The fourth and final installment is here! Thank-you all for your very kind reviews. I know that many of you got annoyed at Rose in the last one with her jumping to conclusions and going into super-panic mode – that's just the way I imagine Rose being. Hope you all like this one better, its back to Scorpius' POV so again, a little lighter than Chapters 1 and 3.

Disclaimer – these fantastic characters are sadly not my creations, but it doesn't mean I love them any less then my own

Excuse 4: She didn't believe me…

Scorpius had been having the most amazing dream.

He had been in his bed, much like he was now. He had been naked, much like he was now. Only there was something deliciously different. He had been holding a woman in his arms. But not just holding her, he had been on top of her, moving inside of her. She was moaning, crying out for him as she held him closer. He had obeyed her commands, gripped her tightly and repeated her name over and over. She had run her fingers through his hair, scratching her nails along his scalp. He had bitten her neck and drove in harder. Then he had run his hands through her hair.

Her red hair.

Her red curly, bushy, everywhere hair.

And she had looked up at him with those eyes.

Those blue eyes.

Those blue, dark, lust-filled eyes that looked only at him.

And she had cried out his name – Scorpius.

And he had ground out hers – Rose.

Yes. Scorpius Malfoy was having a stunningly realistic sex dream about him and Rose Weasley. This dream wouldn't have been anything special – after all, he had been dreaming about being in very similar situations with Rose for the better part of eight months now – except he knew that this dream was different. This dream was different because it wasn't a dream. The images flooding through his mind, the voice ringing in his ears, the feeling burned into his fingertips weren't things he had imagined – they were things he had experienced.

Scorpius Malfoy was currently basking in the afterglow and he was loving it. After hours of the hottest foreplay (well, months if you count the bantering and shameless flirting on both their parts) and sex of his life with the most incredible woman he had ever met, he was now reliving the experience from moan to precious moan.

Scorpius had decided, somewhere between her insanely sexy underwear-related teasing and throwing her onto his mattress, that his imagination was pathetic. He used to pride himself on it, especially when it came to conjuring delicious circumstances for him to envisage when alone (like, say, in the shower), but last night he was proven otherwise. For there was no perceivable way that Scorpius' mind could have ever come to imagine anything as sexy as Rose Weasley in the flesh. The feel of her thighs wrapped around his when she was close to the edge, that thing she did with her lips that should be counted as an Unforgivable for the way it so quickly unmade him. Not to mention all those little sounds that he had never noticed before during sex (maybe they'd never been there – maybe this was exclusive to Rose. And now exclusive to him), and the way her hair felt running through his fingers. He had never pictured that look in her eyes, something that he couldn't find words to describe efficiently. It was just Rose. She was invigorating.

And exhausting. They had officially done the deed three times last night, with incessant and at times staggering fore-play in between each round. So understandably, after the last of their encounters for the night, Scorpius had fallen asleep almost instantaneously. It was a miracle he even managed to roll off Rose before blacking out. And then when he did black out, he had begun his amazing dream. Yes, Scorpius Malfoy was a very, very content young man.

So when he was woken by the unmistakable sound of someone apperating, Scorpius Malfoy was very displeased.

He was even more displeased when he realized that the space beside him where a certain red-haired minx should be sleeping was empty.

And he was most displeased when he realized that all of Rose's clothing had been picked up from the floor, and the woman herself was nowhere in sight, leaving Scorpius to assume that it had been her that had left.

He tried not to panic. Surely there was perfectly justifiable reason for her to flee –no, depart – so early.

At first he thought that she may have had to leave to go to work. But it was a Saturday, and not even Rose would go into work on a Saturday unless it was really important. And seeing as they had just finished up on their biggest case yet and she had been sure to file everything last night, he couldn't see that she would have anything urgent to do.

Maybe it was a Weasley-Potter thing that she needed to go to. That was entirely plausible. They were always meeting up and having their huge family gatherings and doing all that lovey, slightly sickening bonding stuff. Yes, that was a completely realistic explanation.

Even if it was 4am.

Ok. Where the fuck was Rose?

She didn't get to do this. She didn't get to give him the best night of his life and then walk out (somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind, there was an annoying little voice that commented about some completely unrelated news of a kettle somewhere being called black by a pot, but he ignored it). She didn't get to leave the bed cold and empty. And she definitely didn't get to regret this. And Scorpius knew Rose, and he knew she would be regretting this.

What Scorpius couldn't figure out was whether he should be regretting this too. He was finding it hard to feel guilty when his body still buzzed with a feeling that he decided to just call 'Rose', because it was something that only she did to him. But then he thought of the frightening possibility that he may never get to feel this way again if Rose decided it was a – gulp – mistake, and hence would never want to do it with him again.

No. There was no way that had been a mistake. He loved her (wow, he meant that didn't he?) and he was pretty sure she felt the same about him. And two people in love, both thoroughly unattached to anyone else, should not feel guilty about spending the night together. Especially not after all the trouble he had gone through to woo her – he didn't get to have one amazing night of the best sex of his life and then for this to be over.

