Hey everyone! This is my first Scorpius/Rose story, and I hope you enjoy!

If you'd like to, please review this story. It helps me know what I can improve on or what I'm doing right. I really appreciate it, too!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise…unfortunately.

"Ms. Weasley, can you tell me one use of the mandrake plant?"

"To depetrify petrified victims, Professor Longbottom."

"Excellent, 10 points for Gryffindor!"

"To depetrify petrified victims," said a mocking, falsetto, snobby voice. Rose Weasley didn't have to turn around to see who it was; she already knew Scorpius Malfoy was making fun of her AGAIN, so she merely rolled her eyes while the class quietly snickered.

"Hold your tongue, Malfoy...now this week we'll be potting mandrakes, and although we have no petrified victims to cure..." Professor Longbottom started a lecture but Rose had already stopped paying attention.

It's not like she didn't know why Malfoy always bugged her. On her first day of school at Kings Cross Station, her father had told her to always beat Malfoy at everything because he hated his father. Rose became automatically biased against the Malfoy family, and their first unpleasant confrontation happened on the train ride to Hogwarts.

"Sorry, is this compartment full?" Scorpius had said, sticking his head through the doorway and to look at her. "Nice hair ginger, are you a Weasley by any chance?"

"As a matter a fact, I am. And nice hair yourself, towhead. A Malfoy, I suppose?" she had snapped at him.

He had smirked. "Right you are, Weasley. I'm Scorpius. I see both our parents have informed us of their past."

"I'm Rose. And it's a good thing they did; now I can sort the good and the bad from our year. And I know what you'll category you'll be in, Malfoy," Rose practically spat back.

Scorpius narrowed his grey-blue eyes in distaste. "Never mind about the compartment, I wouldn't want to sit next to a Weasel anyways." He slammed the compartment door and stalked off.

Ever since then, Rose and Scorpius had teased and tormented each other with any chance they got. They both had their share of triumphs and failures in the past four years. Their fight was a never-ending game of cat-and-mouse it seemed. But with O.W.L.'s coming up in seven months, Rose was starting to worry her Scorpius harassment would cut into her study time. It was going to be hard to balance everything out this year.

"Class dismissed," Professor Longbottom called, breaking Rose out of her thoughts. Rose grabbed her bag and made her way towards the castle while buttoning her robes; the crisp early December air was chilly.

"Oi, ginger, wait up!" Scorpius called from behind her. Before Rose could tell him to go away, he was beside her panting, his normally snow-pale cheeks pink from the cold. He looked rather cute, Rose thought. After realizing what she just considered, however, she pushed the thought from her mind and gave Malfoy an annoyed look.

"What do you want now?"

"Relax, I just wanted to ask you something," he said reassuringly. Rose gave him a dubious glance.

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"Well, the Yule Ball is coming up in a few weeks..."

"Yes?" Rose's hearted started thudding in her chest. What? Why was Malfoy making her heart thud? And why did she like the feeling of it? What was going on?

"...And I was wondering if you were going to be too embarrassed to even go."

Rose stopped, confused. Her thudding heart returned to a steady beat.

"Why would I be embarrassed to go?"

"Well you'd be alone of course, who in their right mind would want to ask you?" Scorpius snickered at his own joke. Lily turned to face him, and the next thing

Scorpius knew he was hit by a very impressive but malicious bat-bogey hex square in the face.