A/N: Here's a super long Rose/Scorpius one-shot to tide you over in honour of the Friday the 13th two days ago. I actually came up with this idea on Friday, August 13th 2010... and yes it did take me ten months to finish it.

*sigh*

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone you recognise.

Scorpius Malfoy always knew he was unlucky. It was just something that he had learned to accept about himself. He was blond, he was a Malfoy, and nothing ever went the way he planned. It was simply fact.

Why just last week, he lost his new eagle feather quill, forgot to do his Potions assignment and had been paired up with airheaded Geraldine McLaggen for a major assignment in Charms. Of course he never let on how much all of this bothered him; he was raised better than that, after all. His mother had seen to it. He simply bought himself another fabulously expensive new quill. He laughed off his failing mark, stage whispering that he had better things to do than a measly homework assignment. He let out a long suffering sigh as he diligently did the entire Charms project himself while hardly restraining himself from strangling the inanely giggling Hufflepuff beside him.

Yes, Scorpius was the paragon of unlucky, but thankfully no one seemed to notice.

No, instead their attention was caught by the even unluckier Rose Weasley. Forgetful beyond belief, clumsy almost to the point of incapacitation, and fully equipped with a temper that was set off by the most mundane of things, Rose Weasley barrelled through life practically with an 'Approach at your own Risk' sign tattooed across her forehead.

Still, Scorpius had his own problems to worry about without fretting over whatever mess Rose Weasley managed to get herself into today.

Why, it may be asked, was today anything special?

Because today was Friday the 13th, the day Scorpius dreaded above all others.

He could still recall Friday, November 13th when he was twelve. That day, he had spilled pumpkin juice down his robes and had been forced to walk around with a stained shirt for three lessons in a row because he hadn't known a cleaning charm. Later, he had gotten badly pranked by a group of Gryffindor fifth years for his surname and subsequently spent his lunch period getting stitched up by Madame Aubrey. Then, starving and in a horribly bad temper, he had run into Rose Weasley who spilled ink down his front.

He hadn't even bothered to go to dinner that night despite his rumbling stomach, for fear of what would happen next.

On the morning of Friday August 13th during the summer before his fifth year, he had realised he had been denied the Slytherin prefects position. So, even before breakfast, he had known just what a shitty day he would be having, in case the date hadn't clued him in. As the afternoon wore on, he had been coerced into shopping with his parents, a chore he had always hated. Astoria Malfoy was a well known socialite and gossip. Scorpius loved her with all his heart, but Merlin, she could talk like it was going out of fashion. During their shopping, she had met no less than ten of her closest friends who all insisted on having half hour long conversations. Arms aching and face hurting from smiling like the happy Malfoy heir he wasn't, Scorpius had returned to the mansion that evening simply glad that it was finally all over. But, as luck would have it, Draco's business partners had decided to throw Scorpius's father a surprise birthday party and Scorpius had been forced to attend. At the end of the night, sore and tired, he had run into Rose Weasley who spilled her butterbeer over his new dress robes.

That next morning, he didn't leave his room until four in the afternoon, his bad temper lasted so long.

The last Friday the 13th during his fifth year, hadn't been too bad in comparison. True, it had been the day before Valentine's Day and so had been accompanied by several rejections from witches Scorpius had fancied, but he hadn't really gotten his hopes up. He had gotten severely winded after falling down a flight of stairs, but at least no broken bones. And it was only as he had trudged back down to the dungeons that he had run into Rose Weasley who spilled her pink, Valentine's Day themed drink on his trousers.

At least he had a date with a pretty, if vapid, witch to look forward to the next day.

But today, on Friday, January 13th of his sixth year, Scorpius had woken up extra early, his night tense and not restful in the slightest. He had been anxious to not sleep through his alarm, as had happened countless times before. Instead, he had opened his eyes to see that the face of his watch read 5:44 AM.

Bloody hell, the sun wasn't even up yet!

