Disclaimer: If you recognize them, I own them. Wait. That's not right.

This was written for Mystii's Prompts, oh, Prompts challenge, with the prompts 'plaid', 'stars', 'spikes', and 'stripes'.

It starts innocently enough.

"Scorpius! Oh, good, you're here!" Lily beams, sliding down the staircase railing and bouncing to the living room floor. "Al, can you and Scorpius come play with Nika and me?"

"'Nika and I'," Scorpius corrects absently, looking up from his summer Charms homework at the exploding ball of sunshine that is his best friend's little sister.

"No, actually, it's 'Nika and me'," Dominique tells him, appearing behind her best friend with considerably more grace. She flashes him a sweet smile when he frowns at her. "She wouldn't say 'can you come play with I?', would she?"

Albus snorts. "She's got you there," he says with an amused smile at his younger cousin. "What game are you guys playing?"

"Seriously?" Scorpius demands. "We have a boatload of homework to do, Al!"

Lily offers him her most imploring look. "Please?"

Scorpius rolls his eyes, already far too used to Lily's methods of getting her way.

Dominique reaches up to adjust the yellow and pink striped ribbon tying back her orange-gold curls. "We're playing Truth or Dare," she informs the two of them. "But it's no fun with only two players."

"Sure," says Albus immediately, never having mastered the art of saying 'no' to his baby sister and cousins.

"No," Scorpius says at the same time.

Dominique bounces up to him with an amount of energy she must have borrowed from Lily. "If you ask me, I'll take a dare," she promises, batting her eyelashes at him. "Nobody ever takes a dare, but I'll do it."

The stripes on her silk ribbon sparkle under the ceiling lights, matching the brightness of her smile.

Scorpius sighs. "Oh, all right, fine."

Dominique giggles. "Yay!"

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Nika," Scorpius says, feeling disgruntled as he looks across Lily's bedroom at Dominique.

She smiles sweetly. "I never said I'd take a dare the first time you asked me."

Albus chuckles. "True enough. C'mon, Scorp, ask a question."

"What House do you want to be in?" he asks, having spared approximately two seconds coming up with the question.

Dominique tilts her head in thought. "I don't know. Maybe Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."

He blinks at her in surprise. "Not Gryffindor?"

Lily wrinkles her nose. "Who wants to be Gryffindor anymore? It's so boring! Ever since Vicka and Molly got into Ravenclaw and Louis and Lucy into Hufflepuff, nobody wants boring old Gryffindor."

"Except James," Albus points out. "All right, Nika, it's your turn."

Dominique turns eager blue eyes to Scorpius. "Truth or dare?"

He scowls at her. "Dare."

"Climb that tree outside," Dominique says, pointing out the window, before adding mischievously, "in your underwear."

"I told you this was a bad idea," Albus says immediately to head off his friend's wrath.

Scorpius switches his glower to him. "You said nothing."

Maybe getting roped into a game of Truth or Dare by a couple of ten-year-old girls at age twelve is excusable.

But age thirteen? No way.

"Let Rose give you a haircut," Dominique dares him during one of the regular Potter-Weasley-Longbottom-Scamander and anyone else they can rope in Truth or Dare games out in a courtyard.

"No!" Scorpius clamps his hands over his (perfectly fine as it is, thank you very much) hair. "I don't trust her with scissors."

Rose smiles cheerfully. "Nobody does. Come here, Scorp."

Molly helpfully transfigures a branch into a pair of scissors. Scorpius alternates his glare between her, Dominique, and Rose.

"Don't," he warns Rose, but she pays no attention, advancing closer and closer. "Rose, I swear, if you even touch my hair, I'll—I'll tell Alex Capulet you drooled when you saw him shirtless!"

Rose draws back with an outraged look on her face. "You wouldn't!"

Scorpius smirks at her. "I would."

"He would," Albus agrees.

Rose huffs. "You're incorrigible."

She still gets to cut his hair (in his sleep!).

"I don't know, I think the spikes work for you," Dominique tells him thoughtfully one night in the kitchens when everyone else is fast asleep. "Makes you look like a rebel type."

Scorpius runs his hands through his vanilla-blond spikes, rolling his eyes at her. "I am a rebel type. I don't need these stupid spikes when I'm best friends with Albus Potter and Rose Weasley. And this is all your fault, anyway."

She widens her bubble-blue eyes innocently and takes a (not-so-) dainty sip of her glass of strawberry soda. "Who, me?"

