A/N at the bottom again.

Thanks so much to my beta, m0rganosity for making sure I don't sound (and spell) like a complete idiot.

Chapter 9

A Date to Remember

"You need to learn to be more careful," I scoffed as I took another swipe at the bloody cut on his cheek. Scorpius simply smiled in return, silently allowing me to clean the blood off his face and arm. Despite the fact that he had taken a pretty hard tumble, and seem to be the hospital wing's advocate when I was the one who needed it, he refused to go see the nurse. I had tried my best to get him to go, warning and threatening as only a Weasley could, but nothing seemed to change his mind.

I had had to give up. It was Friday night and Scorp and I had duty to attend to. Not that we were really doing any of our duties at that moment. We had ducked into an empty class under the disguise of checking for snogging students. Malfoy was seated on one of the desks and I was fixing him as best as I could with the first-aid kid I had grabbed out of my trunk after the match.

It wasn't that bad, all things considering. The wounds he had sustained were shallow cuts that could easily have been healed by the nurse, but Scorp wouldn't be persuaded.

"If only I had a Hello Kitty plaster," I teased as I dabbed at the wound again. He looked at me blankly, obviously clueless about what I was talking about. I reached for a clear plaster. "Not a complete idiot when it comes to the muggle world, eh?" I mocked, repeating the words he had used earlier that day in the Great Hall before sticking the plaster over the largest cut on his arm.

"I'm not sure knowing what something called 'Hello Kitty' is makes you an expert in all things muggle," He countered, lifting his arm to examine the sticky thing now glued onto his arm. "How exactly does this thing help?"

"It doesn't," I turned to put everything back in the first-aid kit. I froze half-way through as I felt his arms slide around my waist.

"Then why exactly did we have to go through that entire process."

"Cause it was fun torturing you." I tried to twist out of his hold, but he held firm, determined to keep me in place.

"Why Rose Weasley, is that an evil side I detect?"

"Maybe just a lil' bit," It was fun teasing him, even if it was strange feeling his arms around me. Good strange. New strange.

"Oh no, much more than just a little bit," He spun me around to face him, his hands keeping a firm hold on my hips as he started lowering his head.

I stopped him by clasping my hand over his mouth. "Scorpius, we're on duty. We're supposed to be patrolling the halls not…" I paused, unable to come up with the right words. Which was kind of rare for me if I was truly being honest. I liked being in control – heck, normally I fought tooth and nail for it – but the more time I was spending with Malfoy, the less control I felt I had.

"Making out like hormone crazed teenagers?" His playful words snapped me back to attention.

"Don't you dare," My voice was more of a whisper than a threat, my bark worse than my bite. And the annoying git knew it.

"Don't I get to say thanks?" He stole a quick kiss before I could protest.

"Why not just say thanks like a normal person?" I tried to contact sarcastic, always in control Rose, but she appeared to be taking an extended vacation. Darn her and her bad timing!

"Cause it's more fun torturing you,"

I rolled my eyes, well aware that he was throwing my words back at me. He stole another kiss, this time lingering a little. Just to torture me I was sure. And torture me it did.

"You have five minutes," I warned before throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him down for a proper snog. I ignored the part of my mind reminding me that this was Malfoy, that all of this was just me helping him escape from over eager females and that I shouldn't be falling for a guy like this. Not that I was falling for him. There was no way I would ever fall in love with a guy like Malfoy. Ever.

He didn't even put up a hint of resistance, one hand cupping my chin while the other dove into my hair. I couldn't exactly blame him, my hands were already twisted in his blond locks after all, but I knew I was going to look a bit like a windswept hairball by the time we left the classroom.

"Aren't we suppose to be stopping people from doing this," I managed to get out as we came up for air.

"Suddenly feeling sympathy for them?" He captured my lips in another searing kiss, making my mind go blank. He hadn't really wanted an answer anyway. I allowed my hands to explore, sliding through his hair down to his face. How had I never realized his hair was so soft? He's a guy, was it suppose to feel like all those darn shampoo commercials claimed it should?

My fingertips found the small cut I'd tended minutes earlier and I felt him flinch ever so slightly. With reluctance I pulled away.

"Duty," I reminded him. We were prefects for a reason and even if our job wasn't the most exciting thing to do, we were obliged to do it. Plus, loath as I was to admit it, things with Scorpius were going just a little too fast for comfort. Days earlier I wouldn't gladly beaten him to death with a stick – preferable his broom – and now, here I was, snogging him in an empty classroom. Dad was going to love this.

He let out a reluctant groan, stole one more kiss, and pulled back. "Fine. If we have to be all responsible,"

"Sorry Scorp, we do." I playfully pushed him in the chest, making him stumble backwards slightly, before I grabbed the first-aid kit and practically stormed out the classroom. It wasn't going to take much for me to change my mind and stay, so I made sure to get out of there before Scorpius figured it out. He caught up quickly, his long stride letting him cover ground much more efficiently than mine.

