AN: This story should be done in around 6 parts... I'm a terrible updater usually, so I waited a while to publish this. I have 2 more parts written and I'll post those if there's interest in the story. Feedback is wonderful, I'll love it if you leave it! (Special thanks to Caity for listening to this and encouraging me to post for the first time in forever!)
Disclaimer: Hogwarts and all it's inhabitants belong to J.K Rowling.
Chapter 1: Third Year
They are in third year the first time it happens. It's one of those indecisive spring days when the sun shines for a short while and then the clouds open and there's a shower of rain. It's the kind of day on which everyone gets caught in the rain without an umbrella at least once. It's also a Hogsmead weekend. She and Al and Scorpius spend the day rushing in and out of shops between showers and splashing muddy water from puddles at each other. They, like the rest of Hogwarts, end up in The Three Broomsticks. Once there Al begins a heated discussion about the Holyhead Harpies with a couple of Hufflepuff fourth years and Rose begins to doze off into her Butterbeer.
"Up late again Rosie?" Scorpius's voice in her ear jolts her awake.
"Hmmph… Herbology essay." She replies, propping her head on her hand and tilting it to look at him. "And Professor Longbottom has dinner with my parents every few weeks, so I get crabby letters from mum if I get anything below an E."
"Guess there are some perks to having a father who's an outcast after all!" He jokes. She snorts in acknowledgement, then bumps his elbow with her own; a wordless response to the edge of bitterness in his voice.
"Can we get out of here? I can't listen to any more of Al's fanatical raving." She asks yawning.
They're halfway back to the castle when the rain begins to fall again. A fat drop of water runs down the bridge of Rose's nose and they set off at a run. Their sneakers and the bottom of their robes get soaked by the mud puddles they are no longer careful enough to avoid. They burst into the castle laughing and gasping for breath just before the rain sets in properly. Her damp hair is making its best attempt to curl out of its braid and his shoes squelch with every step. They just reach the top of the staircase when they hear Filch's wailing. Scorpius curses and pulls her into a nearby bathroom.
"Clean up!" He urges her, "If he finds us muddying his floors the old man will have us polishing trophies for weeks." He is jabbing his wand and muttering 'scourgify' frantically, but with spectacular inefficacy, at his hem and shoes.
"Oh stop doing that before you hurt yourself!" She exclaims, rolling her eyes. "You've never cleaned in your life, have you?" His neck flushes.
"And I suppose you can do better?"
"Naturally." She inspects the damage, flicks her wand and mutters some of her grandmother's favourite charms. By the time she is finished, his robes and shoes look almost new. "I am a descendant of Molly Weasley, mud will not be my end as it has been the end of many a Malfoy!" She declares. He snorts.
"Impressive," he says "you should be our cleaning lady."
"Oh hardy ha! A thank you would be nice."
"Thanks…" He says, rolling his eyes but then reaching for her "come here, I'll dry your hair."
His pale hand on her shoulder guides her towards him. He has grown so that he is now a few inches taller than she is. She tilts her head up and watches the look of concentration on his face as he casts a drying charm. Then he looks down at her. She suddenly notices how close they are. She takes a quick step back and makes a strange nervous sound at the back of her throat.
"Uh… thanks." She says, tapping the base of her wand against her thigh and staring at his shoes. Her free hand attaches itself to her right elbow so that one arm presses into her chest, making her feel slightly less vulnerable. The awkwardness refuses to go away.
"Rose." His voice is strangely uncertain; all the comfortable familiarity of three years of friendship has disappeared. She swallows.
"Yeah"
"Could I, maybe… try something?" She looks up at him.
"Um… what?" She asks hesitantly. He is tense, which makes his already lanky teenage body look clumsier than usual; like he's wearing a body that's one size too big. It's unbearably endearing.
"I thought that… well… it's just that I kind of like you and I thought maybe you might kind of like me and that we could try kissing to see what it's like." The words tumble from his mouth so quickly that it takes her a moment to comprehend what he has said. Then her round blue eyes get rounder.
"Um…" She cannot think of what to say. Her brain has very possibly overheated and shut down. He is staring hard at the stone bathroom floor. They are in a boys' bathroom. Her brain latches swiftly onto that thought.
