A/N: Thanks to all who are reading and/or reviewing this story. Y'all are the BEST. And because I love you so much, here's the next chapter much more quickly than anticipated. Enjoy!

Chapter rated T+ (yes, I made up that rating, but it's just a little more than T and not quite M!) for language and mild sexual content.

Chapter 10: Our Usual Time

I was rushing down to the Great Hall so that I could shovel some food into my stomach before class. I had woken up later than usual, and I usually took forever to get ready, so I'd told Hadley and his friends to go on without me and that I would see them when I got down there.

After that, I had deliberately gone even slower than I normally did. Eating meals next to Hadley—while he ran his leg up my thigh or whispered in my ear or kissed my neck—always made me lose my appetite. I would finally be able to eat my first good meal without feeling nauseated in weeks.

I was bounding down the last flight of stairs, not really paying attention, when I saw a tall, firm figure with black hair brush past me.

It wasn't until I was almost to the Great Hall when I realized who it was. Without thinking, I whipped around angrily. I was sick of this bullshit.

"Hey!" I called. "Potter!"—putting my hands on my hips. He paused but didn't stop. I ran up to him and yanked his shoulder so that I could turn him around.

Albus stumbled off the first step that he was standing on so that he was now on the ground level with me.

"What is it?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "How long are you going to act like this?" I asked him exasperatedly.

Albus shrugged and turned away, but I grabbed him again and yanked him around by his elbow.

When he turned back, I saw anger flash in his green eyes. I then lifted and dropped my arms in defeat.

"I—I'm sorry, Albus."

"You don't have—"

"I know I don't have to apologize," I interrupted quickly. "I just…" I didn't know what to say. "I secretly still fucking despise Hadley and I'm only dating him so I can get back at him and his girlfriend and make our professor jealous." I settled for, "I'm not perfect, Al." I huffed and he just stared at me, his jaw clenched. Anger coursed through me. "I—and neither are you! You know, all those times that you and Lysander got back together…" I shook my head. "I hated it—"

"Yeah, you made your opinions known," Albus hissed.

"Yeah, I did," I growled. "Because that's what a friend does. But you know what a friend doesn't do? A friend doesn't just—fucking drop you the second you do something they don't like." Albus's angry frown relaxed a bit, but he didn't say anything.

"Don't—Albus, you're supposed to be on my side."

There was a pause. "You know what the difference is?" Albus said quietly, looking up at me with anger etched all over his face. "I didn't become the person that you became. All those times… I didn't change the way you did."

"What?"

"Yeah, Rose, you're no fucking picnic. He makes you worse."

"Albus—"

"I can't fucking do it—"

"Albus, please, listen." He closed his mouth and went back to clenching his jaw. I could tell he was withholding a lot of anger and frustration, and I understood where it was coming from. I sighed. "I need you, Al," I said to him. I was begging him. In that moment, I knew I should I have just told him what I was doing. And looking back, I honestly don't know why I didn't. But I just said, "I'm sorry about all of this, but I just… I need you to understand that I have to do this… for me… And I know it seems stupid and fucked up now, but I just need you to be there and to support me because you love me anyway."

I could see his jaw muscles working as he regarded me. After several moments, he just blinked slowly and shook his head.

"I can't, Rose," he said before turning away. "I just fucking can't."

"Come in, Ms. Weasley," Malfoy said as I opened the door to the Potions room later that evening.

My heart started pounding and my fingertips started tingling instantly. I didn't know if it was just me or if he looked exceptionally good tonight. His hair was hanging loose in front of his face, but when I walked in, he looked up and ran his fingers through it to push it back. It looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days, so he had some light stubble on the lower half of his face.

It was more than that though.

Every other time I had come to a detention with him he'd been wearing his robes still. But this time… He was wearing a light gray t-shirt, and when he wrote, I could see his chest muscles moving.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself. This was going to be a difficult detention.

I took a deep breath, pushed my thick, black framed glasses up my face, pulled my long auburn waves to the side, and sat on top of a table in the front row, swinging my legs and waiting for my punishment.

He held up a finger, and bent his head to finish what he had been doing before I came in. I watched him, and a few seconds later, he must have felt my eyes on him because he looked up at me through his eyelashes, and my heart about exploded.

I sucked in a breath of air as he laid his quill down, twisted the top back onto his pot of ink—I watched his fingers while he did it, feeling heat rush through me—and stood up—gracefully, sexily—all without taking his eyes off me. My heart was racing and my stomach was fluttering madly. I could feel all my limbs trembling slightly from the force of the adrenaline coursing through me.

