DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius or Pride and Prejudice!

Opposites Attract.

He's just awkwardly confessed his love for her. She's just turned him down. They have nothing in common … he decides to prove her wrong. :Rose/Scorpius NextGen:

Chapter 4: Opposites are … interesting.

"So he rescued a little kid," Lulu snorted in between crowd queries. "So what?"

"Lulu, all he wanted to do was get the hell out of that crowd, but instead, he chose to dive back into it to find one kid!" Rose cried. "Isn't that just a little bit spectacular?"

"Not unless the kid happened to be part dragon and Malfoy inadvertently discovered a new species or something," Lulu shrugged.

"How the hell do you come up with these things?"

"I like to think I was born with it," Lulu answered. "My mother would agree at least – signing up, yeah? Just fill out this form here," she added to the crowd member who had just approached their table.

It was nearing the end of their shift late Wednesday afternoon and Rose and Lulu were overseeing the registration tent for the Quidditch quarter-finals. Considering the popularity of the sport in basically every Wizarding community around the UK, the huge tournament held every year was basically the entire heart and soul of WAM! National as well as amateur teams got the chance to play together in the one-off event that spanned the entire week and every city location, until it got whittled down to the finals. Have you managed to wrangle together six other people who work in the same office as you? Go up against the Wimbourne Wasps! Got a family of seven siblings? Face off against the Holyhead Harpies!

Naturally, Rose's family submitted a team every year. The line-up changed every now and then (y'know, depending on who was in the country, who was pregnant, who had already had a turn, blah, blah) so this year's team was made up of James, Fred, Teddy, Lily, Auntie Ginny, Uncle Charlie and herself. They were quite wonderfully named 'Weasley and the Potters' (Rose was fairly certain the name had been Lily's doing) and they had even come so close to winning the previous year! If it hadn't been for what her family had taken to calling 'that bitch from Aberdeen' who'd thrown James off his broom, they might've. Rose found that whenever she remembered the incident, all she wanted to do was throw something.

(Although, interestingly enough, James had sought out the woman who had thrown him later that night; after getting into a screaming match that lasted an hour, Rose had noticed that they'd rather taken up snogging in front of one of the late night bonfires … turns out, they'd had a lot in common).

Just when Rose thought that WAM this year was going up in smoke, she thankfully had Quidditch to make everything better! Normally, she didn't actually play on the family team thanks to her work schedule every year. However, seeing as this year she had managed to score the entire last two days off, her family had practically insisted that she be a part of the team. Sure, it now meant that she'd probably spend the entire time 'training' with her insane family, but at least that meant two whole days of getting to actually see her various cousins and uncles and aunts, and not having to suffer through anymore forced conversations with … erm, certain individuals.

Even better, in five minutes, she would be free to roam the festival as she pleased!

Nothing was going to ruin her good mood.

"… so you're not going to mope the entire festival, right?" Albus asked. Finally back in London and late in the afternoon, her cousin had met her just as she finished her shift so that they could explore the festival together. Lulu, instead of going home like any sane person might do, appeared to be tagging along after them to apparently get 'the goss' (as she put it) about … well, Malfoy. Who else? Rose shot her cousin a look over the top of the edible firecracker she held in her hands, despite the fact that her mother so rightfully hated them. Lulu rolled her eyes.

"I'm not moping!" Rose said at once.

"Rose," Albus said. "You've barely touched your firecracker. Seriously, is Scorpius Malfoy really bothering you that much?"

"No!" she blurted out automatically. Then, when both Albus and Lulu just gave her looks that quite obviously said that they didn't believe her, Rose continued, "Fine, yes. I just … look, I don't understand him. Not at all. I thought I knew who he was, but then …"

"He's gone and shown you that he can actually be a decent person with feelings?" Lulu nodded.

"Even worse, I kind of like it!" Rose admitted.

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Lulu grinned. She reached out and grabbed Rose's hand so they could dart through the crowd together, trying to catch a sight of a juggling act up ahead. Albus huffed after them. "You have to admit, he's hot–"

"Must we really discuss the degree of Scorpius Malfoy's hotness?" Albus put in.

