Chapter Text
Rose Weasley changed into her school robes almost immediately after the train started its way toward Scotland. She took her sweet time going to the prefects’ compartment, trying to savor the bittersweet moment. It was her last year and last train to Hogwarts and, despite knowing that the year ahead was going to be difficult, she was looking forward to going back to the place that had been her home for the last six years.
Rose passed the compartments full of laughing, excited students, gently answered the shy questions of some of the first years, and finally adjusted her ponytail before entering the prefects’ compartment. It was bigger than the others, of course, since it had to fit more people. She greeted the few prefects already there and sat by the window to wait for the others. The Head boy and Head girl were still doing the first round of the train, as it was their duty, but the prefects had to be there before they arrived. Rose sighed, bored, wondering why on earth she had thought that it was a good idea to leave her bag behind along with her current read. That's when he made an appearance. The all-mighty scorpion king, her cousin's best friend, the son of her father's undesirable number one, and the current owner of the most annoying smirk in Hogwarts.
"Hey my dear Rosebud," Scorpius said, giving her a lazy smirk. "Did you have a nice summer?" She snorted at the nickname. She was quite surprised when Scorpius had been announced as a prefect the past year. He was a good student, usually quiet and focused during class, but Al always managed to pull him into stupid and dangerous adventures and the teachers and headmistress were all well aware of this.
"Yes Malfoy, thank you so much for asking," she said, giving him a fake sweet smile. "How about you? Did you terrorize many kids with your ugly face?" She said, faking her concern. Oh, Scorpius Malfoy had the opposite of an ugly face but she wasn't about to address that. She wasn't too sure exactly when it had happened. In their 5th year, he had gone through a growth spurt that had him looking lanky and awkward, on their 6th year his lanky frame had slowly but surely filled out as he managed to finally get a fixed position in the Slytherin quidditch team, and by the end of summer, he was towering over her, his boyish features long gone to give way to a chiseled jaw and an aristocratic profile.
"Only about three or four but I didn't need to use my face love, I just had to describe you." Scorpius leaned against the compartment wall. He had nothing against the beauty and brains that was Rose Weasley, it was no secret that he had been pining after her for years now, but he never seemed to make her take his compliments or dating proposals seriously. He took what he could though and enjoyed their constant teasing and bantering.
Beside them, Lindsay Furland smiled trying to hold back a laugh but chuckled anyway when Scorpius winked at her. Rose had to force herself not to roll her eyes at the sight before her, it had not been that funny, but lately, it seemed that everything Scorpius said, made the younger girls around him giggle and blush.
"Wow good one Malfoy," she said, sarcastically. "Did you come up with it all by yourself?"
"Actually yes I did. Do you think daddy would be proud?"
"Oh yes. Absolutely. Finally, proof that you are not that stupid," she said, before crossing her arms over her chest. Oh, how she'd missed bickering with Scorpius Malfoy.
Scorpius chuckled. "You know Weaselbee, you are many things but who knew funny was one of them? I think you may have forgotten that I beat you in our final exams last year."
"You did not," she said, her lips set into a fine, displeased, line. "You only got a better grade in Astronomy and Potions, and there wasn't that much of a difference."
"Don't forget Herbology love," he noted, with a self-satisfied smile. There was nothing that got to Rose more than a little competition over grades.
"That hardly counts, it was half a point." She scoffed, her hand going into fists.
"Whatever lets you sleep at night." He teased and then moved out of the way when the Head Boy and Girl entered the room.
~
It was a quick meeting. They were all handed their schedules and Rose didn't know if she wanted to sigh in relief or groan. She was hoping she didn't end up with the Hufflepuff prefect. She'd had a thing with him the past year and it would've made things very awkward. Thankfully she had not been paired with him, but she was stuck with Malfoy one night a week for the rest of the year, and that was not pleasing at all, especially since they had the first round on the train.
"Come on Weasley, it seems like we have first rounds." Scorpius smiled innocently as he folded the schedule and dropped it into his robe's pocket, making his way out of the compartment.
"Right... Try not to make it too unpleasant, will you?" She grumbled as she followed him out to the corridors
"Yes Ma'am," He said and gave her a mock salute.
"You are impossible," she chuckled, shaking her head.
"I find myself to be quite possible. Especially since I'm right here."
"Malfoy, would it kill you to shut up for a second?" She retorted, looking ahead as they walked
"Now why would I do that?"
"To give mankind a break from you for starters," she muttered.
"I heard that," Scorpius said
"I wasn't trying particularly hard to be quiet," she looked at him over her shoulder before turning back ahead. She kept quiet, hoping maybe he would too. If she was being honest she preferred his teasing to his attempts of flirting. There was a time when she wondered if he was actually serious with his declarations of love for her, but after seeing him all cozied up with Holmes in the three broomsticks she was not so sure it wasn't some kind of joke to him.
"Did you have a stroke back there or something?" she asked after a while of quiet walking.
"Nope, just thinking about how beautiful you look this fine morning." In reality, Scorpius had been distracted by the fact that her shirt's tag was showing and he wanted to reach out and push it back inside her shirt but was mildly afraid that it would make her turn around and bite his head off. Rose Weasley was a very powerful and smart witch who was not above jinxing him while on prefect duty.
"A while back I was annoying and ugly enough to scare kids, now I look beautiful... make up your mind Malfoy."
"You misunderstood me, Weasley, I scared the kids by describing your personality, not your looks," he replied without missing a beat. "Your looks are fine, more than fine actually... you are positively glowing today."
She snorted. "I'd rather not have you drooling over my arse, thank you very much."
"You love it," he smirked.
"You keep telling yourself that Malfoy," she chuckled with a smirk of her own.
"I will," he assured and finally gave in and pushed the tag back into her shirt, putting his hands up as she turned around, looking startled. "Just fixing the tag of your shirt, sorry," he explained quickly. Rose reached a hand up and rubbed the nape of her neck to get rid of the tingly feeling his fingers had left behind.
"Your fingers are bloody cold Malfoy. What are you? A vampire?" she complained, deciding to keep walking and not think about the warmth that filled her stomach as he laughed at her comment...or about the shudder that had run down her back as she felt his fingers against her skin.
