Hi all! No, its not a new chapter of The Birthday Present, but its something. I have not abandoned TBP, I just haven't had the motivation to get back to it recently. Hopefully in July, after exams, there will be another upload. Hope you enjoy this one, although I warn you, I didn't really proof-read too well so there are likely to be mistakes. Sorry for that.

Heed the rating – this be M, so mild-smut lies ahead me hearites (why am I talking/typing like a pirate? I dunno, but its fun. Arrr!). This will not be a continued story – its just a little oneshot that's been running around in my head for a while now.

Disclaimer: I own them bitches coz Im JK Rowling! (-clearly a lie)

Please review, it would make my day about a bajillion times better, and I need it right now because I have so much study. That I haven't done because I wrote this instead. Epic fail Grae.

Anywho, enjoy!

Rose Weasley did many stupid things. Scorpius Malfoy was the latest.

As soon as she saw the mop of platinum blonde hair on the pillow next to her she knew she had made a mistake. After all, waking up next to your cousin's best friend was not exactly what most people would consider a smart move. The fact that he was perhaps the most arrogant arse to ever walk the face of the Earth only added insult to injury. Really, she had no idea how Albus was able to tolerate him for any great length of time, let alone actually like him enough to class him as his best friend. The man was the textbook definition of a misogynistic prick and serial flirt who had next to no moral boundaries or redeeming features.

And she had slept with him.

Top job Rose – your moral compass is spot on as always.

Merlin she hated her conscience sometimes. But not as much as she hated the man lying next to her. She looked at him and considered her options – she could try and sneak out as quietly as possibly, hoping that he didn't remember he had slept with her and hence avoid the inevitable torment he would undoubtedly unleash upon her. Or she could wake him up with the chirpiest, squeakiest voice she could manage to cause his head to spin and ache. Although that may end badly for her as well considering they'd both drunk a similar amount of alcohol last night. She could always hex him. Yes, that would be good! She could hex him something shocking and then leave before he realized it was her. This was perfect. The best of both worlds. All she had to do was locate her wand. Which should be easy. It should be in her pants pocket.

Where the devil were her pants?

Why oh why did Drunk Randy Rose have to display her supreme athletic ability and Chaser skills by always insisting on throwing her clothes as far across the room as possible when in the throws of passion? It really did piss off Sober, Slightly Hungover Rose who just wanted to abandon the scene of the crime as soon as possible. And in order to do so she had to make her way around the room sorting through all the random articles of clothing (some of which seemed to be in quite hard to reach places. Like what she could only assume was her knickers, which were hanging precariously off the ceiling fan.)

Why Drunk Randy Rose? Why?

She looked around her immediate vicinity in search of something that she could cover herself with while she tried to gather her clothes without waking the snoring lump beside her, trying to remember how, exactly, she had got herself into this position.

It was probably Lily's fault. Lily was always getting her into trouble with boys ever since she pushed Rose under the enchanted mistletoe with Winston Bunglehop – whose nose was constantly runny and whose hair was never brushed – in third year and Rose was, therefore, forced to kiss him so she could continue on her way. Even though both she and her cousin were in their twenties now, Lily hadn't grown out of this regrettable trait of hers. In fact, if anything, she had simply perfected it with time, leaving Rose stranded at the bar with a random, or accidentally pushing Rose into someone on a dance-floor. She didn't appreciate it. Not in the slightest.

So Rose was convinced that it was sure to have been Lily's fault she had ended up sleeping with Malfoy. Especially since she had been persuaded by her cousin to have a night on the town last night.

Oh yes – it was all coming back to her now, and it was most definitely Lily Potter's fault.

And Albus'.

Bloody cousins.

See, Rose and Lily had gone out for a nice quiet night out for dinner, just the girls. And somehow a quiet girls night out turned in getting smashed and being silly at some outrageously exclusive club that Lily liked to frequent. Looking back, Rose really should have known that her beloved cousin had an ulterior motive. Said motive turned out to be a very tall handsome man that Rose thinks she remembered being told was called Tobias. Or Thomas? Or Brad? Merlin she didn't remember. What she did remember in blinding clarity was that handsome 'my-chin-is-just-naturally-this-perfectly-defined' Lily-Motive was a good friend of Albus who also just so happened to be there. And everyone knew you simply couldn't go out in a pair – 1; people could misunderstand and think you were a couple, 2; if one happened to 'get lucky' that left the other person stranded. Actually, now that she thought about it, why the hell did she always let Lily take her out when it was just the two of them when Rose knew the risks?! Oh well, that wasn't the point. The point was that they had a third friend.

