A/N: This is for the HPFC "Fanfiction's Got Talent" challenge. Thank you so much for the extension, mrsginnypotter! You're awesome. :D

Read, review, and hopefully, enjoy! :)

Like the Sun

-oOo-

prompt phrase: ball of fire

quote: "It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."—Albus Dumbledore

-oOo-

One glance at him, and you would say that he was a copyof his father. He had the same blonde-almost-white-hair topping his head, though his was tousled when compared to his father's neat locks; the same haughty smirk, known to make girls swoon and others lose their patience, adorned his face half the time; the same strut, giving off the vibe that he owned any place he walked into, was put into play all the time; the same build, the similar walk, the parallel confidence that seeped out of every pore. Except for the eyes—his expressed and showed, while his father's guarded and hid—you would've bet all you had on the fact that they were almost the same person.

On the inside, however, he was astronomically different. He was calm, collected, cool most of the time; his father would freak out if anything wouldn't go his way. He enjoyed company, liked being with people (though so few wanted to be with him); his father was a solitary and—dare he say it?—a lonely man. His thoughts were poetic, fluid, intuitive, and he liked to see what truly was; his father's were jagged and incoherent, seeing what he wanted to see.

His father was Draco Malfoy; he was Scorpius Malfoy. It was slightly revolting, really, how few saw that. It was always the same—wherever he went, the same wary stares, the same predefined views, the same prejudice, and a whisper, a whisper of Draco Malfoy…

Even the teachers, though they liked to think different, gave him that pinning stare before turning away, leaving him alone for the most part. He could almost hear their thoughts.

Draco Malfoy's son; yes, that's him.

The words haunted him, and he'd break down in a messy heap, questioning and wondering and begging why, why did it have to be him? His father's actions weren't his, he wanted to scream. Why would they judge him? Why, when he hadn't even been given the chance to truly live his own life? And then, of course, he'd tell himself that pitying wasn't going to get him anywhere, and he'd straighten himself out, fix his robes, place that well-practiced mask on his face, and walk calmly away, away, away from it all.

Scorpius ran a hand through his already messy hair, mumbling incoherently under his breath as he paced vigorously to and fro. He was biting his lip, a bad habit that he'd acquired through his mother, and his eyes were wide and confused. All the while, he was thinking to himself that no, this could not be happening. How could this be happening? This wasn't planned, or calculated, or intended—this was absolutely crazy! Mad!

Another thing about Scorpius Malfoy—he liked things to be controlled, well-calculated, intended. Hell, even his book bag was organized! But he should've known—oh, he should have known—that anything to do with her, that little vixen, was always unplanned.

Because she was Rose Weasley: a ball of fire, a candle of warmth, an untamed flame. Rules and boundaries? Ha! She laughed in the face of those, razing them if they didn't suit her tastes. Sure, she always acted prim and proper, a stickler for the rules, but she knew how to separate herself from her mother—she could be loud, she would be troublesome, and she wasn't afraid to break the rules.

She had been the first to see Scorpius Malfoy, truly see Scorpius Malfoy, or at least, that was what she had told him.

Of course, Scorpius had scoffed and told her that she read way too much, and thus began their beautiful rivalry.

Scorpius always got a thrill from arguing with her and bickering with her, because he always felt the most alive by knowing that he and only he had this relationship with her. He needn't worry about acting up to par with his father's expectations, nor did he need to think about fixing the predefined views that others held when they saw him (he was the son of a Death Eater; he was bad), because no one else had argued with Rose Weasley this way. No one took every word he said to her and compared it with his father's actions. No, he was himself when he was with her. He felt happy and joyous and warm and alive and fierce whenever he was with her, felt untouchable and invincible, because how were those people going to compare him to his father now? His father hadn't talked and walked and discussed with Rose Weasley, had he? He might've felt this way about every friend that he talked to, but…but he didn't really have any. They always shied away from him, afraid of him, but most of all, terrified of his father and his background.

Thinking back on it, that should've tipped him off on the now-developing feelings he had for her.

