Chapter One: We were both young when I first saw you. I close my eyes and the flashback starts.

She strides down towards the Great Hall happily, a bounce in her step and an upbeat tempo to her humming. Her life right now is good, and she couldn't imagine being happier – at Hogwarts, at least. (Home is different.) Of course, although she'd like to beat the stereotype, the main reason for her joy lies in her boyfriend.

She can still remember the day they met quite clearly in her head – even if she didn't quite know who he is at the time. It had been at the annual victory ball, which despite her parents claims that they hated it, they always attended. Every year without fail during her childhood it had been mostly bland and boring for her. That said, an adult may disagree and there were entertaining times.

The ball is held every year in May to celebrate Voldemort's disappearance. For years, all of her cousins – even Victiore – claimed not to know the details of Voldemort. Rose is wiser to them now though and is aware that her older cousins were just 'protecting her'. Once she received her letter to Hogwarts, her parents sat down with Rose and told her everything. (Or at least they said what they told her was everything. She doubts it.)

Her cousin, Dominique, says that there's more to their story than they let on but Rose never pays heed. Dom is an insatiable gossip, and something this juicy on her own doorstep is inevitably speculated upon. Rose enjoys her conversations with Dom as she's a lively, vivacious and outgoing girl who is constantly entertaining. Lucy, their other cousin, lives in her shadow – but seems to like it that way.

The night she met Scorpius, Lucy and Dominique had both been confined to their houses for the night with a babysitter. Rose hadn't been so lucky..

The young sullen girl followed her mother around the room for the first hour of the night, giving a disgruntled greeting to anyone daring to talk to her. She knew she was going to get in trouble for that later, but she couldn't help it. She wished she was anywhere but at the stupid ball – even a Quidditch pitch would do at this point, which most certainly wouldn't be on her list of places to be. Albus would be thrilled though, she thought wryly. As he entered her mind, Rose spotted her cousin across the room with his father.

She supposed Aunt Ginny and her Dad were off with her grandparents somewhere. Rose wasted no time in tugging on her mothers dress, "Can I go play with Albus, Mummy? Please?" She peered up into her mothers eyes pleadingly, debating whether to jut out her lower lip to help things along.

Her Mum made an uncertain sound, and glanced over at Albus, "Oh, I don't know Rose. You two were awfully bold last year."

"That was Hugo and Lily!" She would forever proclaim innocence in that incident. (Even if it wasn't entirely the truth.) Rose watched as her Mum made eye-contact with Harry, with him shrugging. She sighed and turned to Rose, bending down to her level, "You have to behave, Rose. You hear me?"

She nodded obediently, attempting to look every inch the angel. "Yes, Mummy." A kiss was pressed to her forehead, and then her Mum told her not to go far. She and Albus ran to each other, stopping just short of crashing into one another. They did an elabourate greeting of high-fives and such, then laughed. "I can't believe they let us play! Mum said she wasn't letting me out of her sight this year.."

"Yeah, well, I'm trustworthy."

Rose snorted, but didn't reply. Her seven-year old self was far too mature for that. "So whatcha' wanna' do?"

He shrugged, "No idea. I think my Dad is drinking fire-whiskey though!" Albus laughed, his glasses sliding down his nose a little. He fidgeted tirelessly with his suit, complaining of its itchiness. Rose reckoned he was just being moany. Try wearing a puffy, purple, hot dress.

Regardless of his annoying moaning, she laughed at this, "Do you think they'll get drunk?"

"Don't know. Let's play hide and seek!" Albus suggested, green eyes shining with excitement. His mind worked a mile a minute, really. It was difficult for some to keep up with his ever-moving thoughts.

She liked the idea. A lot. There were endless places to hide here! She told him as much, and a quick game of rock-paper-scissors determined Albus as the seeker, which suited her great. She ran off instantly to locate a good hiding place. She found one underneath the buffet table, as she doubted he'd push through the adults getting finger food. Rose, personally, couldn't understand why they'd still be eating – they had had dinner already!

