A/N: Not that anyone cares, but I'd just like to say that Cintia Dicker is my Rose, Boyd Holbrook is my Scorpius, and Tom Sturridge is my Al. If you don't know who they are, LOOK THEM UP. On google. Tell me if you agree or disagree. :)

DISCLAIMER

Chapter Eight

"How long has she been like this?"

"I think it just happened when I found her."

Albus was sitting down next to Rose's bed in the hospital wing. Scorpius was standing at the foot of the bed, looking anywhere but Al and Rose.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure she'd want me to tell you, mate. We talked about it before she fell out and she was really forward in how she felt about-"

"She's my cousin, Malfoy." Al said, "And you're my best friend. If it was you, I'd want to know what happened."

"I get that, Potter, but you don't get how badly she didn't want me to tell anyone. Once she's up I'll try to talk some sense into her, but until then you'll just have to wait."

"Fine." Scorpius could tell that Albus was a little mad at him but he really didn't care. The only person he cared about at the time was Rose.

"I'll go and get her some water for when she wakes up. You want some?"

Albus told him that he did, and Scorpius left. He looked in the mediwitch's office for cups, and once he found them, he pulled his wand out of his pocket. "Aquamente."he filled both of the cups, pocketed his wand, and went back into the infirmary. The cups were in both of his hands so he had to turn the knob with his elbow and push it with his hip.

"Where is he? Where did he go?"

"Where did who go, Rose?"

Scorpius slowed down, not sure if he wanted to talk to her right now. He'd been content with watching her as she slept, and running his hands over her forehead and smoothing down her hair. When she was awake, he couldn't let his face show his feelings.

"He told me he would never leave me," she said. Scorpius turned the corner, and Albus looked up him.

"She's up." Al said, taking a cup from him.

"I noticed." He walked around to the other side of the bed. "I bought you some water, kid. You should drink it."

"I'm not thirsty." She said, looking away from him. Now that she was more composed than she had been, she was able to feel ashamed of being caught in such a weak position. It was such a typical scenario; her needing to be saved and the kind-hearted, brooding boy had to save her. It made her feel pathetic.

"You need to drink something."

"I said I'm not bloody thirsty!" Al jumped when she yelled, and she immediately felt bad.

"Drink it." Something in his voice, something she couldn't put her finger on made her reach for the cup in his hand and drink. "Let me see your side." He said, once she'd put her half empty cup on the side table. Rose knew there was no fighting with him, so she moved onto her left side and moved her arm out of the way. She closed her eyes when she felt him pull up the side of her shirt and put his cold hands on her skin. Again, she noticed how good it felt for him to touch her.

"See Al?" she heard him ask. "It was worse than this, they were sticking this far." His hands left her body as he indicated where the bones had been. "The potion's helped a lot."

"I'm glad you're getting better, Rosie." Al leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Scorpius had no siblings, and he wasn't close to his cousins. Seeing Al kiss Rose made him yearn for affection that wasn't always sexual. What was it like to kiss someone just because you were glad they were okay? He'd felt a little of that earlier, when he'd kissed her forehead. It was different though, because no one but his parents had ever done that to him, and that was when he was younger.

"I'm going to grab something from the kitchens. You two want anything?"

Scorpius liked that he and Rose were associated together. You two. He always made little things out to be a lot more than they were.

"Sure, just grab me something." He looked at Rose and said, "Do you want to eat?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, not really."

"I'll have something too, then."

Al left then, and Scorpius sat in the chair he'd been in. Rose avoided looking at him. "Are you mad at me?" he asked.

She squinted her eyes, but didn't look at him. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I told Al that you were in here."

"Malfoy, he's your best friend and my cousin. It's nothing short of what I'd expected. At least you didn't tell him what happened." She looked at him now, fresh tears glistened in her eyes. "You're different."

"Well thank you."

"Not in a bad way. You just… I'd expected you to tell someone right away. You actually listened to me. No one else would have done that."

"Well," he started, "I didn't want you to be mad at me before we've even worked things out officially."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Neither do I, but it feels weird, Rose. I haven't talked to you in a month, and then this happened and now we're cool. We can't pretend we never fought, we have to clear things up."