Enter Sir Douchey McDumbass with ridiculously perfect hair, Scorpius Malfoy.

Rose and Scorpius had never been friends. In fact they had never even been civil – they seemed to have some kind of genetic make up that made them hate each other even if they didn't want to. But they did want to, so it wasn't really an issue here. The two of them just weren't meant to associate with each other. In fact, saying that Rose and Scorpius didn't get along was like saying that Britain and Germany had a little bit of an disagreement around 1939. They just didn't mesh.

So when Lily and Lily-Motive slunk off to some dark corner somewhere between Rose's third and fourth drink, and Albus abandoned them after going to get another round of drinks and never returning (something that occurred quite frequently whenever Albus voluntarily went to buy a round. In fact it was practically code for 'I see someone I like. I won't be back') Rose became angry at her cousins' betrayal. For now she had no one but Scorpius Malfoy for company. She'd rather be entertained by a Dementor – she was sure they're be more fun.

Rose was about to excuse herself and call it a night when Captain Dip-Shit spoke.

"Well, well, well, I never thought I'd see the day that little Rosie Weasley got smashed," he smirked down at her from where they stood near the bar. She simply rolled her eyes.

"I am not drunk, Malfoy," Rose all-but spat his name. He didn't seem deterred.

"Are so."

Note to self: add childish to the list of 'Reasons Why Scorpius Malfoy is a Twat'.

"Am not," hey, if he was resorting to such behavior than she could too. He finished his drink and Rose prayed to any heavenly body listening that he choked.

"What other possible explanation could there be for your talking to me then?"

Well damn. He had her there. She was tempted to walk away from him, but then she remembered that she had no Lily to run off to, and she would just be left to defend herself on the dance-floor. And there was no way she was anywhere near drunk enough to go solo on the d-floor. So instead she just bit her lip and looked back at Malfoy.

"…Maybe I am drunk?"

He smiled as he leant against the bar in a way that seemed much too suave for a man in a bar like this (though she wouldn't go as far as to describe it as a criminal hangout, classy it most certainly was not. Exclusivity didn't ensure repute).

"I bet – you've probably had two whole Butter Beers," he patted her hair condescendingly, "Best not have a third – we wouldn't want Miss. Head Girl getting shit-faced now would we?"

Looking back, Rose could see that this was all a plan to get her smashed – that he was setting her up because he knew that she just couldn't resist a challenge. She knew this now. Then, however, it was a different story.

"Oh puh-lease Malfoy – I could drink you under the table," she put her hands on her hips and scowled at him in a way she hoped was at least partly menacing.

He leant forward with that stupid smirk on his face, his head getting much too close to her own (but Rose Weasley wasn't about to back down – no sir!).

"That sounds like a challenge."

"What are you going to do about it?" she leant closer and if she had been in any kind of clear frame of mind then she would have realized that the way his eyes darted to her lips should have been an indicator of an ulterior motive. She wasn't in a clear mind though – she was slightly inebriated, so she didn't find it strange at all. Malfoy had smirked again before waving to the bartender and ordering what sounded like four shots of Firewhiskey. They mock-toasted each other before downing two each in quick succession.

Then they downed another two.

And Rose couldn't be sure, but she was pretty sure at least three more followed.

And suddenly she was sitting on a couch at the back of the club arguing with him about how she was better than him at pretty much everything. This also should have been a warning, because Rose knew the transgression of her drunk personalities, and she knew that Absurdly Confident Drunk Rose was usually followed by the aforementioned Drunk Randy Rose. She really should have been able to recognize this and realize that she really shouldn't be around Scorpius Malfoy when Drunk Randy Rose decided to awaken.

Shouldn't be. But she was.

"I bet there's one thing I am most certainly better at than you," he raised a suggestive eyebrow and lowered his voice, moving closer towards her in what could only be described as a predatory manner. Rose simply raised an eyebrow to challenge his own and smirked deviously.

"Wanna bet?" she deliberately chose that moment to lick her lips very slowly. (Scorpius, as this moment, was wondering what splendiferous, massive cock-up had occurred in the universe that had resulted in Rose Weasley – Rose freakin Weasley – playing along with his little game of innuendo. Oh well, he wasn't complaining)

"What are the stakes?" he asked as he subtly laid his arm across the back of the couch, bringing them closer together. Rose was determined not to back down even though she knew she was being set up – Scorpius Malfoy was not going to beat her. Not tonight.

