Disclaimer: If I was JK rowling, Severus Snape would still be alive.

Rose Weasley was finding it hard to pay attention to her book. Every now and then she'd hear laughs and giggles and she couldn't resist glancing over to the other side, to see what was so bloody amusing. It was eight thirty at night and Rose had, as usual, stayed back in the library. She was used to being alone in there with no one to bother her, but this time found a distraction in the form of Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius by himself wasn't quite distracting, but today he was flanked by an annoying study mate who went by the name of Armene Parkinson. Rose scowled as she heard her fake giggles and saw her playful hands wandering around Scorpius's collar as she was quite conspicuously trying to hit on him and Rose wondered whether he was indeed falling for it.

Half the girls in the school were chasing after the prodigal Malfoy heir and Rose thought it was only a matter of time before the tramp sitting across her would try and woo him into dating her. But Scorpius, Rose knew, was smarter than that. One of the things that had been puzzling everyone at school was how the most eligible bachelor of Hogwarts managed to elude every girl and remain single even after six years. Rose always thought it was because he was too busy winning the Quidditch cup, or topping every class he attended, or playing pranks with James and Albus.

Rose was disturbed from her musings by a particularly loud laugh from Armene. Armene, like a lot of girls, had some how talked Scorpius into tutoring her for her NEWTs. This was an annual ritual. Every year some pretty bimbo would sweet talk Scorpius into tutoring them, not because they needed any genuine coaching, but because they knew that was the closest they would get to a date.

Rose had never really worried herself with these girls, since most of them had a pea sprout for a brain. But this time she was fretting more than usual as Armene was without doubt 'the' most popular girl at Hogwarts. Not only was she unbelievably gorgeous, something even Rose had to admit she was, but quite intelligent as well. Furthermore she was a Slytherin and came from a long line of pureblood families. To make things worse, her family was well acquainted with the Malfoys. Apparently her mother and his father were once an item. Rose had often seen the two of them chatting away in the Hall and in between classes. She was without doubt the best contender amongst all to be the next Mrs Malfoy. And judging from Scorpius's coloring, she was getting quite close to it.

Rose squirmed in her chair as she saw Scorpius listening to Armene quite avidly. Rose couldn't deny that she garnered feelings for Scorpius ever since their fifth year. But she was proud she wasn't lusting after him like every other senseless girl at Hogwarts. No, it wasn't the usual things that appealed to all the other girls that had established her feelings for him. It wasn't him winning the Quidditch cup, or being the most popular guy at Hogwarts. It wasn't those melting grey eyes or that seductive smirk that played across his face. It wasnt the golden hair waving across his forehead, causing girls to look as though they'd been confunded. It wasn't his cheek that endeared him to all her friends including her Gryffindor cousins and brother. It wasn't even his intelligence that made him, along with Rose, a favorite of all the teachers.

No, Rose wasn't impressed by all that. It would take more than that to impress a Weasley and a tad bit more if it was a Granger Weasley. Rose was drawn to some of Scorpius's other characteristics which many of his rabid admirers failed to notice. The way he defended muggle borns against any incursion, which was most likely to come from his own house mates. The way he rallied for house elf welfare which most people thought was a joke, but which endeared him to Rose and genuinely impressed her mother, despite being a Malfoy. The readiness he showed in helping his enemies; something even her father did reluctantly but which reminded Rose of Uncle Harry. Most of these traits, people thought, detracted from Scorpius's super cool image. But these were the things about Scorpius that genuinely attracted Rose.

Rose was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize she had been staring at the blond haired boy in front of her for the past five minutes. But just as she was about to look away Scorpius looked up and caught her staring. Their eyes met for a second, and Rose found herself unable to look away. Scorpius soon smiled, causing a sinking sensation in Rose's stomach, and turned his attention back to Armene.

Great. Now he's gonna think, I'm one of those silly girls always staring at him for no reason. Way to go Rose, so much for making an impression, thought Rose to herself.

But was there any point in trying? No matter how hard she tried, she could never look as good as Armene or any of the other pretty girls at Hogwarts. It seemed like Rose had inherited the best of both her parents, in terms of personality traits. But when it came to looks, she inherited all the wrong parts. Lily was the one who had been passed on the Weasley beauty with the flaming red hair and flawless skin.

But Rose never felt she was that bad of a looker and some people found her bushy brown hair and freckled skin attractive in an odd sort of way, which included Fayne Thomas, whom she dated for a while. But compared to the best girls at Hogwarts, Rose never stood a chance, partly because she never tried that hard. She was so encompassed in her studies that she never had much time to straighten her hair or look after her diet.

Rose was suddenly disrupted by a voice calling her name and realized that Scorpius was standing in front of her with that same devastating smile that caused Rose's stomach to do a back flip. She smiled back nervously, wondering what it was this time.

"I was wondering whether you finished that essay on Charms. We had to turn it in next week," he said.

Scorpius always came by and talked to her when she was alone in the library, even when he had company. Rose spared a glance at Armene and saw that she had an inquisitive look on her face. Feeling slightly more confident Rose replied.

"I haven't finished it yet. I have a few more pages to go. I was busy with Potions. You know how I need to work extra hard on it, seeing as Professor Goldstein loves me to bits," she said sarcastically.

Scorpius chuckled and this made her feel at ease once more. Once they started talking she would always feel relaxed around him. She used to often wonder whether they could have been really close friends if it wasn't for their differing houses.

They talked for a while and it was only when Armene interrupted that Scorpius said bye and left to join her. After giving Rose a really sour look, Armene got back to her main objective and started playing with Scorpius's hair once more.

Rose was getting quite tired of Armene's antics and felt she couldn't take it any longer. She shut her books and made her way out of the library. She wasn't sure whether she was imagining it, but there was a look of longing in Scorpius's eyes as she got up to leave. But the next moment he quickly bent down to read his book, not even returning the smile she gave him. Feeling quite embarassed , Rose gathered her belongings and walked out of the library, smacking herself on her forehead, for even contemplating the possibility of Scorpius Malfoy being interested in her.

A pair of eyes watched the bushy brown hair disappear out of the library as Scorpius sighed inwardly at having missed his chance once again.

A/N: Next chapter will contain Scorpius thoughts during the whole time.

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