CHAPTER ONE

Two and a half years. It sounded like such a long time but seeing him there at the counter chatting away to the girl who was serving, well it didn't feel like a long time to Rose at all. As cliché as it might sound she could remember it like it was yesterday, tripping over her words as she told him she didn't think a long distance relationship would work, the way he'd gone quiet before finally agreeing with her, how he'd kissed her on the forehead before she'd left that day and how final that had felt. She could also vaguely remember the week or so of moping around the house that had followed but that was a little embarrassing for her to admit to because it had been ridiculously teenagerish and melodramatic of her. Looking back on it now she hadn't been all that broken-hearted and while she had had second thoughts afterward she wouldn't say calling things off had been something she'd regretted doing every day since because it just hadn't been so the moping had been totally pointless. Okay, so maybe she'd missed him horribly for a week or two but really that was only to be expected, they'd been dating for nearly a year when they'd broken up and in that time they'd never gone longer than a day or two without talking to each other so of course she was going to miss his company. But as time had gone on she'd started to miss him less and less. It had taken six months or so for her to get to the point where she hardly missed him at all and since then she'd thought about him only a handful of times, and those thoughts were usually along the lines of 'I'm glad he's doing well in Germany' and were only brought on because she'd come across his name in the sports pages in the paper. Which made the brief twinge of jealousy she felt when he smiled at the pretty brunette taking his order somewhat inexplicable. She hadn't seen him in two and half years, she hadn't thought about him in almost as long so what right did she have to be jealous? No right at all. She sighed and shook her head at her own stupidity. And of course that was when Scorpius chose to turn around.

At first he didn't recognise her, Rose could tell by the cursory glance he gave her and his decision to ignore the crazy girl shaking her head in the queue behind him in favour of walking towards the end of the counter to wait for his coffee. When he made it to his destination though Rose guessed that his brain must have informed him that the weirdo he'd just shrugged at then disregarded entirely had looked so familiar because he knew her and when that happened he obviously decided that the head shake had been directed at him because the expression on his face as he looked back at her was a questioning one. Rose also thought she could see a touch of amusement there which she found a little infuriating if she was honest because there was nothing funny at all about what had just happened.

But as the frustration faded there came another inexplicable feeling, as his eyes locked with hers and he gave her that small 'what did I do this time?' smile that she'd forgotten he did so well she felt her stomach do a little flip. She decided to ignore it, she wasn't a teenager anymore after all, she hadn't been for a whole three months so acting like a giddy schoolgirl was very much not allowed. So instead of swooning over Scorpius Malfoy's adorable smile she turned her attention to searching her purse for change. It would be her turn to order in a second and she didn't want to be that annoying person who took forever to hunt out their money when it was time to pay.

And being the practical and organised young woman that she was she didn't end up being that person. No, she had her coffee ordered and paid for in about a minute and was standing awkwardly beside her ex-boyfriend in under two which was so much better. She fought the urge to do what she usually did when she felt uncomfortable which was study the floor while scuffing her shoe and instead tried to work out what to do next. She was pretty sure that keeping quiet would be the wrong thing to do. It would more than likely make it seem like she was being purposefully ignorant and she didn't want that but she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to say to him. What did you say to someone when you hadn't seen them in years and the last thing you'd said to them may as well I have been 'You're dumped'?

Scorpius however seemed entirely unfazed by the fact he was standing next to her. "You look well." He said rewarding her with another butterflies-in-the-stomach inducing smile.

And there, that was it, 'you look well' were the words you said when you bumped into someone you'd broken up with two and half years ago. Why hadn't she come up with them first? Because her brain was being an uncooperative traitor that was why she supposed as she tried to get it to come up with an appropriate response and it yet again failed her. "Uh… thanks." Was what all it gave her so that was what she said. Thanks brain, thanks a lot she thought, way to make me not sound like a moron.

"You're welcome." Scorpius told her the smile turning to a smirk.

Rose automatically frowned. And it really was automatic, no matter the reason behind it whenever Scorpius smirked at her she found herself frowning. She had absolutely no control over it whatsoever. "You look… blonder." She murmured which was hardly inspired. It was enough to stop him from commenting on the fact she was scowling at him already though which had been what she was aiming for so that was something.

"Well it's summer…" He said slowly his eyes flicking upwards for a fraction of a second and his hand going self-consciously to his hair, "… and the sun does tend to make it lighter…" he added sounding suddenly defensive and it was Rose's turn to be slightly amused. He obviously didn't know if he should take blonder as a compliment or not and she found it kind of endearing. He always had had a thing about his hair and it seemed that hadn't changed, in a way that was comforting. Knowing he was at least to a certain extent the same person made the idea of starting a conversation with him seem far less daunting.

"I know." She assured him. "I wasn't implying you'd bleached it. I was just saying… it's lighter than it was the last time I saw you. I like it, it suits you."

And yes, after that miniscule ego-boost had been delivered he was promptly all confidence again. "Really? It suits me?" He asked obviously fishing for another compliment.

"Don't push your luck." Rose told him. "It suits you' is all you're getting." If she elaborated, if she told him that his hair being that much lighter brought attention to how blue his eyes were, if she told him she very much approved of the fact that although he'd obviously asked them to keep it short last time he'd had it cut it was now just long enough for someone to run their fingers through if they were so inclined, if she told him that she really wanted to know what conditioner he was using because not only did his hair look blonder but it looked healthier too and she was just a bit jealous, her own hair could be an absolute nightmare… well he had a big enough head as it was, he didn't need her showering him in praise and making it bigger.

