Heartbeat

The morning of the first of September was crisp and fair. A family of four bobbed through the crowded London train station, attracting odd stares from commuters; a large cage was rattling atop the laden trolley the father was pushing, containing a great tawny owl. The children walked excitedly alongside their parents, the younger one, a freckled nine-year-old boy with flaming red hair bearing a striking resemblance to his father, was talking animatedly to his mother, whose slightly bushy brown hair blew behind her in the wind as she laughed. The family wove their way through the crowd, at last approaching the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The older child, a girl of eleven with wavy, reddish-brown hair and a few freckles dotting the bridge of her nose, turned to her father.

“Can I go first, with you?” she asked hopefully.

“Of course, Rosie,” Ron Weasley said to his daughter. He took hold of her hand. “Now, just run straight at the barrier, and I think you’d better close your eyes this first time.”

Rose nodded. She and her father took a few quick steps toward the brick wall, and then broke into a run. Rose squeezed her eyes shut and flinched, but no collision came. Instead, Rose and Ron Weasley emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, most of which was masked by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet steam engine. Rose was just able to make out the gold writing on the train through the haze: Hogwarts Express.

“Daddy, can I take my trunk onto the train and change into my robes?” she asked, as her younger brother, Hugo, appeared beside them, clutching their mother’s hand and looking about with wonder.

“All right, but come right back when you’re done. You’ll want to find a carriage near the end of the train, that’s around where we always sat when we were at Hogwarts…” Ron smiled reminiscently. Rose smirked at her father’s expression, and then voyaged into the mist and the crowd, pushing her trolley ahead of her.

After a minute of walking, Rose boarded the very last carriage of the train. All around, students were chattering excitedly, greeting old friends with enthusiasm. Rose found an empty compartment and slid inside. Pulling her brand-new Hogwarts robes out of her neatly packed trunk, she quickly put them on. Leaving her trunk on the seat to claim the compartment, she hurried back out of the compartment. When she stepped off the carriage, she found her family standing nearby.

“Is that them?” Hermione asked, squinting through the mist. A group of four was approaching the family. Only when they had drawn up to them did their faces come into focus.

“Hi,” breathed Albus Potter, sounding immensely relieved. Rose beamed at him.

“Parked all right, then?” Ron asked Harry. “I did. Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I’d have to Confund the examiner.”

“No, I didn’t,” said Hermione, “I had complete faith in you.”

As Harry and Ron together lifted Albus’s trunk and owl onto the train, Lily and Hugo struck up an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

“If you’re not in Gryffindor, we’ll disinherit you,” said Ron, “but no pressure.”

“Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus’s and Rose’s expressions were solemn.

“He doesn’t mean it,” said Hermione and Ginny. Rose allowed a small smile towards Albus. Butterflies were squirming in her stomach due to both nerves and excitement, and Albus certainly looked anxious.

As the steam thinned for a moment, their parents turned to stare at a family of three standing in sharp relief against the shifting mist. A boy with pale skin and platinum-blonde hair, looking to be Rose’s age, stood with his father, to whom he bore a striking resemblance, and his mother, who also had very pale skin and light blonde hair. The way the threesome carried themselves gave the distinct impression of importance. The father gave a curt nod towards Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and turned away again.

“So that’s little Scorpius,” said Ron under his breath, his eyes on the boy. “Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother’s brains.”

“Ron, for heaven’s sake,” said Hermione, half stern, half amused. “Don’t try to turn them against each other before they’ve even started school!”

“You’re right, sorry,” said Ron, but unable to help himself, added, “Don’t get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood.”

Rose laughed distractedly, gazing around her father at the blonde-haired boy, Scorpius Malfoy. She had heard her parents discussing the Malfoy family on a few occasions, but she had never seen them before. She still wasn’t exactly sure what made her parents dislike them, but from what she gathered, they were somehow linked to the Dark Arts. She continued to stare absently at the boy, wondering if he would be like those before him.

As James Potter, Albus’s brother, approached the adults, shouting about Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley (Rose’s cousin) snogging, Rose kept her eye trained on the boy. He was certainly good-looking, that was for sure….

“Rose?”

Startled, Rose turned. Albus was standing next to her, an inquisitive look on his face. “Who’re you looking at?”

“Oh, erm, no one,” she said, a small smile on her face. As she turned back to where Scorpius and his family had been standing, she found the mist had shifted once more and Scorpius was visible no longer.

“It’s nearly eleven; you’d better get on board.” Harry informed the group. Rose smiled, running to her parents to say her goodbyes.

“I’ll write you, Mum, I promise!” she vowed.

“I’ll look forward to it, sweetie. Remember, Hagrid’s invited you to tea next Friday.”

“I’m so excited, Mum. I’ll miss you loads, but I can’t wait to get there!”

“I’m sure you’ll have a great time.” Hermione smiled, kissing her daughter goodbye. “I’ll see you at Christmas!”

Rose nodded, and then flung her arms around her father. “Bye, Daddy! See you at Christmas!” she said. With one last fleeting wave, she leapt aboard the train. Doors were slamming all along the scarlet steam engine, and the blurred outlines of parents were swarming forth for final kisses and last-minute reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage beside Rose, and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest to them. A great number of faces seemed to be turned to Harry.

“Why are they all staring?” demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

“Don’t let it worry you,” said Ron. “It’s me. I’m extremely famous.”

Albus, Rose, Lily and Hugo laughed. The train began to move, and Rose and Albus pulled their heads back inside the carriage, their faces ablaze with excitement. As they hurried, grinning, towards the compartment Rose had left her trunk in, Albus asked,

“So did you see that Malfoy bloke? They looked like a haughty bunch; I think we’d better watch out for him.”

Rose gave a noncommittal “hm” as she sank down onto the cushioned bench, staring distractedly out the window. The landscape whooshing past them was breathtaking. Shaking Scorpius out of her head, she turned towards Albus, her eyes alight.

“We’re on our way, Al. We’re finally going to Hogwarts.”

Early-morning sunlight poured in through the opened window in Gryffindor tower, casting shafts of light about the dormitory. Rose’s soft brown eyes fluttered open. Sitting up in bed, she glanced around the room. All the other girls were sleeping. Rose checked the clock on the wall over the door. Seven o’clock in the morning on a Saturday; Rose was surprised at the hour. She never aroused this early on weekends. Quietly, not wanting to disturb the other girls, she pushed back her sheets and slid out of the four-poster bed, her feet landing on hardwood floor.

Dressing in jeans and a simple white three-quarter sleeved v-neck shirt, Rose checked her hair in the mirror. Straight at the top and falling into soft curls at the bottom, Rose’s dark reddish-brown hair needed no work. Somehow, it always looked perfect; many girls envied Rose’s natural beauty, and many boys took notice of it. Rose applied a little eyeliner, slipped on her black high-tops, and made to head out of the dormitory. As she opened the door, she heard her name called out in a sleepy voice.

“Rose?” Dominique; Rose’s cousin and second best friend, mumbled, sitting up in bed and squinting against the bright sunlight. “Why’re you up so early?”

“Sun woke me,” Rose responded.

“So close the curtains and go back to bed, silly,” Dominique smiled drowsily, throwing a pillow at her cousin. Rose laughed, blocking it with her hand. It fell to the floor with a soft fwoomp.

“I’m going to go breakfast, you sleep all you want, lazy bones,” Rose smiled, backing out of the doorway.

“Mm’kay…” Dominique murmured, rolling over so she was facing away from the sunlight. Rose rolled her eyes, closing the dormitory door quietly behind her.

There were a few early birds in the Common Room, and Rose recognized Albus as one of them. He was sitting in his customary winged armchair by the window, studying a large, very old-looking piece of parchment intently. His jet-black hair was sticking up in the back as usual, and his bespectacled, emerald green eyes stayed trained on the lower corner of the paper. When Rose approached, Albus quickly folded the parchment and attempted to stuff it in his bag, which lay at the foot of his chair, a gauche expression on his face.

“What have you got there?” Rose grinned, pulling the parchment from within his bag. Albus quickly snatched it out of her hand.

“Nothing,” he said quickly.

“Al, I know it’s the map.” said Rose, exasperated.

“What?” said Albus nervously, holding the paper behind his back.

“I know James nicked it from Uncle Harry, and you’ve obviously just nicked it from James, now give it here.”

Albus was thrown off-guard. “James never said it was Dad’s map…” he said, bringing the map from behind his back to take a closer look at it.

“I actually think your grandfather made it, but that’s not important ― how’d you manage to get it?”

“My grandfather made―” Albus started, staring in wonder at the parchment.