She held her hand over her mouth to keep the giggles at bay – despite the fact that people were laughing, chatting and the band was playing loudly around her. Albus wouldn't hear her if she shouted, but that didn't stop her from trying to be as quiet as possible. It was then that a galleon rolled under the table and she froze. If one of her many relatives owned that, she was in big trouble. Then again, maybe they'd just walk away and she'd get a galleon. That was a very appeasing outcome.

Her hope was dashed as a pale, small hand reached under the table to find the coin. They grasped around for a few minutes, but she didn't dare help them for fear of getting caught. It was at this point that she noticed how dirty her party dress was getting, and how angry her mother would be about it. It was too late now to fix it though.

Rose froze as the hand suddenly inched closer and closer towards her. It landed on her knee, causing her to jerk back rapidly. The hand was quickly pulled out from under the table and a boy poked his head under. He was pale, with bright blue eyes that stood out against his light complexion and blond hair.

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly, and then raised an eyebrow, "And what in heavens name are you doing under a table?"

He appeared to be her age, but he was speaking kind of funny to Rose. However, his age made her feel more comfortable, and so she replied with, "My name's Rose. What's yours?"

"S-" He hesitated, pausing for a minute, "Leo. Are you hiding from someone? Can I help you in any way?"

"Yes, I'm hiding.. My cousin is trying to find me. You're not helping at all," She told him petulantly, "If you keep sitting there he's going to find me!"

"Whoops. Think it's too late for that.." He said in mock-sadness, watching as a boy with ridiculously round glasses and messy hair bounded towards them and pulled Rose out by the wrist.

"Caught ya' Rosie!" He turned to 'Leo' then, "Who are you?"

"Leo." His response was swift this time.

Now out of the darkness, Rose could see him properly. His eyes were pretty. Albus asked the question she was going to, "Do you want to play?"

The fateful question that led them to playing all night. She, Albus and 'Leo' played various games all night, with Roxanne and Molly even joining in for a while, even though they were that little bit older. Rose smiles wryly at the memory, as they had gotten into some trouble, too that night. It hadn't been all hide and seek. Boredom had also spurred them into 'borrowing' their parents wands temporarily. Of course, she and Albus had been punished severely but Scorpius being the pampered prince he is had only been cautioned..

Every year until they reached Hogwarts, the three of them would join forces at the ball and battle the boredom. Usually, they were quite successful. It wasn't until she was boarding the train to Hogwarts that Rose discovered 'Leo' was in fact a Malfoy who went by the name of Scorpius. Her family wasn't a huge fan of him, and she wasn't supposed to be friends with him. And she wasn't.. for a while. That soon wore off though.

Albus never attempted to befriend Scorpius, heeding their family's warnings much too literally. Rose had tried to befriend him, but Scorpius preferred to tease her. They eventually became friends with a little maturity in third year, along with their mutual friends Brooke Bell and Lorcan Scamander. With each year that passed, their little group became closer. Albus never became part of that. He was too prejudiced, despite claiming to be different.

To be clear, he never fought with Scorpius or was outwardly mean to him in any way, he was simply indifferent. He preferred not to hang out with him, too, and so Rose and he had very limited time together.

Albus, to the surprise of everyone, was sorted into Slytherin though. He had asked the hat to, he said he wanted to change the house. He also wanted to step out of his fathers and brothers shadows, because, well, they were big shadows. He managed it, Harry Potter's son in Slytherin wasn't something that was brushed under the carpet. No, it was broadcast all over newspapers before Rose's Mum told them to grow up and that it was only a house.

Rose loves her Mum.

Rose herself had been sorted into Ravenclaw, something that most of her family had been expecting. Scorpius is also in Ravenclaw, another headline-grabber. It isn't a shock really, because he isn't his father and he is very intelligent. People couldn't seem to grasp that concept after the sorting – they liked the idea of a death eaters horrible son much better.