"I still think it's not fair," he murmured as we crossed the deserted hallway.

"What, that I choose to do duty rather than snog you to death?"

"No, but that's pretty unfair too." He grinned as I stuck my tongue out at him. "Keep guessing Weasley,"

"Okay, what about the fact that they're making us do duty on a Friday night?"

"Annoying, true, but still not what I'm referring too."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay Malfoy, how bout we do this? You wait here and I'll go fetch my mind reading device. No wait – you men all think about one thing, and one thing only. And frankly I really don't have any desire to hear that word repeated over and over again. So on second thought, why don't you just tell me what you're thinking before I knee you where it hurts most?"

"Well, since you're so persistent." He took a deep breath. "Sex sex sex sex sex." I was close enough to try and elbow him in the stomach, but he quickly dodged out of the way. "Oh Rose, you shouldn't make it so easy for me." Whether he was referring to my response or the bright red blush that had settled across my face, I wasn't all that sure. So instead I practically started stampeding down the corridor to the stairs. He finally caught up with me when I reached the stairs. "Aren't you interested in hearing what I think is unfair?"

"No," I was dying of curiosity, and the git knew it.

"If you say pretty please I might tell you,"

"Don't care."

"Not even a teeny bit?"

"No,"

"Come on love, I know you better than that," I froze at the name, never having been called love by anyone before. It felt weird, in sort of a nice way. I blocked my mind from overanalyzing the word and running away with ideas it had no right to.

I sighed in defeat and slowly turned. As expected, his triumphant grin was in place. "Fine, I'll bite. Oh Scorpius, what could ever annoy you and your brilliant mind? I am unworthy of hearing your answer but please, oh great one, won't you tell me?"

The smile instantly vanished. "I'm not all that sure I want to tell you if that's going to be your response."

"Take it or leave it, you're not getting another one. Besides, I know you're going to tell me anyway. I may be far too curious for my own good, but you're not much better. Keeping that knowledge inside you is going to slowly eat at you, slowly, slowly, until you need to tell me so badly that if you don't you'll burst!"

His expression was completely unimpressed. "Really, that's the best you can do? That may work with Anne love, but I don't crack that easily."

There was the new nickname again. So the first time hadn't just been a slip of tongue. I refused to accept that I kind of liked it.

He strode past me looking nonchalant. "Well, if you're not interested I'll just keep it to myself." He took the lead, heading off towards another deserted hallway.

Darn my flippen curiosity. I had to – no, I needed to know what he'd been going to say. I didn't even think about what I was doing. I simply took off at a run and pounced onto his back, virtually shouting, "Tell me, tell me, tell me," while pretending to try and throttle him.

I must have been deemed harmless because he helpfully caught my legs hanging at his sides and held onto them so I wouldn't slide off his back. He took a few steps before suddenly ducking forward, forcing me to wrap my arms around his neck and shoulders and hang on for dear life.

"You never learn, do you Rose," he told me as he straightened. "You can never outsmart a Malfoy. We are more devious than you'll ever be."

"And you moan like little girls when you're punched in the gut,"

I felt him wince. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"Nope. You're going have to spend the remainder of your days slaving to my every whim and begging on your hands and knees for my forgiveness." I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before sliding down his back. His hands followed me, making sure I was safely on my feet before he let go. He knew me well enough by now to know that I was just clumsy enough to fall down and land on my ass.

"Shall I shine your shoes while I'm down there?" At least I had gotten him back to playful mode.

I looked down at my shoes, tilting them slightly as I pretended to examine them. "You know, you may as well."

He opened his mouth, most likely to continue our round of verbal sparing when a loud giggle suddenly echoed through the hallway. We both froze in place, waiting for the sound to repeat itself. It did, this time obviously coming from a nearby classroom. I winched at the sound, my mood more than spoiled by the interruption.

"This is so wrong," I groaned as I realized what we were going to have to do. "Doesn't a feel a little hypocritical to you too? I mean after…" I couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.

Malfoy didn't seem to have the same problem. "After we pretty much did the same thing just now? Not really. Come on Rosie, you love busting snogging students. Don't you remember how much fun you use to have?"

"That's cause I was busting your chops, not cause I discovered snogging students. How was it you always managed to temp a new girl into breaking the rules with you?"

His smile was dangerous to any female's health. He moved so he was standing right in front of me, leaning forwards so his face was mere inches away from mine. I could feel his breath on my cheek as he murmured, "It must be a gift, love,"

I felt my cheeks turn tomato red at the realization that I had kind of been one of those girls. I frowned, placed both hands on his chest and shoved him away before rushing to the classroom door.

