Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter Four

"You?"

Rose closed her eyes, mortified and wincing as Cecilia Bole's shriek met her ears (seriously, the girl could rival baby mandrakes). She tilted her face towards the sky.

Merlin, if you care at all about my existence, please conjure me a Time Turner. Please. Right now.

"Are you—are you praying?"

Bole's tone was part confused, part incredulous, and incredibly condescending. Scorpius, with one arm still around Rose, seemed to be shaking. Rose turned a suspicious gaze on him.

I can't believe you're laughing right now.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, smiling innocently.

Eurgh, prick.

An exasperated sigh reclaimed Rose's attention. "Whatever," scoffed Bole. The brunette looked Rose up and down with a critical, unimpressed eye, and Rose—though she knew she shouldn't—suddenly felt distinctly inadequate.

"I didn't know you fancied little ginger-haired—" Bole stopped short, a thought seeming to occur. "Is this a dare? You can't be into a girl like her—"

"Maybe she's all I'm into," replied Scorpius. His tone was casual but firm—disarming—and the arm wrapped around Rose seemed to tighten ever so slightly. Rose, too preoccupied with glaring daggers at the brunette, may or may not have felt her heart skip a beat.

Bole's face fell for a second before a mask of anger and astonishment emerged. "How can you want a girl who doesn't even know what a designer label is?" she demanded. "How can you—oh. Oh. This is a PR stunt, isn't it? Puddlemere's PR team must want you to get in good with a Weasley and attract the other half of the fan base!" She laughed. "You should've just told me from the start! Your grandmother would absolutely understand—like she always says, image is everything." She offered a patronising smile. "Did you really have to pick Rose Weasley, though? You wanted a challenge, didn't you? You should've just gone for Roxanne. I hear she falls in love with just about anyone. Or Lucy, bloody slag, that one. Or even a Potter! Lily's a cute one, if a little tomboyish—I'm sure she'd be open to it. Any of them would be. It isn't every day that half-bloods like them can get with—gahhh!"

As Cecilia Bole began pawing at her face, Rose smiled coolly, satisfied as she observed her nonverbal handiwork. The striking brunette's face was covered in a series of purple boils that had erupted across her cheeks and nose in the form of the word "TWAT." Perhaps it was childish to use her mum's jinx because of a few nasty insults, but Rose drew the line at allowing someone to insult her family (even if she couldn't stand some of them).

"What—what—what did you do, you bitch?" wailed Bole, eyes bulging as she examined herself in a conjured hand-mirror.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose lightly—though guilt nipped at her when she caught sight of Bole's eyes filling with tears. Maybe it was a little much to jinx a girl's face like that, especially one so obsessed with physical appearance. Maybe she should counter the jinx…

Bole snarled. "Listen, you filthy, half-blood whore. You're no better than those cousins of yours—"

"Don't talk about my family that way," snapped Rose.

"Why not? You're all a bunch of pathetic blood-traitors—"

"Cecilia, shut up." Scorpius' voice was hard. "You're out of line. It's no one's fault but yours that you got what you deserve. And I don't know what kind of bullshit Annalise has been feeding you, but you and me—it's never going to happen."

"Oh, fuck you," hissed Bole after a beat of stunned silence. "You and your little slag. And just so you know, Annalise told me what happened at your last visit, and she doesn't regret a single word—dear old Cissy deserved it completely."

Rose felt Scorpius tense beside her. "Fuck off, Bole," she snapped.

"Gladly," sneered the brunette, turning swiftly on her heel.

In the silence that followed the crack of Apparition, Rose's head whirled with unanswered thoughts. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it abruptly when she realized that Scorpius' jaw was clenched, his right hand gripping her waist tightly.

"Scorpius…" She touched his arm, trying to elicit a response, but his eyes held a grim, faraway look. "Scorpius," she repeated, shaking his shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Are you…?" All right? Okay? Of course he wasn't. "… hungry?" she finished lamely.