~
Just a few weeks later there was something that would've been a rare sight if they hadn't been at the library. It had started back in their fourth year. Scorpius sat with Rose to study, claiming that 'no one dared sit with her and if they did they made sure to keep quiet' and that he ‘needed the silence to focus or he was going to go insane’ .
Rose had profusely threatened him about not making any sounds and had gone back to work. It was clear to both of them pretty quickly that they were perfectly adequate study buddies. Since then, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy studied together every chance they got. Albus joined them from time to time, but the boy had the horrible habit of murmuring and humming to himself while studying, which just didn't agree with either of them.
"I just don't get it," Rose spoke softly, rubbing her eyes. "What's the difference between a Mantris and a Hullan? The descriptions are practically the same,'' she groaned, pursing her lips as she redid her messy bun.
"The Mantris can be used in powerful healing potions. Use a Hullan and the drinker is dead in seconds," Scorpius muttered without looking up from his book.
"Yes, I get that, but how do you tell them apart?" she clarified, resting her cheek on her hand and looking at his profile as he worked.
"Mantris have a five-pointed leaf, Hullan have six."
Rose nodded. "Thank you," she muttered before going back to her studying, biting her lip unconsciously as she made notes on what Scorpius had just told her. She was sure this information was not in the book she was reading, but she knew if he was telling her this then he had to be sure he’d gotten the information from a trustworthy source.
Scorpius glanced up at her when she wasn't looking for a few seconds. He was momentarily distracted when he noticed her biting her lip. Nope , he thought to himself, he needed to focus and finish the essay he was working on. He shook his head trying to clear his head and got right back into work.
A while later Rose leaned over the table to take a look at Scorpius' watch before looking up at him. "It's dinner time... Should we call it a night?" She asked softly, sitting back.
"Sure, yeah." He closed his book before sliding it into his bag, definitely not looking at her as she stretched and her shirt lifted just the tiniest bit, showing some skin.
Rose picked up her things and slid them into her bag before getting up, unaware of Scorpius' internal struggle. "I have quidditch tomorrow at six," she said, as they walked out.
"I also have practice tomorrow, but I’ll be done by four." He stated with a shrug.
"Do you want to come to the library after I’m done?" She asked looking up at him, damn he was tall. They were getting close to the library's doors.
"We have rounds, remember?" He reminded her as they neared the exit, "We’ll have to work on our homework separately. I'm going to drop my things off in the common room, later Weaselbee." He gave her a mock salute and turned away from her, putting his hands inside his pockets as he walked away.
"Later you wanker," she called after him as she made her way to the great hall, too hungry to care about carrying the weight of her backpack around.
~
A few more weeks passed and before either Rose or Scorpius knew it the holidays were nearing and Rose and Scorpius were on their last rounds before they both went home the next day.
"Listen, yes, your team won but I definitely made a whole lot more points than you Malfo-" she stopped mid-sentence as she found herself unable to move and stumbling a little back, bumping into Scorpius.
Scorpius caught her with a small huff and soon realized he was unable to move as well, "What in Merlin's name is going on?" He muttered.
"Oh no..." Rose breathed as she looked up and noticed the small enchanted mistletoe on the ceiling. Some idiot had given Peeves a bag full of them and he had eagerly distributed them around the castle. The prefects had gone around trying to get most of them but clearly, they had still missed a few. The charm was a simple one, if two people walked under it, it locked them in place until they kissed each other as the tradition demanded. She felt her cheeks redden and cursed under her breath. This could not be happening, especially not with Scorpius Malfoy.
"Wha-" Scorpius started to say before he looked up too and saw the mistletoe. "Oh, wonderful!" he chuckled looking down at her with a smirk. "Come on, hurry up and get those pretty lips up here" he teased, puckering his lips and making kissing sounds at her.
"Oh sod off Malfoy," she pushed him away with no success and pulled out her wand to try and break the charm.
"Come on Rosebud, no need to be such a downer. It's just a small kiss," he taunted. "Or is it that you're a bad kisser and you don't want me to know? I could give you a few pointers if you'd like."
She rolled her eyes before lifting her wand to start working on the countercharm. "I'll have you know I'm a wonderful kisser Malfoy, better than you I'm sure." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Now shut up and let me get us out of here."
"Come on Rose it's not that big of a deal," Scorpius said, poking her side. "Just a tiny kiss and we can be on our merry way," he pushed.
"Fine," she sighed, giving up and looking up at him. She felt victorious as he gaped at her, surprised. She took advantage of it and closed her fist around his tie, using it as leverage to pull him down to reach his lips. It's not that she liked him or anything but well, his lips looked very soft and she was tired and she really didn't want to spend the next ten minutes there getting rid of the bloody thing.
Rose had been expecting an awkward peck on the lips. Scorpius surprised her when, after getting over his initial shock, moved his lips expertly over hers, the smell of his cologne and the warmth of his body invading her senses. Rose broke the kiss flushed, and made sure to avoid his eyes, not knowing what to expect of him.
Scorpius cleared his throat. "We should probably head back..."
"Yeah... Yeah, we should," Rose agreed, as they continued on their way to their common rooms. Scorpius usually dropped her off at hers after rounds so they headed there. Why is he so quiet? Rose thought. She had been sure he was going to make some remark about how she'd enjoyed the kiss or whatever, but he was completely quiet and it was freaking her out.
Finally, after a long stretch of silence, they reached the Gryffindor common room.
"I'll see you around..." He said as she opened the door. "Have a good holiday Rose..."
He mentally scolded himself, why did his brain decide to stop working now? Oh yeah because Rose bloody Weasley had decided to kiss him.
Rose was frozen for a moment. He never called her by her first time. She'd had a hard time not stealing a glance at his lips as they walked. It felt weird now to call him Malfoy but she never called him…" goodnight Scorpius, you too." There, she said it. Rose rushed into the common room, convinced that that had been one of the most awkward moments of her life. She shook her head, maybe by the following morning they would've forgotten about this and just bicker like normal again.
~
Albus didn’t miss Scorpius’ haunted look as he entered their dorm, "What happened?" He asked, intrigued. "You look weird, did you find ghosts going at it again?"
"Yeah.... something like that...." Scorpius uttered, not really looking at his best friend. If he was honest with himself he was still freaking out a little bit about the whole ordeal.
"What did you find?" Albus tried again, looking at Scorpius' back as he looked for his pajamas.
