Chapter 7:
"Come on, Malfoy! Don't you ever pay attention?" I asked Scorpius impatiently. We had only been in the library for the past fifteen minutes and he had managed to get me thoroughly annoyed yet again. I had been trying to get and keep his attention so I could explain to him the properties of more complex potion ingredients, but he was very reluctant to listen.
"You must not know me very well, Weasley. I almost never pay attention when something's not worth my time." He drawled out in a very arrogant voice. I had a strong urge to knock my Potions textbook against his head.
"So I'm not worth your time?"
Malfoy shifted in his seat. "I didn't say you weren't worth my time. I meant school work." He poked me in the arm when he said 'you' and I recoiled playfully. It had been like this for a while now; Scorpius and I had a love-hate relationship going on and I suppose you could even call us friends. I had even gotten used to calling him by his first name in my head! But I almost never addressed him by it out loud.
"Can't we take a break?" He whined. "I've been taking notes, see?" He pushed his parchment in front of me. Though the notes were not very detailed and he had doodles pictures of racing brooms on the margins of his paper, they were good enough for now.
"We'll take one fifteen minute break, but that's it." I sternly answered, shoving the notes back to him. He dramatically slumped back in his seat and clutched his hand.
"Oh, my aching hand!" I rolled my eyes and smiled at him.
"Please, Malfoy. What is it with you and your hand? Write much?"
"Only for you, Weasley!" He replied with an overly large smile. I threw my eraser at him but he deflected it with a flick of his "tortured" hand.
"Excuse me while I become sick!" I laughed. Scorpius chuckled and leaned forward in his seat.
"So, any reason you were ignoring Finley Thomas at dinner tonight?" He asked. A confused look crossed my face. I hadn't been ignoring Finley. He hadn't even been talking to me! Had he?
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come on, Weasley. He must have tried to talk to you at least five times. The poor bloke isn't used to being rejected!" Scorpius smirked.
"He must have been talking to someone else then, because I didn't hear him." I retaliated. Had I been ignoring Finley? I guess I was so eager to get down to the library early I hadn't really been paying attention to anything around me.
"Whatever you say." Scorpius propped his feet up on the table. Suddenly, there was a loud screech from behind one of the book cases. My quill flew out of my hand as I jumped in my seat and Madam Pince appeared from the depths of the library.
I had heard stories from my family time and time again about Madam Pince and I had never really experienced much trouble with her. She was a cranky old lady who was practically ancient by now but she had never given me reason to believe their stories. However, by the look on her face this time, those stories seemed easier to picture in my head.
"Young man, remove your feet from that table immediately!" She growled at Scorpius who had remained unfazed during the whole situation. He smirked at me as I fumbled for my quill under the table. Still, he swung his feet down back onto the floor. Madam Pince gave him a steely glare and she slowly backed away. I was about to grab my quill when Scorpius's hand came down and took it for me.
"Thanks." I said, coming back up and holding my hand out for my quill. He was twirling it around in his fingers.
"What's it worth to you?" He asked with a suggestive wiggling of his eyebrows.
I raised my own eyebrows. "Almost nothing. I have two more in my bag."
He laughed and handed me my quill. What was all that about?
"It's been fifteen minutes." I said quietly. Scorpius sighed and started copying random notes from his textbook again. The quiet scratching of quills on parchment and the smell of books cleared my head. Scorpius was the one to fill it once more.
"So you basically told Professor McGregor you have no social life today."
I gave him a look. "I said nothing of the sort!"
Scorpius snorted. "Weasley; you have two hours of 'free time' including homework. Then you sleep. Then you go to school."
"That's during the week! I have weekends too you know."
"What did you do last weekend?" Scorpius asked. I suppose I looked surprised. He was there wasn't he? He ought to know.
"I was with you. Remember? The sound of water coming in contact with red hair might jog your memory a bit." I smirked at him. Oh Jesus, I was catching his Slytherin habits.
Scorpius looked guilty and amused at the same time. "You got me there, Weasley! But if you don't recall, you spent the rest of that weekend studying."