"Oh, hush," Lulu waved a hand at him. "It's absolutely essential!"

Albus just snorted. "Can it, Blondie."

"Lulu, at the end of the day, I don't know him," Rose cut in before Lulu could get stuck into another bickering match with her cousin. Albus and Lulu had known each other for years now, ever since Rose had introduced them at a birthday party of hers some time ago. However, they had never exactly managed to see eye to eye, which Rose took with many exasperated sighs. What was funny was that despite the animosity they saved for each other, they had at least one thing in common: Rose.

Lulu shrugged at Rose's words. "You could always get to know him?"

"Lulu, it's not that simple–"

"How the hell isn't it simple?" Lulu countered at once. She stopped in the middle of the pathway, ignoring those around them who gave indignant exclamations at getting in their way. "He likes you! You're starting to like him! Just hang out for a bit and see if it goes anywhere. For god's sake, you'd think we were living in the 1800s!"

"I never said I liked him," Rose said hastily, pulling her hand back.

"Could've fooled me," Lulu smirked.

"C'mon, Al! Back me up, here!" Rose complained.

But Albus, the traitor, just shrugged. "Blondie has a point."

"My dear Albus!" Lulu fake gasped. "You're agreeing with me?"

While Rose rolled her eyes at her cousin's snort, she found that she honestly wasn't really sure of anything anymore. Her opinion of Malfoy had been turned completely upside down in a matter of weeks and, forced to reconsider how she felt towards him, Rose wasn't sure if her mind could take any more stress. She hadn't even seen the bloke since they had worked their one shift together! Sure, she had caught glimpses of him in different cities as they worked over the week, but they had never been scheduled together since and she was thankful that her conflicted mind could have a break.

She could do with one now, actually.

"… so what's your family been doing for this year's festival?" Rose asked, leaning an elbow over Lulu's shoulder as they walked through the festival. Albus scoffed at the obvious topic change, still following, but thankfully Lulu let it go this time. "They're all back in Bath," she said as they continued through the crowd. The jugglers from before were now tossing live balls of flame into the air and Rose was fairly certain that if they hung around, they may come out with no eyebrows. "Mum and Millie got into a huge fight about who she had to stay with. Mill's all about the new boyfriend, see," Lulu added and Rose snorted. Lulu's older sister, Millie, had a new boyfriend what seemed like every month. "'course she wants to stay with him for the week, but Mum was all 'we Gardiner's have to stick together! Blood is thicker than water, Millicent!'."

"Wow," Rose said, the three of them dodging a large group of kids who came running down their path. "That impression was uncanny!"

"You think so?" Lulu grinned. "Travis reckoned so as well, but he's never met my mum, so–"

"Yes, what is the deal with you and Travis?" Rose felt thankful that it was her turn to tease. Lulu never so much as battered an eyelid when it came to this sort of thing, but Rose liked to have her fun anyway. Albus glanced over as Rose said, "I remember you at the pub just before WAM started, you flirted all night!"

"Yes, see I am not afraid of getting to know someone," Lulu pointed out.

"Please," Albus snorted. "the only thing you would have been 'getting to know' was the inside of his mouth."

Lulu glared at him from over Rose's head. "Excuse me, but we're taking it slow."

"Oh, yeah, because a display like that would be very slow–"

The tease was suddenly cut off as someone stumbled across their path, accidentally shoving Albus and crashing straight into Rose. She shrieked and nearly pitched over, her firecracker spinning out of her hand and exploding into the grass, making several other people around them scream. A hand grabbed hers and Rose was pulled back upright amidst Albus and Lulu's laughs.

"I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to–"

"It's fine, thanks for–" Rose stopped dead. Scorpius Malfoy dropped her hand almost instantly. Both took hasty steps back from each other when they both realised who they had run into.

"I …" Rose was panicking. Oh, dear lord was she panicking! There was no way out of this, was there? Her heart was leaping in her throat and Malfoy was looking just as equally terrified.

"Malfoy!"

"Rose," he said, nodding in acknowledgement.

They stood there in silence, simply staring and not knowing what to say.

"You … how're you?" Rose asked out of politeness.