"Nothing," Scorpius insisted, as he changed, putting his t-shirt on backward without realizing it.
"But you said, you found something," Albus prodded. They were alone in the dorm since the other guys were still in the common room. "Seriously mate, you're killing me here. What was it?"
Scorpius figured his best option was to ignore Albus. There was no way he was going to be able to convince him to drop it so he just went over to his bed and got under the covers, fighting the urge to touch his lips like some schoolgirl in a rom-com.
"Fine, if you don't want to tell your best friend about the fun things you find in Hogwarts at night it's alright," Albus glowered.
"You are such a prick..." Scorpius muttered, rolling his eyes.
"You're the prick, keeping things to yourself." Albus threw a pillow at him.
Scorpius caught the pillow and threw it back at him. "It really isn't that exciting."
"Sure, that's why you're being so secretive about it," Albus scoffed and laid back down.
Scorpius sighed and turned off the lights, bracing himself for Albus' reaction. "Rose kissed me," he muttered.
"What?!" Albus squeaked and Scorpius could hear him sit up in his bed. Scorpius stayed quiet, not sure if he should elaborate or not.
"Hey, you can't just say something like that and shut up. Start explaining," Albus demanded as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"We were doing our rounds and got stuck by that stupid enchanted mistletoe," he explained. "And, well...she was going to break the charm, but then decided against it and just kissed me. Like... on the lips, actually kissed me."
Albus stayed quiet for a moment "Mate... couldn't you wait until after the holiday break? I had a bet with Vic, now I owe her five galleons," he complained.
"you were expecting this?" he squeaked, surprised. "Does...does she like me?"
"Woah, woah, hold your horses. Look, it's no secret that there is some kind of unresolved sexual tension between you two, I said you were probably going to make out by the end of this year, Vic was sure it would happen before the holidays and James was betting that Rose would never even give you a second glance," he clarified. "To be honest I was kind of giving up on you guys, Rose denied having any feelings towards you when Lily asked, but I don't know mate, maybe something has changed. Have you done anything different lately?"
"No..." Scorpius said, softly. "I mean, I called her by her first name."
He knew that sounded incredibly stupid.
"Wow Romeo, don't you think you're going too fast? Calling someone by their first name is a big deal you know?" Albus teased.
Scorpius turned and threw his pillow at Albus. "Prick," he muttered.
"I'm not the one going around walking into mistletoe to kiss girls" Albus countered.
"You think I did it on purpose?" Scorpius scoffed.
"Who knows? Maybe you did, maybe it was her" Albus offered, chuckling when Scorpius groaned and turned around, burying his face in his pillow. "You are no help Al" he muttered and Albus laughed, getting comfortable. Despite his teasing, he hoped that Rose knew what she was doing. Scorpius' feelings for her were very much real and Al worried that she would accidentally break his heart.
~
During Christmas break, Rose easily forgot about the incident with Scorpius. Between cousins and family, she spent Christmas without a care in the world. A couple of days before it was time to go back to Hogwarts, Rose and Hugo went over to the Potter's so their parents could have a romantic dinner to celebrate their anniversary, as they did every year. Rose was curled up in the living room in some tight jeans and a nice big sweater reading as James and Albus played exploding snap when the bell rang.
"Didn't uncle Harry and aunt Ginny just leave?" Rose asked looking up.
"It's Scorpius," Albus explained, getting up quickly.
"Too slow Al!" Lily called from the door before Albus could get there, "Hi Scorpius! " She beamed at him.
"Hey Lils," Scorpius said, coming inside, his smile matching hers.
"We're in the living room" James called and Rose nervously fixed her hair, putting it all to one side as she avoided looking at Scorpius taking off his fancy coat and folding it neatly to leave it aside. It's not that she was nervous to be around him or something, it had just taken her by surprise to see him all dressed up in some muggle clothing. It really suited him.
"Hey mate," Al said, smiling as did James. The Potters had long abandoned prejudices for the Malfoy family. Rose's mother had joined them, thinking it was best to move on from the war, however, her father thought differently, leaving her little brother Hugo to not be completely open to Scorpius. She knew both Albus and James had been to Malfoy Manor and that Scorpius spent a lot of time in her cousins’ house, but she didn’t know he was going to be there.
"Hey, guys." Scorp said, with a smile, "Hey Weaselbee." He met her eyes and gave her a wink.
"Hey little Ferret," Rose answered, hoping he would not notice the blush on her cheeks. She stood up and made her way to the kitchen to get some water, hoping the small distraction would help her face go back to normal.
"Clever as always..." He muttered, rolling his eyes.
"I see nothing has changed the year I’ve been gone from school" James chuckled, "did you two finally declare your love for each other?" He teased flopping back on the couch.
"Not exactly," Albus chuckled, giving Scorpius a knowing look. Rose caught it and looked over at Scorpius. Did Albus know? Had he told anyone? He certainly hadn't mentioned it to her yet, but she hadn't seen him that much either since she'd spent most of her time speaking with Victoria.
"I see you haven’t changed much either. How's training going?" Scorpius asked James sitting down beside him in an attempt to change the subject and avoid Rose’s eyes.
"Great, very tiring but great. The uniform attracts a crazy amount of female attention," he said, with a smirk.
"Nice mate." Scorpius nodded in agreement.
"Mom says if he keeps bringing a new girl every other week to meet them she'll disown him," Albus chuckled.
"You are unbelievable," Rose said, shaking her head as she opened her book again.
"You know what I say. To win you've got to play the game and James mate you are playing it very well."
"To win... What exactly" Rose inquired with an innocent smile, just to annoy them.
"The girl of his dreams," Scorpius said, dramatically.
"The shag of my dreams more precisely," James snickered.
Rose rolled her eyes. "I thought guys were supposed to grow out of their sex-crazed hormones," she teased as she shook her head disapprovingly.
"Sorry love," Scorpius said. "They're here to stay."
"Well-" Rose was stopped mid-sentence by her book falling to the floor. She swiftly stood up and went to pick it up. Scorpius glanced her way when he saw her bend over and had his eyes on her a little too long. As he looked away he noticed Albus giving him a look and shaking his head. Scorpius had the decency to blush and look down.
"Hey, want to play exploding snap?" James said as he shuffled the cards.