Scorpius stared at Rose for a long moment, her wavy red hair a wild knot atop her head, her bright, worried eyes blinking up at him. His mouth, almost as if it couldn't quite help itself, quirked into a half-smile. "Are you asking me to lunch?"

Big brown eyes blinked twice. "You asked me first!"

They ended up on a park bench in Muggle London, eating sandwiches and soup from a local deli. Rose gazed thoughtfully at the foliage before her. When she'd ditched the Delacour-Weasleys earlier, she'd never expected this.

She glanced at the handsome man beside her, his aristocratic profile silent and contemplative. What had Cecilia Bole been on about? From what Rose had gathered, the brunette was acquainted with Scorpius' grandmother. Well, maternal grandmother, she corrected herself. Annalise Greengrass was quite a fixture in the society pages. She was, despite being a quiet blood-supremacist and bigot, the type of elite witch her cousin Lucy idolised.

But it didn't seem like Scorpius got along too well with his grandmother. Apparently, the older witch had favoured a relationship between her grandson and the young Miss Bole. Rose grimaced as she recalled Cecilia throwing herself onto Scorpius—and then, visibly cringed as she remembered what she had said herself.

"What's wrong?"

Rose froze, turning her head slowly to face the man she'd made a mortifying public declaration about only an hour or two ago. "Nothing?"

He took one look at her and said, "Try again."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, I…" Normally, she had no trouble being straightforward, but this—today—well, it was just so bloody personal. She didn't feel like she had a right to intrude on Scorpius' life. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what just happened back there."

He sighed. "Rose, I don't… not right now, okay? I don't want to talk about it." He seemed apologetic but firm. "I am sorry you had to get involved in this mess, though… well, I'm almost glad you did." He grinned, his eyes tired. "Nice jinx. Cecilia certainly had it coming."

Rose laughed, though she still felt slightly guilty for marring the girl's face (she'd counter the jinx… eventually). "Thanks, and, well, I wanted to apologize, too." She took a deep breath, well-aware her ears probably put Gryffindor scarlet to shame. "I shouldn't have added to the drama—shouldn't have said those things about… us. I don't know what was going through my head. I'm sorry."

"Scorpius doesn't need anyone else—least of all you—to please him, because he already has me."

Ugh, what on Earth possessed her to say that?

Well, it might've had something to do with the fact that she found him ridiculously attractive, but it also could've had something to do with this inexplicable urge to defend him. After hearing the sort of things Bole had said to Scorpius—well, Rose hadn't been about to stand idly by and do nothing.

(Even, it turned out, if it included embarrassing herself.)

To her surprise, Scorpius smiled. "Don't be sorry," he told her. "I'm not. It was the best thing that came out of the whole exchange."

Rose glanced up, mouth slightly ajar as she met his gaze. The way Scorpius was looking at her, the intensity of his eyes—it did odd things to her chest. She wanted to smile, to answer him, to do something—but she couldn't.

This is a PR stunt… to get in good with a Weasley and attract the other half of the fan base.

Rose closed her eyes; those words were suddenly all she could process. She felt sick.

The way Scorpius was looking at her, the way he'd been flirting with her—and from out of nowhere, too. When Bole had made those accusations earlier, Rose hadn't thought much of it—now, though, she couldn't help but wonder.

Why had Scorpius so suddenly decided to take an interest in her? They hadn't spoken in years and after just one chance meeting he was suddenly popping up everywhere she went? Rose hadn't minded (how could she?) but honestly—he was Scorpius Malfoy. He was charismatic, charming, ridiculously sexy—and now, a Quidditch star. He was the bloke every girl wanted and every bloke wanted to be.

And she—she was just Rose.

Just Rose.

She worked too much and got way too excited about International Magical Cooperation. She was overly idealistic and absolutely hopeless when it came to sports. She was an introvert—so introverted her behaviour sometimes bordered on antisocial.