"Um, good," Malfoy muttered. "… you?"

"Yes, good, good … uh …"

Their silence was overpowering. Nothing could have made Rose talk, or indeed, even think of anything else to say. Eventually, Lulu huffed in annoyance and suddenly steered Rose over to the nearest bench that lined the side of the path. Albus looked on in bemusement as the moment Rose was forced onto the wooden seat Lulu was grabbing Malfoy by the shoulders and also dumping him onto the bench next to her.

"You'll thank me later," she said. Then, she grabbed Albus' arm, and dragged him away so that they could disappear bickering into the crowd.

Rose was going to kill that girl.

For several moments, her and Malfoy's silence continued. Rose tried not to glance at him, but she found that she couldn't help it. There was a slight pink tinge to his face, although that could have been from the sun, considering that they had been working in the summer heat all week, and even now, the sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the tents of the festival. While the stalls and displays were out during the day, they were only one half of the festival. When night fell, an all-night-all-age party would rage on through bonfires and fireworks, filling the air with smoke, sweat and screaming. The dancing couldn't be called anything beyond 'jumping on the spot' and more often than not, Rose would find herself being groped by some bloke who smelled like a sewer … but it was still her favourite part.

However, now she could barely think of anything beyond this bench.

"I did not mean to hit you," Malfoy eventually said.

"I know," Rose answered, quickly.

"I was just heading to the Apparition point, only someone bumped me and–"

"Malfoy, it's fine, you don't need to explain," Rose cut in. "It's WAM, people are falling into each other all over the place."

More silence. Could this seriously get more awkward?

"… were you and your friends exploring the festival together?" Malfoy then asked.

Rose tried not to stare. Was the man actually trying to make conversation? "Yes," she answered, unable to think of a way to ignore him without being rude. "We do it every year."

"I am sorry that my running into you seems to have made your companions disappear," Malfoy added.

"It's fine," Rose answered. "I'll hunt them down later. Lulu's already at the top of my hit list, so it won't be terribly hard to kill her. I've already got a spot to dump the body!"

"Are you …" Malfoy began hesitantly. "… er, are you joking? Because I often find it hard to tell, and–"

"Oh my god, yes, Malfoy!" Rose cried. She almost wanted to laugh. "Yes, I'm joking! I promise you, as much as I may threaten to, I've never actually resorted to murder."

"I am glad."

"Yeah, me too," Rose snorted, glancing away. She was unsure why Malfoy was here, in the middle of the crowd in London when he didn't need to be, but Rose was basically unsure of everything at the moment.

"I feel bad," Malfoy then said after a pause. "that I caused Lulu and Albus to leave you behind."

"Seriously, don't worry about it."

"But I wish to repay you somehow," Malfoy insisted. She felt his gaze on her once more and she looked up straight into his eyes. They were determined, completely. "I … I was heading home at the end of my shift, but I am willing to escort you through the festival … erm, if you want …" he hastily added on the end, quickly looking away.

For a moment, Rose just stared as Malfoy paid particular interest to the ground. Half of her screamed it was a bad idea, but the other half (that sounded suspiciously like Lulu in her head) kept saying why the hell not? Sure, it would be awkward beyond belief, but Rose was going mental trying to figure Scorpius Malfoy out.

This seemed as good a time as any to do just that.

"Ok," she said.

"Really?" Malfoy said, turning to look at her with barely contained disbelief. "Don't think that you should feel obligated–"

"Malfoy!" Rose cut in before he could ramble more. "Shut up. I want to see the festival with you."

His face twitched in what might have been a smile, but it was gone before Rose could really tell. She found she was disappointed … but only for a moment, because in the next, Malfoy was standing and gesturing for her to follow him.

What had she just gotten herself into?

"… is that a marquee completely dedicated to Irish folklore?" Malfoy asked, sounding terribly confused.

Rose quirked an eyebrow at him. "Good god, have you ever even attended a WAM festival before?"

"Not beyond work, no."

She shouldn't have been surprised. Merlin knew that his wonder in everything they had come across was clue enough. But it just seemed insane that someone of her generation had grown up never attending WAM!