"Winner takes all," she seemed to be leaning a little closer subconsciously. She swore Malfoy was like a big evil sun with his bright white hair and smile – he had this gravitational pull that drew her in against her will and locked her in place completely against her will. Stupid dickhead of a sun. She just tried to keep on a brave face and pretend like she wasn't feeling the slightest bit dizzy off what she was sure was a deadly combination of alcohol and a drug named Scorpius Malfoy.

He slid closer to her as well, allowing his hand to meander its way off the back of the couch and her back instead – the lower half of it – as he leant in so his mouth was resting at the shell of her ear.

"And what, exactly, do you mean when you say 'all'?" he hoped she didn't notice his impromptu sniff of her hair – how was it, even when in a dank old pub like this, she still managed to have nice-smelling hair?

"Glory," she whispered back in his ear, deliberately ghosting her lips over his skin as she spoke, "Bragging rights."

He hummed in what she wasn't sure was agreement or pleasure, his hand very gradually sinking lower down her back (and coming mighty close to an area of her anatomy that she would start classifying as arse rather than back), as his other slid onto her thigh. She pulled back to look him in the eye (this was possibly a bad idea as she was met with a pair of very diluted and down right sexy grey eyes) and raised an eyebrow in challenge yet again.

"Just so we're on the same page," his speech was becoming a little slurred, "You are referring to sex, right?"

Rose rolled her eyes and leant back, suddenly his gravitational pull of evil was lessening. She looked in her bag for all her necessities, making to leave.

"How you manage to charm so many woman I'll never know," she turned back to face him, face set in a tight scowl, "You're just a prick."

"Oh come on, Weasley!" Scorpius cried enthusiastically, sliding closer to her again, "We were having such fun."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her towards him with a smile, their knees knocking together as he bowed his head to her ear once more.

"You know you want to go through with the bet," he smiled and rested a hand on her thigh again.

"Tell me Scorpius," she pulled back and placed her hand on his chest to put some more distance between them, "Do you make a conscious effort to be such a dick or does it just occur naturally?"

"Genetically blessed – in more ways than one," he wiggled his eyebrows in a manner she was sure he thought was suggestive but just came off as comical.

"Good-bye Malfoy."

But that was, quite obviously not good-bye, because if it had been good-bye Rose was pretty sure she wouldn't be lying naked next to equally naked devil spawn.

Oh how she wished it had actually been good-bye.

She had managed to stand and start to totter over to the foyer-area that housed the floos so she could get home, take an anti-hang over potion (or six) and sleep until mid afternoon tomorrow. Malfoy, however, decided to follow her. Like a particularly annoying mosquito.

"Come on Weasley!" he called as he walked/stumbled behind her, that same stupid smirk on his face he'd been wearing all night, "You were up for it a minute ago!"

Rose resisted to temptation to make a comment about him being up for things. She congratulated herself on the matter because she was pretty sure it was a trap anyways.

"Yeah well, now I'm not." She was almost at the foyer. Unfortunately, Scorpius was right on her heels.

"Why not?"

"Because." She couldn't actually think of a response to that right now given that Drunk Randy Rose was trying desperately hard to force Tired 'Get-me-home-to-bed' Rose to turn around and let her have her wicked way with Malfoy.

"Because why?"

"It wouldn't work," she responded sharply as they finally got to the foyer. Now, just to jump in an empty floo and get the hell outta here. Alone.

"Why not? You're fit, I'm hot – we'd be great." And that right there was about the extent of Scorpius Malfoy's brain capacity. Sod.

"You're forgetting that I hate you."

"So it'll be angry hate sex – that'll just make things better."

Rose spun to face him, her face still set in a scowl as she put her hands on her hips.

"It seems like an awfully big bargain on my end," she looked him up and down much like he had when she arrived, "How do I know that you're worth my time and energy?"

Drunk Randy Rose, you are going to die a horrible horrible death and the hands of your sisters one of these days. And I, Normal Sane Rose, will applaud it.

Malfoy's smirk grew devious as he slid (because the man was like oil) closer to her again, a hand coming to rest on her hip. The music from the room next door was dulled, so she could hear him loud and clear when he spoke in a voice the same consistency as gravel.

"I could always give you a preview," he slid closer still, his second arm wrapping around her, "Try before you buy."