"Fair enough." Scorpius said. Thankfully he was not a mind reader so had no idea what she'd just been thinking, if he had done Rose would quite possibly have died of embarrassment. "So… here for the Quidditch?" he asked still sounding more than a little pleased with himself.

Since she'd been so annoyed when he'd done it just a few seconds ago Rose resisted the almost overwhelming compulsion to smirk back at him, but only just. Had he really just asked her that question? They were standing in a coffee shop in Italy, in a town which like Hogsmeade was solely inhabited by magic users, a town that happened to be only a few miles away from the stadium that would be hosting the World Cup Final in two days' time. The odds of her being there 'for the Quidditch' were therefore pretty decent. "What do you think?" she asked him, frankly amazed at how uncreative his attempt at keeping her talking had been. As she'd already proved by failing to come up with a single conversation starter, of the two of them she was by the far the more socially awkward.

Scorpius went quiet for a second as he considered what she'd said. "I think that I didn't really need to ask that question." he replied. "Can I try another? I promise I'll do better this time."

"I don't see how you could do much worse but go ahead." Rose said nodding for him to continue.

"Okay, who's your money on, Germany or Argentina?" He asked. "And before you say anything I know that's not the most original thing I could be asking but it is better than asking you a question I already know the answer to and that's all I was going for, better."

"I wasn't going to say anything." Rose informed him which was a lie, a sarcastic 'how imaginative' had been on the tip of her tongue but he didn't need to know that. "And my money isn't on anybody, gambling is for idiots but if I had to pick one or the other I think Argentina have a slightly better chance, I mean Carrizo is something else isn't he?"

"Oh Rose, I thought better of you." He said with a sad little sigh. "Don't tell me you've been swayed by those bewitching brown eyes and that dazzling smile. Neither of those things make him a good seeker."

Rose didn't know what to say to this at first. Should she be annoyed that he'd just implied she was the kind of person who measured a quidditch players talent on looks alone? Probably, she wasn't that shallow and he knew it. Should she be worried by the fact he'd obviously been reading a lot of Witch Weekly and it's like recently? Maybe not, her dad had a habit of reading her mum's magazines when he thought no one was looking and he seemed to be holding up okay. In the end she decided to address neither of those things and instead said "Well I'm more impressed by the fact that he's won 'Rear of the Year' two years running to be honest." in a matter-of-fact manner.

This time it was Scorpius' turn to take a second to answer. "I didn't realise you kept up to date with that kind of thing." He said at last.

"And I didn't realise you were such an avid reader of Witch Weekly." Rose countered. "And don't try and deny it, that 'bewitching brown eyes' quote was lifted straight out of an article I saw in there a few weeks ago.

"I was visiting my parents, they were out for the day, there was a copy on the coffee table…" He shrugged, not flustered at being caught out at all. "I skimmed through it."

"Fair enough." Rose said a little disappointed that she hadn't made him go at least a little red; he looked oh so adorable when he got all embarrassed. To be fair though making him blush wasn't an easy thing to do so she shouldn't be too hard on herself. Now what were they talking about again? Oh yes, "Seriously though," she continued, "Carrizo is a fantastic seeker, bewitching brown eyes aside and don't try to tell me he isn't. You just don't want to admit it because they're up against Germany and you're friends with half the team."

"I'm friends with two people on the team." Scorpius corrected her. "That's hardly half. Not every German quidditch player plays for the Harriers you know."

"You know that's not what I meant." Rose said with a frown. That was one thing she hadn't missed, him correcting her even when he knew she wasn't being serious. "What I'm trying to say is that since you've been playing Quidditch in the country for over two years now you're bound to be slightly biased."

Scorpius opened his mouth, probably intending to tell her how wrong she was again but before he got that far he was distracted by his order being placed in front of him which was fine by Rose because it meant she'd gotten the last word. Getting the last word in an argument had always been one of her favourite things.

"Tell you what… I'll save you a seat and we can talk about it some more." Scorpius said which rather ruined the whole 'getting the last word' thing.

"But I'm…" was all she managed to get out before he was walking away from her and finding a table. She sighed. The coffee she was ordering wasn't even for her; it was for her cousin who despite being awake for about an hour now was still sitting up in his hotel room doing a pretty good impression of a zombie. Albus was not a morning person in the slightest and had not appreciated Rose waking him at nine and trying to drag him out to do some sightseeing, not at all. So Rose had been hoping offering him caffeine would help get her back in his good books and get him moving because lounging around the hotel until dinner was not her idea of a day well spent. But she couldn't be rude. She'd been the one who'd been doing the breaking up last time she'd seen him and yet Scorpius had been nothing but civil to her. Yes, technically she'd just been arguing with him but it hadn't been about anything serious and to be honest that was the norm for them, when they'd been dating they'd disagreed on about eighty per cent of the things they'd ever talked about she was sure. And he'd found a table now, he was sitting there waiting for her… she couldn't just give him a wave and leave, that would be terribly ill-mannered of her. But then again leaving Albus waiting wouldn't be overly polite either. She bit her lip as she considered her options.

By the time her own order was ready she'd made up her mind. She could spare ten minutes of her time to catch up with an old friend couldn't she? He might be her ex but he'd still been her friend and she really had missed him. If Albus asked her why it taken her so long to get back with his coffee she'd just tell him there'd been a hell of a queue. It wouldn't technically be a lie, 'hell of a queue' was the kind of expression that meant different things to different people. Yes, the more she thought about it the more it sounded like a sound enough plan. So decision made and happy that she could go back to her cousin conscience clear she picked up her coffee and headed towards Scorpius Malfoy and the seat he had saved for her.