Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JK Rowling.

"Scorp, mate, you need to just bloody tell her!" Albus exclaimed.

"I can't! What if she doesn't feel the same way?" Scorpius whined.

"You are such a bloody coward! Anyone with eyes can tell she likes you and you like her. So man up and tell her." Albus insisted.

This was the downside of telling your best friend that you liked your other best friend who also happened to be your first best friend's cousin. Ever since Albus Potter had found out that Scorpius Malfoy liked Rose Weasley he had been insisting that Scorpius tell Rose of his feelings. As her cousin, Albus was also privy to the fact that Rose liked Scorpius just as much as he liked her. For years now Albus had been trying to get the two oblivious best friends together to no avail.

"Look, I'm going to be honest here. I like you, Scorp and I trust you with Rose. I want you two to be together but that's not going to happen if you don't tell her how you feel. My whole family has been expecting this for years now and-"

"What?" Scorpius yelled, cutting him off. "You mean her dad knows?"

Albus rolled his eyes. "Everyone and their mother, and I mean that quite literally, knows. Actually, we made a bet on when you two would finally get together. Uncle Ron started it if I remember correctly. And I think your parents may have been a part of it as well."

"Oh Merlin." Scorpius said as he sat down heavily on his bed. "My life is over. My parents, my parents, are betting on my relationship with Rose Weasley with your family. What did I do to deserve this?"

Albus shrugged. "You sat with us on the train first year and decided we should be best friends."

"I take it back. I hate you. I don't want to be your friend any more. I never want to see you again." Scorpius declared emphatically.

"Oh stop being such a drama queen." He ignored Scorpius' protest of "Hey!" and continued. "Either you tell Rose how you feel or I will."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes and stared at his black haired and green eyed best friend. "You wouldn't dare."

Albus snorted. "Trust me, I would. At this point, I would be willing to lock the two of you in a broom cupboard if it would get you together."

Scorpius sighed. "I really can't tell her, Al."

Albus paused, sensing that there was something hidden in Scorpius' reply this time. "Why not?" he asked softly.

"Al, I love Rose. I really do. You know that and apparently so does your entire family and mine. But she's my best friend. She means the world to me and I'm not willing to jeopardize that relationship. If she doesn't like me, or even if she did and we went out and then broke up, I could lose her as a friend. And I'm not willing to take that risk. I care about her too much to potentially lose her."

Scorpius paused to gather his thoughts. After a moment he looked up at Albus. "She's been hurt before by her boyfriends. She takes break-ups really hard. I won't put her through that. I don't want to risk hurting her, not that I ever intentionally would. I just…I'd rather she was happy, even if it was with someone else, than being unhappy because she had been with me."

Albus sat down next to Scorpius, trying to understand how the blonde haired, grey eyed boy next to him could be so stupid. "Look, I get what you're trying to say. And if you ever did hurt her, you know all our cousins, uncles, and her brother, father and I would tear you to pieces. And you're right, she's been hurt before. But Rosie's strong. And we trust you with her. We know you would never mean to hurt her and that's why everyone is so sure that you two belong together. Listen, I wouldn't be trying to convince you unless I knew you had a chance. Rose loves you. You two are perfect for each other."

Scorpius stood up. "I just can't, Albus. I don't want to lose her." He raised a hand when Albus started to reply. "I'm sorry. I think I need some time alone. I'll see you later."

He turned and left the dormitory, heading out into the hallway. The dungeons near the Slytherin common rooms were cold and he hurried to get somewhere it was warmer. He didn't really have a destination in mind as he walked. After a while he looked up and saw that he was outside near the Black Lake. A little farther off was the tree that he usually sat under with Albus and Rose. He could make out a head of dark red hair sitting under the tree.

He stared at her for a couple of minutes. It would figure that he'd accidentally run into her while he was trying to avoid her. He really wanted to be alone and Rose was definitely not who he wanted to see right now. His luck was up though for before he could head back towards the castle Rose saw him.

"Scorpius!" she called out as she stood up and practically bounced towards him.

He involuntarily smiled as she came closer. "Hey, Rose." He said softly.

Her blue eyes looked concerned at his tone. "Is everything alright, Scorp?" she asked hesitantly.

He faked a smile. "Yeah, everything's great."

Her eyes narrowed. "You can't lie to me, Scorpius Malfoy." She reprimanded.

Scorpius sighed. She knew him too well. "It's nothing, Rosie."

"You never call me Rosie so it must be something." She insisted.

"Just drop it, Weasley." He snapped.

Her eyes showed hurt for a brief second before anger took over. "Now look here, Malfoy, I don't know what you're problem is but don't take it out on me. Whatever is going on is not my fault."

"Actually, it is your fault."

"I haven't done anything so how is it my fault?" she asked confused.

He ran a hand through his hair and then regretted it, as Rose picked up on it. He only ever did that when he was nervous. "Look, can we just forget about it?"

"What did I do, Scorp?" she asked softly, an almost hurt tone to her voice.

