The next day dawned bright and early. Rose was starting to get used to the longer days and enjoyed the morning sun shining in through her tower window immensely. She'd been thirty minutes late meeting with one of the girls in her House about a small Charms project last night. The girl was put out, but agreed to reschedule for their shared free period the next day.

Sitting in her window seat, Rose watched the owls returning from their nighttime hunt. Some had post attached to their legs, while others didn't. On days like today, Rose was glad to be an early riser. The dawn sky was throwing a pink light into her room and it made things feel different somehow. Or maybe it was she that felt different? Something warm was building in her chest, and she had an inkling that it had to do with the way her stomach fluttered when Scorpius had held her hand yesterday.

Rose showered and dressed for the day in her favorite corduroy trousers and a lightweight cardigan set under her black school robes. She haphazardly plaited her hair as she walked down the corridors toward the Great Hall for breakfast. She and Scorpius had potions first, and since they were partnered, she would undoubtedly speak with him then. Nonetheless when she made her way into the Great Hall for breakfast she was disappointed to see that he was not there. Get yourself together, she chided herself.

Her second piece of toast was buttered and she was loading jam onto it before the students started filing in to the hall. Her cousin Albus caught her eye and waved at her as he made her way to the Gryffindor table. Rose waved back while simultaneously rolling her eyes. He stuck his tongue out and went about his business. Rose was just finishing the last bite when she heard a girl not far down the table whisper, "My God, what happened to him?"

Rose's eyes snapped up to the girl and followed her gaze to the entrance. Scorpius was headed toward the Slytherin table, his head held high in dignity. Just like a Malfoy, Rose thought with a snort to mask her first instinct to giggle girlishly. He looked devilishly handsome.

Scorpius walked with an air of haughty indifference at the whispers rippling through the Great Hall. Rose noticed first, that his platinum blond hair was free of any goo and fell across his forehead like it hadn't been greased back for the better part of two years. His school robes were fresh pressed and hung smartly on his frame. Rose bit her lip when he looked over and caught her eye. His pink lips curled into a slow smile as he made a line directly for her.

Merlin save me, she thought and resisted the urge to blush.

He flopped gracefully on the bench at the Slytherin table behind her. "Morning, Rosie," he said with a casual grin.

"Good morning," she said cordially, turning so that she was facing him. "You look… different."

"I took some good advice," he said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Do you like it?"

Despite his bravado, she could hear the uncharacteristic worry in his voice. She liked him when he wasn't being cool. "Is it really you?" she countered. "Do you like it?"

He thought about it for a minute as he buttered a slice of toast. "Yeah, I think I do. The hair on my forehead is bloody well annoying me though," he confided quietly.

Rose laughed softly. She noticed the small silver hoop in his ear just before the Owl Post swooped in. She was surprised to see her Uncle's owl land in front of her and hold its talon out to her. "It's from my Uncle Harry," she said with a frown before she tore into the letter. Immediately, she noticed that the letter was not from Harry, but her Aunt Ginny.

Rosie,

I just want to let you know that my son has informed your father that you are getting cozy with Scorpius Malfoy. I'd give him a sound thrashing, but since I'm not there, I give you the full authority to do so in my absence.

My brother was raving like a lunatic at the family dinner last night. He remembered all the things that Lily said about Scorpius being a 'bad boy', a heartbreaker, and I quote, ' downright dreamy'. I don't know what to believe exactly, so if you'd write back and clear things up for me, I'd love to hear from you (and intercede if needed). My brother is a prat.

Sincerely,

Aunt Ginny

"Bloody Hell," Rose muttered and put a hand to her cheek. She turned around to glare fiercely at her cousin Albus, only to notice that he'd already gone.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked, a worried look etching his brow. "You look like someone died."

Rose wordlessly handed him the letter. His eyes scanned it quickly and he looked up. "Is that what we're doing then, getting cozy? I wish someone would have mentioned it to me." She kicked his foot and he laughed. "I'm sorry, I find it funny."

She glared and moved over to sit next to him at the Slytherin table. "Let's say that theoretically, if were 'getting cozy,'" Rose emphasized making quotations with her index fingers, "and your father got word of it, what would he say?"

Shrugging his shoulders Scorpius said, "He might be angry, but I'm not sure. I'd tell him that I am old enough to make my own choices and that as my father he should support me. Though, I think that once he noticed that the dragon fang was missing, he'd be thrilled even if I were dating a Hippogryff."