No. That was not happening.

Scorpius threw himself out of bed and hurried to his dresser. He was going to march over to her house right now and demand that she come back home and sleep in his bed again where she belonged this instant!

But maybe not like that. Rose was awfully opinionated after all, and had inherited her mother's sense of nobility and equality for all. She would hardly like him demanding she follow his orders. No, that wouldn't go down too well at all.

Scorpius tried to process his plan whilst pulling on some pants quickly. Let's see – how to convince Rose not to hex off his bollocks and come back to bed?

Right, well, knowing Rose, she'd be jumping to all kinds of conclusion now (why, he didn't know, but it just tended to be something she did. Case in point being the Herbology Function where she had immediately assumed they had slept together without any evidence of such occurrences – and after sleeping with Scorpius Malfoy, there was always evidence – apart from them being a little naked). And if she had left they couldn't be good conclusions she had been jumping to. So, first mission was to disprove any false conclusions she had come to. But to do that he needed to know what they were.

Ok, getting Rose back was going to be more difficult than originally anticipated.

He could always go and visit her. Yes, yes that was a brilliant idea! He'd apparate over there right now! But first he'd find a shirt. Or maybe just the tie she bought him. Now there's an idea…

No! He had to prove to her that he wanted her back not just for sex….he really had to stop thinking that word. It made him awfully distracted with visions and memories….

Focus! Right, where was he? Oh yes, a shirt. Right he needed to put on a shirt and apparate over to her apartment right now!

Where was her apartment? Oh hell he didn't even know where she lived. All this time spent chasing after her at work and he never once escorted her home?

Scorpius muttered a few choice words and ceased his search for a shirt. He thought of owlng her, but he doubted his owl would be able to figure out where she lived either. Stupid birds not being able to read her stupid mind.

Right, so, other options.

Ask Al for her address.

No. That was not a good idea, because he'd have to know why and saying 'Well I need to return her panties that she just so happened to leave at my apartment last night after hours of fantastic sex which she is now apparently regretting, but I don't know where she lives', was probably not going to get him very far. In fact he'd probably end up at St. Mungos after Albus would try to attack him and Scorpius would be forced to annihilate him. Then he'd get in all sorts of trouble for dueling, not to mention he probably wouldn't win many brownie points with Rose after putting her favourite relative in hospital. Ok, no going to Albus.

Or any other Potter/Wealsey for that matter. As gifted as he was, Scorpius highly doubted he could defend himself against Rose's parents (that Hermione Weasley could hex something deadly, whereas Ron would most likely just rip him limb from limb with his bare hands) or the Harry Potter – he'd probably just look at Scorpius and he would explode. And that Ginny Potter – never underestimate the red heads (especially when their last name is or ever was Weasley).

So he'd have to wait until Monday. That was alright; that would give him two whole days to prepare himself for whatever assault was undoubtedly planning presently. He decided to spend the next two days revising counterpoints to probable arguments as well as a few defensive spells and charms – what was that saying? Hope for the best but carry an umbrella. Yes, well, when one was going to lock horns Rose Weasley it was better to hope for the best but dress in amour. So amour he would have, in the form of spells and charms of course.

When Scorpius arrived on Monday morning, earlier than usual or necessary and going over incantation in his head, wands tightly grasped in his pocket just in case, he made sure to drop in to Rose's office first thing.

There was no one there. Not only was there no one there, but it didn't appear to have a note out of place. He thought it strange – Rose was tidy, but he was sure it didn't look this way last Friday. Although, admittedly, he wasn't taking much notice of it last week – his mind was on very different things. He proceeded on his way to his office, giving himself a little more time to go over his plan. When Scorpius arrived at his office he was most surprised at what he saw – it was tidy, impeccably so. And he knew for sure that he had definitely not left it in such a state. The chairs had all been placed in their rightful positions, the papers were assembled much nicer than he had every cared to stack them. It became apparent that Rose had been back, either extremely early this morning or over the weekend, and had covered their tracks. He might have thought it kind of her – that she was forward thinking enough take precautions so as not to get him into any kind of trouble with the higher-ups (especially seeing as a near-empty bottle of Firewhiskey surely would have been one of the items she would have had to discarded) – but he knew better than that. Rose had not cleaned up his office to protect him, rather she had done it to try and erase all evidence of them ever having slept together.

This was going to be the one thing in her life that Rose Weasley was going to fail. Scorpius was going to see to it.

He waited, doing very little at all during the morning, for her to arrive at her office. She never arrived. Upon asking one of the clerks whether she had seen Rose at all this morning, she answered that Rose was working off-site today.

Off-site.

Well, if that's how she wanted to play then that's fine. She can't work off-site forever. At least that's what he thought, but once she had not yet returned by Wednesday he grew more than just a little anxious. What was most peculiar however, was how frequently Persephone Adams, a quiet brown-haired witch who had an office four down from his own, had passed by his door. For someone he had never noticed to leave her office very readily, Persephone surely was walking around an awful lot of late. In fact she would often walk past his office more than eight times a day. When this had carried on for a solid two days, Scorpius knew something was definitely off.