"Yeah sure..." Scorpius muttered, avoiding everyone’s eyes.
"I want to play too," Rose said from behind him. They decided to move over to the dining table to play together.
"James, you can start..." Scorpius said, studying his cards.
Rose sat in front of Scorpius. At first, she had managed to focus on the game but as time passed she found herself distracted by every small detail about him. He was more quiet than usual as they played, apparently more concentrated in his cards. He was wearing a t-shirt that hugged his very nice arms and his hair was tousled back and slightly longer than what he usually kept it. She shook her head and tried to concentrate on her cards, it had just been a stupid kiss, not something to lose her mind over.
The game they were playing ended in a tie and about halfway through when Mr. And Mrs. Potter came back home from their errands. They started preparing for dinner so it was time to start washing up. Albus had asked Scorpius to stay the night, which he did quite frequently since the pair became friends.
After dinner, there was a knock on the door. "Scorpius dear, would you mind getting that?" Ginny asked since he had helped her bring dishes to the kitchen and was right there.
"Of course," he said, and opened the door to see Rose's parents standing there.
"Oh hello, Scorpius... Are Harry and Ginny home?" Hermione was the first to speak. Ron's eyebrow furrowed but he didn't say anything just yet.
It took Scorpius a moment to answer. "Yes of course... Mrs. Potter just asked me to get the door..." He said, a bit nervously, knowing Rose's father did not like him very much, and he moved out of the way to let them in. Ron passed him without giving him a second glance.
After closing the door he made his way back to the living room. As he passed by the kitchen door he caught a bit of the whispered conversation going on there. "I don't know why you keep inviting that boy over," Ron was saying to Ginny.
"Oh, Ron..." Ginny sighed. "He's a very kind and well-mannered boy. I'll never understand why you won't give up your grudge against his family...He's Al's best mate. Those two are like you and Harry…"
"That's even worse," he grumbled.
"Ronald... I have let my son go to Scorpius' house many times, and Draco is still to give him back with a scratch. Albus and James only speak wonders of the place," she said, drying her hands.
"Anyway, why did you come back so early? I wasn't expecting you two till tomorrow morning," Ginny asked, addressing Hermione.
"I have a headache so we decided to call it an early night," Hermione explained. “We didn't want to bother you with the children if there wasn't a need to."
"Oh it's never a bother," Ginny said, giving her a smile. "You know I love to have them here."
Scorpius went down the hallway to the living room as he heard some shuffling in the room, if he stayed there he was surely going to get caught eavesdropping. "Oi, Weaslebee, your parents are here," he called to Rose and then slowly turned around when Al said, "Hi Uncle Ron… Oh, he was so dead.
"Hi..." Ron said, in a tight voice and Rose's laugh filled the room. "Hi dad," she said, as she went over to him and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry it's just a joke between us," she explained with a soft voice, she didn't want her father killing Scorpius but she didn't want Scorpius to think she'd be defending him just because.
"Right," Ron said, in a tight voice. "Rose, Hugo, we're leaving," he said, before making his way to Harry's office.
"You are so dead, mate." James snickered as Hugo silently stood up to go look for his mother.
"Tell me something I don't know," Scorpius muttered.
"Mom," they heard Hugo say, from the kitchen. "Can we please stay the night?"
"I don't know..."
"Please mom, Rose can apparate us home tomorrow morning," Hugo pleaded. He was actually having a good time playing with his cousins and he didn’t want to cut the night short.
"I'll make sure they are home right after breakfast," Ginny said, giving Hermione a small smile. "You go and rest until you feel better."
"If you are sure," Hermione said, with a small smile.
"No, absolutely not," Ron interrupted them as he came back to the living room followed by Harry.
"Why not?" Hermione asked, not understanding what was wrong. Could he possibly be so prejudiced against Scorpius after all these years?
"I absolutely refuse to have my children spend another minute with that Malfoy boy," he said, and they saw Hermione and Ginny join them in the living room looking shocked. "He is just like his father. No good."
Scorpius knew that Albus and James were right behind him. He had never felt more embarrassed, especially since Rose was right there.
"I'm- I’ll be right back," he muttered and stepped outside into the backyard since it was the door closest to him. He didn't even bother to cast a warming spell around him, he just crossed his arms and tried to ease the knot his stomach was in.
"Ronald!" Hermione said, appalled having known that Scorpius was right there and at the same time Rose said, "Dad!" Before she could stop herself.
Scorpius just let the cold surround him, this was not the first time he had had to deal with comments like those but they hurt anyway, especially coming from the father of the girl he liked. He cared about what Rose thought and he couldn't help but wonder if what he meant as simple teasing was actually hurting a person he cared about.
"Am I really so bad..?" He asked his voice soft when he heard the door open behind him thinking it was either Albus or James.
"You are sometimes…" Rose teased softly, trying to cheer him up. "But not for the reasons my father thinks you are."
"Then why?" Scorpius asked looking out ahead.
Rose stayed quiet for a moment. She put her arms tight around her, wishing she had stopped to grab a coat before going after Scorpius.
"You aren't..." Rose muttered. "I was just joking. You're a bit annoying when you tease me but you make up for it the rest of the time," she said, so quietly she prayed silently he had heard it, not wanting to say it again. It was weird, being this honest with him, seeing him so hurt.
Scorpius was quiet for a few moments before speaking. "You know that I don't mean anything when I call you names right?" He asked turning to face her slightly and for the first time ever Rose could see a vulnerable look upon his face.
"I know...." She said, giving him a small reassuring smile. "Don't forget l also call you names," she stepped closer to him, worried that her father's comment had hurt him much. She knew he'd had to fight the prejudice against his family his whole life, it was not fair of her father of all people to be like that.
Scorpius gave her a small smile though it was slightly forced. He wanted to thank her but it felt slightly strange. He said it anyway, "Thanks..." and then wanted to slap himself when he added, "It's cute that you care..." Why couldn't he just shut up for once?
She wasn't all that sure how to answer that, but she gave a shot at trying to get a smile out of him. "Is this what you do to girls you think are cute Malfoy? Let them freeze in the middle of a snowy night?" She teased with a small smile.
"Not all the time... Only the special ones," he replied and his smile widened a bit.