I threw the door open, perhaps a little harder than necessary – oops – and encountered exactly what I had been expecting. This I could deal with without feeling like an incompetent fool. This was what I'd been doing since I was old enough to order Hugo around. I puffed myself up, prefect Rose taking her place.

"Excuse me," It didn't sound like a question. It wasn't supposed to. Neither was I asking to be excused, I was asking what the hell the two of them were doing. And they knew it.

Five minutes and two detentions later I was back on patrol. Scorpius was surprisingly quiet as I mentally gloated on a job well done. I knew James always liked goading me about my rule following ways, but really, it was just the fun of scaring the hell out of people that made it all worth the while. I was just glad it wasn't Mr. Potter himself in that classroom. It had happened before and I really didn't want to relive the experience.

"You know," Scorp sounded thoughtful as he followed me, "You can be damn scary sometimes."

I grinned. "Oh, I know. I get it from my mom. You should see her in action. One word: terrifying."

"I'll take your word for it."

We walked in silence for a minute or so before I realized he had never finished his earlier sentence. "You know, you never did tell me what you think is unfair."

"That's cause you kept interrupting me." I glared at him but it had little effect. "But, since I'm feeling so charitable tonight, I'll tell you,"

"Lucky me." The reaction was automatic, despite my curiosity.

"I'm going to ignore that. I was going to say that it's unfair that we have to spend the night doing duty," he put one arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, "when I could be celebrating an absolutely marvelous Quidditch win with my girl,"

I ignored his boasting, focusing instead on how sweet – some of – the sentence was. Celebrating with his girl. I looked up at him, temporarily forgetting that it was all a sham, letting the joy of feeling special wash over me.

I should have reminded him I wasn't his girl. I didn't.

"There's always tomorrow," I reminded him instead.

"That there is love," he agreed.

By the time duty was done I was more than exhausted. The long and exciting day had managed to catch up with me and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for a year. Scorpius didn't look any better, his eyelids drooping every now and then even as he walked. How he stayed upright Merlin alone knew. I had to stop myself from cheering out loud when duty finally came to an end.

"Come, I'll walk you back to your dorm," His voice was sleepy but firm.

I was half amused at his show of chivalry. "Scorpius, you can barely stay awake, never mind walk all the way to the Gryffindor common room then back down to the dungeons. Go sleep, I'll be fine."

He was going to argue – he always chose to argue – but stopped himself when a girl suddenly appeared in the hallway. "It's past curfew!" he called instead.

The girl shuffled forward, looking at us – or more specifically Scorpius – with terrified eyes. I recognized her as a fifth year Hufflepuff student. Her stick straight blond hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, her thick round glassing making her look like what I would normally refer to as a nerd. Hypocritical I know, but there simply wasn't another way to describe it. She wasn't anything extraordinary, more one of those who tended to blend into the background, but I knew she wasn't a rule breaker. It was beyond strange seeing her breaking a rule as important as curfew. She was still dressed in her school robes so the trip obviously wasn't unplanned. In her hands she clutched a small box. I couldn't see what it was, but it looked a little bit like some sort of gift.

"I – I'm sorry. I just quickly needed to speak with you, M-Malfoy," she stuttered slightly, sounding scared stiff.

I smiled kindly at her, hoping it would calm her nerves. I knew how scary it could be speaking to someone who exerted as much authority as Scorpius. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park, especially if you couldn't tell when he chose that day to be big-headed. Today thankfully wasn't one of those days.

I turned back to him. "Like I said, I'll be fine. When and where do I get you tomorrow?" We never did discuss just where this 'fake date' was going to take place.

He thought for a second. "How about I get you ten-thirty at Madam Puddifoot's? There's something I need to do before hand so I won't be able to walk you there."

I ignored the memory of Uncle Harry's dislike for the place as Scorpius mentioned the tea shop's name. It wasn't a place for disastrous dates like he swore, I reminded myself. Just because his date had gone down the toilet didn't mean everyone's would. "Sure, that sounds fine. I'll walk with Al or James. Anne will probably be to busy hanging onto Jack's arm."

Scorp shook his head, amusement clear in his eyes. "You're never going to let that one go, are you?"

"Nope," I winked before happily making my way back to the common room, all thoughts of Scorp and the scared looking Hufflepuff instantly escaping to be replaced by a clear image of my bed.

How I got up the next morning I wasn't all that sure. Late night duty and an early morning didn't bode all that well for a sleep dependent witch like me. Weekends were normally spend catching up on lost sleep – even if that wasn't technically possible – and the fact that everyone around me were buzzing in excitement about spending the day in Hogsmeade wasn't making it any better. I was thoroughly tempted to pull a Marilyn Green and toss a shoe at those making the noise, but knowing how bad my aim was enough to discourage me. I would only end up making things worse in typical Rose fashion. Merlin knew I'd end up actually hitting someone in the head instead of strategically missing. I let out a mix between a moan and a sigh and forced myself to face the day.

