It had been a week since Rose dumped Nathan White and to say he wasn't taking it well was a huge understatement. He'd taken to following Rose around insisting their relationship could be fixed and if she just opened her eyes, she'd see how great they were together. That last part almost earned him a jelly legs jinx- Rose did not take kindly to her intelligence being doubted.
Scurrying away as fast as she could while trying to seem like she wasn't fleeing the scene, she ran into Lily-"Oh thank Merlin! Lily, you've got to help me. Cause a distraction so Nathan leaves me alone."
"It'll cost you."
"Name your price."
"Your entire chocolate frog collection and 2 boxes of sugar quills."
"Half my collection and none of the sugar quills."
"Done. I would've done it for free, you know. I never understood what you saw in that ponce anyway", Lily flounced away towards Nathan, discreetly charming his clothes and hair to change colours every second. If there was one thing Nathan was, it was vain. He prided himself on his appearance, one look at his outfit and he rushed towards his dorms to remedy the situation,leaving in his wake, Lily cackling maniacally at her success.
Having watched from behind an alcove, Rose sighed with relief and slowly came out of her hiding place, immediately being accosted by Al. "Are you behind my sister's current demented state? I really don't want to write home to my parents informing them that their lily-bug is a psychopath and we'll have to permanently house her in Mungo's."
"Please, she's her Daddy's little girl, I doubt anything you say is going to change that."
"Ouch, how you wound me, Rosie darling. Here I was thinking you're my favourite cousin."
Rose ignored him, having spotted a harried looking Scorpius coming her way, with Cindy hot on his heels. She felt a twinge of annoyance towards the girl.
Refusing to acknowledge why that was, Rose called out to them,"Scorpius, Cindy, were you starting our project without me?"
"Of course not, Rose", replied Cindy, flashing Rose a predatory smile," we were discussing things of a more… personal nature."
Scorpius' smile turned strained and he shot pleading eyes Al's way.
"Cindy, I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to join the Pygmy Puffs Protection Soceity", cried Al steering the conversation away,"Scorpius is all about the pygmy puffs, he was in tears the other day at some of their living conditions. He's such a sensitive soul. You seem like you'd be too."
"Of course, I always knew you were sensitive but misunderstood. Don't you worry, I'll support your cause." Cindy beamed at Scorpius .
"Well then, you've got to come with me. I've got the pamphlets, badges, donation box…"Albus steered her away while she shot him disgruntled looks.
Scorpius gave a huge sigh of relief at their departure, earning a chuckle from Rose,"you really are scared of her, aren't you?"
"Terrified", replied Scorpius honestly.
For the rest of the day they couldn't stop noticing each other.
He noticed how she got really frustrated during Ancient Runes and started chewing her lip violently while tapping her foot.
She noticed how he was flawless at transfiguration , transforming his gerbil to a kitten on the first try. And how he looked so cute holding it.
He noticed how she pulled her hair free and tied it back up again and couldn't stop himself from staring at her long, smooth neck.
She noticed how he pulled up his sleeves in potions, while standing next to her, exposing his forearms as he stirred his potion. And how his muscles flexed slightly.
In fact, she was still dazed by it, when she added an extra phoenix hair to her sleeping draught. Her potion immediately started bubbling and turning purple. Just before it could explode, Scorpius tried to push her away, only managing to get it on both of them instead.
The last thing either of them noticed was a slight purple haze before they promptly lost consciousness.