The Gryffindor common room was filled with nothing but groans of frustration and chatter. Just as their parents had warned them, sixth year wasn't exactly going as smoothly as their previous years. With exams almost every other day and essays filling up those gaps, it was no surprise that Rose was heavily sleep deprived and burnt out- but nonetheless, she managed to turn in her work just in time with perfect scores.
Rose sighed and threw her text book aside. She had spent the last two hours cramping in a three page essay about amortentia. And to think that tomorrow she'll have to brew it was enough to make her repeatedly slam her head into the couch pillow.
"Er...Rose? Are you okay?"
Albus entered the common room and tapped her shoulder in concern.
"Huh? Oh, I'm just peachy." She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Peachy..." Al trailed off, looking at the myriad papers scattered around her. There was a half empty bottle of ink and a deteriorated quill laying on top of a textbook that was so thick that Al's head hurt just thinking of what was inside it. "Rose, you gotta give yourself a break."
She laughed at the thought. "Oh, my sweet cousin, you are so naive. There are no breaks when you're taking N.E.W.T.s."
"I think you mean that there are no breaks when you're determined to do better than Scorpius."
"I can do that with my eyes closed. Plus, it's not my fault he's obsessed with trying to out-shine me."
"Actually, I think it comes naturally- no offence."
Rose gasped and chucked her pillow at his head. "It doesn't come naturally. I thought his intentions were obvious but clearly, a dim witted cousin of mine is blinded by Malfoy's 'I'm so perfect- love me!' act."
Albus laughed and shook his head. "Oh lay off. He's not that bad."
"It's almost like you've been oblivious to the six years of suffering he has put me through."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Look, all I'm saying is that at this rate you'll be going mad by the end of the year. Just relax."
"I guess..." Rose sighed and looked at the mess of schoolwork around her.
"Alright, well I've got quidditch practice." His face lit up as he remembered something. "Oh, did I tell you yet? I'm captain of the team again!"
Rose smiled at his elation. "Three years in a row. Good on you, Al."
"I know! I mean, I already knew I was going to get it but still. And now that James graduated, there's no doubt we're going to win."
Rose was about to congratulate him once more but he cut her off. "And on top of that, the Quidditch World School Championships are being held this year."
"Really? I thought they stopped doing those."
"They did, but things changed now. I can already see it- me in the middle of the pitch as everyone chants my name. After a long, hard game, Albus Potter rises to victory- of course with the rest of my team."
"Mmhm." Rose nodded her head and tried to match his energy. Not the easiest when quidditch seemed like the most boring, useless, and time-wasting sport to be invented.
"Oh shoot! I'm late for practice." Albus scurried to the door. "Bye Rose! And don't forget to chill out with the work." Albus yelled as he ran down the corridors.
Was it worth it? Seeing as that they were both taking N.E.W.T.s, the two went head on head for weeks since school started up again. Rose spent almost every second of her so-called 'free-time' reading lesson chapters and jotting down notes. To her, it was an obvious yes. The thought of Malfoy beating her in her own game was detrimental itself. And yet, still he managed to one-up her in DADA and potions.
As if she hadn't heard a word Albus said, Rose gathered her stuff and walked to the library. The common room being filled with a bunch of underclassmen was just too distracting to finish her work.
Rose sat herself down in the same table she usually sat at. Flipping her potions book open, she stared at the tiny letters printed onto the coffee stained paper. The longer she looked at it, the more blurry they got. A wave of drowsiness slowly hit and before she knew it, her head collapsed into the book.
~~~
"Reckon she's dead?"
"Must be all the studying. Her brain probably exploded under all that pressure."
Rose slightly turned her head. With her eyes closed and drool slipping into the book, this nap could arguably be the best sleep she has had in her lifetime. Of course, two idiots had to ruin that.
"Shut up." She murmured while adjusting her head to a more comfortable position.
"Why do you snore so loud?" Malfoy asked, bending down to her level.
Her eyes shot open and she glared straight into his gray ones. "Ever heard of personal space, Malfoy?"
"Ever heard of basic decency, Weasley?" He shot back.
Rose felt her face heat up as she wiped off the slight trail of drool around her lips. "Keep talking. You can really win the 'most hypocritical' award."
"Yeah? Well-"
"Merlin, can you two not spend one minute without arguing?" Albus interrupted.
"It's kinda hard when she's so obsessed with me."
"Obsessed? Try again, you muppet."
"Here we go again." Al muttered to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, come on you two. We are going to spend some quality time together."
Albus used both of his hands-one for each person- to drag them along with him.
"Al! I can't just leave my stuff here!"
"It's fine. We'll be back in a jiffy."
"But what if someone takes it?"
"Oh please, no one's going to steal your fifty pound book." Malfoy snorted.
"Sod off, you stupid ferret."
"Is that the best you can come up with, gryffindork?"
"Like yours was any better."
"I should be getting paid for this..." Albus sighed.
Albus pulled them outdoors as they bickered down the corridors.
"What are we doing here?" Rose sighed, ignoring Malfoy's latest remark. Something about her troll-like features...
"Hm? Oh, we're just taking a walk, that's all."
"Why?" Malfoy chimed in.
"You both need it. You know, with N.E.W.T.s and all. Mum wanted me to take them too but Merlin knows if I'll even last a day before drowning myself in the Great Lake. And well...clearly you too are on the verge of doing so."