"There you go acting like we're dating again." She didn't say it meanly, but it still hurt his feelings.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. We can talk later, I suppose. We can walk around the grounds or something. Once they let me out of here we can."

"Is everything alright in here?" a voice said. They looked over and Rose's stomach dropped. She started shaking and searched desperately for Scorpius's arm. When the person revealed themselves, she saw it was only an assistant. "Merlin, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. You just frightened me."

Scorpius looked at her and saw the fear in her eyes. "She'll be fine, mate. Bring her that potion, yeah? We don't want you lot messing her up even more. It'd be best to get her out of here quick like. The madam said she'd be all healed before the day's out she has to stay here over night. I want her out of here in the morning, and if she's not all better , I'll blame you. Got it?"

The mediwizard scowled and mumbled something about, 'Those bloody Malfoys' before walking away to fetch the potion. Once he was gone, Scorpius caressed her hand with his. "What is it?"

"I-I thought he was Marc, I thought he'd come to get me."

Merlin. The next time Scorpius saw the prick he was going to kill him. Screw going to Azkaban, he'd kill him with his bare hands. "He's unconscious right now, Rose. You're safe."

"He won't be forever, Malfoy."

He will if I kill him. "What are you worried about? Tomorrow?"

She nodded. "If you let me tell Al, he can wait for you outside your common room every morning and walk you to all your classes."

"I don't want to tell Al. And even if I did, I doubt he'd want to do that for me. It's too big of a hassle."

I'd do it for you. It's no hassle.

"Really?" Rose's eyes lit up and Scorpius's grew wide. Blast, had he said that out loud?

"If you want me to."

"It's too much to ask. I mean, I'm sure you have a lot of better things to do than babysit me."

"Will you stop that, Rose?" he snapped. He couldn't help it. "I'm your friend, and I will be for as long as you want me to be. You act like we barely know each other when we've spent most of the summer together for the past seven six years. I see you every day and I talk to you every day. We aren't bloody acquaintances, we aren't strangers. Evidently you're trying to had to dissociate yourself from me and I have no clue as to why."

"Well I'm sorry if it seems like you don't like me sometimes, Malfoy. Like now."

"And then there's that. You never call me by my name. Never."

"Malfoy is your name."

"You know what I mean, Rose. You only call people by their last name all the time if you don't like them."

"I'm afraid to call you your name."

"Why?"

"I don't know, it seems to intimate. I'm so used to calling you Malfoy, that it'd be like crossing some forbidden border into your life if I call you your name."

"That's bloody ridiculous."

"Maybe it is. Please don't yell at me again."

He took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "I'm sorry. You just get me all riled up."

"Whoa there, tiger."

Scorpius turned and glared at Albus, who was turning into their small, curtained area. "That's not what I meant. Eavesdropping is very unattractive, mate."

"Who cares? You're attractive enough for the both of us, right?" Scorpius shoved him and Al laughed.

"Jam doughnuts and treacle tarts for the lady." He said, handing them over to Rose in a small white paper bag. "Chicken and ham sandwiches for us lads."

"If you're trying to make me fat Al, it's not going to work."

"Drat. Why must you foil all of my master plans, Rose?"

"I can't help it."

It was silent while they ate, for they all had a million things running through their minds. Albus was wondering if he'd ever find out what had happened to his darling cousin, Scorpius was wondering if Al had heard him yelling at Rose, and Rose was wondering why she made Scorpius so mad. "Lively bunch, you two." Rose murmured, biting into her tart.

"We were thinking." They said in unison, and Rose was tempted to get up and walk out of the room.

"You should go to your dorms. You can't stay here all night."

Scorpius shook his head. "No, I'll stay a while longer. Unless you want me to leave."

Rose thought about telling him that she did, in fact, want him to leave just so she could be alone. She didn't want him gone though; she felt safer with him around. Eventually, Al left. Rose and Scorpius were alone again, and it didn't seem like that'd change soon.

"So."

"What?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"You're always sorry, Malfoy. It's like you're apologizing to me for anything bad you've ever done in your life. "

He thought about that; it was more or less true. "I take back what I said earlier; there's a good reason you got put in Ravenclaw."

She didn't say anything, and for a while neither did he.

"Who do you think's fit?"

"What? Why?"

"It's a perfectly simple question, Weasley."