“Yes, I believe so, but really, how’d you get it?” Rose asked impatiently. She snatched the parchment out of Albus’s loose grip. He cried out, grabbing at it, but she put it behind her back, grinning slyly.

“Tell me how you got it and what you want it for or you’re not getting it back.”

“Well, this morning, James was still asleep… so I just sort of snuck into his dormitory and said “Accio Marauder’s Map,” and it came zooming into my hand.”

“That easy? James didn’t have it protected or anything?” Rose asked, surprised.

“Yep. That easy.” Albus grinned.

“The idiot, honestly… but good for you! So what did you want it for?”

“Erm…”

“Spit it out, Al. I figure you either have a devious master plan that involves secret passageways and careful planning, or you have a crush on a girl. Which one is it?” Rose smirked.

Albus cringed. “The second one,” he mumbled almost inaudibly, staring down at his shoes.

“Score one for Rose! Who?” Rose asked excitedly.

“No one,” Albus snapped, turning bright red.

“Tell me, or you don’t get the map back and you can’t spy on her any longer.”

“Fine, keep the map.” Albus said grumpily, plopping back down in the armchair.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Al, just tell me! I would never tell anyone your secrets, you know that! You’re my best friend.” she came to sit on the edge of the chair beside Albus, giving him a pleading look with puppy-dog eyes. After a moment, Albus caved.

“Quinn Zabini,” he muttered, blushing furiously.

“Oh, not her!” Rose said loudly. “She’s a Slytherin! We’re supposed to hate each other, on principle.”

“Oh yeah? I’ve seen you staring at Malfoy across the hall on more than one occasion.” Albus retorted fiercely.

It was Rose’s turn to blush. “I’m entitled to think certain boys are attractive even if I don’t like them,” she snapped.

“Sure…” Albus snorted.

“No, I swear, Al. I would never in a million years like that selfish, conceited bully.”

“I’ll remind you of that on your wedding day.” Albus joked. Rose rolled her eyes.

“I promise, Al. Never. But as to Zabini, promise me you’ll recognize what a horrendous person she is? She’s manipulative, sneaky and low. You’re way above her, Al, don’t you know that?”

“Why do you even care who I like?” Albus asked.

“Because you’re my best friend, and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Rose sighed.

Albus frowned. “Well, I don’t think she’s going to hurt me. I talk to her sometimes, and she’s not that bad.”

“I think you just like her because she’s pretty.”

“I think you just like Malfoy because he’s good-looking.”

“For the last time, I most certainly do not like Malfoy!” Rose exclaimed, exasperated. “I never did, I certainly don’t, and I never will.”

“Good.” said Albus. Before Rose could make a remark about his feelings for Quinn, he stowed the Marauder’s Map in his pocket and jumped up, heading for the portrait hole.

“I’m going to breakfast,” he announced. Rose strode after him.

“So am I. But honestly, Al ―”

“Can we not talk about this any more now?”

Rose exhaled. “Alright. But don’t think I’m going to forget about it any time soon.”

In silence, the cousins made their way out of the portrait hole and strode down the hallowed halls of the familiar castle. It was their like their second home.

Trotting down the marble staircase, they headed into the Great Hall. A small number of students sat at the House tables, eating bits of toast or having a glass of orange juice while they looked over the Daily Prophet or chatted with their friends. Since it was early for a Saturday, the full breakfast had not yet been sent up by the Hogwarts house elves. Albus and Rose sat down at the Gryffindor table, helping themselves to some juice. Rose peered over the top of her glass around the Hall. She noticed Scorpius Malfoy sitting alone at the Slytherin table, and took note of how his striking hair looked today. Remembering her promise to Albus, she quickly looked away. She felt Albus’s eyes boring into the side of her head as she stared down at her plate.

“Rose.” Albus said, half stern, half amused.

Rose pretended she didn’t hear him. Grabbing a piece of toast, she stuffed it in her mouth so as to excuse herself from speaking until she finished chewing.

“Rose, you were staring at him.”

Eyebrows arched, Rose looked Albus in the eyes as she chewed. Finally, she answered.

“I was not.”

“You were, too.”

“Not.”

“Too.”

“Not!”

“Too!”

“Well, so what if I was?”

“You just swore you didn’t like him!”

“I don’t! I just think he’s hot,” said Rose, a sly grin on her face.

“Well, I don’t like it,” said Albus, staring darkly at the unsuspecting Scorpius.

“Well, I don’t like you liking Zabini.”

“Did I just hear what I think I heard?” James asked gleefully, approaching them from behind. “Our little Al has a crush on the attractive Slytherin Chaser?” It was James’s final year at Hogwarts, and while most other seventh-years were rising early to complete homework for their N.E.W.T. classes, James was likely rising early to set a trap for Filch or mess with Peeves; the usual mischief.

Albus smacked Rose’s arm. “See what you do?” he moaned.

“Take a leaf out of my book, little brother, instead of listening to dear Rosie over here. If you want a girl, go after her.” James said wisely.

“Don’t listen to him, Al; he’s just trying to embarrass you.” Rose contradicted.

“You think I’d embarrass myself if I tried to get a girl?” Albus asked. James roared with laughter.

“No, that’s not what I meant!” Rose said hurriedly. “I just meant, well, you know… Quinn Zabini… I mean, she’d only… she just wants… you’re not exactly…” Rose trailed off. The look on Albus’s face had her wishing she hadn’t spoken at all.

“Well, if you think I’m that much of a loser,” he said angrily, jumping up. He stalked angrily out of the Great Hall. James was still laughing.

“That was good, Rose!” he chuckled, calming down.

“Good? You think it’s good that I unintentionally hurt my best friend?” Rose exclaimed disbelievingly. “You’re so tactless, James!” She, too, got up and strode off in a huff.

The crisp yet warm mid-September air outside automatically soothed Rose’s anger. As she walked down the sloping grounds to Hagrid’s cabin, she felt slightly annoyed at James, but mostly dreadful for making Albus think things of himself that weren’t true. Rose truly thought a lot of girls probably liked Albus. He was nice, smart, funny, moderately talented, and reasonably attractive. He wasn’t the star Quidditch player like his elder brother, and he wasn’t outrageously popular like his younger sister. He wasn’t a genius like Rose; he wasn’t as funny as Hugo; he hadn’t found true love like Teddy and Victoire. He was simply Albus Potter, Rose’s favorite cousin and very best friend.

Rose was walking along the edge of the Forbidden Forest to Hagrid’s cabin when she heard a noise from nearby. When she turned towards the woods, she saw none other than Scorpius Malfoy leaning against a tree a little ways ahead.

“You were just in the Great Hall!” Rose said, taken aback by his sudden appearance.

“So were you,” Scorpius shrugged.

“Did you follow me?”

“No. Why would I have any reason to follow you?” Scorpius asked. He made a good point, Rose thought.

“Well, then what are you doing out here? And how’d you get in front of me without me seeing you?”

Again, Scorpius shrugged. “I walked through the forest, and I guess you were wandering or walking really slow…”

“You walked through the Forbidden Forest.” Rose repeated, eyebrows arched.

“Uh-huh.” Scorpius said casually.

“You’re a prefect.” Rose pointed out.

“As are you.” Scorpius nodded towards her.

“You’re a prefect and you’re breaking the rules.” Rose elaborated.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never?” Scorpius smirked. “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised. Goody-two-shoes Gryffindors…” He shook his head in mock pity.

Rose pursed her lips. “Oh, as if being a sneaky, malicious Slytherin is any better.”

“Yes, it is, actually… now, if you don’t mind, this conversation really is pointless. I’ll be going now.” Scorpius turned and headed back into the forest.

“I still think you were following me,” Rose called after his retreating back.

“I think you wanted me to,” Scorpius called behind him. He walked deeper into the forest and faded into the darkness.

Lips parted, Rose stared blankly into the woods. As much as she hated it, she knew he was right.

“Al?”

“Leave me alone, Rose. You wouldn’t want to be seen with a loser like me. It might upset your reputation.”

Rose sighed, grabbing Albus’s arm as he made to stomp up to his dormitory. “Albus.”

Albus stopped struggling against her surprisingly strong hold. Rose had never called him Albus before. They had never been in a fight before, either.

“Al, I’m sorry… I really didn’t mean it like that, I swear.” Rose sighed. “You’re not a loser, you’re incredible, and I truthfully bet a lot of girls like you.”

“A girl would have to be desperate to like me. What was I thinking?” Albus slumped down in his customary winged armchair. “Of course Quinn Zabini would never…” Albus trailed off, resting his head in his hands as his elbows leaned on the table.