"Yes, you, Stargazer," he snorts, pretending not to notice her smile of delight at the nickname—her favorite, because he's the only one who uses it. "You always save your worst dares for me!"

"Because you're less likely to murder me in my sleep," she points out validly.

Scorpius rolls his eyes. "You never do pick dare when I ask you."

She grins. "I did, once. You dared me to highlight my hair blue, remember?"

"That was, what, a year ago?" Scorpius raises an eyebrow. "And then we had to stop playing because it was time for lunch. Did you ever do it?"

Dominique runs her fingers through her orange-gold curls and draws them back out once she's found an electric blue curl underneath the mass of honey. "Lily and I snuck out to do it the next day."

Scorpius steps closer to examine, winding the curl around his fingers and trying to look unimpressed. "Why didn't you show me?"

"You never asked," she grins mischievously, her blue eyes bright with eleven-year-old pride as she downs the rest of her strawberry soda in one gulp.

He tugs gently on the blue curl. "You're a brat."

She beams. "Truth or dare?"

"Nope." Scorpius quickly lets go of her hair and begins backing away. "Not happening. Nuh-uh, no way, never again."

Dominique pouts at him. "Come on! It's past curfew, and there's nothing better to do!"

"No!" he begins, but falters at the look on her face. "Oh—Merlin, fine. One round. Truth."

She giggles, likely because she knows he can never (ever, ever) say no to her. "What's your favorite color?"

"Why?" he asks, caught off guard by the simplicity of her question.

Dominique hums. "For your birthday."

"It was last month."

"For next year."

"You're lying."

"I most certainly am not. If I were lying, you wouldn't be able to tell."

"I'm sure."

"You should be. Now answer the question."

Scorpius hides his smile. "Orange."

Dominique blinks in astonishment. "Don't tell me you're a Chudley Cannons fan too," she groans. "Louis is bad enough."

He grins cheekily. "For life, Stargazer."

She huffs at him. "You're incorrigible."

Scorpius grins and saunters out of the kitchens, whistling cheerfully and very glad that he'd neglected to mention that his favorite shade of orange was the same as her hair.

Next year, he decides it's his turn to instigate a game.

"Truth or dare?" he asks her, cornering her one sunny Saturday morning out on the Hogwarts grounds.

"Huh?" Dominique rubs her eyes and looks up from her textbook at him as he sinks to the ground beside her. "What—you wanna play? Now?"

"Why not?" Scorpius grins, knowing perfectly well how annoyed she—and any Weasley, for that matter—would be at his happy-go-lucky attitude in the mornings. Weasleys were not morning people and Malfoys certainly were, and he used that to his full advantage every morning. "C'mon, truth or dare?"

Dominique sighs. "Truth."

He drums his finger on the dewy grass, wondering if he should ask the one question that's been on his mind for a week now. "Did Adam Erlins seriously ask you to Hogsmeade?"

She wrinkles her nose. "Yes."

Scorpius waits for an elaboration; with none forthcoming, he gives in and asks, "What did you say?"

"You only get one question," she reminds him in a singsong voice. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he sighs, stretching out luxuriously on the grass next to her.

"Why so interested?" Dominique asks, leaning over him and blocking his sun.

Scorpius thinks helplessly of Antarctica and snowballs and ice cream in an effort to cool his blush. "I don't. Just curious. Rose was very interested when she talked about it, is all."

"It's called 'truth', not 'lie', Spike," she reminds him, giggling and darting out of his reach when he tries to attack her for both her comment and the nickname.

"Every year, I think you can't get more annoying," he complains, hiding a smile. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she answers, abandoning her book and stretching out beside him.

"What did you say to Erlins?" he asks immediately, rolling over to grin cheekily at her.

Dominique laughs. "'No', of course. Not only is he the biggest prat in my year, he only asked me on a dare."

Scorpius sits up straight. "That little b—" He stops in his tracks and glances down at her and the innocent smile painted on her face, and rephrases himself. "What a jerk."

She giggles. "I'm best friends with Lily, Spike. I've pretty much heard it all."

Saying Lily's name seems to cause her to materialize randomly. "Hi, Nika, Scorp!" she greets with her usual cheer, plopping down in between the two. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Scorpius says quickly, sitting up. "I'll just leave you two demon girls alone, then."

Girls, he muses in exasperation and tries not to think about how disconcerting their laughter is when it erupts behind him.

Next year, he finds her out on the Astronomy tower—not, as he had been dreading, with Adam Erlins or someone similarly unlikable, but with her telescope, instead—after curfew on a breezy autumn's night.