Rose's best friend, Brooke Bell, said it was funny how people thought houses made a person when there's hundreds of people in one house. Brooke is a fun, chatty girl who had struck up a friendship with Rose in first year. The two are the closest of friends and are never separated. (Except when forced.)

"Hey Red, what's up?" Lorcan greets as Rose takes a seat across from him for breakfast. He has dark brown hair, a creamy complexion and eyes that look like they were taken directly out of his mothers head. He's not what you expect from Luna Scamanders son – he's down-to-earth, funny, popular and sporty. It's clear he takes after his father, but his brother Lysander is like his mother. That boy constantly has his mind somewhere else.

She pulls her long hair into a bobbin, and glances around, "Morning. Where's Brooke?"

"Who knows. Last I knew, she wanted to meet with Mark Lions this morning. Something about making James jealous..?"

"Oh god, they don't need anymore jealousy and drama. She's unbelievable." James – yes, her idiot cousin – and her best friend, Brooke, have been doing the same dance for two years now. Flirting, kissing, jumping in, then jumping back. They've yet to get their act together and she's getting sick of it.

Instead of growing up, they yearn for each other and play games. It's pathetic.

"Yeah, he's whipped," Lorcan sighs mournfully, lamenting at the status of the Quidditch captain.

"Ready for Divination?" Brooke chirps as she finally joins the table, her eyes bright and smile wide.

Rose rolls her eyes, "Have fun with Mark? And that's a doss subject, I constantly tell you, B.."

Lorcan interjects here, "Do we really have to talk about her love life again? She's in love with James, he's in love with her... It's a tragic tale of woe."

Brooke flicks a cornflake at him, "Shut up. You're just jealous Scamander..."

"Quidditch captains aren't really my thing," He shrugs a shoulder, flashing them a smirk then. The two girls laugh, and Rose can't help but let her eyes wander to the boy sitting a few seats up. He sits with some lads from his Quidditch team at breakfast sometimes – Lorcan does sometimes, too, but far less than Scorpius – because in the past it proved difficult for Scorpius and Rose to sit together and not act like a couple. It should have been easy, but it just isn't.

His wide, defined shoulders follow into a lean form that add to his tall physique. His blond hair is just long enough to fall over his forehead, allowing her to still see his beautiful blues that have captivated her since she was a girl. She bites her lip – her boyfriend is one handsome boy.

Brooke nudges her subtly, and Rose turns her attention to them again. It's a shame her cousins don't know she has a boyfriend. It's a shame her parents don't know she's best friends with him – they're under the impression she tolerates him for Brooke and Lorcan's sake. Really, it's a shame no one but Lorcan and Brooke knows she's in a relationship with Scorpius Malfoy and has been for several months now.

It's such a shame that she can't tell her family about the boy she's in love with.

She's walking to class alone – Lorcan and Brooke, being the wasters they secretly are, chose divination – pondering the arithmancy homework, when suddenly a hand jerks out to grab her wrist and she's being pulled into an empty classroom.

Rose opens her mouth to scream, but this action is cancelled with a whiff of the scent she has become so familiar with. Instead of screams, her mouth curves into a smile and she settles into the embrace of the taller boy. She glances up at him, "Any reason for this impromptu meeting?"

He pouts, like the spoiled child he sometimes is, "I hate not sitting next to you at breakfast."

"Ditto." She laughs, and tugs on his hands, "But I, unfortunately, am going to be late for a really import-" He silences her with a quick kiss to the lips, holding her close. She pushes him back and giggles, "Scor, this is not going to deter me. I -" He tries again, this time running his tongue along her lips until she grants him entrance. She sighs into the kiss, and then pulls herself from his hold, "No. I have class."