Well, he didn't know that for a fact since he was currently in the dungeons, but he was pretty sure the sun didn't rise for another hour or so.

Cursing the day that had barely even started, Scorpius threw off his covers and proceeded to get dressed. He was careful not to be too loud and wake up the sleeping sixth year Slytherins around him. To his surprise, he mostly succeeded, save for the time he banged his wrist against his bedpost rather loudly as he tried to zip up his trousers with one hand and blindly search for a comb with his other.

Scorpius decided the next best course of action was to proceed to breakfast even though it was still twenty minutes until the food came out. He picked up a book to read on the way out and made it out of the Slytherin dorms without further incident.

Unsurprisingly, he was the first one into breakfast that morning, arriving at precisely 6:16. He sat down glumly at the closest end of the Slytherin table and opened his book.

He was so engrossed that he didn't even notice when another student arrived.

What he did notice was the shock of a glass of cold water being practically upturned over his head and book.

Spluttering in indignation and surprise, he looked up into the horrified face of Rose Weasley.

"Oh Merlin," she cried, "I'm so sorry Malfoy!"

He quickly took in her appearance. She had a book of her own held half open in one hand and a practically empty glass of water in her other.

"I was reading while walking – and yes I know it isn't a good idea for me of all people – but I figured that no one was up and about at this hour. And I suppose I got thirsty and conjured myself a glass of water… and this book is really good, and I guess I got too caught up and didn't see you sitting there. I'm so sorry, are you alright?" she finished, looking distinctly hassled.

"Er, yeah, Weasley," Scorpius said with a sigh. He ran a hand through his sopping hair ruefully. "It's only water, after all."

"Yeah," she affirmed dubiously.

Scorpius quickly got out his wand and dried himself and his book.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked anxiously, sitting down beside him. "You sure you're alright?"

"It was only water," he reminded her.

"I know," Rose said, sighing. "And I'm sorry," she apologised. "Again," she said after a beat.

"It's okay," Scorpius said, already wishing the unlucky girl would leave him to his undoubtedly crappy Friday the 13th in peace.

"Why are you here anyway?" Rose questioned. "It's far earlier than anyone usually gets up."

Scorpius looked at her incredulously. Why couldn't she just go back to her book and leave him alone? He just wanted to survive the day with his sanity and dignity intact. It would just be his luck to get saddled with Rose Weasley for the whole morning.

However, once it was clear she wasn't going anywhere, Scorpius resigned himself to conversation with the girl. Well, he figured, how much harm could she do sitting a full metre across from him with a very firm wooden table between them?

"Couldn't sleep," he said curtly, snapping his book shut.

"Me neither," Rose sighed immediately as she refilled her glass with her wand. "The thunder woke me up about an hour ago, and I'm one of those types of people who can't get back to sleep for the life of them."

"It's raining?" Scorpius asked, looking around.

"Course it is," scoffed Rose, raising her eyebrows at him as she gestured to the window. "You honestly haven't noticed?"

"No," he confessed, feeling stupid. He stared for a moment at the rain that was pelting the large windows of the Great Hall. It was rather loud, now that he thought of it.

Rose laughed. "What are you reading then, Malfoy? Must be pretty interesting."

He shrugged. "Nothing," he said, moving his hand surreptitiously over the spine.

He should've known that Rose Weasley would be the type who would pry.

"Come on, Malfoy," she said, grinning and tugging the book out from under his hand. "It can't be that bad."

"Oh but it is," Scorpius said, committing himself to the worst.

"John Smith?" she read aloud, her face astonished as she stared at the cover. "You're read his novels?"

Scorpius merely grunted and swiped the book from out of her grasp impatiently. "Go on then, Weasley," he said, scowling. "Laugh it up all you want."

"But how did you get it?" she whispered, eyes still trained on the spot where the book had been moments ago. "The Three Healers isn't supposed to come out until December!"

