Rose Weasley fell for Scorpius Malfoy the summer before their sixth year.
Aside from taking her O.W.L.s, fifth year had been all about rebuilding her relationship with Albus, and that meant more time spent with Scorpius. Rose always kept him at an arm's length and fully intended to continue, until a sweatshirt changed everything.
A few years back Rose's uncle Percy had suggested that the whole family vacation together. Since no one could agree on where to go, Rose's grandma Molly made the decision that they'd rent lakefront cabins in northern England. Initially not everyone was onboard but when they arrived their first day, approval was unanimous. From then on out they rented the cabins for the majority of the summer. No one usually stayed for the whole allotted time except for Rose, she could never bear to leave.
That particular summer—the one before sixth year—was no exception. On her second week at the lake, Rose found herself bunking with her cousin Dominique who was fresh out of Hogwarts. Dom was an alright roommate but she was known to snore, which unsurprisingly woke Rose up at half past two in the morning one July day.
Instead of rolling over like most, Rose grabbed a sweatshirt from the bottom of her trunk and pulled it on before making her way out the screen door.
The cabin porch light only illuminated so much, but Rose made her way slowly down to the shore with ease. When the cool water touched her big toe she took a step back in surprise. Running a hand through her shoulder length red hair she let out a laugh. She'd done this routine so many times and yet the water always startled her. Even on nights when the moon was much brighter and she could see practically everything, she found herself gasping.
Taking another step back Rose sat down, not caring if her pyjama shorts got dirty. For a minute it was just her and the lake, but then it was ruined when she saw lights flickering on out of the corner of her eye. When she turned Rose saw that they were from her grandparents' cabin, which normally she wouldn't question because Grandpa Arthur was known to be in the kitchen at random hours of the night, but her grandparents weren't currently staying at the lake.
That left one possibility; someone else had arrived. Her grandparents' cabin was the only one connected to the floo network—no doubt due to the fact that it was the only one with a fireplace—so it was often the arrival gate of many of the family members.
After a moment the lights turned back off and Rose heard bickering as the door creaked open. Two figures emerged and their distinctive voices gave them away immediately. Rose's cousin Albus had arrived and he had brought none other than—you guessed it—Scorpius Malfoy.
"I promised Mum I'd pop in when we arrived." Albus was rather rubbish at whispering.
Rose wasn't usually one for eavesdropping but really, what else was she supposed to do?
"Did she know you were going to be stopping by at two in the morning?" Scorpius had his hands in his pockets, he looked rather uncomfortable and Rose didn't blame him. He was standing in the middle of Weasley territory, and although he was on good terms with the family it was still pretty intimidating.
Albus mumbled something like "she asked," and then marched off to the cabin his Mum and sister were staying in.
"I'll just wait here!" Scorpius called after his friend. He sighed and sat down on his trunk which had previously been levitating behind him.
Rose was torn between saying something or not saying something, and she'd just decided on the latter when Scorpius spotted her.
He squinted, struggling to see with almost no light. "Rose?" His voice was much quieter than when he'd been speaking with Al, and it threw her off guard.
Rose was undeniably shocked when he started walking towards her, and it wasn't until he was only paces away that she spoke, using the classic "hey Scorpius."
He sat down right next to her, making her quite uncomfortable until she realized how good he smelled. There was no way he had always smelled that good. She would've noticed; wouldn't she have?
"What are you doing out here?" Scorpius' words burst her out of her train of thought and she had to blink a few times before she processed what he had said.
"Dom snores."
He nodded not really sure how to respond. They sat in silence for a few moments before Rose realized something.
"How did you know it was me?" Scorpius looked confused so she continued. "When you called my name, how did you know I wasn't Dom, or Lily, or Molly?"
He smiled, and his cheeks turned a slight shade of red. "I always know when it's you."
"That's not an answer," Rose said, laughing in an attempt to be nonchalant. "I only knew it was you because you were talking with Albus."
Scorpius sighed, "believe it or not you don't look that much like your cousins. Once you get past the hair that is."
Rose looked at him quizzically. All her life she'd been told she looked just like her cousins, and in all honesty she hated it. She wanted to hear that she was beautiful, not that her nose was the same as Lucy's, or that her eyes were the same shape as Roxanne's.
She suddenly felt insecure under Scorpius' gaze, she didn't know what all he could see.
"Nice sweatshirt," his smile was replaced with a grin and as Rose looked down she realized why.
Her sweatshirt read "Slytherin" and was in the house's colours. She smacked herself on the forehead, she'd forgotten it was even in her trunk.
"I didn't think you liked Slytherin," Scorpius said somewhat sarcastically, "but I won't judge."
Rose punched him in the arm, "it's Albus', he lent it to me a while back and I forgot to return it."
Scorpius arched an eyebrow, "fourth year Rose wouldn't have been caught dead in a Slytherin sweatshirt."
She nodded, he was completely right. She had been a jerk in fourth year, but things had changed. "That Rose is long gone."
"I reckon I'll miss her a bit."
Rose didn't understand what he meant, "I was terrible to you. How could you miss that?"