"Not even when you were little?" Rose asked then.

"I tend to block out those experiences," Malfoy admitted.

"Don't tell me – the traumatising event of getting lost when you were five ruined the magic?"

Malfoy shot her a look. "I hadn't expected you to remember that story."

"I don't block out horrible experiences."

"Are … are you implying that my speaking to you was horrible?"

"Oh, no …" Rose smirked as Malfoy turned his gaze away from her quickly and back to the Irish marquee. Those running the display had gone all out, decorating the interior with Irish flags and several stories of magical myths and legends. Rose had already seen several leprechauns running throughout the festival at various locations and now, she knew where they had originated from.

They had passed several live displays before Malfoy spoke. Therefore, once he did, Rose had almost forgotten what she'd said previously and what on earth he meant. Luckily, she managed to catch on after only a moment's pause,

"… you were speaking sarcastically, right?" he said, quietly. "Only, I find it rather difficult to tell when someone is teasing."

"Yes, Malfoy," Rose tried not to grin.

"In that case, I would be offended at your words."

"Only if you decide to take offence," Rose pointed out.

"Wouldn't anyone when their social skills are slandered?"

"Forgive me when I say this, but what social skills, Malfoy?" Rose said. Malfoy was silent for several moments before muttering,

"… good point," Rose supressed a snigger at that and he added, "Sometimes, I think I would like a book on how to speak normally to people. I believe it would be rather helpful."

Almost feeling like she had won that conversation, Rose turned once more to face the nearest display. A curvy woman in her thirties told a thrilling story to an enraptured crowd about an ancient Wizarding legend about Seamus the Shady, who inadvertently caused a house fire when his pet krup/ashwinder cross escaped.

"… and then FLAMES BURST TO LIFE!" the woman cried amidst shrieks and gasps.

"She is a good teller of stories," Malfoy commented.

"It's not a hard one to tell," Rose said back. "I've heard that story a hundred times, you just say it like it was. I mean, it's been written down millions of times."

"But never the same once," Malfoy put in, glancing down at her, now ignoring the woman's tale. "There has to be about ten different versions of this story."

"So?" Rose shrugged. "They all tell the same thing in the end. Seamus is legendary, after all."

"You do not believe that Seamus is real …?" Malfoy looked highly concerned at the thought and Rose frowned.

"Of course," she said at once. "You can't tell me he isn't!"

"Seamus the Shady is hardly real," Malfoy said. Rose almost thought she could detect pompous derision in his voice! "His story may have been told through any other character with a stereotypical Irish name. This story might have been called Ciarán the Conniving, Naomh the Nefarious, or Fearghus the Flighty."

"I feel like you're just trying to impress me with your randomly throwing out Irish names with perfect pronunciation," Rose pointed out.

Malfoy looked like he might respond, though how he had no idea. "I am only saying that the story was created with a specific purpose in mind," he apparently had decided to continue as if Rose hadn't said anything.

"Oh, come on," she huffed. "There's tonnes of legends about Seamus the Shady. His entire life has basically been written down. There's pictures and diary entries, you can't deny that he wasn't a real person."

Malfoy folded his arms in defence. "I concede that there may have been an authentic person whose life this story was based on," he said. "But there is no proof, certainly, of this man's ever having set a house on fire, let alone his even being a wizard."

"Who the hell needs evidence, you have a story!" Rose insisted.

"Do you truly believe this?" Malfoy huffed, which Rose found rather amusing. "Or are you trying to rile me on purpose?"

Rose actually had to turn away so he wouldn't see her smirk. "I only think, Malfoy, that if you don't open your mind to the possibility of things being true, then what kind of life are you going to live?"

"I would hope for an authentic one."

"Or perhaps a boring one," Rose pointed out. "Think of us, think of our entire culture and community! Muggles believe that wizards don't exist and look at them! They rely on electricity and cars and stuff, because none of them are willing to admit that there is a possibility for magic in their lives."

"But even if someone did believe," Malfoy argued. "There would be no point, for as a Muggle, they would be unable to perform magic."

"For god's sake, that's not the point!" Rose said.

"I fear I do not understand your point."

