Here's another chapter. Look for more H/Hr scenes in the next few chapters! Enjoy!
~HM
Chapter 12
Rose was studying in the library for a huge Potions exam and was extremely annoyed. She never should have let Scorpius tag along with her. Not that he was doing anything wrong, he was sitting next to her at the small round table, quietly studying as well. However, it was his fault that the three girls at the table next to them wouldn't stop giggling.
Did all that giggling actually work? Did boys really go for that sort of thing? If so, she was destined to be single for the rest of her life, because one thing she did not do was giggle like an idiot over some guy.
Ever since the school found out about the newly joined friendship between her, Scorpius, Al and Mia, the girls have been practically following and drooling over them like a bunch of morons. Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter had always been the cutest boys in their year, but now that they were friends, it seemed the girls liked seeing them together.
"Double the pleasure," Rose had heard one girl say to her friends…and of course they giggled.
Now the giggling had escalated even more and where the devil was an authority figure when you needed them? Not being able to take it anymore, she let out a frustrating groan and leaned towards Scorpius. "Could you please make them stop?" she whispered urgently.
He looked up from his book and frowned at her. "Make who stop what?"
"Are you kidding me?" she whispered back. "Them! Those girls…they won't stop giggling at you."
"Oh. Really?" He looked over, which caused them to giggle again as they waved flirtatiously. "I didn't notice," he said and simply went back to his book.
"Didn't notice?" Rose repeated in awe. "How could you not? They won't shut the hell up!" she whispered forcefully.
Scorpius lifted a brow. "Wow, Frecks…I don't think I've ever heard you talk like that before. I kind of like it."
She rolled her eyes with a groan. "Oh, shut up."
"And to answer your question, I guess I'm just use to it. I've learned to shut them out."
Rose glared at them angrily. "Got any pointers?"
He chuckled softly shaking his head as he returned back to his book. "Just ignore them."
"Easy for you to say," she muttered.
"Um…excuse me…" A giggle erupted. "Scorpius? Oh, Scorpius?"
When he didn't look up, Rose nudged him hard in the ribs. "Ow! What? I said just ignore them and…" He trailed off when she nudged her head towards the girls.
"They're beckoning you."
"Oh." He looked over at them. "Yeah…what?"
The blonde girl who was sitting between the two brunettes twirled her hair. "We were wondering….if you'd like to join us?"
"No thanks," he said giving them a sarcastic smile. "I'm good."
"Oh, but we'd thought maybe…you'd like to help us?" one of the brunettes said as she leaned forward on the table to show off her cleavage. "We're a little lost."
"So am I, which is why I'm studying with Rose."
She gave a little pout while the other brunette smiled at him. "Do you have a date yet, Scorpius?"
He sighed as he looked back at his book. "No."
"Well…these two have a date, but…I don't yet…"
"That's nice," he said dryly as he continued to read.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh for Merlin's sake, could you just ask her…or someone to the Ball so the giggling will cease to exist." She glared at the girls. "Some of us are trying to study."
"Fine," Scorpius said leaning back and closing his book. "I'll ask someone right now."
Rose watched the brunette straighten in her chair with anticipation. "Fine then," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Make the giggly brunette happy and ask her."
"I'm not asking her," he said shaking his head. "I'm asking you."
Rose whipped her head back around to him so fast she was surprised she didn't pull something. "What?" she asked not sure she heard him right.
"What?!" the brunette shrieked.
"I'm asking you," he repeated ignoring the other girls. "Do you want to go with me?"
Rose tried to form some sort of response, but she couldn't seem to put the proper words together. "I…I…um…I don't know what to…me? You really want to go with me?"
Scorpius grinned. "I'm asking you aren't I?"
"Y-yeah, but…I'm…a little shocked…I didn't see this coming, you didn't give many any sort of sign that you would want to take me."
"Me asking you is kind of a sign," he said with a chuckle. "Rose…I'm asking you if you want to go to the Yule Ball with me. Now…I've done my part…all you have to do is say yes…or no."
Rose blushed, looking down shyly for a moment, before giving him a nervous smile. "Yes…of course…I…I'd love to go with you."
Scorpius gave her that grin that all the girls talked about. The one that melted their insides. She didn't know what they were talking about until now. "It's a date, then," he said and then started to pack up his things. "I'm going to run…all this studying is frying my brain."
She nodded dumbly. "Yeah," she managed to say. "Okay."
"Bye, Frecks."
"Bye," she said giving him a little wave and when he was gone she turned back to her books, but before she could stop it, a giggle escaped her. She gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. Did she just do that? Did she actually giggle? She rolled her eyes to herself as she packed up her stuff, ignoring the girl's stares and whispers. She was being silly…it was just a date…a date between friends. No need to get all fluttery and girly about it.
She convinced herself that it was no big deal the whole way back to the common room and thought she had done a pretty good job in that regard. However, when she sat down in one of the vacant chairs, Lily, who was playing Exploding Snap with Hugo and their friend, Jack Williams, had seen right through her.
"Rose can't stop smiling," Lily pointed out taking a break from the game. "Rosie…why are you smiling like an idiot?"