“Al, don’t say that!” Rose sat on the arm of the chair beside him. “Maybe she doesn’t like you, but I bet a lot of other girls do. You’re just not looking in the right places. Instead of focusing on the girl who’s got the hottest body or the prettiest face, you’ve got to look deeper and admire someone because they’re nice, or smart, or understanding. Someone who sees you for who you are, like I do. And the best place to start,” Rose smiled, “is right around you. Take a second look at your friends.” Rose patted Albus’s shoulder and then got up, turning and walking across the Common Room towards the portrait hole.

“But Rose,” Albus said suddenly, “my only friends are my cousins.”



“Hey, Al! Quidditch tryouts this morning!”

“I’m not going, Rose.”

The usual chaos and bustle of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall was multiplied times ten that morning. Everyone was wolfing down breakfast and chattering excitedly. James Potter was surrounded even more than he usually was; being Quidditch Captain, he had to deal with a lot of suck-up from hopefuls. Nearly all of Gryffindor house would be heading down the Quidditch Pitch shortly, either to watch the tryouts or to be in them. Rose was fairly good at Quidditch, but she would rather sit on the sidelines than play in the game.

“Why not?” Rose asked incredulously, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised. Albus quelled under her disbelieving expression.

“I’m no good.” he muttered.

“Rubbish! You’re great at Quidditch!”

“Rose, we go through this every year.” Albus sighed. “I tell you I’m no good, you fight me, we go to tryouts, I chicken out and leave before they get to try out Seeker position.”

“Well, this time, I’m not letting you leave. Go and get your broom this instant Al Potter!”

Grumbling under his breath, Albus got up from the table and trudged out of the Great Hall. Feeling confident that this year would be Al’s year, Rose beat a first year to Albus’s recently vacated seat. She reached for the last croissant on the platter before her, but her manicured fingers were slapped away by those of her cousin. Rose rolled her eyes as Dominique, her gorgeous strawberry-blonde curls swirling around her flawless face, bit into the pastry. Rose had always envied Dominique’s veela blood, although everyone told her she was beautiful without it.

“Dom, that was really unnecessary,” Rose said, talking loudly over the noise of the Weasley clan surrounding her.

“Well, Roxanne took the waffle I was going to eat, so I figured I’d better take someone else’s food.”

“Spreading the irritation. Lovely plan, Dom.” Rose laughed. She glanced over at Roxanne, whose fiery red hair was tied back in a ponytail today. Her cheeks were bulging, stuffed with waffle. Beside her was her Silver Missile racing broom, its sleek tail glistening in the sunlight that was streaming down from the Great Hall’s enchanted ceiling. Her father, George, had a fortune from his joke shop business he had continued to run even after his twin brother’s untimely death, so Roxanne and Fred always had the best. They didn’t ever boast or brag, however. That sort of arrogant behavior was for Slytherins, not Gryffindors. And speaking of arrogant Slytherins…

Rose was watching the door for Albus’s return. Just as he arrived, Firebolt 3000 in
hand, Quinn Zabini was exiting the Hall. Albus blushed furiously red. Eyes narrowed, Rose watched as Zabini stopped, eyebrows raised, and, laughing, made a witty remark that didn’t reach Rose’s ears. Albus turned, if possible, even redder. The tips of his ears were crimson; the Weasley side of him was coming out. Looking mortified, he ran back out of the Hall. Rose immediately got up, fully intending to chase after him and put him right before tryouts.

“Al!” Rose called, seeing the familiar untidy black hair round a corner at the end of the hallway. Breaking into a dash, Rose followed him. Finally, she caught up with him halfway down the hallway.

“Al! What happened?!” Rose demanded. Albus shook his head, biting his bottom lip, his face still scarlet.

“Did you see?” he whispered. “She laughed at me.”

“But what did she say?”

“She called me a lumbering oaf and asked me how I planned to stay aboard a broomstick for more than five seconds.” Albus mumbled, his face burning with shame.

“And you took that?! You didn’t retort back?!” Rose exclaimed. “You should’ve called her a conceited prat! You should’ve asked her how she stays standing with that big head of hers! You should’ve―”

“Well I didn’t! I ran, like an idiot. I couldn’t think of a comeback! Have you seen her eyes, Rose? They’re big and brown and sparkly… they’re hypnotizing…”

Rose really should’ve immediately slapped him to pull him out of his reverie, but she was too busy remembering another Slytherin’s mesmerizing, sparkling eyes… Finally, she snapped back to reality. She raised her hand and smacked Albus across the face.

“What was that for?!” he shouted angrily, raising his hand to feel his stinging cheek.

“To get you to stop thinking about her! She just humiliated you and you’re still fantasizing?!”

“I know I have no chance, Rose, but have you seen her butt?”

Rose slapped him again.

“Albus Severus Potter! Stop that!”

“Sorry.” Albus muttered.

Rose smacked him around the head for no good reason.

“Hey! I deserved it before, but that was completely unwarranted!”

“I know. Third time’s a charm, though, eh?”

Albus punched Rose in the arm. Rubbing the sore spot, she muttered, “Okay, okay! Sorry!”

“Truce?” Albus held out his hand. Rose rolled her eyes, shaking it.

“But seriously, Al. We need to get you to tryouts. Feeling confident?”

“Feeling sore. And still humiliated.” Albus frowned.

“Well, these are Gryffindor tryouts, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who saw you run away. You have nothing to worry about.”

Albus took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”


When they reached the Quidditch pitch, they found a stadium of scattered students and a large group of broomstick-clad Gryffindors (a number of them redheads) standing in the middle of the pitch. James Potter, his messy light-brown hair becoming even more untidy in the wind, was standing in front of the clamoring crowd, yelling orders for them to divide into groups based on what position they wanted to play. Rose shoved Albus toward the mob, and then hurried up to take her place in the stands. Sitting in the top row, she watched as Albus paced alongside with the Seeker hopefuls, Lucy Weasley among them. Rose spotted Hugo with the Beaters, and Roxanne and Fred with the Chasers. James stood alone, Quidditch Captain and the most superb Keeper Hogwarts had seen since Rose’s father. In the stands several rows ahead Rose spotted Dominique, surrounded by boys. That was one thing Rose didn’t envy about her cousin; Dom never got any alone time. She was always surrounded by her giggling girl friends, swooning boys enchanted by her veela charm, or her raucous, redhead cousins.

In the front row of the stadium was Lily Potter, her straight, dark red hair swinging in a curtain around her face as she leaned over the edge of the railing, shouting words of encouragement to Hugo, who was now in the air along with James and three other boys. As Rose’s eyes followed her brother around the stadium, a group of boisterous Slytherins ascended the stands and came to sit on the bench in front of Rose. Automatically, the catcalls and jeers commenced. Rose narrowed her eyes at the back of Zabini’s brunette head, which was directly in front of her. Slowly, silently, she drew her wand and pointed it, trying to think of a spell to use on this despicable girl.

“Careful, Weasley, you could hurt someone.” said a drawling voice casually. Rose turned to glare at Scorpius, trying not to think about how hot he happened to look with the wind in his hair.

“That was my intent, Malfoy.” Rose retorted. Quinn turned around, finding herself about an inch away from Rose’s wand. Going cross-eyed, she stared at the tip. Rose was pleased to see the frightened expression on her face.

“You leave Al alone, Zabini.” Rose snarled, pressing her wand against Quinn’s forehead. Quinn was silent for a moment, and then she leapt up, drawing her wand as she went, and pointed it at Rose. None of the other Slytherins, with the exception of Scorpius, seemed to take any notice.

“Ladies, let’s not start a fight,” drawled Scorpius. Ignoring him, Quinn sneered.

“Little Albus needs someone to speak for him, does he? He can’t fend for himself? I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave.”

Anger boiled up inside Rose. She was never a violent person, but she did have a very hot temper. She pointed her wand at Quinn, with no intention of actually using it, but hoping for the duel to pass before she was forced to.

“Well? Are you going to try to curse me or not?” Quinn sneered at Rose’s hesitance. “Oh, right,” Quinn gave a fake little laugh, “Gryffindors are too noble to fight.”

“Quinn―” Scorpius began.

“Shut up, Scorpius!” Quinn snapped.

“Is this really worth it?” Scorpius asked, his eyes flitting from Rose’s furious expression to Quinn’s belittling one.

“What do you think is going to happen, Scorp? If she actually has the guts to duel me, she’ll come out the lesser.”

“Well, you could, er, you could get detention…”

Rose finally glanced over at Scorpius with interest. Quinn was right, of course, and all of them knew it; Rose wouldn’t strike back if Quinn lashed out. So why was Scorpius trying to stop the two from dueling?

