Rose had been dreading this moment for weeks. It seemed the more she put it off, the greater her sense of horror at what was to come. Every time she sat in the Great Hall she saw him, sitting smugly with Albus at the Slytherin table, and a swoop of apprehension consumed her at what she was being forced to do. She told herself there was plenty of time, used every excuse and procrastination technique in her repertoire to convince herself she needn't worry about it just yet, until the Head Girl, Macmillan, told her sternly that she had better get a move on, and Rose realised she would be jeopardising her own chance at a Head position by delaying it any longer. There was simply nothing to be done but swallow her pride and get it over with.

She approached the Slytherin table as inconspicuously as possible, her back ramrod straight and her vision slightly unfocused from the effort of not making eye contact with anyone. Although she had waited until the very end of breakfast to ensure a minimum audience to what she was about to do, there were still enough people present to make her cringe with embarrassment. She rarely, if ever, joined the Slytherins during meal times, despite the fact that Albus was there and it would not have been unprecedented for her to sit with him. She had just…never felt the need to associate with him in that way. They spent plenty of time together, but in the Great Hall wasn't one of them. It wasn't like any of the Slytherins wanted her at their table anyway. She could practically feel the hostility radiating from some of them as she approached.

Both Scorpius and Albus had their eyebrows raised by the time she got there. Not for the first time, Rose contemplated turning and abandoning the plan; she could always seek out Scorpius later, between classes, or after Quidditch practise, or…but no, she had chosen to get it over with now, and in front of enough people so he couldn't say or do anything to make her feel uncomfortable. It had been nearly a month since she their strange eye contact in the corridor after Charms, and although he appeared perfectly indifferent to her existence whenever she crossed him afterwards, she really didn't want to be alone with Scorpius Malfoy any more than she had to.

She gave a curt nod upon reaching their table, and the two boys cracked near identical grins. Ignoring this, Rose steeled herself and began.

"Malfoy…we, need, lessons," she choked out, enunciating each word so heavily it sounded as if she was having trouble breathing properly. Scorpius was smirking obnoxiously now, and even Albus was laughing at her. No doubt she had turned bright red. But it was too late to back out now, and if there was one thing Rose Weasley would never do, it was run away to save face.

"Oh," was all he said, and she could have cursed him for not helping her and drawing out her pain.

"Yes," she grit out. "What, time, is good?"

Scorpius cocked his head to the side, as if considering her question. Albus was snorting into his bacon and eggs. She shot him a withering look. Really, he should be more supportive of her; he was her cousin, after all. What good was family if they were just going to laugh along with the rest of them when you were in a tight spot? Maybe he was still a little angry with her about the whole summer thing.

"Well…" Scorpius drawled, and Rose's attention snapped back to him. He was looking devious, and she didn't like it. "I have Quidditch practice three nights a week, usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but sometimes more if an important match is coming up. Then I have ordinary Prefect duties on Tuesday and Thursday, including patrolling the corridors which can often last all evening and discussing petty squabbles with the younger members of my House. I have homework, socialising, girls and of course general free time to fit in on those nights as well. Saturday mornings, I sleep in; Saturday afternoons I have Quidditch practise, a Quidditch match, Hogsmeade or detention supervision. Sunday I play Wizarding Chess, tutor Slytherin third-years, write my parents, and plan schemes with Albus. So when would you suggest we have these 'lessons,' hmm?"

Rose blinked at him. He had delivered his speech in a flat, monotone voice, but his eyes were sparkling. She had no idea what to say to him, so she merely stood there for a minute, blinking. What was he trying to prove? She had a busy schedule as well, and it wasn't as if these blasted 'lessons' were even her idea. She was just as reluctant as he was!

"I – oh, just give me your timetable," she hissed at him at last. "Then I'll figure out a good time. And you don't have the right to skip, Malfoy. So just deal with it!"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Well, since you asked so nicely…"

"This isn't about asking nicely. This isn't a choice!" What part of this was he not understanding? "We've been ordered to undertake these lessons by Professor McGonagall, and so we have to find the time for them. Trust me, my schedule's much busier than yours." Okay, so maybe that was a lie, but it didn't matter anyway right? "There's no need to act as if you're the only person in this school with homework and a few extracurricular activities you know."

