This is for The Kiss in the Rain Challenge by Indigo Seas on HPFF.

A Kiss for a Rose

When the Malfoy Manor came into view above the hill, I thought I very well might die. Never in my life had I ever seen something so breathtaking and beautiful.

The manor, ten times the size of my own home, came up from the hill as we rode towards it in our car (my mom insisted we take the old fashion way instead of just apparating in). It appeared so suddenly, taking me by surprise, and I could not help but stare. Tremendous windows spanned entire floors that, had it not been raining, would have allowed a clear view into the handsome building. Elaborate gardens, complete with tall, trimmed bushes and fountains galore, circumscribed the manor, prohibiting view of the lower levels. Looking at the mansion itself, I could not help but think it a small Hogwarts, tasteful and paramount.

Wrought-iron gates prevented our entrance as we drove towards the manor, though they vanished almost as soon as we pulled up to them. We continued along the path, anyway, which brought us through the garden to the front of the house, stopping near the front doors to the manor. The doors themselves stood as tall as the windows, opening to show us the entrance way. An old man stood in the doorway, bowing to my cousin and me as we parked.

The man hurried to my side, holding an umbrella and opening my door for me, not to allowing a drop of rain on my head. I turned to look at my cousin, who hurried towards me and slipped beneath the umbrella. The three of us walked into the entrance way of the manor, and once again, my breath was taken away by its finesse.

Sumptuously decorated, I never saw anything more ravishing in my life. A beautiful carpet was spread out across the stone floor, while mirrors and portraits of the manor's tenants hung on the walls, covering every possible inch. The furniture, in the entrance way alone, was ornate, and an enchanting chandelier hung above us, cascading light like waterfalls around the room. My gaze was so averted to my surroundings that I barely managed a glimpse of the man who invited us here. My cousin bumped me with his elbow, and I refocused, smiling at the butler and turning to our host.

"Thank you both for coming today," Scorpius Malfoy greeted my cousin and me, and he walked forward to shake our hands. "Albus, it is wonderful to see you again! It's been so long since we've had the opportunity to meet, and I have much to tell you." He shook my cousin's hand first before stopping in front of me. I smiled at my host, holding my hand out to grasp his. "It has been longer since the two of us have met, Rose."

He held my gaze, his eyes so hard on mine that I could not help but to look away. Frightened that I had just acted rudely, I turned back to him again, but his gaze had travelled done to our interlocked hands. His touch was astoundingly cold compared to my warm palm, and I wondered if that was why Scorpius kept his hand against mine for longer than necessary.

Pulling his hand away from mine, he stepped back to look at the two of us as we stood in his entrance way. Smiling, he held out a hand towards the room connecting to this one, allowing Albus and me to proceed through the doorway into what appeared to be the living room. A coffee table in front of an expensive-looking couch was filled with cheese and crackers, fruits, and Wizard sweets. Everything seemed so flamboyant in this room, not nearly as beautiful as the landscaping or entrance way.

"Please, take a seat and help yourself to any of the snacks. I have a long list of things to speak to you about, but I will attempt to make this as painless as possible." Scorpius smiled at me as he walked over to the living chair opposite the couch. I glanced at Albus, who appeared oblivious to whatever was occurring between our host and me. The two of us sat down, and Scorpius followed suit, being more polite than he ever was at Hogwarts.

Albus reached for a cauldron cake, and I grabbed a pumpkin pasty, not wanting the large selection of food to go to waste. There were enough snack foods on the coffee table to feed a large party, quite inappropriate for just the three of us and the butler, and I was certain no one else would be joining us anytime soon.

As Albus and I chewed on our snacks, Scorpius spoke again, obviously not needing any input for a couple of minutes while we ate. "So, thank you again for coming. I don't believe I have seen either of you for at least a year, and I miss the two of you so much." Albus and I swallowed as the opportunity allowed it, and we both looked at Scorpius and smiled. "Things have been quite chaotic lately, and I haven't been out of the house much… until quite recently, actually." He paused, and the only noise in the room was the sound of Albus' chomping. I finished my cake and did not plan on taking another. "I would like to ask the two of you favors."

