When Rose got to the library, she was a little disappointed when she didn't see Scorpius. She made her way to a table by the windows and tossed her bag onto the table before sliding into one of the chairs.

She was just opening up one of her books when someone put their hands over her eyes. "Guess who."

Ordinarily, Rose would have immediately guessed her cousin Lucy, who was the only person she knew who really did that on a regular basis. However, this voice was clearly male.

It was also getting to be quite familiar.

"Scorpius, stop it."

He pulled his hands away and dropped into the chair next to her, looking pleased with himself.

"Morning," he said cheerfully.

It was almost noon, but she decided not to comment on his liberal definition of the word. "Morning," she replied. "I didn't see you when I came in."

"Were you looking for me?" he asked.

She shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe," she said. He looked at her skeptically. "All right, yes, I was. Your cousin told me you might be here." She eyed him. He couldn't have been up that late, because sleeping in had clearly left him well-rested; his eyes were full of mischief, and he'd clearly spent more time on his hair than usual that morning - it had a similar sort of intentionally messy look that she saw regularly from her cousin James, and she knew it took work to make it stick that way. "Do you have any work with you at all?"

He jerked his head toward the isolated table by the restricted section. A book was lying open on it. "Over there," he said. "But I don't really need to do it, I've already done most of my work."

"I heard." At her dry tone, his face coloured slightly, but the grin did not disappear. "I do have to get some work done, though, so go get it."

He made a face. "You're no fun." She raised her eyebrows, and he leaned forward to brush his lips against hers. "I'll be right back."

She watched him as he made his way back to his table, but swiveled her head back to her book before he turned around. If he caught her out at it, he'd be on about it for weeks.

After a minute, he slipped back into his seat and tossed the book, quill, and parchment on the table. "How was practice yesterday?" he asked.

"All right," she said, pushing her book, parchment, and quill away from her. She could afford to take a short break. "Exhausting, though. I'm really sore today."

"Is Quidditch always this tiring?" he asked. "Doesn't seem worth it."

She shook her head, wishing she'd done more with her hair than just brush it. He didn't seem to mind her lack of attention to it, but she did, at least a little. "The first two months of school are always hard, especially this year, because I didn't play as much over the summer as I usually do. I just need to get back in form." She didn't add that she also needed to get back in shape - not practicing much over the summer had definitely done more than dull her reflexes. It had dulled her muscles, too. At this point she was mostly back to herself, but it still took a lot more out her than it usually would.

He looked sympathetic, and after an awkward pause where he didn't seem to know quite what to say, he surprised her by telling her that he'd be rooting for her team in the first match. Even his friendship with Albus had never stopped Scorpius from loudly and enthusiastically rooting against Gryffindor in Quidditch, no matter who they were playing.

Rose was even more surprised at how touching she found the sentiment.

After a few more minutes of chatting, she stole a look at her work and sighed. "I really should do this," she said reluctantly, and they turned to their work. When she pushed her essay away half an hour later, she was surprised to find that the library was almost completely empty. "Where is everyone?"

Scorpius glanced over at her, and then up at the deserted room. "They probably went to lunch," he said. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head. "I'm not, either. I went down to the kitchens before coming up here, and the house elves fed me. I'm so glad Albus showed me where that was our first year, it's been such a life saver."

She stretched. "My neck is so sore right now," she complained. "And I hate work."

Her not-quite-boyfriend-yet nudged her. "Then let's go outside and take a walk." She hesitated and he said, "Come on, you know you need the break, and you know you want it to be with me."

That got a laugh out of her. "All right," she agreed. "Let me just go drop these off and get a sweater."

They agreed to meet down by the exit that let to the grounds in ten or fifteen minutes and parted ways. The Gryffindor Common Room was empty when Rose breezed through, as was her dormitory. She grabbed a red sweater and made her way back down the stairs. When she got to their designated meeting place, Scorpius was already waiting there, and as they made their way down the steps, he tentatively reached out to take her hand.

She let him.

They wandered down to the lake and settled under the tree they'd been under when she'd first kissed him. He leaned back against the trunk. She considered sitting in front of him and leaning back to rest her head on his shoulder, but after a moment, she decided that doing so would be too couply, and they weren't really quite a couple. It would just be awkward and uncomfortable and give him the wrong idea and -

"Sit down, will you?"

