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Chapter 4: What an obliviate couldn't erase

"What a bloody dull lesson! One more minute in there and I'd have been suffocated by boredom" Al commented as they came out of History of Magic, which was their last lesson that day.

"You're more likely to strangle Professor Binns" Scorpius commented absently as he walked with his best mate. Not that said best mate did not notice that he was out of it. That he had been out of it for approaching a week now.

"What do you think, Scor?" Scorpius turned his less than attentive eyes to the crowd and replied with "Yeah, I think that's a good idea"

"So, when are you doing to do it?"

"Huh? Do what?" Scorpius blinked confusedly at him and if it hadn't been this pathetic, Albus would have laughed. As it was, he only let out a sigh before dragging his deranged, atleast temporarily, friend into an empty classroom.

"Marry the Giant Squid. When are you going to propose?" Albus replied sarcastically, leaning on the closed door so that noone would interrupt what he considered the most serious talk he was ever going to give.

"Why would I do that?" Scorpius was finally resurfacing from his non existence and Al grinned.

"Because Scor, you need to make sure you have someone willing to put up with your moping and whining. Frankly, it's tiring me out and there's no way in hell Rose would ever agree to go with you to the Christmas party if you're like this, much less be your girlfriend. Even if it was because she won the bet"

"Rose?" was all he asked before turning to stare out the single window that was at the top of the room, very much near the ceiling. Albus thought Scorpius was going to break his neck if he kept staring up at it any longer, which would technically save him from having to strangle the guy himself.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! Listen to you! 'Rose?' What's gotten into you lately? You never pay attention to anything anymore, you don't irk Rose by answering every single question before her, you won't come along with me to prank anyone, Merlin, you don't even do your Head duties anymore! What's gotten into you Scor?"

"Nothing, it's nothing big. I just have things…to think about. And sort, and…and forget. Hey do you think your cousin would agree to not having me as her date?"

"Is that what's bothering you? But I thought you guys were getting along, sort of. You even seemed to be…liking each other. As much as it goes against my cousinly duties to say so, I was kinda glad that I wouldn't have to be the middleman any longer. Are you still hung up on losing to her? I know for a fact that you aren't that sore a loser"

"Lose? Oh, the bet. No, no it doesn't bother me, much. It's no different from any other Weasley bash I've attended before. I've been to too many to be flustered"

"Then tell me Scor. Tell me why you did not want to go? Did something go wrong?"

"No, no it didn't. Nothing went wrong. I would have liked it if things had gone wrong. They just had to be bloody perfect. Rose Weasley! I mean, I go and fall for Rose fricking Weasley! I don't even like her, for heavens' sake! She is my nemesis. She irritates me to hell, how could I like her? She isn't even that good to look at! And we're supposed to be fighting not dating! We are supposed to be enemies, right Al?" Scorpius ended with a plea in his eyes and Al understood what had been bothering him all this time.

"I dunno, Scor. Whatever you said sounded more like you were angry with yourself for liking her than with her for annoying you" Al shrugged off handedly.

"But you aren't furious?" Scor looked at him disbelievingly, as if he was seeing a Centaur rather than his friend stood before him.

"I'll work up to it sometime, I guess. But for now, no. I'm just glad you told me atleast one thing that has been bothering you" Al replied knowingly. If he knew Scorpius at all, which he did unfortunately well, his reaction wasn't the only thing that would have been plaguing him.

"It's just…our families. What if…no, there are no what ifs. They surely won't approve of us going out. My Dad would rather burn in hell rather than letting me date her. I don't even want to imagine Mr Weasley's face…Why am I talking as if anything is going to come out of it anyway? Rose can barely tolerate me. She'll never like me, not in a thousand years. I think she'll laugh in my face. You know what Al, that is the one thing that terrifies me more than anything else. What if she…" Scorpius' rant was cut off by Albus' laughter. Scorpius' expression clouded with hurt as he saw his friend guffaw.

"I don't see what's so funny, Al"

"Of all…the things…you…" he took a moment to steady himself and come sit beside him on the desk, before his solemn eyes turned to Scorpius' narrowed ones. Seeing them, Albus' amusement deepened. He really had no clue. His brilliant, cunning to the point of evil friend had absolutely no idea when it came to girls. Or just one in particular.

"As I was trying to say before, of all the things you could be worried about, this was the funniest one. And the most improbable. Violating every Weasley code of honor, I'll tell you this, but if you ever hurt her,…but that's for later. I honestly don't think she'll laugh in your face or something to that effect. I mean, I have known her for almost as long as I have known myself and I have never seen her this carefree. I mean, people always expected her to be the studious, rule abiding daughter of Hermione Granger. And she was all that, but of course she had her own likes and dislikes that noone paid attention to. That's why I think she likes you, Scor. You don't care about all the things others worry about. You taught her to be a person rather than a wish fulfilling machine and she's thankful to you for that…"

"Thankful? Yeah, right. She won't even look at me. It's been almost a week since I've seen her face at all, Al. What do you gather from that?"

"And it's been almost an entire week since I have seen her smile. What do you gather from that? Frankly Scor, I'm tired of all this dancing around you two seem to be fond of doing. You guys had a bet going on, which you helped her win. Somewhere along the way, you stopped squabbling. So why can't you just accept that and move on?"