He walked down off the platform that his desk was on so that he was standing a couple feet from where I was sitting on top of the table. When he was standing, I could see the rest of him. He was wearing a pair of nicely fitted dark jeans, and now that he was standing, I could see the barest outline of his abs through his t-shirt.

Christ, I thought.

"So, what will I be doing tonight?" I asked, trying to fight my voice from shaking. I could feel him. He wasn't even standing that close but the proximity alone had me nearly trembling with desire.

"What do you want to do?" he asked quietly.

I started. "I… I have a choice?"

He nodded.

He was looking at me and holding my gaze, his eyes intense and beautiful. My heart was pounding. What's going on?

I had changed out of my school things, so I was wearing a loose-fitted khaki button down and black shorts. Around my neck I wore a long gold chain with a large blue pebble hanging at the end. Albus had given it to me for Christmas last year. "Makes your eyes pop, sweetheart."

Malfoy stepped forward so that he was within arms length. He reached forward, and I swear, I could hear my heart leaping out of my chest. He grabbed the pebble and fingered it softly.

"This is pretty," he said in a low voice, sending shivers through me. He was absurdly gorgeous. It just didn't make sense for someone to be that good looking.

"Thanks," I squeaked. I cleared my throat and he smirked, still looking at the necklace. "It was a gift."

"Your boyfriend?" Malfoy asked, looking up at me. His eyes had taken on a strange heat. He looked angry, but there was also something else. I didn't know what it was, and I was afraid to speculate. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and I watched as his bicep flexed when he did so. When he pulled his hand back down, a stray piece of blonde hair fell on his forehead. I desperately wanted to reach out and touch it—touch him.

"No," I said. I was frustrated with how breathy my voice sounded. "Albus. Potter," I added. "My cousin."

Malfoy chuckled. It was a masculine sound, coming from deep in his chest—a rumble. I wanted to bite the corner of my lip, but I didn't. "There aren't many Albuses around here," he said, still playing with the stone.

Of course not, I thought to myself. Idiot.

He took another step closer, and I had to remind myself to breath. He dropped the stone and it bounced against my chest before settling back in its place.

When Malfoy's body was only about six inches from where my knees were on the table, my fingertips were tingling so badly that I balled my hands into fists in an attempt to get them to stop. I want to reach out and touch his exposed biceps—I could see the lines and veins bulging slightly and I just wanted to see how they felt under my touch. I wanted that more than anything in the world because, god, he looked so good. I had to try not to stare, but he was standing so close, and he was… fucking looking at me. Why was he looking at me like that?

"Would you like to do lines?" he asked, his voice husky. "Or something else."

He took another step forward so that the tops of his thighs would occasionally brush against my knees. I was almost panting now, and he glanced down at my mouth before looking up at me.

"Something else," I whispered.

He smiled, and my eyelids fluttered a bit. That smile. Jesus.

"Well, how are things?" he asked me. What? What things? "With school… with your boyfriend… just things," he said as if he could read my thoughts.

"Oh," I said. I had forgotten Hadley even existed. "Fine," I said. "Great."

Malfoy arched an eyebrow. "Great?"

I nodded dumbly. I didn't know what else to do. I had no idea what was happening or why, but I didn't want it to stop. I didn't want to say anything to mess it up because I knew that if he stepped back, my body would go cold and my heart would break. And I was so warm. And that felt so good. And my damn heart was already so fragile from all the ferocious beating it was doing. Malfoy didn't realize that whatever he was about to do had me hanging in the balance.

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. He reached up and began to play with a loose bit of thread on the side of my shorts. When the knuckle of his thumb brushed against my thigh, I felt like my leg would light on fire.

My chest was heaving. And he was standing so close. And god, I was so thankful that I had left the top few buttons of my khaki blouse unbuttoned. If he looked, he would see, and I wanted him to see. I wanted him to want me the way I desperately fucking wanted him. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to touch him. I wanted him to—

Malfoy's hand moved so that he could slide it up my thigh. Unconsciously, I spread my legs apart a bit, and he stepped in between them. I moved my legs so that they were hooked behind his knees so I could pull us closer together. I didn't know what I was doing really. I was just letting my body do as it pleased without thinking. He leaned forward, and I leaned back, using my hands to support me. He chuckled that sexy chuckle again and leaned forward more.

My heart was racing. I couldn't think. I could barely fucking breathe.