And now, because he had been such an idiot, he was losing it. He was losing the one fucking thing that kept him sane, kept him intact.

Because if he loved her—and that's what he did, he fucking loved her—how could things be the same? How could be keep on arguing and bickering when in reality he wanted to do so much more?

He wasn't as adept at acting and faking as his father was because the answer always shone on his face, in his eyes. Anyone who wanted to read him just had to peer into his eyes. It would be written right there, scrawled for anyone to see.

Many people actually didn't want to read him, but whoop-de-fuckin'-do, Rose Weasley did.

"Scorpius…?

Scorpius snapped his gaze upward and was terrified to see the object of his musings standing there in person, her eyebrows scrunched up in concern and her books in her arm.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Scorpius felt himself open his mouth, but he was too scattered to say anything. It didn't help that she looked really cute while nibbling on her lip and her eyebrows all scrunched help. Of course, the OhMerlinIloveher, and the Oh Merlin she's goingtofindout! that was whizzing through his head wasn't helping, either.

Scorpius cleared his throat and took a deep, deep breath. He exhaled slowly and calmly faced Rose. "Nothing."

Rose snorted in a very un-ladylike manner. "Sure," she said sarcastically. "Now, tell me what's really going on."

Scorpius scowled and said in a clipped tone, "I assure you, nothing is wrong."

Rose raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing at her lips. "You're getting all formal. You only get formal when you're trying to hide something." She sighed loudly and melodramatically. "Listen, Scorp, I get that there are some things that you can't tell me. I mean, you don't have to tell me everything…but I thought that we were in a relationship where we could tell each other everything. Was I…wrong?" she asked, her eyebrow still cocked.

She was going for the guilt trip. Realizing that Scorpius wasn't going to say anything, she had swooped in and done the one thing that he hated—gave him the guilt trip. And Scorpius could feel very guilty, very fast.

"You're not wrong, but as you said, there are certain things that can't be said," Scorpius rebutted.

Rose pursed her lips. "I was just saying that. I didn't mean it," she said quickly. "We should be able to tell each other everything."

"And I can tell you everything; I'm fine, Rose."

She wasn't giving up that easy. "Oh, of course. That's why it seems as if you've just had the most frightening revelation of your life, right? Listen, Scorp. You can't fool me; I know you." She walked resolutely up to him and looked up into his face, his eyes. "Now, tell me."

Scorpius was getting frustrated now. He was usually calm and collected, but something about Rose just made him lose his cool. "Nothing," he insisted, tearing his gaze from her accusing one.

"Scorpius!" Rose demanded.

"It's nothing," Scorpius replied.

"Scorp."

"Rose."

"Scorp."

"Rose."

"Scorpius!"

"Rose!"

"Scorpius Malfoy, tell me!"

"Rose Weasley, there's nothing to tell!"

"You're lying to me!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"Merlin, don't you have somebody else to annoy?" Scorpius said, utterly annoyed and completely frustrated. Their close proximity wasn't helping him, either.

"Don't you have anything else to do besides lie?" Rose shot back, her arms crossed across her chest and her chin stuck out stubbornly.

"Rose, leave it," Scorpius growled.

"Nice try," Rose sneered. "Now, just tell me, and I'll be on my way."

"No."

"So you admit there is something to tell?" Rose questioned haughtily.

Scorpius berated himself mentally for his error. "There is nothing to tell," he hissed, seriously on the end of his rope right now.

"Scorpius…you're not fooling anybody with that half-assed act of yours. Just make it easy upon yourself and just tell me what's wrong!" Rose burst, getting frustrated now, too.

"Has anybody told you that you are the single most annoying person in the world?" Scorpius asked loudly.

"Yes! You have, in fact," Rose replied in the same exact tone. "Just. Tell. Me."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes threateningly. "N. O. No."