“Detention? Hah! Why would I care about getting detention?”

Scorpius muttered something about her having less time to practice for the first Quidditch match, looking down at his feet.

“Scorpius, that is the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard,” Quinn chided, finally taking her gaze off Rose for a moment to look at him.

“You’re the star Chaser, Quinn, how can we possibly hope to win if you’re in detention?” Scorpius tried again.

“How about you catch the Snitch?” Quinn rolled her eyes. “But seriously, how many detentions do you think I would get for messing up Weasley’s pretty little face?”

Scorpius stayed silent. Rose found herself praying someone would intervene. She just wouldn’t fight back, she couldn’t! Quinn had no morals stopping her. And Rose’s “pretty little face” was about to get hexed into next year.

“Looking for a savior, Weasley?” Quinn taunted, noticing Rose’s slightly panicked expression. Rose turned, stony-faced, determined to stand her ground.

“No. Hoping I find one? I don’t think you really ever intended to actually hurt me. You’re not all you make yourself out to be, are you, Zabini?” Rose smirked. “All bark and no bite.”

“We’ll just see about that,” Quinn sneered.

“Quinn…” Scorpius said, slowly standing up, taking hold of Quinn’s wrist and trying to lower her wand.

“Get off me, Scorpius!” Quinn demanded angrily, prying his fingers off her wrist. She raised her wand, pointing it at Rose confidently. “Cruc―”

“No!” Scorpius clapped his hand over Quinn’s mouth.

“What is your problem, Scorpius?!” Quinn yelled, slapping him away. Again, she raised her wand. “Cru―”

“Quinn! No!” yelled Scorpius, smacking her wand hand down before she could complete the spell. He stood in between Rose and Quinn. “I’m not moving, and neither are you. You’ll have to curse me to get to her. You don’t want to do that, do you?”

Quinn gave Scorpius a scorching glare, and then finally lowered her wand. “What the hell is the matter with you today, Scorp?” She shook her head disbelievingly. Turning to her Slytherin friends, who had finally noticed what was going on, she said quietly, “Let’s go.” With a flip of her hair, she led the way down the steps and out of the stands. As the Slytherins vanished down the staircase, Rose turned to Scorpius.

“Why did you do that?”

“What, I don’t even get a thank you?! I just saved you! At great personal risk, I might add!” Scorpius said, throwing up his hands in disbelief.

“I know! I’m just curious why you didn’t just let Zabini hurt me.” Rose said, staring up into Scorpius’s attractive face. She was about half a foot away from him. Standing in such close proximity to Scorpius made Rose’s stomach flip. Oh, my goodness, he is gorgeous… Rose caught herself mid-thought. No! Stop! But she couldn’t help noticing how his eyes sparkled… What is wrong with me?

He averted his eyes, glancing off to the side instead as he ruffled the back of his hair with his hand.

“Well… er…” Scorpius trailed off. “I don’t actually even know.” he finally said, turning to face her. “There was just something about… I just couldn’t bear… I didn’t want… I don’t know.”

Rose let a small smile creep onto her face. “Well… thank you.”

Scorpius seemed to blush under her gaze. He found himself noticing how cute the few freckles on the bridge of her nose were, and how she stared up at him with soft brown eyes that shone… Damn, she’s hot!

“Malfoy? Er, Scorpius?” Rose giggled, noticing his eyes flitting around her face.

“What? Oh ― damn ― right. Er, you’re welcome, Weasley. Rose.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Well… I should go… sit with Lily…” Rose said uncertainly, edging away, yet hesitant to leave.

“Right… and I should go… find Quinn… don’t want her to dump me…” Scorpius said, with a dry little laugh. It wasn’t entirely the truth; part of him sort of did want to be done with Quinn.

“Oh, you two are dating, then?” Rose asked, trying not to sound too interested.

“Yeah,” Scorpius said, trying not to sound too happy about it.

“Well, that’s nice…” Rose said. She couldn’t help her heart from sinking a bit. “Er, well, bye.”

“Bye…”

Scorpius watched as Rose awkwardly walked away, down the steps to where her cousin was sitting. As he turned and started walking in the opposite direction, he groaned inwardly. What was he thinking? He was dating one of the hottest girls in their year, for God’s sake! He was a Slytherin; a Malfoy; pureblood and sole heir to the family fortune. He wouldn’t let himself fall for a Weasley.

He couldn’t!

“Here’s to a Potter-Weasley Quidditch team!”

Cheers echoed around the Gryffindor Common Room, as the large group of redheads raised their glasses of butterbeer in salute. The two other players attempted to shout their names out as well, but they were drowned out by the raucous crowd of cousins.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get the position, Lucy,” Rose said sympathetically to her cousin after swallowing her sip of warm, creamy butterbeer.

“Oh, it’s alright. I’m so happy for Al! He’s really good. I never knew!”

“He doubts himself way too much.” Rose rolled her eyes.

“Who doubts himself too much?” James asked, squeezing in between the two girls.

“Al.” Rose responded.

“He’s a mess,” James laughed.

“James…” Rose reprimanded, smiling all the same. She gave him a playful shove that ended up being much more forceful than intended. Butterbeer slopped all down James’s shirt.

“Bitch!” James exclaimed, pushing Rose back. Her drink spilled over the top of the glass and onto her hand, trickling down her arm and dripping off her elbow.

“Food fight!” Lucy yelled in delight. She picked up a handful of Every Flavor Beans that James and Fred had brought back from Hogsmeade along with the butterbeer, and chucked them at the back of Hugo’s unsuspecting head. At once, with ninja reflexes, Hugo spun around, grabbing a handful of cockroach clusters as he went, and flung them at Lucy. Unfortunately, a few spun off course and plopped directly into Dominique’s mug. As Dom screamed, thinking they were real insects, and Fred dumped his drink on Roxanne’s head with delight, Rose dove for the portrait hole, apt to escape before things got uglier.

Dripping in butterbeer and still clutching her now near-empty mug, Rose stumbled out of the portrait hole. As it swung shut behind her, Rose glimpsed Albus being pegged with lemon drops and acting as though each one was stabbing him. Laughing, Rose ventured down the hallway. As she turned a corner, she bumped into someone.

That someone happened to be a certain Scorpius Malfoy.

He stared at her for a second, and Rose stared back, at a loss for words and not even wanting to think how dreadful she must look right now. Finally, she spoke.

“Erm, yeah, I probably look like crap right now.” Rose said with a nervous giggle.

“No, you don’t.” Scorpius contradicted. He tried not to think how damn adorable she looked when she was embarrassed. “But I have to ask, what happened? You’re dripping in butterbeer…”

“Oh, we were having a party in the Common Room to celebrate an almost entirely Potter-Weasley Quidditch team, and I made James spill his butterbeer, so he made me spill mine, and then Lucy shouted ‘Food fight!’ and it all went downhill from there.” Rose sighed, and then laughed. Scorpius smirked.

“You Weasleys are insane.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot.” Rose smiled. There was a slightly awkward silence. Rose tried to look anywhere but Scorpius, although she could feel his gaze on her. A moment later, he spoke.

“Er, you have a cockroach cluster in your hair.” He hesitated for a split second, and then reached over and pulled the candy out of Rose’s reddish-brown curls. Rose felt the tips of her ears reddening as blood rushed to them and thanked God she had chosen to wear her hair down.

“Oi!”

Rose whipped around to see Albus, a lemon drop stuck to his arm, standing in the hallway behind them.

“Oh, hey Al!” Rose said in a falsely cheery voice.

“What’s going on?” Albus asked suspiciously, walking over to stand by Rose’s side.

“Nothing, I just ran into Scorpius ― literally ― and then I had to explain why I was dripping in butterbeer and look a mess. And he noticed I had a cockroach cluster in my hair and he just took it out for me.”

“Humph.” Albus rumpled his hair, still glaring distrustfully at Scorpius. “Well, I came to come get you, Rose, the food fight’s over but it’s not a party without you!”

“Alright, let’s go, then.” Rose smiled. She looked awkwardly at Scorpius, unsure of what to do. As Albus dragged her around the corner, she waved goodbye.

They reached the portrait hole. “Password?” the Fat Lady asked.

“Not now, ask us again when the food fight’s over.” Albus snapped.

“But you said―” Rose began.

“I lied. I just wanted to get you away from Malfoy.” Albus said unashamedly.

Rose scowled. “Al!”

“So you do like him?”

“What― no! Of course not, don’t be ridiculous! Why would I ever?” Rose lied. “He’s an arrogant, selfish player. He’s not even that attractive, either.”