Whoa, move over Cassanova – this guy's got the goods when it comes to pick-up lines.

"In public? You're disgusting!" She pushed him away but then stumbled and reached for him to steady her. He did. Kind of. They grabbed each other, tripped over legs and limbs, and to prevent themselves from landing on their asses, they stumbling across the small foyer like tumbleweed to the sturdiest object they could find. Which was a wall. A nice sturdy wall. That Rose was now standing against. With Scorpius in front of her, his arms either side of her.

This wasn't a good place to be. Not at all.

Once they'd both caught their breath, his eyes flickered to her lips and she knew exactly what he was planning on doing and she knew it shouldn't happen and so did he. But when she didn't stop him, he somehow got the impression that meant she wanted him to kiss her. Which she didn't. But that didn't change the fact that she didn't stop him once he did.

Drunk Randy Rose, you are a whore. We're no longer friends.

It wasn't tender. It wasn't sweet and it wasn't romantic in the slightest. His lips smashed against hers, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth as his arms pulled her against him almost violently. He groaned when she bit his lip with more force than could be considered playful, her fingers winding into his hair to pull him closer much harder than was strictly necessary. Rose matched every angry pull of his lips just as he matched every domineering sweep of her tongue. It was rough. Enraged. Primal.

And sexy as hell.

They pulled back after a few minutes, both of them breathless as they glared at each other. They shared a silent conversation as they caught their breath before Scorpius took Rose's hand and led her to the nearest floo. They stepped in together and the next thing Rose knew, she was being pushed out of a fireplace as he kissed her again (perhaps the tiniest bit less angry this time).

Just as everything seemed to be between them, the prelude to sex was a battle to see who was better than the other. How fast one could get the other undressed. How loud one could make the other groan. How many surfaces one could push the other against whilst snogging frantically. Every element was a fight.

Through some stroke of luck they had managed to stumble into the bedroom, still partially clothed (Scorpius' shirt was gone and he'd lost his pants at somewhere between the kitchen and the bathroom. Rose however, still had her bra, undies, stockings and one shoe on, although her dress, second shoe and bag had been lost long ago) and eager to rectify the situation. In between pants, Rose muttered angrily to the man currently trying to move her hair so he could reach the clasp on her bra.

"I swear to Merlin Malfoy," she panted as he rushed to undress her, "If you don't live up to all those bloody rumors about you in school than I will start setting the record straight."

He made a dismissive grunt as he sucked on her neck, causing her to gasp quite unceremoniously and dig her nails into his hips, an action he seemed to like quite a bit.

"I'm serious," she tried her best to sound authoritative but when he was doing that with his mouth she found it quite difficult, "You better make it good or I'll be making an anonymous phone call to Reeta Skeeta about my dis – ah! – disappointment."

With an angry kind of a growl he literally threw her onto the mattress. Rose let out a squeak before her vision was blocked by Scorpius, who now lay on top of her, his arms framing her face.

"Way to put a man under pressure," he ground out, looking mildly unimpressed. Rose smiled devilishly and hooked her legs around his waist before she rolled them over with surprising ease. She sat up, straddling him, that same smile still in place as she lent close to him, her red mane making a curtain around their faces.

"Don't tell me the great Scorpius Malfoy suffers from performance anxiety?" she smirked and bit her lip, "How very interesting."

He let out that same feral growl – that Rose was coming to enjoy quite a lot – before he flipped them again.

"Weasley, do us both a favour, and shut up," his voice was much huskier than she could remember it being an hour ago. But that might be because they were now both partially naked, and that seemed to have an effect on people. Rose's eyes lit with excitement at the new challenge as her hands raked up his chest and over his shoulders. She cocked an eyebrow and smirked at him in a manner that was much too Malfoy-esque to be any good to anyone.

"Make me."

And he did. Rose couldn't find it within herself to care.

To say things escalated quickly would be quite an understatement. Rose honestly for the life of her could not remember how they had managed to get all clothing off (including shoes) but they had, and somehow one of them had the clarity of mind get under the covers (it was effing freezing, given that it was January and all) a fact she was very thankful for. Just before Scorpius could officially do what they had both been waiting for, Rose stopped kissing him and looked him in the eye with a frightening seriousness.

"Just so we're straight," she said, still panting, "I still think you're an arrogant arse and I still hate you."

Scorpius nodded rather too enthusiastically for a man who had just been insulted.

