It's a Date
.
If you were to ask Scorpius the one thing he loved most about Victoire Weasley, he would instantly describe the woman's golden blonde hair. He knew each strand better than his own. She had a way of tilting her head to the side and letting it all shift across her back like waves of shimmering, vanilla scented enchantment. That's not to say that Scorpius Malfoy didn't find every other feature about the woman intoxicating, but it was her hair that forever kept his attention.
On this particular evening, her hair was splayed down around her shoulders, falling in soft waves around her delicate face. Her fingers twisted and tugged at the ends of it while she laughed and made idle conversation with her red-headed younger sister. Scorpius watched, ever transfixed on the beauty just across the room from himself. His cheeks would rise with heat every time the woman's light blue eyes darted towards him in suspicion. Her perfect red lips would curl up into a smirk as Scorpius made a quick effort to duck his head and hide his guilt.
Carefully, the young blonde boy peeked up from under his lashes to determine if Victoire was no longer watching him, then resumed his staring. Every time Victoire's fingers would wind around her silky hair, Scorpius' fingers would twist in his own short blonde locks, providing him a parallel for his desire. Lost in his own imagination, the boy didn't notice when another took a place on the couch beside him.
"Stop staring at my sister," Louis whispered with a desperate tone of exasperation. This would have seemed a bit harsh, but it was the forth time that evening alone that Louis had chastised his friend for the behavior. "Seriously, you're starting to get on my nerves."
Scorpius blanched at the sudden verbal intrusion and straightened himself up right on the couch. "S-sorry. I can't help it though!" he whispered with a laugh. "She's just so...I mean just look at her."
"Nah, I'm good. She's my sister, mate. All I see is the girl who rats me out for stealing her lotion," Louis quipped.
The other boy's head slowly turned towards Louis, his eyebrows raised and his mouth twisted into an effort not to burst out laughing.
"I get dry hands!" Louis cried out. "Don't look at me like that."
"What are you two ladies arguing about?" cut in Albus as the boy climbed up over the back of the couch and dropped himself in between Louis and Scorpius. "Comparing hair gel again?"
"Just because you have a rat's nest up there doesn't mean that we're ladies," Louis huffed, shoving his cousin towards the other boy and reaching up to muss the dark strands atop Albus' head. "See, can't even get my hand back out!" he laughed.
Scorpius shoved Albus back away from him and mimed trying to free Louis' fingers from Albus' hair.
On the surface, this would look like a commonplace and genuine dislike of each other between the three boys, but in reality, they were the best of friends. Times were tough for Scorpius when he was sorted into Gryffindor. He spent weeks upon weeks trying to convince people that he wasn't simply a miss-sorted clone of his father; no one would give him the time of day. He was shunned in classes and many of the students took to throwing bits of their dinner at him each night. Albus and Louis, while not actually taking part in the torture, were less than helpful in stopping it. They would sit idly by and pretend not to see as chunks of potato flew across the table into their dorm-mate's hair.
Scorpius would never forget the day his life at Hogwarts took a turn for the better and he forged a friendship with the two boys who now sat bickering in front of him. It was Halloween and a group of Slytherin boys were plotting to pie and juice him, their reason being "Malfoy needs to learn his true place". With a full pumpkin pie in the hand of a burly forth year and a pitcher of cranberry juice being made ready by his fifth year co-conspirator, the plan was destined to go off without a hitch. It was in that moment that Louis Weasley and Albus Potter embraced what it was to be a Gryffindor.
The two boys moved like lightening and stood in front of Scorpius, challenging the Slytherins to get around them. As noble as their deed was, the boys were considerably smaller than the attackers and as a result, Albus and Louis merely shared in the pie and juice facial that was to have been Scorpius' alone. As the three boys dripped their way back to their dorm room, laughter bouncing off the stone walls around them, a bond was formed that no amount of hair jokes and playful jabs would ever break.
Now, as the three couldn't seem to function without being together, it wasn't a surprise that Scorpius spent several days of Christmas Holiday at the Burrow with his friends. Year after year, he had watched Victoire go from the bossy Prefect, to the tattle-tale who wouldn't allow them to get away with underage magic, to the young woman who knew so much about the world from her extensive travels and finally become an entrancing, fantasy creating, epitome of Scorpius' dreams come true.
"Boys, that's enough," Grandma Molly's voice cut through the living room, instantly stopping the playful bickering between the two cousins. "Scorpius, you and Dominique go set the table. Dinner'll be ready soon."
Scorpius smiled and nodded at the the aging woman. He loved it when she showered him with common place tasks; it made him feel like real family rather than a guest in the home. As nice as Scorpius' home life was, it didn't stop the boy from craving and relishing in the chaos and excitement of being a Weasley. He got up and started towards the kitchen, excepting to be followed by the scowling red-head.
"I'll help him Grandma."
Scorpius froze in his tracks at hearing Victoire's voice. He bit his bottom lip to hide the goofy grin spreading across his lips and rushed forward into the kitchen. He busied himself with gathering up enough plates, mentally counting how many people were staying for dinner. "H-how are you doing?" he asked, instantly blushing at his feeble attempt of conversation.
"I'm doing great," the young woman answered, giving Scorpius a knowing smile. "How are you."
"Great!" Scorpius answered, blushing again at the unnecessary volume of his reply.
"You're cute," Victoire said with a giggle.
Scorpius slowly placed a plate down onto the table and felt his heart start to race as Victoire stepped up beside him with the silverware.
"You're supposed to compliment me now," she said with a cheeky grin. When Scorpius' face arranged into utter confusion, Victoire gave a small laugh and sighed. "I said that you're cute. Now you're supposed to compliment me back," she clarified.
"Yo-you're-you're very...um...you're...blonde?" Scorpius instantly scoffed at himself and shook his head. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Scorpius," Victoire began. She paused and stared down at the boy's hand, still resting on the latest plate, contemplating her words. "Do you wanna have tea with me?" she asked in a whisper.
"Tea?" The boy stared at her with wide eyes and rubbed over the back of his neck. "When?"
"I was thinking June twenty-eighth," she answered. Scorpius' eyebrows rose and the boy tilted his head slightly, making Victoire giggle once more. "You'll be finished with school then. We can...have some tea, talk a little. Maybe get through an afternoon without you getting that glazed over look in your eyes."
Scorpius laughed quietly and ducked his head to the floor. "I don't understand though. You're like this...amazing and wo-"
"You're pretty amazing yourself," Victoire interrupted. "You might hang out with my goof-ball brother, but you're pretty mature. I heard that you've already gotten an internship at the Ministry."
"If my NEWTs are high enough," Scorpius mumbled.
"They will be." Victoire sounded more confident in the boy than he sounded in himself. "You're smarter than you think and like I said before -" she gave the boy a cheeky smile "- you're cute."
Scorpius shuffled his feet and glanced up at the young woman with a silly grin on his lips. "You don't care that I'm so much younger than you?" he asked hesitantly.
"What's age? Just a bunch of numbers. I don't care about all that stuff," Victoire answered. She leaned down and gently pressed her lips to the side of Scorpius' cheek and gave him a soft kiss. "June twenty-eighth?" she whispered as she pulled away.
"It's a date!"
A Note From the Author: Thanks for reading. This was just a little one shot a put together for the Secret Santa gift my House was having. Enjoy. :D –Jenna