"Hey, Stargazer," Scorpius greets, sneaking up behind her.

Dominique jumps, startled, and sighs when she sees him. "You're horrible, Scorp."

He grins. "I know. What happened to 'Spike'?"

She eyes his now-normal hair. "Well, you changed your hair back. And I thought you hated it, anyway?"

Scorpius shrugs. "It grew on me."

She smiles, and he thinks maybe the stars are shining brighter when she does that (hey, he never claimed to be poetic!). "All right, then. Spike it is. What are you doing up here?"

He returns her smile. "Lily interrupted our last Truth or Dare game, remember?"

Dominique blinks in confusion. "We played just two weeks ago, with the rest of the clan."

"Not that." Scorpius shakes his head. "Our games. Just us. Remember? Last year."

There's a part of him that feels like it might crawl into a hole and die if she doesn't remember, and why, oh, why does he care so much about this bright little girl who shines like the stars?

But then her bubble-blue eyes light up. "Oh, right, that! Well, it was my turn, wasn't it? Truth or dare?"

Her love of the game makes him smile. "Truth, because I know better than to pick your dares."

Dominique giggles. "Right. Do you have a crush on Rose?"

Scorpius stares at her in surprise. "Pardon?"

She puts her hands on her hips in an excellent imitation of Lily. "You heard me. Do you have a crush on Rose? You know, my cousin, your best friend, the most popular redhead in your year—ringing any bells, Spike?"

"You're silly," he tells her automatically. "That's silly. Of course I don't."

Dominique fiddles with the buttons on her telescope. "Oh, then I suppose you don't care that she has a crush on you?"

Somehow, he manages to choke on air. "Pardon?"

"You're getting repetitive," she tells him, smiling affectionately at him.

"How do you know that?" he demands.

"Well, I don't know it for a fact," she admits. "But she's always flirting with you—haven't you noticed? She's always batting her lashes and smiling at you and glaring at other girls who take your attention away. That's how Rose flirts. You must have seen her do it with other boys."

His mind reels. "I…uh…truth or dare?"

Dominique laughs. "Dare."

Scorpius looks thoughtfully at her. "Teach me how to stargaze?"

Those bubble eyes of her turn brighter than the stars. "Really?"

"Absolutely," he grins.

Dominique beams. "It's really quite simple…"

He's quite glad it's a weekend tomorrow, because he's going to be up very late tonight.

"Scorpius!" Rose barrels through the crowds of students gathered outside to enjoy the sunshine and lands in his lap. "Guess what?"

"Hm…Alaina Opals has a pimple?" Scorpius guesses, grinning as she settles comfortably in his lap.

Rose smacks him. "Don't be stupid, Scorp. My gossip is more exciting than that."

"Not usually," he murmurs, and she rewards him with another smack.

"Shut up! I was going to tell you that Dominique and Lorcan are going out!" she says, beaming in delight.

Scorpius coughs, splutters, chokes, and nearly spills Rose out of his lap. "Who and who?" he demands.

"Are you okay?" Rose eyes him in concern. "I said Dominique and Lorcan are going out! Lily just told me. Isn't it exciting? They're so cute together! Look, here they come now!"

His thoughts still whizzing around randomly and incoherently in his brain, Scorpius turns to follow Rose's finger and finds himself staring at Dominique and Lorcan walking together through the crowd, their hands intertwined and a completely blissful expression on Lorcan's face.

He's never wanted to punch somebody more.

"That's nice," he manages finally, though his voice sounds raspy. "Good for them."

Rose beams. "Isn't it?" And then she leans forward and kisses him with a loud smack.

He kisses her back and tries not to think about how he'd much rather his hands be full of warm honey curls instead of dark auburn waves.

See, he's sixteen and she's fourteen and for teenagers, that's a lifetime separating them. So, instead of doing what he actually wants to and knocking Scamander out and kissing Dominique to claim her as his, he continues dating Rose and daydreams of punching Scamander in his spare time.

It's a handy strategy when dealing with the damned Potter-Weasley-Scamander clan, Scorpius has learned.

"Truth or dare?" Dominique asks brightly during a study session in the library, popping up behind his chair and nearly making him hit himself with his book.

"Really, Nika, not now," he groans.

Her lips twist in a pout. "Please?" she begs, drawing out the word, and Dominique Weasley is nothing if irresistible. "Lorcan's off pulling pranks with Lysander and Lily's too wrapped up in her new boyfriend and I need some entertainment!"