He shrugged, "I liked you," he paused before continuing with more strength. "I like you Rose, you know that. Sometimes there's no explanation for why you feel the way you feel."
Before she knew what she was doing Rose leant over and kissed him. Once his shock faded away, Scorpius met her with equal passion. His blonde hair tickled her forehead and his left hand moved to rest on her cheek.
As they broke apart Rose realized it was the perfect first kiss. Why? She couldn't tell you, all she knew in that moment was that it was.
"You should get back before Albus realizes you're missing." Rose's voice was a mere whisper and Scorpius simply nodded in response. They were both completely lost in what had just happened.
In a heartbeat he left, and Rose was thankful that she hadn't been given the opportunity to ruin her perfect moment by making a joke, or saying something she didn't mean, only for the purpose of filling the air.
She waited silently in her spot by the lake. Once she knew Albus and Scorpius were in their cabin Rose retreated back to her bed with a smile on her face.
Seven hours later Rose woke up to find Dominique gone, leaving the cabin eerily quiet. Not bothering to change she headed to her Aunt Ginny's where she knew there'd be breakfast.
Rose walked in to find her cousin Molly minding the kitchen while Albus sat eating at the small table.
"Morning Rose," Molly was as chipper as always. "There's some eggs left if you're interested." Rose nodded and Molly grabbed her a plate before continuing. "The family all headed to town, and I'm headed to the Burrow. Grandma needs some help with the Christmas sweaters."
"Are you coming back tonight?" Rose asked as Molly handed her the plate now filled with eggs.
She shook her head. "I need to get back home, a girl can only handle so many days away from everything."
Rose loved her cousin but sometimes she was just so clueless. There was more to life than what London could offer. Some things, like first kisses on the lakeshore, could just not be had in the city.
"Well I can clean up here, you don't want to keep Grandma waiting."
Molly looked up at the clock and then smiled, "thanks a million Rosie. Make sure to stop by once you're back home."
Rose nodded, full well knowing that she wouldn't. Once she got home there'd barely be enough time to prepare for Hogwarts, let alone visit all the family.
Once Molly left Rose took her plate and sat down next to Albus. "You got in late," she said as he finally looked up from the newspaper he was reading.
"Dom snoring again last night?" He answered knowingly.
"Yeah something like that," Rose mumbled as she took a bite of egg.
Albus saw that as a sufficient answer and turned back to his reading. It wasn't until Rose was finished eating and got up that he looked at her again.
"Why are you wearing Scorpius' sweatshirt?"
She looked down confused because she was still wearing the sweater that he had given her. "This is yours Albus."
He shook his head laughing a little bit. "It can't be, James burnt mine to a crisp on the last day of classes. Besides, even if he hadn't, the arm says 'Malfoy' on it Rose."
Albus pointed to a spot on the right arm where sure enough the name was.
"But you lent it to me!" Rose cried out, in denial that she could be so clueless. "You said I looked cold," she tried to justify.
"Oh yeah," he nodded remembering the day that she was referring to. "You did look cold."
When he stopped at that Rose raised her hands in exasperation. "That doesn't explain why in Merlin's name you gave me Scorpius' sweatshirt."
Albus arched his eyebrows. "Well did you expect me to just let you freeze?"
"I don't know!" Rose yelled, surprising both herself and Albus.
"Don't know what?"
Rose and Albus' attention snapped to the doorway where Scorpius had appeared.
In a split second Rose had smacked him. "Why didn't you tell me I was wearing your sweatshirt?"
Even though Rose was only 5'4" she had always intimidated Scorpius and this moment was not an exception. "I er didn't want to make you angry?" He was so nervous his words came out sounding like a question.
"Angry?" Rose glared up at him. "Do you want to see angry?"
Scorpius took a small step backwards, "preferably not," he stuttered.
Rose raised her fists again and although she didn't punch hard Scorpius grabbed her wrists to stop the onslaught.
"Just don't mess with me again," she said as she pulled away, uncomfortable with how close they had gotten.
Scorpius suddenly gained back a bit of confidence. "Me, mess with you? If anyone was messing with anyone this morning it was you with me."
"Excuse me?"
Scorpius pursed his lips and shrugged. "If I remember correctly you kissed me."
"WHAT?" Rose had forgotten Albus was even in the room until he cried out. "You kissed my best friend?" He gawked at Rose, "and you," turning his attention to Scorpius, "kissed my cousin?" Albus shook his head in complete confusion, "why?" He finally choked out.
That, Rose thought, was a very good question, and one she did not have an answer to. Months later when she finally figured it out she'd manage to deny it.
A/N
Hey guys! I've been writing Next Gen for quite a while now, but this is the first story I've published, so I'm kind of nervous. One month ago (July 26th) I went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was absolutely phenomenal and inspired me to focus some more time on these characters.
Before I saw the play I always wrote Albus as a Gryffindor but I'm starting to see now how he fits nicely into Slytherin. As for Rose, while her backstory is Cursed Child applicable, appearance wise, I decided to continue writing her as a redhead because she was cast as one in DH and more people have seen her there than in CC. Lastly, I am now and will always be, a huge fan of Scorpius. I hope I did his character justice.
Thank you so much for reading my writing
Shaelynn