"I feel so honored to be one of the special ones," she said sarcastically with a chuckle and Scorpius thought he'd never seen something more beautiful than Rose Weasley with little snowflakes in her auburn hair and her lips red from the cold, her arms tight around her slender frame.
Scorpius gave her a small smile, before taking out his wand and casting a warming spell around her.
"Thank you," Rose said, with a small sigh as she felt the warmth envelope her. "You should come back inside, my mother took my father back home and let us stay."
"I'll be back in a minute. You go on."
"Don't let my father get to you..." She said, softly, staying put. "He's wrong, he just... He can be very thick sometimes." She put a reassuring hand on his arm.
Scorpius turned to look at her when he felt her touch. "I won't... Thanks, Rose..."
Rose felt something she couldn't quite place as he called her by her first name. Maybe it was just the way her name rolled off his tongue but she found herself wishing at the same time that he did it more often and that he didn't do it at all. "You are welcome Scorpius," she said, softly looking into his eyes. "Now come on," she said, with a playful smile tugging at his arm. "Stop asking the universe for a cold and come back inside. "
Scorpius gave her a small smile and let her guide him.
Once they were back inside both Rose and Scorpius ignored the weird looks James and Albus gave them. It was very late when they all decided to go to sleep. Rose slept with Lilly and the boys decided they would all sleep in James' room, which was the biggest.
"Oh, I reckon my brother is going to have a heart attack when his little girl tells him she's in love with a Malfoy," Ginny chuckled as she curled into Harry's arms that night.
"They are not together, are they?" Harry asked, taking his glasses off and putting them aside.
"No, they aren't... But did you see them? I don't think it's too long until it happens," she chuckled.
~
The next morning Rose woke up early, as she often did. She got up and stretched a little before making her way downstairs still half-asleep. "Morning aunt Ginny, can I help you with anything?" she mumbled.
"Good morning Rose," the woman said, as she made plates fly to the enlarged table. "I’m all set here, thank you... maybe just should start waking up the others, food is almost ready and, dare I say all of them are not morning guys," she said, with a small laugh.
Rose smiled and made her way up, she went over to Lily first, leaving the sweater she had been wearing in the room and staying only in her tank top and pajama pants as she went to wake up the boys. She was not expecting shirtless Scorpius Malfoy to be the first thing she saw when she opened the door.
Well, she needed to clarify. He wasn’t really shirtless, he was sleeping beside Albus on a mattress on the floor, and not only had her cousin stolen all the covers, but his hoodie had also ridden up and she had a perfect view of his firm abdomen and the faint line of hair that led into his gray sweatpants. Rose swallowed and willed herself to look away, noticing Albus stirring in his sleep.
"Guys," she said, and her voice sounded very weirdly heated. "Guys," she repeated with more force, composing herself.
"What do you want, Rose?" Albus muttered, not opening his eyes.
"Breakfast is ready…"
"Can't mom just save us some?" James muttered his head under his pillow.
Scorpius was the last to wake, "I'm with James." He said, opening one eye slightly before closing it again.
"Nope, I have orders to get you off the bed you lazy bums." She said playfully. She took a moment to admire the way Scorpius’ muscles contracted as he groaned and buried his face in his pillow. Oh, Rose would go to hell before admitting this but Scorpius Malfoy was one hot bloke. She shook her head and went over to James pulling the pillow off of him. "Come on wake up," she insisted, tickling his foot, which she knew he hated.
James squirmed and almost kicked her out of reflex before sitting up. "Never do that again," he threatened.
Rose giggled, jumping out of his reach. "I wouldn't have done it if you had woken up," she said pointedly.
"Yeah yeah..." He scoffed, ruffling his hair. Beside him, Hugo was rubbing the sleep of his eyes. Meanwhile, Al and Scorpius seemed to have fallen asleep once more.
"Oh come on you guys," Rose groaned looking at the pair and going over to poke Albus’ ribs.
"Sod off Rose," he muttered.
"Wake up," she said, jumping on top of him and tickling him as she used to do when they were little.
Albus screamed and pushed her off him, muttering curses under his breath.
Scorpius had turned to watch Rose tickling Albus with eyes half-opened and didn’t have time to move away as Rose fell over him. He managed to avoid them hitting each other's head but ended up with Rose half-laying over him.
"Merlin, I'm sorry," Rose said, a soft blush on her cheeks as she tried to get off him. She was in a funny position, her legs over Albus but the upper part of her body all over Scorpius. James snorted and Hugo chuckled sitting on his bed as Rose tried to sit up in the small space between the two guys with much difficulty.
Scorpius helped Rose sit up while Albus moved away to make more space for her. "It's ok.." He chuckled, his face slightly red.
"I hate mornings," Albus groaned trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, too sleepy to make a comment about the blush in Rose and Scorpius’ face.
"Boys come on, food is getting cold," Ginny called from downstairs.
"We’re coming mom," James called back. "Come on lovebirds, quit the blushing and hurry up," he teased making Rose’s blush deepen as she and Scorpius got up. Rose looked up at him only to find that he was already looking at her.
“We should um...go,” she provided. Scorpius could only nod and follow her down, too focused on the fact that he’d noticed that Rose was not wearing a bra under her very tight undershirt.
Rose found she couldn't quite meet Scorpius' eyes as they ate, but she didn’t have to, right? She was having breakfast not a conversation with him, she thought as she put honey over her pancakes.
Scorpius didn't really look at Rose throughout breakfast because his eyes would always drift to her chest. Come on Scorp... He thought to himself, don’t be a child . It felt like a long breakfast.
"Is that all?" Rose asked once they finished cleaning up.
"Yeah," James confirmed
"Well I’m going up to change, my mother wanted us home before lunch," she said, giving Hugo a look. The boy groaned but made his way up to the room to change too.
When Rose and Hugo were ready they came back down and hugged their family goodbye. Scorpius gave Rose a small wave of goodbye. He ignored the looks from the boys and they went on with their day until Scorpius had to go home.
~
Once back at school Rose and Scorpius avoided mentioning the mistletoe incident. Rose was trying to forget all about it but it was proving to be more difficult than expected. For one, she had just recently started noticing just how soft and inviting Scorpius’ lips were. It didn’t help either that he was also a tall, fairly attractive guy and that after she and her ex had broken up all the guys she had been interested in had been assholes. She really just needed to blow off some steam with a guy who would not brag about it later to his friends or treat her like she was worth nothing.
