Just Another Girl

Scorpius Malfoy was a serial dater. He had been with almost every girl in his year, as well as a fair few from other years. The males in the school half-worshipped, half-hated him, and most of the girls wanted him, whether they admitted it or not. The ones who he had been with did not regret it, from the rumours.

Despite this, there was one girl who refused to go near him. Rose Weasley had despised Scorpius from the moment they had met, back in their first year. She had thought him a little prat, and as they grew older and his reputation grew as well, it confirmed her opinion of him: he was nothing more than a fickle, charismatic scumbag.

Scorpius recognised a challenge when he saw one. He went through countless attempts to woo Rose, to try to change her mind – but she knew as soon as she gave him what she wanted, he would forget about her. Which is precisely why she didn’t.

Rose felt slightly superior to the other girls as she listened to their sobbing tales of how he had said it was true love, knowing that she would never be like that. But try as she might, she couldn’t fight the tiny pang of longing she felt every time she came across him. She was a girl, after all. And he was unbelievably charming. It didn’t mean anything.

He kind of gave up on her over the years, as he systematically made his way through all her cousins, friends and roommates. Her cousin Molly dated him for three weeks, her other cousin Lily for two, and her best friend Charity Harkness was with him for all of one night.

By the end of their seventh year, Rose had decided to pretend Scorpius didn’t exist. This was awfully difficult, since her friends talked about him nonstop. There was nothing more interesting to them than Scorpius’ love life, much to Rose’s dismay.

She was eating breakfast with Lily one morning when Charity bounded up to her. ‘Guess what?’

Rose sighed. ‘I don’t know, but I’m betting it involves Malfoy.’

Charity ignored the jibe and continued, with an excited look on her face that Rose had come to associate with gossip Charity wanted to tell and that she didn’t want to hear. ‘Do you want to know who Scorpius is dating?’

Bingo. ‘No,’ Rose said, turning back to the newspaper.

‘Yes!’ Lily said eagerly, leaning in closer to Charity.

‘Olivia Roberts,’ Charity said quietly, looking around furtively. Rose didn’t know why she would care if anyone overheard, since everyone probably knew anyway. Or would find out soon enough.

‘The Ravenclaw fourth-year?’ Lily asked, screwing up her face as she tried to recall who the girl was. Rose coughed on a mouthful of pumpkin juice, forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to be listening to them.

‘Fourth-year? Gosh, he’s going a bit young, now, isn’t he? That’s practically illegal!’ she cried, putting her goblet down and wiping her mouth.

‘She’s fifteen, Rosie. He’s seventeen. That’s only two years,’ Charity pointed out.

‘Still. Has he gone through all the seventh, sixth and fifth years then?’ she asked, smirking. That was only about sixty or so girls, after all. She wouldn’t put it past him.

‘Probably,’ Lily said, ignoring the sarcasm in Rose’s comment. ‘Except for you, obviously.’ She and Charity gave a collective sigh, shaking their heads. Rose rolled her eyes, picking up the newspaper again.

‘Come on, Rosie,’ Charity said. ‘You need to have a little fun before you finish school and never see him again.’

‘I have my fun, thank you,’ Rose said indignantly, standing up and swinging her bag onto her shoulder. ‘But I’m certainly not going to have it with Malfoy.’

She left the Gryffindor table and strode off across the Great Hall. She was almost at the door when someone called out to her and she turned automatically. Scorpius was sauntering up to her, his hands in his pockets and his bag slung over his shoulder in a way that looked so effortlessly cool. Rose sighed. What could he want?

‘Talking about me, Rosie?’ he asked, nodding his head back in the direction of Gryffindor table. Rose’s cheeks flushed. Dear Merlin.

‘Yes,’ she said in the haughtiest voice she could manage. After all, she hadn’t said anything too embarrassing. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a class to go to.’

She walked out into the Entrance Hall, and he followed her, matching his steps to hers. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, I’m in that class too,’ he said, smiling easily at her. Rose’s heart flipped over. Stop it, she scolded herself. They kept walking in the direction of the dungeons, not speaking.

After a while the silence became unbearable, and Rose cast her mind around for something to say. ‘So. Olivia Roberts?’ she asked nonchalantly, and then regretted it instantly as he smirked.