Scorpius gaped at her.

Shyly, Rose pushed over her own book for his inspection. He recognised the cover immediately, as he had only thumbed through his own copy about a hundred times.

For the first time that morning, a true smile broke out over Scorpius's face. "You're on the first one? That's brilliant."

Rose snorted. "As if. I just started rereading the series in anticipation and for something to do to bide my time until that book comes out." She gestured to where The Three Healers had disappeared onto the seat next to him. "I can't believe you have it!"

"I can't believe you would read it," he countered.

Rose blushed. "It's quite embarrassing."

"Oh go on then," he encouraged.

Rose took a sip of water before starting, "Well, when Hugo and I were little, we fought all the time. Mum and Dad claimed they were ready to check into St. Mungos for all the insanity we put them through. But, when I was nine and Hugo was eight, Mum started reading the first of John Smith's novels aloud to us. Well, we both loved it and Mum and Dad would shamelessly use it in a combination of bribery and blackmail to get Hugo and me to agree on things." Rose guiltily tapped the cover of her book. "Since then Hugo and I have gotten along, and I've been a closet John Smith fan. But enough about me," she said quickly, her warm brown eyes boring into his, "What about you? How in the name of Merlin did you get it two months early?"

Scorpius shrugged, still not believing that he and Rose Weasley had something in common. "My cousin knows the cover illustrator," he explained. "She gave me the first one for Christmas a couple of years ago. Once I told her how much I liked it, she's been giving me advance copies whenever she can get her hands on them. I think she just does it because I'm hard to shop for and she knows I'll read whatever she gets me by John Smith."

Rose smiled.

Scorpius was inexplicably struck by the thought that she was quite pretty when she wasn't tripping over something or apologising profusely. Against his better judgement, he found himself saying, "Well, Weasley, I'm almost done with it. I can loan it to you, if you want," Scorpius offered.

Rose beamed, her whole face lighting up in pleasure.

Scorpius immediately dashed his previous thought – she was bloody gorgeous.

And all of the sudden, he knew why this Friday the 13th would be the worst of all.

Well, if that doesn't take the cauldron cake, he thought bitterly. Figures that I start fancying Rose Weasley on Friday the 13th.

He couldn't have worst luck if he tried.

Because the universe seemed to be conspiring against him that day, Scorpius somehow wound up sitting next to Rose for every single lesson they had together. Every time his gaze wandered from the teacher at the front of the class, there was Rose.

Rose, with her dimples, pretty smile and wild red hair.

Rose, with her smart arse comments that nonetheless made the teachers smile at her wit.

Rose, who was slowly but surely becoming the centre of his every thought.

And so Scorpius was nearly beside himself with relief when he heard the bell signalling the end of his last class. However, in his haste he forgot to watch what he was doing, and his bag swung right into Rose Weasley's neatly stacked pile of notes.

"Oh bugger, I'm sorry, Malfoy," she apologised, her eyes widening in horror as she watched the remnants of her carefully arranged note flutter to the floor.

Scorpius sighed, feeling like a total arse. "Not your fault, Weasley," he muttered, bracing himself for the worst.

"No, I shouldn't have put them in your way," she insisted, bending down under her desk to reach the pieces of parchment that had somehow gotten trapped underneath her chair.

Scorpius couldn't help but notice that her posture gave him an excellent view of her lovely shaped arse. He stopped a moment to admire it before bending down himself to help her. "Here," he said gruffly, handing her a rumpled batch of papers.

"Thanks," Rose said, blushing as she found herself under the desk with Scorpius. They were quite close, after all. She could see every wrinkle in his slightly askew sliver and green tie and count the flecks of black in his grey eyes.

As soon as Scorpius found himself glancing to her chest, where a very nicely placed button had come undone, he backed away hastily and stood up.

No, it wouldn't do for him to fantasise about neon blue lacy bras and wonder how in the name of Merlin that colour didn't show through her white shirt.

