I have now realized that I am probably the worst updater to ever grace the world of fanfiction. I wrote, got annoyed, stopped, tried again and repeated this process several times before today. I had my English exam this morning and was in a very inspired writing mood, so when I got home, I sat down and wrote and wrote. But a chapter every six months? Now that's just pathetic of me. Not to mention extremely annoying for you, as I can only imagine from personal experience. Hopefully this will make up for it, my dear readers.

College applications and decisions are over, as is most of school, and exams are in full swing. Summer is approaching. Can you feel it? It's electrifying.

Now, on to the story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Rose Weasley buried her face in her pillow, fighting to stay asleep despite the streaming sunlight's insistence otherwise. Recollections of last night suddenly came to her and, much to her later regret, her eyes flew open in realization. She hurriedly raised her palms to cover them up: the light burned her sleep-filled eyes. In the comfortable darkness, she recalled the way his skin felt under her cheek, the way his arm snaked around her waist, the way he softly kissed her on the forehead. She couldn't help the smile that overcame her expression at the thought of last night.

She sat up and adjusted herself to the brilliant streams of light that made their way through the windows and the doors to the balcony. She always closed the curtains before she went to bed every night to keep this very thing from happening, but needless to say, she was too preoccupied last night to think rationally about anything, much less the condition of her curtains. She looked over at the clock; the dainty silver hands pointed to 8: 37. She found herself laughing at the last time she looked at that very same clock, last night at 4: 13, after Albus awoke atop the tree house with a start:

"ROSE, SCORPIUS, WAKE UP! WE FELL ASLEEP! MERLIN KNOWS ITS PROBABLY ALMOST DAWN, WE'RE GONNA GET CAUGHT! OUR PARENTS ARE PROBABLY ALREADY AWAKE WONDERING WHERE WE ARE!" He walked around the roof of the tree house flailing his arms to express his woe. Rose mumbled some incoherent insult at her cousin against Scorpius's shirt. She slowly raised her head, appraising her surroundings. Scorpius was quietly sleeping right next to her, his arm still wrapped around her. She leaned closer to his face and whispered.

"Scorpius? Scor?" She placed her hand on his cheek, as she spoke. "Come on, we have to get back." His eyes opened and he didn't respond, his expression fading from momentary shock to dazed happiness. "Hey."

"Hi." He muttered, confused. She laughed.

"Awake yet?"

"I'm not sure." He responded, not taking his smiling gaze away from her. She pondered the possible meanings of that response as he looked down at his arm. They both realized the position they were in and blushed, looking at the floor and disentangling themselves. Scorpius vanished the blanket on the floor. Rose hadn't even apprehended that during their mildly awkward moment, Albus, in his continued panic, was now downstairs loudly reproaching them for not realizing the gravity of the situation they were in, not even noticing the compromising position that his cousin and best friend were in moments before. Sometimes she was thankful for Albus's hysterics.

They both laughed at him and made no effort to hasten as they descended into the house below. She waved her wand, putting out the candles in each room. The three of them grabbed their brooms and kicked off, Scorpius was hovering for a few moments in front of the tree as Rose recast the protection charms on it, Albus was already halfway home, whipping through the night air. Scorpius laughed at his friend again.

"Idiot." Rose stated as she shook her head toward Albus's departing figure and started flying toward the house with Scorpius next to her. At a normal speed.

"Is it really that close to dawn?" Scorpius started to look marginally concerned.

Rose laughed and shook her head again, "It's four a.m."

"Does he know that?"

"Nope." She chuckled manically.

"And you didn't tell him?"

"Nope. I figured he could use a little scare." She smiled and he reached over and ruffled her hair. She swatted at his hand.

"That's just evil. He's going to freak out when he finds out."

"As opposed to his current, utterly calm demeanor."

"Touché."

They both brought their brooms to a slow stop as they entered the backyard. He hugged her and realized she was shivering.

"You should go get in bed; you're so cold." He whispered in her ear. He obviously didn't have the same problem with the temperature, she thought as she, quite unwillingly, broke away from his warm arms and smiled.

"Goodnight, Scor."

"Goodnight, Rosie."

She watched as he flew to his balcony door and quietly shut it behind him, smiling at her briefly. She made her way to her own room and collapsed in her bed, wrapping the cold comforter around herself, catching a glance at the clock right before she fell asleep once more.

It was now four hours later and breakfast time. She hopped out of bed and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Hermione was humming a tune as she was adding strawberries to three pancake-adorned plates.

"Morning, Mum."

"Good morning, Rosie."

"Is all that for us?"

"Yes, I ate with your father before he left for work; I have to go soon myself. Hugo just grabbed his plate and rushed back upstairs. That boy is up to something, I'm telling you. I hope we wont get a repeat of the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder Incident of 2020." Rose winced at the thought of it.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my eye on him. Plus, I'm pretty sure if he ever does anything like that again, Lilly might just kill him."