Not that that seem to help.

I practically had to roll myself out of bed, my torso refusing to snap into a sitting position, before I dragged my weary body to the bathroom for a nice hot shower. I ended up hogging the hot water a little longer than technically necessary – and causing one hell of a line in the process – but it was exactly what I needed. Even if the glares that followed me out the bathroom weren't.

For once in my life I was extra careful with what I wore, settling for a nice pair of jeans and a cute cashmere sweater that was a shade of blue that matched my eyes. I refused to admit that I was feeling nervous at the prospect of my 'date', instead blaming the butterfly effect on my lack of sleep. I wondered if Scorpius was already in Hogsmeade as I wand dried my hair. My eyes narrowed slightly when I realized for the first time that the appearance of the Hufflepuff girl was a teeny bit strange. And what the heck had she been holding?

The thought quickly escaped my mind when I realized I was running late and if I didn't finish pronto I was going to miss breakfast. Lack of sleep was bad enough, but Rose without her breakfast? It was a bit like poking a werewolf with a stick while yelling, "Eat me, eat me!"

I managed to finish in what could only be a new Rose Weasley record. I could already see the banners waving and people cheering in my mind as I grabbed a small sling bag and made my way down the girls' dormitory staircase. The ever present first year was in the way again. You'd have though she'd have learned to duck for cover every time she saw my ugly mug by now, but nope, she still had to get run over.

Al was already downstairs waiting for me. How that boy knew he had to do that I didn't know, but he always seemed to be there when I needed him. He was sitting by the fire, his arm resting on the armrest while his face leaned against his open palm. At closer range I could see his eyes were shut, his breath coming slowly and evenly.

My eyes narrowed again. Nice to know I had the ability to make those waiting for me fall asleep. I hadn't taken that long. I just hadn't been able to wake up.

Sneaking a quick peek to make sure no one was there to witness my stealthy – well as stealthy as someone as clumsy as me could be – attack, I sneaked forward. My evil loony like grin was firmly in place as I slowly inched forward. Closer. Closer.

"Whah!" James suddenly leaped in front of me, scaring me half to death before pouncing on me and wrestling me over his shoulder. His shout sent Al shooting up onto his feet, his expression dazed and confused.

"What the…" he fumbled for his wand, but let's just say if we'd been Death Eaters he'd be long gone by the time he found it.

"Look what I found, little brother," James easily held onto my struggling form, dodging kick and punches with ease. I wasn't going to go down without a fight after all, but James was more than use to my antics. "Come on, we're going to miss breakfast if you stand there looking at me with that drooling idiotic expression,"

Al quickly swiped at his mouth, checking to make sure he wasn't really drooling like a baby. Assured that he wasn't, he followed James out the common room. I was still slung over my cousin's shoulder, calling him every bad name I could think of. He ignored me of course. I stopped struggling when we reached the stairs, not exactly excited by the prospect of tumbling down them. I though James would get tired of his game by then and put me down. He didn't. He proceeded to carry me all the way to the great hall, making sure to ram my feet into every tapestry, painting and suit of armor he could find along the way (and nearly into one of the Professors, but that may have been unintentional. I kind of wished he had as the darn man only stared at us with his mouth agape, not even bothering to try and stop the crazy seventh year from manhandling me). A loud round of snickers followed us as he sauntered over to the Gryffindor table before finally putting me back on my own feet.

He held out his hand right in front of my face. "That'll be eight ninety-nine."

"I'll show you what you can do with your eight ninety-nine," I muttered under my breath as I slid onto the bench.

Breakfast went past without any more hitches. I stuffed myself like someone who hadn't seen food in years, my nerves – which I still refused to acknowledge – working the opposite way of most people's.

Al looked at me for a second, shrugged, and proceeded to do the same. He wasn't nervous, just being a male. James on the other hand was simply being a pig.

"Chew, then swallow," I reprimanded him between bites.

"I've tried that." Lilly was the only one who wasn't stuffing her face. "It's like trying to teach a bird not to fly into a window. They'll hit the glass and feel the pain, learn their lesson, and then two minutes later do it all again."

"Dad once said they do so because they get mesmerized by Mom's red hair." Al winched. "She didn't like that."

"Yeah, I remember what she did that time he tried to start a round of 'Ginger punch' at Christmas. You'd have thought being the Boy-Who-Lived he'd have the sense not to do that in a houses filled to the brim with Gingers." Strangely Aunt Ginny had been the only one who had been upset. The rest of us found the whole deal rather amusing, especially since Uncle Harry had to spend the next hour explaining the whole concept to Aunt Fleur. Like Aunt Ginny, she really didn't get the point of the game.