‘I thought you didn’t care about my love life?’ he said. ‘But yes. Olivia Roberts.’

‘Hm,’ Rose said, pressing her lips together. He laughed.

‘And if you’re going to ask, no, it’s not because I’ve been with every girl in the years above her.’

‘Sure,’ Rose said, going red again. She quickened her pace as they neared the dungeon where Potions was held.

‘No, it’s true. I haven’t been with every girl, unfortunately,’ he said. They stopped in front of the classroom. No one else had arrived yet, since they had left breakfast early. He smiled at her as she sighed, unable to escape him now. ‘There’s at least one that I would like to be with, but somehow I can’t seem to win her over.’

‘Really?’ Rose asked, forgetting her disinterest in the topic. ‘Who?’

He smirked. ‘Take a guess,’ he said. Slughorn opened the classroom door from the inside, and Scorpius went in, leaving Rose standing there wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.

* * *

Rose didn’t mention the conversation between her and Scorpius to her friends, because they would have just squealed unnecessarily and made a big deal out of it. She’d never had any interest in Scorpius, and that wasn’t about to change just because he had decided to try to charm her. She wasn’t that easy to get around.

Luckily, the Slug Club’s annual end-of-year party was approaching, and that proved a welcome distraction. She and Lily were both invited, and Charity was going with a boy from her Muggle Studies class. It seemed that lately all their conversations were about their dress robes and who would be at the party, which was a much better topic than Scorpius, in Rose’s opinion.

Charity kept pushing her to find a date, even though Rose was set on going alone. She ignored all of Charity’s suggestions – it would just cause unnecessary trouble, going on a date with someone so close to the end of the year. They would more than likely just bug her during the holidays, expecting it to be more than just the one date for the party. Well, that had proved true in the past, anyway.

Unfortunately, since their conversation on the way to Potions, it seemed that Scorpius thought he was welcome to talk (and consequentially flirt) with Rose whenever it pleased him. She did her best to ignore him, but it was rather difficult. He was annoyingly persistent.

‘So, who are you going with to old Sluggy’s party?’ he asked her one time after finding her alone in the library, much to her dismay. Rose shrugged.

‘No one,’ she said. ‘I’m going alone.’ As soon as the words left her mouth, she realised she should have lied. Scorpius’ face lit up.

‘Want to go with me?’ he asked.

‘No!’ Rose cried, giving him a disbelieving look. Couldn’t he take a hint?

‘Okay. I was just asking,’ Scorpius said, frowning slightly. Rose sighed, feeling the tiniest twinge of guilt.

‘What about Olivia?’ she asked, trying to keep the derisive tone out of her voice. He shrugged.

‘We broke up.’

‘Did she break up with you or did you break up with her?’ Rose asked, handing the books she had decided to take out to Madam Pince.

‘I broke up with her,’ he said uncomfortably. Rose grimaced. She had seen enough girls after being dumped by Scorpius to know that it would not have been pretty.

‘Thank you,’ Rose said to the librarian as she passed the books back to her. She hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and headed out the door of the library, leaving Scorpius to hurry after her.

‘Here, let me,’ he said, taking the pile of books from Rose’s arms. She glared at him and took them back.

‘Why are you doing this, Malfoy?’ she asked. ‘Why can’t you just leave me alone?’

Scorpius looked thoughtful. They had stopped in the middle of the corridor, and the people around them were giving them strange looks. ‘I don’t actually know,’ he confessed, biting his lip and smiling guiltily at her. ‘I’ll see you around, Rosie.’

He gave her a lightning-quick kiss on the cheek, and then darted off down the corridor away from her. ‘Prat!’ she yelled after him, wiping the side of her face with her sleeve.

* * *

The night of the party crept up on Rose and, before she knew it, she had dressed herself in her crimson robes and was heading down to Slughorn’s office with Lily, who had also opted to go alone.