"Honestly Weasley, do you get this worked up about everything, or do you save your infuriating best just for me?"

Rose looked to Albus to see what he thought of Scorpius' attitude now, only to find her cousin engrossed in conversation with another Slytherin. Evidently, he had lost interest in what they were discussing. Easy for him…

"For your information, Malfoy," she said haughtily, turning back to Scorpius. "I have a reputation as a good and conscientious student to uphold, and I'd appreciate it if that wasn't sullied by your own lack of intelligence." His eyes darkened with annoyance at the low dig, but she was too angry to care. "If you can't understand why we need to have these meetings, then take it up with the Headmistress. Don't make my life difficult."

Scorpius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm making your life difficult?"

"Just give me your timetable!"

He looked amused. "I don't have one."

"What?" She stared at him blankly, processing this information. How could he not have a timetable? How could he function? Her organiser was possibly her most precious possession, after her wand. She couldn't even imagine being without it. "How…odd. Well, make one then, and send it to me. And do it quickly, otherwise we'll get in trouble for not starting quick enough, and I will tell them it was because of your disorganisation."

He glowered at her. It was quite a formidable sight and Rose was suddenly thankful to be in a room full of people. "How about you give me your timetable, and I decide on a good time for us."

It was, at face value, a reasonable request. But Rose felt strangely reluctant to show him her organiser. It was a very personal document to her, detailing where she would be when, and all the important dates of her life. However, she was almost certainly running late for class now, and couldn't really afford to stand here arguing with Scorpius much longer. She also didn't want him to think she was afraid to show him her diary. So she shoved a hand into one of her robe pockets and drew out the carefully folded piece of parchment, before thrusting it at Scorpius. He took it and perused it, grey eyes intent.

Albus turned back to them then and stood up. He grinned at Rose, and she returned the smile. Honestly, it was impossible to stay mad at Albus Potter for very long. Rose couldn't help but feel a little manipulated by his endearing personality at times, but she knew that Albus didn't really mean it. He was just a naturally charming person. He stretched luxuriously, then clapped Scorpius on the back. "We're gonna be late to class. Coming?"

Malfoy nodded once and got to his feet. He handed the timetable back to Rose, without saying anything.

"Well?" she asked when it didn't appear as if he would speak.

"Mondays, straight after class. Meet in the library." He turned to go.

"But, wait," she called out, confused. "It's…Monday today."

The grin he shot over his shoulder at her was positively wicked. "So I'll see you after class," he said, before walking away from her and out of the Great Hall. Rose stared at his retreating back, and suppressed a groan. Suddenly her day was looking a lot less appealing than it had half an hour ago.

It had been a very long day. Rose sat half slumped in a chair towards the back of the library, hidden from most of the other students by shelves of books. It hadn't started well, what with her talk with Malfoy and then running late for class because of it. Then Professor Binns, who had been substitute teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts for over a week while their usual teacher Professor Doogle was sick with Scrofungulus, had bored them all silly with a clause-by-clause recital of the unabridged Russian Werewolf Treaty of 1527. Rose refused on principle to succumb to daydreams like the rest of her classmates, but by the end of class she could see no relevance for any of it and had developed a piercing headache that persisted for the rest of the day. During lunch, she had been forced to listen in detail to Dominique's latest relationship drama, Hugo had put Weasley's Extra-Wriggly Worms in her soup, and the Head Girl had sought her out to ask if she could do an extra patrol on Tuesday night. Then in Potions, the fumes from her Black Fire potion made her eyes water until she couldn't see and her partner, Brienne Crowley, had been too busy making moony eyes at Scorpius to even pretend to help her. The only good thing about the entire day had been having a free as her last lesson of the afternoon.

Sighing, Rose allowed the pages of the book in front of her to grow blurry and unfocused. The calm and quiet of the Library never ceased to comfort her, but today she was on edge and couldn't even seem to relax enough to read. Any moment now Scorpius was going to walk in the door and then she would have to endure an hour of learning about the virtues of Slytherins. It was really quite unfair to have her sanctuary tainted with this unpleasant experience. Perhaps she would suggest another meeting place for next week…

Lost in thought, she didn't even notice Scorpius' presence until he tapped her on the shoulder from behind, causing her to jerk in fright and drop her book onto the table with a thud. He smirked, clearly satisfied with her reaction, and slid in across from her, looking as poised and perfect as ever and not at all as if he had just come from a long day of classes. Rose bit back a snarl.