He had his suspicions that maybe Persephone was working for a certain flame-haired enigma – she was one of the few female witches on the floor who could most likely be trusted to be discreet. Unfortunately, it was painfully apparent the girl had never once been employed as a spy before, so she was somewhat lacking in subtlety when it came to checking in on him. She got there before him each morning (despite the fact that he was arriving a good 45 minutes before he was expected) and always waited for him to leave before departing herself. By the time it got to Friday evening, Scorpius had decided this little game had gone on long enough. He was going to speak to Rose, and he was going to do it tonight.

At approximately seven o'clock Friday evening, Scorpius threw his cloak over his arm, turned off the lights in his office and walked carefully and silently out into the main office area. He snuck along the hallway silently, being careful to watch for Persephone approaching again. He ducked into one of the cubicles and sat, crouched under the unoccupied desk in front of Rose's office and waited.

Really, this was ridiculous. If only his grandfather could see him now, sitting here, in a muggle suit, on a ground that had most likely not been cleaned in the past half century at least, under some clerk's desk, waiting for a chance to speak to a Weasley no less. Why the man would turn in his grave if he only had the decency to curl up and die already.

His introspection was halted when he saw Persephone sneakily pass his office across the floor again. Upon looking in and finding both he and his cloak gone, she quickly hurried back to her office. He listened as she sent out an owl. Not five minutes later, there was the unmistakable pop of someone apparating. He snuck a look out and watched as the light in Rose's office came on. She called out a quick thanks to Persephone, who promptly left, and sat at her desk to begin whatever work she had not been able to complete 'off-site'.

Let the games begin.

Going over the defensive spells once more in his head for good measure, Scorpius unfolded himself from under this insanely small desk, straightened his suit and strode towards her office quickly so as to be sure she wouldn't escape. He peered in and saw her diligently working, completely unaware of his presence. Good.

"You've been avoiding me," Scorpius said as he leant against her doorframe. Rose jumped, standing as she turned to see him, fear spreading through her eyes. She said nothing. It unnerved him. Almost as much as how she avoided looking him in the eye. He didn't like it.

"You –" she stuttered, clearly perplexed.

"Yes I hid from your little spy," he said with a smile, evidently most pleased with himself. She stayed silent and looked away from him, instead turning her attentions to the papers she had been shuffling on her desk.

"I must say," he said as he entered her office casually, hands in pockets, "I'm not accustomed to waking up alone after engaging in certain activities."

She took in a deep, unsteady breath and remained focused on the papers on her desk.

"I thought I'd save you the trouble of asking me to leave," she said quietly, something akin to bitterness ringing through her voice. He didn't like that either.

He walked towards her casually, trying not to notice how she edged away from him cautiously. He removed one of his hands from his pockets and placed it under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"What makes you think I wanted you to leave?" he asked lowly, looking her in the eye. But he didn't see what he had seen on Friday night. There had been no playful little glimmer, no lusty little look, and no dark unsheathed want. All that was there was sadness. And fear?

She held his gaze for a minute before looking back to the floor.

"Stop doing that," she murmured so quietly he barely heard.

"Stop doing what?" he whispered back still smiling despite worrying about where this was heading.

"Lying," she said with more conviction than before. Scorpius froze. Lying? When had he ever lied to her? He hadn't. He knew because he had tried, on several occasions, to lie to her. But he couldn't. When did she think he had lied?

"Lying?" he questioned, unable to keep the aggression out of his voice.

"I just said that, didn't I?" she questioned angrily, looking him in the eye before moving away to look at other things in her office. Scorpius moved back around the side of her desk, ensuring that to get out the door, she'd have to go past him. There was no way she was running from this.

"I'm confused," he said slowly.

"Well it doesn't take much," she retorted which much more conviction than he felt necessary.

"How very mature," he commented humorlessly.

"Oh like you can talk," she sneered over her shoulder and crossed her arms.

"Excuse me?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. He didn't like how angry she was. It only made him angry too.

"You're acting like some horny, hormone-driven teenager – the way you discard girls like they're some worn out piece of clothing," she said, waving a hand at him as if she were disposing something, the anger clearly ringing in her words.

"A teenager?" at this he was truly intrigued, and insulted.

"Yes," she spat as she crossed her arms again, "It's pathetic."

"Pathetic?" his voice got a little higher as he got more sarcastic.

"Must you repeat everything?" she snapped, turning her back on him to rifle through a bookcase for absolutely nothing at all. Scorpius was angry – if anyone was acting childish it was she; it was like she was throwing a tantrum.

"As opposed to shutting out anyone that you actually enjoy spending time with," he said angrily as he crossed the space between them to be within a few feet of her, "That's not pathetic at all."

"I don't do that!" she spun to look at him, slightly startled by his nearness.

