The trouble with Scorpius Malfoy

Summary: **Next gen fic: Rose/Scorpius, fairly long one-shot. "The trouble with Scorpius Malfoy was that he had the almost uncanny ability to irritate Rose Weasley more than anyone else she had ever met..." Fluff!

Disclaimers: All characters are the property of JK Rowling. I just like to play with them now and again.

Rating: T

A/N: After finally finishing my longer story, it was really fun to write a different Scorpius than usual for a change. Let's just say that in this one, he's decidedly Slytherin… hehe. Oh, and one-shots relating to "Because he's a Malfoy" will follow at some point soon! I'm just waiting for my muse to come back from wherever it's decided to hide :)

The trouble with Scorpius Malfoy was that he had the almost uncanny ability to irritate Rose Weasley more than anyone else she had ever met.

It had all began on their very first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Scorpius' ability to cause trouble and most annoyingly of all escape trouble had not remotely diminished in any of the following years since. If anything, he had only gotten progressively worse as time went on.

It really didn't help that Scorpius also happened to be best friends with Roses' cousin Albus. Albus was always around her, and therefore by default unfortunately so was Scorpius- both of them with their wily Slytherin ways. By the time the autumn term of their first year finally ended, Rose was already highly fed up.

At first, Scorpius had merely grated on the eleven-year-old, got right on her nerves. He mischievously mimicked the way she always knew the answers in those lessons she had the misfortune of sharing with him, discretely hid her school books and quills and- worst of all- once vanished every single carefully written word from her homework parchment for Astronomy. Sinistra had given a distraught Rose her very first detention and from that point onwards, it had been all out war!

The trouble with Rose Weasley however, was that she was a Gryffindor through and through- she possessed none of the natural cunning or sneaky traits that seemed to come so naturally to both Albus and Scorpius. In the end she just gave up retaliating entirely: her pranks would never be as good as the ones played by Scorpius she realised. They seemed almost paltry in comparison infact. Even when Rose very cleverly charmed his chair to turn into a sandcastle in Flitwick's class (which was at least a third-year skill) and Scorpius fell flat onto his backside in a pile of gritty wet sand, the idiot seemed to find it all riotously funny, snickering with Albus and pointedly cheering her on.

Rose merely got another detention and she knew with unfailing certainty at that point, that to Scorpius she would never be anything more than a clever- though exceedingly boring- bookworm. She did know one other thing however: she bloody HATED Scorpius Malfoy.

…

As their years at Hogwarts progressed, Scorpius seemed to derive some kind of perverse pleasure from playing even more imaginative, highly elaborate pranks on Rose. Aided by a seemingly never-ending collection of tricks from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Rose became his unwilling test subject for brand new (and highly sophisticated) jinxes and japes. She lost count of the number of times she bit into food into the Great Hall, only to suffer the most bizarre of side effects, from burping to hysterical laughter and once to everyone's complete bewilderment- lapsing into fluent Mandarin after consuming a slice of chocolate sponge cake. Worst of all, during a Herbology exam in her fifth year, Scorpius also surreptitiously hexed her with a hiccupping charm which echoed absolutely monstrously through the quiet greenhouse, accompanied by absolutely delighted giggles from the Slytherin contingent.

That was exactly Malfoy's trouble, Rose thought fiercely at the time, as she hid her burning face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with barely suppressed hiccups- he just never knew when to stop with the pranks and he never knew when to shut up either. It was just so much worse that he was so bloody popular and confident and she… wasn't. A mousy little thing like her stood no chance against someone so brilliantly confident and daring like him.

Absolutely no chance.

...

Scorpius Malfoy found that he rather liked the way Rose Weasley's cornflower blue eyes flashed whenever she was angry at him, which was frequently- he enjoyed irritating her immensely and always had done, right from the very first day they had met. It was also extremely handy that Rose was so close to Albus too, it meant that he always had a ready excuse to be around her and naturally he took full advantage of that, always having pranks at his immediate disposal to carry out on the unsuspecting girl.

Scorpius also really liked the way that a slow burning flush would always rise in her freckled cheeks before covering her entire face as she scowled at him furiously at the outcome of that said prank. He more than liked the way that when she was annoyed with him she would come up with the most amazingly clever and witty retorts, her voice crisp and icy, so curt that it could cut glass. Sometimes he would think of those smart answers simply days after whatever joke he had played on her and would chuckle to himself with admiration, already thinking of his next prank to elicit a similar response from her.

The trouble with Scorpius however, was that in all of the times he teased Rose and played such mischievous tricks on her, he never once stopped to question exactly why getting under her skin seemed to be his very favourite past time of all.