She looked down at him. He'd chosen a spot that many Hogwarts students had used over the years; the trunk of the tree was charmed so that it was much smoother than it would be naturally, and if there had ever been uncomfortable rocks or roots on the ground in front of it, they had long since been cleared away. He looked extremely comfortable, and his face was completely void of all of the nastiness and dislike that had pervaded their relationship for the previous four years.

He certainly hadn't given any impression over the last month that her being forward was at all a problem for him. She came to a decision and circled around to sit down on top of his crossed legs.

Scorpius let out a sigh, and she looked up at him quickly. "Is this okay?" she asked. "I can move. I -"

He shifted to spread his legs, putting her between them rather than on top of them, and pulled her against his chest. "This is great."

Rose felt a slight smile spread across her face as she looked out across the water. It was little overcast and there was a breeze blowing across the lake, but it was still warm enough that in a jumper, the weather was refreshing rather than uncomfortable, even though they were sitting still.

She cuddled up to Scorpius and rested her head against his shoulder. "It's beautiful out," she murmured. "Thanks for getting me to take a walk."

"Mm," he agreed. There was a moment of hesitation, and then he said, "Rose, not that I'm complaining, but are you okay?"

She twisted her neck to look up at him. "Of course I am," she said in surprise. "Why wouldn't I be?"

His expression was a little bemused. "You not usually this..." He stopped to consider his next word. "Affectionate," he finally came up with. "Usually you're more interested in kissing me and then making fun of me and then kissing me again, but I don't think you've mocked me once today."

Rose considered starting her answer with calling him Scorp, but decided against it. "I dunno," she said. "I don't really feel like teasing you today. Are you sure you're not complaining?"

He threw back his head and laughed. "No. I expect you'll be back to your old self soon enough." She couldn't really bring herself to laugh along with him, and after a moment, he looked down. "Rose, I don't mind," he said, tightening his grip. "I already knew you could be a jerk sometimes when we starting going out. Or whatever," he added belatedly.

"So you think of me as your girlfriend?" she asked. She hadn't been planning to bring it up, but the opportunity had landed in her lap.

She felt rather than heard him sigh. "Yes," he admitted after a minute. "Of course I do."

"Is that why you've been telling all the sixth years that I'm your girlfriend?"

She nudged him when he didn't respond, and this time, she did hear his sigh. "Well, they asked if we were going out. What was I supposed to say? 'No, we just sneak off and snog in abandoned corridors?' Do you know how that makes either of us look?"

Rose considered that for a moment. She hadn't really thought about it that way, but now that he brought it up, she could see how some people could get an impression that was less than favorable. She hadn't expected Scorpius to be the type to care about it, though, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was more worried about her reputation or his.

"You might not think of me that way, exactly," he continued, "but -"

"I do," she interrupted, and he stopped talking immediately. "I just..."

When it was clear she wasn't going to continue, he asked, "So what's stopping you from just admitting that I'm your boyfriend?"

Rose's feelings toward Scorpius had certainly changed since they'd gotten back to school, and right now he did feel more like a boyfriend than anything else. However, the idea of saying, "Scorpius Malfoy is my boyfriend" was enough to make her giggle.

"Come on, Scorpius," she said. "Can you really imagine saying, 'This is my girlfriend, Rose Weasley?'" Before he could say anything, she added, "I don't mean answer someone when they ask, I mean actually say it." When she looked up at him, she saw that his nose was wrinkled.

"Ugh."

She spun around out of his grip. "Told you," she said triumphantly.

He scrunitized her for a moment before leaning forward and putting his hands on her cheeks. Rose could feel her heart start to beat faster as he leaned in to kiss her, and when he began to pull back, she followed him.

When they finally parted, his eyes were slightly glassy. "This is my girlfriend, Rose," he said, panting slightly.

"Doesn't count." She paused to catch her breath. "You have to use my last name."

He made a face but gave it a try. When he got to 'Weasley,' however, he couldn't even manage to get the first syllable out before breaking off, looking disgusted. After another failed attempt, he leaned in to kiss her again.