Absolutely nothing went his way on Friday the 13th, he should have known that by now.

"Anyway," Rose said, straightening up, "I think I got it all. Thanks for- bloody hell!" she swore, rubbing the back of her head where she had just banged it on the underside of their desk.

"You alright?" he asked, stepping forward in concern.

"Yeah," she said ruefully, flushing to the roots of her hair. "You probably think I'm such a spaz."

"Well, yeah," he said, smirking. "But I've always known that."

"Oh you flatter me," Rose said, swatting him on the arm jokingly.

It just seemed so natural, so instinctive, so friendly, that for a moment he was caught off guard.

"Just don't spread the word, okay?" Rose was saying, "It wouldn't do to have the whole school know I'm a totally incompetent when it comes to basic coordination skills."

Scorpius laughed. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

She sent him a shining smile for his promise. "Wonderful," she said as she quickly shoved her papers haphazardly into her bag before they could attract any more harm. "Look, do you want to head down to dinner? I'm starved."

"Er, sure," Scorpius said hesitantly, unwilling to spend more time around Rose but quite wanting to anyway.

They walked down to the Great Hall together, and Scorpius only tripped once. Thankfully, Rose was too busy chattering away that she didn't seem to notice.

It was only as Rose turned to fix his tie, saying, "Pardon the personal space intrusion, Malfoy, but this has been annoying me since forever…" that Scorpius noticed that her shirt still had one button undone.

"Er, Weasley," he started.

"Hm?" she asked, not looking up from her task.

"Rose," he said again.

That got her attention. "Yeah?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"You're shirt," he said, gesturing to the spot.

"What? I could have sworn I didn't spill any-" she muttered, her eyes roving down her chest. "Oh damn it!" she swore, her face turning bright red as she caught on. She then started cursing up a storm under her breath as she hastily buttoned her shirt back up.

"And of course today was the day before laundry day. Blue!" she finished, turning on her heel and stalking over to the Gryffindor table without looking behind her.

It was almost as if she forgot he was there.

Scorpius tried not to let it show how much her abrupt departure unsettled him.

As soon as he realised Rose wasn't coming back, he slowly made his way to the Slytherin table. He sat himself down between two of his dorm mates, Avery and Donaldson, and half-heartedly participated in their conversation. He was on good terms with nearly everyone in his house, but he was never really close to anyone in particular. He just liked being on his own, was all. And that's what he told himself whenever that particular thought wandered through his head.

Still, he couldn't help looking up at Rose Weasley, surrounded by her family and friends. At that particular moment, her head was thrown back in laughter and she was shaking her head at her cousin Louis who was making funny faces into his spoon.

He was astounded that she had so many people who could claim to be her friends.

Where his clumsiness and bad luck seemed to drive other people away by the dozen, hers just seemed to endear her to everyone around her. Well…maybe that maybe he was wrong, and her faults weren't that endearing. Really, how many times can one stand being tripped over, spilled on or accidentally stood up? No, rather it was that her intense friendliness and interest in everyone around her totally eclipsed all her worse qualities.

Scorpius sighed and poked at the rather soggy cabbage pieces left on his plate, every once in a while chiming in a well placed, "hm" or "yeah," or two into the conversation being carried on in front of him.

It was only as he realised that he was agreeing to total silence, that he noticed the chatter in front of him had ceased. He looked about him in astonishment, blinking dazedly as he took in the unexpected image of Rose Weasley standing behind him.

"Hey, Malfoy," she said, smiling nervously.

"Wealsey," he said, tipping his head forward slightly in greeting.

"Rosie!" her head swivelled around to see her cousin Fred waving frantically at her.

"In a moment!" she called impatiently before turning back to Scorpius. "What did you say?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked flatly.

"Oh," she said, reaching up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "I was just thinking of popping into the library to study for that Charms quiz on Tuesday. Anyway, I was checking my bag to see if I had everything, and I think I'm missing a quill. I was wondering if you had it?"