…

"Did you know son, that you've done absolutely everything but pull on this girl's pigtails?" his father responded casually one day during the school holidays when Scorpius idly mentioned yet another superb prank he'd pulled on Rose Weasley in their fifth year, involving the prefects bathroom, dung-bombs and a rather handily placed shower cap. "Did you know that in some societies that means you most likely fancy her?"

After he dropped the bombshell, he gracefully retreated behind his newspaper, very kindly letting the words fully sink in to his sixteen-year-old son.

Scorpius gaped at his father, completely aghast and lost for words all of a sudden. For the very first time ever, a slow flush spread across his pale cheeks as he slowly shook his head in stuttering, adamant denial.

Draco hid his triumphant smirk behind the stocks and shares information in the Daily Prophet.

That was the trouble with Scorpius Malfoy: he always acted first and only thought much, much later.

After graduating from Hogwarts, Rose had been highly relieved to realise that she would never ever have to see Scorpius Malfoy again- most probably she'd encounter him if ever Albus decided to get married- but that would be years away yet and hopefully, Scorpius and Al wouldn't even be friends anymore by then. Her cousin was still having fun chatting up every single girl he could, using his highly honed Slytherin manipulation tactics, lovingly nurtured and developed whilst still at school.

Nope, Rose for one was bound and determined that hell would have surely frozen over the very next time she saw Scorpius Malfoy. She'd make a very firm point of avoiding him infact: she'd leave the bloody country...

...

Seven years after graduation…

"Hi."

Rose jumped up as the door to her office opened with a loud creak, disturbing her concentration and causing her wand which had been pointing unwaveringly at the charmed parchment in front of her to emit a shower of purple sparks, which instantly set her nearby waste-paper basket on fire.

"Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed, flicking her wand again and quickly dousing the sparks with a jet of cold water. "Aguamenti!"

Irritated, she looked up, straightening her crooked glasses on her nose, feeling flustered at the sudden interruption. Who on earth had decided to disturb her so rudely, when quite plainly there was a big sign on her door requesting all visitors to 'please knock?'

Roses eyes widened in both shock and dismay as she blinked at the newcomer in disbelief: Scorpius Malfoy, that's who.

"Hi," he repeated mildly, idly leaning against the doorframe and looking completely at home there as his grey eyes intently raked over her.

Rose felt utter fury welling in her at the very sight of him. Fury that marred even her shock at seeing him again and after all this time. "Hi?" she demanded, spluttering, positively stunned at his gall, "hi?"

"That's what I said," he responded cheerfully.

"Get out," Rose snapped, finally finding her voice. "Now."

"Rose, Rose… is that any way to treat an old friend?" he shook his head in mock disappointment.

She pushed her wire-rimmed glasses up her nose again- they had a rather annoying habit of constantly sliding downwards- and stood up to her whole height of five feet three inches. She only came part-way up his chest, but for once she didn't back down. "Friend?" she snorted icily; "I don't know what in the name of Hades you're doing here Malfoy and unsurprisingly, I don't care either. Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. My. Office." She punctuated each word with a half-bitten fingernail jabbing against his chest.

Scorpius took a couple of steps back, his expression almost amused as he regarded her; "But Rose-- don't you even want to know what I'm doing here?" he questioned.

"No," Rose snapped, which was a lie as she was indeed mildly curious, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to her. Again. Just like he always did. "What the hell are you doing in New Zealand? More to the point, how did you even know I was here? This office is supposed to be unplottable."

"Albus," Scorpius shrugged matter of factly; "I got him drunk at the Three Broomsticks last weekend. He eventually told me you were here. He even gave me the coordinates. Once you have a magic compass and Ministry permission to long distance portkey, apparate or floo it's not so hard to find a place you know."

"Of course," Rose sighed dismally. Albus. She should have known. She'd bloody kill her cousin the very next time she saw him. Still, she was rather unprepared for the way her stomach fluttered as she looked up at Scorpius now.

The years since graduation had been good to him of course; he was dressed in the finest quality jade green robes and his platinum hair was slicked back and shiny, exposing high cheekbones and a chiselled toothy smile that undoubtedly made scores of young witches melt in droves before him. Rose could freely admit she'd always thought the Slytherin was very attractive, even when they'd been much younger- it was just rather unfortunate that his huge ego and annoying personality was the very first thing one generally noticed about him.

"Nice office," Scorpius said appreciatively now, glancing around him at the cosy antique furnishings and the pretty scenic photographs all over Roses' office walls; "your dad told me you were doing well for yourself over here."

"Thanks—what? My dad? You spoke to my dad as well?" Rose gasped incredulously, not knowing whether to be surprised or furious at the insight.

Scorpius looked momentarily guilty, "um, yes."

"Let me guess," Rose sighed again helplessly as she sank into her comfortable chair, "he filled you in on the bits Albus was too drunk to inform you of."

