A bushy mess of bright red hair shone under a lit lamp. It was late, and Rose Weasley was seated at a table in back of the library, nestled among the stacks of books she'd been studying when she fell asleep. Her head rested on her open book, and her breath rustled the yellowed pages. She felt someone shake her shoulder, and her warm brown eyes flickered. Awake, Rose yawned, quickly sitting up straight and looked up to see Scorpius Malfoy grinning down at her. She had seen his father before and was glad he did not inherit the trademark family sneer. His hair was pale and straight and his eyes were stormy gray like rolling thunderheads over an angry sea.

" Malfoy, what do you want?" She said, fixing her hair.

"What could I possibly want from you? I just came to see if you had drowned in all these books." he laughed, and it sounded almost genuine. "The library is closing if you must know"

"Right," she sighed starting to pack up her books, "You know, you could be a little nicer."

"Yeah, well you could be..." he stammered, flustered. Scorpius tried to look haughty, but the attempted sneer melted away from his face and his shoulders slumped. He sat down heavily in the chair next to her. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just, the others will make fun of me if they see me hanging around here" She looked over at him,

"And why do you care what they think?" He blushed, dragging a hand back through his moonlight blond locks.

"I-I don't" His eyes were cast down as if he was suddenly fascinated by his shoes. Rose raised an eyebrow,

"Why are so nervous? Or is it you are just embarrassed to be seen with me?" she said hotly. Scorpius started to open his mouth, but caught himself and stood up suddenly.

"Forget it, I should really-" He looked towards the exit where Madam Pince was waiting, tapping her foot and staring daggers at the both of them.

Rose quickly grabbed her books and hurried after him,

"Scorp! You can talk to me! I won't tell anybody your secret." He went a brilliant shade of pink at Rose using such a familiar nickname.

"Who says I have a secret?" he demanded, but his resolve faded quickly. "The problem is, you're the only one I can tell, but at the same time-" He paused, frustrated with his words and turned to face her.

"You can't."

"Do you get it?" he asked hopefully.

"No. You're not making any sense!" She looked at him oddly, "I don't understand what you mean..." Scorpius threw his hands up in frustration and started to stalk off towards the astronomy tower where he always went when he needed to clear his head.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" She called after him, "Just tell me what it is."

He resolutely climbed the stairs with Rose fuming right behind, bursting out onto the deserted terrace, and leaning on the side. He looked over the side and across the field into the forbidden forest.

"I don't know where to start" he admitted wearily.

She looked at him, trying to gauge what thought swirled behind his stormy eyes, until it began to make sense.

"Then let me start." She said gently, grabbing his hand, and turning him towards her.

"Wha-" Scorpius started to say, when he was stopped by the softest and smallest of kisses.

His eyes went wide as their lips touched and his body went rigid, but after a moment, he kissed Rose back sweetly, smiling into her mouth. When he pulled away, her hands were in his.

"That's honestly better than I could have put it. I love you Rose. I love your ink stained fingers and your red hair and the way your nose crinkles when you smile. I love when you talk to me and it breaks my heart when I say something stupid when my friends are around. I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you."

She let herself melt at his words, stepping closer to him, and smiling widely,

"It's okay Scorp. I don't think I can possibly say it as romantic as you just did though so...I love you."

He laughed and this time, it was like a bell ringing in the crisp night air. He hugged Rose close and kissed her again, deeper this time, slowly. Scorpius looked like a cloud had passed from his face and his eyes glinted in the starlight, more silver than storm cloud.

"It's been so hard. I've been so at war with myself, but to hear you say that makes everything okay. I've loved you since our second year Rose." His hands fiddled with her fingers sheepishly.

She smiled, then kissed him on the cheek, moving her hands away from his to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and stroked one hand up through his hair, pulling it back from his face, letting it feather behind his ears.

"That's better. Now I can see your face properly." Rose said.

He held her close, arms wrapped around her waist as the lights of the castle below started to wink out, entire sections disappearing into the night. "We'd better... get back to our dormitories." He whispered, shoulders drooping a little, but he perked up again. "Will you sit with me at breakfast?"

She pecked his lips quickly, then slid her arms away from his neck, nodding, "Of course Scorp."

"I'll walk you back to the tower then. Don't worry about my idiot friends. If they say anything I'll really give them something to laugh about" He smiled and held out his hand. Rose took it and they walked back down the stairs together.