Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Stop reminding me.

The Point at Which Something is Likely to Begin

Scorpius Malfoy peeled his collared shirt away from his sticky chest as he walked the grounds of the castle. A tall and blond boy of seventeen, Scorpius was nearing the end of his sixth year at Hogwarts. He was a proud child, wary, yes, of the history his family was known for, but genuinely kind when he wanted to be. He didn't seek out attention but rather it seemed to find him. Scorpius was smart in his own way, crafty and earnest, and he liked to fly. Attempting to loosen the green and silver tie hanging around his neck and cursing the heavy black robes draped on his shoulders, he made his way towards the greenhouses, the sun blazing mercilessly over him.

He loathed Herbology in the afternoons. If he didn't have friends there to share in the suffering he would find the class totally unbearable, especially during the month of May. The heat at this time was horrible and even though the summer months were fast approaching and sure to bring even hotter afternoons, Scorpius was glad to be ending class and starting holiday in the coming weeks.

More than half of the Slytherins were already situated around tables, looking over pods and sprouting plants, while nearly all of the Gryffindors were there as well. Scorpius moved uncomfortably towards a table in the back; the air in greenhouse 3 was still and oppressively hot. Already hunched over a mound of dirt and peering closely at it as though its flowers could up and attack him was Albus Potter.

Albus was, if anything, someone Scorpius trusted wholeheartedly. Where Scorpius was sharp, both in his dress and hair that was always combed neatly to the side and his way of thinking, Albus was careless, most strongly reflected by his untidy shag of black hair. It seemed unlikely that these two people would want anything to do with each other considering their conflicting families, but there was something about Quidditch and a shared knack for drawing unwanted attention that could bring two together in the friendliest way possible.

Throwing his bag on the ground and grabbing his dragon-hide gloves, Scorpius joined him. Before he could complain about the heat or ask what was so special about the mound of dirt under their noses, Rose Weasley pushed herself into the space next to him. Scorpius watched her as she dug around in her bag, taking out books and throwing them onto the work table before diving back into her satchel, her long brown hair whipping around and hitting him in the face.

"Hot, isn't it?" she panted. "I had to run all the way down here from the library." Rose was the impatient but bright cousin of Albus. She was more forward than Scorpius but still had the sense to use tact more than either he or Albus. Scorpius never denied that she often outsmarted him on exams or practical things like that, but knew that her ferocity for learning was just as brutal as his desire to prove himself. He matched her in cleverness and they were better friends for it.

"I forgot my gloves," sighed Rose. She looked at Scorpius and Albus hopefully. Scorpius took off his right glove and handed it to her.

For Scorpius, Rose was every bit amusing. She was frantic and organized at the same time. She worried about the silliest things yet was calm about everything else. Her temper was terrible though. Without warning she would lash out at him, snap at him for putting off his assignments and studies, call him shallow and insensitive. And most of the time, after he would succumb to her baiting and yell at her back or tell her to mind her own business, she would scream that she hated him.

"Oh, well you don't have to," said Rose, looking at the plant and grimacing slightly. "I could just take notes."

"Nope," said Scorpius. "You wanted them so here's one." He shoved it at her again but Rose hesitated in taking it from him. Rolling his eyes, Scorpius took her hand and slipped the glove over it. He felt each space for the fingers, making sure hers were in place, and rolled the cuff over her wrist. He realized what he was doing as soon as he finished. Rose's hand was in both of his. He felt his cheeks go pink and didn't for a second dare to look at her.

"Thanks," said Rose, smiling up at him. Scorpius turned away from her only to catch Albus looking at them quizzically before staring back at the plant. Scorpius didn't understand why he had suddenly felt so embarrassed. It was not as if he hadn't held her hand before. Only last year did he ask her to let him trace the lines on her palm for Divination. And he could remember the year before that when he caught her as she tripped up the stairs. Sometimes he wished she and Albus were in Slytherin. He would be able to see so much of her. And Albus, of course.

"What you have on your work tables are not the friendliest plants," said Professor Longbottom, interrupting Scorpius' thoughts. Longbottom walked up and down the rows of tables, his round face beaming as if there was nothing the students would rather be doing. "The Fanged Geranium will not hesitate to bite and will be incredibly nasty throughout the whole re-potting."

The entire class groaned. Re-potting was always messy and moving anything named "fanged" could only be worse. Scorpius now understood why Rose had offered to only take notes. Albus poked at the plant and what Scorpius thought were just mere flowers before lurched at Albus' fingers, fangs now visible and gnashing. Albus jerked his hand away, sending his glove flying off behind him and hitting the paned wall.

"Nice, Al," said Scorpius, now attempting to handle the plant himself.