She immediately sobered up. "Don't be ridiculous, I am not."
"Yeah, you are," Hugo said with a grin. "What happened, sis? Did someone finally ask you to the Yule Ball?"
Rose couldn't stop the blush flaming on her cheeks, causing Lily to gasp and clap excitingly. Although Lily was only in her twelfth year, she was all girl and just as bad as the giggly girls in the library, except she was family, so she wasn't as obnoxious. "Tone it down, Lil," she mumbled as she slumped in her chair.
"I can't, it's too exciting!" she said completely giving up on the game and moved to the end of the couch closer to her. "So? Don't leave me in suspense! Who asked you??"
"Um…Scorpius," she said with a small smile. "He..he just asked me."
Lily's little jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Scorpius??" Lily let out another shriek of excitement as she jumped in her seat. "Rosie, that's awesome! He is so cute!"
At this point, Lily's loud voice carried and girls from her grade or younger were surrounding her. They were of course giggling and telling her how lucky she was and how hot Scorpius Malfoy was. She was getting a headache.
"You are going to the Yule Ball with Scorpius Malfoy?" Tiffany Peterson said as she emerged into the swarm of girls and was now standing in front of her.
"Is that so hard to believe?" Lily scoffed.
"Yes, actually," Tiffany smirked. "He must have felt sorry for you."
"Oh, you are so full of it," Lily said with a roll of her eyes. "Don't listen to her, Rosie."
"Oh, it doesn't bug me," Rose said with a smile. "She's just jealous…and annoyed that no one has asked her to the Ball yet."
The girls around her laughed at that and Tiffany glared her eyes. "That's ridiculous, I could never be jealous of you."
"What's going on here?" Albus asked pushing his way through. "Rosie, why are all these girls swarming over you?"
"Oh. Well." She gave an uneasy laugh. "They just heard that…"
"Scorpius asked her to the Ball!" Lily finished for her giving a little girly clap.
"He did?" Albus asked her with a raised brow. "When?"
"Just now," she said slightly embarrassed. "In the library."
"Oh. Are you two dating now?"
Tiffany snorted. "Yeah, right," she mumbled under her breath with a roll of her eyes.
Albus scowled at her, but ignored her and looked back at Rosie to wait for her answer.
She shook her head. "No, no…I mean…just a friends thing."
"Did he say that?"
"Well…no, but he didn't not say it either."
"Hey, maybe I should ask Mia…we could all go together."
"Oh, but…Albie," Tiffany pouted as she stepped closer to him. "I thought…I thought you'd might ask me to go."
Albus rolled his eyes. "First of all, I've told you repeatedly not to call me Albie and second of all…do you honestly think I'd want to go with you after you just insulted my cousin?"
"But…"
He held up a hand to stop her. "Just do everyone a favor and disappear please? It's not going to happen, you and me. Get that through your head."
Tiffany gaped at Albus while everyone around her snickered. She let out a frustrating growl before storming off, pushing her way out of the crowd. "How she got in Gryffindor I have no idea," Lily said shaking her head.
"It must have been an off night for the sorting hat," Jack said who was now sitting next to Lily, who chuckled in agreement.
"Well, I'm going to track down, Mia," Albus said to Rose. "I think she might be getting out of Charms. I'll see you later."
"Okay, see you later."
Albus gave a wave before heading out, quickening his pace so he wouldn't miss her. Sure enough, as he rounded the corner the class was just getting out. He stood by and waited for her to emerge from the room and was starting to get worried when she finally walked out, with Julius, Nina and two other Slytherin boys snickering behind her.
Albus narrowed his eyes when he realized that Mia looked upset while studying apiece of parchment in her hands. "Mia," he said walking to her.
She looked up and gave him a smile that wasn't at all convincing. "Hey, Albus, how are you?"
"Not good if you are as sad as you look." Albus looked over at Julius who was still laughing with his friends. "Did he do something to you, Mia?"
Mia blushed as she waved it off. "Oh…it's nothing. He just…gave me this." She handed him the parchment. "It's directions on how to make a date for one night. Apparently you can conjure one up, but it only lasts until midnight. Julius said since there wasn't anyone who would actually ask me…he thought I could use it."
"That's horrible," Albus said glaring over at him.
Mia shrugged. "Yeah, well…what are you going to do? I'm use to it. He's right anyway…I'll probably go head and use it to…hey!" she exclaimed when Albus ripped it up. "What are you doing?"
"You don't need this, Mia," he sad holding up the ripped parchment.
"But the Ball…it's in a few weeks and I still don't have a date."
"Yes, you do, you're going with me."
Mia's brows shot up. "I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me," he said almost angrily. "You're going with me."
"Is that a command?"
"Yes…I mean, no." He shook his head. "I'm asking you, Mia."
"Really? Because it kind of sounds like you're telling me. And although I appreciate the thought, I'm not interested in a pity date, Albus, so feel free to ask someone else."
"What? Mia, no," he said grabbing her arm before she could walk away. "I'm not asking you out of pity…I…I'm sorry, I was just so mad at Julius for making you cry and…"
"I wasn't crying."