Scorpius stopped eavesdropping at that. He felt his heart sink a little, and felt like an idiot for even caring what Rose Weasley thought. What did it matter? He had a sexy girlfriend who he could shag anytime if he wanted to, a handful of followers who would do whatever he said, and almost every one of his teachers in his pocket. He was rich, handsome, cunning and popular. He didn’t need anyone’s opinion, he knew it of himself. So why, then, was he aching for Rose Weasley’s approval?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




“Rose, you are completely spacing out.” Dominique waved her hand in Rose’s unfocused face. Rose snapped back into the real world, looking bemused, and blinked several times at her cousin.

“What’s wrong?” Dominique asked.

“I told a ridiculously huge lie today,” said Rose.

“… What’d you say?” Dominique asked, coming over to sit beside Rose on her bed.

Rose sighed, looking around to make sure all the other girls were asleep, before whispering, “Today I told Al that I think Scorpius Malfoy was an unattractive, arrogant, selfish player and that I would never like him.”

Dominique’s eyes got wide and loudly she said, “Ooh, you like Sc―”

“Shh!” Rose hissed, for Arianna Thomas had groggily blinked and then returned to her quiet snoring. “I don’t know! I’m so confused! He’s gorgeous, given, and today he stopped Zabini from hexing me to the world’s end, but I don’t know.”

“He’s probably good in bed, too.” Dominique added thoughtfully. Rose raised her eyebrows at her cousin. “What?!” said Dominique defensively.

“Please stop thinking about Scorpius in bed and help me, here!” Rose whispered, a note of urgency in her voice.

“I say go for him.” Dominique shrugged.

“Dom, that’s no help. He’s dating Zabini, and besides, what would Al say? What would everyone say?”

“They would think he’s using you, probably. And that you’re under a spell or love potion or something.”

“Exactly.” Rose sighed. “Not that I do like him or would date him ever, but you know, hypothetically.”

“Of course.” Dominique said skeptically, rolling her eyes. “You’re totally in love with him.”

“No, I am not!” Rose insisted. “I’m not even sure if I like him at all, and even then it’s only a little crush. I’m sure it’ll pass. But I swear to you, I will never, ever, in my entire life, be in love with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Scorpius lay on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. There were no other boys in the dormitory; they were all still in the Common Room although it was past midnight. He couldn’t stop thinking about Rose, and it was aggravating to the point of near insanity. Her and her stupid cute freckles across the bridge of her nose, infuriatingly perfect wavy hair, maddening hourglass figure and such a slender, petite frame that Scorpius so badly wanted to hold but never would. He couldn’t, for his reputation’s sake, and she hated him anyway. Why was it that she infiltrated his mind so easily? He had never felt this way before and he just couldn’t comprehend all the feelings wracking against his brain and making his head throb.

The door of the dormitory opened and in walked Quinn. Scorpius propped himself up on his elbows, and the first thing he noticed was that she wearing only a tight, low-cut white tank top and her underwear.

“Quinn, you’re not wearing any pants.” Scorpius said, eyebrows arched. Although his mindset was on Rose, he couldn’t help drooling over Quinn’s curvy figure, smooth light brown skin, and long, soft brown hair. She batted her long eyelashes at him.

“Is that a problem?” she asked innocently. She slid up onto his bed and lay down on her side, pressing her body up against his. Slowly, she trailed her finger down his bare chest, stopping at the waist of his flannel pajama pants. “You’re so sexy,” she said, looking up at him with her seductive, sparkling dark brown eyes. She took his arm and wrapped it around her own waist, apparently getting impatient that Scorpius was not coming to the conclusion he should do this on his own.

“What’s up, Scorpy?” Quinn asked after a moment, noting the glazed look in Scorpius’s eyes. Scorpius snapped back to attention. He hated when she called him Scorpy.

“Oh ― just ― thinking.” he said quietly.

“About?” Quinn inquired nosily.

“You,” Scorpius lied easily. Quinn giggled and kissed him. As the kiss deepened, Scorpius felt Quinn nonchalantly shift her body on top of his. Oh, no, thought Scorpius. He knew for a fact Quinn would let him do anything to her, and she desperately wanted him to go farther than just snogging, but they never had. Now it was almost inevitable for something to happen ― she was laying on top of him in her underwear. What was he supposed to do?!

Quinn was getting impatient. Why wasn’t he doing anything besides kissing her?! She was lying on top of him in her effing underwear, for God’s sake! Didn’t he want her like she wanted him? After another minute, Quinn broke the kiss. She stared at him with her huge brown eyes for a moment, and then sighed. “Am I gonna have to do all the work here?” she asked, smirking. Scorpius said nothing, just staring at her. Quinn blinked several times at him, and then pulled her shirt up over her head and let it fall dramatically to the ground. Now laying on top of him in her push-up bra and underwear, she took his hands and guided them up to her bra clasp. Not believing he was doing it, Scorpius unhooked her bra and pulled it off of her.

“There we go,” Quinn smiled.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The starry sky and its crescent moon reflected perfectly on the glassy water of the Black Lake. The warm, late-summer breeze of mid-September created waves in the lush green grass. Rose sat down at the edge of the lake, took off her shoes and socks, and dipped her toes in the water, causing ripples to develop on the cool, smooth surface. The wind blew her hair back and calmed her; momentarily she forgot about the turmoil in her mind.

Rose loved nature. It never failed to calm her down. She had her deepest thoughts and solved her most difficult problems while she was outside. She was an animal lover, a curious, free spirit who believed that nature was the most powerful and beautiful thing in this universe. She was a hopeless romantic, who strongly believed in the power of dreams. Sometimes, however, her sensible side inherited from her mother shone through her, and more than often she listened to her head rather than following her heart.

Rose heard feet approaching behind her and calmly turned around. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Scorpius about twenty feet away, hesitantly walking towards her.
“What might you be doing out here at two o’clock in the morning?” Rose asked once he drew nearer.

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” Scorpius sighed.

“We’ve got that in common,” said Rose quietly.

“Mind if I join you?” Scorpius asked, indicating the grassy earth beside Rose.

“Be my guest,” she said. Scorpius sat down. After a moment of silence, Rose laughed dryly. “You always seem to find me at my worst.”

“What do you mean?” Scorpius asked, turning to look at her.

“Well earlier today I was helpless against Zabini, and then after that I was covered in food, and now here I am in my pajamas with my hair up in a ponytail that probably looks horrible.” Rose sighed, looking down at her cotton shorts and ribbed tank top as she ran her hand over the top of her head, feeling for bumps in her hairdo.

“No, your hair looks perf― fine.” said Scorpius. Rose looked at him for a second with a tiny smile. She could’ve sworn he had been about to use the adjective “perfect” to describe her hair. “I’m in my pajamas too, anyway.” Scorpius indicated his pajama bottoms and white v-neck shirt. Rose shrugged.

“So what’s troubling you?” she asked after a moment, turning to stare again into the depths of the lake.

“Well…” Scorpius sighed. Tonight I lost my virginity to Quinn but half the time I was wishing it was you. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

Scorpius sighed. “I really don’t think you want to know.”

“I really don’t think you know me at all, so how would you know?” Rose said shrewdly, smiling.

“Why do you even care? I heard you telling Potter you hated me, and you thought I was arrogant and unattractive and selfish…” Scorpius said, frowning at her. It irritated him that it hurt even more saying those words out loud.

Rose clapped her hand over her mouth. “Shit, you heard that?!”

Scorpius nodded.

“I-I didn’t mean it, really. I was lying.” Rose said, feeling horrible about herself. Why hadn’t she checked that no one was listening before she spewed out those lies?

“Why?” Scorpius asked, bewildered. Why did girls have to be so confusing?!

“Er, because, erm, Al doesn’t want me to befriend the enemy.” Rose said. It wasn’t a lie.

“Oh.”

Silence.

“So you do think I’m attractive, then?” Scorpius asked. Rose laughed at his perceptible hopefulness.

“Yeah, sure.” she smiled. Yes, you are the most gorgeous boy I have ever met.

“Cool,” Scorpius said. “You’re not too bad looking yourself, either.” I want you so bad.

Rose smiled. “Thanks.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, smiling serenely. Rose studied the soft lines of his face, which were far more attractive than the harsh ones of his father. She stared hopelessly at his eyes, his stunning grey eyes. They were sparkling, and they were staring straight at her. Scorpius found himself connecting her freckles with an imaginary line, taking in all the features of her face. He could have said she was hot, but that word seemed too shallow for Rose. She was more attractive than cute, she was too elegant for hot. Scorpius finally found a word that fit her well: beautiful.