Suddenly a shout came again from the Gryffindor table, "Rosie Weasley!"

"Not now, Fred!" Rose yelled without turning her gaze from Scorpius. "Well?"

"I'll check right now," Scorpius said, picking up his bag and rifling through its contents and inwardly dreading what he might find. Merlin, what if he had taken it? Would she think he was stealing her things? Would she never speak to him again? Would she snog him for finding it? Privately he hoped for the last one. Still, he said none of these questions aloud, instead he simply asked, "What type of quill?"

"Eagle," she said, twisting the hem of her skirt with her fingers absentmindedly. "I wouldn't bother you, but it's new. I got it for my birthday last week, and I'd feel really foolish if I lost it not five days after getting it."

He looked up at her briefly, and she suddenly stopped fretting the hem of her skirt. Instead she put one hand on the table and the other on her hip, looking distinctly flustered.

Scorpius sighed as he went back to looking for her missing article. "I got it," he said dully.

"Oh brilliant!" Rose said happily, "I was afraid I'd lost it!"

However, she made no move to reach for it.

He kept holding it out to her, his gaze becoming more and more bemused as the seconds ticked by.

Rose was just standing there, a rather shocked expression emerging on her features.

"Er, Weasley?" Scorpius tried, holding her quill out. "Rose?"

"I can't move my hand," she said in a horrified whisper.

"Pardon?" Scorpius asked, unsure of he heard her correctly.

"I can't move my bleeding hand from this table!" Rose hissed, using her free hand to pull the other one forcefully upwards. "I'm stuck!"

"You're what?" Scorpius asked incredulously.

"Stuck!" Rose repeated, jerking her elbow left and right to no avail.

It was just then that Scorpius heard similar complaints from up and down the Slytherin table as people tried unsuccessfully to lift their hands to their mouths or get up from their benches.

"How about you?" she demanded, her brown eyes sparkling with frustration.

Scorpius tried to stand up, but it was like someone had put a permanent sticking charm on the backseat of his trousers. "Can't move," he said, giving up after a moment.

Rose's gaze suddenly swivelled to the Gryffindor table, where Scorpius could see her cousins' shoulders quaking with barely suppressed laughter.

"Fred! James!" she yelled, her temper flaring up at once. "Whatever you did to the Slytherin table, reverse it at once, you prats!"

"Whatever do you mean, Rosie?" James asked, turning around to grin at her.

"You know exactly what I mean, you git! Oh just wait until I get over there-"

"If she ever does," Scorpius heard Fred stage whisper to James.

"That is IT!"

However, the rest of Rose's undoubtedly biting tirade was cut short by the arrival of Professor Longbottom, who had calmly gotten up from the staff table to amend the situation. "Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter," he said, raising a hand to silence Rose. "It seems that the Slytherin table is currently under some sort of sticking charm. Do you boys care to share what you know about it?" He frowned.

"Don't know a thing, Professor."

"To what might you be referring to, sir?"

Professor Longbottom sighed and shook his head. "You don't want to play this game with me, boys. Please perform the counter charm at once," he said sternly.

James and Fred shared a look.

"No can't do, sir," said James.

"Doesn't exist," Fred added.

Beside them, Louis let out a snort of laughter.

"What do you mean it doesn't exist?" Rose shrieked.

"I mean, Rosie dearest, there isn't a counter charm," James said, sending her a cheeky smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, Scorpius saw Headmistress McGonagall roll her eyes and start to stand up from her position at the centre of the teacher's table.

Professor Longbottom crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at them. "And I suppose if I owl George Weasley, he'll tell me the same thing?"

Fred and James nodded, grinning at each other.

"That's the beauty of it, sir," Fred said. "The slimy gits will just have to wait it out-"

"OI! What do you mean by slimy-"

"Miss Weasley, let me handle this," Professor Longbottom said, holding up another hand. "And how long will they have to 'wait it out'?" he asked, turning to James and Fred.

