"Fool For Love" – Chapter 3

Being friends with Scorpius wasn't as hard as I thought – I was never really close to him before our whatever-you-want-to-call it, only knowing him through Albus. For a Slytherin, he was surprisingly kind and his "I'm-better-than-you" smirks seemed to have died down a little. When I dropped a book on the way to a class, he would bend down and pick it up for me. If I had forgotten a quill for class, he would lend me one of his many fancy ones. If I needed a book in the library, he would come along with me and make small talk.

I never had many close, close friends. There was Dominique, James, Haley, and occasionally Albus and Lily, but there wasn't someone who was willing to study long hours with me or discuss books and things like that with me until Scorpius came along, and for that, I was truly grateful to him.

***

"You read Muggle books?" I asked him in shock.

He smiled at my surprise, "Yes."

"You're a Pureblood!"

"Who's discriminating now?" He asked jokingly.

"I'm not discriminating," I said. "It's just a huge surprise to me that you read Muggle books. I thought I was the only one."

"Nope, not the only one."

"How did you, Scorpius Malfoy of the Malfoys, come across any Muggle books in your lifetime?" I asked, curious.

He sighed, serious now. "When I was young, my mother and father would be out a lot, and I didn't really like staying home alone, so I would walk to this really small Muggle town about a mile or so away from our house."

"I thought you lived in a manor," I cut in.

"It is, I just like calling it a house."

"Oh."

"Okay, so I would walk into this town once or twice a week and there was a bookstore there – Muggle, obviously. I would always go in, look at things, but I would never really get anything. One day, the owner – a really nice fellow – told me that if I wanted a book, any book, I could just take it but I would have to return it when I was finished. So, every week or so for two years, I would go to the bookstore and get a book."

"Wow."

His eyebrow rose, "Wow?"

"You've probably read more Muggle books than I have," I told him. "Impressive."

"I'm an impressive bloke," he grinned cockily.

"You are." My words hung in the air for a moment before I realized what I had just said. "I didn't mean it like that!"

He smirked, "Right."

"I didn't!"

"I believe you."

"I swear, Malfoy, get rid of that smirk or I'll get rid of it for you!"

He laughed, struggling to keep a straight face. "Okay, it's gone."

"It better be!"

He was quiet for a moment before he smiled again, "You think I'm impressive."

"I do not!"

"You do," He leaned towards me. "You think I'm impressive."

I glared at him, "Not really."

"A little?"

"Maybe – but just a little."

He leaned back in his chair, "That's what I thought."

Arrogant bastard.

***

I finished my homework faster than I usually do. I found it was easier to finish my homework with Scorpius sitting across from me. He was a prefect, so he was obviously smart, but he was unusually smart, much smarter than I had given him credit for before. He helped me through some roughs spots in Defense and Transfiguration homework – my two weaknesses – and I helped him with his Charms and History homework – his two weaknesses.

He had a sense of humor, which I found surprising considering his background, and his jokes and remarks strangely made me focus even more. When my homework was all finished, the headache I usually had for concentrating too hard for too long, was nonexistent and I felt that I had really accomplished a lot.

I walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room alone – though Scorpius offered to walk me – and found Dominique waiting for me on the other side.

"Scorpius, huh?" Dominique asked, poking me in the ribs, a smile playing on her lips.

"What?" I asked.

"You and Scorpius!" She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "All of a sudden, you two all cozy-cozy."

I rolled my eyes, "He's just a friend."

"Right," she said, dragging out the 'i'. "If that's what you say."

"We are just friends!"

"Touchy," Dominique's eyebrow rose. "Rosie, you do realize that boy is too good-looking to be around for much more than ten minutes, much less to be friends with and spending hours of time alone with him."

I rolled my eyes, trudging upstairs to the Girls' Dormitories, hoping that I would lose Dominique but I didn't. "He's not that great looking."

"You would have to be without a nose and eyes to think Scorpius Malfoy was not good-looking."

"Nose?"

"He smells like someone gorgeous."

"Now, Dom, what does a gorgeous someone smell like?"

"Like the way Scorpius smells," she replied. "Now, tell me, is anything going on with Scorpius or you?"

"Nothing more than friends," I replied. "That's it."

***

"Why green apples?" Scorpius asked. "Why aren't red apples your favorite?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. It's just always been green apples."

"Red apples and green apples taste exactly the same," he pointed out.

"Not really," I said. "They're really different actually."

"Do you not like red apples because of how they taste or because of the color?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I'm just curious."

"Well, I don't know why I like green apples more than red apples, but I just do."

"Weird," he said to himself, lost in thought.

"Please don't tell me that you're thinking of apples."

"I'm not," he responded quickly.

"Really?"

"Okay, fine, I am," he confessed. "I just don't get it."

I sighed, exasperated, "For me, green apples just taste better and I'm used to them."

"Green apples," he said.

"Right."

He nodded, "Okay."

That day, when I walked into Ancient Runes there was a green apple waiting for me on my desk. I picked it up, looking around the room for the person who left it. My eyes landed on Scorpius. He smirked at me, then mouthed, "Ienjoy/I"

***

As I walked into the Great Hall for dinner, James and Albus grabbed me by the arms and dragged me to a secluded corner.

"Why are you friends with Scorpius?" James demanded.

"Why not?" I rubbed my arms where they had grabbed me.

"Because," said Albus, his arms crossed.

"Al, you're his best friend!"

"So? It doesn't mean I want you to be friends with him."

"Hypocritical much?"

Albus' mouth opened to give a snappy retort when James cut him off. "Just tell us why all of a sudden."

"He's nice."

James and Albus snorted. "The truth, please," said James.

"Fine," I say, crossing my arms, "because he understands me and he has the same interests as me."

James relaxed while Albus still glared, "That's it?"

"Yes," I glare right back at him. "What did you think it was?"

Albus' mouth twitched but he didn't respond.

"What did you think it was?" I repeated.

James sighed, "We thought you two were … I don't know. Al just said that you were acting weird and he was acting weird. Then, you two are suddenly together all the time."

"You thought we were together?"

"Yes."

"Me and Scorpius?"

"Yes."

"Well, rest assured, dear cousins, that we are not together."

"You're not together?"

"No, Al, me and Scorpius are not together. I promise you."

"And you don't have any feelings for each other?"

"None whatsoever."

***

Author's Note: Okay, so quite short, but I found myself loving this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! And Don't forget to leave me a lovely review!

Disclaimer: JKR owns all. *sigh*