Al shrugged. "Uncle Ron found it hilarious."

"Dad thinks chucking empty beer bottles at the gnomes in the garden is hilarious. I don't think he's the shining example you should be looking for." I didn't mention the fact that Dad, Hugo and I had created a sport out of the whole thing. Extraordinarily I was it the lead. Apparently gnomes fell into the category of things my ability to cause harm worked on. I didn't mean to hit them – I kind of felt sorry for the disgusting things in a weird was – so I always tried to miss. And then proceed to hit them right in the noggin.

Mom, of course, knew nothing about it. We didn't want a second S.P.E.W. on our hands after all. S.P.G.W. was way too hard to pronounce.

"Soooo," Al tried to sound casual, and of course failed miserable. Okay, here it came. There was only one person he'd try to sound casual about. "Where's Malfoy."

Ding dong, knew it.

I took a casual sip of my water, playfully narrowing my eyes at Al. "What would you say if I told you I had him tied to my bed where I plan to keep him for the rest of the year and use him as my sex slave?"

"Yes please," Lilly said instantly. I snorted before the two of us burst out in a round of giggles. Al looked more like he was going to be sick. James nodded in respect at his little sister's audacity.

"Lighten up Al," I smacked him in the shoulder, hoping to get him to relax just a teeny bit. Otherwise neither of us were going to survive today. "I'm meeting him in Hogsmeade later today. He had some things to do. I thought I'd grab you lot, go say hi to Uncle George and grab a couple of things to entertain us till the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"Yes please," Lilly repeated. "Thank Merlin, I though I was going to have to go with these two buffoons."

James smiled sweetly. "Aww, we love you too Lil. It's so nice when your siblings appreciate you."

Lilly didn't even look a teeny bit guilty at his words. "Need I remind you what happened last time James Sirius Potter?"

James pretended to be clueless. "What?"

Lilly held up one hand, ticking off finger by finger as she listed the events. "You borrowed half my money, hinted to Uncle George that I was sexually active, spilled Butterbeer down the entire front of my white dress, begged Michael Day to go out with me and then proceeded to leave me stranded in the middle of Hogsmeade all by my lonesome,"

"I thought Day would be enough of a gentleman to walk you back to the castle,"

"He couldn't get out of there fast enough. He still hasn't been able to look me in the eye."

James waved one hand nonchalantly. "You're over reacting. Besides, Uncle George knew I was yanking your chain. He thought the whole situation was hilarious."

"Mom didn't."

James' face fell instantly. "He told her?"

"Yup. You, my dear brother, are so gonna get it come Christmas."

"Damn," James looked her over, assuring she was telling the truth. She was. I'd seen the letter for myself. "Damn," he repeated, "I would've made up a better lie if I knew I'm going top get in trouble anyway. Maybe I should have told him you were pregnant."

"Oh, Aunt Ginny would have loved that."

His gaze turned to me. "Maybe I should tell him it's you instead."

"I think that'll blow up quite nicely in your face. Mom knows I'm even less popular in that area than she was. And if you mention Malfoy she may just die laughing. She'll never believe you and you know it."

His smile was replaced with a frown. "Why is our entire family such a sneaky lot?"

"Imagine how boring it would've been otherwise. Come on you lot, we better get a move on if we want to still fit into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." I pushed my plate away from me and rose from the table.

"Yeah, that place fills up faster than Grandma Weasley kitchen at dinner time,"

"And we all know how difficult it is too out race our family when it comes to food. Maybe I should enter you lot in the next Olympics." I grinned at James and Al. "Do you think they'll allow us to attach a stick to your head with a piece of steak dangling from it on a string?"

Al pretended to be upset. "You know I do believe she's insulting us, James. James?"

James had a huge loony grin pasted on his face, his mouth hanging slightly open like he was drooling. "Hmm, steak."

Al rolled his eyes. "I don't know any of you."

"You don't?" I looked at him curiously. "Are you sure, cause I was just about to say you look damn familiar."

"How odd. You must recognize me from my numerous acting gigs and magazine covers. It's so hard being famous nowadays. Everyone wants to know you."

James grunted a laugh. "The only movie I've ever seen you play in was the one they took of your first grade play. Strange that the rock with no words would become so famous."

Al shrugged. "What can I say, I make any role look good." He turned to me, practicing his fake movie star grin as he did. "Would you like my autograph Miss Weasel?"

"Sure Mr. Pooper. Maybe I can sell it on 'Has-been-dot-com' for a hefty profit. I'm sure I saw a section for first grade rocks on there somewhere."