"A couple of hours or so, I'd reckon," Fred guessed, turning to James for confirmation.

"At least two-"

"JAMES POTTER, YOU CAN'T MEAN I'LL BE STUCK HERE FOR TWO-"

"Miss Weasley, please lower your voice at once!" Headmistress McGonagall commanded sharply, having finally arrived on the scene. She turned to glare down at Fred and James. "So you two thought it would be amusing to perform some sort of sticking charm on the entire Slytherin House table?"

"Basically, yeah-"

"Well, more hilarious than amusing-"

"Silence, boys," Professor Longbottom cut off both Fred and James. "For this little stunt, I figure a week's worth of detention? What do you say, headmistress?"

"Oh I quite agree," McGonagall said, "And I'd like to subtract forty points from Gryffindor for this disreputable behaviour."

"Forty? Really Headmistress-"

"Miss Weasley, please sit down!"

Rose turned bright red and reflexively sat down.

Or tried to, as the case was.

"Merlin, Weasley!" Scorpius exclaimed, surprised with the sudden weight on his lap. However, half her leg had managed to land on the bench, so she had well and truly gotten herself stuck with the rest of the Slytherins.

"Sorry, Malfoy!" Rose said, turning bright red as she tried to adjust her legs to a more comfortable position.

"Right," Scorpius muttered, watching as she removed one leg from his lap to awkwardly cross it over the other in the limited space she had.

"Oh I'm going to positively murder them when I'm free of this stupid charm… two whole hours? Some people have work to be done! Merlin help them when I'm through," Rose muttered to herself.

"You just had to sit down, didn't you Weasley?" Scorpius muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Rose turned to glare at him. "McGonagall told me to… and… and… I wasn't thinking!"

"Got that right," Scorpius snorted.

She scowled and shifted slightly in her seat to get more comfortable. "Fine. Be an arse, Malfoy."

Scorpius sighed. "Sorry, Weasley. I'm just frustrated that I'm going to be stuck here, is all."

Rose turned to look at him a sympathetic look on her face. "Well, since we're going to be a while, why don't you call me by my first name?"

Scorpius looked at her blankly.

She shrugged. "Might as well get to know each other… Unless you want to spend the next two hours studying for our potions exam on Monday or something equally as boring?" She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Rose it is."

"I thought so," she said smugly. "Now, let's get to it, Scorpius."

He never thought his ridiculous name sounded sweeter than when it came from Rose Weasley's mouth.

"What do you want to know about me?" he asked, entirely baffled as to what Rose Weasley might find about him interesting.

"Dunno," she said, taking his goblet and taking a quick drink. "Regale me with wild tales of Scorpius Malfoy, wizard extraordinaire," she commanded, grinning at him.

"Afraid there's not much to tell," Scorpius confessed, looking at her strangely. "My life's been pretty dull."

"I'm sure that's not the case!" she insisted.

"It is."

"Hmph," Rose huffed. "Well, then getting to know each other will be fairly short work then, eh?"

"I suppose so," said Scorpius.

"And we have two hours…"

"Yes we do," he sighed.

Merlin, two whole hours with Rose Weasley literally attached to him at the hip. Scorpius couldn't think of anything he both dreaded and yearned for quite so much. It was just that he knew falling for Rose would only spell trouble. She was, he reminded himself for the thousandth time that day, the only person who had worse luck than he did. Surely the two of them together would mean certain disaster. Plus, she was a Weasley and he was a Malfoy. Just his luck he would fancy the only person who was undeniably off limits.

"Malfoy? Scorpius?" Rose asked, tilting her head and staring at him. "You there?"

"Yeah, sorry," he said, giving his head a little shake.