His hair is incredible…I really want to touch it…

She’s got such a tiny, thin little frame; I really want to hold her…

His eyes are beautiful; hypnotizing…

She doesn’t have a bad figure, either…

His lips look so… kissable…

She’s effortlessly good-looking…I can’t help but want to kiss her.

Al would kill me, though…

Quinn would murder me, though, especially after tonight…

I wonder what he’s thinking about.

I wonder what she’s thinking about.

Rose and Scorpius’s eyes locked and they both instantly looked away.

What am I doing?!

What am I doing?!

I can’t possibly be falling for him!

I’ve got Quinn, I can’t like Rose!

I promised Dom it was just a little crush, a passing phase!

I told myself I wouldn’t do this!

I can’t believe I let him get to me.

I can’t believe I let her get inside my head.

I have to stop myself.

I can’t keep doing this!

These feelings for him are going to end here, tonight.

I can’t keep thinking about her, I’ve got to stop this right now.

Okay, Rose, control yourself. He’s not even that great.

Scorpius, get a grip. You don’t need her.

I’m promising myself right now,

I’m making a pledge to myself right now,

That I will never

That I won’t ever

EVER,

NEVER,

Fall in love with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

Fall in love with Rose Jane Weasley.

Rose and Scorpius looked at each other. There was an extremely tense silence.

“I have to go.” Rose finally said.

“Me, too.” Scorpius agreed.

They both stood up, brushing grass off of themselves. Rose took once last glance at the gorgeous blonde boy standing beside her, and then headed off for the castle in silence. Scorpius followed a little ways behind her. Once again, they were both thinking the exact same thing.

It ends tonight.

It was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Rose and Albus were waiting in the long line of students waiting to be passed over with a Security Sensor by Filch, the grumpy, elderly caretaker whose partner in crime (or, most correctly, the detection of crime) was the ghost of his beloved cat, Mrs. Norris, before proceeding down to the village.
“I hear we’re doing Snargaluff stumps in Herbology on Monday, that should be a joy, shouldn’t it?” said Albus sarcastically.
“Al, I don’t wanna hear about school until I have to do my homework. It’s a Saturday!” Rose exclaimed.
“Fine, fine, just searching for something to talk about,” Albus shrugged. “Erm… oh, Dom said she woke up in the middle of the night a week or so ago and you weren’t in your bed. I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while but I haven’t gotten the chance; where did you go?”
“One second.” Rose stooped down and pretended to be tying her shoelace while she formulated an innocent answer. Obviously, saying she had been outside with Scorpius was out of the question. If she said she had went outside because something was bothering her, Albus would ask what, and that could get ugly. Rose decided on half a truth.
“Oh, I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk on the grounds.” she said, standing up again. Albus nodded as they shuffled forward in line.
“And you met Malfoy out there?” Albus prodded.
Rose was caught off-guard. “What?” she asked nervously.
“Just kidding. You two seem to run into each other so much, it would be just your horrible luck to see him out there.”
Rose breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Oh. Right.”
“But anyway, I’m glad you’ve come round ― seeing Malfoy for who he is, I mean.” Albus continued. “I mean, always you’ve told me you know he’s a bad person, but now you agree he’s ugly, too. I was concerned a while ago when you said you thought he was hot.”
“Oh, did you now?” a voice from behind them said. Rose cringed ― she would recognize Scorpius’s drawl anywhere. She hadn’t spoken to him since their encounter at the Black Lake. Dreading what was to come, she slowly turned around. To her horror, Quinn was hanging on his arm, giving Rose a death glare.
“Awkward moment.” Rose said with a little nervous laugh. She grabbed Albus’s arm and sped forward, cutting a few people in line to put distance between them and the Slytherin couple. “Al! Why the hell didn’t you tell me they were behind us?!” she hissed.
“I didn’t know!” Albus whispered back.
Their conversation was interrupted a moment later by Filch. “Hold out your arms,” he wheezed. He ran them over with the sensor. “All clear for now. I’m watching you, Potter, Weasley.”
Snickering, Albus and Rose headed down the lane to the cheery, bustling village of Hogsmeade. A biting November wind nipped at them as they descended down the slope. Shivering, Rose buttoned up her navy blue pea coat.
“Let’s head into Three Broomsticks first,” Rose said, stuffing her hands in her pockets.
“Aw, but Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes just opened a store in Hogsmeade over the summer and Uncle George said he’d be there this weekend.” Albus protested.
“Alright, fine.” Rose smiled. Who was she to deny her best friend a visit to their favorite uncle?
The shop was packed, as usual. Rose and Albus fought their way through the crowd to the back room, where Albus had spotted their uncle disappear to a moment previously. The pushed open the “Employees Only” door and stepped inside the cool, quiet storeroom.
“Hey, customers are not allowed to be ― aha! My favorite niece and nephew!” George stepped out of the shadows, grinning broadly, and enveloped them in a bear hug. He had a tiny bald patch on the top of his head, but was otherwise still looking young and energetic. That was George Weasley for you.
“How’s it going, guys? I heard about the Seeker position, Al, I’m so proud of you!” he rubbed the top of Albus’s head, sending his glasses askew and causing his hair to be even messier than usual. “And Rose! Still my beautiful, straight-A niece! Just tell me if any boys bother you, I’ll sort them out.” George winked. “I assume you two would like a tour of the shop and a bag of tricks to bug your cousins? Time’s ticking on, let’s get a move on!” George happily led them out of the back room and into the bright, boisterous joke shop.
“Dominique, don’t you dare kiss that boy or I’ll have to beat him!” George called happily through the crowd to their cousin. Blushing, Dominique moved her head quickly away from the handsome Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain.
“Roxanne!” George burst out, hugging his daughter tightly. “How’s my baby girl?”
“Daddy, I’m sixteen.” Roxanne laughed. “But I’m just wonderful.”
“Fred!” George caught his son by the arm as he attempted to escape a scene of embarrassment and hugged him. “How’s it going?”
“Creating chaos and making mischief as always, Dad.” Fred grinned. “Now, I really must run, I’ve got a group of very pretty girls waiting for me to entertain them.” Without further ado, he dashed off, smiling smugly.
Throughout their tour, George stopped frequently to greet the many Weasleys passing through or help customers. About an hour later, Albus and Rose departed the shop, Albus laden with a bag of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes products free of charge, compliments of George. The headed down the road to the Three Broomsticks.
The pub was equally crowded, as always, swarming with villagers, Hogwarts students, and passerby. Rose and Albus found a table near the back. Unfortunately, a few minutes later, as they were sipping their butterbeer and talking cheerily, Scorpius and Quinn were seated at the table next to them.
“Isn’t this just fabulous,” said Rose loudly. Scorpius raised his eyebrows at her and Quinn shot her a glare, and then they began talking amongst themselves. Rose couldn’t help her eyes darting over to Scorpius every once in a while, and once she caught him looking back. After a minute of silent drinking, Rose noticed Albus was occasionally glancing over at Quinn.
“Don’t tell me you still like her?” Rose hissed.
“No, I don’t. But take a look ¬― is it just me, or did she gain some weight?” Albus asked. Rose looked. Indeed, Quinn had gained some weight. Her stomach wasn’t the flat, thin little thing it had been a month previously. No, her stomach could be seen, a little bulge in her shirt.
“She has been eating a lot lately. She’s, like, ravenous.” Rose shrugged. Suddenly, she gasped. “You don’t think―?!”
“What?!” Albus asked.
Rose dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you think she’s pregnant?”
Albus looked over at Quinn, who had nearly finished her butterbeer already, and murmured, “Actually, you might be right. She does have a little bump, she’s been eating a lot, and she’s been missing some classes to go to the Hospital Wing…”
“Oh, my God, that means Scorpius got her pregnant…”
“Not necessarily, I bet she’s slept with a lot of guys…”
“True, true, but she’s like, obsessed with Scorpius currently.”
“You make a fair point. If she is pregnant with his baby, do you think he knows?”
“Doubt it. He wouldn’t be looking so relaxed right now if he did, I can tell you that.”
It was true. Scorpius was leaning back in his chair, holding hands with Quinn as he watched her drink her butterbeer. A moment later, he glanced over at Rose. Immediately, she looked away, back at Albus.
“What was that?” Albus hissed.
“What?” Rose asked, playing dumb.
“He just looked at you and you both looked away!” Albus exclaimed in a whisper.
Rose took a drink of butterbeer to buy some time. “Well, people do that all the time, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Albus glared suspiciously at Rose.
“I swear, Al. I don’t like him.” Anymore. Sort of. I think.


