Rose shoved the piece of paper in her robe pocket. It was the third time in the last five minutes she'd pulled it out to look over the clue – she was actually counting. But what more was there to do? Madam Pomfrey insisted that she spend a week in the Hospital Wing to recover, and it was surprising how quickly the amusement of counting your teeth wore off...especially when you got a different number each time.

She wasn't exactly lonely. All of the Beauxbatons students had paraded in after her task, congratulating her (she wondered if they realised she'd come last). Even Madame Maxime had ventured a smile, praising her on her effort that was 'brave and nobling'...well, Rose's French was hardly any better.

Another frequent visitor was her brother, who had practically choked her with a hug after the task. He mumbled something about thinking she'd died, which really boosted her morale. Apparently, everyone demanded a re-vote on the scores, and all but the Slytherins said she deserved first place (Scorpius was leading, but only narrowly). Hugo seemed rather thrilled at having his sister competing in the Triwizard Tournament, and she was glad someone did. However, he'd been the brunt of many curious and pressing inquiries after why she was competing for Beauxbatons and not Hogwarts.

Today, however, no one had come to see her. And so she was left alone, with a song from the Weird Sisters annoyingly stuck in her head.

"Hey, Rose?"

"No, for the last time!" She seethed inwardly. "I cannot dance like a Hippogriff, so stop asking!"

"Rose?!"

She started. The voice wasn't coming from her head. Scorpius stood sheepishly before her. She instinctively pulled her covers up slightly higher. "Oh...hi."

"Well, aren't you pleased to see me?" He took the seat beside her bed, grinning. She shifted nervously, sitting up straighter.

"When have we ever been pleased to see one another?"

He was caught off guard. He hastily dropped the thread of her duvet that he had been sub-consciously pulling. "I..."

"Malfoy." She yawned. "The only time we have been happy to see one another is when either of us is faced with imminent embarrassment or pain."

"That's not true!"

"Really? Sooo...you didn't laugh when that Venomous Tentacula pulled off a chunk of my hair in our second year? And you didn't laugh when you stole my Potions essay, gave me yours instead, and Professor Slughorn handed it back with a T?"

Scorpius laughed in spite of himself. "Oh, yeah, that was a good one! First O I've ever achieved!"

"Which I then took back when I found out the truth..."

"Oh, right. Forgot about that. So, you can't still be angry, can you?"

Rose hesitated, then extracted a crumpled piece of parchment from her pocket. "And, you didn't send me this?"

He took it curiously and unfurled it. As his eyes passed over the words, he paled and his jaw slackened. "I didn't send this to you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Because...I got one, too."

Her eyes widened to saucer-size...although, not quite, because that would be a scary sight. "You did?"

"Yeah...but, I don't carry it around with me."

"Thought I might need it to blow my nose on at some point." She said offhandedly. "You still have it, don't you? It could be important..."

"Important?" He tilted his chair back. "It's just some loser sending us hate because we're more popular than them."

"Speak for yourself. The only people that don't hate me in this school are ones who are too foreign to understand why they should!"

"Is 'too foreign' really a real saying?" He grinned.

"Now it is. Anyway, has anything interesting happened since the First Task?"

"Well, I gave the clue a look-" before he could say more, Rose interrupted him eagerly.

"Did you see how the words look like they're jumbled up? I just can't seem to rearrange them..."

"Actually, I was going to say it made no sense, but your answer's better."

She ignored him. "Well, we can't discuss this. Champions helping one another is probably their biggest rule, aside from champions murdering one another."

"Right." He replied unenthusiastically. He knew he had no hope working it out on his own. "Oh, I suppose you'll be interested – there's going to be a Yule Ball this year...and the champions have to open the dance."

She raised her eyebrows. "A ball? How cliché. So, you're saying we have to find dates? Oh, joy. What a time to flaunt the fact that every guy here is a douche. Guess you're going to make this a competition? En garde, monsieur!" She winked.

After a few dribbles of small talk, Madam Pomfrey bustled over and shooed Scorpius from the Hospital Wing. He left, secretly wishing he'd plucked up the courage to do what he'd gone there for.

"You'd better have something really important to say."

Scorpius smirked as Rose flopped onto the seat opposite him, her robes and hair flooding the Library. Madam Pince could be seen propped against a bookcase, seemingly having a heart attack. Rose ran a hand through her rain-drenched mane and groaned. "This is your fault, Scorpius Malfoy. Just after I recover, you make me walk about in the rain."

"Hey, I'm not in charge of the weather!" he leaned back, lifting his hands up.

"Very funny." She eyed him beadily. "You look like a dick doing that."

He slowly lowered back onto all four legs of the chair, his cheeks tingeing slight. "So...Weasley." he folded his arms, looking like he was prepared for some 'serious business'...if that business involved looking stupid.

Rose closed her eyes, yawning. "Oh, do tell me, Malfoy, I can hardly wait."

"I was thinking...you know how we have a history..."

She opened one eye, appraising him with a slight grin. "Well, we don't, but carry on."

He cleared his throat, paused for a long moment, then blurted out "I-think-we-should-go-to-the-Yule-Ball-together."

Instead of the surprised reaction as he'd imagined, she burst out laughing. "Oh, good one, Malfoy! Because I'm certain all these years of you referring to me as 'Blood traitor' and 'Weasel' were all leading up to this! Yeah, I don't think so."

He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a loud shriek.

"FOOLISH GIRL! OUT, OUT, BOTH OF YOU!"

He looked round to see Rose sheepishly standing beside a book which her hair had been slowly soaking. Madam Pince brandished her wand and sent the book flying after them, snapping at them all the way out of the library.

Rose laughed the entire way out, and, when they were free, fell against the wall in hysterics. "I forgot she was like that! Anyway, see ya, Scorp." With a grin, she sidled away.

Scorpius watched her once-again-redhead bobbing out of view, then let out a loud groan. Why, why had he been so rude to her all those years? It could only come back and bite him in the arse...something that he realised the book was still doing. With a yelp, he ran away.

Rose curled up on her bed in the Beauxbatons carriage. Had she just turned Scorpius down? This was what she wanted, surely? But, she would let her parents and all her family down by saying yes...besides, he was obviously only joking.

She tried to move into a more comfortable position, but something scratched across her back. Confused, she reached beneath her and pulled out a piece of parchment.

Her pulse accelerating, she read:

Damn, nearly got you in the First Task!
Next time you won't be so lucky.
'Cause this Tournament is mine for the taking,
Ta ta!

-Anon

A/N: I'm afraid this may be the last chapter for a while, I'm off on holiday on Monday! I'll try and keep writing, may get another chapter posted tomorrow, but don't forget about little me! :( Sooo...keep reading and DFTBA - Don't Forget to Be Awesome! :D