Rose groaned in exasperation. "Malfoy, don't you ever just wonder what our lives might have been like if some of the first humans never discovered magic?"

"I cannot say that I have."

"There we go then! If someone, whoever they might have been, hadn't been willing to explore beyond the laws they thought possible, then we wouldn't all be here today! WAM would be non-existent, not to mention pointless," Rose glanced around their crowded tent, knowing that adventures waited beyond the fabric of the marquee. "So why shouldn't we believe in impossible things?"

"Because the very notion that you are basing your argument on 'impossible things' is delusional–"

"Oi, mate!" a rather angry voice suddenly cut in across their debate. A man from the crowd in front of them had turned to shoot them both a nasty look. "You mind shutting up? And a bit of advice," he added with a roll of his eyes. "if you wanna shag that chick, I would just agree with her!" And he turned away once more with a huff of irritation.

Malfoy was staring with an expression rather akin to shock, so Rose took it upon herself to hastily grab his upper arm and steer him away. Once Malfoy got the message to move, she let go instantly, though she found herself sticking close to his side once they had reached the outside of the marquee.

"… I am sorry if that man offended you," Malfoy mumbled, staring at the grassy ground.

"He might have been a bit of a dick about it, but we were being rather rude," Rose shrugged. "It's fine. I never realised how strongly you felt about your beliefs," she added, not quite ready for their conversation to be let go of, yet. She wasn't entirely sure where her thoughts kept coming from – not once had she ever thought that she could enjoy a conversation with Scorpius Malfoy! – but she couldn't help herself. His thoughts were contradictory to hers and perhaps the fact that she could argue was why she liked it so much.

"Nor I about yours," he admitted to her. "You do not like it when people are impolite."

"Um …" It was a matter-of-fact statement that Rose didn't exactly know how to respond to. "I suppose I don't …?"

"I have noticed," Malfoy simply looked straight ahead as they began down the pathway through tents once more. "When we first … spoke," he winced slightly at the word, but she supposed he couldn't call their first main encounter 'that time I told you I loved you' without making things more awkward. "you mentioned that your first impression of me was that I was rude, condescending, arrogant and think that I am better than everyone else."

"To be fair, I think that last one is still a bit true," Rose felt like teasing was the way to go here.

Malfoy glanced at her for a second. "You mentioned rude," he pointed out. "and in your actions, I have noticed that you do a lot of things out of politeness. When I, ah, joined you at the team party a few weeks ago, you did not leave as I thought you would. If I have tried to speak to you, you have never outright ignored me, even if you did make it clear that your words were forced. In fact, I have never met someone quite so courteous before."

"Oh. Well …" Rose considered. She had never even realised. "You know, I don't think anyone has ever called me out on being polite before. But yeah, I'll admit that I don't like it when people are unnecessarily harsh. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century."

"What century would you have liked to have been born in?" Malfoy asked. Geez, he actually sounded interested! Rose wasn't entirely sure what was going on here, but perhaps it wasn't too farfetched after all that she'd been thrown into a warped, alternate reality.

"Early 19th," Rose said at once. It wasn't a new fantasy. "Regency era England always fascinated me. The elegance, the manners, hell, the dancing!"

"A time when getting married was a woman's greatest achievement," Malfoy added.

"Someone knows his British history," Rose noted, slightly confused.

"I listened during History of Magic."

"Then you would be the only person in the entire castle, I swear," Rose pointed out. "I don't know exactly how you would fire a ghost, considering not even dying could stop Professor Binns from teaching, but someone needs to figure out a way to do it."

"I found Professor Binns' classes invigorating."

"Of course you would," Rose muttered.

"I am sorry," Malfoy frowned at her words. "I did not mean to sound condescending."

"Oh …" Rose was slightly taken aback at the apology. "No … I mean, it's fine. I knew what you meant."

Malfoy looked slightly pleased at that. As they approached a gap in the crowd and pushed their way forward out near the edge of the tents, he continued, "So does that mean then that you hold a high standard for marriage like the era that you so admire?"

"Is that your weird way of asking me if I ever want to get married, Malfoy?" Rose snorted.