"Good, I thought you were leaving me in favour of some more entertaining daydream or something," she joked, nudging him with her shoulder. "Could you pass me that bowl of soup? You don't mind if I use your spoon, do you?"

"Not at all," Scorpius said, reaching over to grasp the bowl in question.

"Merlin," Rose sighed as she ladled soup into the empty bowl Scorpius just handed her, "Some Friday, eh?"

"Indeed."

"I mean, just this morning I remember being so thrilled that tomorrow was the weekend, and now look at me! Stuck at the Slytherin table while all my friends are off gallivanting doing who knows what." She paused, and then amended, "Well, except for you." She gave him a little nod.

"We're friends?" It was only as he let the words slip out of his mouth that he realised how rude they were.

But somehow, Rose seemed not to notice. "Yeah," she said, giving him a funny look. "Course we are. I mean, we've known each other for six odd years, and have had every single class together. I know we've never really had a decent conversation before today and most of our interactions have consisted of me spilling random liquids over you but-" She broke off, looking horrified. "Well, Malfoy – I – it's just – bugger. If you don't think we're friends, then I wouldn't want to presume – bloody hell, I'm sorry." She blushed and looked down, suddenly supremely interested in her soup.

"Weasley," he started, and then amended, "Rose."

She raised her head slowly, her face bright red. "Is it possible to die from shame?" she asked frankly. Suddenly her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "I did just say that aloud, didn't I?" she asked faintly.

Despite himself, Scorpius smiled. "Yes you did," he confirmed.

"Bloody hell! Just Avada me right now," muttered Rose.

He chuckled, and she looked up at the sound.

"I'd like to be your friend, Rose," he pronounced slowly, delighting as her face broke out into a wide smile.

"Excellent!" Rose said, still beaming. "So, my new mate Scorpius, when are you planning on finishing the Three Healers?"

And so they talked. And talked. And talked. For two whole hours while they were stuck at the Slytherin table, Rose and Scorpius just talked.

"You called him a what?" Rose asked after nearly two hours, laughing.

Scorpius smirked. "A rather unfortunate looking excuse for a man."

Rose actually clutched her sides as she fought to breathe. "I can't believe you said that to Cole Samuels!"

"Well, he deserved it," Scorpius said, crossing his hands over his chest. "He cut me off in the queue! And I was eleven! I had no idea who he was."

"Course you didn't," Rose said condescendingly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just because he is the greatest living author and the leading expert on Merlin himself doesn't mean that he could skip Scorpius Malfoy in the queue for ice cream."

"Too right, it doesn't," Scorpius said, his next sentence fading away as he looked at Rose's hand on his shoulder. "Rose," he started, his eyes widening.

"What?" she asked.

"Your hand," he said quietly.

"What about it?" she asked, raising it up to eye level and inspecting it closely, "Nothing's wrong, as far as I can tell."

"Exactly," he said, standing and pulling her up by her hand. "No longer stuck, see?"

Rose blinked. "Oh," she said, looking around the Great Hall in bewilderment. "Where did everyone go?"

Scorpius scanned the Slytherin table, which was by now almost deserted. "Must've left already."

Rose seemed completely thrown for a moment. "Alright then," she said slowly. "What time is it?"

"Nearly curfew," Scorpius said, checking his watch. "We've been here nearly two and a half hours."

"Oh Merlin!" Rose said hurriedly, gathering her things. "I told Madeline I'd meet her before she had to do her rounds!"

She turned to go, but at the last second Scorpius called her back. "Wait, Rose!"

She paused and started to walk back to him. "Yeah, Scorpius? Did I forget anything?"

"Er, no," he said.

"Then – oof!" Rose tripped midway through her sentence, seemingly on air. Scorpius instinctively reached out to catch her, but her force was too great and they tumbled to the ground together.

"Oh bollocks," Rose muttered into his chest as she began to clamber off him. "I'm sorry. You hurt anywhere?"

His head hurt terribly where it had cracked on the stone floor beneath them, but he lied and said, "No, I'm fine. How about you?"

