Any characters that you recognise belong to J.K. Rowling and not me :) I'm just writing the story.
Rose looked around the Great Hall. The professors had really outdone themselves this year with the Yule Ball that had been made an annual event after the end of the war. There had been one during her parents' fourth year, when her Uncle Harry had participated in the Triwizard Tournament, and he had thought it a good idea to have one every year, to allow students to have a chance to relax and enjoy themselves prior to the Christmas holidays. Rose, personally, thought her Uncle's idea had been the most ridiculous ever, but here she was, having been dragged along by her best friend Katie Hamilton and cousin, Lily Potter.
The floor had been charmed to look like frost, and there were crystal snowflakes hovering above the crowd of students. The four house tables had been moved to the sides of the hall, and were filled with snacks and drinks, so that the centre could provide the students with a place to dance. Dancing, that was another thing Rose hated. She didn't mind watching the couples as they gracefully waltzed around the dance floor, but actually participating… Well, Rose thought she'd probably be as graceful as a hippopotamus on roller-skates.
"Rose, we're going to get drinks, are you coming?" Lily's voice broke through her thoughts. She nodded and followed her two friends as elegantly as she could, managing to make ¾ of the distance safely before tripping over her own feet. She braced herself for the landing, but when it arrived it felt much softer than she had anticipated. Opening her eyes, that she'd screwed shut as she fell, she found herself staring into two silvery grey orbs.
Rose swore to herself. Trust her to end up in the arms of the one person she was trying to avoid. Willing him to let her up, she began to turn her head to look for Katie and Lily, only to find them watching her and whispering by the drinks table. Great, they weren't going to be any help to her.
"Rosie," he whispered still holding her.
"Let me go!" she replied, pushing him back with as much force as she could muster. The venom in her voice surprised him, and he did as she asked. Glaring at Lily and Katie, she turned back towards where she had come from, and headed back in the direction of the entrance, hoping to avoid confrontation. Thankfully, she managed it.
She ran (to the best of her ability) out of the castle, pausing once she was outside only to take her heels off, before heading towards the far side of the lake, where the memorial arch stood. For some reason she'd always felt peace here, and whenever she'd been upset at Hogwarts she's sit on the bench nearby and just think about things. She often spoke to the arch, as though those who had died during the battle could hear her, and help her subconsciously.
"Uncle Fred, I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. I'm so confused about everything. Scorpius said that he loved me, and that he wanted to be with me, but then I saw him talking to Aphrodite Zabini, and her best friend Amber Parkinson said that they were going to be getting together, because Scorp and Aphrodite were made for each other, I just don't –"
"What?!"
Rose snapped her head round to look at the voice. Aphrodite stood there, her mouth open in shock. "Amber said what?"
Rose frowned. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to know that you're talking to some guy that is dead."
Rose's frown deepened. So what if she was talking to Uncle Fred? It helped her clear her mind at least. Aphrodite seemed to notice Rose's expression.
"Sorry, that was uncalled for. But what did Amber tell you?"
"Why should I tell you, Zabini?" Rose said harshly. Why did she have to come and ruin her peaceful thoughts? Ugh, what did Scorpius see in her?
"Because I want to know, so I can explain things to you."
"Explain what? That you're taking away the one guy I love so he can just be another one of your guys!"
Aphrodite laughed. "Rose –"
"Don't Rose me!"
"Fine then, Weasley… is that any better?"
"No, just don't talk to me."
"What did Amber tell you?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because Scorp's heart is breaking, and I care about him! He doesn't love me and I don't love him – well, not in the way you're thinking!"
"What do you mean?"
"He's my cousin for Merlin's sake!"
Rose looked startled.
"You're Scorp's cousin?"
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Yes, Rose. And he loves you. He came to ask me if he thought our family would hate him for falling for a Weasley and I gave him advice. Amber lied to you, and I can probably guess why. But right now, you need to talk to Scorpius, and explain to him what Amber said. He ahs no idea what he's done to make you hate him."
"I don't hate him," Rose replied meekly.
"Well, tell him that! If not, he'll eventually try to move on from you, and I can guess who'll be there to help him."
"Who?"
"Who do you think? Amber, of course! She lied to you because she likes Scorp! She doesn't want you and him to be together!"
"Why are you telling me this? Amber's your best friend."
"I know she is! And that's why I'm telling you. I know what she's like! She might fancy Scorpius, but she'd probably treat him bad, plus, he loves you! And as he's my cousin, in circumstances like this, family comes first."
"Oh," Rose looked thoughtful.
"So go and find him!"
"Oh… Oh yeah, thank you… Aphrodite" Rose said flustered.
"Anytime Rose," Aphrodite said softly as she walked away.
Rose stood up, gathering her wits, trying to think of places where Scorpius would be. She hoped he wouldn't be in the Great Hall still, but she felt that was unlikely. If his heart was truly breaking, then he'd go to the one place he always did when he'd received bad news, or had had an argument with Al.
Rose grabbed her shoes, and in the other hand she lifted the fabric of the dress so that it wouldn't drag on the grass. She ran back towards the castle, only glancing back towards the arch as she thought 'thank you Uncle Fred'.
As she entered the castle, she glanced at the Great Hall, and saw Aphrodite standing there talking to some Slytherin that she didn't know the name of. They smiled at each other briefly, before Rose took off towards the stairs.
As she reached the top of the West Tower, she hoped to Merlin that Scorpius would be there, as she was tired from all the running she'd done, however, she worried over what he'd think of her, not only of how she had treated him, but of her appearance too. At the start of the night, Lily had perfected her hair into soft ringlets that hung down her back, and her teal dress had sparkled under the light. She had no idea, how her hair looked, although from the heat of running it'd probably reverted into its usual frizzy mess, and the hem of her dress was muddy.