"That's why I'm worried." Hermione laughed as she was washing her hands from fruit handling. She grabbed her purse and headed over to the fireplace. "I'll see you guys after work. We're conferencing with members of the IWA, so I might be a little late. Be good!"

"Yes, Mum. Kick butt at your conference… diplomatically, of course. I don't think the International Wizarding Alliance cares too much for literal butt-kicking."

"No, we are strongly opposed to literal butt-kicking. Bye!" Hermione's laugh trailed away as she disappeared into the floo network.

Rose waived her wand and the coffee began to make itself, the caramel aroma filled the entire kitchen and she leaned against the counter, taking in the smell with a wide grin on her face. She loved coffee. She took out the sugar and creamer while the machine finished its job. She poured two cups, set one down by the three plates, and helped herself to her own cup. She levitated breakfast into the backyard, and followed slowly behind it. The plates lay themselves on the table, and she set a heating charm on them as she walked past. She grabbed the other cup of coffee in her free hand and began walking to the Potters' house.

She froze in place as she heard a loud crash come from their kitchen. Rose tiptoed to the doorway to the kitchen and peeked inside. Scorpius was on the floor, flabbergasted look on his face, next to a kettle and several (now broken) mugs. She couldn't help but laugh. This startled him, who hadn't realized anyone was in the room.

"Bloody hell," he mumbled, getting up. It was apparent that he was still sleepy as he fumbled, trying to pick up everything.

"You are a mess. Looking for this?" She extended her arm that held the other coffee cup and waived it temptingly in front of him with raised eyebrows. He smiled and gratefully took the cup.

"Merlin, yes. Thank you."

"No problem," she responded as she grabbed the wand from her pocket and fixed the devastation Scorpius had made in the Potters' kitchen.

"Where is everyone?"

"Well, you know where Al is, I'm sure. Uncle Harry leaves for work with my dad, Aunt Ginny probably had practice this morning. James returned to his flat. Lilly is most likely getting dressed."

"Food?"

"Yes. Food on table. In patio. We talk caveman now?"

"Yes," he said, sticking out his tongue at her and walking out of the room. She rolled her eyes and followed.

"Can you go wake him up?" She asked, pouting.

"Why me?"

"Because."

"Great reason."

"Lazy."

"Lazier."

"Fine then, let's both go." She grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs, opened the door to Albus's room, and drew her wand. Scorpius was still too drowsy to care about Albus's slumbering state, and far too preoccupied with the feel of Rose's hand on his.

It all happened rather quickly. He heard a faint "aguamenti," a giggle, the absence of Rose's hand, soon replaced by a wand, and a shut door behind him. His eyes widened in horror as he looked over at the now drenched Albus, whose expression practically shouted "murder."

"SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY! WHAT IN THE BLOODY NAME OF MERLIN IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" Al shouted, getting out of bed and grabbing his wand. Rose laughed from outside the door. Scorpius grabbed the doorknob and ran down the stairs and outside into the back yard, Albus quickly following from behind.

"AGUAMENTI!" Al shot the spell right above Scorpius's head.

"IT WASN'T ME!" Scorpius shouted as he tried to escape the stream of water.

"LIAR!" Al shouted back, running past Rose, doubled over in laughter. "THINK IT'S FUNNY DO YOU?" She nodded, unable to speak through the spasms of giggles. "Oh, well, in that case… AGUAMENTI!" The laughter immediately stopped. She was soaked.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!" She reached to grab her wand and get revenge, but realized she had given it to Scorpius when she left the room. That was not her brightest idea. Scorpius realized this at the same time. He wickedly grinned and shot another Aguamenti spell at her with her own wand. After recovering from the shock of the cold water, she started to chase him.

"GIVE ME BACK MY WAND, YOU TOSSER!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GAVE IT TO ME!" He turned around and repeated the spell while running. She was livid. Albus, finally catching on, calmly walked over to the table and began to eat his breakfast, watching them make fools of themselves. Scorpius was about five feet in front of Rose, running casually, not expecting her to catch up to him. Rose ran as fast as she could and jumped on his back, tackling him to the ground, straddling his waist. He let out a yelp going down. Albus was heard laughing hysterically from the patio.

"HA," she said, snatching the wand out of his hand. She pointed the wand at the back of his head and performed an Aguamenti spell herself.

"Fantastic," he muttered sarcastically, this was too much for one morning, "can you get off me, now?" It wasn't that he so much minded her weight, but he was completely sopping wet, muddy, and covered in grass. He longed for clean, dry clothes

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "And if I don't?" She didn't give him the opportunity to respond or regain his composure. She quickly hopped off his back and walked over to sit across from Albus, summoning her coffee from his house. He remained on the ground, jaw dropped. She does not fight fair, he thought to himself. Al grinned and shook his head at her as she sat down across from him.