Scorpius couldn’t stop glancing over at Rose. She was so infuriatingly intriguing! All the feelings he had felt for her a few weeks previously came flooding back to him in an instant.
“Scorpy, what are you looking at?” Quinn asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Er ― I think they’re talking about us.” Scorpius thought up quickly. Looking panicked, Quinn immediately looked down at her stomach. “Do you think they’re noticing I gained weight?” she asked worriedly.
“You gained weight?” Scorpius asked, pretending he hadn’t noticed it himself for Quinn’s sake. Truthfully, he was getting a little worried that she was eating so much. Her stomach wasn’t flat anymore; it now had a little bump. A sudden, horrible thought flooded his mind. Could Quinn be―? No. Not possible. She just couldn’t be. She would have told him if she was… right?
“Yes, I did, you haven’t noticed?” Quinn asked.
“Not at all.” Scorpius lied.
“Oh, okay, I guess it’s not that noticeable yet.”
“Yet?”
“I didn’t say that.” Quinn said hurriedly.
“Oh. Okay.”
Something was definitely up.







“Morning, Dom!”
“Fred, stop pulling my hair!”
“Hi Al!”
“I will if you stop acting like a know-it-all!”
“Al, your broom is getting in my sausage, why do you have it on the table?!”
“―and if you see them over by the goalposts, remember to be careful of your aim! If you hit me with the Bludger I’ll murder you, Hugo!”
“Well sorry, Lily, I don’t want it to get damaged!”
“Rose! Hurry up and eat before it’s time for the match!”
“Well now it has sausage grease on it, is that any better?”
“I’ll try my best, James, but if you do have to murder me, I’d prefer Avada Kedavra to hanging or stabbing.”
“Fred! What the hell?!”
“Lucy, I was going to eat that banana!”
“Then I’ll have to stab you, Hugo.”
“Has anyone seen my hair tie?”
“Roxanne ― OW! That was completely unnecessary!”
“Lily, how can you care what your hair looks like the morning of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match?! There are more important things here than your hair!”
“Well if you weren’t such an arse I wouldn’t have had to kick you in the shins, would I?”
“Bananas are rich in potassium; did you know that, Rose?”
“Roxanne, Fred! Stop beating each other up or you won’t be fit to play! Honestly, you idiots!”
“Yes, Lucy, I did know that, and now I’ll be running on low potassium levels all day because you’re eating my banana.”
The usual hustle and bustle of the Weasleys at the Gryffindor House Table was multiplied exponentially that morning. It was the opening match of the Quidditch season: Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Emotions were running high, and the assaults upon opposing team members in the past week had been frequent.
“Hey, Rose, have you heard?” Albus asked as Rose grumpily settled on a clementine instead of the banana Lucy had stolen from her.
“Heard what?” Rose asked.
“Zabini quit the Quidditch team. And she’s gotten a little bigger over the past week and a half…”
Rose looked over across the Hall to the Slytherin table. There was Zabini, with a plateful of food, eating voraciously as Scorpius stared at her in a concerned fashion.
“It really does seem like she’s pregnant… but that’s great for our chances in the match if she’s dropped out, she was the best Chaser!”




Scorpius was becoming seriously uneasy. “Quinn, baby, please tell me why you quit the team. I’m worried about you.”
Quinn looked up from her plateful of breakfast, her eyes searching his face, taking in his genuinely concerned expression. She took her time before speaking, seeming to deliberate in her mind. Finally, she quietly, carefully said, “I’ll tell you later. Not now, I don’t want to worry you now.”
“No, I need to know now. What’s wrong sweetie, please tell me.” Scorpius said, taking her hand and holding it tightly.
“Scorpius, I can’t tell you now. Later.”
“I need to know now. I won’t be able to play well if you don’t tell me right now what’s going on.”
“You won’t be able to play at all if I tell you, you’ll just fall and hurt yourself because you were distracted, please trust me.”
“Honey, tell me right now what is happening.”
“No.”
“I need you to tell me.”
“I can’t, not now, not with people around, not right before your big game. If you try to fly with it on your mind you’ll fall and hurt yourself, I know it, and I can’t lose you, especially not now…” Quinn’s lip quivered and tears welled up in her eyes. Scorpius immediately wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair as she buried her face in his shoulder.
“Quinn…” he couldn’t even finish the sentence. A horrible dread was numbing his senses. He was almost positive he knew what was coming.



“Al, look, Zabini’s crying into his shoulder…” Rose said, frowning as she stared across the Hall.
“Good, maybe if she tells him she’s knocked up and he gets upset he won’t be able to play and they’ll have to forfeit. No wasted time for us.”
“Al, that’s horrible! Can you imagine what kind of emotional trauma that poor girl must be going through right now?!”
“She’s a Slytherin, Rose, and all I really care about is the match right now. Sympathy for Zabini comes later. Or never.”
As Rose was about to retort back about how insensitive Albus was being when James shouted “Gryffindor Quidditch Team and Weasleys! Let’s move out!” and the group jumped to their feet and began marching loudly out of the Hall to deafening applause and boos.




“Quinn, nobody’s around, it’s just us. Please, please tell me now.”
Quinn seemed to have run out of tears. She was standing still, her arms wrapped around herself as if cold, a blank expression on her face.
“I can’t, not now,” she whispered. “You’re about to go out and play, in a minute you’ll be up in the air. I can’t tell you now.”
“Yes, you can.” Scorpius grabbed her arms and stared her in the eyes. “Quinn, I need you to tell me what’s going on right now.”
She stared at him, her eyes dry but swimming with angst. “I’m pregnant.” she whispered.
Scorpius had been sure that was what she was going to say, he had known it and braced himself for it. But hearing her say the words herself made his head spin and his heart ache. He felt horrible for doing this to her, for causing her to go through this before she was ready. He was anxious and petrified and disorientated and distressed and culpable and so overflowing with emotion that he could barely see. The next thing he knew he was being dragged out of the changing room and out onto the field, mounting his broom. He heard the whistle faintly, as if it was a very long distance from his ears rather than a foot away. He felt his feet kick off, and he felt himself leave the ground. Higher and higher he ascended into the clouds. In the back of his mind he registered Albus Potter nearly colliding with him, and saw a glint of gold a little ways ahead. His grip on his broom was slipping; he was floating stationary in midair; his teammates were screaming; the Snitch was zooming past his ear. Out of habit he reached out and grabbed it as he slid off his broom and plummeted to the earth.