"I think I twisted my ankle," she murmured. She moved to sit on the ground and began to rub her leg slowly. "What's that you wanted Scorpius?"

"Never mind," he said, already regretting calling her back.

"Really?" Rose asked, staring at him, "Because I'd hate for this whole fall to be for nothing."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"It's okay," she said, getting to her feet and testing out her ankle. "I'll just be off then, yeah?"

"Okay," he said, feeling distinctly sick. Merlin, he was such a coward. What was he afraid of, anyway? That their combined bad luck would make his life miserable? Hello, it already was. He actually had nothing to lose.

"Rose, let me see your ankle," Scorpius said, walking purposefully up to her and leading her over to the nearby Gryffindor table.

Silently, she let him guide her and took a seat as he reached for her leg. He twisted it one way and another, watching her expression carefully and noting when she winced in pain. His slender fingers applied the barest of touches to all the tender areas and gave a low whistle when he reached his conclusion.

"It's definitely sprained," he said grimly, pulling out his wand. "It's no problem. It'll just be a moment. I get these all the time."

"You do?" Rose asked, taken aback.

"Sure," he muttered absentmindedly. "Tripping into things, falling down stairs… I've probably gotten more twisted ankles than even you have."

She stared at him. "It's just," she said after a moment, "I haven't ever seen you doing any of that."

"Course you haven't," he said, smiling up at her. "You're already face down on the floor yourself."

"Oh do shut up," she said playfully.

"No really," he said seriously, "I'm just as bad as you are, if not worse."

"You're joking," said Rose flatly.

"Nope," he said before pulling out his wand and murmuring the healing charm he had preformed countless times on himself.

"But you're Scorpius Malfoy," she said in a significant voice. "You're all… oh I don't know… proper and stuff. You don't go making a total arse of yourself on a daily basis like me."

Scorpius tapped her ankle once and watched it glow gold for a moment. "Not when people see me, no," he said slowly. He looked up into her curious brown eyes. "But in the dorm or at the manor, I'm a total nightmare."

Rose laughed. "I don't believe it."

Scorpius didn't respond, instead he straightened up and sat back down next to Rose.

"Look, Rose, there was a reason I called you back," he said slowly.

"I figured as much," she said, smiling at him.

It was her smile that undid him. It just lit up her whole face and made him lose his head.

"You're beautiful," he said before he could stop himself.

"Excuse me?" Rose choked out.

Scorpius flushed slightly. "You're beautiful," he repeated, feeling entirely embarrassed.

"Oh," she said, stunned. "Thanks," she said after a moment.

There was silence, during which Scorpius felt distinctly uncomfortable and regretted ever opening his stupid mouth.

And then suddenly Rose burst out: "What do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean?" Scorpius spluttered. "Isn't it kind of obvious?"

"No!"

"Then let me make it clearer," Scorpius growled before leaning down and kissing her on the lips.

It wasn't anything fancy by any means. There was no tongue involved nor any moans of pleasure, but it was light and sweet in its own special way. It still left Scorpius feeling quite pleasant, and he drew away regretfully.

"Oh," Rose sighed as they broke apart.

Scorpius paused an inch away from her face, trying to read her reaction. Her eyes were closed and a small smile lurked in the corner of her mouth.

Suddenly her eyes flew open. "That's it?" she demanded. "You're not going to kiss me again?"

"Of course I am," Scorpius said, grinning as he leaned in to meet her lips once more.

Perhaps, he thought, Friday the 13th wasn't so unlucky after all.

In fact, while he was snogging Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy was sure he was the luckiest bloke in the whole castle.

A/N: for those of you waiting for a Compliments update... it's coming. I have a couple of chapters already written, and the words are coming faster now that I don't really have deadlines to meet.

So, hopefully this one-shot of epic proportions suited your R/S fix for the time being.

Cheers,

Veri