Chapter 4

Rose Weasley. Who could possibly be more perfect than Rose Weasley? These words echoed around Scorpius' head as he lost focus in Potions class. The assignment was due today, and Professor Flint seemed happy enough with their work. At least, he did so far. All he had done was take it from Rose. She sat two benches in front of Scorpius, luckily enough she too sat three seats in from the left. She was braiding her hair into a loose plait, her fingers dancing through her hair in rhythms that Scorpius could never truly comprehend. In the end, the plait fell just above her tiny waist, and she leant forward on the desk, apparently deeply interested in... what does that say... why Shrinking Solutions should only be used in extreme situations. Scorpius decided Rose was more interesting. A few strands of hair were already coming loose, and she twirled them around in her hands, tucking them behind her ear and repeating the process as it fell on her porcelain cheeks. She turned briefly towards the window, her brown eyes scanning the horizon. Her attention was once again with Professor Flint. Shame. Scorpius would rather see her face than the back of her head.

No. Snap out of it. He ordered himself. What if dad is out there, at this very moment, writing out a furious reply to my letter, demanding that I should never speak to Rose again? Right. Let's find out why Shrinking Solutions should only be used in extreme situations. "Yes, Rose." said the professor.

"Sliced caterpillars are a cheap but dangerous ingredient. If the wrong species of caterpillar is used, the results of the solution would be disastrous, if not a hazard to health."

"Yes, ten points to Gryffindor for the detail," Scorpius saw Rose divert her gaze to the wooden desks, a slight proud smile lighting up her face. "Yes, the Shrinking Solution is an unexpectedly difficult draught to brew." Flint continued, but once again Scorpius had lost interest. He thoughts had wandered to how to approach Rose now that he had no Potions project to use as an excuse. Stupid Sorting Hat, forcing him away from a casual approach in the common room or Great Hall. Perhaps he should talk to her immediately after class, but then they'd both be late for last class. Even if one late mark wasn't a problem, it would be obvious something odd was going on when both of the usually punctual students turned up behind schedule. Well, the days were getting longer, maybe if it was still light after dinner he could go for a walk with her. That was the best conclusion Scorpius had.

"Scorpius!"

"Hmm - what?"

"What was the last thing I said?"

"Urm, that caterpillars are dangerous if used incorrectly?"

"Mr Malfoy, that was five minutes ago." The potions master informed him.

"Oh... Sorry."

"You will be if Shrinking Solutions come up in your test next week, I hope you know that much."

"Yes, Professor."

"Right, moving on-"

Well, at least this lesson was fruitful in one sense: he finally figured out how to talk to Rose.

Fortunately for Scorpius, the sky was still a pale blue when the majority of Hogwarts' students came down for dinner. The food was, as always, delicious, but Scorpius had other things on his mind. He occasionally pushed some potato around his plate while he watched Rose anxiously. He didn't want to miss her departure or else it would be another 24 hours until he'd get this opportunity again. She sat laughing with some of her family, although that was pretty much inevitable for two reasons: firstly, she was part of the Weasley family tree and the likelihood of her coming across one of her cousins was only increased by the second reason, she was at Gryffindor's table. At times, Scorpius would kill to go back to his first year and beg the Sorting Hat to put him into Gryffindor. At last, Rose pushed her plate towards the centre of the table and headed for the doors. Without a moment's thought, Scorpius did the same and met her at the top of the stone steps.

"Oh, hello, Scorpius." she said, smiling.

"Hi, urm, I was just going to go for another walk and I was wondering if you'd join me?"

Rose looked up the stairs for a second as they entered the main entrance. "Yeah, sure." she agreed.

They took off at a leisurely pace out of the over-sized front doors and began to circle the school. The pair reached the corner of the castle without saying a word, although the silence wasn't uncomfortable. They had only ventured a few feet into the west side of the grounds when Rose took Scorpius' hand. He looked at their entwined fingers. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, tucking her hand back into the pocket of her robes, her pale cheeks quickly flushing crimson.

"No, it's alright, I wasn't being awkward or anything," he said, stretching his hand out by his side.

Rose smiled, reassured, and held Scorpius' hand again. "It's quite beautiful isn't it?" she contemplated. "You know, the grounds when the sun's setting."

Scorpius hadn't even noticed that the clouds were now stained a candy-floss pink. "Yes." he agreed. "Very pretty."

Rose stopped and turned to face Scorpius. "Shall we stay here for a minute?" she proposed.

"Yeah, if you like."

She led him, with his hand still trapped in her's, to sit with their backs against the castle. They were side by side, their hands still interlinked. After a few seconds, Rose put her head on Scorpius' shoulder. He stroked her auburn hair, which was now rid of its plait falling down her back, with his free hand. There they stayed for an immeasurable amount of time, both completely relaxed with not a care in the world. Only a tinge of pink was visible in the sky when Rose next spoke. "Do you know what, Scorpius?"

"What?" he asked.

"I think I love you."

It was only then Scorpius realised the gravity of what he was doing. Not only had he appeared to get himself his first girlfriend, she was a half-blood and he was dating her (wasn't he?) without his father's consent. It took only a moment for Scorpius to decide which emotion was the over-riding one, the one he should act on.

"I love you too."