"And I still think you're a pig-headed feminist who repulses me whenever you speak."

Rose nodded her approval, "Fabulous."

And that was all that was said on the matter. It all suddenly meshed into a weird, crazy symphony of thrusting of hips, and biting of shoulders, and groaning and moaning, and angry, torrid kisses.

And it was fantastic.

Things were building, both of them moving faster and faster as they got closer to the destination they'd been heading for the whole evening. He was muttering in her ear and she was clinging to him desperately and suddenly it didn't matter that he was a Malfoy and she was a Weasley, and it didn't bother her in the slightest that he was he biggest arse on the face of the planet – all that mattered was that this felt amazing and if he promised to never stop she'd do just about anything.

When all was said and done, Rose was grinning and basking in the afterglow happily as Scorpius rolled off her with a satisfied, tired smile filling his features. They fell asleep beside each other, both utterly exhausted and much to content and drunk to think of the problems that may arise in the morning.

And now here Rose was, trying to figure out how to get her undies off the ceiling fan without waking the naked man beside her whom she had hated since forever. She did not have a vocabulary extensive enough to adequately describe how she felt right now. In fact she thought there just might not be a word for it at all.

Discovering that there wasn't anything of hers that she could reach without risk travelling some distance in the nude, Rose begrudgingly snatched Scorpius' dress shirt from the floor next to the bed and pulled it on. Thankfully it covered her enough for her to confidently step out from under the covers and begin the shameful picking up of clothing.

Just as she had bent down to pick up her pants (momentarily forgetting she wasn't wearing underwear), an altogether unwanted voice spoke up from behind her.

"Well that's a sight a man could get used to."

Rose straightened immediately; her pants snatched to her chest as she shot a scowl at him over her shoulder that could freeze the Sahara whilst she dug her wand out of her pants pocket. Scorpius (annoyingly) just smirked back at her while he sat up against the headboard.

"Sleep well love?"

"Don't call me that!" she snapped as she levitated her underwear off the fan and into her hand, "And don't go getting the wrong idea about this."

"This?" he was smug and Rose could just tell he was loving the fact that she was struggling to figure out the most dignified way to slip into her undies with him watching.

"Us," she clarified as she turned around, "We don't exist. We are nothing. There is nothing here."

He simply raised an eyebrow at her and continued to smirk as she retrieved her pants from on top of his dresser and came back to the bed to put them on.

"You seemed to think something different last night…"

Rose sat on the edge of the bed angrily, not looking at him and trying to act as business-like as possible when you're braless and wearing your arch-nemesis' shirt to cover yourself.

"It was a mistake Malfoy," she snapped as she battled with her pants to get her legs into the holes that she swore were deliberately avoiding her madly flailing lower limbs, "Nothing more."

She could hear him smirking behind her. He sat up behind her and moved in so his head was resting on her shoulder, his mouth turning towards her neck.

"Well it's a mistake you've been making at least twice every week for the past four months," he said, still smirking, as he planted a kiss on her neck that was much too seductive for this early in the morning, "Just admit it Weasley – you can't resist me."

Oh yes. Had she forgotten to mention that? Well yes, you see after that night at the bar they just kind of kept bumping into each other. At the same time and place every week. And then they started meeting at a little pub just near where Malfoy worked during the week completely by accident. And sometimes they tended to not drink much (or anything at all really). And maybe they tended to just kind of meet up, insult each other, flirt, and then apparate back to his place for sex. And yes, now that she thought about it, she supposed it had been a little over four months now that they'd been doing this routine of theirs.

My, my, how time flies.

Rose scoffed in disgust and pushed his head away with such force that he fell back onto the pillow. And the bastard laughed in a way that was so damn sexy that it just made her madder – no one should be able to look that sexy at this hour.

"You're full of shit Malfoy," she snapped again, still struggling with her damn jeans – had he charmed them so she couldn't put them back on? Probably. It's most definitely something Malfoy would do. Ruddy pervert.

"Come on Weasley!" he exclaimed joyfully from his pillow, eyes focused solely on her face which was contorting in the morning battle of the jeans, "We both know you're crazy about me – now just accept it, admit it, and get back in this bed."

"I am not…" Rose gave up with her pants, throwing them away with an angry grunt, "Fuck it! I'll jut apparate without pants!"

"You're really not a morning person, are you Rosie?"

Momentarily stunned by him referring to her by her first name, Rose started before scowling at him and getting off the bed to start searching for her bra which was still MIA.