"Scorpius…" Rose threatened. She got up in his face, and he was incredibly distracted by those rosy lips of hers being right there, in reach, if only he slowly leaned down and…

NO! Stop thinking those thoughts! he yelled at himself mentally, and abruptly leaned back, his eyes wide with fear. Oh, Merlin, that was too close.

Rose didn't miss the odd reaction. "Scorpius…?" she questioned, her tone serious. "Scorp, you have to tell me. Please…?" She looked at Scorpius with a heartbroken look, her eyes concerned and wide, giving him the puppy dog look that she knew would make him do anything for her.

Scorpius felt tongue-tied. Never before had he realized how adorable she looked, and he felt his cheeks redden as he took a step back, averting his gaze to save himself. "I…can't."

"Of course you can, it's not like I'll—"

"Rose," he cut off, looking at her with desperation. "I really, really can't."

She moved back, her eyes downcast. "…Why?"

"I just…it's a matter of our…I can't," Scorpius said, quickly shutting his mouth before he'd be able to give away something. He'd almost said it's a matter of our relationship!

Rose's head snapped up, picking up on the subtle hint. "You were about to say our relationship, weren't you?" she asked. When he didn't answer, she gulped. "You're…you're leaving me…?"

"NO!" Scorpius blurted out, and then clamped his hand over his mouth. "No," he said through his hand, much softer than before.

"Then…what?" Rose asked, completely and utterly confused.

He stared at Rose, at the woman he loved, and decided that she could never know.

Rose stared into his eyes, into the eyes of the man she loved, and saw something in them that made her heart rate double, her breathing pick up; she saw something that uncurled a hidden emotion within her, rising up throughout her body like a ball of fire, making her skin tingle.

Hope blossomed in Rose Weasley.

Despair clawed at Scorpius Malfoy.

"You…you…" she licked her lips, trying to get the words out. "You…love me."

Scorpius couldn't help his eyes from widening, nor could he help his jaw from opening up. His face basically screamed his confession, and he couldn't help unadulterated fear from rising up within him.

She knew. Oh, Merlin, she knew. She probably hated him now, probably loathed him, and she was probably going to leave him any second with disgust on her face, thinking Draco Malfoy's son loves me? Disgusting, and he was going to be left alone, alone, all alone, and he couldn't bear the thought, couldn't bear the thought of losing her, but what was he to do, what was he to do? He was helpless and hopeless, and soon, he'd be alone, because Rose Weasley was going to leave him, to leave him, and he was—

"Scorpius…" she said softly, for his reaction was all the confirmation she needed, and he snapped his head down, not wanting to see her face when she told him that she—"I love you, too."

Scorpius felt himself raise his head slowly, sure that he had misheard, because had she said what he thought she said? It couldn't be, could it? It couldn't be… "What?" he asked unintelligibly.

She looked at him in the eye, but he realized that she was blushing. "I love you. And you love me."

"I…uh…um…" he floundered. Why couldn't he get anything out? He wanted to scream in joy, to yell in victory, to kiss her, but before he could do either of those things, she leaned in tantalizingly and…

Their lips met, and Scorpius was pretty sure that this was the epitome of bliss. She tasted like coffee and chocolate and for some reason flowers, but it felt so good, to be finally able to kiss her. She leaned back, and her expression was just as flabbergasted as his was.

"Wow," was what she said.

"Did this…really just happen?" he asked, sure that this had been all a dream.

"Yeah. Yeah, it did," Rose replied, with a smile on her face. She looked up at him, smirking. "Next time I ask you what's wrong, just tell me and skip the drama, all right? You and I both know who's going to win at the end." She took his hand and pulled him, a small smile still on her face and her cheeks redder than usual. "C'mon, it's lunch time. I'm starving."

Scorpius smiled slowly, still unable to actually admit the fact that this was real, and that this wasn't a dream. But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted it.

He decided to accept it. He knew it wasn't a dream, he knew it. He wasn't one to dwell on dreams. As a famous man had once said, "It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Scorpius intended to follow that quote wholeheartedly. He was going to make the most of this reality that he had been given.

Fin

A/N: So...? How was it?