Scorpius to her chagrin looked rather smug once more; "something like that," he responded silkily.

Rose massaged her suddenly aching temples, no longer in the mood to fight with him, and when she lifted her head, her freckled face was tired and utterly resigned; "what do you want, Malfoy?"

…

Well, wasn't that the fifty-thousand galleon question? There were a lot of things Scorpius wanted: world peace, a nice white-washed harbour front house in Marbella and the new Firebolt 5000 which was due to hit the market very soon. His name was at the very top of the waiting list in fact.

Malfoy's were used to getting what they wanted, so those things weren't really too much of a problem- apart from the world peace thing that was.

No. More to the point, the question should have been: what did Scorpius need? And the answer to that… was Rose Weasley.

Over the last several years since graduation, Scorpius Malfoy had realised that he needed Rose Weasley like he needed air to breathe. He'd tried to forget about her without success and he'd tried going out with all sorts of girls in the years since- insipid vapid girls who agreed with every single word he said, supermodels who graced the covers of Witch Weekly yet were spoiled and demanding…

Nothing worked. She was always at the forefront of his mind. No matter what he did, he just couldn't get Rose Weasley out of his head. Her always scathingly clever retorts to his pranks, her intelligence, her inherent shyness on occasion, her pretty ocean blue eyes and her wild curly brown hair…

Scorpius realised with a pang, that his father had been right all those years ago: he did fancy her. It wasn't just that she was his nemesis, a girl whose buttons he liked to push to the very brink. It was more than that. He missed arguing with her, he especially missed those flashing blue eyes of hers when she confronted him, but most significantly of all, he just missed her reassuring presence. Even when she was ignoring him or insulting him, he liked to have her around.

By the time he'd figured all of this out of course, aided by a fair few sleepless nights and uncomfortable pains in his stomach and heart, it was far too late: Rose was already working abroad and those who actually knew where she was, refused point blank to tell him anything about her. Years later, he'd been forced to beg, and in Hades name, Malfoy's never begged.

"You made her life a sodding bloody misery at Hogwarts," snapped her cousin Lily, Albus' little sister as she glared at him malevolently in the elevator at the Ministry where he'd cornered her; "I'm not telling you anything you arse."

James merely laughed at him and clapped him on the back in what could have been perceived as a friendly way, only the gesture was laced with pure pity; "figured it out at last, have you?" he smirked clearly relishing the drama; "too bad, Malfoy. You've messed with our Rosie for the last time."

Hugo didn't say anything at all- just hexed him, though the menacing look in his eyes said enough. By the time Scorpius had recovered from his almost debilitating bout of Spattergroit, he knew that the only person he could count on for help would be Albus. It was an added benefit that Ron also happened to join them in the pub that day and was already three sheets to the wind after watching a very successful Cannon's game.

It had taken several double fire whiskeys and a lot of Malfoy charm and persuasion but eventually both men had managed to slur out that Rose was in New Zealand now, working as a curse breaker for their Ministry of Magic. By the time they had realised their mistake, Scorpius was already trying to obtain his long-distance apparition licence. He would leave for Christchurch the very next day.

Looking at Rose now, at her wild curls and awkward spectacles perched lopsidedly on the bridge of her crooked nose, he knew the uncomfortable trip had been worth it. Splinched toenails and all. She looked beautiful.

"What do you want?" she repeated tiredly. "I'm not in the mood to fight with you and I have an audit to complete by five o'clock." She pushed her glasses up her nose again and frowned tersely. "You're wasting my time. Just tell me what you're doing here."

"I---" Scorpius bit his lip, suddenly flooded with uncharacteristic anxiety. The words left his mouth before he could stop them. "I came to ask if you'd have dinner with me."

Rose had been ready to retort with a snappy comeback, he could tell it had been on the very tip of her tongue. At his question however, she started in palpable shock. "Dinner?" she asked uncertainly, her brow furrowing in disbelief. "You came all the way over here to ask me to have dinner with you?"

He nodded and waited patiently.

Rose studied his face, bewildered, then shook her head, a small smile curling her lips; "I don't think so."

Exasperation flooded him; "come on Rose. Look, Albus tells me you don't get out very much here and---" he stopped short, wincing inwardly. That had sounded very much like he was deriding her lack of social life. Why didn't he think before he spoke? That was his trouble- he opened his mouth first then thought later.

Much later.

Sure enough, Rose looked positively furious by the insinuation, her cheeks flooding with hot colour as she jumped to her feet; "get out."

"But---"

She pointed her wand at him levelly and he gulped audibly. "If you don't get out of here right now Scorpius, I'm going to hex you the way I wanted to hex you at Hogwarts for all of the times you played tricks on me and humiliated me in front of everyone we knew. Believe me Malfoy, you'll be a gibbering wreck by the time I'm finished with you. New Zealand Ministry laws don't have half as many statutes as the British ones do. I know Kiwi hexes that will make even your hair curl."