"This is my girlfriend Rose Weas-" He stopped. "Ugh. Why couldn't you have been a Potter? I don't like hardly any of the Weasleys. I like most of the Potters. I wouldn't have any trouble saying, 'This is my girlfriend, Rose Potter.'"

"Well, I'm not a Potter," she said. "And you can't dislike all of us."

He considered that for a minute. "Not quite," he admitted. "The non-Gryffindors are easier to take, except for Dominique. She's..." Scorpius trailed off. "I don't want you to yell at me for insulting a beloved cousin," he said.

"Domi is a bit hard to take," Rose admitted. "I love her, but she is. She could learn a couple things about tact from her sister."

"Oh, her." Scorpius snapped his fingers. "Victoire, right? I've actually really met her, and I liked her."

Rose stared at him. "When on earth did you meet Vic?" Victoire had only been at Hogwarts with them for a year, and she doubted her cousin would have made much of an impression on Scorpius.

He shrugged. "She's come by with her boyfriend a few times when I was staying with Al." Rose's confusion disappeared - that made sense, and she was surprised it hadn't occurred to her. "And her boyfriend is one of my cousin Johanna's best friends," he added.

Rose turned around again and leaned back into him. "I don't know anything about your family," she admitted. "Not really."

"You're interested?" He sounded surprised.

She shifted so she could see his face more easily. "Yes. Isn't that a thing girlfriends are supposed to do?" He looked even more surprised by that, so she added, "What's wrong, Scorp?"

He groaned and shoved her gently. "You heard that from Noah, didn't you?" She nodded, and he shot a dark look toward the castle. "I'm going to kill him."

"Oh, come on, Scorp, don't take everything so seriously," she said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Red, love your profile," he shot back. On its face, this wasn't so different from many of the other encounters they'd had over the last four years, but it lacked all the malice it had had even a month ago.

She butted her head against him, and he laughed. "I'm serious," she said.

"I know." After a moment, she felt him beginning to run his fingers through her hair, and she sighed blissfully. "Let's avoid talking about the Malfoys today," he said. "This is nice, and I don't want you to ruin it by being an idiot."

Rose let the statement float by her without making too much of a fuss - she knew herself well enough to know that what he was afraid of could happen quite easily, and she was feeling far too relaxed to want to risk it. It was a conversation that she knew they would have to have sometime, and she couldn't imagine it would go particularly well. "What about your mum's family, then?"

She could feel the vibrations of a laugh in his chest. "The Greengrasses? They're your kind of people. If you ever meet my mum, just mention your career plans and she'll probably be at me to marry you or something."

Even a passing mention of marriage usually would have been enough to make her uncomfortable, but the idea of marrying Scorpius Malfoy, of all people, was so ludicrous to her that she giggled.

He laughed along with her before listing off the careers his various Greengrass relatives had chosen. By the time he had finished, she was quite impressed. Scorpius was right - she probably would like his Greengrass relatives just fine. None of them were in the D.C.B., but he had an uncle in Werewolf Capture, a cousin in Dragon Research, and his cousin Johanna was even an Auror - and she, he said pointedly, had been in Slytherin while she was at Hogwarts.

She decided that in this situation, not responding to that was probably the best thing she could do. "What happened to you, then?" she teased instead.

"Someone needs to patch all of you up."

It took her a moment to process that he'd included her in that statement, and once she had, she felt a pleasant warmth spread through her. "So you really want to be a Healer, then?" she asked.

"I'm thinking about it a lot," he said. "If I do, though, don't worry. I won't slip anything into your potion by accident."

They sat by the lake for almost an hour, and by the time they got up, Rose could not remember why she'd spent four years dislike Scorpius Malfoy so heartily.

"Hey, Rose?" he said as they were walking back up to the castle.

"Hmm?"

"This is my girlfriend, Rose Weasley." When she looked over at him, he was grinning. "Your turn."

A/N: Someone really does need to patch them all up. (There's another story about this in the works.)

I'd love to hear what you think about the progression of their relationship, either as old or new readers. Thank you so much for reading either way!

- Branwen