Al leaned over the table to borrow a pen and paper from one of our neighbors, scribbled something onto it and passed it to me.

I couldn't contain my laughter as I read his loopy scrawl.

To Ross Weasel, my number one fan. You ROCK. Love and Kisses (cause kisses are cool, yo), Alvis Pooper.

Much as I had predicted, Uncle George's shop was filled to the brim by the time we managed to enter the colorful shop. I stopped momentarily, my eyes drinking in the sight of rows upon rows of magical joke items. From previous knowledge I knew there was a section dedicated to muggle items as well, but everywhere else magic sparked. Students were falling over themselves to get to the various items, some gaping over new items while others stared with unease, not really trusting the joke items. I didn't blame them. Uncle George's products sometimes had a way of – eh – doing the unpredictable.

A cute little creature dashed past my foot, one of the shop workers hot on its heels. All around me people were shouting, screaming, laughing and joking, all eagerly enjoying their time out of the castle. It felt homey, like I was back amongst the crazy Weasley clan. If there was one thing to say about the Weasley family, chaos always seemed to enfold.

I could see James at the till, wildly flirting with the new cashier who was obviously not interested. Al and Lilly were browsing the new products, almost doubling over with laughter over something that Lilly was holding up.

I decided against joining either group. James was likely to get slapped within the next few minutes and I wasn't in a mood to buy some of Uncle George's jokes. The few times I had tried some they had pretty much gone off in my face. In some cases literally. Instead I headed over to the back of the shop where a door stood with a plaque stating 'Employees only'. I ignored it and headed right inside.

As expected Uncle George was behind his desk in his office. He was half seated on his chair behind a large oak desk, his face pressed nearly flat on the surface as he examined a small object in front of him.

"One moment Rosie," he called as I approached. He turned his head the other way, frowning at either what he found or a lack of it. His eyes squinted, his brow furrowing in the same movement. "That's strange." He reached out to poke at the small box. "It's suppose to be have some sort of reac –" At the touch of his finger the box exploded in a cloud of white smoke, showering Uncle George with what looked like chalk.

I held back the laugh I was dieing to give, pretty sure the reaction hadn't been what he had been expecting. "Interesting,"

Getting to his feet his feet, he proceeded to try and brush the chalk off with his hands, but to no avail. "Agreed. Interesting but not really what it was suppose to do. It might still sell though. I know I wouldn't have been able to resist such a treat back when I was at Hogwarts. Fred and I would have made sure Filch got his grimy hands on one of them." He grinned at the idea. Unlike Grandma Molly, Uncle George chose to remember the good days with his twin instead of mourning over what he no longer had. "But back to important things. Come, give your uncle a nice big hug,"

"Oh no," I backed away carefully, my eyes on the white substance firmly covering the front of my uncle. There was no way I wanted to look like a ghost when I met Scorpius later. Uncle George either didn't know that or didn't care because he advanced like a lion about to pounce on his prey. I knew how this was going to end if I didn't react fast. I twisted on the spot and sprinted for the door leading back to the shop, but Uncle George was faster. I squealed with laughter as he grabbed me from behind, spun the two of us in a circle, before twisting me around and crushing me in a huge bear hug. I knew by now I'd be covered by the white substance. Strangely enough I didn't care too much. It was nice seeing my uncle again for the first time in months. The Weasleys were a tight family. All five million of us.

I returned the hug before pulling away to examine my appearance. Yup. Covered.

"Uncle George, no, now I'm going to look like ghost for my date."

Oops, wrong this to say.

His eyebrows rose. "Date? What date? Who is he? Give it to me woman! I need a name, age, address –"

I knew him well enough to know he was only poking fun at me so I simply laughed in response. "Uh uh, if I tell you then it's only a matter of minutes before mom and dad find out. And between you and me, I'd rather not have dad interrogating the poor guy like he's some kind of criminal."

Uncle George chuckled. "Yeah, Ronald does have a way with words sometimes. Come, let's see if we can get this stuff off." He paused for a second. "Maybe I should go greet the rest first." He sent a mischievous wink in my direction before making his way to the door and sneaking into the other room.

We managed to get the stuff out in the end – well, most of it anyway. There were still a few white splotches on my jeans and sweater as I exited Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what was to come. I was relieved beyond belief that Uncle George hadn't pressed the matter when I hadn't told him the name of my 'date'. News would have definitely reached dad in some way and I really didn't need his usual 'I hate Malfoy' speech.

The town was crowded with student and I had to force my way through the hordes to get to the cozy little coffee shop known as Madam Puddifoot's. As I headed for the door I shook the sudden feeling of dread that swept down my spine.

Come on Rose, how bad could it be? It's just a date, and a fake one at that. You have nothing to worry about.