She meant it. Bitter disappointment flooded him as with a pained sigh, he reluctantly left her office.

HPHPHPHPHP

Scorpius didn't go too far however, he was still lurking outside the main entrance to the building when Rose eventually left to go home that evening- gone seven o'clock.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, as if she was late for an important event.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" she demanded, put out. She'd expected him to be long gone by now too. Back to London or wherever the hell he was working. She knew from Albus- not that she'd asked him purposely or anything- that Malfoy worked for the Department of Magical Law and was very successful in what he did. It made sense that he'd be successful of course- he always had been at Hogwarts, coasting through his work and exams yet seemingly doing very little preparation for them. Rose had the sneaking suspicion that Scorpius Malfoy was actually naturally intelligent- he just liked to hide it, what with being a Slytherin and all.

"I decided that since you've said you won't come to dinner with me, I'm going to annoy you until you agree," he said matter of factly and there was a glint in those grey eyes of his, "I'm an expert after all. You should be more than familiar with my methods of irritation."

Despite herself, Roses' lips twitched into a half smile at his blunt statement. Scorpius felt sheer relief well in his chest when he saw it.

"Please Rose;" he said coaxingly, "I have something important I need to talk to you about. We don't even have to eat if you don't want to- we could just get a drink. There's a muggle café down the street that could almost be counted as neutral territory… Think of it as Switzerland if it helps."

Rose bit her lip reluctantly, considering- she was positively sure this was another trick but her curiosity belied her anxiety; "if—if I agree to have a drink with you and hear you out, then will you leave me alone?" she asked him waveringly, surreptitiously checking that her wand was secure in its wrist holster. It was of course.

Scorpius felt the hope literally swamping him that she was at least willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and actually listen to him after everything he had ever said and done to her throughout their schooldays; "if you still want me to leave you alone after that, then I will," he promised, sounding more sincere than she had ever heard him before.

She sighed as she slowly followed him down the street; "believe me Malfoy, that's all I've ever wanted."

…

He was pained however to see her thoroughly check her drink when he brought it over to her from the counter. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?" he demanded, offended, watching her peer unashamedly into the murky glass.

"What do you think I'm bloody doing?" Rose cast several discrete spells over the beaker as they found a booth in a quiet corner of the shop, causing the liquid to change to pink, violet and then back to orange again; "I'm checking you haven't spiked it with something of course." The 'duh' was unspoken but it was there. He could hear it.

Finally Rose was satisfied that her orange juice was safe, but still she didn't drink it, toying aimlessly with the red and white striped straw instead. Scorpius winced that she clearly trusted him so little. Surely he had never been that bad...? With a pang he thought of the countless times he'd charmed her food or drink in the Great Hall over the years, only for her to suffer some humiliating repercussion that had caused he and his housemates to roll around with triumphant laughter. It had been a wonder she had ever eaten at all at school, really. "I'm really sorry," he ventured tentatively, unsure as to how she would react to such an apology, "for what I did to you back then I mean. I--I was a bully and it was wrong of me to ever---"

Rose snorted, it was rather unladylike granted, but the familiarity of it brought a smile to his lips despite the interruption and made him feel momentarily better for a split-second. "Of course you are, Malfoy," she said sarcastically.

"No, really I am," he said insistently, straightening his face. He stirred his spoon around listlessly in his coffee, wondering how on earth he could make all of this right, and more importantly, persuade her of the truth and his real reason for coming over here if he couldn't even persuade her that her orange juice was untainted.

When he looked up again, Rose was studying him from across the booth, her blue eyes analytical. Despite himself, he felt his cheeks flushing uncontrollably under her ardent scrutiny. "You wanted me here," she began brusquely, "so talk."

Merlin, how in Hades name was he supposed to start? Scorpius had turned the idea of this conversation over and over in his mind for months, well, admittedly years, and now that he was here and sat opposite her, his mind was completely blank. The words he had long rehearsed in his mirror had escaped his mind, almost as if he had been obliviated. He opened his mouth, hesitated and then closed it again with a snap. Then he wet his lips anxiously. His mouth had suddenly gone rather dry. Even his palms were sweating. He couldn't believe the effect that Rose Weasley could have on him, even after all this time.

Rose arched a brow sceptically as she watched him, waiting for him to say something.

Scorpius felt nerves flooding in his stomach. He opened his mouth again but all that came out was a feeble sounding "erm…" Then he stopped again and tried to get a hold of himself, half choking on a cough.

