed her wrist as she stormed past him, stopping her in her tracks. She looked back at him a mix of anger and something else sparkling in her eyes. They stood like that for a moment, eyes locked, his hand clamped around her wrist, her body turned slightly towards him. Then, in a split second decision he pulled her body into his and kissed her. She froze, trying to resist but all of her emotions took over, and she responded with a passion she had never felt before. He quickly dropped his bag and stumbled backwards and their kiss deepened. They kept stumbling until they crashed into a bookshelf. A few books fell, one hitting Rose on the shoulder. Scorpius pulled away.

"Are you alright?"

"Shut up." she replied before pulling his head towards her so they could resume. It wasn't long before he lifted her on to the ledge of the shelf and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She could feel all of him against her and she began to escalate, kissing up and down his neck and running her hands through his hair. All of her anger and all of his pent up passion mixed together and there was no stopping them. Soon, she began to fiddle with his belt, which caused him to pause.

"Anyone could come in R," he pointed out in a whisper.

"Let them," she breathed as the belt came undone. He grinned back at her like the devil, in awe of the woman in front of him.

"We still need to talk," Scorpius said softly while buttoning his shirt. Rose slid her t-shirt back over her head and replied,

"There's nothing more to say." Scorpius frowned.

"But, we just-"

"I know what we just did. But it shouldn't go beyond that. I won't let it go beyond that." Rose said it kindly, but the words still stung. Unfortunately for Scorpius, there would be no changing her mind. Realistic Rose had taken over and although she couldn't deny her attraction to him nor the chemistry between them, she couldn't forget what had transpired the past week. She wanted to believe him, but even if she did decide to push aside her mistrust of the situation, the whole world had seen Natalie's article at this point. Being seen with Scorpius would cause a scandal. And Rose would not allow herself to be a part of a scandal, no matter what it cost her.

"So where does that leave us?"

"We can keep doing this, but no one can know. If that's okay with you?" Scorpius took a minute to consider it. He was smart enough to know there was no use arguing with her. He could see her mind was made up. He was also smart enough to know that he couldn't walk away from this as a one time thing. Finally he said one word.

"Alright."

"Alright," she replied. "Now let me finish up here," she picked up the broom and he chuckled.

"Goodnight. I'll see you," he said, grabbing his bag and closing the door behind him.

They both inhaled deeply as the door swung shut. Rose hurried to finish cleaning and get home. She popped into the fireplace and found Hugo in his usual position, eating food on the sofa. He looked her up and down with eyebrows raised.

"You've been acting strange," he commented.

"Do you ever do anything else but sit and eat?" she retorted before scurrying out of the room.

The next morning the usual sunday dread passed over her when she realized she would have to endure another family dinner. Another sunday of nosy questions, boring story retellings, and since it was summer, Quidditch. When her and her family arrived at her grandmother's they were immediately showered with hugs and greetings. Rose did the usual catching up but once she got the opportunity she darted away. She headed up the many stairs to her father's childhood bedroom like she normally would. The walls were now lined with photos and newspaper clippings from before she was born. She sat down on the floor and pulled up a floorboard where she had hidden a stash of her favorite books years ago. She mindlessly picked one and began to flip through the pages, only partially paying attention.

"Knew I'd find you up here," Albus's voice pulled her out of the book. He plopped down beside her. "This is my favorite," he pointed at the newspaper clipping hanging between them.

"Mine too," she smiled looking at it. The photo was simple. A candid of her parents and Uncle Harry laughing, pints of butterbeer in hand, at the pub in Hogsmeade days after the Final Battle at Hogwarts. 'What Comes Next?' read the headline. It was a basic article, recounting their heroic actions during battle and the possibilities each of them had for the future. Rose loved how natural and carefree her parents looked and always wondered if the life they lived today was anything the kids in the photo would have ever imagined for themselves.

"Are you okay?" Albus asked quietly and Rose nodded. "Have you spoken to him?"

"He came by last night."

"And?"

"We didn't say much." It wasn't a lie but it wasn't fully honest. It was all Rose was willing to explain to her cousin. "What are you doing up here anyway?"

"Got tired of repeating myself. I'm starting to see why you find this family so bothersome," they both laughed quietly. They sat there in a comfortable silence before they were summoned downstairs to eat. There were only two seats open when they made it to the table so, to spare Albus, she took the one next to her Uncle Harry. She was not very close with her uncle so she was sure this dinner would be particularly awkward.

"How have you been, Rose?" Harry opened the conversation.

"I've been alright, just working mostly," she replied.

"Ah, yes, your dad mentioned you were still at that shop."

"Of course he did," Rose said through gritted teeth.

"I suppose I ought to encourage you to listen to your parents, but you're still young. And you got high marks on your NEWTs like your mum so you have every option in the world. That won't go away if you decide to stick with the shop for now."

