Summary
Rose and Scorpius have never really gotten along. Watching each other from afar, annoying each other up close, theirs has never been a relationship to inspire ballads. But after one late night, everything changes quickly, much more quickly than anyone could imagine. Rose and Scorpius are on the fast track to happily ever after, but only if they can overcome all the obstacles thrown at them and learn to trust and love, together.

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Scorpius's POV

"Help."

The voice came out of nowhere as Scorpius was wandering up to the Astronomy tower, intent upon returning a book he had borrowed from the professor. He paused for a moment, then shook his head, sure he had just imagined it.

No one would be up here at this time of night.

"Help me, please. Somebody?"

It was definitely a girl's voice. Scorpius paused again, a frown crinkling his forehead. But, like he'd thought before, who'd be up here in the middle of the night? And who calls for help in such a bored, tired voice? It must just be some second-years playing a joke.

"Very funny," he called out. "But I'm a prefect, and you're out of bed in the middle of the night. Come on, get back to your common room before I have to call a teacher."

"Oh thank Merlin!" The voice was much more animated now that he had responded. "Please, I need your help! Can you come find me? Please?"

"If this is a trick, you'll pay for it," he warned as he began walking again, alert and wary for anything unexpected.

"Oh come on, like I would joke about this. Hurry up and you'll see that it's no trick. Please." Her voice came louder now, from just around the corner up ahead.

Scorpius knew that voice.

Only one person could sound so impatient and ungrateful when someone else was doing her a favor: Rose Weasley. The fact that she kept saying 'please' in such a kind, pleading manner threw him off though…

And now a question arose. Did he leave the girl behind to deal with whatever she'd gotten herself into, since she'd likely refuse his help anyway, or did he continue on and see just what kind of trouble she was in?

There was really only one answer, Scorpius decided. Of course he'd keep going, and whether or not he ended up helping her he'd still be able to mock her for whatever it was.

He squashed down the little part of him that was whispering about being glad for another chance to see her, wanting to smack himself.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," he grumbled in response to her, quickening his footsteps.

"Thank you," she sighed, and he was surprised to note the exhaustion in her voice. She no longer sounded impatient or ungrateful, merely tired and sincerely thankful.

It surprised him, how much he wanted to take care of her when she sounded like this.

And then he rounded the corner.

"Oh thank god, you—" She broke off when she saw him. "Oh. It's you." Her voice was suddenly lacking all emotion except perhaps distaste.

He grinned at her. "Yep, it's me. And look at you," he drawled, enjoying himself immensely.

Rose was leaning against the corridor wall, looking just as worn out as she had sounded. Over her head hung a bunch of mistletoe, one of the castle's perennial tricks around this time of year. Once you walked under one of the bunches, you got stuck there until someone came along and kissed you, setting you free.

It was not hard to do when the mistletoe was in a crowded place in the castle, where people walked by all the time. But up here, no one else would be coming by.

There was only Scorpius. A fact Rose seemed to have processed by now.

"You can go now." Her voice was cold and final, but Scorpius could hear just a hint of desperation in it.

He grinned even wider. "Nope."

"What do you mean, nope?" She said indignantly, putting her hands on her hips.

"What kind of a person would I be if I left my fellow prefect in such a situation?" He widened his eyes, trying to look as innocent as possible. Trying to look as though he weren't jumping at a chance to kiss her.

She sighed, seeing right through his poor attempt at seeming virtuous. "You must be loving this. Seeing me, stuck here, and you're the only one who can help."

He couldn't deny it.

"But I don't want your help. Just go find someone else to come back up here, or leave me until tomorrow morning," she continued, her voice taking on a harder tone despite the fact that she slumped back against the wall. "But don't come near me. I don't want your help."

"Why don't you want my help, Rose? You're obviously exhausted, you should go to bed. Just let me help you. I promise, I'm not that bad of a kisser." He smirked at her, winking suggestively.

She swallowed, her throat working visibly. "I don't want your kisses, Malfoy. You probably have herpes or something, from all those girls you're always kissing."

"Nope. No herpes." If only she knew. "And I don't see that you have much of a choice here, my dear." He began walking towards her, like a predator stalking his prey with a feral grin.

She backed up as far as the charm would allow her to. "No. Don't come near me. I don't want your kisses."

"Oh, but I can make you want it, Rose," he chuckled softly, continuing to approach.

Her expression changed to one of panic. "Malfoy, I told you, I don't want this. Now go away and leave me alone before you—" She broke off in a frustrated sigh and glared at him.

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Rose's POV

He'd entered the boundary of the charm, and now he was stuck too. And more than that, now that they were both stuck together, the charm wouldn't let them go until they kissed each other.

No one else could come along to save her now.

It had to be Scorpius.

She looked at him, noting the smug look on his face. She also noticed, in their close proximity, closer all the time, how warm he was. It was awfully cold up here near the astronomy tower in the middle of the night, and she'd been up here for hours, so even just being this close to him was like slipping into a warm bath. It was heavenly.

And the way he was looking at her was heating her up too, smug and yet concerned, almost, with just a hint of possessive eagerness.

And now she was noticing other things, too, like how tall he was, that she was looking at his chin when they stood this close, and how even his loose shirt under his robes couldn't conceal the strength and power of his torso, couldn't quite hide the muscles she knew lined his body. How his mouth was so red and luscious looking…quite kissable, really…

She was horrified to find herself attracted to this man, this boy who had irritated her from her first moments at Hogwarts.

But her brain was whispering to her, reminding her of all those times she'd found him attractive before, and she wasn't really horrified or surprised.

He would be a fantastic kisser, she knew.

And really, it had always been Scorpius…

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A/N: There it is, chapter one. I hope you liked it. :)

Here's the deal with this story: I've already written all of it. You can still offer comments and suggestions, which I might include, but the rest of the story already exists. So when will i be updating? Every five days, or every five reviews. There's some incentive to review, eh?

So please, let me know what you think about this story! You know how fun it is to read reviews on your stories, so please, please do me the favor of leaving one, especially if you favorite the story or add it to your alerts!

Anyway, I hope this is a good fic for you all.

Love,

Star