He's staring at her with the dark look in his eyes that she's rather accostomed to at this stage in their relationship, and she averts her eyes so to remain resolute. Rose then resorts to what she always does when pressured, nervous or avoiding; she rambles, "I mean, it's such an easy class to fall back in and if I don't keep on top of things, then I'll -"

"I'll get the notes from a Gryffindor..." He interjects.

There's a silence in which she debates this seriously. She exhales sharply, "Well, who am I to argue with that?" A large grin breaks out across her boyfriends face, and he locks the door quickly.

"For once Red, I don't think you are in a position to argue," He pulls her into his arms once more, and she instantly feels safe and loved. More than anything, she feels loved and cherished when she's in Scorpius' arms and it's the most liberating feeling in some ways. It shouldn't be, she knows that, but it somehow makes her feel liberated. As if she can do anything, and she's free to do everything.

He swings her around playfully, "I really like you Red," he declares passionately, and somewhat jokingly.

Rose nods, "Yeah, yeah, I'm great." He swings her back in, their faces nearly touching, "But for the record, I kind of like you, too."

Yes, she's definitely not attending Arithmancy today.

Rose had been determined not to miss another class, hence she bid farewell to her rebellious boyfriend when the bell rang. She doesn't usually skip classes, and he usually doesn't even try, but something about today made her want to. She is at the top of her classes anyway, it's not like she can't afford to skip a class every once and a while.

She's credible, too, so teachers rarely question her absence. After all, it is a rare occurrence that she is absent.

Rose takes her seat next to Brooke in DADA without much noise, and simply listens to her best friends argue once again about who their teacher hates more. Honestly, Professor Zabini doesn't like anyone all that much – but by god, Rose can't help but find the man attractive. His face looks as if chiselled by angels and his eyes radiate a quiet passion that strikes the soul with a dramatic flair.

Okay, so she – and Brooke – has a slight crush. It's normal.

"Brooke, sometimes, I actually think he wants you more than you want him," Lorcan tells her, the tone of his voice making it clear to Rose that he doesn't think this at all.

However, Brooke pauses in her argument and smiles, "You think? I've been smiling a lot at him lately to see if he'd reciprocate.. I hadn't thought he'd noticed. But, now that you say it, he has been saying good work on my assignments lately?"

"Wow." He responds sarcastically, "I'm surprised you're not ripping each others clothes off during class."

"Oh, don't put ideas in her head," Rose laughs, nudging her Brooke, who is in another world now. Lorcan smiles slightly at this, and shakes his head at the blonde sitting in between them. She's unique; Rose will give her that. Brooke isn't the typical Ravenclaw; a little ditzy, social as they come, flirtatious and has a dire problem with procrastination. In fact, she's pretty much the opposite of the stereotypical Ravenclaw. That's not to say she's not clever – she's very intelligent, but it's mostly academic. The girl has no common sense, Rose would swear. However, she has an ability to capture an audience and stop a whole room. Rose envies that sometimes.

"Rose!" She turns to the voice, and see's Albus sit down in front of her. Rose is about to greet him happily, inquire about his day, when she catches his expression and frowns. He doesn't look happy, but rather suspicious and she instantly knows that whatever he says next will not bode well for her. "What's the deal with all the time you're spending with Malfoy? I mean, what were you doing in an empty classroom with him?"

She stutters a little, stumbling over words as her tongue refuses to co-operate with whatever her brain is trying to communicate. Rose is a notoriously bad liar, and everyone knows it – most of all, Albus Potter. He tilts his head, mocking her, and she tries to buy time, "Umm, when?"

"How many times have you been in a classroom with him today? An empty one, at that."

"Not that it's any of your business, Al," Brooke speaks up haughtily, "But I asked him to get my divination book from Rose. She's been having bad dreams and decided to give it a go.. I know, I thought I'd never see the day! Also, they are friends, you know.."

He ignores the latter comment. "Why do you need a whole classroom to do that?" He questions, unwilling to let the subject drop. Really, it's none of his business, and had it been anyone else Rose would tell him that. She'd probably be a little more crass than that though and tell him where to shove it, but he's her cousin and oldest friend... Therefore she's lost for words. It's not often that happens.