Rose smiled widely. This was refreshing to hear from a member of her family. "Thanks Uncle Harry."

"Are you going to bring the Malfoy boy to the party?" Harry asked and Rose almost choked on her food in shock. "Erm, as you are friends?" Harry explained after seeing Rose's reaction. Her cheeks flushed red.

"Right. We are friends."

"I have been hoping to see him around again. I have a few suggestions on broom technique and I think your aunt has been hoping to get an exclusive for the paper."

"I'll try and bring him if he's not busy."

Harry was of course referencing his own birthday party which was set for the next weekend. Despite years of protest from her grandmother, Harry had never asked for anything more than a small celebration with his closest friends and family. Of course, with the size of their family it was never small exactly, but it was also not the celebration the world expected of the most famous wizard of their time. They had all always been allowed to invite one friend to join in the festivities. Rose never bothered to invite anyone since her closest friend, Alice Longbottom, was always extended the invitation anway. To now use her invitation for Scorpius felt risky, but her uncle rarely asked anything of her so she decided to at least tell Scorpius he was welcome.

For the next few days, like clockwork, Scorpius would come to the store like he always had right as she was closing. Although this time, little conversation took place. They were able to get away with this behavior until a customer nearly caught them in a compromising position behind the register. From that point onward Rose had forbade him from coming to the shop. The next evening, when he was absent, she was almost convinced he had decided against continuing on this way altogether until an owl landed on the post outside. She grabbed the letter from its claw and it fluttered away. The note was short and to the point.

R,

I've added you to my Floo network. See you in 10.

-S

Why they had never thought to meet at his flat before was a mystery to Rose but she hurried back inside to finish closing and shortly was popping into his fireplace, exactly 10 minutes later.

"In here," he called from a different room. Rose dusted the floo powder off of herself and carefully followed the sound of his voice. She found him in the kitchen surrounded by candles, music playing softly on a record machine, and placing food from a pan onto two plates.

"Sorry? I must be in the wrong flat. The man I'm looking for is far less impressive," she teased. He rolled his eyes.

"Hungry?"
"Since when did you know how to cook?" she asked, still in a state of bewilderment as she took a seat in front of the plate he had offered her.

"I've always known how, you've just never asked." She raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. Once they finished Rose insisted on doing the dishes and she out of habit also insisted on doing them the muggle way. Scorpius leaned against the countertop next to her and crossed his arms, a humorous look on his face. Rose's cheeks turned a slight pink from feeling his gaze on her.

"I have something to tell you," he said simply and she looked at him with a look of curiosity.

"I have something to talk about with you too," she replied, just then remembering her uncle's party. "But you first," she said, wanting to delay inviting him as much as possible.

"You sure?" he asked and she nodded enthusiastically. "They've asked me to be an alternate for the World Cup," the words bubbled out of him so quickly it took Rose a moment to process.

"Blimey! Are you serious? But doesn't the Cup start next week?"

"Yes, they asked me this morning. I guess their original alternate got injured or something, so it was all very last minute. And I probably won't even ever get to play Doyle is so bloody good but,"

"Scor, that's amazing news. Congratulations!" She smiled widely and instinctively threw her arms around him in a large embrace. He pulled her in as close as he could and they stayed like that for a moment before she pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes. Scorpius would have sworn that he had never been happier than he was in that moment. He leaned down and kissed her and like all the times before it did not remain innocent for long.

"The dishes," she protested when he started pulling her towards his bedroom.

"Oh for fucks sake Rose," he teased her before casting a spell that would take care of them. She rolled her eyes but followed behind him.

When they fell back in bed later that evening, both slightly out of breath and sweaty, Scorpius realized he had forgotten to ask Rose what she had to tell him.

"What did you want to say to me earlier?"

"Oh right. Well it's probably irrelevant now but my uncle wanted me to invite you to his birthday celebration this weekend."

"Which?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you have like a dozen uncles?"

"Oh, right. Harry. Something about wanting to talk to you about Quidditch. I dunno. But I'm sure you're too busy with the World Cup."

"This weekend?"

"Saturday evening."

"I think I can make it, if you want me to go," he added.

"Right well if you aren't too busy. I wouldn't mind having a friend there." His face fell slightly at the mention of the word friend. "And speaking of family, I should head home before my dad sends the entire Auror department out searching for me," she was only half joking. He watched her get up and get dressed quickly. "See you saturday?"

"Saturday," he confirmed before watching her disappear in a cloud of green smoke. He sighed deeply and wondered how he would ever be okay just being friends with Rose Weasley.

A/N: This chapter is mainly just filler but it's necessary to set up what is going to on fold in the next few chapters. I also really hate writing smut so I tried my best to leave a lot of room for imagination. As usual, please follow & review! Have a great week Xx