"Uh …"

"It's fine," she said, quickly. It was probably easy all round if she just kept answering his questions. "Sure, I've always believed in marriage. I'd love to get married one day. But I'm only doing it once, I can promise you that!"

"In today's society, that is a very bold statement," Malfoy commented. "In fact, I have an aunt who has been married and subsequently divorced three times. She is not yet fifty."

"Hey, my parents managed it!" Rose countered. "and countless other couples, too! It's not completely unheard of. Sometimes, I think that's why I like the past better than the present. Too often you hear about couples just giving up when things get hard. Back then, if there was a problem, you had to fix it, because once you were married, that was it. I mean, I know it's not completely black and white like that all the time, but you know … I suppose this is when you tell me that you believe that marriage is an archaic notion and that you don't believe in such a silly thing as matrimony?"

"You are mistaken," Malfoy said at once. "I believe that if you find a person you want to spend the rest of your life with, then why not show it? Although, I must admit, the idea of doing so in front of hundreds of people kind of makes me nervous."

"That reminds me," Rose said then, glancing around the crowd. "Why the heck are you still here, Malfoy? I know you offered to come around the festival with me, but honestly, the past forty minutes I've been half expecting you to break out in hives!"

"I will admit that the crowd is somewhat tiring," Malfoy said then, staying focused on the ground. "But I have found that your arguments have distracted me rather well. I've barely noticed anything we've seen, to be honest."

Rose considered that for a moment. He was being accommodating and putting up with so much, and Rose was simply dragging him around a place he was probably extremely uncomfortable with (not that she was forcing him, or anything, but still). Then, she remembered something from her youth that she thought might work here.

She smiled. "Hey, Malfoy, you wanna know a secret?"

His gaze pierced her. "Enlighten me."

"God, I haven't been up here since I was a kid!" Rose cried, hauling herself up excitedly onto the roof.

"Are you sure this is stable?" Malfoy asked, nervously.

"I've never been less sure of anything in my life," Rose called back to him. "That's what makes it fun!"

"I think we have very differing ideas of fun – how high up are we, exactly?"

"Let me put it this way," Rose said, noticing Malfoy's reluctance to let go of the ladder that led to the roof. "If you fell, you'd die instantly!"

"I feel like a sarcastic comment would be appropriate here," Malfoy muttered. He still refused to move, so Rose sighed and held out a hand. Malfoy only paused for a second, before taking it and letting himself being hauled onto the roof.

They were currently standing on top of one of the towers around the WAM's official Quidditch pitch stadium. The pitch wasn't exactly what you could call World Cup material. Roughly the same size as the pitch at Hogwarts and located deep in the woods of one of their many Muggle-repelling locations throughout England, it was ramshackle and hastily put together. Rose blamed the idiots down in Pitch Construction, in the Department for Magical Games and Sports. There had always been an ongoing war between the two departments every year when it came to WAM: Games and Sports always considered they should have sole control over the Quidditch aspect of the festival, while Magical Cooperation argued for the International Events side. So far, Rose's team had won, and as a result, every year, the Pitch Construction team was told to deliver a shoddy job on purpose, in hopes that Magical Cooperation would eventually get pissed off enough to just let them have it.

Honestly, the fight simply amused Rose as she didn't really care either way. Though, no doubt, Malfoy would have some judgemental opinion about it. She had almost turned to ask him, when she realised that he was yet to let go of her hand. She tugged it back hastily and he let his arm drop to his side, muttering, "Sorry."

"C'mon," Rose said quietly, gesturing to the edge of the tower. They had walked up the thousands of steps and two ladders just to get up here, so she wasn't going to waste the gorgeous view if her screaming leg muscles had anything to say about it. "It's always best right at the edge–"

"Do you have a death wish?" Malfoy practically squeaked. He'd gone remarkably pale. In fact, Rose had never heard such a scathing statement from him before.

"Don't worry, I used to do this all the time when I was a kid," Rose exclaimed, darting to the edge of the tower. There was nothing to stop her from jumping up onto the ledge before sitting down and dangling her legs over.