She has to admit, Rose has never been more glad to see the beautiful face of Professor Zabini than in that moment.

"No idea who is sending them, I just know she's in love with me, dudes. Seriously, it's all she talks about. I'd really like to know who the chick is," He says sadly, twirling the latest letter between his fingers, "'Cause I might give a date a go. Unless she's ugly, obviously.." He adds as an afterthought, a small grin gracing his soft features. He's a contrast to Scorpius in that regard, who posesses quite sharp and strong features.

Lorcan is a very laid-back guy, never getting involved in fights and would rather cheer someone on than throw a punch. He plays Quidditch, and enjoys the attention, but rarely basks in it. Brooke calls him the epitome of 'cool' and the total opposite of his brother Lysander – who is shy, reserved and slightly eccentric. Lorcan makes everything look simple and takes everything in his stride.

His downfall is his laziness and lack of motivation with study – he always makes the above average cut, but could be so much more if he put the work in. It frequently frustrates Rose and she knows it'll annoy her big time in seventh year, when study and work counts most.

She realises what he just said, and exclaims hotly, "Poor girl! You're such a typical boy. She's gone through all that trouble with the letters, to have you turn her down because she's not the next Daphne Greengrass or prettiest girl in school."

He wiggles his eyebrows, "Do you have a confession for me, Rosie?"

Rose rolls her eyes, "I'm perfectly content with my boyfriend, thank you very much."

Lorcan shrugs, and throws a glance to Brooke, "What about you, B? Silently pining for my attention?"

"Come on, Scamander, I get ninety percent of your attention anyway," She winks. The three of them are sitting comfortably in the Room of Requirement, waiting patiently for their fourth friend to join them.

Brooke turns to Rose suddenly, "What was Albus on about in Defence today? Surely you didn't mitch off a class Rose Weasley..." She says, gasping mockingly.

"No," Lorcan imitates, also gasping.

"Shut up. Everyone is allowed to take days off."

"...But you don't do that. You're a strange alien from outer space." She waves this off, "But never mind that, the fact stands: you owe me big time."

Rose sighs, "I know. Woe is me.."

"Hate that. A debt to Brooke is never a good thing," Lorcan laments with her, patting her comfortingly on the back. Rose takes a glimpse at her watch and frowns at the time.

"Where on earth is Scorpius? If he doesn't arrive soon, I'm leaving. I've plenty of homework and -"

"You've done all your homework for tomorrow." Brooke states, raising her eyebrow.

"Yes, but there's a charms test tomorrow. I don't know if I can chance it, there's so much I haven't covered and-"

"and neither has the rest of the class," Lorcan laughs.

"You're so strange, Rose. Wanting to study when you could be with your friends... I mean, there you go being an alien again."

"Au contraire, I'm a Ravenclaw. What kind of Ravenclaw are you?"

Brooke looks slightly affronted, "Oh, don't be so stereotypical. Ravenclaws can be fun, too!"

"Brooke Bell: fighting to make Ravenclaws seem fun since first year."

"What a worthy cause," Rose replies dryly to Lorcan. "And I am fun!" There other two turn quiet, and then look at each other and laugh as a disgruntled Rose watches on. She's not half as amused as the other two, and is about to tell them just as much when Scorpius stalks into the room. Wearing a brooding expression, he's thunderous and the look in his eyes portrays someone ready to hit the nearest object (or person). He slams the door shit behind him and collapses dramatically into one of the chairs, huffing loudly and folding his arms.

The other three exchange looks, and then Scorpius glances at them, "What did I miss?" His tone is not one of warmth or genuine interest.

Brooke, never one to entertain his strops, claps loudly, "Your show. It was fabulous, babe."