"Hey, Rose, can I ask you something personal?" Scorpius asked one day after a long silence while they patrolled, taking her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, sure," she said, looking up at him.
Scorpius nodded and seemed to take some time to formulate his question.
"So...I heard your thing with Lucas didn't work out..." Scorpius started, looking a bit fidgety.
"It was hardly a thing," she scoffed. "He asked me to help him with transfiguration, spent the whole time flirting, then kissed me out of the blue.."
"I thought you liked him," He nudged her. "Was he not a good kisser?"
"I thought he was attractive, but I’m not interested in a guy that nods over everything I say while he looks down my cleavage," she said, rolling her eyes. "Also, he was a horrible kisser,” she chuckled. “It was super sloppy and disgusting.”
Scorpius scoffed, "I don’t know why you bother with that guy when you have someone like me around,” he teased, poking her side. “I’m a great kisser, and I am at your full disposal for any impromptu makeout sessions” he winked at her.
"Are you really a good kisser? According to who?" She questioned.
"You know I don’t kiss and tell, but there are several girls and some guys that would back up my statement.”
"Right..." Rose said, considering the risks of taking him up on his offer. “Well why don’t you kiss me and prove it then?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“What?” Scorpius breathed, his heart racing in his chest. He was dreaming, he was surely dreaming.
“I- I mean, you did say you were available for a snog,” Rose said, quickly, “and I just really need to blow off some steam. We’re friends, right? friends can help each other blow off steam with no strings attached right?” She was saying ‘right’ too much, she was sure of it. Of course he had only been kidding, he was about to laugh in her face and say she was crazy, she couldn’t look up at him, she just couldn’t.
Suddenly Rose felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her towards Scorpius. They had stopped walking. “Do you mean it?” Scorpius asked, his voice small. “I mean, I’m down if you are.”
“Well, yeah.” She nodded, looking down at his lips for a moment. “Just as friends, of course, I really don’t like you that way but...well, I know I can trust you.” She shut up before she said too much.
Scorpius was in a trance as he lifted his hand and gently caressed her cheek, moving his hand along her jaw before settling it on the nape of her neck. “Right,” he murmured. “No feelings, just a good ol’ snog,” he teased and smiled as she scoffed. He lowered his face until his lips touched hers and thought he was surely going to have a heart attack when her lips moved against his.
Rose slid her hands over his chest softly until she reached the neck of his shirt. Oh, this was good, very good. Rose pulled him closer by his shirt, making him stand with one of his legs between hers. She felt him inhale sharply at her sudden roughness and smirked against his lips. Rose slid one of her hands around his neck and ran her nails softly over his scalp before biting his lip playfully.
She felt him gasp against her lips and as soon as she had released his lips he moved on to kiss his way down the long column of her neck. Her nails dug into his back as she contained a moan. "If you leave a mark there I am going to kill you," she muttered into his ear.
"Whatever you say, boss," he whispered, his voice low in her ear, before going back to her lips. She felt a shudder down her spine, feeling dizzy. He had one hand on her neck and another placed on her lower back, pulling her closer to him. She felt pinned to the spot, she didn’t want the moment to end, she didn’t want to go back to reality, she wanted to stay there, pressed to Scorpius’ strong and warm body while he murmured sweet nothings against her lips and made the most sinful sounds.
The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled them away. Scorpius let go of her like she was burning him and they both looked around the empty hallway to try and identify where the sound came from. “It’s not very appropriate for two prefects to be involved in illicit activities while they are patrolling the school,” a woman with a playful smirk said from the painting to their right.
Rose’s shoulders relaxed. “You’re right we’re terribly sorry. We’ll um.. go on now,” she murmured and took Scorpius’ hand to pull him away. As they finally turned the corner and got away from the watchful eyes of the painting they both started laughing.
“Merlin I almost had a heart attack,” Scorpius chuckled once he managed to calm down. If possible he looked much sexier with his hair in a mess and his shirt disheveled.
Scorpius fixed his shirt and looked at her, noticing the way her messy hair framed her face making her look even more beautiful. They looked at each other for a moment. They had a purely physical attraction, that's what Rose told herself as she said her next words.
“That was really nice, wasn’t it?” She murmured. “We should do it again sometime...It was a shame that we were interrupted so rudely,” she finished, already walking in the direction of the last wing of the castle that they had to patrol. Scorpius could only make a sound of agreement, trying to calm his racing heart at the prospect of kissing Rose Wesley again.
~
Rose soon found out that she enjoyed being Scorpius' friend with benefits way too much. She wasn't sure at first what it was that she liked but she slowly came to accept that it was the way he looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd seen all day. It was the way his hands moved over her body in an almost reverent way. It was the breathy way in which he murmured her name when she kissed that sensitive spot just under his jaw. To put it simply, she couldn't get enough.
She also enjoyed very much the way she could take him by surprise when she pulled him into a snog session in new and riskier places. In fact, she was about to suggest that they desecrate their one sacred place, the library. It was late in the evening, and most students were in the great hall having dinner, so she was pretty sure the chance that someone would walk in on them was pretty low.
Rose finished the last paragraph of her essay with a satisfied sigh, glad to be finally finished with the bloody thing. She'd been working on it non-stop for a week now and she was honestly done with the subject. She stroked the back of her neck as she stretched it and gave herself a moment to admire the blonde boy before her. He looked thoughtful and tired, Scorpius was running a hand through his hair as he tapped the pen he was using to write against his soft, full lips.
"Hey," she murmured to get his attention and a pair of gray eyes quickly met hers. “I just finished, do you have much left?”
“Not much really, to be honest, I think I will finish tomorrow. I’m too tired to think,” he sighed.
“Been there,” she nodded in understanding and stood up to stretch. “Would you help me take these books back to the arithmancy section?” She asked innocently, signaling the huge pile of books on the table. Scorpius nodded and followed her to the back of the library. They made quick work of putting the books back in place. Once finished, Scorpius was about to make his way back to their things when Rose took his hand.
“Sit down,” she ordered, signaling a chair at a nearby table and his heart raced. He was still surprised when Rose wanted to snog him, he had to fight the urge to pinch himself every time. His pulse quickened, partly because they were in the library, where any student could walk in on them, and partly because he knew he ought to say no.
