A/N: The last chapter was January 1st, 2023 in case you needed a refresher.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter world.

- • - • - • - • - • -

The corridors were silent and still except for the flickers of the torches and the soft tapping of Rose's shoes on the stone floor. The younger students would all be in their houses and it was likely the older students would be as well, considering the small hour between now and curfew. Not Rose though, Rose was making her way towards the Hogwarts kitchen, her stomach grumbling lowly now and then.

It had been the class before lunch, Transfiguration, and Scorpius had been seated beside Rose as usual. He had passed her a tiny slip of paper that sent a thrill through her heart. They'd been blushing and bumbling for the past three days and she'd hoped this was the sort of note she'd been hoping for. It read:

Rose —

Please meet me outside the Hogwarts kitchen at eight tonight. Don't eat a big dinner.

— Scorpius

It had been exactly the sort of note Rose had been hoping for.

Upon turning into the corridor of the kitchens entrance, Rose's eyes landed on Scorpius. He was leaning against the stone walls, a book in hand, dressed in dark jeans and gray sweater with a wicker basket at his feet. Rose was glad she'd had the idea to change out of her school uniform as well and into a pair of jeans and a floral long-sleeve tee-shirt. Scorpius looked up when he heard her footsteps, a smile breaking his face, and crossed the distance to grab her hand, tucking his small paperback in his pocket as he went.

"C'mon, Rose, big evening planned," he said, leading her towards the kitchens, "You look really pretty, by the way." Scorpius paused and turned around, "That wasn't an afterthought, in case you thought so, it was actually the first thing I thought."

Rose felt her cheeks tinge pink, "Thank you," she said, her voice like melted silver, "You look really nice as well."

"Thanks, Rosie," he said, smiling lightly. Then he was pulling her towards the kitchens again, tickling the pear, and leading them through.

"Are you going to tell me the plan?" Rose asked, arching an eyebrow and grinning.

"Sort of," Scorpius responded, "Basically, I've got this basket here," he lifted the hand holding the basket, "and we're going to fill it with food. Also, I'm really sorry for the timing. I started to realize that I should have planned to do this while everyone else was having dinner so we wouldn't be starving."

Rose laughed, "It's fine, I'm not that hungry. I had some food at dinner."

"Great," he smiled widely, "Now, what do you want to eat?"

They spent the next half-hour filling the internally-expanded basket with two small shepherd's pies, a bowl of salad, an apple pie, and a rather large jug of pumpkin juice. The half-hour also consisted of Scorpius making ridiculous jokes and Rose laughing wonderfully at said jokes.

"That all, you think?" Scorpius asked.

Rose looked around the room and nodded, "I think so. Did you get everything you wanted to get?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said and he grabbed Rose's hand again, "We're good to go then." He led her out of the kitchens and started down the hallway.

"Where to now?" Rose asked, "Are we going to eat all this in the common room?"

Scorpius smiled and shook his head, "No, somewhere else but it's a surprise."

Rose huffed, "Fine."

When Scorpius laughed, she asked, "What are you laughing about?"

"You're cute, that's all," he said it so nonchalantly that Rose would have thought he said it all the time if she hadn't noticed the blush spreading across his face.

"You're cute too," she said softly, giving his hand a small squeeze.

They climbed several stairs before finally entering another corridor. Rose had tried to protest all the stairs and Scorpius offered to carry her on his back to which she blushed and refused.

"Alright," Scorpius said, stopping abruptly in front of a blank wall, "Here we are."

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed, "I know where we are!" She turned to face him excitedly.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smiling broadly.

"Yes! We're going to the Room of Requirement, right?" she asked him eagerly, "I've never been here before, Mum wouldn't tell me where it was. She said it was a mystery I would figure out."

Scorpius nodded and as he did so, a door spiraled out of the wall in front of them. Rose watched, stunned, as the door appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Scorpius reached out to open it and watched closely as Rose entered the room, trying to gauge her expression.

The room wasn't massive but was instead cozy and warm. A fireplace crackled on one wall, a blanket laid out before it, and a plush sofa sat comfortably near the blanket. Bookshelves lined the back wall and a beautiful orange tapestry adorned the wall opposite the fireplace.

"Wow," Rose breathed.

"You like it?" Scorpius asked, sounding nervous for the first time that night.

She turned to him, "How could I not? It's wonderful."

A smile split his face and he led her to the blanket set for two.

"Rose," he whispered after they had finished eating.

"Hm?" she asked, her head rested on his shoulder as they sat on the sofa.

"I really like you," Scorpius said, "I've liked you for a long time, actually."

Rose smiled, "I've really liked you for a long time too."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smiling, "When did you first realize you liked me?"

Rose laughed to herself, "When you spilt pumpkin juice all over me at breakfast in fifth year and then spent the rest of the morning bumbling about how sorry you were."

"I was!" Scorpius said, "I was really sorry!"

"How about you? When did you first realize you liked me?" Rose asked him.

"Christmas day in fifth year," he said, "We were the only two Ravenclaw's who stayed behind that year and you came downstairs in your flannel pajamas with the dogs all over them. You kept yawning and then you fell asleep on my shoulder."

"Sort of like how I'm about to now," Rose mumbled, her eyes sliding closed.

Scorpius chuckled, "Hey, Rose," he said quietly.

"Mhm?" she hummed and moved to look up at him.

Scorpius reached out a tentative hand and brushed her hair away from her face before letting his hand fall to her waist and pulling her close. He glanced down at her lips before pressing his lips against Roses. She came alive at his lips, one hand against his neck while the other rested against his hip. Rose kissed him back with life in her lips and stars under her eyelids. His other hand reached up to grip the other side of her waist and Rose swung a leg around his hips, a knee on each side of his legs as she hovered above him.

Scorpius' tongue hit hers gently, cautiously, and Rose accepted it eagerly. She had never been kissed like this before and it made her heart leap and her thoughts turned to fuzz. When her legs grew tired, she gave in and sat on Scorpius' lap, to which he tried not to groan. Scorpius could feel every beat of Rose's heart as it grew more erratic with each touch of their lips. He moved his lips from hers and kissed a line down her jaw and over her neck.

Rose's head fell back as he kissed her neck and she let out a breathy sigh. Scorpius smelt of mint and springtime and she wanted this to last for ages. Her skin was warm and soft under his lips and he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing but he'd seen it in Rose's muggle films and judging by the way Rose was breathing, it couldn't be too bad. Her hands ran messy strokes through his hair until it stuck up at all angles.

And before Rose knew what she was doing, she slowly ground her hips down against his and immediately felt the response. She could feel Scorpius' hard prick under his jeans and the groan he emitted against her neck caused her to pull away and look into his eyes.

"Sorry," she breathed, "I didn't mean to, you know, do what I did just then. I don't think I can do that yet. I don't know why I did that."

"Rose," he whispered like she was everything, "It's fine. I'm sorry I'm, er," he coughed, "hard. We don't have to do anything obviously. Hell, I'm not even sure I'm ready for that stuff. I just like kissing you."

Rose smiled and leant her forehead against his, "Good, I like kissing you too." She pressed a small kiss against his lips and moved so her legs draped across his and her head fell on his shoulder.

Scorpius smiled and wrapped his arms around her, leaning his head against hers, "I want to go out with you again, Rose."

"Good, I was hoping we could do this again," she mumbled against his shoulder.

Two hours later they stumbled sleepily up to Ravenclaw Tower where Rose kissed Scorpius goodnight and feel asleep with a smile on her face.