"No one."

"No one?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I just don't believe it."

Rose glared at him and sat up in her bed. She winced and he frowned. "Fine, tell me who you think it cute."

"I don't think anyone's cute."

"Come on, you can tell me. It doesn't mean you like them just because you think they're cute."

"No one."

He could see this wasn't going to be easy. Scorpius wasn't sure why he wanted to know so bad, but that's how it was when you liked someone, right? The timing wasn't all that good, but she was relatively calm and he wouldn't have the guts to ask her later. "Fine, we'll do it your way then."

Scorpius got up, and for a second she thought he was about to leave, but then he sat on the bed, legs crossed and facing her. "What color hair do you like?"

"Merlin, what kind of question is that?"

"Answer it."

"I like all hair." She said, then she thought of him in the sun at the Burrow. "I favor light hair, though."

"Light hair?"

"Yeah. What about you."

"I'm partial to red heads."

"You're full of shit."

"I'm serious." He said, smiling. "Oh, damn, I forgot you had red hair. I don't think I like them so much anymore."

She smacked him on the arm, and he grinned wider. Rose hadn't realized how much she missed him smiling. "I like what I can't have. Or at least, what I think I can't have. There are some people that I consider unattainable so I just never think of them in that way. If I liked one of those guys I'd just end up pining after them for the rest of my life and them never seeing me as more than a friend." She paused, and noticed that he was hanging off her every word. "I like the boys I'm not supposed to like. The dangerous ones, the ones that are off limits. My parents a bit more accepting lately, but my dad would have had a fit if he knew I'd dated a Slytherin. Marc… he wasn't nice, though. And I like my boys nice, and thoughtful. One that doesn't kiss my ass and who isn't mean to me. I'm a bit picky, I suppose. That's probably why I never date anyone."

Scorpius had a feeling that he knew that guy she was describing. She couldn't say all of that stuff and not have someone in mind. If not, she had put a lot of thought into her perfect bloke.

"It's your turn."

"What?" he asked. He'd been hoping to avoid this part.

"You know. Quid pro quo."

He sighed, "What do you want to know?"

"What would your perfect girl be like?"

"Well she has to be smart. None of that feigning ignorance bull shit. I've… well they just bore me. They can't keep up a conversation so they flash whatever they've got at me until I can't form a complete sentence." He looked up at her for a second, not sure if he should keep going.

"What else?" she asked, sitting up straighter. The potion had almost fully healed her, all that was left was the bruise and a little tenderness when she moved.

"She should be sweet, but feisty. She has to able to put up with my shit and not ignore me when I've got stuff to say. She can't be all prissy and stuck up, that would annoy the shit out of me. I like pretty girls, with long hair and freckles…" he noticed her touching her fingers to her cheek, were tons of freckles were. Their eyes met, for just a second and he added in a soft voice, "and blue eyes."

"You just described me and half of my family. At least with the physical part."

He smiled, and on a whim brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. "That I did."

Something should have clicked in her head, but it didn't. She was the only one who had blue eyes.

"Malfoy?"

"Hmm?"

"What if Marc wakes up and he comes in here tonight. No one'll be here… I'm scared."

"He won't come in here, Rose."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'll stay with you."

"No, I can't ask you to do that-"

"You didn't ask, I offered." He said. "You should know by now that once I've got my mind sent on something you can't change my mind."

"That's because you're so damn headstrong."

"You like it."

She didn't say anything, because she wasn't sure if she did or not. "You better get some sleep. If I wake up in the middle of the night and you're still up, I'll kill you."

"Don't worry about me." He said, climbing off of the bed and back into the chair. All of the sudden she felt disoriented. She'd gotten used to him being so close, and now she didn't know what to do, or say. "Just go to sleep. We'll get up, eat breakfast, and figure things out from there. Alright?"

She nodded and lay down, facing him. Her eyes were closed, and just as he thought she was asleep, she spoke. "Malfoy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do we fight so much?"

"It's because we're perfect for each other, obviously."

She laughed, and then once it was quiet he knew she was asleep. He reached over and touched her hand. He was about to pull away when her fingers laced through his and she pulled their hands close to her.

"Damn it, Rose. Why can't you like me this much when you're conscious?"