Author's Note: A bit late, whoops. Real life and all that. Still going to try for weekly updates, though. Thanks to all supporters; hope y'all enjoy this installment! Still unbeta'd, so apologies for any and all mistakes. :) Cheers!
Disclaimer: Characters mentioned are used without permission and are trademarks of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Studios, while Drive Me Crazy is property of 20th Century Fox. I do not own them and am simply borrowing for my purposes. Please don't sue!

How to Deal
by Bether

Chapter 3: Fair is Fair

The nice thing about fake dating Scorpius was that, once the initial shockwaves were sent out, things went back to just the way Rose liked them. There were no more pitying glances, no more incessant sympathy, no more interruptions to her other, far more important tasks. It was lovely.

So she had to spend a little more time with the heir to the Malfoy name, so what? It really wasn't all that bad. They studied together and, though she loathed admitting it, she'd gotten his help more than once in both Potions and Arithmacy. She'd sat with him at the first Quiddich match of the season—Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw—and even watched him practice a few times. (He was one of his team's chasers.)

All in all, things ran rather smoothly for them—until halfway through October. They were sitting in the library reading their transfiguration texts when Scorpius suddenly threw his quill down. The motion drew the eyes of several other students nearby but, thankfully, not the attention of the absentminded but strict librarian.

Rose placed her own quill down more gently and turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Something bothering you?" she whispered sarcastically.

Arms crossed and a petulant scowl on his face, Scorpius was the picture of spoiled. It was not a look that suited him. "We've been at this for over a month and for what? Nothing's happened," he all but whined.

Rose blinked. "Okay…"

"You got what you wanted," he continued pointedly. "When am I going to see any results?"

Despite her inclination to argue, she took a moment to consider this. "You're right," she said decisively. Fair was fair, after all.

It was Scorpius's turn to look surprised. "I am?"

She shot him an, 'are you for real?' look. "Yes. There's a Hogsmade trip this weekend—how about we go together? We can make sure Abigail sees us and use the opportunity to push her buttons."

"Okay." He was clearly still stunned. "Okay, good." He shook his head as if to clear it, then looked at her for a long moment. "You know, you would've made a good Slytherin, Rose."

She smothered a snort; she could only imagine how her family would've reacted to that. "Thanks… I think."

Now Scorpius smirked. "It's a good thing," he assured her. "Trust me."

She stretched her arms up over her head and nudged his shoulder before picking up her quill again. "Okay. Ready to get back to it?" No matter how hard she wished, her essays just would not write themselves.

"Yeah, yeah." He was still smirking. "You're such a slave driver."

Rose stuck her tongue out at him.

If there was one thing about Hogsmade that Rose didn't like, it was the weather. After all, they were still in Scotland. And Scotland was cold. She rubbed her hands together for the millionth time and tugged her scarf tighter.

Scorpius put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She could feel his warm breath on her ear and the whole thing might've been incredibly sweet if he hadn't spoken. "Your lips are turning blue," he told her, in a low teasing tone.

Rose smacked his shoulder but didn't pull away. She wasn't about to turn away a warm body, especially one that was partially shielding her from cold winds. "Play nice or I won't tell you which shop Abigail just entered."

"I know it was the Three Broomsticks," he replied with haughty condescension. "That's where the girls always start their trips to town."

Rose hmmphed. "Spoilsport." She might've commented more but keeping her human shield close was more important just then.

A minute later and the pair were welcomed into the Three Broomsticks by a rush of overwarm air. They took a couple minutes to unwind themselves from their various pieces of outerwear. Once they were sorted, Rose and Scorpius clasped hands and headed off in search of familiar faces.

It didn't take long for them to spot Abigail's friends Dahlia Pucey and Aurelia Zabini, though the girl they were most interested in was apparently nowhere to be found. At the moment Dahlia and Aurelia were chatting casually with Clinton and Miles.

It was Miles who spotted the pair of newcomers first. "Greetings, milady!" he called to Rose with an enthusiastic wave.

Giggling (he was so absurd—it was kind of adorable), she waved back. "'Lo, Miles. Enjoying your trip to town?"

"Verily!" he cried with a wink.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and gestured to the girls. "Rose, you know Dahlia and Aurelia, right?"

The younger girls plastered matching poisonous smiles on their faces. "You gave us detention last year for violating curfew," Dahlia said, somehow managing to look down her nose at Rose despite being a good half foot shorter.

"Charmed, I'm sure," Rose replied dryly.

That was when Miles decided to play knight in shining armor. "Fancy a quick game of Gobstones, Rose? There's a Snake Pit board behind the bar."

She cast a quick glance at Scorpius who nodded his okay. Smiling, she gave his hand a squeeze before taking Mile's arm. "Sure! Prepare to be schooled, Bulstrode-Bole."

"You can try, Weasley," he shot back as he led her away.

Shaking his head, Clinton was smiling. "He's about to fall in love," he told Scorpius with an amused shake of his head.

The other boy watched them for a moment before shrugging. "Who could blame him?" He turned back to the girls whose expressions had morphed into full-on scowls. "Where's Abby at?"

They exchanged a glance. "She ran to the bar to get a drink," Aurelia said. "Something must have… delayed her."

It was the way she emphasized the word delay that set off the alarm bells in Scorpius's mind. "Right." Giving the trio a nod, he slid away from the table and headed toward the crowd around the bar. There were only two bartenders working that afternoon and they both looked rather harried by the number of customers. (Apparently the cool weather had brought more folk in than they'd originally expected.)

Despite his height, Scorpius couldn't spot Abby. He scanned the mob as he waited his turn. Just as he was about to step up to the bar, the wide bloke in front of him stepped aside and there she was. She was holding a butterbeer and the sod with his arm around her had a firewiskey in his hand. Worse, it wasn't just any sod—it was the bloke she'd raved about incessantly over summer hols. It was all Scorpius could do to not punch him then and there. For swiping his girl, for flaunting the fact in front of him, for having no idea he'd done it.

"Scorpius, hi," Abby greeted, visibly uncomfortable but making no moves to push away from the man currently nuzzling her neck.

Fuck, how old was he anyway? Bastard looked at least twenty-one and too damn old to be dating an underage girl regardless. "Hey, mate," the jerk added with a friendly, if somewhat distracted, nod.

Suddenly, Rose swooped in. "There you are," she said, shoving her way between him and the couple he was trying to kill with his eyes. "I was looking all over for you." Without missing a beat, she stood on her tip-toes and pulled the back of his head down to kiss him squarely on the lips.

Rose Weasley. Rose Weasley was kissing him.

Considering they were fake dating, it shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. Luckily his body was already responding; he bent down and pulled her closer as his brain tried to process. His mind was strangely blank when they finally pulled apart but Rose was already in motion.

She grinned and turned away from Scorpius just enough to catch Abigail's eye. There was a satisfied expression on her face as she wiped her bottom lip. "Oh, hi. Abigail, right?"

The expression on Abby's face was positively lethal. "Get a bloody room," she growled, dragging her friend with her as she stalked off.

Waiting until she was out of range, Rose gave an excited squeal. "Oh, did you see that?" she hissed. "She's positively seething. A girl who is over someone does not seethe."

The pair exchanged grins and Scorpius slung an arm around her shoulders happily. "How 'bout a butterbeer to celebrate?" he suggested, waving at the bartender again.

"Cheers," Rose agreed.