Rose rolled her eyes at his tomfoolery; "I should have known you only came here to make fun of me," she said with a sigh, reaching for her briefcase; "I honestly don't know why I even gave you the benefit of the doubt in the first place." She made to stand but looked down as Scorpius urgently grabbed at her arm.

"Rose, please… wait!" he implored, sounded stricken.

She looked down at his hand on her arm in bewilderment. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" she demanded hotly, shaking him off, the tips of her ears redenning.

"Trying to stop you from going," he replied, letting his hand fall limply to the table top. "I promise you, I do have something to say. I'm just trying to work up the nerve."

Again, Rose looked at him doubtfully before slowly slumping back into her seat. The expression in her eyes clearly seemed to say that she doubted Scorpius Malfoy could ever be nervous about anything. He could read her like a book and smiled wryly nonetheless. "Thank you."

She sighed and bit her lip.

"I suppose I should tell you the real reason I'm here," Scorpius began tentatively.

"Not dinner?" Rose ventured, her expression indecipherable.

"Not exactly," he admitted, biting his lip.

"I knew it!" Rose burst out hotly and the colour was rising in her cheeks already, "I knew that you only came here to torment me or insult me or---"

"I actually came here to tell you that I um, like you," he cut into her nonsensical ranting with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Excuse me?"

"I like you," he repeated more calmly this time.

"Like me?" Rose asked blankly, not understanding him.

"Like you, as in I fancy you. A lot. I have done for well, ages," Scorpius said simply, "I just never realised it until you'd already left the country and—hey, why are you leaving?" he sounded aghast as he watched her quickly stand up.

"Because I don't believe a single bloody word you're saying to me- that's why!" Rose hissed furiously as she struggled with her coat, her cheeks scarlet. "You turn up here after everything –everything- you have ever said and done to me and actually have the gall to say that you treated me like that, so horribly for so long, because you like me? This is some sort of sick joke!"

"Yes, I like you." Ok, this wasn't quite going the way that Scorpius had planned at all. She seemed furious and… rather understandably upset. Almost hurt. Why didn't she believe he could ever like her? He needed to rectify this somehow, but felt a sinking sensation when he saw the distant look in Roses' eyes. She would never let him make this right.

Rose fumbled for her bag, looking lost all of a sudden; "I want you to leave me the hell alone."

"I didn't realise it when we were at school of course," Scorpius' insisted frantically; "or if I did, I chose to ignore it. All I knew was that I liked making you angry, because whenever you were pissed off with me, your eyes flashed and I thought it was um, cute."

Rose eyed him suspiciously as she placed her hands on her hips. The fact that she didn't interrupt or argue back this time however gave him some further degree of hope and he pensively continued, his heart in his mouth.

"When we graduated--- you just left and I didn't know where you'd gone. It—" he sighed ruefully, "it felt almost as if I'd lost part of me or something. I was so used to always having you around- to fight with, to tease… I tried seeing other girls, none of them ever made me feel the way that you did, Rose."

Rose was looking highly confused by this point; "you're saying that you like me because you can fight with me and tease me? Yeah, that's a great foundation for any relationsh---"

"No, I'm saying that I'm in love with you," Scorpius corrected her patiently, "because you challenge me, because you can argue with me, because you're clever and kind and because most importantly I've tried living without you around and it hurts." His emphatic grey eyes met hers; "I didn't come here just to ask you to come out to dinner with me Rose. I came here to tell you that I'm in love with you and I have been for so long now, much as I've tried to deny it. I know you probably won't believe me but it's the truth. The gods honest truth and I just can't hide it anymore."

Roses' mouth gaped open as she studied his pale face. He seemed sincere enough admittedly, but she had been around Scorpius Malfoy long enough to know that he was a master prankster. This was all some horrible trick of his to hurt her or embarrass her once more. Strangely that very thought made her stomach hurt and caused tears to burn at the back of her throat. Suddenly she realised that she desperately wanted Scorpius to be telling the truth, and the knowledge that he wasn't, caused her heart to ache immeasurably.

"You're right," she said softly, recovering from his words at last and regaining some degree of composure. "I don't believe you. How could I ever believe you? You've been a horrible, horrible bastard to me over the years Scorpius. I don't think you're capable of anything remotely akin to honesty and I certainly don't think you could ever love anyone, other than yourself that is. You're a liar."

The look of barely suppressed hope that had been present on his face finally flickered and died. "But---"

"Leave me alone," Rose told him once more, throwing some coins down onto the table to cover the cost of the drinks and trying valiantly to stop her voice from shaking with distress as she ignored his valiant protestations, "I never want to see you again."

Scorpius watched in stunned silent anguish as she left the café, knowing that he'd left it all far too late. He'd done too many stupid, hurtful things to her for her to ever forgive him for the past and more to the point, believe him and that he could be honest or sincere about anything anymore. His heart felt like it could shatter into a million pieces as he recalled the look of disgust on her face, and he pressed his face into his palms desperately trying to regain his own composure.