"I'd like to see you try it," retorted Albus, looking around for his missing glove. He waved his naked hands in front of Scorpius. "I hope it gets your fingers, mate."

The geranium snapped at Scorpius as soon as he touched it. Trying to balance the small plant in his one gloved hand, Scorpius dropped handfuls of dirt into a new pot Rose pushed towards him. In the split second he looked up to catch her looking at him sympathetically, the geranium latched onto his finger, sinking its fangs into his pale skin.

"Damn!" yelled Scorpius as he tipped the plant into the pot. Professor Longbottom looked up from his plants near the door and smiled.

"Language, Mr. Malfoy."

Scorpius looked around and saw that other students were in the same boat, either flinching from the snaps of the plant or nursing their hands and fingers.

"And good work taking notes Miss Weasley. I hope you're all writing down the behavior of this remarkable plant."

"What's remarkable is how he's managed to keep his job and how I managed to keep all ten fingers," Albus murmured in Scorpius' ear. But Scorpius didn't agree or even answer with a witty retort. At the mention of Rose's notes he had peered over into her journal to find her scribbling away. Squinting slightly, he read her hurried but neat script.

"Hey—" he snatched the journal from under her "—my eyes didn't 'well up' when the bloody weed bit me. And I didn't 'howl in pain.'"

"I was just making observations," said Rose, attempting to grab the book back. But Scorpius threw it to Albus who caught it as if it were a golden snitch. Rose rolled her eyes and tried retrieving it again, but Scorpius grabbed her by the wrists and pinned them to her sides.

The leafy and earthy world inside the greenhouse blurred around Scorpius. Not paying attention to anyone, he leered down at Rose, his lips soon forming a smile as she glared, infuriated, back at him. She looked quite pretty, standing there fuming, eyes not even blinking, and Scorpius had to wonder why it never occurred to him before how nice-looking she was. Too much hair, thankfully always tied back after years of complaints (mostly from him), and freckles along the bridge of her nose all seemed unusually appealing. Scorpius gave her another smile. Her expression softened and she gave a small smile back.

"Those of you who would like to help me clean up are welcome to stay," said Professor Longbottom hopefully. Scorpius released his grip on Rose's wrists and looked around. The other students came back into view as did Albus who was staring at both Scorpius and Rose, annoyed. Gryffindors and Slytherins had started to clear out. Looking down at his watch Scorpius noticed that the class had nearly finished. Rose brushed past Scorpius, grabbing her journal and stuffing it in her bag, and walked towards the greenhouse door.

"You guys coming or what?" she called over her shoulder. Scorpius and Albus grabbed their things and darted past Professor Longbottom, barely missing his outstretched hands trying to grab them by the collar and force them to help clean up the mess made by the snarling geranium.

Rose was walking so fast that by the time Scorpius and Albus caught up with her they had approached the castle.

"Why are you walking so fast?" panted Albus. "And while you're going uphill!"

"I really need to study for exams," she said matter-of-factly. She rounded on them suddenly and looked at them accusingly. "And so do you two."

"I," said Albus in mock concern, pointing at his chest, "have been putting in hours of studying. Frankly, I don't know how I'm doing it."

"Oh please, you have not," said Rose, rolling her eyes. She continued to walk ahead of them and into the castle. Albus leaned over and whispered into Scorpius' ear.

"Lucky you're in a different house than Rose, eh? She'd be nagging you all the time."

"Lucky, yeah," Scorpius said back, giving a weak smile.

"Although, it'll be my birthday in two weeks," said Albus, holding up two fingers. "And then I'll have my Apparition license. You won't be the only one then and Rose will have to wait 'til July! Then I'll be able to escape if she tries to tell me something about classes. Just one pop—" he snapped his fingers, "—and I'll be outta the common room like that."

Scorpius nodded as he and Albus turned a corridor, still following Rose. He watched as she headed up a staircase.

"Actually," he said in realization. "You can't Apparate within Hogwarts."

"Exactly!" called Rose from the second floor. She was looking down from the banister at both of them.

"Oh yeah," said Albus. "Must have forgotten. Well," he said, clapping Scorpius on the back. "See you at dinner then."

"Right, see you." And Albus left Scorpius standing there ready go back to his own common room in the dungeons. Scorpius looked back up the stairs and waved, expecting to see Rose waiting but only saw that she had already gone. Scorpius watched as the stairs moved magically from one wall to another and remembered Albus' words. He didn't feel lucky at all.

A/N: This is my second Scorpius and Rose story. I decided to write it from Scorpius' point of view this time though. Some chapters are going to be on the longer side while others will be shorter, something like an interlude or a brief scene between more important parts. I have an idea of where I want this to go but I'll probably do different things as I go along. I really hope you all liked this first chapter. Please review, I really appreciate it!