"I am perfectly lovely in the morning usually, thank you very much," Rose said without looking at him, "It's just you I have an aversion to."

"The fact that this is the fourth time this week we've been through this routine would suggest otherwise."

Really? Four times this week?! Well it had been a very long week, and she needed a stress relief. That's all.

Rose snorted at him in response as she continued searching for her bra – she couldn't see it anywhere. Not on the floor, not on the fan nor the lampshade nor the door handle. Damn, had she lost it before they even got to his room? Oh that's just great.

"Looking for this?" Malfoy asked with a haughty smile. Rose turned to see her very favourite purple bra swinging from his finger tip.

Rat bastard bra theif!

"Give that back," she demanded, walking over to him in as dignified a manner possible when she was only wearing her undies and his shirt. He simply smirked back at her and shook his head.

"You have to ask nicely."

Rose growled and stomped her foot, holding out her hand expectantly.

"Give. That. Back!

Scorpius shook his head, and trapped her bra beneath him with a cheeky smile.

"Malfoy!" she shrieked, hands on hips and eyes shooting him daggers, "Give me back my bra right now!"

"Nope."

Rose let out a feral growl before diving on top of him to begin wrestling with him. She had him pinned, trying to get her bra back from where he had hidden it beneath him. And then, out of the blue – Rose honestly couldn't recall how it happened – he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back and it wasn't so much wrestling as it was making out and she couldn't for the life of her remember why this was a bad idea when it felt so very, very good. When one of his hand slipped under the material of her underwear to grope her arse and the other slid up under his shirt to rest against her ribcage, Rose remember that he was Malfoy and he was not allowed to do that. To prove her point, she broke away from his lips and slapped him. Hard. Scorpius may have been surprised had this not been a fairly regular occurrence. Instead he just smirked at her, resting his hands on her hips and doing little circular rubbing motions that were not sexy at all. Nope, not one iota.

"If you want your bra back, you'll have to ask nicely," his voice was low and playful and she really hated him for it.

"Or I could hex you."

"With what wand?" he cocked an eyebrow, "If I remember correctly, you threw your pants – with wand – across the room."

Damn.

"Give me my bra," she demanded before adding as an afterthought, "Please."

"Nope," he smirked at her, "Not nice enough."

"Scorpius," she warned. He smiled and moaned rather animatedly.

"Getting closer, but still not good enough."

The prat obviously thought he was very comical, not to mention being extremely pleased with his apparent genius. Well, she would show him, and she would show him good.

Rose smiled at him before sliding her hands over his chest and up over his shoulders to rest on the pillows behind his head. She bent down to place light kisses on his chin, deliberately rolling her hips a little while she did.

"Scorpius," she purred, and it sickened her. But she needed her bra dammit! "Please give me my bra back."

She kissed the corner of his mouth and threaded her fingers through his badly knotted hair (but hey, that was probably her doing last night), taking great delight in the groan he released when she did so. Because that meant she was winning. Not because it was sexy. No sir.

"Almost nice enough," he breathed, eyes focused squarely on her lips, "But not quite."

And then they were kissing again (how did that keep happening?), and Rose couldn't help but enjoy it ever so slightly. Using his distraction to her advantage, Rose rolled them over so he was on top of her.

And off her bra.

Rose unhooked her legs from around him, distracted him with a light bite to his lip and then….

BAM!

Scorpius Malfoy was sent flailing onto the floor – completely starkers – after Rose Weasley flipped him off with a forceful shove. She laughed triumphantly to herself and made quick work of putting her bra on. She threw his shirt over the side of the bed he had disappeared over and decided she might as well try to battle with the pants again.

By the time Scorpius had pulled on his shirt, wrapped a sheet around his bottom half and sat back up on the bed again, Rose was completely dressed sans shoes that she was currently tying up as she sat on the floor.

"So this is all a series of mistakes for you, then?" he asked without looking at her, and rose was immediately terrified by where this might be heading. She hid her fear with a smirk as she began tying her second shoe.

"Yep!" for some reason this shoe was infinitely more difficult to tie than the other had been, "Just one stupid mistake after the other."

Seriously, she could not tie this damn shoe. Just before she was about to curse the stupid piece of footwear to fiery hell, Scoprius materialized before her and began tying it for her.

Seriously. He was legitimately tying her shoe.

What the fuck was that?