Rose gently pushed the door of the Hospital Wing open. At once, the elderly matron, Madam Pomfery, swooped down on her.
“Why are you here?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“I just came to visit Scorpius.” Rose whispered back.
Madam Pomfery nodded. “Right over there.” She pointed to the third bed on the right. Rose followed her gaze to see Quinn sitting on the edge of Scorpius’s bed, stroking the hair off of his forehead while he slept. As Rose approached, Quinn looked up and gave her a nasty glare.
“What are you doing here, Weasley?” she demanded.
“I just came to see how Scorpius is feeling.” Rose replied lightly. As Quinn continued to glower distrustfully at her, she sighed. “Quinn, I’m not after your boyfriend. Trust me. I guess you could call me his friend, if even that.”
“Fine, but I’m watching you.” Quinn said, turning back to Scorpius. She gently brushed her hand across his cheek, and then looked down at her stomach, frowning. Tentatively, Rose sat down beside her.
“I know you must be going through a lot of emotional trauma right now. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be sixteen and pregnant but I’m sure it’s frightening. If you ever need anything―”
“Why are you being nice to me?” Quinn asked abruptly, staring at Rose with a confused look on her face.
“Because I feel bad for you, I guess.” Rose shrugged.
Quinn considered her for a second. “That’s so weird.”
“I’m a freak, I know. A month or so ago you nearly used an Unforgivable Curse on me and now I’m trying to comfort you in your time of need. I don’t know why I’m so goddamn nice to everyone. I’m overly sympathetic, I suppose.”
“Again, that’s so weird.”
Scorpius grunted a little in his sleep and turned his head in the other direction. Rose and Quinn looked at him for a moment, both silent.
“Why did he fall, do you know?” Rose asked after a moment. Quinn suddenly looked distressed.
“It’s all my fault,” she moaned in a quiet voice. “I shouldn’t have told him I’m pregnant right before he went out onto the field, but he made me, and then I guess he was too stressed out to concentrate and he just couldn’t fly.”
“That means he cares about you, Quinn.” Rose said. “If he didn’t give a damn about your feelings he would’ve been fine. He fell because he’s scared for you, for the both of you.”
Quinn stared at Rose for a second. “It’s creepy how you get him like that when you barely even know him.”
“Reading too many romance novels can do that to you,” Rose smiled.
“You’re weird.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I’ve heard it too many times in my life to care.”
As Rose stared blankly across the room, lost in thought, Quinn considered her. She was really quite attractive, Quinn hated to admit. There was an aura of confidence about her that Quinn, being very insecure herself, was envious of. But the thing that unnerved Quinn the most was that Rose understood Scorpius maybe even more than Quinn did, and the girl didn’t even know him. How could it be possible that Rose Weasley, straight-A Gryffindor sweetheart could understand Scorpius Malfoy, proud and effortless Slytherin heartbreaker more than his own girlfriend did?
Scorpius groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Quinn immediately told hold of his hand.
“Honey, are you okay?” she whispered, resuming the stroking of his hair.
“Yeah, I’m sure Madam Pomfery’s fixed me up fine, I’ll be good to go in no time.” Scorpius said quietly. Behind Quinn he saw Rose quietly getting up and edging away from the bed to give Quinn and him some time to talk privately.
“What’s Rose doing h¬―?”
“She just came to see how you were, sweetie. We were talking before you woke up, and she was being really nice to me. It was weird, but the even weirder thing is, is that she really gets you. And she doesn’t even know you, you know? It freaked me out a little bit. But then I said to myself, how―” Quinn’s whispered monologue was cut off as Scorpius kissed her.
“Shh,” he smiled. He gently pulled her down to lay beside him, placing his hand on her stomach.
“How do you feel about this?” Quinn asked.
“Well, first off, I feel horrible for putting you through this.” Scorpius started. As Quinn made to interrupt, he pressed onward. “I’m nervous and scared, but excited, and I’m just a little dazed right now, too. This is going to be hard to get used to…”
“I know, I know…” Quinn sighed. “You haven’t left me yet, though, so that’s good.”
“I’m not going to leave you; you don’t have to worry about that.” Scorpius said, gently kissing her cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rose slip out the door of the hospital wing. He was grateful that she was leaving; under the current circumstances, he couldn’t afford for Rose to distract him. Starting now, he needed his whole heart to be devoted to Quinn.
Walking down the hallway, Rose was caught up in her thoughts. Now it was crucial she squash the few fantasies lingering in her head about her and Scorpius. Quinn needed him, and Rose wasn’t about to deprive her of the one person she truly counted on.
Rose couldn’t lie to herself any longer: Scorpius intrigued her. She could tell there was a lot more to him than what was visible on the surface, and she was determined to break through his wall. Surely there was a better boy underneath all the snide comments and sneers. Beneath every bully is an insecure, scared child who is unsure of their place in life.
Rose was definitely feeling a strong emotional pull towards him, but she wasn’t certain what sort of feelings she had for him at the moment. Her goal for the time being was to be his friend. He might try to put on a tough face, but she knew he needed someone to talk to and trust.
You can only fake a smile for so long.



Albus was in shock. Scorpius had fallen fifty feet off his broom and still caught the Snitch. It was an unthinkable feat. Maybe Albus had underestimated the talents of that slippery Slytherin.
“We need a new strategy.” James said flatly.
“Agreed.” the rest of the Quidditch team echoed. They were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, all huddled around a small circular table by the window. As James began discussing tactics, Albus glanced up to see the portrait hole opening. Rose stepped inside, looking slightly sidetracked, and headed over to Dominique, bending over to whisper something in her ear. Dom nodded and the two departed for the dormitory. What is she up to?

“Hey, Dom, I need to talk to you.” Rose whispered. Dominique nodded, abandoning her half-completed Potions essay on the table as she and Rose made their way up the spiral staircase to the girls’ dormitories.
“What about?” Dominique asked, tucking a strand of gorgeous strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear.
“Scorpius,” Rose whispered.
“Ooh. Yeah, I heard Quinn is knocked up,” said Dominique as they let themselves into their dormitory.
“Yeah.” Rose nodded. “She seems really in love with Scorpius, too, so I reckon it’s his baby.”
“How do you think he’ll react?” asked Dom, sitting down on the edge of her four-poster bed.
“Actually, I was just in the hospital wing. I went to visit him.”
Dom raised an eyebrow.
“Honestly, Dom, I don’t know if I like him or not. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about… but it seems like he’s in love with Quinn. He seemed pretty calm about the whole thing when I was there, but I know he fell off his broom because he found out she was pregnant.”
“No way.”
“Yes. But do you know what that proves?”
“That he’s worried?”
“It proves that he has feelings.” Rose clarified. “Everyone thinks he’s just an insensitive bully. But I know there’s something more there. Something else to unlock.”
“So what are you saying?” Dominique asked, tilting her head to the side.
“I’m saying I want to get to know him. I want to be his friend. I know we’ll probably never be more than friends, and I’m trying to give up. I don’t want to distract him from Quinn, who truly needs him now.”
“You are way too nice, Rose.” Dominique smiled after a moment of silence. Rose smiled back.
“I know.”




Scorpius trooped down the stairs of the boys’ dormitories Saturday morning and found Quinn sitting in a winged armchair, staring into the fire glassy-eyed. He approached and gently kissed her.
“Hey, you alright?” he asked.
“Oh--yeah. Fine.” she muttered distractedly.
“Okay. I’m going for a walk. If you need me, send someone. I’m sure Goyle is around here somewhere.”
“Yeah, I think she’s still upstairs.” Quinn replied vaguely.
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.” Scorpius squeezed her hand and strode toward the portrait hole. He has been spending every second of his time lately with Quinn, and frankly he needed a break. He was sick of her mood swings and he was sick of being shut up inside all day. He hoped some fresh air would clear his mind.
The hallways were mostly empty, except for a group of younger students that stared at him as he passed before resuming their whispered discussion. He sighed. Weird stares and abruptly ended conversations when he walked in the room had become a staple of his life. He had been losing weight and having trouble focusing from all the stress and anxiety. He wondered if Quinn thought this was really worth it.
The biting wind nipped at his nose, and he shivered through his winter coat. The grounds were deserted. Even Hagrid was cozily locked up in his hut, smoke pouring out the chimney. Scorpius shoved his hands in his pockets and, feeling a pull from the Black Lake, headed in that direction.
He was only mildly surprised to find Rose Weasley sitting on a large, flat rock by the forest’s edge, staring blankly ahead and shivering in the wind. It seemed fate enjoyed throwing the two of them together at the most unlikely of times.
She looked up as he approached. “Mind if I sit here?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, looking away again. He sat on the rock beside her, gazing in the same direction she was and seeing only mist over the choppy waters.
“You look ill,” she noticed. He looked back to her and shrugged.
“It’s from stress.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got to deal with it. I got myself into this.”
“It was that night, wasn’t it? The last time we were here?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed, surprised. “How did you know?”
“It made sense, once I found out Quinn was pregnant. You didn’t really want to, did you?”
He stared at her in disbelief. How did she understand him like that? “Not entirely, no.”
“That’s a shame. It would be one thing if you’d done it because you really wanted to and you truly loved her with all your heart, and had this outcome, but if you didn’t really want to in the first place… well, I guess that’s the consequence of being weak.”
“You’re saying I’m weak?” he asked, a bit stung.
“Yes,” she replied calmly, “mentally. You’re much too easily swayed and manipulated.”
“How can you tell? How do you figure out all these things about me that I didn’t even know about myself when you barely know me at all?” His head was aching. It was all much too confusing.
“I’m not as different from you as you lead yourself to believe,” Rose shrugged, studying him with sparkling eyes. “But like I said, you believe everything you hear. You don’t bother to resist the stereotypes. To you and the rest of the world, we’re enemies… and as you can see, we’re already unintentionally creating a bond of friendship.”
Scorpius stared at her, lips slightly parted. It was all true, of course. She was a genius. And as much as he hated it, her allure was much too strong to ignore. “You are… unbelievable,” Scorpius chuckled, shaking his head. “I hate to say it, but I think I’m going to have to keep talking to you.”
Rose smiled. “You only hate to say it because of what other people would say.”
“Probably. You understand me more than I do.”
A rather unattractive Slytherin girl walked steadily towards them, looking annoyed and even chunkier than usual due to her large, puffy winter coat. “Scorpius, Quinn misses you and wants you to come back inside,” she shouted from twenty feet away, turning back and heading inside before he could reply.
Scorpius groaned, watching Goyle leave. “Merlin’s beard, the girl can’t stand to be alone for five minutes?” He turned to Rose. “Sorry, I have to go…”
“Okay,” she said, seeming for all the world as indifferent as ever.
“Erm… want to meet me out here around four this afternoon?” he asked, standing up. “Sad as it is, I think you’re going to be my only link to sanity.”
“I’ll be here,” she said with a crooked smirk, glowing on the inside. “In the mean time, just keep painting a smile.”