A/N: For the sake of the story, let's pretend that Hogwarts students receive their O.W.L. results before the end of the year feast instead of the middle of the summer, so they're still at Hogwarts at the time. Read and review, please!
Disclaimer: Characters, spells, certain lines of dialogue, etc. all belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but my own crazy mind.
"I did it, I did it, I did it!"
Scorpius Malfoy looked up just as Rose Weasley barreled into him and looped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight in a bear hug. He barely had time to hug her back before she pulled away a bit, enough so he could see the grin lighting up her face as she waved a bit of parchment around.
"Look!" she cried, thrusting the parchment into his hands. "I got an 'exceeds expectations' in potions!"
"And 'outstanding' in everything else," he observed, eyebrows raised as he pored over her O.W.L. results. "Congratulations." He grinned as he handed the parchment back to her.
"How'd you do?" she asked, still breathless from her wild dash from the Gryffindor common room to the corridor where she'd finally found him.
"Exceeds expectations in everything, except for an 'acceptable' in Herbology–"
"Surprised you didn't get a 'troll', considering your complete lack of a green thumb," Rose said, a mischievous yet good-natured twinkle in her eye.
"And I also got an 'outstanding' in potions," Scorpius finished, laughing.
"Of course you did, oh Wise Master of Potions." She jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck again, balancing on the tips of her toes. "Thank you so much, Scorpius! I never would've been able to keep up with potions if you weren't such a great tutor!" She pulled back, and the grin quickly slipped off her face.
He was staring down at her with a look in his blue-gray eyes she'd never seen before, and her breath hitched in her throat as she realized how close they stood together, how one of his hands was still gently pressed against the middle of her back from when she'd first jumped into his arms for a hug.
"Rose," Scorpius said, his voice sounding hoarse. "Do you remember when we first saw each other?"
Not trusting herself to speak, sure that she'd give herself away if she tried, she nodded. Gosh, his eyes were so beautiful, they were the first thing she'd noticed about him…
Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Mom, and Dad had all been staring at Draco Malfoy, a former classmate and – Rose was too young to know the details, they said – Uncle Harry's rival. But Rose didn't care about the tall, intimidating-looking man or his wife; it was the boy with them that caught her eye, a miniature version of his father.
"So that's little Scorpius," Dad had muttered. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."
Scorpius. Such an unusual name, so…harsh-sounding for the boy in front of her.
As if sensing that she had thought his name, the boy looked at her. Their eyes locked, and Rose took a small step back in surprise. She'd been expecting to see disgust, contempt, arrogance in his gaze, but there wasn't a trace of malice to be found there as he stared at her, just curiosity. Pure, innocent curiosity.
"Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie." Ron's words penetrated the haze surrounding her brain, and Rose dragged her gaze away from Scorpius's to look at him as he added, "Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."
It might have been a joke, but Rose heeded her father's words. At least, she tried to.
"Malfoy, Scorpius," Professor McGonagall called.
Rose stopped clutching her growling stomach long enough to watch Scorpius walk up to the front of the Hall, put the Sorting Hat on – it slipped down so the brim hit just above the point of his nose – and sit down on the stool.
"Well, well, a Malfoy, eh?" the hat murmured in Scorpius's ears. "Let's see…definitely daring, intelligent, loyal…"
Scorpius stiffened. Truth be told, he didn't want to be in any house but Slytherin, but he also didn't want to be like his grandfather, didn't want to make the same mistakes his father made. He didn't want to be the typical Slytherin.
"Very interesting," the hat said. "Very interesting, indeed. Very well. SLYTHERIN!"
Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief, took the hat off, and walked over to the Slytherin table. Most people were staring at him as he walked past, but the only one he noticed was the girl he'd seen back at Platform 9 ¾ . Just like then, her golden brown eyes were wide as she watched him. She was a Weasley – had to be, with that red hair and milky complexion – but he didn't know what her first name was. He would have to find out. He felt his lips curling into a smile at the thought.
Could an empty stomach cause hallucinations? Rose wondered. She'd been watching Scorpius – yes, okay, she admitted it! But so was everyone else! – and Scorpius, on his way to the Slytherin table, saw her and stared at her too. He even – unless she was hallucinating this part – smiled at her. At her.
"Weasley, Rose," McGonagall called.
Rose blinked. When had McGonagall gone through all the names after… Never mind. Shaking off her surprise, Rose held her head high as she sat on the stool and put the Sorting Hat on. It had barely touched her head when it yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"