"It's not the studying. It's this moron. He knows what he's doing." Rose huffed.
"And how is my presence any different than last year? Or the year before that?" Malfoy asked while purposefully walking closer to her.
"You're trying to beat me in N.E.W.T.s the best way you know how to. By annoying me. And you're wasting your time because it's not working."
"This again? Oh Weasley, I thought we've been over this. I don't need to try. I was born intelligent. As well as handsome, amazing, perfect."
"Is that so? Well your parents must have dropped you as a baby because you are none of those."
"Hey guys, I'll be back. Stay here." Albus interjected but his comment was useless. Rose and Malfoy, being so invested in their quarrel, didn't notice Albus' departure.
"My parents handled me just fine, thank you. And even if they did drop me, I still turned out better than this one weasel girl I know."
"That's funny, because I heard that that weasel girl never pissed her pants in the middle of class." Rose smirked.
"I was ten!" He defended.
"When I was ten, I was creating my own potions." She stated proudly with her nose up.
"And how'd those turn out? Oh right! You ended up making the whole class evacuate before we would die of toxic inhalation."
"I- that- oh shut it." Rose stammered, glaring at him.
"Where's Al?" Malfoy asked, looking around.
"I think he said something about being back soon." Rose murmured, talking more to herself than Malfoy.
"Do we just stay here?"
"I think so?"
Malfoy ignored what she said and walked down to the lake.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
Once again, he ignored her and continued to walk alongside the lake. Rose stood there, staring at his silhouette. For some reason-don't ask her why because even she doesn't know- Rose ran after him.
Having finally caught up, she fell into step with him, slightly panting from being out of breath.
"I knew it." He smiled and shook his head. He didn't give her one glance, still looking ahead, but his fingers gently brushed against her own.
"You knew what, exactly?" She asked breathily. Yes, she was still out of breath. Rose made the mental note to get in better shape.
"Nothing." He said softly.
They kept walking around the large body of water at a much slower pace than before. Rose silently thanked him for this- his obnoxiously long legs often made it difficult to keep up with.
"You're really annoying, you know that?" Rose said quietly after a short moment of silence.
"You're fun to mess with." He shrugged.
"Thanks." She said sarcastically.
"Any time, Weasley." He smirked and shot her a wink.
Rose's face heated up and she snapped her head forward so he wouldn't see. She angrily crossed her arms. "Will you stop that?"
"Stop what?" He asked, but was visibly uninterested. He kicked a pebble into the water, watching the ripples extend until they were gone.
"That." She hissed, gently slapping his fingers away with the same ones that were still tingling from his touch.
"What?" He laughed.
Was she imagining things? Ever since this year had started, Malfoy had been more touchy. It was small things, like brushing his hand or knees against hers. He would even throw in a wink every now and then. Rose didn't know how to respond to this new kind of behavior. Each and every time it had happened, she only found herself with a racing pulse and a stinging sensation. Even now, she couldn't help that her heart fluttered while watching his smile as he laughed. Rose pushed that feeling down but like a spring, it only bounced back up.
"Oh, don't play the innocent act. You know what you're doing." The small smile forming upon her lips was inevitable- fighting it was pointless.
He stopped and yanked her arm, pulling her closer. Speechless, she looked up.
"And what am I doing?" He whispered softly. His smirk was gone, but he was nowhere near angry. Instead, he just looked curious.
"You.." Rose stopped short, unable to finish her sentence. They were far too close for her to concentrate.
"Hm? Cat got your tongue, Weasley?" A small smirk slowly appeared.
"I..It's getting dark." Her mind was still fogged up and this was the best she could come up with.
He dropped her arm down. "Right."
They stood there, eyes locked.
"Scorp? Rose? Is that you?"
Albus's voice broke their trance and the two looked at the boy waving towards them.
"Y-"
Malfoy slammed his hand against her mouth. "Shh. I want to see something." He was staring at his friend, slightly amused.
"What?" She whispered, pushing his hand down.
"I think the poor bloke's going blind." He chuckled.
"Rose? Scorpius? Guys, where are you?"
"Oh no." She laughed. "He really can't see us?"
"I don't think so...just the other day I had to read out my homework because he couldn't see the letters properly."
"Guys common! This isn't funny. Did you leave without me?"
Rose and Malfoy slowly walked up, waiting to see when he would notice. Halfway there, Albus finally recognized them.
"Oh, there you two are. You guys came out of nowhere."
"Al, where have you been? You just left us here." Rose inquired.
"I was just, er, doing something. Nothing important. What about you two? Anything fun?"
Rose and Malfoy glared at him.
"Okay, so maybe not."
While Albus and Malfoy hung around the quidditch pitch for extra practice, Rose walked back into the castle and up to her dorm, longing for a hot shower and warm bed. She made a quick stop to the library to get her things- which luckily no one stole.
As she laid in her bed, Rose pondered the question of why she cared so much. More specifically, why she cared so much about Malfoy's obvious flirty behavior towards her. Now, it was no surprise that he was coquettish, seeing as nearly all of Hogwarts female population obsessed over him. But for him to flirt with her? Or was he even flirting? Maybe she has misunderstood. Or maybe he was just doing this to annoy her. Yeah, that sounds much more reasonable. Well she'll be damned if she lets him find another way to get to her.
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