He was Scorpius Malfoy. What was he doing here with her?

"Rose? What's the matter? Are you all right?"

She shook her head. She needed to get away, needed space to think. She forced a smile onto her lips, not meeting his eyes. "I'm fine. I just remembered I have… I have somewhere to be, yeah. Um, thanks for lunch."

And with that, she stood up, walking briskly towards a tree that should lend adequate coverage for Apparating.

"What—? Rose! Wait."

She walked faster. She was almost at the tree. Merlin did she want to Apparate away in the open—but Uncle Percy would have her wand if he heard.

"Rose."

She stopped. But not willingly. She glanced down at the firm hand that was currently covering her own. "Really, I have to go…"

Scorpius sighed, frustrated. "You're an awful liar, remember?" He pulled her around gently, to face him. "Tell me what's wrong. Please."

Rose stared at his sincere blue eyes, blinking back her tears.

Damn it.

They were walking through Muggle London (because Rose refused to return to their park bench and so Scorpius insisted they take a stroll), and Rose had just finished explaining to Scorpius her suspicions of him.

He had been silent for almost a full minute now, and Rose was beginning to regret everything she'd just said. Merlin, why had she let him convince her into explaining her thoughts? It may have broken Uncle Percy's heart, but she should've just screwed Magical Transportation laws and Apparated the hell out of there.

"I hate Cecilia Bole."

Rose blinked. "Pardon?"

"I hate Cecilia Bole," repeated Scorpius, turning to meet her gaze, "but I like you—I like you quite a bit."

"But what about the PR—"

"It's just some bullshit she concocted. It's not true, Rose." His eyes were serious, imploring. "Please believe me."

"It's just… I haven't seen you in over two years, and just this past week, you start showing interest in me, and I don't know—"

"Because I haven't been here for the past two years. And I don't know where you went after graduation, either." His tone was frustrated, on edge, and he raked a hand quickly through his platinum hair. "I only just returned to London—because I hadn't been able to get transferred to Puddlemere earlier. Montrose was too far for regular Apparition and I wanted to be closer to my grandfather. And it was only very, very fantastic luck that I managed to run into you on Monday, because believe me, I've always been interested in you—"

Rose folded her arms, sceptical. "Oh, come on, Scor. We went to the same school for seven years." She looked away, frowning. "We've never been more than friends—"

"Because you were always dating Greg bloody McLaggen!"

She recoiled at the mention of his name. Rose had dated Greg McLaggen for nearly three years throughout Hogwarts. She'd fancied herself in love, really. But when, after graduation, Rose "still" refused to put out, Greg broke up with her, assuring her that he could find another Weasley girl to shag.

Two weeks later, he was on the arm of her gorgeous cousin Lucy.

She'd been devastated.

"Yes, well, I seem to recall you with no shortage of female company!" retorted Rose.

Scorpius threw his hands in the air. "Well, what do you recommend I should've done? When the only girl I've ever truly fucking liked—"

His voice, abruptly, fell silent.

And, Rose, try as she might, just couldn't will her heart to calm down.

"What?" Her own voice was barely a whisper.

Scorpius sighed. "Trust me when I say that I like you—a lot." He stepped closer to her, taking her hands into his. "I'm sorry for all of this—this drama. But you have to know that I'd never intentionally hurt you. I've only been around so frequently lately because of coincidence—luck—and because I just can't stay away, apparently. But if it's what you want, I'll leave you alone—"

"No," breathed Rose. "No, don't do that. You don't have to." She met his eyes. "I don't want you to."

A beat.

And then, a grin slowly spread across Scorpius' face. "Yeah?"

She nodded emphatically, unable to contain her own smile. "Yeah."

A/N: This chapter was ridiculously hard for me to write. So, so, so many drafts and rewrites—and I'm still not sure I like it. So please review and let me know what you think, especially if you enjoyed it (hopefully!) and would like to see more! :) And thank you guys for all of your encouragement so far!