"Oh really?" he knew he sounded condescending but it was difficult to keep calm when she was acting so irrationally, "And how would you explain your current behavior?"

"I don't enjoy spending time with you," she spat hastily with malice.

"I think Friday night is contrary proof of that," a smirk found itself spread across his features. Rose simply rolled her eyes.

"Grow up Scorpius," she sounded like she was talking to an ignorant and troublesome child. Scorpius didn't like it at all.

"You're the one throwing the tantrum," he said pointedly.

"I am not throwing a tantrum!" Rose stomped her foot indignantly and scowled at him in a manner which Scorpius found only the slightest bit adorable. He raised an eyebrow to save himself saying 'I told you so'. Rose just huffed at him and turned back towards the bookcase as a means to distract her.

"Just leave," she told him bitterly.

Not happening.

"Not before you tell me why you don't think I could make you happy," he challenged and moved closer in preparation for a fight.

"Because you're a liar," she replied shortly. They'd been over this already – it was tiring.

"When did I lie to you?" he demanded, sounding a little more aggressive then he meant.

"Friday."

"When?"

"When you said…"

She caught herself and retracted a bit, internally berating herself apparently. She took a small step back and crossed her arms.

"…Yes?" he urged, taking a step forward for the one she took back.

"When you insinuated," she said harshly before her tone softened slightly, "that you loved me."

"I do."

"No you don't."

"Really?" Scorpius might have found this whole banter quite amusing and a little sexy, had he not been so infuriated.

"Yes."

She was every bit as determined to convince him that he wasn't in love as he was to convince her he was. This was going to take a long time to resolve.

"And what makes you so sure?" he asked indignantly.

"The things you do."

"Be specific Weasley." She glared at the use of her last name, letting out a deep breath in an audible 'huff'. He watched as she squared her shoulders and threw her hair over her shoulders – here it came.

"First of all, you didn't even bother undressing me before fucking me against your lounge room wall Malfoy and if you expect me –"

"Hey!" Scorpius interrupted and pointed his finger at her somewhat indignantly, "I seem to remember you being more than a willing participant in that – I recall you begging in fact, begging for me to take you right then and there."

"Don't take that tone with me!" Rose screeched and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't tell me I'm wrong about my own feelings!" he yelled back, to which she just rolled her eyes and gave a chortle.

"Oh please! You don't have sex with the woman you love, and then proceed to roll over and go to sleep without so much as a 'good-night' let alone a cuddle!"

He knew he shouldn't but he really couldn't help it. Scorpius let out a snort and raised an eyebrow at her, arrogance painting it's way across his every pore.

"Are you serious?" he asked with a smirk. This had obviously been an unwise approach as steam very nearly spurted from Rose's ears.

"Don't mock me Malfoy," she said in a deathly low tone that would have had him running scared had he not been so thoroughly pissed off at her.

"I told you I loved you," he said with a tone that suggested he was much more confident in himself than the reality.

"No you didn't."

"I love you – there, happy?"

She faltered slightly before crossing her arms, shaking her head and turning to the side so as to avoid looking at him.

"That doesn't prove anything," she said, still facing away from him.

"Doesn't prove anything?" he repeated her phrase and threw his arms in the arm to release the furious tension flooding his body as he raised his voice, "So I can flat out tell you I love you, but because I don't have the clarity to remove your clothes before taking you like I have dreamt of for the past eight months, or the energy to cuddle after we engage in hours of mind-blowing sex, it suddenly means I didn't mean it? Does nothing else that I did matter?"

"You haven't done anything else!" she exclaimed as she turned to face him front on, her voice cracking slightly as struggled to keep her emotions in check. Scorpius simply stared at her, utterly dumbfounded and with a blank expression on his face. Haven't done anything else?

"Are you serious?" he asked his voice and face free of any form of emotion. Rose simply took a deep breath an crossed her arms (again)

"You didn't show any interest until we were both drunk."

"No interest -!" he exclaimed before mumbling something under his breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He twisted and turned a bit, still muttered and taking deep, calming breaths before looking back at her.

"Look at what am wearing!" he said, signaling to his attire, "Are you saying that this means nothing?"

Rose looked at his fine grey three piece suit with crisp white shirt. She didn't look impressed.

"It's a suit," she said plainly.

"Exactly," Scorpius nodded with a smile. She simply frowned at him, thoroughly confused.

"You're not making sense."

"It's a suit Rose."

"I just said that," she was getting angry again, he needed to diffuse the Rose-Bomb before it exploded and tore him to shreds. But surely she had noticed.

"A Muggle suit," he added, hoping to get his point across. He didn't.

"So?"

"So," he paused and when he noticed she wasn't going to say anything he continued, "Malfoys don't wear Muggle suits. Malfoys don't own anything Muggle."

She simply crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. Oh he hated when she did that.

"Your point being?"

"I bought this," he said simply, playing with the cuff of his suit and looking at it instead of Rose, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, "I went out to some little Muggle part of London and was fitted for four different Muggle suits so I could wear that neck rope you got me for my birthday."

