Rose found herself day dreaming at practice, her thoughts on the previous nights party.
She stood in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron, forcing a smile every now and again in celebration of her team's win against the Holley head Harpies. She saw a tall man by the bar and caught his eye, stifling a gasp at the realization that she had locked gazes with Scorpius Malfoy, whose dark mercury eyes twinkled as if to ask, 'Have we met before?' he made his way over to her, two drinks in hand and an enchanting smile on his lips.
'Ogden's?' He held the larger glass out for her.
'How'd you know?' She felt a blush graze her cheek bones as she accepted the glass of fiery liquid.
'You looked miserable, and in my book, if pretty girls like Rose Weasley are miserable, she more than likely needs a strong drink.' His lips quirked in a dazzling half-smile, making Rose's knees weak.
'You're a charmer, aren't you?' Rose found herself giggling at his easy smile.
'Only for particularly pretty Worcester Wiccans with flaming red hair.' He smiled, leaning his hip against the wall next to her, sipping from his glass as he did so.
'Yes, well…I suppose Lily is very pretty.' Rose smirked at the short bark of laughter that escaped him.
'Oh, yes. Her mother can't be very impressed.'
'Not at all. She got a Howler half an hour after the game.' Rose watched as laughter engulfed him. He shook his platinum blonde head at the thought of the previous Holly Head Harpies' captain sending a howler to her daughter for beating her team.
She'd never seen this part of Scorpius at Hogwarts, he had always been the desirable object every girl wanted, even her. He had been quiet, a total of one girlfriend who cheated on him when he refused to sleep with her. He'd always gotten good marks, but had refused the role of Head Boy because of his job as Quidditch captain. She remembered arriving in the Prefect compartment, bursting with the possibility of sharing a dorm with him, only to find Lysander Scamander there.
The Scorpius in front of her was smiling, beautiful and friendly. He watched her from behind his glass and smiled as she looked away to hide her blush.
She was wonderstruck when he asked her if he could walk her out. She blushed all the way home at the soft smile he sent her way before Apparating to his flat in Bradford.
'Oi! Stop day dreaming, Weasley!' Christina Nott, the captain of Worcester Wiccans, snapped, throwing the quaffle at her star Chaser.
Rose wondered if Scorpius knew she was enchanted to meet him.
She found her thoughts plagued by him all the time. One night, she found herself praying that she would see him again; that he wasn't in love with someone else, that he didn't have somebody waiting on him at his flat.
She dreamt he came to her flat that night, that she opened the door and he smiled his quirky half-smile and whispered, 'I was enchanted to meet you.'
When she saw him again, three weeks later, she could barely stop herself from squealing in excitement and she kept her head down as she scurried past him, cursing herself for her lack of Gryffindor qualities.
'Hey, Weasley!' He grabbed her wrist as she passed him, pulling her to in front of him and he gave her the quirky smile that had her knees buckling.
'H-hey Scorpius.' She internally cursed her Weasley blush.
'We should meet up some time, maybe after my team beats the Chudley Cannons?' Scorpius' eyes twinkled the same way they had the first time they met in the Leaky Cauldron, rendering Rose speechless as she scrambled to provide a coherent answer. 'Because you know, it was enchanting to meet you.'