That was what got him. He had unconsciously hurt her, something he never wanted to do. "You really didn't do anything. It's all my fault and I'm just blaming you. I'm sorry, Rose." He said, gently taking her hand.

She stared at their hands for a minute before tightening her grip. "No." she said firmly. "I'm not accepting that answer. I want the truth, Scorpius."

He yanked his hand away and sighed. "I'm not going to tell you so you can just forget about it." he said, his jaw clenched in anger.

She turned away from him and screamed quietly in frustration. "Merlin, you infuriate me sometimes!" She twisted back around and he was caught off guard by the fire in her eyes. "You are a bloody idiot, did you know that?"

"Yes actually, I did know that but thank for pointing it out." he drawled sarcastically.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "That is exactly what I mean! You push me away sometimes. I'm supposed to be your best friend and you keep me out."

"Well maybe I don't want to be your best friend!" he shouted.

Silence fell between them. He stared at her, unable to believe that he had just said that. Hurt was clearly visible on her face. As the silence dragged on he could feel his heart breaking.

"Well then," Rose said, sniffling slightly. "I wasn't expecting that."

He had made her cry. He was such a prick. "Rosie, please don't cry. I didn't mean it."

"If you didn't mean it you wouldn't have said it." she whispered.

He took a step forward and started to reach for her before dropping his hand back by his side. "You're right. I did mean it." At the sad look on her face he hurried to explain. "But not in the way you're thinking!"

She snorted. "Right. And what other way is there, Scorpius?" she asked.

He hesitated. It was now or never. Either he told her he liked her and wanted to date her, or she would hate him forever. He opened his mouth to reply but she shook her head.

"Never mind. Good-bye Scorpius." She turned away from him and began to walk towards the castle.

He watched her go, unable to believe that she was actually leaving. He had to do something. She couldn't go on thinking that he didn't care about her. He started after her and called out "I LIKE YOU!"

Scorpius saw her stop in her tracks and turn around. Disbelief was visible on her face as he stopped in front of her.

"I like you. I don't want to be your friend because I want to be more than that. I want to date you, Rosie. I want to hold your hand, and call you my girlfriend and kiss you until you can't breathe." He spoke in a rush and hoped she had understood what he'd said.

After a minute or so Rose sighed and uncrossed her arms. "You really are a bloody idiot, Scorpius Malfoy, and if it wasn't for the fact that you're so cute I would never forgive you."

"What?" he asked stupidly.

Rose smiled shyly. "I like you too, Scorp. I always have." She explained.

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open, not sure what to say. "What?" he asked again.

She rolled her eyes, leaned forward and kissed him. His heart stopped for a minute while his brain tried to process what was happening. Rose Weasley, the girl he had like for years, was kissing him. His arms wrapped around her waist and drew her closer to him as her arms snuck around his neck and into his hair.

TWO MONTHS LATER

"Scorp, it's going to be fine!" Rose insisted.

"But, Rosie!" he whined.

"No, you are not getting out of this."

He sighed. "Fine, take me to my doom."

"You are such a drama queen." Rose muttered as she dragged him into the house.

"Why does everyone say that about me?" Scorpius asked.

"Because it's the truth." A voice said from behind him.

He turned around and saw Ron Weasley standing behind him. Looking around he could see the rest of the Weasley-Potter clan throughout the house and…was that his parents?

"Mom? Dad? What are you guys doing here?" he asked, ignoring the big, scary Auror standing in front of him who also happened to be his girlfriend's father. A girlfriend whose fingers were slowly losing their circulation as he tightly held onto her hand.

"Why, Scorpius darling, did you really think we would not have heard that you were dating Miss Weasley? I must admit, I'm rather disappointed that you did not see fit to tell us yourselves. We had to hear from Albus." Astoria explained.

The Auror in front of him raised an eyebrow. "Are you ashamed of my daughter, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked.

Scorpius shook his head. "No, not at all! I was…we were…we've been meaning to…"

"Astoria, dear, put the pathetic boy out of his misery." Draco said and Scorpius narrowed his eyes at his father's word choice.

His mother pouted. "Oh all right. We knew you were coming to tell Rose's family so we thought we'd make it easier and you could tell everyone at once."

"You planned this, didn't you?" Scorpius accused Albus, who had been silently laughing off to the side.

"Of course." He said, grinning cheekily. "I told you everyone had bet on when you two would get together. I wanted to make sure that everyone would pay up when it came time to collect my winnings."

"You won?" Scorpius asked in surprise.

"Really? You're surprised by that?" Rose asked.

He thought for a second before shrugging. "I guess not." Scorpius said, turning to look at his girlfriend. At the smile on her face over everyone's acceptance Scorpius couldn't help but lean down and kiss her.

"Oi! I may be letting you date my daughter but that doesn't mean you can molest her in front of me!" Ron yelled.

"Malfoy's do not molest people, Weasley." Draco protested.

"Shut up, ferret!"

"Make me, Weasel!"

Scorpius pulled back and looked down at Rose, grinning widely. "It seems some things will never change."