Thank you to all those who reviewed - your compliments and criticisms are much appreciated! To answer a question I got from a few folk, this is definitely not a one-shot. I have seven chapters in total that will be uploaded in due course.

Onward! ~ LouisaM

The next morning, Rose went down to breakfast feeling refreshed. Thanks to the work she and Scorpius had done together, the load had definitely diminished and she had gotten a few more hours sleep than normal.

She walked into the Great Hall, which was about two thirds full and noisy as usual. Helplessly, her eyes went to the Ravenclaw table and immediately met a pair of blue eyes that were watching her closely. She raised her hand slightly in recognition, and was rewarded immediately by a smile that made her toes curl. Feeling the tell-tale Weasley blush starting to creep up her neck, she flashed a grin back and headed over to the Gryffindor table.

"Where were you last night, missy?" said Fred Weasley, patting the seat next to him with a paternal air. "I was looking everywhere for you – I needed help with my Transfiguration assignment."

"I was studying, Fred, and you can drop that 'missy' crap – I'm two years older than you," snapped Rose. "And I'm not a bloody walking knowledge bank – go look up what you need in the Library. Hugo, stop eating sugar out of that bowl – you're not five." Her younger brother simply stuck out his sugar-encrusted tongue at her and shovelled in another spoonful. He'd definitely inherited his sweet tooth from their father.

"Well, you weren't in the Library, because I was also looking for you," piped up Albus from the space opposite her. "Were you studying in your room?"

"No, she wasn't," said Lily from the seat next to Fred. "I couldn't find her either. Where were you, Rose?"

Yes, this was exactly why she needed a private place to study. Much as she adored her family, they hounded her half to death and frankly, she was sick of it. It was definitely time to work on what Rose needed, and that did not include being a ready-made homework repository for the rest of her lazy relatives.

Ignoring them all, she piled some scrambled egg on toast and added a slice or two of bacon. Glancing up, she found Scorpius watching her from across the room and their eyes locked. He winked at her, and then looked to his left in irritation as Mark Goldstein, who was grinning broadly and also staring at Rose, elbowed him in the ribs.

"ROSE!" stage-whispered an eagle-eyed Lily. "Scorpius Malfoy is watching you! Oh Merlin, he is so hot! How can you just sit there eating like that? Where do you know him? How do ..."

James Potter stared at his baby sister in horror. "Nuh uh, Lily, you did not say that. Did you just call Malfoy hot?"

"Yes indeedy," said Lily, unperturbed and smiling evilly. "And I've got a few more words about him you might like. Sexy. Gorgeous. Sssssnoggable..." Not for the first time, Rose wondered why Lily hadn't been sorted into Slytherin.

Appalled, James clamped his hands over his ears. "La, la, la – can't hear you!" he sang loudly.

"Shut, it James. You're not my dad," said Lily, undeterred. "You're not even a halfway decent older brother. Seriously, Rose, he's still ogling you!"

"Lily," said Rose with restraint and through gritted teeth, "stop being ridiculous. Scorpius and I are in the same year and do all the same NEWT classes, so of course we know each other. And he is not ogling me. Just get on with your breakfast, will you?" She loaded her fork and took a bite of scrambled egg, fighting the temptation to look over at Ravenclaw again. And yet, some sixth sense told her that Scorpius was still watching her, and the pull to stare right back was becoming almost irresistible. If this carried on, she'd have to make sure that she ate with her back to him in future.

To keep her wayward self in check, Rose pulled her Transfiguration notes from her bag and tried to read while she ate. Not that it was easy – Lily kept badgering her about Scorpius, and Fred and James had their heads together and were cackling evilly, no doubt plotting their newest prank.

Albus leaned over and spoke quietly. "Rosie? Is there something going on with you and Malfoy? 'Cause Lily's not imagining it, he is watching you."

Rose dropped her notes on the table with an exasperated huff. "Al, do I really have to go through this with you too? Anyway, what's wrong with Scorpius?"

Albus raised one eyebrow. "Scorpius, eh?" He winced when she punched his arm, blushing furiously. "Ow, Rosie. Only kidding – there's nothing wrong with him. I actually quite like him – he's a really good Quidditch player and he's really funny when you get to know him. But if he's bothering you, I can ... er, have a word?"

"We're just study partners, OK?" confessed Rose quietly. "It makes sense, you know? We're doing the same subjects – three more than you, I might point out – and we thought it would be a good idea to pool resources."

Al regarded her with those cool green eyes, so like his father's. Uncle Harry could always see right through her, and she fervently hoped Al hadn't inherited the same talent.