That's all it takes to set him off. He jumps out of his seat and throws his arms in the air, "Albus Potter threatened me. Can you believe that? I'd laugh at the ridiculousness of it if I wasn't so pissed. I mean, first off, he's half my size. Sure, James might be a bit scarier, but Albus? Threaten me? Where does he get off anyway, I mean, I'm-"

"Al threatened you?" Rose cuts him off, ice lacing her voice. She's not pleased and Scorpius pauses briefly, wondering if it was a good idea to tell her. She's not about to back down now though.

Lorcan chuckles, "I think we should all see the humour in this situation."

"It is pretty funny," Brooke adds, attempting to be helpful as she cracks a smile. Rose and Scorpius don't share the other two's amusement and only level their gazes. Seeing this, Brooke shakes her head at the Malfoy, "You're an idiot for telling Weasley over here, she's only going to blow a casket."

"I'm right here!"

"I mean, really, is it that surprising?" Brooke asks, bored already with it.

Rose decides it's time to bring everyone back to reality with one of her famous rants. "I'm sorry, he did what?Who does he think he is? It's none of his business! First off, does he think I can't defend myself against you if you were threatening me in some way? Come on, I'm so much better at wand work! If Albus Potter thinks I'm a defenceless little girl, he has another thing coming. That idiot.."

"That's my Rose." Scorpius announces, proudly looking at his girlfriend. "But better at wand work?"

Rose points her wand at him, "Don't start."

Lorcan shakes his head at Scorpius, "She's crazy. Don't know how you put up with her."

"I can hear you, Lorc." She says irritably. "I'm going to find Albus and castrate him. I'll see you at dinner later." She storms out, not unlike Scorpius stormed in, and both Rose and Lorcan are reminded of the similarities between the two.

"No goodbye kiss?" Scorpius calls out, mostly in jest, just as the door slams shut. "Guess not. Didn't even get to talk to her," He tells his friends, even though they're well aware.

"You should really just tell everyone, be open and all that jazz. What's the worst that can happen? You could be banned from seeing each other – but if that's the case, you can just see each other secretly like you always have. Not the end of the world. Then, there's the other side, which is both families eventually accepting the 'liasion' and life is happily ever after on that note. I don't quite see what's stopping you two, but there's certainly no doubt that neither of you belong in Gryff-"

"You're rambling again." Lorcan points out.

"Oh, thanks." While Rose has a tendency to rant when under certain duress or angry, Brooke more than often rambles and talks on and on and on. It's a running joke between everyone, yes, but too many times they've had to cut her off mid-speech as she runs in tangents.

Scorpius turns to them, "Anything exciting today?"

"I have an admirer." He hands the boy the letter, who reads it and promptly bursts out laughing. Not simply chuckling, but full out laughing, while trying to spit out words of jest.

"She- you - love - flowers – hah!"

Lorcan grabs the letter back and grumbles, "Yeah, well, it was nice."

"It was hilarious." Scorpius corrects. "I hope you get another one tomorrow. Hey, it's probably one of those first years that follow you around.. The groupies from the Quidditch games!"

"I forgot about them! Yeah, face it buddy, it's probably one of them," Brooke says to him sympathetically, but not overly concerned at all in reality.

"Thanks for the support mate, but she seems more mature than that..."

Brooke and Scorpius glance at each other sceptically, "Right."

Scorpius smirks, "Nothing quite speaks maturity like a love letter. So true."

Hey! So this is my revision of "We Were Both Young" as there were some awful yolks in that story that I won't get into. This will remain largely unchanged, with more subtle, grammatical errors. Actually, there are a good bit of changes, but the story pans out the same way. The early chapters got the greatest revamp. Anyway, please let me know what you think!
I promised I wouldn't upload this until I finished it, and I didn't. So, yes, I have this fic finished, sitting on my computer, waiting to be uploaded. The excitement! Disclaimer: Don't own HP or "Love Story" by Ms. Swift.
Thanks for reading,
CN.