"Rose, I don't think – holy shit!" he cried, leaping forward when he noticed her position. Rose actually laughed as he faltered just before the ledge, apparently completely at war between the want to make sure she wasn't going to pitch over, versus the vertigo.

"You know," Rose sniggered. "I don't think I've ever heard you swear before!"

"I don't, usually," Malfoy said, still struggling, teetering back and forth on the balls of his feet. "You seem to make me want to do ridiculous things – please, Rose, you are making me increasingly nervous–"

"Look, I swear, I won't fall!" Rose promised. To reassure him, she pulled out her wand from her pocket to wave in the air. "And if I do, I'm sure I could find enough sense through my screams to cast a cushioning charm."

"That does not make me less anxious," Malfoy said, flatly.

"Sit next to me, then."

Rose could just see him biting back the retort, no way in utter effing hell; it actually made her laugh again. Eventually, Malfoy settled for a compromise of sitting on the roof with his back to the ledge that lined the tower next to where Rose was sitting. It was close enough that he could reach up and grab her, should she lose her balance, but also without the apparently nauseating view of being ten stories high.

"… you know you're missing the view, now," Rose pointed out.

"I find that I am perfectly ok with that," Malfoy said at once. Rose could only see the top of his blond head unless he turned to look up at her and currently, he was staring far away from the sights at his back. "Besides, the pitch is only full of teams practicing until the game later on. I can picture it quite easily in my head."

"But you can see the entire woods from here!" Rose tried to reason. "Hell, I think you can even see London!"

"I live in London, I do not need to see it from afar."

"We're never going to agree on this, are we?"

"I believe it would be wise if we drop the subject," Malfoy agreed and Rose reluctantly fell silent.

She wasn't entirely sure how she'd ended up here, to be perfectly honest. Hell, she'd thought that she had absolutely nothing in common with the man! And to be fair, she so far didn't, except for perhaps their mutual love of debating … but it also hadn't stopped them from talking almost constantly since Lulu had forced them onto that bench together (save for the awkward pause or two).

"So!" Rose said, since it was clear that Malfoy's nervousness and fear of heights was going to prevent him from starting any sort of conversation up here. "Aren't you going to ask me why I don't still come up here?"

"It crossed my mind," Malfoy said, still facing away from her. "though I don't want to pry."

"It's fine, Malfoy," Rose said, leaning on her hand. "My family has a Quidditch team entered in the festival every year. Whenever they would come down to practice, me and all of my cousins would explore the stands. Me and my little brother would hide up here and no one would find us."

After a moment's pause, Malfoy said, "So what changed?"

Rose shrugged with the shoulder she wasn't leaning on. "We grew up," she admitted. "Hugo and I, we have our squabbles and I guess as kids we never really got along. When we hit our teens, it got worse since I turned even more bright and bouncy than I am now, whereas Hugo decided he would be the cheeky and rebellious soul who no one understands."

"I think I remember an incident from school," Malfoy put in, then. "I believe we were in our sixth-year. Didn't your brother get suspended for stealing alcohol from Hogsmeade and selling it to under aged students?"

"Oh, yeah," Rose was hardly going to forget that anytime soon. Not only had Hugo been taken out of school, but Rose was dragged home as well, mainly as reinforcement to prevent a murder, as Hermione Weasley had nearly ripped her son's head off when she found out. "Luckily he's downplayed the theatrics since then and has therefore never been arrested yet. Well, that I know of, there might have been an incident earlier this week! But hell, he's 25-years-old and doing nothing serious with his life, so I try not to care much. I barely talk to him now, anyway. Last I heard, he was mates with a bunch of blokes with past convictions and gambling problems, which fit the descriptions of the creepers he was hanging out with a few days ago."

"That does not sound wise," Malfoy commented.

"You bet your arse it's not wise!" Rose agreed. "But I've given up trying to reason with him. He just laughs it all off, like he doesn't even care what happened to him! Now, I'm in the mind-space where he can do whatever the hell he likes. His older sister won't always be there to bail him out and he'll catch on in the end."

"Do you like being an older sister?" Malfoy asked.

She had to actually stop and think at that one. How the hell did he come up with these questions?