"Of course, mate, anything," Albus replied, swallowing quickly. "Well, actually, I shouldn't be so quick to accept that, should I? I should probably hear you out first."

Scorpius chuckled, and I narrowed my eyes. This man sitting before us seemed so different than the last time I saw him. Yes, a year had passed, and time changes a man. This, however, shocked me. Once disorganized and improper, he now appeared constructed and competent. Chuckling? No, before he nearly died laughing at small things such as this.

"Well, yes, hear me out first, and then you may decide." Scorpius' eyes travelled back to me, glossy and hard, but I held eye contact this time. A smirk, a small glimmer of his past, grew on his face, and I nodded. That was more like him. "Ladies first, Rose. I would like to ask you if you could be my florist. I have some arrangements I need made, and you're the best florist in town. I wouldn't even imagine asking anyone else. I can pay you double for your work."

I blinked, astounded. This had not been what I expected. Though I knew not what Scorpius wanted to speak with Albus and me about, never had it crossed my mind that he might want to hire me. The reason he invited me here… to hire me? Was what I really wanted ridiculous to have assumed? Merlin, I was being hired.

"Uh," I muttered intelligently, and I mentally slapped myself. How could I even begin to say no, that I didn't want to be his florist, whatever he needed me for, and that he could go ask someone else even if he couldn't imagine it? How could I even begin to say no to someone who used to be my confidant and only called me back after a year of silence because he wanted to hire me as a professional, not a friend?

I couldn't.

Feeling myself nod, I allowed the word "yes" to slip through my lips. I preferred going back home, living my life wondering where Scorpius had disappeared to, to living through this. Scorpius appeared stoic now; he only cared that he sealed his business deal and hired a florist he knew he could rip off.

"Great." Scorpius looked to Albus now, planting the smile back on his face. I looked at Albus, kicking his leg subtly. My cousin glanced at me, shushing me as I shot a desperate look at him. "Albus, I would like to ask you to be my best man. You're my best friend, and I wouldn't even imagine asking anyone else."

Albus failed to notice that Scorpius said those last seven words to me not minutes ago, failed to see what a horrible best friend our host was, and failed—

Best man?

"Oh, Merlin, you're getting married!" Albus jumped off the couch and threw himself at Scorpius, hugging him with such feeling and amazement. Scorpius hugged him back, not quite as enthused as Albus, but not as stoic as he appeared before. He plastered a smile on his face, but I saw right through it, glaring at him.

Married? Married?

"Congratulations, Scorpius!" Albus broke away from Scorpius, patting him with animated force. "When did you pop the question? Who are you getting married to? When are you getting married? Where are you getting married? How long have you been engaged? What size ring did you get her?" Albus paused, breathing. "Merlin, I am going to plan the best bachelor party ever!"

I knew now why he asked me first. He didn't care about the "ladies first" rule—no, he wanted to secure the business deal before I knew what he needed me for. He wanted to hire me as a florist for his wedding. Had I known what he wanted to hire me for beforehand, he knew I would have said no. I wouldn't even go to his wedding. Now I had to.

"I need some air." I stood up, walking out the door we had entered from and heading outside. The rain hit my head immediately, and I looked up at the gray sky, allowing the fat drops to hit my face with a splatter. I headed out toward the fountain in front of me, sitting on the marble ledge, allowing my whole being to get soaked in the rain.

Closing my eyes, I considered everything that happened over the past couple years. I loved Scorpius Malfoy. I remembered the two of us falling in love at Hogwarts, a teenage romance that could only last so long. Maybe it could have been forever, but Scorpius let me go, disappearing into the world like a grain of sand in an hourglass. He even let go of all connection with Albus after a little while longer.

I sought no reconciliation. Instead of taking action and jumping up to find him after he ran away like the coward he was, I recoiled into myself, finding pleasure in what I knew best: Herbology. Still, I thought about him, wondering where we could have gone together if he had not broken my heart, where we could have gone if I had found him.