She was gone and he'd never see her again.

That was the trouble with Scorpius: he never ever realised he had a good thing until it was gone.

For good.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

One good thing had come out of Scorpius' unprecedented visit to Rose at least: it had made her realise just how homesick she was for her family. A couple of weeks after she had in no uncertain terms told Scorpius to stay away from her, she used some of her long accrued holiday time to take a couple of weeks off and portkeyed back to England, eager to spend some long overdue time with her relatives.

Her first few days back home were spent whiling away her portkey lag at her mum and dad's house and flooing to the Burrow to see her grandparents, not to mention shopping with Lily and her aunty Ginny in muggle London. It was good to be home, she could freely admit, even if every single place she went to reminded her of Malfoy in one way or another.

That was another thing: Malfoy. She'd expected the third degree from her dad, from Albus, but to her immense surprise, no one even mentioned him to her and he didn't pop up unexpectedly anywhere either. Good, Rose thought fiercely. Everyone's finally got the bloody message at last. Especially him.

Somehow though, the thought didn't cheer her.

She finally bit the bullet two days later when she was at Florean Fortescue's with Lily and her brother. "Um, so… Scorpius…" she ventured tentatively. "Um…" at Hugo and Lily's expectant glances, she sighed reluctantly; "have you seen him?"

"Not since just before I hexed him," Hugo said frankly as he dug a wafer into a mountain of whipped cream and sprinkles, "before he came over to see you."

Lily smirked. Rose looked bewildered. "You—you hexed him?"

"Got him good," Hugo proudly licked cream from his thumb, "spattergroit. A pretty nasty dose of it, even if I do say so myself. The boils were full of some of the nastiest green puss---"

Lily rolled her eyes disgusted and pushed her mint chocolate chip ice-cream away indignantly. "Thanks Hugo."

"Spattergroit?" Rose couldn't help the smile that crept over her face at the idea of her little brother sticking up for her and to a Malfoy no less; "you gave him spattergroit?"

"Yep," said Hugo looking rather proud of himself, "he was laid up in bed for a fortnight- too embarrassed to go outside I s'pose, otherwise he would have come over to see you sooner…" Hugo looked momentarily guilty but then shrugged absently. "Oh well…"

Rose looked down into her ice cream dish at Lily's next comment; "what happened Rosie? You haven't said anything and according to Albus, Scorpius hasn't either. None of us have even seen him since he got back. He hasn't been to the Three Broomsticks or the Hogs Head or any of his usual drinking haunts… there's not even been any coverage about him in the Prophet and usually a Malfoy sneezing is front page news…"

With a pang, Rose thought of his expression in that cafe when she'd told him she didn't believe him. It had been hurt or at least she thought so- there had been more sincerity in those eyes of his than she'd ever seen…. For a split second Rose allowed herself the indulgence that Malfoy had indeed been telling her the truth and that he really did love her after all.

The notion was dashed away just as quickly as a hopeless fantasy. She knew Scorpius Malfoy and she knew that he would never ever want to be with someone as plain and ordinary as her. Not to mention the fact he had spent seven years at school playing absurdly mean jokes on her. Really, it was ludicrous for her to think any differently, no matter what he might have said or how genuine he might have sounded.

"He—he told me he's in love with me," Rose finally admitted, looking down at her desert, suddenly having no appetite whatsoever as she pushed the dish away.

Hugo and Lily didn't look surprised at the bombshell. Their faces were more blasé if anything.

Rose cleared her throat; "um, he told me he's in love with me," she repeated, louder this time.

"We heard you," Lily said frankly, popping a cherry into her mouth, "but you knew that about Malfoy anyway, didn't you? It's been obvious for ages. Since at least the sixth year at school…" beside her, Hugo nodded in matter of fact agreement.

Rose gaped at them in disbelief. "W---what?" she stammered faintly, wondering if possibly she was hearing things.

"Malfoy loves you," Hugo said with a shrug, "the great big prat. Why else do you think I gave him Spattergroit? He's an idiot for only just admitting it to himself and for playing all those nasty tricks on you for so long just to get your attention. Fair play to him though for coming over there to see you and tell you the truth in person. It takes a brave man to admit they've made a mistake and more importantly, to be honest."

Roses' mind was spinning. "He—he loves me?" she stuttered, almost knocking over her bowl of ice-cream in distress; "really?"

"Er, yeah," Lily said, rolling her eyes with a grin. "So anyway Rosie, what happened? Are you playing hard to get or what? You'd better be making him work for it after what he's put you through, the tosser!"