"Mostly," she decided on in the end. "It's hard … but there's tonnes of good memories as well. Like up here, for one thing."

"I always wished for a brother or sister," Malfoy said.

Rose snorted. "Oh, no, you don't."

"But I did," he countered. "Growing up, I was always forced to play by myself. I was home-schooled until I was old enough to attend Hogwarts and did not have many childhood friends."

"Did you have any?"

"Well, one," Malfoy answered, shortly. His tone told her instantly that the story didn't end that happily. "He was a boy my age who lived in one of the neighbouring mansions. Our parents got us together to help me interact with people. I thought we were very good friends."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Malfoy asked, shifting slightly. He was uncomfortable, but hell, that seemed to be the story of Rose's life, recently. Who the bloody hell cared?

"I can tell there's a story," Rose pointed out, looking down at his head. "C'mon, Malfoy! I told you about my crazy brother!"

"You shared that story voluntarily. I do not owe you anything."

"The hell you don't! C'mon, I tell, you tell!"

"Rose–"

"Malfoy," Rose cut in, in the same shut up and leave it alone tone.

Malfoy sighed. "We were both in Slytherin together," he began. "He made friends easily. I didn't. I got left behind."

"… is that it?" Rose asked.

"For an eleven-year-old who has a hard time talking to people he doesn't know, it was highly stressful," Malfoy practically snapped. "That boy never spoke to me again, even though I tried."

"Well, he was a dick, wasn't he?"

"I did come to that assessment myself, yes."

Rose frowned for a moment. "You know," she said, brain whirring. "I never really understood why you were put in Slytherin. I mean, I got that it's sort of in your linage, but you always struck me as the stuck up and silent type. I know your parents might have had a heart attack, but I always thought you ought to be in Ravenclaw."

"I honestly don't know where I should have gone," Malfoy said then, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Certainly not in Slytherin, I agree, but I'll admit that I was a coward. I asked for Slytherin in the end because I was afraid of where the hat would put me. You always suited Gryffindor, in my opinion."

"Oh, I dunno," Rose said. At those words, Malfoy actually turned and looked up at her. He seemed fascinated, like he was travelling 100 miles a minute in his brain to try and figure her out. "Sometimes I think the Sorting Hat did a pretty shoddy job! I mean, I'm bubbly, but not necessarily brave. I think, once it saw that I'm outgoing and a Weasley, the bloody hat just yelled out Gryffindor."

"We both got a raw deal, then."

"At least our house doesn't need to define us," Rose said then, looking straight back at him. Shifting her arm to better speak to his face, she continued, "I mean, it's not like it has any effect after school – AH!"

She cut off in a shriek as her shifting accidentally made her hand slip off the edge of the tower. Heart lurching, she cried out and prayed that her common sense wouldn't leave her as she nearly toppled out over into mid-air. However, Malfoy moved so fast, she could have sworn she saw him blur. In an instant, he threw out an arm across her middle, hauling her back onto the tower roof.

Now, instead of pitching forward, she was yanked back. She fell off the ledge and onto the rooftop with a shriek, ending with her legs still dangling over the ledge and Malfoy holding her down tightly. For several moments, she said nothing, just stared up at him as her heart slammed in her throat. Then, Malfoy hesitantly began,

"Um … are you ok?"

"I don't think I've ever seen someone move so fast!" Rose found herself gasping.

"Perhaps," Malfoy said, his voice rather tight. "you might be more inclined, now, to move away from the edge?"

Rose smirked. "If you think it will calm your racing heart," she tried to joke, especially since he still held her around the waist, holding her down. It seemed that he was reluctant to move.

That was when he gave a faint smile back and said,

"I … I never promised that."

A/N: I kind of like to think that in this story, Albus is the no-shit-taking Charlotte Lucas, and Lulu is the kinda annoying creeper, Mr Collins. :D I had a lot of fun with this chapter, and thank you so much to everyone who's been enjoying it so far!

Please, I would love to hear anything you've got to say. Reviews are the only things that let me know I'm doing an ok job, and they honestly really help me and my writing. :)

Again, thank you. I love you allllllllllll!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D