"I am not your personal entertainment," he warns her, but he never could resist her, even without her Veela charm. "All right, fine. Dare."

Dominique beams and slides into a chair next to him. "Stop studying while we play."

Scorpius sighs and slams his book shut. "Happy?"

"Very. Your turn!" she says cheerfully.

"Truth or dare?" he grumbles, trying not to smile at how happy she looks that he's playing with her.

"Truth," she answers.

Scorpius drums his fingers on the table. "Why are you going out with Lorcan?"

Her smile falters. "What do you mean 'why'? Because he's a nice boy and he's one of my best friends and I like him."

He shakes his head. "Oh, come on, Stargazer. You're smarter than that."

Her blue eyes fall to the table. "You see the way he looks at Lily too, then?"

"Who can't?" Scorpius gently slides his arm over to take her hand. "She's like the sunshine to his sky, or something. I know you know that—and I know you have for a long time. If Albus and I can see it, then you certainly can."

Dominique brushes an orange-gold curl out of her face with her free hand and looks him in the eyes, bubble-blue into tempest-grey. "To be honest, it was my idea. Make her jealous. Lily wants what she can't have—she's dreadfully like James in that department. And if she can't have Lorcan, especially when she really wants him, she'll fight for him. You said she's sunshine, well, she shines like that."

Scorpius generally makes it a point not to speak in bad poetic terms, but… "You shine, too, Stargazer. Trust me, anyone can—"

"The Veela charm doesn't count," she interrupts, looking indignant.

He squeezes her hand. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you. You just don't shine like the sun—you shine like the stars, instead. I know Lily's radiant enough to cast a shadow, but you don't belong in the shadows, Stargazer. Believe me."

Dominique smiles after a moment, the expression lighting up her face like stars light up the night sky (there he goes with those poetic terms again!). "Truth or dare?" she asks him after a heartbeat of comfortable silence.

"Dare," he grins. "I'm feeling lucky."

"Um," she bites her lips in deliberation. "I'm running low on dares—I've used all my best ones."

"That's too bad," Scorpius laughs, leaning forward to find and tweak her neon blue curl with his free hand. Her eyes are bright, her smile is electricity, and her hair is soft and light in his fingers.

And that's when he realizes that maybe this isn't going to end as innocently as it started.

Tea parties are formal, normal, and pureblood affairs.

Unless the Weasley clan throws one.

"What on Earth possessed your uncle to throw a tea party to celebrate his becoming Minster?" Scorpius demands of Dominique, catching her alone by the refreshments table, free of her best friend and now ex-boyfriend.

"Aunt Audrey," she answers matter-of-factly, setting a tea cup full of strawberry soda down on the table and smoothing down her pretty blue plaid dress. "Enjoying the party?"

"Immensely," he drawls, trying not to think about how cute she looks in that plaid dress. "Watching Rose suck face with her latest beau is a wonderful experience, truly."

Dominique raises an eyebrow. "You're still upset over your break up?"

"No," Scorpius insists. "But she's still one of my best friends, and that is still disgusting, no matter who's doing it."

She grins mischievously at him. "Buzz kill."

"Brat."

"Spike."

"Stargazer."

"…Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

She pouts at him. "You still owe me a dare."

"You couldn't think of one! I get off free!" he protests.

"Do not!"

"Do too!'

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do n—oh!"

She tastes like strawberry soda (naturally).

When they part, she smiles up at him, all bubbles and stars and a million other poetic metaphors. "Why did you do that?" she asks, her voice soft as if she already knows.

Scorpius grins at her. "Because you're Dominique, and you shine, that's why. Dare."

"Huh?" Dominique blinks her bubble-blue eyes at him in confusion.

"Dare," he repeats, gently tucking a strand of honey behind her ear. "I'm changing my choice to dare. I owe you one, remember?"

"Oh, right," she says, biting her lip in thought. "Well, then—kiss me again. And this time, don't stop."

Scorpius laughs. "My pleasure."

He's never liked Truth or Dare more.

Author's Notes: Ah, mindless fluff – isn't it fun? =P I'm on a mission to get Scorpius/Dominique at least two pages in the archive =P If you liked it, please do review and let me know what you thought – I love hearing what you guys think!

Dedicated to Beth, because she also adores Scorpius/Dominique and she wrote me an awesome story about them, so I thought she deserved a return favor (and this way, we can keep increasing the amount of S/D stories =P)

Oh, and for the love of Merlin, don't favorite without reviewing. Thanks!