"Move on?"

"Okay, I tried to ward you off her. You can't blame me for that" he shrugged again and slumped his shoulders in pretend defeat.

"You're confusing me, Al" Scorpius' voice was genuinely annoyed but Albus smirked.

"I confuse myself sometimes" seeing Scorpius' aggravated expression, he gave up trying to fool around.

"But I will tell you this. I think you're being unnaturally stubborn and chicken"

"Stubborn? I'm not stubborn. And I'm not even going to reply to the next insult"

"It wasn't an insult Scor. But it is good that she'd every bit as stubborn as you or she'd have given up hope by now"

"Given up? I don't think there's anything to give up"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but, believe in yourself Scor. What's the worst that could happen? She'd say no? Atleast you'd have tried!'

"And how do you think I can face her after that?"

"Just the way you faced her after she blew up your cauldron in third year spraying you with the half brewed anti ageing potion" Albus stated, grinning. It was just one of the many times he had enjoyed watching them prank each other. A fun lover at heart, he had been witness to more than a few of their infamous prank wars. But of course, Rose was always a tad bit more careful and subtler than Scorpius' flamboyant ways.

"You didn't have to bring that up" Scorpius' cheeks flushed in a rare show of embarrassment but Al wasn't letting it go that easily.

"Yes I had to. And who do you think brewed you the reverse potion? She got back at you for your prank but she couldn't let you suffer like that"

"And that, in some twisted sense of reasoning, means she likes me, right?"

"Yup. But remember, Rose isn't as patient as she seems and when she's incensed, she tends to do stupid things to hurt the offender"

"Don't I know that?"

"You'd be foolish not to. You've been on the receiving end far too many times" both Albus and Scorpius jumped down from their positions on the desk. Albus was only wary while Scorpius had slipped down into full out panic mode. It did not show on his face but Rose knew to read from his eyes.

"I think I have homework to do" Al commented to noone in particular and almost raced out of the room, much to the amusement of the two left behind.

"And you… weren't you confessing to Al that you had something to tell me? Or was it ask?" she raised an eyebrow, a trick she had learnt from him as she leaned on the doorframe.

"How much did you hear?" he asked anxiously as she gave up her position by the door and walked towards him.

"Enough" she replied evasively, jumping lightly to sit on the desk beside him.

"And you aren't going to hex me into oblivion?"

"I'll get to it later. Forgot my wand behind at the classroom. I come back to get it and what do I find? You pouring your guts out to perhaps the most precarious person on the planet. I thought you had a bit of self preservation in you" she shook her head and sighed dramatically.

"He is my friend"

"He's also my cousin. And that will come before anything else. Now I can't guarantee you your safety when you come to the Burrow" she was smiling, and Scorpius considered it a good sign.

"You still want to take me along? Even after…" he waved his hands, not knowing how to express himself.

"Scorpius…" her eyes were deep and expressive, and Scorpius felt as if he understood something before they clouded over with mirth.

"I wouldn't miss the entertainment for the world" she laughed it off and Scorpius swore he could feel a weight lift off his heart.

"Now I'm afraid. If you aren't going to save me…"

"Of course I won't. It would be much too funny to watch you squirm for once without worrying about how you'll strike back"

"So you're throwing me to the sharks?" even he was smiling now and Rose was grinning almost like a Cheshire cat, with that all too familiar glint in her eyes that he had been a bit too caught up in.

"I dunno. May be I wouldn't" she offered innocently but before he could retort, "but it's going to be difficult"

"May be I could convince you?" he knew he was turning snarky but that was just how he knew to behave around her. Her eyes flitted down to his lips before she shook her head slightly, as if to clear her thoughts.

"Scorpius…. somehow, I don't think a kiss is going to make this one better" even as she said that her pulse began jogging. Her eyes closed of their own accord as his lips came down on hers in a flash of heat and passion. Of course there were the fireworks, she'd have laughed out if there hadn't been but that wasn't what surprised her. His lips were unbearably soft on her and so very tender; something she had never imagined. But it only made him that much more endearing to her and she leaned back… only to find that that wasn't the best thing to do while snogging on a table as they toppled down to the floor.

"Ow!" he had cushioned her fall and she couldn't help but giggle.

"That's what you get for trying to coerce me" she tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he held her firmly in place.

"So we're going to end up on the floor everytime I try that? Doesn't sound like too bad a deal"

"Don't get used to it. I might just hex you the next time" she replied grumpily but she couldn't seem to pull her face expression to h\match her tone.

"You surely won't hex your boyfriend?"

"I don't remember ever agreeing to that" she looked down at him thoughtfully as she stood up. It was almost comical watching his face go into shock and doubt once more and she laughed.

"It's just too easy to rile you up, Scor. Of course I'd love to be your girlfriend" her arms snaked around his neck as her forehead came to rest on his. He pecked her lips once, the stupid grin she had seen on his face a week before resurfacing.

"We should go"

"Should we? Can't we just let someone find us?" her eyes glinted with mischief as she smirked at him.

"On second thoughts, that sounds like a fantastic idea" he chuckled before leaning down to catch her lips in a kiss.

A/n: A quick update as promised. The next chapter is going to be kind of the epilogue which will be up ASAP. Hope I don't mess that one up as much as I did with this one.

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