Scorpius was staring again. He couldn't help himself. Rose had entered the Great Hall and he almost dropped his spoon into his soup. The candles from above were casting a halo of light around her, turning her auburn locks into something enchanting. She caught his eye, smiled, and Scorpius could feel his heart leap in his chest. Ah, he loved her.
Scorpius smiled back and was just about to gesture for her to come join him but wait, who was that approaching? Was that McLaggen? Scorpius' smile quickly turned into a scowl as McLaggen strode up to Rose. He had heard a rumor that McLaggen was going to "try his luck" with the "unattainable" Weasley. His body tensed and his fist clenched about his spoon. Scorpius was seconds away from going over to punch him in the face when he saw Rose start to say something. He relaxed. She was saying the same thing she had told twelve other guys that year, "I'm so sorry, we just wouldn't work out." Scorpius started to laugh: when you were a seer you could end a bad relationship before it even started. But the laughter died in his throat. Yes, she was a seer but where did that leave him?
Rose left a confused McLaggen and walked over to her girlfriends at the Ravenclaw table. She gave each of them a hug and sat in her spot. He could see her friend Cathy starting into a story and Rose was leaning just slightly forward engaged in the tale. Then, they all started laughing and her smile, her smile was something majestic. He was smiling just looking at her.
Scorpius could see Albus smirking out of the corner of his eye reminding him of how truly pathetic he was. He turned back to his soup and gulped it down ferociously. This was no time for distractions. Quidditch practice was in fifteen minutes. He didn't have time to fantasize about his best friend, about the way she looked curled up in the library, sleeping with a transfiguration textbook sprawled on the floor in front of her. How he had wanted to cup her face and kiss her tenderly, the feeling of his hands in her curls… Oh Godric he was pathetic. Not that Al was any better; all Scorpius would have to ask was, "how's it going with Alice Longbottom" to watch Al gape like a fish. The pair of them were cowards. No wonder they weren't in Gryffindor.
At least Scorpius had a plan… or part of a plan… a back-up plan if he couldn't find an opportunity sooner. He would tell Rose he loved her by the end of this year. If worst came to worst he would ask her to the Victory Ball in honor of the end of the great Wizarding War. He would watch for a sign she was into him, and if it went bad he could always play it off that he asked just as friends. No harm done. But that was many months away; he had lots of time to find a better opportunity that wouldn't involve making a fool of himself in front of the whole Weasley/Potter clan. Scorpius turned his attention back to his dinner. Like his Granddad Greengrass said, "we may take our time but we Slytherins always get what we want in the end."
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Author's Note: Thank you all for reading. I have been working on this concept... revising, writing, rewriting, scraping and starting over... for years. It is finally finished and I'm actually happy with it. The story is complete. I will be posting more chapters over time. Please feel free to review, follow, and share my story. Maybe your comments will encourage me to continue writing in universe... I do have other ideas :)