"Rosie! Get up!"
Rose Weasley, aged twenty-six awoke to a start. She was looking up into the deep brown eyes of her cousin Lily.
"What are you doing here, Lily?" Rose asked groggily, as she sat up.
"Rose," Lily sighed, exasperated. "Remember? I told you that I'd be coming over to get you ready for your date."
Rose got up from her couch where she'd been napping. She was quite well off, as she'd gotten a job at the Ministry straight out of Hogwarts, and her although it wasn't flashy, her apartment showed it.
"What are you going to do me, Lily?" Rose asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Well, we decided that I'd find you a dress, didn't we? And I'll do your hair, of course," Lily said, ticking off her fingers. "And your makeup, naturally!" Lily lead Rose to Rose's bedroom closet, and opened the doors.
"Oh," Lily said looking at Rose's clothing. "You don't have much, do you? Or anything that nice."
Rose sighed. She'd never been one to care about clothing much, and even if she had been one, it probably wouldn't have matched Lily's standards. The younger cousin had been Witch Weekly's "Most Stylish Sorceress" three years in a row, and had recently opened a boutique in Diagon Alley.
"That's okay, though, because I've decided to wing this date," Rose said as she sat down with a thump on her bed.
"Oh, no!" Lily cried. "You don't know how much time Al and I have put into getting you this date!"
That was another thing. Rose Weasley was about to go on a blind date. She was absolutely dreading it, but she did know how excited Lily and Al were about it. They were the people who set the date up, after all. So Rose sighed, and went on listening to Lily discuss to pros of wearing this dress and the cons of wearing that one. After nearly an hour of hair and makeup and clothing with Lily, Rose found herself wearing a long, column like, black dress. Her normally wildly curly hair hung in ringlets that framed her face, and her big green eyes were brought out with Lily's fabulous beauty charms.
"Rosie," Lily whispered. "You look gorgeous."
Rose smiled. She knew she did. The two cousins stood, staring into the full length mirror in Rose's bedroom before Lily jumped, and said, "Rose! You have to leave. The date's starting in four minutes!"
Rose was naturally going to be apparating to the date's location (which Lily and Al somehow knew), but she and Lily hadn't found shoes yet.
"Here, Rose," Lily said, as she pulled out a pair of incredibly high stilettos.
"Oh, no, Lily!" Rose cried. "You know how clumsy I am!"
"But they're so pretty!" Lily exclaimed, trying to shove the shoes towards Rose.
"Yes, but I won't be able to walk!" Rose yelled. Lily pushed her on to the couch, shoved the shoes on to Rose's feet, and suddenly yelled, "Oh, look at the time! Rosie, you'll be late if you don't leave now."
Rose gave a dramatic sigh, defeated, and soon she was gone with a pop.
Seconds later, Rose fell on to the snowy sidewalk in front of a fancy French looking restaurant. She had naturally fallen on to her butt while traveling, but before she could heave herself up, a strong looking arm was offered to her.
"Do you need any help?" a deep voice asked her.
Rose took the offered arm. "Thanks..." she started. "Wait, is that you? Scorpius Malfoy?"
"Yes," he man chuckled. "It's me, Scorpius Malfoy."
Malfoy had been in Slytherin during Rose's time at Hogwarts, and she had naturally been a Gryffindor like her parents. They had both been at the top of their classes, but this was often their only interaction despite Scorpius being a friend of Al's.
"How are you?" she asked him.
"I'm doing well; what about you?" he responded.
"Oh, I'm fine. My cousins have just set me up with some blind date though, so ... you know, a little nervous too."
"Wait, your cousins set you up on a blind date?"
"Yeah," Rose said with a little laughter. "Can't wait to see who the bloke is," she added as he opened to the door to the restaurant for her.
"Rose, I think that I'm your date," Scorpius said slowly.
Before Rose could say anything in response, Scorpius was talking to the hostess. "Table of two for Malfoy," he said in his distinctive drawl.
The lady lead them briskly through the candle-light restaurant. She seated them in a back corner, where they were further away from the rest of the dinner crowd.
"Well," Rose started. "I guess we're on a date."
"I guess we are," Scorpius said.
"If you'd told me ten years ago that I would be on a date with Scorpius Malfoy, I might have punched you," Rose admitted after they had ordered food.
"I would have been surprisingly happy," Scorpius said with a chuckle.
"Why?"
"Promise that you won't tell anyone?"
Rose quickly promised.
"I had the hugest crush on you at age sixteen."
Rose blushed. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
Rose remembered what she had been like at sixteen. A little too tall, a little too skinny, an awful hair cut, and few friends. She had been incredibly awkward sixteen year old.
"Why didn't you tell me then?" she asked.
"You know how I was back then," he answered. She certainly did. He had been incredibly handsome and popular, but the years before fifth year had been awful for Scorpius Malfoy. Because of Al, Rose knew that Al was Scorpius's only friend until third year, and for much of that time he had been judged for his last name and for the things that his family had done during the war. When he had finally become popular, he had made sure to carefully tip-toe around anything that might offend other witches and wizards.
"A little warning might have boosted my self confidence," Rose said, laughing and sipping her drink.
"I know, I know. Al has been bullying me about it for years,"
"Al knows about all of this?"
"Yep, yep,"
"I shouldn't be surprised. Who else?"
"Er, let's see," Scorpius started. "Lily, Hugo, a couple of our other mates, and uh, James, Fred, and Dom."
"Is that it?" Rose asked in shock. She was incredibly surprised. How could her relatives not have told her about this for so long?
"Yeah, that's it."
The couple continued talking, but before long, a sound interupted them. Rose turned around, and realized that they were alone in the restaurant, and that the sound had been the "open" sign turning off. She looked at her watch.
"Merlin!" she exclaimed. "It's nearly 11!"
The pair quickly left the restaurant, both apparating to Rose's apartment to say goodbye there.
Seconds later, the landed next to the couch in the living room. This time, Rose managed to keep her balance as she grabbed on to the couch's arm with one hand and on to Scorpius's with the other.
"Well?" she asked him, quietly.
"Well," he said. He leaned towards her. Just as their lips were about to meet, a little pop was heard. There before them were Lily and Albus Potter.
"Do you think she'll be back yet, Al?" Lily asked her brother.
Just as Al was about to answer, the two realized the more compromising position that they had just caught Rose and Scorpius in.
"Mate! Finally!" Al yelled to his best friend as Lily pushed him into the bathroom.
"Go on!" she yelled as she closed the door on herself. "Kiss her!"
And so he did.