"Nice of you to show up," she said snidely, though he was in fact perfectly on time. She had just been able to arrive a little early due to her free period. Whatever.

Scorpius didn't reply, instead choosing to stare at her with an expression caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation. She waited for him to speak, or at least do something, but he appeared quite content to sit there and watch her. The green of his Slytherin tie seemed to jump out at her against the grey, black and white of the rest of his uniform.

"So…" she said at last, after the silence had stretched long enough, "What's your opinion on the best way to co-ordinate these lessons? I was thinking – "

"Talk."

"What?" she stared at him for any signs of humour, but he remained straight faced.

"Talk," he repeated unhelpfully.

"Yes, ha ha, you're very funny," she replied with heavy sarcasm. "But I was thinking that – "

"No I'm serious," he interjected. "We should just talk."

Rose gave him her best glare. "Well, obviously, there will be some degree of verbal communication required for this exercise. But I was thinking along more practical lines of…" she trailed off when he leant back in his chair with a sigh, eyes rolling to the ceiling. Why that arrogant, know-it-all, no good piece of –

With a deep breath, she forced her rather partisan thoughts to the back of her mind. Now was not the time to lose her temper. Now was the time for cool, calm, and collected. Just like McGonagall said, a valuable lesson in dealing with irritating prats.

"Okay Malfoy," she said sweetly, causing him to narrow his eyes at her. "Let's follow your idea then. You can talk first."

To her surprise, he leant forward eagerly. Something about the keenness of his stare made her wary. "About last year…" he began.

Yep, wariness justified. Rose stared at him blankly, trying to ignore that her heart rate had suddenly picked up. "Umm," she looked at the desk, all of a sudden unable to meet his eyes. He had to bring this up now? She had considered that topic of conversation officially finished, if in fact it had ever existed to begin with.

"I wanted to apologise," his tone was more hesitant now. Good. "What I said was inappropriate." Rose gave a small nod; you could say that again. "But so was what you did."

"What!" she raised her head sharply and gaped at him. He was chewing on his bottom lip like he was considering something. "How dare – "

"But it's true," he said carefully, using a slow voice as though enunciating a self-evident fact to a particularly dim-witted student. "You kissed me, and you shouldn't have if you were unprepared for the consequences."

She sneered at him. "I didn't kiss you!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Dabbling in memory modification now Weasley? I'm not sure that's allowed." She gave a low growl of anger and he chuckled. "So why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Rose was glad now for her foresight in choosing one of the desks at the very back of the library, separating them from the main study area by several rows of bookshelves. She didn't want anyone overhearing this conversation.

"Kiss me."

"I was drunk!" she forced out, because clearly he was not going to drop it until she did. But he only shook his head.

"Sorry, that just doesn't cut it for me," he said. "I think you're making excuses. The alcohol just allowed you what you really wanted but didn't have the guts to do otherwise, that's all." His grey eyes were absolutely piercing hers; she could almost feel the burn of his stare.

"I…don't…how can you…that's…ugh!" she was beyond outrage at his conceit and arrogance. And how dare he put these words in her mouth and analyse her actions as if she were some transparent, vapid bimbo. "You have no idea what you're talking about," she finally managed to choke out.

"You're attracted to me, you're just afraid to admit it," he said stubbornly, but Rose pressed her lips together and looked down at the table, refusing to be drawn into any more of this ludicrous talking. They were here to promote inter-House harmony, not indulge in confessional nonsense. Besides, he was wrong, utterly, and was clearly only trying to provoke her. She didn't want to kiss him, what rot. Okay, so maybe she had enjoyed it a little, or a little more than a little, but that didn't meanshe was attracted to him for Merlin's sake! Perhaps it was all part of his scheme to have her chances for Head Girl scuttled, she thought savagely. Yes, that would suit Malfoy perfectly, if he could sabotage her prospects at success and ensure his own at the same time. Rose narrowed her eyes, forcing her thoughts in this rather more calming direction.