At first he’d thought kissing Rose would be harmless but he’d soon realized that it was slowly breaking his heart. Each caress, each small sound she made, each mark she left on his skin was a painful reminder that this was temporary, that he was just a guy she was using to take her mind off things for a while, and that she was never going to reciprocate his feelings.
His train of thought came to a halt as she gracefully sat on his lap, straddling him, and put her arms around his neck. “Thought we could mix things up a little,” she murmured, making a small sound as his hands went to her thighs, caressing the warm skin softly. Rose leaned forward, joining their lips in a slow and lazy kiss. She moved her hands up, curling them around his soft hair, running her nails softly along his scalp. By now she knew how much he liked this. She could feel his hands twitch against her skin and then move up, caressing the sides of her body with both hands, feeling every curve.
Scorpius couldn’t help but give a small whimper as Rose’s tongue stroked against his own. “You can touch me, you know?” She breathed against his lips as she grabbed one of his and moved it towards her breast. Scorpius drowned his moan against her lips, feeling his head go foggy as desire pooled between his legs at the feel of the heavy weight of her breast against his hand. He took the invitation and tested his luck, moving his hands under her shirt after a moment to feel her full breasts, only covered by what seemed to be a lacy bra. He could feel the hard nub of her nipple under the fabric and he moved his lips down her neck, hoping she would let him undo a few buttons of her shirt to see what her bra looked like, he needed to know, he needed to. Rose rolled her hips in a slow, lazy grind forward, feeling the bulge in his pants, her underwear dampening with the thought of kneeling down in front of him right now, in the middle of the library, and pulling out his erection, closing her lips over it and watching him try and keep quiet. She whimpered quietly, her grip on his hair tightening as she pulled his head up to catch his lips in a bruising kiss.
“R-Rose,” he stuttered her name when she ground her hips against him again, the friction feeling heavenly between her legs. “We should- uh...We should stop,” he managed. “Madam P-Pince will soon start to go around the library.” Rose tried to calm her breathing before speaking at all. She didn’t know how much time had passed since they started snogging but he was right, it was already almost time for the library to close when they had left the table and the last thing she wanted was to get detention.
“Sorry… got a little bit carried away there,” she cleared her throat, gingerly standing up. “Are you okay to go back now?” She asked, a small smirk on her lips as her eyes drifted downward a bit. He blushed madly under her scrutiny and she thanked the heavens that he couldn’t exactly see how damp her underwear was and reciprocate the teasing.
“You go ahead, I’ll be right there,” he murmured, running a hand through his hair. Rose chuckled and made a small sound of agreement. She started packing both their things as she waited for him, feeling warm and fuzzy inside. After a few moments Scorpius appeared, looking composed as ever, except for the soft blush on his cheeks.
They made their way to the great hall together, engaging in small talk about the upcoming tests they had and were surprised to find Albus at the Slytherin table having a late dinner. Rose sat down with them, not wanting to eat alone, and failed to notice the way his cousin’s eyes widened as he noticed a reddening hickey in Rose’s neck. Scorpius noticed though, and couldn’t help but blush madly as his eyes met Albus’. Albus continued eating without any further comment and Scorpius wondered if he had misinterpreted the whole thing, until they arrived at their common room and Albus confronted him.
“Are you and Rose finally dating?” He asked bluntly and Scorpius fidgeted nervously with his bag’s strap as he muttered, “not exactly.”
“What do you mean not exactly?” He pressed as they made their way up to their dorm. “Look, I noticed you seemed to have been sneaking around with someone lately, then my cousin came to dinner with you with a hickey that seemed pretty recent on her neck...if you’re not secretly dating, what is going on then?”
Scorpius sighed before answering, knowing Albus would not be happy. “Well, we have been snogging from time to time for a few weeks now but uh...well Rose made it pretty clear she is not interested in anything beyond that so for now I guess we’re just friends who occasionally snog each other,” he explained, not daring to meet his friend’s eyes.
“And you’re okay with this?” Albus scoffed. “Look, I get the need to snog someone just because but did it have to be with her? You have actual feelings for her.”
“I know,” Scorpius sighed. “To be honest I was the one to suggest it, but I didn’t expect her to say yes,” he dropped into his bed, defeated. “I really underestimated how it would affect me though,” he added in a small murmur.
Albus was thoughtful for a moment. He knew Rose was really smart, but she could also be pretty daft. Albus was pretty sure she was completely capable of breaking Scorpius’ heart without being aware of it and he refused to let that happen. “You need to put a stop to this mate,” he finally said. “She’s not gonna wake up one day and decide that she’s in love with you just because you’re snogging her and this is clearly hurting you.”
“I know that,” Scorpius muttered. “I just…I can’t say no to her.”
“I can talk to her if you want,” Albus offered. “I can just say I’m not comfortable with you two snogging or something,” he shrugged.
“Nah, this is my problem to solve,” Scorpius shook his head. “I will find a way to tell her.”
As a matter of fact, he did not find a way to tell her. As March rolled around, their arrangement was still going and Scorpius was enduring regular talks from Albus about the stupidity of what he was doing. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything though, he was spending more time than ever with Rose and their teasing had become more playful and flirtatious.
The morning of their last quidditch match before Easter break she sat down to have breakfast with him, already in her uniform. “Good morning loser,” she teased, looking awfully confident.
Scorpius shook his head. “You have it backward, love. You are going to get your cute ass kicked today,” he teased back.
“It’s cute that you think that, don’t worry I will be nice to you after the game,” she smirked.
“Yeah? What are you gonna do for me when I win?” Scorpius challenged.
“When I win, I will take you to Hogsmeade and let you buy me a butterbeer at the three broomsticks,” she winked at him.
“Sure,” he shook his head. “If I win though, I want you to buy me all the candy I want from Honeydukes.”
“It’s a deal,” she extended her hand over to him and they shook on it.
~
As they sat down together in a booth at the three broomsticks, Scorpius made a show of dropping the huge bag of candy that he’d made Rose buy him in the middle of the table. “Want some?” He asked with the most annoying smirk Rose had ever seen.