"Could we maybe… like, not in the boys bathroom?" She wants to bash her head against something for such an eloquent answer. He looks up at her though and his mouth quirks up.
"Upstairs?"
"Okay." It comes out shakier than she intended, but she makes a purposeful movement toward the door to make up for it.
The walk to Gryffindor tower is excruciatingly silent. They are careful to watch for the caretaker, but there is no sign of him and nothing else to distract them from their recent conversation. The majority of the castle is in the village so the passages are empty and the common room, when they finally reach it, all but deserted. They hesitate just inside the portrait hole and take in the second years playing gobstones in the corner and the girl reading on the couch. Then he grabs her hand and leads her up the boys' staircase.
She has been in their room a hundred times before but it seems all new. He tries to shove a damp towel and some dirty clothes under his bed inconspicuously with a foot, but catches her watching. All the delays are just giving her too much time to think… and thinking is really not helping at the moment. He sees her terrified expression and then collapses back onto his bed, hands over his face.
"This is really weird isn't it?" He asks through his hands. She stares at her feet.
"Yeah" She doesn't understand if he does or doesn't want to kiss her anymore. The uncertainty stings. She wants to go back to the safety of Scorpius and Albus and Rose.
"I'm sorry." He whispers.
"It's okay… I'll just…" She gestures towards the door and starts moving. He springs from the bed and reaches out to her.
"Rose, wait, I didn't mean…" She turns.
"Didn't mean what?"
"I still want to kiss you. I mean… do you still want to?" She cautiously looks up at him.
"I still want to."
They stare at each other for a moment. Then his hands come to rest on her waist. She has yet to develop curves; the narrow width of her seems fragile beneath his clumsy fingers. Her hands rest tentatively on his shoulders. There is still a good deal of space between them, so he leans forward and down at an awkward angle to press his lips against hers. He had closed his eyes before he got to her, so he is slightly off target, kissing the corner of her mouth.
She feels him shuffle in a little and move his lips against hers for a better fit. The way his open mouth smooths over hers leaves her lips tingling. She breaths in sharply and pulls away.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"Uh-huh," She says, then giggles and hides her face in the crook of his shoulder, pulling him so that they are flush against one another. "It felt nice." She tells his neck. "I just don't really know how to do this. I haven't done it before."
"Me neither."
"Try again?"
He answers her with his mouth, a little more confidently this time. Her eyes slide shut and her arms go around his neck. Their noses sort of bump and she giggles into his mouth and its weird but she kind of likes it. She is just getting used to his lips on hers when his tongue tentatively laves her bottom lip. She pulls back a little to breathe, then looks up into his eyes for reassurance. He presses his forehead against hers and then whispers to her.
"You're really pretty Rose." The pink of her cheeks deepens.
She leans up to him and this time she opens her mouth too. She feels his tongue slide against hers and almost bites him in surprise.
"Shite, I'm sorry!" She gasps. His chest rumbles as he laughs. Then she is giggling too. They shuffle the few steps to his bed and collapse in a pile of laughter. They're both skinny; all elbows and knees, so they shift for a while until neither of them is being jabbed by inconvenient bones. Then they just lie together and Rose feels very safe.
"Hey Rosie?"
"Scorpius?"
"I'm really glad I did that with you."
"Me too."
They are silent for a while and Rose thinks.
"Scorpius?"
"Mmmm?"
"You know how Teddy and Victoire dated until last year?" She feels him nod against the top of her head. "Now they're all polite to each other when they both come to one of our birthdays."
"Okay…" He says, not quite understanding why this is relevant to him.
"I don't want to be like that. You're my best friend."
"You're mine too."
"Maybe we shouldn't kiss for a while." She suggests. "So that we don't end up like Teddy and Victoire."
"We're not going to end up like Teddy and Victoire."
"But it was really strange when we were walking here and I didn't like it… so just in case, okay?"
"… okay." He agrees reluctantly.
"Just for a little while." She assures him.
"You still want to kiss me though right?" He asks.
"Still." She props herself up, kisses his cheek and then sits up and crosses her legs. "Want to play snap until Al gets back?"
AN:Thoughts please? Thank you!