Scorpius sat back in his seat, perhaps sensing that he wasn't going to get anything more out of her, and Rose gave an imperceptible sigh that he finally seemed to have exhausted his enthusiasm for tormenting her. She fiddled with a page of the book she had been reading earlier, contemplating her next words carefully.

"I would really appreciate it," she said once a sufficient time of silence had passed. "If we could fulfil these lessons in an amicable and co-operative manner. I know it's difficult, but I think it would be easier for both of us if we followed instructions and didn't annoy each other…at least as little as possible. Don't you agree?"

When he didn't reply, Rose chanced a glance at him. He was looking at the table, his expression quite bored, and his eyes glazed in such a way that suggested he hadn't heard a thing she had just said.

"Okay," she tried again. "Here's what we'll do. Each of us will spend the next twenty minutes writing down the virtues of their House – so I'll do Gryffindor and you do Slytherin. And remember to include examples that illustrate your claims. Then, at the end of the lesson, we'll swap them and compare. Does that sound good?"

"Thrilling," he drawled, still focused on the table. Rose shoved a piece of parchment and her quill under his nose, as it didn't appear that he had brought his school things with him, then leant down to rummage in her bag for her own spare quill. By the time she emerged with it, Scorpius was bent over his parchment, scribbling furiously. Rose shook her head and set to her own list.

She soon discovered it was harder than she had anticipated to find concrete examples of Gryffindor virtues. Sure, there were the obvious ones, such as 'bravery', but still, beyond her own parents' adventures when they were at school, there just weren't a great deal of virtues displayed by the students of Hogwarts in day to day life. Everyone was too busy studying, she supposed, to worry about things like 'sacrifice' or 'daring.' Perhaps she was being a little harsh in judging the Slytherins…

Looking up, she saw Scorpius draw his wand and tap his parchment several times. Then he raised his head, caught her watching him and gave her such a contemptuous look that she blushed furiously and lowered her eyes again. "Done," he said, standing up and stalking off so abruptly Rose didn't have the chance to say anything before he had vanished behind a bookshelf. She sniffed, reminding herself that she had always known Scorpius Malfoy was a prat and therefore shouldn't be surprised by his prattish behaviour.

It took her a little while to realise that her own parchment was still sitting before her, having been singularly ignored by Malfoy. Well, so much for that exercise. With a sigh she rolled her 'Gryffindor Virtues' list back up and stuffed it in her backpack, then dragged Scorpius' over to her side of the table. Her mouth promptly fell open; small, animated ink figures zoomed and whizzed across the parchment, enacting some kind of scene on a continuous loop. As Rose looked more closely, she realised the miniature people represented were Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch players, and the action sequence showed a goal being scored by the Slytherins – by Albus, it seemed – while in the foreground Scorpius beat the Gryffindor Seeker and caught the Snitch, whirling round and shaking his fist triumphantly. The Gryffindor players slumped dramatically and began to sink, before they all froze, and the scene dissolved and repeated. Rose stared at it for several minutes, secretly impressed by the level of magic Scorpius had demonstrated to be able to bewitch such a complicated drawing. Even if it wasn't what he was supposed to be doing.

Rose had half rolled the drawing up when her attention was caught by a small figure in the bottom corner, hurriedly sketched as if as an afterthought. She peered at it, and felt her heart swoop uncomfortably; there was no mistaking that the figure was her. Her hair was exaggeratedly bushy, and she had a rather pointed and unattractive face, but it was her nevertheless. In contrast to the immense Quidditch scene played out above her, sketch-Rose's action was quite simple. She gathered more than a dozen thick books into her arms, so that they wobbled like a tower in front of her, then promptly fell backwards and landed on her bum, the numerous books raining on top of her and hitting her several times in the head. Unperturbed, sketch-Rose clambered to her feet, brushed herself off, and began stacking the books once more. Rose watched as if in a trance as again and again her miniature self fell backwards and was clobbered with books, unable to tear her eyes away. There was a dull throb of hurt growing in her stomach, but she grit her teeth and swallowed it down. It was only a stupid drawing, and it was only Malfoy. Who cared what that git thought anyway?

Still, it was with a considerable moistness to her eyes that she packed the remainder of her things and hurried out of the Library.