Rose chuckled lightly and tried not to be thrilled at the implication that he was doing this for her or that he might want to date her. After all, she'd just told him that she only wanted him to do what he wanted for himself. He popped the last bit of a pastry into his mouth. Rose asked, "Do you want to head down to the dungeons yet?"

"The bell hasn't rung…?"

"I always go early," Rose said blushing. "It gives me time to read over the lesson and set up my cauldron without rushing. Besides, I was thinking that if we turned in our project before class today, we could still get the extra credit for turning it in ahead, and if Professor Spigots gives us a free period to work on it, we could get started on the next one."

Scorpius looked at her like she was crazy, but nodded and stood up. "We'll have to drop by my dorm though. I didn't bring the project with."

Agreeing, Rose stood and followed him out of the Great Hall. She noticed that her younger brother, Hugo, was giving her a very questioning look from Gryffindor table. She ignored it.

They arrived in the Potions classroom with ten minutes to spare before the first bell rang. Professor Spigots greeted Rose as usual and turned a shocked eye on Scorpius before she greeted him too. Scorpius put their roll of parchment down on the desk and smiled tentatively at the Professor. The pair made their way to the seats at the back of the classroom and set up in silence except for when Rose asked Scorpius to go get the ingredients for Amortentia out of the supply cabinet.

This was going to be a piece of cake. Most of the potions that they had brewed over the last month had been things they learned in the past in preparation for their upcoming N.E.W.T.'s. When Rose had been paired with her cousin Albus things were often slow, as she often had to re-chop up ingredients after he'd decimated them.

She had been so thankful when Professor Spigots had paired them up differently this term for N.E.W.T. preparation. At first, well until yesterday evening, Rose had been wary at being partnered with Scorpius Malfoy, but now she was finding it pleasant. Her face flushed at the thought as she opened her text book to read over the potion again. About the time Scorpius sat down next to her, students started to file in to the classroom and then the bell rang to signal the start of class.

Professor Spigots was a short woman with graying hair who had once been a potion maker for St. Mungo's. She was the head of Hufflepuff House and a very sweet woman. She'd retired from the hospital to have children and then once her children had grown and graduated from Hogwarts, she'd come to work as the Potions Master.

She lectured for five minutes and then asked, "Since this is review from earlier this year, can anyone tell me what the Amortentia should look like when it is mature?" Rose was about to raise her hand when she noticed that Scorpius had already done so. "Mr. Malfoy?" Everyone in the class turned curious eyes in his direction.

"Amortentia should be pearlescent and nearly colorless," he said ignoring his peers gaping at him. "But sometimes it can have a slight green tinge depending on the time of year that the nettles are harvested."

"Ten points to Slytherin," the professor said brightly. She smiled in Rose's direction and Rose hid a blush behind her hand while she copied notes off the board. Rose could see her cousin Albus in the corner of her vision. He was turned around in his seat trying to catch Rose's eye, but she refused to look at him.

Scorpius nudged her leg with his and whispered, "Potter looks like he's sitting on a nettle." Rose laughed and shushed him while Professor Spigots was finishing her lecture. When the class was released to gather their ingredients, Rose and Scorpius started cutting and crushing their own. Albus walked by and glared at them.

"I don't know what his problem is," Rose said seriously. "I don't know what anyone's problem is, really. It's like they can't look past who your parents are."

"Sometimes it is hard. And I honestly haven't done anything to make anyone think any more of me," Scorpius said sounding more reasonable and mature than she'd ever heard him sound before. She grunted as she crushed cloves with the side of her knife. "I know that during my first years at Hogwarts, I was really afraid of you. Everyone knew who you were. My mum and dad told me to watch out for the Potter's and Weasley's. You were quite intimidating."

"I was not," Rose admonished.

"You were. You always had the right answers, top marks and got everything right on the first try."

Her cheeks went rosy as she cut the jasmine blossoms into strips. "I didn't mean to be," she said between slices. "I just wanted to make my mum and dad proud."

"I realized in fifth year that I didn't have to be afraid of you. You have some really obnoxious cousins, but you were just looking to have fun and learn," he looked off to the blank wall next to them, as he stirred the beginning of their potion. "Sixth year was rough. I always felt like people were looking at me and sneering at me."

"All of us weren't," Rose reminded him. "I was so devastated when your badge got taken away. Probably just as much as you," she said chuckling.

"I was grounded for most of the summer hols for that," Scorpius said with a smirk. "It was just the time I needed to perfect my image."

Rose rolled her eyes at him and tossed 3 grams of raw nettles into the potion. It bubbled and then fizzed for a moment. "Well, I for one am happy to have my friend Scorpius back from the Twilight Zone."

