I don't own Harry Potter

I walked through the shelves and tables in the library searching for Al. I began making my way back towards the front when I spotted him. He wasn't alone. And he definitely wasn't studying. Mandy Belby was practically on top of him and they were locked in a hormone driven make-out session.

I started towards them only to feel myself pulled backwards by the loop of my jeans. "Al finally gets somewhere with Mandy and you want to interrupt him for a study session," Scorpius said with disbelief. "You're even more of a party-pooper than I thought."

Al had been after Mandy since the end of last year. Even so I wasn't sure what they were currently doing was worth Al failing the Ancient Runes exam tomorrow. Then again, last year Al had decided sneaking out to Hogsmeade for a couple of Fire Whiskies with the guys the day before Quidditch tryouts was "totally worth it."

With a sigh I turned to Scorpius and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be at Quidditch practice right now?"

"Karl cancelled it. Couple of the guys are 'sick' or something."

I stared at him incredulously and said, "So with your free period you came to the library."

He smirked and said sweetly, "Of course. I came to find you." He raised an eyebrow daring me to challenge him.

I called his bluff and replied, "Either you were planning on talking Al out of studying or you were hoping to find one of your bimbos here. Now that Al is busy looks like you're going to have to settle with a bimbo."

He glared at me. "Your lack of faith in me is truly astounding. You don't think it's possible that maybe I was interested in spending my first free period in weeks with one of my closest friends?"

"No I don't. What's her name?"

We had a long stare down before he finally said flatly, "Katie Inglebee, unfortunately, she's not much good for conversation."

"Since when are you interested in conversation?"

He chuckled. "Usually I'm not. That's why I keep you around," he said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

I hit him hard in the shoulder and he laughed making everyone around us glare. "Come on," he whispered in my ear, "let's get out of here." He took my hand and led me through the shelves to a back entrance that exited out onto the grounds.

He let go of my hand and turned to face me. "So," he began, "what are we going to do on this fine day."

"It's almost November. There's snow on the ground. It's freezing and you are calling this day fine?"

He replied seriously, "I don't rate the days by the weather, but by the company." With a small smirk he turned and started making his way towards the other side of the castle.

I followed and once we were inside I said, "I should be studying."

"Well I should be with a girl who's willing to put out."

"You're disgusting. Remind me why I'm friends with you?"

Scorpius looked at me smugly and responded, "Because. You know your life would be empty without me. Not to mention you're hopelessly attracted to my good looks and charm."

I just stared at him. He raised his eyebrow, challenging me again.

As I was about to say something incredibly rude and unlady-like to him somebody yelled my name. I turned towards the sound of the voice to see Grant Parkinson heading my way. He was in my year, but since he was in Ravenclaw I only had a few classes with him. Grant was that golden boy with the bright blue eyes and blonde hair that always seemed to fall in just the right way.

Like Scorpius he had half the female population throwing themselves at him. In our fourth year I had a huge crush on him that Al had labeled as borderline stalking. This ended swiftly when I found out that him and my cousin Lily, Al's little sister, had a something going on between them.

A smile lit up his perfect features as he reached me and said, "Rose, I've been looking all over for you." I couldn't help but smile back as he continued, "You know that Charms exam coming up in two weeks?"

"Of course," I said, "Professor Flitwick has been talking about it for ages. Why?"

"Well," suddenly Grant seemed nervous, almost agitated. His next sentence came out rushed, "well I've run into some trouble with a couple of the lessons and I was thinking maybe you wouldn't mind meeting up somewhere this week and tutoring me a bit?"

I suddenly felt Scorpius staring at me and when I looked up at him I was surprised to see that he looked genuinely unhappy with what was happening right now. He looked away from me and to Grant who he gave a cold glare.

What the hell? Why did he care if I tutored Grant, it had absolutely nothing to do with him. With that I looked up at Grant and said, "Of course. I've had a bit of trouble with one of the lessons too so we can have a massive cram session."

Grant looked relieved and nodded saying, "Perfect. I'll catch up with you later and we can work out the details alright?"

"Yeah I'll see you later Grant," I said and turned to start heading towards the Slytherin common room. Scorpius was walking next to me and based off the body language and expression, something was seriously up. Finally I stopped walking and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he snapped.

"What, do you have some issue with Grant? Can't stand the fact that girls are as obsessed with him as they are with you?"

"No," he said, "I'm just not sure how I feel about him asking you out."

"I don't understand." Now I was confused. Scorpius refused to meet my gaze and although he had regained his composure, the tension in his jaw gave away his irritation. "He just asked me to help him study," I said softly.

He laughed, but it was hard and cynical and made me internally cringe. Finally he looked at me, but his eyes were masked and revealed nothing as he said, "Honestly Rose, I didn't think you were that dense. Parkinson is probably the smartest kid in this whole school and you think he didn't understand a Charms lesson?" He shook his head and finished, "He asked you on a date. You said yes."

I quickly replayed the scene with Grant in my head. Suddenly I was questioning the whole conversation. Did he ask me out? He had seemed jittery. No. We were going to study, what kind of date is that? Plus that didn't explain why Scorpius was suddenly acting like a pompous ass. What did he care who I dated. I was over the whole Lily/Grant thing and if I wanted to date him that was my business. I didn't interfere with any of the girls he slummed around with.

"He did not ask me out on a date Scorpius, we're studying," I said, "and even if it was date that doesn't explain why you're acting like this."

Students began streaming out of classrooms and I know we would have to head to class soon. Abruptly his whole body relaxed, his eyes took on their usual glint and he said, "You're right. I shouldn't care, I don't care. Have fun with Grant."

I watched as he walked away from me, leaving me standing there gaping. Before he was out of view he looked over his shoulder and called out with an awful sneer, "See you in Potions."

Thanks so much for the reviews so far! You guys are awesome.

Soo… I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter, but I needed to get some things set up for the rest of the story.

What do you think of Grant? Oh.. and I promise you'll see more Al in the next chapter.

Anyhow, please please pretty please review! Reviews make my day brighter. For real. :)