Breathe, Rose, I told myself. God dammit, just breathe.

Malfoy leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. Kiss me! I was screaming in my head. Fucking kiss me now! I whimpered.

And it was like that sound had set off something in him. He pulled back a bit, his eyes darkened, and then he cupped my face in his hands and crashed our lips together. I used my legs that were still hooked behind his knees to pull him closer still, and he growled as his tongue brushed against my lower lip.

I made a tiny noise of assent and then opened my mouth so he could dive in. It felt fucking incredible. I lifted my arms up to wrap around his neck so I could sink my hands into his silky hair—it felt even better than it looked—as his hands slid down to cup my arse and yank me closer.

I was now sitting on the very edge of the table, his hands on my bum and my hands in his hair as our tongues fought fiercely. I was whimpering and moaning occasionally, and when he moved one of his hands, I tried to yank it back around me. He chuckled into my mouth, reached behind himself and pulled out his wand, pointing it at the door to the classroom. I heard a faint click, but I was hardly paying attention. I just wanted to keep kissing Malfoy—forever if I could.

After the lock clicked, Malfoy maneuvered us a bit and pushed me up as he crawled onto the table. Our mouths separated for a moment and he arched an eyebrow with a smirk before diving back in and kissing me soundly. He had one leg in between my thighs, pressing against my heat, and I wondered if he could feel it—could he feel that I was ready? Because dammit I was. The sensation was unfamiliar but instinctually I knew what it meant. I knew I wanted him.

I suddenly became embarrassed and tried to close my legs and move his thigh, but he wasn't having it. He slid his hands down to the insides of my thighs and spread them apart so that he could climb in between them. He then wrapped my legs around him and thrusted forward. And that's when I felt it.

Malfoy was hard. Malfoy was hard and he wanted me, and I could feel it.

And the power rush and flood of desire I felt was like nothing I'd ever felt before.

I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist, and reached down so I could grab the hem of his shirt and pull the t-shirt over his head. He smiled just as he threw the shirt to the side and brought his hands down and clamped them around my wrists before securing my arms above my head. I squirmed a bit as he pressed into me again.

I only got a brief moment to admire Malfoy's chest and torso before he was on me again—kissing and sucking along my neck as he made the smallest thrusting movement against me.

I tried to free my hands. I just wanted to touch him. He made a clucking noise as his mouth moved down to my chest.

"Let go," I whispered hoarsely.

"Mmm," he murmured.

I whimpered when he made a particularly rough thrust.

Then suddenly I felt a rush of cold air, and I looked down and my shirt had been vanished, only to reappear in a heap on top of Malfoy's.

I looked down at him in shock. "Did you just—mmph—"

I was cut off by his mouth reattaching to mine as his thrusts picked up their pace and his kisses became more urgent and wet—god, so wet, everything was wet.

"Malf…" I tried to moan his name, but I couldn't think. His mouth moved to trail kisses along my jaw.

"Scorpius," he murmured into my neck and I shivered. "Call me Scorpius."

I shivered again as he brought his mouth back to mine and kissed me fiercely. I wanted more. These kisses were good—no, they were fucking incredible—but I wanted—needed—more.

I was writhing against him when he finally released my hands so he could yank one cup of my bra down. I gasped, and looked down to watch what he was doing. He latched his mouth onto me and sucked. I arched my back and moaned.

"More," I breathed.

He chuckled—that low, gravelly, sexy chuckle of his—and moved his mouth back a bit so he could use his tongue to flick at my nipple. I moaned louder this time.

"Scorp…" I couldn't even bring myself to finish his name. It just felt too good. My mind was a mess—an incoherent, completely turned on mess.

I moved my hands—which were still resting above my head, despite my earlier urgency to have them freed—and I reached down to fumble with the buckled of his belt. I didn't really know what I was doing. I was working on instinct. One of his free hands moved down to still me.

What? Why? I knew he wanted me. If he would just…

I tried again, and this time he moved his mouth away from my breast. I groaned at the loss of contact and the rush of cool air, making my nipple even harder.

"What?" I breathed, searching his face as he stared down at me.

Several seconds passed before he groaned, whispered a curse, and moved off of me. I pulled the cup of my bra up, but I stayed on my back on the table in my black bra and black shorts. I turned my head to look at Scorpius who was standing next to me, his bare back to me and his hands on his hips. I didn't mind this view at all. The muscles in his back were flexing slightly. God, I was dying. He was killing me.

"Shit," he murmured.

