"Hey, Scorpius!" Rose smiled and bounded across the not-so-crowded common room towards her best friend since second year. Four years later, in their sixth year, the two were still thick as thieves, and two of the only people in the Gryffindor house who had stayed at Hogwarts over the winter holiday. Anybody else in their house was in the Great Hall, eating the snacks put out by the house elves, and were probably going either to the astronomy tower or out into the main courtyard for fireworks arranged by the one staff member who stayed back for supervision.
"Rose!" The blonde reciprocated with a smile as well. "I thought you would be in the Great Hall."
"You know that's not my kind of thing." Rose shook her head. "I'd rather just be up here with you. But I do have somewhere I'd like to watch the fireworks."
"Sure. Mind if I tag along?" Scorpius asked, holding out his arm to the girl he had been friends with for four years, and in love with for three. Said girl grinned and took his arm in her own, leading him eagerly out of the common room and into the drafty stone corridor immediately following. Rose dragged him along, turning left and right so often that she resorted to holding his hand instead to keep Scorpius with her.
"Almost there!" Rose called back at him. Scorpius wasn't listening; he was entranced by the way her auburn ringlets danced about her face, catching the candlelight that guided them down the hall. "Just up here!"
Scorpius felt a sudden chill on his right hand, and realized with sadness that it had been released, and was now dangling limply at his side. Rose was reaching up towards a loose brick on the wall, only slightly out of her range. Scorpius could have reached it easily, what with the apparent height difference between the two, but he had other plans.
Before Rose knew what was happening, the brick she was trying so desperately to get her hands on was directly in front of her face. With wide, brown eyes, she glanced down and saw that Scorpius had lifted her by the waist and rested her on his shoulder, supporting her side with his long, thin fingers. She blushed a deep red, and, hoping her lift partner couldn't see, snapped her head back to said brick and pushed it in until there was a distinct click.
The floor beneath the two opened up, and they went spiraling down a slick slope before collapsing onto a soft carpet.
That is, Rose collapsed onto the carpet.
Scorpius, having been holding Rose, had been holding her the entire descent and was now on top of her, his lips resting on her neck. Sure, they had kissed on the cheek before, but the neck seemed so much more... intimate.
"You okay? I'm sorry I should have warned you that would happen, but I really wasn't-"
"Merlin, she's adorable... So beautiful... I wonder if I should go for it at midnight..." Scorpius's thoughts were penetrated once more by Rose's voice.
"And you would think that for somewhere so great, it would have an easier means of entrance, but..." She glared into his silvery-gray eyes. "Are you even listening?'
"No, not really." Scorpius admitted. He could feel his cheeks warming as he realized he was still atop of her. He pushed himself off and extended his hand to her. Rose took it gratefully and used the leverage to stand.
"Thanks. Anyways, over here."
Scorpius finally took a look at where he was. They were in a decent-sized room, approximately the size of the common room, with similar features, such as the fire place and furniture. The primary difference would be that an entire wall was clear, glass being the only thing separating the room's occupants from the elements outdoors.
"How in the world did you find this?" Scorpius asked, awestruck of the panoramic view of the campus.
"My Uncle Harry had this kind of map thing, and I found this room when I was looking over the map this past summer. Isn't it cool?"
"Yeah, sure, but how in Merlin's name hasn't anybody seen this? This window would be rather obvious from outside."
"It looks like a normal wall from the courtyard- I checked," Rose stated proudly. She checked her muggle wristwatch, a gift from her mother's parents. "Only six minutes until midnight." She sighed. "It's been a hell of year, huh?"
Scorpius looked down at his friend with adoration- she had been through a lot this year. Her only boyfriend in the past twelve months had been abusive. That was, until Scorpius and Albus found out, beat him to a pulp, and had him expelled. He could still see one of the scars on her right shoulder, and realized with a blush that that was just where his lips had been just a moment ago.
Rose had also had to deal with the death of her muggle grandfather. They had been very close, sharing a love of learning and curiosity. A rift had formed within Rose's immediate family with this too- Hermione, her mother, had not reacted well and had fallen into a rather depressed state for several weeks, one that her husband Ronald had barely been able to pull her out of.
There had also been little things- rumours about herself and Scorpius (as much as Scorpius yearned for those rumours to become truth), Quidditch injuries, fights with friends, and the like. It had been quite unusual for the Malfoy to see his usually so chipper friend down in the dumps so often this past year. He just wished he could have made it better for her, but there were things that even the comfort of a best friend couldn't offer.
"Yeah, it has."
Rose shook the mood away like a dog would shake away water after a bath. "So, Scorp, anything you want to tell me before the year ends?"
"What?" He panicked internally, searching her eyes for some sort of explanation.
"Any secrets, anything that you haven't told me? We're best friends, and I don't want that to change." She grabbed at his hand and smiled.
"Right, best friends..." Scorpius muttered. "Well there is one thing..."
"Do tell."
"It's a girl... She's beautiful, witty, funny, and wickedly smart. I take bake beautiful, a better word would be amazing, or stunning. Yeah, stunning... that's it..."
Rose's eyes softened, but Scorpius could swear he found a hint of disappointment behind them. A beep from her watch signified that sixty seconds remained until midnight.
"Wow... you must really like her..."
"Like her? I don't just like her, I love her. I'm in love with her." Scorpius realized this was the first time that he was saying this out loud. "I love her. I love you, Rose."
Rose stared at him, gaping in speechlessness. "Scor loves me? Seriously? How... I thought..."
"Scorp, I-"
Her response was met with a palm connecting gently with her mouth.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I oughtta go. Sorry to ruin your New Year's Eve." Scorpius pulled his hand away and backed up, searching for an exit that he wasn't sure existed, seeing as how he scarcely remembered how they had gotten to this room.
A countdown began, echoing through the passages of the castle.
10
"Scorpius, wait!"
9
"I told you-
8
"You can just forget I said anything
7
I don't want you to waste your midnight
6
With a guy who just confessed to you"
5
"Scorpius, just shut up!"
4
"I won't be wasting my midnight
3
If I spend it with you
2
Because I love you too!"
1
Rose threw herself into Scorpius's arms and connected her lips with his. She could hear the exploding fireworks in the background, and cheering from other students, and as stereotypical as this was, she couldn't give a damn because this was Scorpius and herself, and she had never felt more love between her and somebody else than she did right now.
"You know, they say what you're doing at midnight on new years is what you'll be doing the whole year," Scorpius muttered against her now swollen lips.
Rose snickered. "Well, we better make damn sure of that."
And they connected once again.
Happy New Year! Please please review, they are gold!
Truly Yours,
ToTrulyBe