Rose felt apprehension coiling through her veins and her stomach felt leaden. "I—I---" the memory of what she'd said to him in the café weeks earlier hit her full force and sudden panic rose in her as she recollected quite clearly calling him a liar and a bastard; "oh no."

Hugo regarded her with consternation, noting her rapidly paling face, even beneath the freckles. "Rosie?"

"I—I told him I didn't believe him," Roses' face was white with shock as she put her head in her hands; "I told him to stay away from me. I said some really horrible things to him actually. He--he looked really hurt and then I just left him there."

Hugo and Lily exchanged perplexed looks. "Oh," Hugo said finally breaking the tense silence; "well… you might have buggered things up a bit there then, Rosie."

That was clearly an understatement of dramatic proportions.

…

It took every ounce of Rose's Gryffindor courage to apparate to Scorpius' front door two hours later. Her nerves were fraught and her stomach was in knots, but with a stubborn expression on her face, she knocked impatiently and waited for him to answer.

When the door was slowly pushed open, she was surprised by the bleak expression on Scorpius' face, which changed to utter shock when he saw her stood there. He'd lost weight in the past couple of weeks and his face was paler than usual, but other than that he looked fine, better than fine admittedly. Only a Malfoy could pull off brooding with finese, she thought with a wry smile.

He quickly recovered his composure however and even managed the familiar Malfoy sneer as he looked down at her. "What happened Weasley, get lost did you? The library's that way…" he pointed down the road and then folded his arms as he regarded her with a stony expression.

Rose swallowed hard. She knew exactly what he was doing; he was putting on his old, snide familiar face to cover his embarrassment after she'd rejected him. A front to salvage his pride and what remained of his dignity after she had tarnished it in that cafe. She was familiar with such a pretence, she'd assumed 'don't care' attitudes at school often enough after all.

"Can I come in?" she asked instead, forcing herself to remain calm. "Please?"

It was the 'please' that did it. Scorpius dropped the act and stood aside to let her pass, the animosity vanishing from his gaze in an instant.

Rose didn't spare any time looking around at the sumptuous Malfoy décor. She cleared her throat and looked down at her hands; "um, what I said… back in New Zealand…" she began nervously.

"After everything I ever said and did to you, every nasty prank or stupid joke---" Scorpius' voice was hollow now and his grey eyes were distant, all the usual fight and confidence gone as it had been on the doorstep only moments earlier, "you were right, Rose. I should stay away from you. I don't even know what you're doing here at all. I---I respected your wishes to keep away from you, just like you asked me to and---"

"I might have said those angry things in the heat of the moment," Rose was aware that her voice was timid and uncertain. "You just… you threw me a little, Scorpius. I never expected…" she swallowed, "I never expected someone like you to say that you loved me."

"What in Hades name is that supposed to mean?" he demanded harshly, offended.

"Well, you're you…" Rose wrung her hands a little in self-consciousness not grasping why he looked so upset, "and I'm… well, I'm a bit of a workaholic bookworm with frizzy hair and glasses. I'm plain and ordinary and I couldn't ever picture someone like you caring for someone like me. Especially after we spent most of our schooldays fighting."

Aghast, Scorpius stared at her. Rose thought she was plain? She thought she was ordinary? Had he had the guts to just grab her and kiss her, he would have rectified that idiotic thought in an instant. The trouble was, he'd used up all of his nerves as of late. Namely the horrific day back in New Zealand when she'd gone and thrown his feelings for her firmly back in his face. He was still suffering the humiliating flashbacks even now.

Misinterpreting his silence, Rose concluded her little speech; "um, and I supposed I realised that deep down, you don't know me well enough to love me. I mean, you can't possibly."

Scorpius stood in confused silence for approximately three seconds and then; "what do you mean I don't know you well enough to love you?" he demanded hotly, some of the old spark and fire coming back into those grey eyes of his in a milisecond, "Rose, I know everything about you! Every single bloody thing!"

She suddenly tilted her chin defiantly, clearly challenging him to prove it.

"Forget it," Scorpius sniffed insolently as he turned away from her, his shoulders slumping when he realised what she was doing, "I'm not going to get into any kind of verbal sparring with you. It's not worth it. You should-- you should just go." It hurt him to say it, but he honestly didn't know what on earth she was doing here, after everything.

"I never thought I'd see the day Scorpius Malfoy would back down from anything," Rose said tauntingly, "you say you love me? Prove it. Talk is cheap, Scorpius."

A tiny voice at the back of Scorpius' mind was telling him to just walk away now, but the bigger voice (that sounded rather annoyingly like his father infact) was telling him that he shouldn't stand for this from anybody. Least of all a Weasley and a girl at that. If she wanted proof, then he'd damn well give it to her, for whatever that would achieve.