"Well what about you make this mistake again tomorrow?" his voice was light and he was deliberately not looking at her, "Only this time you accidently have dinner with me too?"

Rose buried her shock and fear with a forced laugh

"Is that your way of asking me out, Malfoy?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as he sat back on his heels, her shoe tied perfectly.

"Is that your way of saying yes, Weasley?" he smirked right back at her and looked thoughtful for a moment, "Why is it that you only ever call me Scorpius when we're having sex?"

Rose didn't really have an answer for that one. Ok she did – it was because when he was making her feel that damn good and looking that damned sexy she just couldn't hate him, so it seemed fitting to call him Scorpius instead of Malfoy – but she'd be damned if she was gong to tell him that. So instead she just said, "No idea."

She stood and dusted the invisible dust off her pants, waiting for Scorpius to stand, also, without loosening the sheet wrapped around his waist. They stood before each other awkwardly for a few minutes, Rose trying to look professional, Scorpius smiling as he retied his sheet.

She nodded at him before turning on her heel and walking towards his bedroom door on the familiar path to the floo in the lounge room.

"Just in case you feel like making that mistake tomorrow night," he called, and Rose froze in the middle of his bedroom doorway, "I'll be at Cooper's at 7."

Rose said nothing. Words had honestly abandoned her. Instead she sniffed indignantly, and the walked as quickly as possible to the fireplace to get home and showered before work.

It was Friday night and Rose was, for some inexplicable reason, standing outside Cooper's at approximately 7:06pm. She didn't know why. She really shouldn't be here. She didn't even like Scorpius, so why the hell was she here contemplating walking inside to have dinner with him?

He was just really good in bed.

That was it.

Nothing more to it.

She had no feelings for him whatsoever.

It wasn't as if she thought about him when he wasn't around. Or that she was actually looking forward to seeing him most nights. It wasn't because he always made her laugh, or that she really got a kick out of arguing with him. And it most certainly had nothing to do with the fact that, of late, he had taken to kissing her good night and cuddling. It didn't have a thing to do with that. He was just a really good screw and she didn't want to risk losing that.

That was it.

Then why the hell was she so goddam nervous?

Rose's nerves only settled when she spied Scorpius through the window trying to look casual as he read his book upside down and took large swigs of water without abandon, his foot tapping frantically. He was just as freaked out as she was and that, for some weird backwards reason, made her feel quite a bit better. She flicked her hair over her shoulder before walking into the restaurant with an air of annoyance and superiority. As if sensing her arrival, Scorpius' eyes shot up to look at her as she approached, trying to look disgruntled. Her resolve was all but broken, however, by the genuine relieved smile he gave her as she sat.

"Let's get this straight, Malfoy," Rose said as she settled herself, not giving him a chance to speak, "I am here because I like eating for free – yes, you are buying my meal. Also it's been an insanely long day and I could do with a good shag. Nothing more, got it?"

Rose wasn't really sure who she was trying to convince – herself or Scorpius – but she was fairly sure by the racing of her heart and that annoying 'I-know-you're-lying' smirk he had that she had failed on both accounts.

"Loud and clear," it was like he was privy to some joke and she wasn't. Rose didn't like it.

Scorpius poured her a glass of water as she settled herself.

"You know," he said as he passed her the glass of water, "I never read that article about my inability to perform…"

Rose snatched the glass and let out a huff, "Oh just shut it."

To avoid an argument this early in the evening (but mostly just to have an excuse not to look at him and his stupidly attractive face) Rose picked up her menu and started studiously looking through it as if it was a textbook. After several minutes of awkward silence, Scorpius spoke quietly, his voice more apprehensive and sincere than she had ever encountered before.

"I'm glad you came."

Trying (unsuccessfully) to smother the smile that was spreading across her features, Rose whispered back, "Me too."

And maybe it was stupid to be so sincere with Scorpius Malfoy. And maybe it was stupid to hold his hand where it sat on the table between them. And she knew it was definitely stupid to even agree to this date, let alone another one when they finished desert. Because that could lead to a relationship, and Rose Weasley entering into a relationship with Scorpius Malfoy was most certainly stupid.

But Rose Weasley did stupid things all the time. Why should she stop now?

Aaaaand cut! Again, please review because reviews make me happy and I'd really love to hear what you think.

Also, yes, in case it wasn't clear, they have been sleeping together/spending time together for a while now – they haven't suddenly fallen in love after having sex once. Just wanted to clear that up.

Till next time lovelies!

Grae xo