Inside the air was warm and relaxing. I could smell the rich flavor of coffee in the air, a smell I personally adored. It reminded me of a small muggle café that mom loved taking me and Hugo to. A place Grandma Granger had often taken her to after they had spent the day in Diagon Alley shopping for her school things.

The tables were crowded with couples, all of them completely engrossed by their partner – holding hands, laughing, flirting and, some of the more risky, snogging like the world was about to end. I wasn't all that surprised to see Fred sitting on one end with yet another brain-dead beauty. He winked at me as I passed, not looking all that surprised to see me there either.

Sheesh, did the entire world know I was meeting Malfoy there?

"Apparently so," I muttered under my breath as Anne spotted me from across the room and wildly waved her arms in a motion similar to that used to park an airplane.

I wiggled my hand in a small wave to let her know I could see her. It was embarrassing enough without the whole Hogwarts knowing I was there on a date. And why exactly was it embarrassing?

I bit my bottom lip as I scanned the room. Okay, I'll admit it. It was embarrassing cause I, Rose Weasley, was nervous as hell. Hey, I hadn't exactly been on a date before this and wasn't all that sure what to expect. And the fact that it was with Scorpius Malfoy wasn't making this much easier. He had a way of winding me up the wrong way, but never before had I felt this kind of nervousness at the prospect of seeing him. It was nerve-wracking. I wasn't someone who liked not knowing what to feel and at that moment, surrounded by students who were clearly all in love – or at least in lust when you considered most teenage boys – with their partner, I had never felt more out of place.

I had to force myself to step forward, leaning heavily on my so called Gryffindor courage as I scanned the room for a blond head. There were plenty of them – mostly girls who had bleached their hair so they could look even faker than they already were – but I couldn't see the one person I was looking for.

I looked down at my watch with a frown. That's strange. I was exactly on time – usually an impossible feat for me, I know – and he should have been here ages ago. He was the one who was always on time, after all, and had been the one to choose the location and time in the first place. I looked over at Anne but she was once more deep in conversation with Jack. Oh boy, that name was beginning to stick mentally. The poor poor thing. He was going to be Jack for the rest of his unfortunate life.

"Can I help you?" A middle aged lady in a waitress outfit was standing in front of me.

I blushed in response. Oh goodie, she obviously thought I was either lost or being stood up. Just what I needed. "Uh, no thanks. I'm just looking for someone."

She smiled at me kindly – damn, she did think I was being stood up! – and nodded. "Alright, let me know if you need some help."

I smiled in return as she left, desperately holding in the need to scream, "I'm not being set up!" I wasn't, was I? He said he'd be there and I had to trust he had told the truth.

Don't let your imagination run wild Rosie! Just relax. He's here, or he'll be here. Just take a deep breath. Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't – There he is!

Ignoring the urge to fall over with relief – or scream, "Yes!" at the top of my lungs – I headed over to the blond head that came into view. All this time he'd been hidden by a cascade of dark brown curls belonging to –

"Kate?" There was no hiding the surprise in my voice when I realized who was cozily sitting opposite Scorpius. And when I say cozily, I mean cozily. She had kicked off her shoes – with heels long and small enough to kill a giant – and had her stockinged feet tucked underneath her as she half lounged on the chair. Both her elbows were pressed on the table and her chin was resting on her entwined hands. She had been smiling coyly at Scorpius before I had interrupted. At my presence it instantly turned into a rude sneer.

The weird thing however was Scorp's actions. He'd been sitting there looking like all those obsessed guys at the surrounding tables but was now glaring at me instead. I'd have thought he'd be grateful for me interrupting Kate's usual self-obsessed talks, but instead he looked at me – just like the old Malfoy use to.

"What do you want Weasley?" His voice was cold and cruel, not even a hint of the sweet guy I'd gotten to know over the past week showing.

I couldn't stop the shock at his words from showing on my face. "What do you mean? You asked me to come here remember?"

What the hell was going on? Was I missing something obvious? It sure looked like it cause Kate was giggling in that way that made me want to smack her head off.

"Oh Weasley," her giggling voice was not exactly what I needed right now, "you sure are easy to play. What do you think is happening here? Scorpius and I are on a date, and stringing you along this week was just part of our little game. Why do you think he asked you to help him in the first place? Your lovely personality? Your family connections? Did you forget that he hates you Weasley?"

Merlin but I wanted to slap here there and then. Instead I looked over at Scorpius who was glaring at me, cool and uncaring. Was it true, had he been acting this entire time? I wasn't going to believe it unless the words came out of his mouth. And I sure as hell wasn't having that conversation in front of Kate the Bitch.

I grabbed him by the arm, digging my nails into it to assure him he didn't have a choice but to follow me. I dragged him out the door. There was no way I was having this conversation in a cutesy romantic place like this either.