I knew what was going on. He was having another moral fucking dilemma. He realized he was fucking crazy hard for me and he had realized things were about to go farther, and now he was having an attack of conscience. What a girl.

So, before he could reject me again and make me feel like a fucking idiot for a week, I turned, hopped off the table, grabbed my shirt up and slipped it on before walking toward the door.

When I got to the door of the classroom, I turned back to find him staring at me, his shirt still off. I couldn't help but stare. It was the first time I was able to get a really good look at him—natural, lean muscle—and I wanted nothing more than to run back to him and put my mouth all over his body. I restrained myself though. I arched an eyebrow and smiled.

"Thanks for the, er, detention… Scorpius."

I had never been more proud of a goodbye in my life.

The next couple days were uneventful. I went to class, went to Quidditch practice, and pretended to be in love with my ex-boyfriend. Just a day in my life. The band hadn't been practicing at all as of late because Albus despised me, so that was absent from my life, but everything else was mundane. The only thing exciting that ever happened was catching Malfoy staring at me. When the hell was he just going to admit he wanted me and stop going through his moral qualms? When was he just going to give me another detention? It was so annoying. I knew he was my teacher and I knew that McGonagall, Ron, and Hermione would absolutely flip if they found out, but for some reason I really didn't care. Like, at all.

As the days went on, I started trying to make myself more noticeable. It was exactly what I had done to try and get Hadley to notice me months earlier. Hadley thought I was doing it for him, but little did he know that I was doing for a man I was starting to think I would never have. But I wanted him. I wanted him to notice me. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted more.

That detention had been… incredible. But it had left so much more to be desired. I wanted and needed more than that. He made me feel like I had never in my life felt before. I wanted that feeling again and again and again.

The fire started to consume me. I started to become obsessed. I would imagine scenarios in my head. He'd find me in the Quidditch locker room the way I'd found him; he'd come to my dorm when I was alone; he'd drag me into his office after class and lock the door. I was becoming distracted. Hadley didn't notice, but that was to be expected because as long as I snogged him in secret corridors, he was satisfied.

I just liked looking at Malfoy too. He was fucking gorgeous in every possible way you could think of. And he was forbidden. So goddamn forbidden but I didn't care. I was mesmerized when I stared at the way his shirt would ripple against his body when he wasn't wearing his robes. I was mesmerized by his lips when he spoke in class—those lips that had set me ablaze not so long ago. His eyes—

"Hey."

I coughed into my pumpkin juice when I looked over and saw Albus sit down next to me. I wasn't even mad that he'd interrupted my Malfoy-watching at breakfast because I was so confused that he was sitting next to me.

He dumped eggs, sausages, and biscuits onto his plate and he began to eat. I just stared at him. It had been three days since our last blowout and about a week and a half since Hadley and I had started seeing each other again—or a week and a half since Albus and I had been friends.

We sat in silence while I watched Albus eat and read the Prophet. After a while, I spoke.

"Are you talking to me again?"

Albus just shrugged. I kept watching him, waiting for him to do or say something. A few minutes passed.

"I heard you're the new Gryffindor seeker," Albus said with a glance in my direction. I studied him intently, my eyes slightly narrowed.

"Yeah."

"What made you go out for that instead of chaser?"

"Hugo," I said. "He told me to try out for it, so I did."

Albus nodded. "Well, congratulations."

"Thanks." There was a pause.

"You know you don't stand a chance against me and Slytherin, right?"

I looked at him and he glanced at me again and grinned. I smiled back.

"You're probably right," I said. "But we may give you a run for your money."

Albus chuckled. "You wish."

We fell into silence again as Albus wolfed down his food and I just continued to watch him. I was incredibly confused and wary. Why was Albus talking to me as if the past nearly two weeks hadn't happened? Was this his way of making amends? If so, what a typical male thing to do. And what a typical Potter thing to do. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

"Well, I better get going," Albus said, wiping his mouth, taking a swig of pumpkin juice, and standing up.

"Oh—okay," I said, startled.

"Me and Ly were thinking of jamming a little tonight," Albus said as he swung his bag over his shoulder. "You in?"

"Yeah, of course. What's Nate up to?"

"He'll probably be there, too. Although I might have to let him bring Luce along."

I shrugged. "It's cool."

"Cool," Albus said. He gave me a strange look that I couldn't place. "See you."

"Yeah," I said, frowning a bit. "See you."

And then he was gone. And I was left gaping after him.

Next chapter:

We'll see how Scorpius is handling all of this...