But I gave up. I moved on without him. I needed no man to complete my life—a silly teenage romance never could have lasted anyway. It was his prerogative to have come back now, to have moved on, to have sought me only to ask a favor. He needed no girl to complete his life, but a woman more mature than that silly teenage romance.

"Rose, you're getting wet."

I jumped, startled, and turned to face the boy I longed most to turn away from. His blonde hair quickly matted to his forehead in the rain, soaked already, though I doubted he had been outside watching me for long.

By this time my hair had fallen straight, the ringlets of red hair now wet strands. The raindrops falling on my face hid the hot tears falling from my eyes, though I attempted to maintain composure. Scorpius appeared skeptical of my sanity at this point, however, raising a blonde eyebrow as if to question this. No normal girl, no normal florist who had just been hired for a wedding, would sit outside in a downpour. No normal girl would care enough about a failed teenage romance to hate the boy who broke her heart.

"I know." Scorpius sat down beside me, a little too close to me than an engaged man should get to another woman. He reached out to me, looping one of my strands of red hair around his finger before allowing it to fall back to mat my face. I suddenly felt uncomfortable knowing that Scorpius was engaged to be married, playing with my heart as I suspected he knew he was. "Stop!"

"It should have been you, Rose." I blinked, confused by this, but, thankfully, he elaborated. "I should have never broken up with you. Ever since the day I proposed to my fiancée, I just had this weird feeling that I was wrong. But I can't just take back a proposal, nor can I take back what I did to you. I know I hurt you, Rose."

I tried to distract myself by looking at the beautiful house in front of me, but his words drew me into him, and I felt the few centimeters distance closing between us. My focus drew away from the manor and went back to Scorpius, whose face neared mine.

"Stop."

He did not. Instead, he leaned closer to me, pressing his lips against mine. The passion we had during our teenage romance returned, building up between us, and the two of us became more excited. I lay down on the marble seat of the fountain, and he pressed his wet body on top of me, smothering my body with his. My hands found their way into his short hair, becoming entangling with the strands, while his hands traveled under my wet shirt unto my now-cool skin.

But suddenly, knowing what I was doing, with everything coming back to me, I pulled my hands from his hair and pushed on his chest, getting him away from me. It was all wrong. With a single kiss, I knew that I moved on, and so had he. Nothing was right about that kiss. Nothing was right about Scorpius Malfoy.

"You've moved on; I can see it in your eyes. And I've moved on, too," I finally said after a moment of silence. Those distant, hard eyes locked onto mine again, and I shook my head. "Your fiancée doesn't deserve you. I'm sure she is a much better person than you'll ever be."

I stood up from the fountain just in time to see Albus walking out of the house. "What's going on?" my cousin questioned, and I sighed, exasperated from more things than just the kiss.

"You can stay, but I'm leaving." I turned back to Scorpius, who seemed dumbfounded with my new personality—my mature demeanor, much different than the last time he had seen me. "You can hire a new florist. I'm all booked up, actually."

As the raindrops fell around me, I apparated, disappearing like the rain on a sunny day.

Author's Note: All right, so I wrote this for the Kiss in the Rain Challenge by Indigo Seas. I was seriously cutting it close, at the time. But at least I finished! Be happy for that.

This is actually my first challenge (I think—at least, this is the first challenge that I remember participating in), and I have to say, they are tons harder than they seem. When I signed up for this, I was like, "Oh, yeah, piece of cake. I've got romance covered, it'll be great. And this challenge is basically giving me a plot! How hard could this be?"

Pfft, really hard. I had no idea how the heck I could ever finish this in time, and, personally, I'm even surprised that I did. Thank God I'm a TA or else this never would have made it in on time. But with everyday life happening, it was nuts. And the last line sucks. But whatever.

Seriously, challenges are challenging. But I think that's the point.

Thanks to Indigo Seas for forcing me to do this, though. I know it takes me a long time to do things, but I DO eventually get them done. I hate deadlines, but I think this challenge helped warm me up to them.

Congratulations to everyone else who participated in this, as well. Good job!

Thanks for reading, everyone!