The first time it happened it was a Sunday. They were meeting at The Burrow for a family dinner, and Scorpius was invited. He loved Sundays at The Burrow. Having nothing remotely similar in his family, he enjoyed throughly the times in which Albus brought him to warm, sweaters, informalities, friends and family. This Sunday in particular was special as it was their last year in Hogwarts and graduation was on Monday, so the evening was filled with a spirit of celebration and an extra feeling of warmth between everyone.

After the food and all the talking among the guests, Scorpius found himself chatting with Albus and Rose, his two best friends in the whole world, about what funny thing they would do for graduation, receive the diploma mixed up? do something with their caps? drink a potion? cast a spell that threw confetti at the right moment? Probably someone was doing that officially. Go naked under the gown! 'No Albus!' in unison. Things were good, but it was all going to be over so soon, he thought.

Later that Sunday night, he ended wandering through the house along the dark rooms until he found one in particular, a big one with a large window at the end. He decided to stay there looking through the glass, in the darkness the space provided, until Rose find him.

"Oh. there's someone in here? is that you Scorp? Why is it so dark?" Rose said this while reaching to turn the light on. This house was so muggle, Scorpius thought, it was nice lights usually didn't go on summoned but by pushing a button.

"No! don't turn it on. I like the darkness. Allows me to see the stars"

"The stars? Feeling romantic?" Rose said with a teasing expression.

"No. I don't know. Maybe nostalgic, thoughtful"

"Oh I... I was just kidding... you can watch the stars if you like. We all have our reasons, don't we?"

He could only catch the light in her. Her gleaming eyes, the glow of red in her hair, her cheekbones so white, almost shimmering. He wondered, as he have many times before, how come she was this beautiful and yet so many people failed to notice. But this wasn't news, he knew his friend was very pretty and still only his friend. What was new was the feeling of the moment, the sudden intimacy that darkness brought.

"What are your reasons?" He said, turning to face the window again. She walked near him, staring at the stars as well.

"Hmm. I haven't think it through but, maybe is the privacy? The way they feel close... They feel like everything can be close even if it is a thousand miles away" She sighed and continued looking at the small blinking points in the sky.

So she felt it too, then. The closeness. How 'now' felt so close.

"Isn't this place incredible? You could never catch a sky like this anywhere else, not even at school. I just hope I'll get to see it many times more"

"You will! What? Because we are leaving Hogwarts we're going to stop seeing each other? Let me tell ya there aren't many jobs in the wizard world, so we are kinda stuck with each other" She was joking but also keeping an eye on him, giving him a reassuring smile and then turning away again "But... you know, I also wonder that at times. Life changing, meeting new people, not being able to come here that often. My grandparents are getting older and sometimes I catch myself thinking what would come of this without them. What will come of me without them"

The nearness of the stars. Scorpius and Rose were friends, really good friends. They have spend endless hours in Hogwarts with Albus, joking, fooling around, helping each other if necessary. But for some reason, maybe because he was closer to Albus being in the same house and all or because they were rarely just the two of them alone, they have never been very open to each other. Every conversation they have had was always the prelude of a comedy scene, the end of a joke, chat, meaningless conversation. But here, without being able to properly see each other but only the glimpses that the night's lights let them, there was suddenly this whole unknown space that opened revealing so many undiscovered paths in their relationship.

"I never knew you felt this way about, well, everything" Scorpius ventured to say, feeling supported by the stars.

"Yeah. We hadn't have the chance to properly talk, have we?" She said, and Scorpius chuckled.

"We haven't. And we have known each other for so many years, huh?"

"I don't know. I didn't knew you have this sensible part in you. I mean! not like that. Not that you are heartless! I know that's not the case. But, that I could just talk life with you"

"Yeah well, the Malfoy that goes with my name do has a certain fame of cold-heartedness? I'm not saying I can't be that sometimes. Cause I can. Merlin I can..." Was he really saying all this much to Rose? he turned to check on her expression, a little perplexed but open to continue hearing him. "I'm not as paced and cheery as I'm with you guys, all the time. Cause I'm not always this joyful. I'm nostalgic because... because I'm afraid I will never be this happy again. That as soon as I leave, I'll be trapped in my family's issues forever. In all what being a Malfoy means when you don't have your two back up friends around always" He gave her a slight grin but she kept a serious face, focused on what he was saying.

"You are not alone Scorpius" It felt so weird to hear her use his full name. For Rose it was usually Scorp, Malfoy -when she was in a particular bothering mood or angry-, Slyths -when referring to him and Albus-, or any other funny name she could came out with, and she was pretty good at those "I mean it. The Burrow is your home too, you know?" And she smiled without noticing how much her words have meant to him.

He wanted to hug her, to say thank you a thousand times, to hold both her hands and smile at her indefinitely. But his body decided there was a much simpler way to embrace all that, to actually enclose all of it and erase the distance. So he held her face an kiss her on the cheek softly and fast, smiling and turning away again to see the sky. Even though it was a simple gesture, ordinary almost, this was new between them. They didn't do 'gestures', even less physical ones. But for him this kiss was just thank you. Thank you for the moment, for the words, for her. He didn't want it to mean anything else for now. And she understood so perfectly, as she always did come to think of it. With her funny ways and her goofy self she did always knew what to say, just this time she knew it was a moment for another response, for seriousness, for whispers and serenity. So she turned to see the sky as well and held his hand. Another 'gesture', but intended in the same way as Scorpius'. Home, she meant it.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! This is the first chapter of four, that I'm planning to write if everything works out ;)