"The tie?"

"Yes."

She took a moment to process the information.

"You bought four tailor-made suits," she looked at him and he liked the way her voice was no longer bitter or scathing, "just so you could wear the tie?"

"Yes," he nodded and looked down at his attire, "Before I started to fancy you I owned one item of Muggle clothing and that was a sports shoe I stole from Albus in fourth year. I now own four suits, four business shirts, four waistcoats, two pairs of Muggle shoes and quite a fine hat, all of which match the tie you gave me perfectly. And all because it was you that gave me the tie."

She was silent, the foot tapping discontinued (thank Merlin!)

"You didn't even buy another tie?" she asked softly.

"No, why should I?" Scorpius looked back at her, "I hate ties – always have, all through Hogwarts. The only reason I wear these damned uncomfortable things is so I can show you, and everyone else, that I'm wearing the tie that you gave me. I have absolutely no use for another."

She looked to the floor silently.

"Oh," was all she said when she finally did speak.

"Oh is right," he replied, still a little angry about being accused of being such an arse to her, and it came through in his tone, "And that's not even where it ends!"

"It's not?" she sounded truly surprised, looking back to him slightly shocked.

"No!" Scorpius began to pace in front of her as he recalled all his endeavors, "Have you seriously not noticed how frequently I visit your office? I don't just owl you, I actually get up and walk the whole way across the floor to come and see you at least once a day. It doesn't sound like much, but I have never made the effort for anyone else in the office. I don't even make that effort with the Minister most days."

She nodded softly, apparently thinking that's where it ended. She was wrong.

"And the lunches!" he continued, catching her by surprise, "I never eat a meal with a woman. Ever. A coffee or a Firewhiskey is the closest it gets. But I have had lunch with you almost every second day for the past four months.

"You also didn't ever consider that maybe the reason I didn't bother removing your clothes before having you last Friday was because I had been picturing you in my apartment and in my arms for so fucking long that when you finally were I just lost control? That just the sight of you is enough to undo me?

"And the rose! How bloody obvious does a man have to be? Not only have I been shamelessly flirting with you at every opportunity I get, but I bought you a damned rose on Valentine's Day. I even got the closest shade to your hair as I could find."

Rose played with the edge of her sleeve and looked remarkably sheepish.

"I thought you were just joking," she said in a voice so soft he barely heard it over his own ragged breaths.

"You really are daft for someone so smart, you know that right?" he crossed his arms and stopped pacing, "It's not that I haven't done anything, it's just been you that's been too bloody blind to notice."

She was silent for a moment longer before murmuring.

"Oh."

"Yes. Oh," Scorpius nodded in agreement still buzzing with adrenaline and the remnants of anger after their argument, "And it hasn't been easy either, may I add. I have been doing everything I know how to do, and several things I have no clue about, to try and get your attention. Because you have mine constantly."

He hadn't noticed himself move, he just appeared to be drawn into her. It wasn't until he felt her face in his hand that he even realized what he was doing.

"I have gone to great lengths to convince you I love you, Rose," he murmured, looking in her big blue eyes that seemed both a little scared an a little awed, "you're just too bloody stubborn to notice."

Rose opened her mouth to say something when he cut her off.

"Don't even think about saying 'oh' again, Rose," he said quickly, watching as she shut her mouth and looked a little confused.

"I don't know what else to say," she defended softly. He simply smiled and caressed her cheek with his thumb lazily.

"That's quite disheartening seeing as I told you I loved you."

He watched the most beautiful smile he thought he'd ever seen fill her face.

"I love you too," she said sincerely and happily. Scorpius smiled again began leaning closer to her face.

"That'll do."

He closed his eyes and kissed her softly. It was as if they had all the time in the world – like this was all they had to do and nothing else around them or outside of this mattered.

She pulled back and shuffled uncomfortably – obviously there was something on her mind.

"And you're," she stopped and played with the edge of her sleeve again. Scorpius swore to Merlin, if she still wasn't convinced he was just going to take her hostage in his apartment and refuse to ever let her leave until she recognized that he was serious. And even then, he might hold her hostage a little longer.

"You're not just saying all this so things won't be awkward between you and Albus, with me being his cousin and all?" she asked softly before adding erratically, "Because if that is the reason that's fine, things can just go back to –"

He placed a finger on her lips, which caused her eyes, which had been focused on the floor, to return to his own.

"Trust me," he smiled sincerely as he lay her troubles to rest, "Things between me and Albus have been awkward since he walked in on us at the Christmas Party – the insidious prick wolf whistles or winks whenever I mention your name. It's infuriating. In fact I think this will actually relieve the awkward-ness."

She smiled a little but it faded and she looked back at the floor. Scorpius tilted her chin up so her gaze met his again and silently asked her to continue. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, clearly unsettled.

"And you don't," she faltered and he watched as she internally willed herself to continue, "You don't think of me as just some 'easy' one night stand?"