It was just the same as every other party Slughorn held – the office had been enlarged to fit everyone in, and there were extravagant decorations adorning everything that stood still. A banner was hanging on the far wall, saying “Goodbye and Good Luck to the Seventh-Years!�

Rose rolled her eyes. Wonderful. She and Lily wandered around the room for a bit, doing their best to talk to each other over the blaring music. Soon enough the Gryffindor Quidditch team spotted Lily – their star Seeker – and called her over. With an apologetic smile to Rose, she ran off to join them.

Sighing, Rose settled with her back against the wall, now wishing she had found a date who wasn’t her cousin and wouldn’t abandon her five minutes after they entered the party. She didn’t know where Charity had gone – probably to a dark corner with the boy from Muggle Studies.

Someone held out a goblet to Rose as she looked towards the corner of the room, in case Charity was there. ‘Mead?’ a familiar voice asked, and she glanced up at Scorpius.

‘Are you stalking me or something?’ Rose asked suspiciously, but she took the goblet anyway and didn’t complain when he leant against the wall next to her, sipping his own drink.

‘Or something,’ he said, shrugging. ‘So, enjoying the party?’

‘I’ve been here ten minutes,’ Rose said. ‘There’s nothing much to enjoy yet.’

‘Well, lucky I found you,’ he replied, smirking at her. Rose gave him an exasperated look. Why him, of all people?

‘I still haven’t forgiven you for the other day,’ she said, looking away from him again. The party was in full swing, with people dancing and laughing all around them. She saw Lily spin past with a boy from her Quidditch team.

‘What did I … oh.’ He gave her an apologetic smile. ‘Er, sorry?’

‘You really shouldn’t go around kissing girls who despise you,’ she said. ‘One of these days, you’ll regret it.’

‘Oh, but you don’t despise me, do you, Rosie?’ he asked, leaning his head on her shoulder and smiling up at her endearingly.

She uttered a silent prayer to whoever was listening and pushed him off. ‘Yes, I do,’ she said, taking another sip of her mead and wishing they had something stronger.

‘Really?’ he asked, looking hurt. She sighed.

‘Well, no.’

He laughed. ‘Got you. See, I know you really want me,’ he said. He was standing alarmingly close to her, his face leaning down so it was inches from hers. Rose took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She realised her mistake instantly as she breathed in his scent, which was a mix of grass, boy and the most enticing cologne she had ever smelt.

‘I don’t want you,’ she answered automatically, trying to calm her frantic heart. ‘I’m not going to be just another girl in your bed, Malfoy.’

‘Who said you have to be?’ he asked, acting surprised. She looked at him, and he smirked. ‘There’s always the wall …’

She slapped him. ‘Jerk.’

‘I’m kidding!’ he insisted, rubbing his arm. ‘Ow, that really hurt.’

‘Good,’ she said, downing the rest of her mead in one go and putting the goblet down on a passing house-elf’s tray.

He moved his mouth to her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. ‘Would it make any difference if I tell you I genuinely like you, Rose?’ he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear softly. Her stomach flipped, and she closed her eyes, counting to three before she spoke.

‘Stop it, Scorpius.’

‘Stop what?’ he asked, moving his head back slightly to look at her.

‘Trying to seduce me. You do not like me. You just want me because I’m the only girl in Hogwarts who refuses to date you.’

He grinned wickedly. ‘You want it as badly as I do, Rosie,’ he said. ‘Seducing you is only helping you to admit it.’

‘How do you know what I want?’ she asked, trying to regulate her breathing. His proximity to her was surprisingly intoxicating.

‘I can see it in your eyes,’ Scorpius said with a smirk. ‘It is taking a huge effort to stop yourself from jumping all over me.’

‘You wish, Malfoy.’

‘Come on, Rosie,’ he said softly, his fingers stroking her arm as he gently turned her body so it was against his. She didn’t have the willpower to pull back this time. ‘You’ll enjoy it, I promise.’

‘Stop it,’ she said again, although with much less conviction than last time. His body was far too close to hers. He lowered his head slowly as his hands slipped down to her waist.

‘You’re going to forget about me by the morning, aren’t you?’ Rose asked softly, moving her head back the tiniest bit. Scorpius smiled, his grey eyes staring into hers warmly.

‘I could never forget about you, Rosie,’ he said, and then his mouth pressed against hers. The last of Rose’s resolve crumbled as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back.