"Fine!" he snapped furiously, whirling to face her again, "I could be really inane and tell you all the stupid pointless stuff, like how I know your favourite colour is green but you won't wear it on principle because you're a Gryffindor, or I could tell you that your favourite food is cottage pie with extra gravy and roast carrots or even that your biggest peeve in the world is people folding over the pages of books instead of using a bookmark to mark their place. That really gets on your nerves."

Rose's eyes widened uncertaintly. She was startled at his insights but couldn't deny them. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times hesitantly.

Scorpius ploughed on heedlessly, clearly triumphed by his one-upmanship and her obvious silence; "or maybe you're just more interested in the bigger stuff? Let's go then: your biggest fear in the world is under-achieving but similarly, achieving too much frightens you too which is why you've probably already turned down several promotions at the Ministry over there. You have no patience for time-wasters but all the time for the people that want to learn but just might not be able to grasp things the first time around. So many times I saw you in the Hogwarts library helping out Hufflepuffs with their Charms or Potions homework and you had the patience of a saint."

Rose swallowed, wondering why she'd never noticed him watching her back then. Or maybe she had and had misinterpreted his intentions. He was right about the promotion too: she'd turned several down already, ultimately feeling she wasn't good or capable enough for the high-ranking positions offered to her.

"Sometimes you put across this aura like you prefer being alone," Scorpius continued, his eyes never leaving hers, "but I don't think that's really true. You've built this little fortress around yourself and its only the really special people you let in. They're the lucky people because they get to see the real Rose Weasley."

Her stomach was full of butterflies but she couldn't look away from him now.

"Whenever I teased you at school, I saw it in your face that you were angry and frustrated, but what I didn't see is that I hurt you and I'm so sorry for that," his voice sounded a bit choked, "I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just that I wasn't one of those special people that you let in and I just wanted another way to be around you."

Rose's world tilted momentarily. His explanation rang true this time, that same look of sincerity he'd worn back in the coffee shop was on his face once more, only now it was laced with pain and anguish.

"And most importantly…" Scorpius took in a deep, unsteady breath; "you're a workaholic now because you think that no man will ever appreciate you for who you are, probably because I hurt you so much when we should have been friends and I made people laugh at you and make fun of you in some stupid misguided attempt to try and get your attention. You're brilliant academically and professionally Rose, but you hide all the other stuff, all your other personal hopes and dreams because you don't think you'll be able to find anyone to share them with you…" his voice was shaky; "you're wrong, Rose. I'd share everything with you if I could. Every single bloody thing."

Rose's legs felt decidedly trembly, be it from the staunch psychoanalysis or the way Scorpius was looking at her so intently, she didn't know. It was possibly a combination of both.

He swallowed hard and his voice was low, "so don't tell me I don't know you enough to love you, Rose Weasley… I know you better than I think I know myself."

Her eyes were wet as she nodded slowly. "I believe you," she whispered hoarsely.

Scorpius nodded mutely and then turned away, feeling like a total fool for blurting out so much stuff he'd kept hidden deep inside over the years. He probably sounded like a bloody stalker. He wondered why she hadn't ran screaming from him yet. "See yourself out," he mumbled in a small, pathetic voice, going back to staring out of his living room window again at the people striding down the busy street below.

"That's it?" Roses' voice was high-pitched with incredulity. "I come here, you tell me all that stuff, I tell you I believe you and you're just giving up?"

"What else do you want me to do?" he sounded frustrated. "I told you everything! I came to New Zealand to tell you everything and it did no good! Your family hate me and you hate me. I've made a big enough fool out of myself over you already, Rose."

"Then I suppose that makes us even," Rose said waspishly, folding her arms, "you made an idiot out of me at school enough times and then I make an idiot out of you by telling you to stay away from me after your big, impossibly perfect declaration of love. Never mind that I happen to bloody love you, too!"

Scorpius had been about to let rip with an angry retort but at her stout declaration took a couple of hasty steps backwards. "W—what?" he gasped.

"You heard me," Rose stepped closer to him anxiously, "I love you too. Why else do you think it hurt so much when you teased me? You drove me mad and you hurt me, but it hurt more when you said how you felt and I thought you didn't mean it. That's when I figured it all out."

Scorpius was still visibly stunned as her lips shyly met his, but recovered enough to thread his fingers through her hair as he felt her arms slip delicately around his neck. "I knew you couldn't resist me really, Weasley," he mumbled between ardent kisses, his heart singing in joyous relief.

Rose arched an amused brow as she swatted him playfully on the arm, "the trouble with you, Scorpius Malfoy, is that you just never know when to stop talking," she told him firmly, pulling him ever closer to her, "now shut up and kiss me again."

So, quite insistently, he did.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

A/N: Please review!!! :)