AN: It's been a long time since I've written anything, but I was particularly inspired by the Cursed Child and felt like this was a story that needed to be written! Anything you recognise is not mine of course.

This was it. This was their first date. Scorpius wasn't really sure how or why she'd said yes, but he wasn't really ready to question it either. His hands shook as he reached up to knot his tie.

"Oh God, a tie is too much" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else "she'll think I'm an idiot".

His hands dropped despondently, sinking onto his bed, head in hands.

"I can't do this. I give up!" he groaned between his palms.

"As weird as you going on a date with my cousin is, I have supported you from the beginning and I will continue to do so" Albus sat down on the bed next to him "So, up you get" he nudged Scorpius' shoulder with his own. "Slacks and a clean shirt will do. It's not like she's that fancy."

Scorpius drew his fingers over his temples and down his face "It'll go wrong, it'll go horribly wrong, I'm telling you."

"Well it might" Albus stood and pulled Scorpius to join him, holding his hands as Scorpius looked up at him. "But what we've learnt is that we're good at horribly wrong, so at least you'll be showcasing your talents".

Scorpius glared at Albus, pulling away to stand in front of the mirror. "I can do this. I mean I've read so many books about dating and girls, that's gotta count for something, right?" his voice trailed off.

Albus came up behind him and put his hands on Scorpius' shoulders "Sure, we'll go with that one" he smirked, channelling his older brother "Now tuck in that shirt and go or you'll be late".

xxx

It was painfully awkward. Rose had barely said two words to him and he'd made way too many dorky comments about Hogwarts a History, at which Rose had told him bluntly that he was reminding her of her mother.

She sat across from him, eyes firmly fixed on the butterbeer dregs she was swirling around the bottom of her mug, biting her lip. He thought she looked beautiful. She hadn't dressed up much, if any, but he was a sucker for those brown eyes. They reminded him a bit of Albus, if he was honest. The same depth and warmth.

She hadn't spent a whole lot of time looking at him though, which had been one of the problems with the date. She had actually spent a good portion of it biting her lip and avoiding his eyes. Though he did find the lip biting rather attractive, he would have much preferred a conversation.

Suddenly, she lifted her head, a determined look in her eyes. "I have to tell you something".

Scorpius started, his heart dropping to his knees. It had only been an hour, an hour after years of pining after her and she was going to end it.

"We need to be honest about what's going on here"

He shut his eyes and leaned back "You don't like me."

She winced. "Well, I mean, not in that way"

The embarrassment burned hot in his chest "Why did you say yes then?"

She winced again "Albus may have asked me to?" She looked down into her drink again, tracing the lip with her finger. "But I mean I like you as a friend, and I do want to talk to you." She looked up at him earnestly.

It was his turn to bite his lip, feeling the humiliation flow through his veins. He'd been so excited about it, braver in asking her out than his father had ever thought he would be. Sitting back, he crossed his arms and looked at her. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You, well, and Albus too. But mostly you" she began to ramble. "I mean this isn't the easiest topic to talk about, I mean boys and girls and hormones and things and I mean my parents have talked to me about it, well I guess Mum talked and Dad gave me this book and pretty much slid straight out of the room afterwards but I mean they don't really even think about the other stuff, you know, the stuff when you have feelings for someone you shouldn't have"

"You mean me for you?" he asked her, confused.

"No, no that's not what I mean. I think you think you like me but you don't really"

He was even more confused. "Nope, I definitely like you, I have for years"

"But like do you like me because you want to be naked with me at some stage, or do you like me because I'm pretty and because I remind you of Albus?"

He wasn't sure which part he was more shocked by. That she was talking about sex or that she was saying that he was into her because of her connection to Albus. Either way, he blushed six shades of red and started stuttering. "I… I… d-don't feel very comfortable talking to you about the whole…" he looked around furtively, dropping his voice "naked stuff".

She smirked at him "Oh come on, we're nearly sixteen and you've got all that testosterone going on, and access to the internet, there's no point in being shy."