Opening the door to the owlery, the smell of birds hit her, and she wondered how Scorpius could possibly stand the smell. She knew that he loved animals, even including some of Hagrid's weird pets, but sometimes the odour of these animals was a little potent. Looking around, she saw Scorpius standing up talking to his owl, Maleficent, and she slowly made her way over, casting silent scourgify spells in front of her as to avoid the droppings on her bare feet.
As she approached him, he continued talking and petting Maleficent, not seeming to realise she was there. Not sure whether he genuinely couldn't hear her footsteps, or if he was ignoring her, Rose took a deep breath, and went to stand beside him.
"Hello there Maleficent," she crooned, reaching up to touch him.
Scorpius turned. "Rose?" he said, looking perplexed. "What are you doing here? I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me?"
"I made a mistake, and I'm here to apologise…"
"What kind of mistake?" Scorpius looked into her eyes, and Rose was suddenly aware of how close they were standing to each other. She could just pull him close and snog him, then she wouldn't have to explain. No, that wouldn't do, he deserved to understand.
"I spoke to Aphrodite," she whispered.
"You spoke to Aphrodite?" his tone sounded questioning.
"Well, she spoke to me, and she explained that well, she's your cousin. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked. What does it matter if she's my cousin or not?"
Rose was getting frustrated with how naïve Scorpius could be sometimes. "BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING BEHIND MY BACK AFTER TELLING ME YOU LOVED ME AND SHAGGING HER!"
Scorpius looked taken aback, the tips of his ears flushing red. "ROSE, I SAID I LOVED YOU! WHY WOULD I DO THAT? DO YOU STILL THINK THAT LOW OF ME? I KNOW WHAT I USED TO BE, BUT I'VE CHANGED. I CHANGED FOR YOU, AND YOU THREW IT BACK IN MY FACE!"
"I DON'T THINK THAT LOW OF YOU! IT WAS A MISUNDERSTANDING DUE TO ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. I WAS COMING TO TWELL YOU I LOVED YOU TOO WHEN I SAW YOU WITH APHRODITE AND PARKINSON TOLD ME YOU LOVED HER!"
"WELL, PERHAPS IF YOU'D JUST COME AND SPOKEN TO ME INSTEAD OF – wait, you love me too?"
Rose swore mentally. She hadn't meant to shout that him.
"Erm, well –"
Scorpius moved closer to her, so they were now touching, her head touching his chest.
"Well? Do you love me back Rose?"
She looked up at him blushing, before nodding slightly. Scorpius wasted no time. He lifted her chin up with a finger, looking deep into her eyes, slowly bringing his mouth lower towards hers. Rose didn't hesitate. She reached up on tiptoes, putting her arms around his neck, eager to respond to the kiss. She could sense the butterflies in her tummy, fluttering madly, and she felt that she would spontaneously combust with all of the passion that was being put into the kiss.
Scorpius eventually broke the kiss, his irises swirling with emotion, as he looked at Rose. Seeing her slightly breathless, her cheeks blushing profusely and her hair messed up just made him grin.
"What are you laughing at?" she grumbled.
"I'm not laughing Rosie, I'm happy… surely you've heard of that emotion?" he teased.
"Shut up Scorp."
"Make me" he whispered in her ear.
"Why should I?" she replied breathlessly, as she folded her arms across her chest trying to look angry.
"Or else, I'll make you be quiet."
She grinned. "And, how exactly do you propose to do that, Mr Malfoy?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said, winking at her.
"I would, that's why I'm asking" she said, laughing.
"Well, if you insist…" he leant down whispering the words against her lips, before closing the gap between them. As they kissed for the second time, Rose felt happy, as she moulded her body against Scorpius', edging closer to him and feeling complete. Suddenly, cheers erupted from behind them, and they both pulled back, startled.
Looking towards the owlery door, she saw her family that were still at Hogwarts standing there, alongside Aphrodite and Scorpius' friends in Slytherin. Feeling embarrassed, she hid her face against Scorpius' chest, hearing it vibrate as he chuckled.
"I suppose I have you to thank for this Aphrodite?"
"Well, I had to prove that you two were snogging, and going out… you two are going out now right? Because, the majority of these idiots don't believe that you like each other, and I have a lot of money riding on this?"
"YOU BET ON US?" Rose screeched, suddenly not so embarrassed, glaring at her cousins. Aphrodite smirked, knowing that she wasn't going to be the one to get screamed at by a very angry Rose Weasley.
"Well… erm, it, well…" Al stuttered.
"Rosie, it doesn't matter, what matters is us," Scorpius whispered soothingly, rubbing her back. Rose looked up at him with wide eyes, and he watched as her sapphire eyes stopped glaring with anger, and slowly began to twinkle with laughter.
"Don't worry, Al. But yes, me and Scorpius are going out, so you all need to pay up to Aphrodite. Hopefully it'll teach you not to gamble in future."
Aphrodite beamed, as the group of people began to hand over money to her. "Should we get back to the ball then?" she asked cheerfully, ignoring the glares she was receiving from the lsoers.
"Yeah, and Rose, would you like to dance with me when we're down there?"
Rose nodded at Scorpius smiling, "I'm warning you though, I can't dance to save my life."
"Don't worry; I'll catch you if you fall. I always will."
Scorpius took hold of Rose's hand as they began to descend the staircase, following the grumbles of Rose's cousins and Scorpius' friends, amidst the happy laughter of Aphrodite.
"I love you Rosie"
"I love you too Scorp, forever and always."