"That's not every weekend…" I mumbled. I didn't want Scorpius to be right.
"What you need is a bit of fun." He said grandly. "What are you doing on Hogsmeade weekend?"
I was taken aback. I couldn't tell him I had planned to spend the day reading a book. I would never hear the end of it, after all.
"I'm um… I'm going with Dom." I devised. That sounded convincing.
"Isn't Colin coming with her? They're an item now, correct?"
"I suppose." I answered stiffly.
"And so you don't mind going off the school grounds with a couple who will most likely make you feel like a third wheel?" He asked.
"I find Colin fascinating. He has… very endearing qualities." I said simply. Of course it was a complete lie. Colin was a male pig who liked alcohol, girls and to come up with perverted jokes and then share them with Albus.
"Somehow, I don't believe you Weasley." Scorpius said in a satisfied tone.
"Well, you should because I'm telling the truth!" I said harshly. Maybe it was a bit harsher than necessary but I was tired of always being called a book worm.
"So if I asked you right now if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me you would say no because you already have set plans right?"
"Well you're not asking me right now. And if you were, I would already have plans yes."
"Rose, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" He asked in a joking tone. My heart almost stopped. Partially because he called me Rose again, which was a rare occurrence. Partially because he had just asked me on what sounded like a "date."
"Well, um…" I trailed off. I was in a slight state of shock.
"But you already have plans don't you?" He asked. He started to smile widely. It wasn't his stupid smirk again either, it was his real genuine smile that I was really starting to grow fond of.
"I suppose I can cancel with Dom. She and Colin probably want their alone time anyway." I said quickly. Was I accepting an invitation to willingly spend a day with Scorpius Malfoy outside of school?
The clock chimed nine. It had already been an hour since Scorpius and I had started "studying" and we had gotten farther in our social lives than in our potions textbooks.
"So it's set then?" He asked as he threw things haphazardly into his bag.
"Meet me by the portrait hole at eleven?" I asked. I felt like I was breaking some sort of rule that had been laid down for centuries.
"I'll be there. See you tomorrow, Weasley." He called over his shoulder as he started to leave. Scorpius used to wait for me, but I take so long packing my things up I think he prefers to get going now.
"Will do, Scorpius." I said. The name was out of my mouth before I could even think about it. He stopped in his tracks for a second, but then continued on.
As I made my way back to the common room, I was thinking about one thing only: I was going to Hogsmeade with Scorpius Malfoy.
I was concentrating so hard that I nearly ran into someone on the way through the portrait hole. Stumbling slightly I came face to face with Finley Thomas. My face burned as I thought of what Scorpius had said. Had I really been ignoring Finley at dinner?
"Er, Hi." I said.
"Hey." He replied, smiling. "I haven't seen you all night."
"Oh, I was in the library studying." With Scorpius…
"I uh… I meant to ask you something at dinner but I guess you were busy because you didn't hear me." He looked embarrassed. I instantly felt awful.
"I'm sorry. I was thinking. I had a lot of homework tonight." I blurted out.
"Yeah, um… well I was just wondering if you had any plans for Hogsmeade weekend."
Jesus Christ. How was I supposed to tell Finley I was going with Scorpius? Even in my head it sounded stupid.
"I'm sorry Finley. I've already made plans with a friend. You probably don't know him." I said awkwardly.
"Him?" Finley's face fell but only for a moment. "Oh. Alright. Who is it?"
"Just a random Slytherin, you wouldn't know him trust me." I said. "I'm really sorry again. We'll catch up another time then alright?"
He smiled. "Yeah, okay. See you later then." He ambled off in the other direction.
Just a random Slytherin. Well, it wasn't a complete lie.
A/N: So so so so so sorry for the lack of updates! I have been busy at school and after school since I'm the lead in the musical and rehearsal time and homework are demanding all of my time! Also I had a little bit of writer's block for this chapter even though I knew what it was going to be about. That's why it's rather short and I didn't edit it so if there are any mistakes I'm sincerely sorry. :) Next chapter is Hogsmeade!
~ yours in eternity :*