She was eight years old when she met him.
It was summer, and Hermione and Ron would be off to work in the never-ending halls of the Ministry of Magic and the garish displays of fireworks scattered in the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes joke shop respectively. Usually, they would drop her and Hugo off at one of their cousins' houses, nestled in the security of the country where no prying Muggle or Wizarding eyes would find them.
Given the heat and the abundance of swimsuits at this time of year, they had decided to ship Rose and Hugo off to Bill and Fleur's home on the outskirts of Tinworth, the aptly named Shell Cottage.
This decision was met with little resistance, as the Granger-Weasley siblings were fond of their older cousins, and the permanently sunny disposition of the beach.
Hugo often liked to stay in with Aunt Fleur while she cooked or tended to her herb garden. Uncle Bill was a welcome distraction with his collection of puzzles, while Rose and her cousins slipped out undetected.
It wasn't as though they had anything against him, but it was a tad too risky for a small six year-old boy to be out wandering the shore, especially without parental supervision. Rose was very fond of her younger brother, but sometimes he could be a bit of a nag.
With her guilt of leaving him dissipating with every step she took, Rose let the sea spray over her, and followed her cousins down the steep path to the beach.
She would chase after Louis as the waves vehemently crashed against the rocks, and other days collect shells with Dominique. And if Rose was lucky, Teddy would visit, and they would enjoy creeping up behind Victoire and knocking down the intricate architecture of her sandcastles.
This one visit was different, though, she could tell.
"I'm going to catch you, Louis!" Rose called, as she darted after him. It was customary that she was always the one to tag her blonde relative, for his habit of hiding in the same caves made their game run much more smoothly.
He bolted down the side of the cliff, nearly losing his balance when his feet skid against the precipice. Tucking in his stomach, he slid into an alcove and waited for Rose to find him.
However, his little cousin had no such luck, and she carefully made her way down the steep path, scanning the seascape for any flash of blonde she might identify as her sprinting friend.
And . . . there!
There was no denying that the solitary figure below, crouching in a crevice beneath the overlook, with his uncharacteristically silvery flop of hair, was her cousin.
She would never properly catch him if she took this trail, barred by boulders that jutted out of the crag at dangerous angles. No, the safest - though slowest - track was by walking a semicircle around him, and then jumping out to surprise him.
Yes, that would do it.
Rose began her trek, and stealthily, she edged towards her cousin, until at last she was close enough to startle him.
"Caught you!" she yelled, and with a stunned shout, the boy whirled around to face her. "You're not Louis," she blurted, and took a step back from the stranger.
No, he definitely was not Louis. The boy was blonde, yes, but a platinum blonde, and beneath the strands that hung over his forehead were eyes of piercing grey, cold and calculating.
He was taller than her, so it was possible he was her age. The boy wore swimming trunks of navy blue, and on his feet were leather slides.
"Who are you?" they both asked at the same time, and a shy smile tugged at Rose's lips.
"I'm Rose. I was playing tag with my cousin Louis, and he's blonde like you, except it's not really as light as yours is, and I thought you were him, so I came down to check - well, I wanted to sneak up on him because I was trying to catch him and it's a little game of ours -"
"You talk a lot," the boy remarked, smirking slightly. "I'm Scorpius. Do you always talk that fast?"
Rose flushed pink, then scowled. "No. Are your eyes really that grey? I've never seen eyes that grey before, Louis's eyes are kind of grey, but they're really more blue . . . " She took a step closer to him, and gazed into his eyes.
"So you thought I was your cousin?" Scorpius asked, uncomfortable at how close they were, and he knelt back down, searching for something in the sand. "I would've thought, people like you would know to stay away from people like me."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rose was not entirely sure she liked Scorpius, and her blue eyes narrowed.
"It means that you shouldn't be talking to me. You shouldn't be here at all, actually. Leave me alone." His tone was much more direct now, a bit ruder.
Slightly taken aback by the harshness of his words, she resolved to stay with him as an act of rebellion. "I'll go when I want, now what are you looking for? I can help you find it if you want."
Scorpius glared at her. "I was looking for a pear whelk conch. If you stir a certain kind of potion in it, the properties of the shell mixed with the liquid form a salve that can be used for healing."
He continued to dig, and Rose stood aside, observing him. "Is someone in your family sick?"
"It's none of your business," he spat, grey eyes burning with indignation at the redheaded girl in her hot pink swimsuit.
"You really shouldn't talk to other people like that, it's mean." Imitating her mother - because people usually listened to her mother - she placed both hands on her hips.
Scorpius didn't look up, and shoveled through the sand with an array of scoops, muttering something about girls being bossy.
Rose continued to watch him, debating on whether or not she should stay and help him, or leave him alone.
Now that she thought about it, Louis was probably looking for her, worried about where she was.
As she turned to leave, a flicker of something gold caught her eye. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Rose plowed her hands through the rough, dry sand and pulled out a conch that must have been the shell that Scorpius was talking about.
"Here," she said, and extended her hand. Scorpius pretended that he didn't hear her, and carried on with his scouring.
Rose cleared her throat. "I found your shell."
At this he stood up, and gaped at the conch in her hand. Then he seemed to realize who he was and declined her offer. "I'm good, thanks." He started to gather his things, and walked away.
"But you need it, you said so! For," she fumbled on her words lamely, "the person that needed healing."
Scorpius hesitated in his tracks, but resumed walking. It looked like he would not be coming back anytime soon.
She ran after him and tapped his shoulder persistently. "What?!" He growled, and spun around, his grey eyes now alight with annoyance. "I told you, I don't want it!" And he knocked it to the ground, walking faster.
Rose shuffled off to find the shell, and combed her hands through the sand. When she found it, she yelled, "I don't know you, but I know you need this." And she stood right where she was, holding the pear whelk conch in her hand for him to take.
After about a minute or so, he grumbled something else about girls, and snatched it out of her hand, walking away.
"Wait!" Rose called.
Scorpius turned around, squinting as the sunlight blinded his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to be friends?" she asked, but he must not have heard, because he repeated, "What?"
"Do you want to be friends?" Rose said more loudly.
Something tugged at the corner of his mouth - a smile? - and said, "Maybe one day."
And that was good enough for her.