He barked out a laugh in her face. He threw his head back and laughed fully before looking back to find her looking at him angrily.

"Rose!" he placed both his hands on her shoulders and smiled as he spoke, "It took me eight months of shameless flirting, somewhere around two thousand galleons worth of muggle wardrobe, well over 100 lunch dates, a very expensive bottle of Ogdon's finest, and an incredibly embarrassing display of affection on Valentine's Day for me to finally get you in my bed for one night. Nothing about wooing you has been 'easy'."

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again with a smile just as infectious as the last. After several pressure moments of just enjoying the feeling of having Rose back in his arms and kissing him again, he felt her pull back. He opened his eyes to see her giving him a smile that was conspicuously more sinister than any he had ever seen before. She took hold of his tie and started to walk back slowly towards the desk, pulling him with her.

"You know that dream of yours you told me about?" she asked, looking up through her eyelashes, "About us arguing…"

Scorpius smirked – he liked where this was going.

"Yes…" he placed his hands on her hips as he followed her lead towards the desk.

"Well, we just had quite an argument then," she looked up at him with a sultry smile playing on her lips. He found his pants got a little bit tighter.

"That we did…" he agreed and kept every fiber in his body from acting against its instincts to rip her clothes from her body.

"And there is a desk. Right. Here," her butt finally met with the edge of the desk. She bit her lip and smirked at him.

"That there is…" he placed his hands either side of her on the desk behind her and leaned a little closer.

"I'm just saying," she shrugged nonchalantly, "You appear to have all the resources to make a certain little dream of yours a reality."

Scorpius smirked and took a deep breath to try and calm his racing pulse.

"Why, Miss. Weasley! Are you suggesting that I…" he suddenly took a firm hold of her hips and lifted her onto the desk, "Take you…" with a flick of her wand, Rose sent all the random stationary that had been on her desk flying to the ground, "Right here?"

He stood between her legs and pulled her hips against his own, making sure she got a good indication of what she was doing to his body.

"The thought had crossed my mind," she admitted playfully, her voice breathy and her breathing heavy.

"Well I guess I could take off your skirt," he unzipped her skirt at the side whilst leaning forward, forcing her to lie back against the desk. She hummed a response that sounded strangely like a moan. He slid the skirt off her legs and dropped in onto the floor. His gaze found her eyes as his finger meandered their way towards the buttons at the top of her shirt. He placed his mouth next to her ear and kissed her neck lightly before whispering to her.

"And I could unbutton your blouse," his fingers ghosted over her skin as he undid each button very slowly. She had closed her eyes and was pushing her chest forward in an effort to come into greater contact with his fingers, but her simply pulled back and slowed down a little more. He knew he was torturing her but, as far as Scorpius was concerned, she deserved it. After the best night of sex of his life, being forced to wait this long without so much as looking at her, he felt himself completely within his rights to get Rose back. He moved his face to the other side of her head, to her other ear, when he kissed her softly again. He finished unbuttoning her blouse and let it flop open, exposing her body underneath. He snuck a quick peak and noticed that she was wearing matching undies and bra again – this time it was a baby blue duo with white lace. He mentally made a note to find out where Rose bought her underwear and send them a thank-you basket. Really, they were enriching his life.

"And then I could always take off your underwear," his fingertips grazed up the sides of her thighs leisurely before they came to rest on the waistband of her panties. He kissed her neck again as his finger tips hooked under her panties, reveling in the fact that Rose was practically panting beneath him.

Excellent.

He moved his mouth back to her ear before murmuring to her.

"But I won't."

He pulled back with a cheeky smile, loosing all contact to Rose, and watched as her eyes shot open angrily. She glared at him incredulously.

"What?" she exclaimed, coming up to rest on her elbows behind her as she continued to glower at him. The only change this forced was for Scorpius' smirk to grow a little wider as he looked down at the flushed and bother woman on the desk.

"I'm not going to screw you on this desk, Rose," he shrugged.

"Why not?" she demanded, her voice a little higher than normal due to unresolved sexual tension coursing through her body. Brilliant.

"Because people in love don't have sleazy, quick office sex."

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at his sudden chivalrous turn.

"They don't?"

"No," he bent forward again, resting his forehead against hers as his hand found its way to rest on her hips and draw teasing patterns on her exposed skin as he whispered, "They have mad, passionate, night-long sex in every room of their house."

Her eyes darkened and he saw that gleam he had first witnessed last Friday return. This was all kinds of promising.

"Your place or mine?" she panted, eyes still locked fiercely on his.

"I have a rather fantastic pair of purple and black lace panties at my house which belong to you," he pulled her up into a sitting position before pulling her hips to meet his own again, "Not to mention I want you in my bed again, but this time I expect you'll still be there when I awaken."

She pushed him back and leapt deftly from the desk, picking up her skirt from the floor as she walked towards the fireplace, a distinctive and deliberate sway in her strut. She grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fire, watching as Scorpius furiously tried to undo his tie and take off his shoes simultaneously.