“No thanks,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Oh, come on Rosebud, don’t be a sore loser,” he chuckled. “Look I will even buy you that butterbeer that I promised,” he smiled and, before Rose could even process what he was doing, leaned over, gave her a kiss on the cheek and stood up- “I want that frown gone when I come back with the drinks,” he ordered her. “You are ruining my celebration,” and with a final smile her way, he was gone.
Rose sighed and took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart. She just didn’t know how to deal with Scorpius when he was being... when he was being... well, cute. Slytherin had won the game against Gryffindor the past day and he had wasted no time in reminding her about their promise. Truth was Rose was a sore loser and she had been pouting and complaining all day afterward. She was still in a bad mood when she met Scorpius at the great hall to have breakfast together, but her mood had slowly but surely improved with Scorpius’ stupid jokes and good natured teasing.
Scorpius spent the rest of the afternoon buying her drinks and making her laugh with his stupid jokes. Rose felt like she wasn’t even aware of what time it was or how much time had passed. By the time they started to make their way to the castle the sun was setting and the temperature had gone down a few degrees. “Bloody hell, I should’ve brought my coat,” Rose shuddered as she put her arms around herself. The day had been so nice that morning she had gone out wearing only her favorite baggy t-shirt.
Scorpius shook his head beside her and took off his crewneck sweatshirt, unintentionally giving Rose a peek of his well-defined abs in the process which made her mouth go a little dry. “Here” he said, handing her the warm garment. “My shirt is long-sleeved, I’ll be fine.” He was giving her the sweetest smile and Rose found that she was having trouble forming a coherent sentence so she just nodded and slipped on the sweatshirt. Rose had to hold back a small moan as she was hit with the smell of the cologne he liked to use. She wanted to bury her nose in the soft fabric and breathe deeply. She composed herself and uttered her thanks to him as they started walking again, wondering if she was slowly going insane or if something was wrong with her.
They made their way to the castle in comfortable silence. As they went past the main doors Scorpius stopped and turned to her. “I actually need to go to the library to finish up my essay for potions, so I guess this is where we part,” he smiled at her, looking like some kind of male veela as the last rays of sun illuminated his face with golden light.
“Oh…” Rose didn’t know what to say, she wanted to spend more time with him but she had nothing to work on right now and she was honestly tired, she was pretty sure she would not be able to actually be productive right now. “Well… good luck with that, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she offered.
“Yep, sadly you’re not getting rid of me any time soon Weaselbee,” he teased, winking at her as he turned to leave.
“Scorpius,” she called before she could stop herself. “I had a great time today, thank you,” she murmured, watching his lips part slightly in surprise.
“Yeah, I had a great time too… let’s do it again sometime,” he smiled, recovering. She just managed to nod as a soft blush spread on her cheeks. Rose turned and left, rushing back to her dorm as she tried to calm down her racing heart, seriously, what was wrong with her?
~
“Ooh,” her friend, Amber Zabini, greeted her as she entered the dorms. “You are back from your date.”
“It was not a date,” Rose murmured as she dropped into her bed and finally indulged in burying her nose in the collar of the sweatshirt, Merlin it smelled heavenly.
“Could’ve fooled me,” Amber scoffed. “I saw you all cozied up at the three broomsticks,” she wiggled her eyebrows at Rose, “and that is most definitely not your sweatshirt.”
“Sod off,” she groaned blushing madly. “We’re just... Frenemies who occasionally snog.” Right, that’s all it was.
“Frenemies?” Amber openly laughed. “Rose you make eyes at each other all day!”
Rose’s blush deepened. “I…” she swallowed “No, I don’t like him like that, I already told you.” She busied herself with changing into her pajamas, putting the sweatshirt back on over them.
Amber eyed her with skepticism, knowing it was no use arguing with Rose. She was as thick as they came and had trouble accepting her feelings. “Sure Rose,” she conceded after a moment, going back to reading the book she'd set aside when Rose had entered.
~
Rose woke up the next morning, half her face buried in the neck of Scorpius’ sweatshirt, her heart racing, and Scorpius’ voice echoing in her mind. She’d dreamed of him. In her dream, he hugged her and she buried her nose in the crook of his neck. Scorpius kissed her cheek and murmured, “I love you Rose, I love you so much,” and dream-Rose had looked up at him and kissed him, murmuring, “me too, I love you so so much,” against his lips.
Oh shit. She had feelings for Scorpius bloody Malfoy. Her parents were going to kill her... well, her dad was going to kill her. If he likes you back you mean , a traitorous voice in her head said. Oh Merlin’s saggy balls, did he like her back?
Rose’s heart raced, her stomach turned, and her teeth gritted, this could not be happening.
Rose skipped breakfast, opting for going to class early, then almost skipped class altogether when she remembered that she shared the same class with Scorpius. She almost squealed when he poked her side and teased her about arriving late to class. The rest of the class she couldn't concentrate, hyper-aware of Scorpius. Her mind reeled. What if he didn’t like her back? What if her father found out and killed her? What if they started dating and she had to meet Scorpius’ super scary, ex-death eater dad? What if Albus was mad at her for sneaking around with his best friend? This was a mess, a horrible and terrifying mess that Rose didn’t want any part of.
Seeing Scorpius was too much. Maybe because they had been spending more time together, he noticed something was going on with her and decided to make it his job to help her. She couldn’t take it, she couldn’t, so for the next few days she avoided him.
~
Scorpius was making his way to the lake with some guys when he spotted her. He excused himself from his friends and made a beeline for Rose, hoping to catch her in a good mood and finally understand what was going on with her.
“Hey Weaselbee,” he teased leaning against a tree, keeping some distance.
“Oh, Scorpius…” She bit her lip nervously, “I was actually just leaving.”
“Did I do something wrong that the great Rose Weasley is now avoiding me?” He teased, voicing his concerns.
“No, it’s not that. I just really need to go” she was already hurling her bag over her shoulder but Scorpius closed the distance between them and grabbed her arm.
“Please Rose, just tell me what’s going on,” he pleaded, now serious.
“Nothing! I don’t have to explain myself to anyone, never mind a Malfoy who thinks he’s so entitled to know everything about everyone that he can stick his pure-blood nose in anyone’s business and interrogate them like a goddamn death eater. So will you just leave me alone?”
Scorpius was speechless, his hand went slack and he watched her storm off, leaving him standing there, the knot on his stomach growing into an ache that was almost choking him. What the hell had he done wrong?