"You were on the verge," he pointed out then sighed as he gentled his grip on her arm. "Look. Let me start over here. I was coming to find you to ask you to the Ball, Mia."
She looked up at him skeptically. "You were? You're not just saying that? Because I would find that extremely insulting…even more insulting than what Julius did because you…you mean more to me."
His eyes softened as he moved his hand down her arm until his hand found hers. "Mia, I promise you…I'm not asking you out of pity. I want to go with you. You and I…we go well together. I consider you one of my best friends."
"Really?" she asked hopefully. "You don't think I'm too weird?"
Albus smiled. "I think you have the perfect amount of weirdness to be wonderfully weird. It's kind of cute."
She blushed in pleasure. "That's very sweet of you to say, Albus."
Slightly embarrassed, Albus shrugged. "Yeah. Well." He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. "So…would you like to go with me? That's me asking…not demanding."
She smiled brightly. "I know," she said and then leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
Albus blushed. "Er…was that a yes?
"Yes."
He smiled in relief. "Good," he said with a nod. "Now…if you'll excuse me, I have to go and severely hurt Julius."
"No," she said urgently grabbing his arm before he could take off. "No, he's not worth it, Albus."
"Who's not worth what?" Scorpius said from behind them.
"Your ex-friend, Julius," Albus said jerking his head to where he was.
"Technically, he was never my friend," he corrected. "Why do you want to kick his ass? Not that I don't blame you, I'm just curious to where it came from." He scowled at Julius and then looked at Mia. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, he didn't hurt me," she assured him shaking her head.
"Yes, he did," Albus said angrily. "You didn't see your face, Mia, I did. You were about to cry."
"Okay, so I was upset, but you made it all better when you asked me to the Yule Ball, so let's just drop it."
"What he do?" Scorpius asked Albus ignoring her request.
"He thought it be funny to give her directions to a potion that conjures up a date until midnight." Albus held up the ripped parchment that was still in his hand. "Since no one asked her yet."
"You're right," Scorpius said taking the ripped parchment in disgust. "He deserves an ass kicking if you ask me."
Mia sighed in frustration. She was really going to have to get use to having two boys being overprotective of her. "Scorpius," she warned.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt him," he said with a grin. "I have a better idea." He pulled out his wand and pointed it to the parchment. "Reparo!" Once the parchment was back in tack he rolled it back up. "C'mon," he said to them and walked over towards Julius.
Albus and Mia shared a confused look, but Ablus then shrugged and grabbed her hand before following behind Scorpius, curious to see what he was going to do.
"Hey there, Julius," Scorpius said walking up to him who was now surrounded by a bigger group of students.
"Well, look who it is," Julius said. "The Slytherin Traitor."
"Is that what you guys are calling me?" he asked with a chuckle. "Clever. I just wanted to give you this." He handed the parchment to Julius who frowned as he looked at it. "Since Mia won't be needing it. She's going to the Yule Ball with Albus."
All the girls in the group gasped, then sighed with envy as they looked at them, whispering and pointing at their joint hands.
"So she got a pity date," Julius scoffed, causing Nina to giggle. "Big deal."
Albus glowered and took a step towards him, but Scorpius put a hand out to stop him. "Not a pity date, but believe what you want if it will make your ego seem bigger than it actually is." A few chuckles and snickers emerged from the crowd. "Anyway, thought you'd want to use it now."
"What are you talking about?" he spat and put an arm around Nina. "I'm going with her."
"Oh, I know, but let's be honest…if Nina is the best you could do, you might as well use the potion…what would be the difference, really?"
Julius scowled and Nina gasped in outrage while the other kids, even a few Slytherins, laughed and cackled in amusement. Julius finally started to walk away, but both Albus and Scorpius held him back with one hand from each of them. "If you ever do anything to hurt Mia…or Rose for that matter," Scorpius warned. "We'll make the rest of your years here a living hell, won't we, Potter?"
"You better believe it," Albus warned.
"I don't know if you noticed but Potter here is quite fond of them both…I am, too, so do yourself a favor and stay away from them, got it?"
Julius didn't say anything, only continued to glare at both of them, but they could both tell that on the inside, he was shaking. He finally shrugged off their hands and stormed off, with Nina flouncing after him.
Mia smiled as she stood between them circling an arm around them both. "Thanks, guys. I wish Rose was here to see that."
"Me too," Albus said with a grin. "She would have gotten a kick out of it."
"Speak of the angel," Scorpius said with a grin when Rose rounded a corner and headed her way.
Albus looked at him weird. "Isn't the correct saying, 'Speak of the devil'?"
"Well, yeah, but…It's Rose," he said shrugging uncomfortably. "I can't very well call her a devil, now can I?"
"Hey guys, the weirdest thing happen," Rose said out of breath from her long walk from the common room. "I was rounding the corner and Julius accidentally ran into me and I feel flat on my butt and instead of laughing and pointing he's all stumbling over apologies, helping me on my feet and even picked up my books!" She shook her head in wonder. "I mean what was that all….what? Why are you guys laughing?"
"The funniest thing happened, Frecks," Scorpius said as he went over and put an arm around her. "Why don't we head over to the Great Hall. We'll tell you over dinner."