"What the hell is going on Scorpius?" I heard the anger and confusion in my own words, wincing internally when I realized I had failed to hide them. I waited for his answer, waited for him to tell me Kate was lying at that the last week hadn't been done for the sole purpose of proving me a complete and utter fool.

As I looked him in the eyes I knew that answer wasn't going to come. They were cold and uncaring, the warmth I'd grown accustom to a mere dream at this stage. His frown was deep set, the sneer I hadn't seen since the beginning of the week back in place.

"Come on Weasley, you're not that dense. I'm surprised you let me convince you so easily, after all, out history isn't exactly pleasant, is it? You want me to tell you Kate is making up lies to make her feel better about herself, right? Sorry love, I can't do that. Kate made me a little deal before this whole thing started and I decided, why not? It gave me the chance to show you just how easy you are to manipulate, little Weasel. And I got to have fun doing it." His sneer became more pronounced. "Accept it Weasley, the two of us can never be friends. And you will never be able to beat me. I'll always be calling the shots. Now go ahead, crawl back to that useless family of yours. I have a date to get back to."

My hands balled into fists as I looked up at his eyes, desperately searching for some kind of hint that he was joking. There was none. Nothing but the Malfoy I'd known since first year. I tightened my fists until they were shaking but found I couldn't do what I so badly wanted to. I couldn't hit him for what he did. He had played me like a fiddle and I couldn't even punish him for it. Was I that weak? Was I someone who just let others walk over me as they pleased?

No that wasn't it. I blinked away the tears I could feel coming, refusing to let Malfoy ever see me cry over him. Refusing to let his see that I now realized what I'd refused to admit to myself that entire week.

I couldn't hit him because I was completely and utterly heartbroken.

He turned to leave, but I wasn't done yet.

"Well done, Malfoy," he paused, half turning at my words. I forced myself to sound brave and unfazed, despite my inner turmoil. "You win. You finally win. I'm done. I've had more than enough – of you and this silly little competition we've had all these years. I hope you're pleased by finally bested the daughter of a muggle-born." I pointed a finger at the shop. "Go, collect your prize. I hope you're happy Malfoy, cause I just can't make myself care anymore."

With that I turned, refusing to look back as I walked away. Refusing to acknowledge the pain that shot through me, refusing to think of anything, of anyone, nothing but the ground right in front of me. I headed straight back to the castle, not caring that my family was waiting for me in Hogsmeade to report back after my date.

My date, ha, what a complete and utter joke.

I ignored the other students along the road. None of them minded me anyway. The route seemed that much longer than usual, the numbness flowing through my veins making it all the worse. I forced my mind to remain blank as I entered the gate that led to Hogwarts, open today for the sole purpose of allowing the students to return at will. Those exiting on the other hand were still lined up to hand their permission slips to the professors.

I was relieved no one tried to stop me for a chat, all of them too focused on getting out of there to notice one lone Weasley making her way back to the castle. I wasn't in a mood to talk just then. I knew the first person who asked me if I was okay at this stage was most likely going to need therapy for the rest of their lives.

Thankfully the halls of the castle were deserted and I was able to make my way to and up the grand staircase without interruption. Peeves was there, though, but I must have looked like too easy a target because he ignored me.

There were plenty of people in the common room, but once more they were too busy with their own lives to notice me. I dragged myself up the staircase of the girls' dormitory to my deserted room.

Everyone else was in Hogsmeade having fun.

No one else had been stupid enough to fall in love with their worse enemy and then have it rubbed in their face by prissy little Kate.

I sat down on my bed, my eyes starting to water. I swiped at it with my sleeve, refusing to let him reduce me to this. But I was fighting a losing balance and I knew it. So I let my resistance fade, allowing myself for the first and only time to cry over Scorpius Malfoy.

Sorry for the long wait guys! This chapter was a lot harder than I had expected, and besides, it's twice the length of what I usually post so you can't complain!

I wonder who of you will figure out just what is going on. If you're right, I may just reward you with a little something I'm working on.

Thanks sooooo much for all the reviews (I should hold more chapters hostage!): Lovestoread456, Wierd and Wonderful, TheInnerMusingsOfMe, No. 8, whatapileofshit10, PsychoBrunette, RealGirlsHaveCurves, MauraudersMischief, Lex, Mizuno-Suzuka, 3rdemosewa, Dramione-Fan 17, theenglishgirl, Diane Potter, marrou, Harryfan94 and Conway100. I owe you all a private message to say thanks. Have patience please, I trying to come up with the time. I will one day – I hope.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think (or I may just play evil Slytherin again (thanks for making me realize that MauraudersMischief =P )).

Oh, and please don't kill me (ducks and covers).

m0rganosity