"You're gunna have to give me a good reason to stay for the morning," she winked before saying his address and disappearing in a puff of green smoke. Scorpius simply smirked and hurried towards the fireplace from which she had just disappeared.

"Minx."

He felt the body beside him let out a heavy sigh and move a little against him. Never in his entire life, had Scorpius ever imagined that waking up covered and boarder-line suffocating in hair would feel so incredibly satisfying.

He wrapped his arm tighter around the body attempting to retreat and pulled it back against his chest. He was rewarded with a startled squeak and another face full of red.

"Don't think that I'm going to let you leave me here by myself ever again Rose Weasley," Scorpius murmured in a voice that was husky from sleep as his hand began to move in slow patterns on her stomach.

"But my breath smells," Rose argued half-heartedly, caught up in the feel of his hand massaging her stomach.

"I don't care," he murmured seductively as he kissed the back of her neck and continued with his wandering hand, which was steadily moving higher.

"I look awful," she pleaded, closing her eyes again as his fingers drew patterns on her ribs.

"Impossible," he murmured against her skin, continuing to kiss her neck and back and slowly making his way towards her shoulder.

"I feel gross," her head lolled back to allow his greater access to her neck.

"Mmmhhh?" when his hand finally reached her breast he kneaded it gently, rewarded with a reasonably unceremonious gasp, "I'd have to disagree with you there."

"Scorpius…." She moaned and pushed her hips a little further back into his, pressed her chest into his hand as he continued to tease her with his mouth and hands.

"Yes…?" he replied, smiling as his lips found a particularly tender spot on her neck. She gasped again.

"I have to," she paused and swallowed audibly before letting out a soft moan when his finger found her nipple, "…have…breakfast."

"Couldn't agree with you more."

In one surprisingly swift motion, he rolled her onto her back and straddled her, pinning her arms next to her head as he kissed her thoroughly on the mouth. She groaned into his mouth and pushed her hips up into his, causing him to release a growl.

They continued languidly kissing and grinding in bed for several for minutes. Just as Scorpius had released her arms and felt her shift her legs from out under him so she could wrap them around his waist, both their breaths hitching as they felt certain areas of their bodies come closer to their desired destination, there was a sound that would haunt them both.

The floo roared to life. Someone was here. They both froze and listened for the visitor to identify themselves.

"Scorpius!" the unmistakable sound of Albus Severus Potter's voice came booming through from the lounge, "Get your sorry arse out of bed right now!"

Fucking Albus Fucking Potter was going to fucking die.

"That's it!" Scorpius said through gritted teeth looking over to his side table angrily, "I'm going to Avada his arse – where's my wand?"

"Scorpius!" Rose warned quietly, her arms still wrapped around his shoulders. He looked back down at her unimpressed expression and sighed defeatedly.

"Fine, no Avada-ing," he looked back to his table in an attempt to locate his blasted wand, "But I swear to Merlin if he thinks he is leaving here with anything less than a mighty powerful bat-bogey hex he is sadly mistaken!"

"Scorpiu – whoa!" The doors to Scorpius' bedroom flew open to reveal Albus Potter, looking thoroughly embarrassed. He turned suddenly and shielded his eyes, "Didn't mean to walk in on you.."

Scorpius shot him a glare over his shoulder (which Albus missed because he was very consciously not looking at Scorpius or his lady friend).

"That could have been avoided if you had knocked!" he said through gritted teeth again.

"Sorry Scorpius," Albus cringed, still shielding his eyes but not leaving, "And Scorpius' lady friend…"

After a moment, something seemed to click in Albus' head. Scorpius watched as the cogs turned painfully slowly in his friend's head.

"Scorpius' lady friend?" he heard him murmur, "Who is here? In the morning? What the-?"

Albus turned and saw Rose peak her head out over the top of Scorpius' shoulder and give a weak smile and a little wave.

"Hi Albi…" her face glowed as red as her hair. Albus' eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, Scorpius was sure, before he finally managed to make any sound.

"ROSE!"

"Yes Rose, now get the fuck out!" Scorpius shot him another glare as his voice raised slightly.

"But how? I mean wha-" the poor boy just couldn't get his head around it, "What are you doing?"

"Snogging, as a prelude to shagging, now if you don't mind," Scorpius answered bluntly, and was slapped on the arm by Rose in return.

"Well I could see that!" Albus exclaimed, face flushed and looking equally embarrassed and confused, "Would someone like to explain?"

Rose nudged Scorpius and nodded her head towards his side of the bed. He groaned angrily and detangled their limbs (thankfully without any areas being exposed in the process). He sat bare chested with the blankets covering his waist down, arms crossed and eyes glaring at Albus furiously. Stupid prat. First he broke up their cuddling now this! The boy was going to pay through the nose. Maybe a nice dose of vomiting slugs would teach him to keep his fucking nose out of other people's fucking business. Talk about a cock-block. Rose had adjusted the sheets so she was covered from her collar bones down, also sitting up, as she tried to adjust her hair. Yeah, as if the state of her hair had given them away.