He sat up, less embarrassed as he got more offended by the tone of the conversation. "This isn't great first date conversation, Rose".

"Man, stop being such a killjoy. Anyway, I think you don't want to sex me up. I think you want to sex Albus up." She sat back, feeling successful for dropping her bombshell.

"What?" Scorpius was in a state between horrified and bemused and began to laugh.

"I've seen the way you look at him" She started to gather her robe. "I've known you for a long time. You've never looked at me with that much love in your eyes, trust me." She stood beside the booth. "I see you need some time to process. I'll see you round the castle. Just think about it"

At her words he finally looked up, smiling absent-mindedly as she headed for the door.

xxx

Albus was antsy. Without the temperate Scorpius to keep him in check for the evening, he'd spent most of the time oscillating between moving around way too much, and brooding. He'd already spent some time trying to concentrate on the potions essay that Scorpius had finished last week, and he'd spent some time playing with his wand, practising the spells that still seemed to come so easily to his classmates. He'd tried to write a letter to his mother, and had already tried to convince one of the first years that Albus hadn't been the one to eat all the chocolate frogs his mother had sent.

He wasn't bothered by Scorpius being on a date with Rose. At least, not really. He was a little worried about the impact of a break-up on his social circle, tiny as it was, but really he was supportive of Rose finally giving him a chance. He'd orchestrated it after all. Though that didn't really go very far to explaining the gnawing feeling in his stomach.

He sat on the bed. Almost ready to admit that the thought of his cousin and best friend dating. He'd known that Scorpius had a thing for Rose from almost day one, and he hadn't exactly been subtle about it. As for Rose, when push came to shove, she'd almost thawed by the end of fifth year, so he'd asked her to give him a chance.

He couldn't help but think of the fact that Rose would have to be included in a lot of things they did, and that Scorpius would want to spend plenty of time alone with her. He and Scorpius had a good long-standing Wizard Chess rivalry and he suspected that Scorpius would be playing it a lot more with Rose from then on, leaving Albus alone like this for many more nights.

He'd have to take up a hobby, like knitting or something. His Nanna Molly would teach him to knit if he asked, he was sure. It didn't take him long to remember that he didn't like knitting, or sitting still, or other solitary activities in general. He had been practically inseparable from Scorpius for more than five years, and that had taken its toll.

Albus hadn't really planned on thinking about his inability to spend time on his own this evening. He'd planned on being very productive, finishing all his homework and spending some relaxing quality time tout-seule. He blamed Scorpius. If Scorpius hadn't had a bullheaded crush on Rose, they'd be having a much better evening. Or was it Rose's fault for saying yes to Scorpius, or Albus' own for being the way they knew each other?

It really was just a frustrating evening.

Just as Albus huffed and threw himself back onto the bed, the dormitory door swung open to reveal a Scorpius who looked like he had a black cloud hovering over him.

Albus all but sprung up, moving towards his friend. "Bad, night?" He surprised himself with how hopeful he felt all of a sudden.

Scorpius glared at him. "Your cousin is the most pig-headed coward I've ever met!"

"I thought she was beautiful, bread-head?"

"I don't want to talk about it" Scorpius sat on the side of Albus' bed, then remembering, stood straight up again and moved to his own, sitting with his back to Albus to pull off his shoes.

"Suit yourself, Scor. But you're gonna have to tell me sometime, otherwise I'll have to ask Rose."

Scorpius could barely keep the horror from his face "I came on too strong and she rejected me once and for all" he lied quickly.

Albus felt safe to let the smile come to his face, but kept the relief out of his voice "That sucks. But I mean you still have Polly Chapman!"

Scorpius threw a pillow in Albus' general direction "Bugger off, I'm going to bed"

"We'll talk about it in the morning!" Albus threw the words at his friends back as Scorpius headed into the bathroom.

That night Scorpius slept poorly, pondering Rose's words and feeling altogether way too close to his friend, whilst Albus slept the sleep of the content.