"As long as it's just resources you're pooling," Al sniggered, reminding her that he was, after all, just her immature 16-year old cousin, and not the Saviour of the Wizarding World.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" snapped Rose. Taking a final gulp of her juice, and shoving her notes in her bag, she stood up.

"Going so soon? And just when the conversation was getting interesting," called Lily breezily. Unable to resist, Rose glanced over at Scorpius, only to see him getting up and hefting his bag to his shoulder. He looked straight at her, then with a tilt of his head indicated the doors.

With a huge rush of relief, Rose nodded back and then stepped over the bench, getting ready to leave.

"Ooo, that was definitely something!" squealed Lily, beside herself with excitement. "You've got a secret sign-language! What have you been doing with Scorpius Malfoy, Rose? Tell me, please, come on..."

Rose rolled her eyes and strode towards the door. Enough was enough.

Now that he had noticed her – properly – for the first time, Scorpius Malfoy was finding it very hard to stop noticing Rose Weasley. She'd always been attractive – well, once she'd grown out of that gawky gangliness in second year. Being so tall, it had been an awkward phase for her, but once she'd filled out a bit (or a lot, and in all the right places) and grown her curly red hair long, she was easily one of the prettiest girls in the school.

Like many of his more vocal house-mates, Scorpius himself had been appreciative of these changes, but had always stayed away. His father had warned him before his first year that he might not get too warm a welcome from the Potter-Weasley clan, and although they'd never given him a tough time, he'd made it his business not to give them a reason to.

Frankly, girls scared the holy crap out of him. He wasn't completely oblivious of the strange impact he seemed to have on them, but he certainly couldn't understand it. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw an average-looking bloke, with most of his father's features and his mother's eyes, and a dimple in his cheek that was all his own. Sure, he wasn't a troll, but he wasn't a stud either. Why some of the crazy girls in this school chose to follow him around was a total mystery to him. Any time he'd ever tried to speak to any of them, they had dissolved into giggles ... And he'd rather face a family of Acromantula than talk to a giggly girl.

Rose, it had transpired the previous night, was completely different. He supposed it was as a result of being surrounded by hordes of male relatives, or possibly that she didn't think he was attractive (which was more likely), but she treated him completely normally. It was a like breath of fresh air.

He watched covertly now as Rose flicked her red ponytail over one shoulder and frowned in concentration at the notes she was reading, and he groaned to himself. He'd read somewhere that on average, teenage boys had a sexual thought every fifty seconds, and today he wondered who the slacker was who was skewing the results. After parting from Rose the previous night, he'd gone to bed and had an incredibly vivid dream involving a desk in the Restricted Section, a tub of whipped cream, and Rose – wearing only her Gryffindor tie, a seductive vanilla perfume and a sexy smile. The lengthy and freezing shower he'd taken when he woke up had solved some issues (and possibly given him frostbite on his nether bits), but the problem had only returned the minute he saw her walk into the dining hall at breakfast.

Without her realising it, Scorpius had watched her carefully last night while they were studying in the Room of Requirement. He found that her features were even, with a small uptilted nose and determined chin, clear blue eyes that were highlighted with thick dark lashes, and a sprinkling of light freckles across her nose. Her hair was fantastic – curly and long, it was caught up into a messy ponytail that lay down her back in a barely-controlled wave of dark red.

Her mannerisms had him captivated, and watching her all day in class had made him notice a few more. Rose was nothing if not completely passionate about everything she did, and her eyes would light up in a fire of enthusiasm that made her glow. She was feisty and could swear like an Auror (he had been both shocked and impressed by the string of four-letter words he heard her mutter under her breath when she dropped her full book bag on her foot), but could be completely ladylike at the same time. The way she frowned slightly and nibbled on her full, pink lower lip when concentrating was completely distracting, and Scorpius knew he was going to have to double-time it to take down notes in class because he was watching her instead of writing.

And yet, he found her easy to talk to, the first girl that he'd been able to laugh and joke with without feeling like a fool. He was determined not to screw this up by being a hormonal arsehole. Scorpius found that apart from admiring her mad brainiac skills, he genuinely liked her. She'd been really friendly towards him, and he was going to replay that kindness by not trying to grab her at the first opportunity.

Scorpius should have taken Divination, because if he had, he would foreseen a lot more cold showers in his very near future.

Hogwarts was a stinking cauldron of gossip and innuendo, Rose thought viciously as she stomped into her room after dinner that night. Just because she and Scorpius had walked to a few classes together, people were now whispering about them whenever they were seen together.