"Well you see…there….um…" she began to trip over her words and stutter, "There is a perfectly justifiable excuse for…ah…this…"

"No! No there's bloody not!" Scorpius interrupted, looking between Rose and Albus as he began to shout, "Because we don't need a fucking excuse! We're a couple – and couples shag. No excuses, just plain old fact!"

Albus's eyebrows shot so high they also became part of his hair line.

"You're a couple?" he asked, completely confused.

Idiot.

"Yes, we're a fucking couple!" Scorpius threw his arms in the air and pointed at the black-haired boy in front of him, "You are unbelievable, you know that? You're the one whose been telling me to get my act together with Rose since Christmas and now that I do you expect an explanation?"

There was another beat of silence as the three of them stayed silent.

"Seriously?" Albus said, still not convinced, "A couple?"

"For Merlin's sake!" Scorpius exclaimed angrily and tried his best to keep all matter of other less tasteful but equally effective phrases to himself, "Yes – we finish each other's crosswords, hold hands walking down the street, and all that other romantic, 'togetherness' crap. And, on the odd occasion that one ALBUS POTTER does not interrupt, we cuddle and we shag!"

The room fell into a most uncomfortable silence again as the three of them stared at each other. Scorpius glanced at an oddly quiet Rose beside him to find her beaming at him so adorably he couldn't stand to be angry anymore. He was going to have hot morning sex and he was going to have it now.

He looked back at Albus while he shuffled a little closer to Rose, taking her hand and tugging her closer to him.

"I'm giving you 30 seconds to get out of my apartment before we continue what we started before you interrupted us," he warned, catching the gleam returning to Rose's eyes beside him.

Albus looked at him with the most ridiculous smirk on his features. Was he really going to try and call his bluff? Because Scorpius wasn't fussed – his need to have intensely mind-blowing sex with Rose far out-weighed his embarrassment to be caught doing so by her cousin. Besides, Albus couldn't pull off the smirk. He looked too much like a lost puppy to pull of 'sexy arrogance'.

Still, it was annoying that he kept looking at him like that.

"You are so whipped," he finally said smugly. Oh that was it. Dead. The bastard was DEAD.

"ALBUS!" he bellowed, feeling his eye begin to twitch.

"Going!"

And with that, Albus Potter apparated out of his apartment. His words, however, remained floating around in Scorpius' head. He wasn't whipped. Malfoys do not get whipped. And certainly not Scorpius.

No. He was in control of the situation.

The fact that he had been chasing after Rose for the past eight months had absolutely nothing to do with it. He wasn't whipped. He wasn't.

Stupid Rat Bastard.

Rose's voice interrupted his introspection.

"I've never finished your crossword," she said softly, the smile still on her features. He hoped she didn't think he was whipped. Because he wasn't.

"A copy of the Prophet gets delivered every morning," he said without looking at her, "We'll start that habit today."

He was not whipped. No. No, no, no. Definitely not. He felt Rose sigh next to him and begin to talk.

"You know I was serious about needing a shower," she said conversationally.

"Fine," Scorpius shrugged, he didn't really feel like crazy morning sex after what Albus had said. Stupid prat, "The ensuite is just through there. Spare towels are under the sink."

"Ok," she nodded and slid out of bed, one of the top blankets clutched to her. She took a few steps towards the bathroom before turning back and looking at him.

"I'm an excellent multi-tasker," she said simply.

Random. Why did she need to bring up her-

She was smirking. Rose was smirking and had that look in her eyes again. This could only mean good news.

Suddenly Scorpius felt very much in the mood for crazy morning sex.

"Is that so?" he asked, subtly moving to the edge of the bed and beginning to climb out himself.

"Yep," she turned around and continued on her way towards the bathroom, "I can shower and have breakfast at the same time."

It was official – Rose Weasley was a fucking goddess. And she was his. And that meant no more excuses for spending time with her. No more explaining his strange behaviour. No more dumb reasons as to why he couldn't take a girl on a date. No more justifications. Because she was his. They were each other's. And that the only excuse either of them needed.

He stood and watched her continue towards the bathroom, slowly coming around the other side of the bed to be closer to her.

"I'll believe it when I see it Weasley," he challenged. She didn't even look back over her shoulder. She simply dropped the blanket and left Scorpius to watch her naked arse retreating into the bathroom.

"I'm not stopping you Malfoy…"

Well there we go! The end! I hope it finished justly and that it didn't get too fluffy for anyone. I find it hard to write people saying 'I love you' without it sounding totally sappy and horrid, so I tried to lighten it up with the reappearance of Albus. Anyways, I'll stop rambling. I'm a little sad to be saying good-bye to this one, but at the same time I'm glad its finished now – a weight is now off my shoulders haha.

Please, please, PLEASE review. I would most sincerely love to hear it, and it may tempt me to write some more Scorpius/Rose stuff (or dissuade me if you hate it).

Until next time,

Grae xo