"Where?"

"It's Muggle television. Never mind," Rose said grinning at him. "I spent the summer with my Grandma Granger and made it through most of their library and film collection." Scorpius laughed and then lapsed into silence as he counted the clockwise, then counterclockwise strokes with his stirring rod. Rose waited patiently and then added the next ingredient to the cauldron. As the potion bubbled, Rose lowered the flame so that it barely simmered as per the instructions in Advanced Potion Making: N.E.W.T. Edition.

When the surface of the potion turned a pearly white, Rose grinned toothily at Scorpius. "It is nice to have a competent partner," she whispered quietly, as to not let Albus, who was currently cursing his potion, hear.

"Same here," Scorpius confided quietly. "Portia Pacelli isn't exactly an ideal potion making partner."

"But she's sooooo dreamy," Rose said pretending to swoon with her hand to her forehead.

Scorpius let out a loud bark of laughter and earned a glare from the Potions Master. "Is something funny," the older woman said as she stood and came toward them. "I suppose that if you have time to joke around, that you won't mind if I bottle your potion now?"

"Not at all, Professor," Scorpius said smoothly. The timer had just run out, indicating that the potion was finished.

"Indeed," Professor Spigots said as she peered into the cauldron. She winked at Rose as she bottled the potion and took it to the front of the classroom. "Let this be an example to those who feel the need to goof off in my classroom."

Everyone was looking at Rose like she'd just grown a second head. She was Head Girl for Merlin's sake, not a Saint. It had been a close call, though.

"That was close," Scorpius said as though reading her mind. "I'm sorry. I won't laugh so loud next time you are telling me how dreamy the female Slytherin Prefect is. I swear."

"Oh stuff it," she said with a grin.

"So," Scorpius said casually, "What do you smell?"

Her brown eyes snapped to his gray ones trying to decide how interested he was in the answer. His face didn't give much away, but his eyes were intent. "You first," she said shyly.

"I smell a flower, I think it is Honeysuckle," he said not taking his eyes off hers. "It reminds me of my mother's garden in the summer. And I smell the smell of fresh rain, and chocolate."

Rose looked away and forced down another blush. She'd started using a honeysuckle shampoo and lotion that her Aunt Fleur had sent from Paris for her birthday last month, but she'd never mention that.

"Your turn, Weasley," he said nudging her leg with his knee again.

She felt the butterflies start to dance in her stomach and swallowed hard. "To me, the potion smells like rain, spices and Christmas at my Nana Weasley's house."

"You smell the rain too?" Scorpius asked.

"Autumn and spring are my favorite seasons, so it makes sense," Rose replied with a shrug as she vanished their potion from the cauldron and set a scrubbing charm on it. Scorpius was packing the knives and spare ingredients.

"I've always loved flying in the rain. Mother used to tell me I was going to catch my death," he said fondly. Then added more to himself than Rose, "I need to write her a letter."

"Would you two kindly take this conversation elsewhere?" the professor said sternly coming to stand in front of them. Her eyes were sparkling as she handed them a slip of parchment and Rose felt her stomach sink until she read the parchment. It was a free pass from the last half of class. In a lower voice, the woman said, "It is a reward for being the only pair to turn in your essay early, as well as finish the Amortentia potion with over half an hour left. I might suggest that you get an early start on the next Potions project." With a wink, she turned to back to address the question of a student sitting in the first row.

"Brilliant," Scorpius said as he trailed down the hallway behind Rose. "But I can still smell the potion." He rubbed his nose as he fell into step next to her.

Rose laughed lightly and made no comment about the scent. "What should we do? We've got an hour. We could go to the library and start research…"

"Or we could find an abandoned classroom and snog?" He suggested hopefully.

She elbowed him in the ribs and laughed. "I don't think so, Malfoy. Not my style to snog on the first date."

Scorpius grinned at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Speaking of dates," he said looking down at her. "What do you say to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"With you?"

"Of course," he said looking offended that she had asked.

"Well, I would like to…"

"But?"

"But there's the whole issue of my parents and your parents. Not to mention my cousins and brother."

"How about as friends?" he asked as he gently steered her toward the front door of the castle and away from the stairs leading to the library. "I don't know if you noticed, but I don't have too many guy friends and I don't want to go with another girl."

Rose thought about it for a minute as they walked into the bright sun. "I suppose it won't hurt anything."

For the next hour, they walked around the lake chatting and skipping flat rocks across its black surface.