Rose flopped onto her bed and stared grimly at the ceiling, arms behind her head. Just fan-bloody-tastic. Next thing, there would be an "anonymous tip" to the Daily Prophet that she and the Malfoy boy were caught having deviant sex in a broom closet, and the Howlers from her parents would be on their way in squadrons.

The door flew open with a bang and Beth Macmillan bounced in. She and Rose had been best friends since their first year when they had bonded over a mutual lack of Valentine's Cards on that particular fourteenth of February, and comforted themselves by sharing a deluxe slab of Honeydukes Best.

"I am going to kill you, Rose Weasley!" she announced dramatically, flinging herself across the foot of Rose's bed and pushing her blonde curls out of her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you've been shagging Scorpius Malfoy in the Quidditch locker rooms? The whole school is buzzing about it, and why am I the last to know?"

Rose shot up indignantly. "Oh, Avada me now, won't you? Beth, don't tell me you actually believe this garbage? You know if I was even snogging anyone you'd be the first to know and anyway..."

Beth burst out laughing. "Relax, Rose, I know you're not shagging Malfoy, for Merlin's sake," she giggled. "I mean seriously, you've never exchanged more than two words with him your whole life." She sat up and looked at Rose, who had gone very quiet and was studying her fingernails with more interest than they deserved. "Or have you? Rosie... what's going on here?"

Looking up at her friend, Rose started talking in a rush. "It's not what you think, we're just friends, we bumped into each other last night and decided to become study partners and that's all there is to it..." Deep breath.

"Oh yes, so if that's all there is to it, why are you so embarrassed by all this? Because honestly, Rosie, if you did snog him I'd be so proud of you – that boy is completely and utterly beautiful and most of the female population of this school wants to have a go-round with him!"

"I know what he looks like, Beth, I'd have to be dead not to notice! But seriously, we're just study partners. And anyway, there's this weird, bad blood between our families, so I'm not even sure how my parents are going to take this if they find out."

Beth rolled over and look at Rose shrewdly. "You like him," she stated baldly.

"Of course I like him, he's actually a really nice guy."

"Hot, too."

"Mmhmm... no wait, you're trying to put words in my mouth! Honestly, Beth, you were Sorted into the wrong house." Rose dropped back onto the bed and pulled a pillow over her face.

"That's enough about me ... your life is far more interesting!" Beth laughed.

Rose removed the pillow and sat up. "What's everyone saying, then?" she said curiously.

"Well, for starters, you need to understand the context, " said Beth coyly. She was currently doing Muggle Literature in Muggle Studies and was using every opportunity to toss in some terms she was learning. "You two have barely acknowledged each other for over five years, and now suddenly you're all cosy? It's very Romeo and Juliet, you know – soooo romantic! So yes, everyone has noticed that you're suddenly talking, and walking together, and I for one have definitely noticed that he watches you ALL THE TIME, Rose!"

"Overactive imagination, Beth, that's what you've got," spluttered Rose, when she'd found her voice after a violent coughing spell. "He is not watching me. Have you been talking to Lily?"

"Uh, huh. That's why he didn't take his eyes of you once during lunch today, and he actually shifted seats down the Ravenclaw table so he could get an clear view of you during dinner!"

Rose closed her eyes and groaned, pressing her hands to her hot forehead. She might have guessed that things would go this way if she started talking to Scorpius, but if even her best friend was all caught up in this crap, she was going to have a rough road ahead.

"I must say, it's nice to see him finally interested in someone," continued Beth, ignoring Rose's scoffing. "I thought he might be gay, the way he only hangs around the guys on his Quidditch team."

Infectious laughter bubbled up out of Rose, and within seconds Beth was laughing too. "Trust me, he's not gay," managed Rose. "He's just seriously shy – no, honestly, Beth, stop laughing!"

"It's just that I don't get how a boy who looks like that doesn't take advantage of all the queuing girls," said Beth, wiping her eyes. "Hell, I'm in that queue myself. Ironic, isn't it – the only girl who hasn't been panting after him for all these years is the one that ends up -" she made quotation marks with her fingers "- studying with him."

Rose shook her head, and got to her feet, reaching for her cloak. "You're hopeless," she said. "I was counting on you to be sensible, but clearly that's not the case. I'm off – I've got patrol tonight. What a pity, too ... I was looking forward to a session of good, hard studying with Scorpius." And with that, she winked at her friend and waltzed out the door. Beth watched her go, mouth open.

Rose 1, Beth 0. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.