"What?" she demanded, trying to conceal her grin.

"One of these days, you'll give that boy a heart attack."

"I don't know what you're talking about; I didn't do anything to him."

"Right, that's why he looks like he's been hit in the head with a bludger?"

She laughed, "Yes."

Scorpius made his way over and sat down at the end of the table, halfheartedly picking at his pancakes.

"You are so moody. What's wrong now?"

"Well, I'm wet, muddy, and spilled my coffee while being CHASED by two lunatics, one of which tackled me to the ground." She took out her wand and summoned a fresh cup of warm coffee from her kitchen.

"Better?"

He held up his index finger, took a large gulp and then replied, "Much."

Albus shook his head and made a face in disgust. "I don't know how you guys drink that stuff. It's awful." Rose and Scorpius looked at each other and feigned sadness.

"He just doesn't understand." Scorpius said to Rose.

"He never will." Scorpius patted her on the shoulder in mock sympathy.

"You two are ridiculous. First you soak me through and now you're bonding over cups of that… tar."

"Maybe you aren't soaked quite thoroughly," Rose mumbled raising her wand threateningly, then her eyes widened and she dropped her hand, "THAT'S IT!" Rose stood up and said firmly, "Boys, we are going swimming," and with that she started running inside her house to change out of her still soaked pajamas. "Don't forget to invite Lilly!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Albus and Scorpius stared at the door she had gone through, baffled by her sudden outburst. They exchanged confused looks.

"Do you know what…" Albus began, but trailed off.

"No idea. But I'm frightened," Scorpius replied.

Lily Potter knocked on the door and entered when she heard a "come in" from within. The room was a wintry teal color, the walls plastered with photographs of landmarks and ruins from around the world, pictures of friends and family, and muggle paintings. Books were arranged in neat stacks throughout the room by some organizational pattern known only to their owner.

"So what exactly is going on? Albus mumbled something incoherent about you wanting to go swimming?" Lily asked the empty room, looking for Rose after dropping her towels on the bed.

"Yes, is it wrong of me to want to go swimming with my bestest cousins and friends?" Rose emerged from the closet shining her biggest grin.

"It's wrong to disguise your intentions as genuine when, in fact, all you want to do is catch a glimpse of our dearest Scorpius half-naked." Lily returned the same smile to Rose, who looked outraged.

"I want no such thing! How dare you imply that?!" Lily's look was unwavering. Rose's face fell, she continued, "So… maybe, possibly, that might have been an intention, but not very high on the list. Mostly I just wanted to see my beautiful cousin Lily who I rarely lay eyes upon?"

"Rose. You see me everyday. Although, I am rather beautiful, aren't I?" Lily dodged Rose's swat as she laughed. Rose tripped over a pile of books in her effort and landed on the ground.

"I told you books are hazardous to your health." Lilly plopped herself on the bed while Rose got up, scowled, and walked back into her closet, still agonizing over what to wear.

"Black?"

"Rose, have you seen how pale you are?"

"Possibly. How about blue?"

"Isn't that your default color? Go for it. Just hurry up. Merlin, it didn't even take me this long to get ready. Ah, but you've got other things on your mind, no?" A shoe flew out of the closet and made contact with her shoulder "Those who speak the truth are always mistreated by society. I am one of those unfortunate souls."

Rose emerged from the closet donning a royal blue bikini covered by a white eyelet sun dress, nude-colored leather sandals and a matching bag. She struck a pose in front of her closet, her sun glasses covering much of her face. Lily clapped and attempted to wolf whistle. Rose laughed at her sputtering.

"Maybe I should leave the wolf whistling to Scorpius?" She asked quickly and ran out the door with her towels before Rose could find something else to throw at her.

Albus Potter was pacing the length of the Weasley patio in impatience. "Merlin's beard, when the bloody hell is that girl going to be ready?" Scorpius lounged on one of the chairs, staring off at the forest, deep in thought. "I mean, somehow she's managed to surpass my mum, Aunt Hermione, even Lilly in the time it takes her to get ready. She could give Aunt Fleur a run for her money, too, and that's plain frightening. Are you even listening to me? Scorpius? SCORPIUS?" His attention snapped back to his friend as his reverie was interrupted.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Merlin, you're hopeless." Albus rolled his eyes and continued pacing.

"Why would you say that?" He asked, thoroughly confused.

"I didn't sa-- you know what? Nevermind. I can obviously see you're distracted." Albus gave him a pointed look as he walked over to the door, ready to yell upstairs at his cousin, but she opened the door and emerged with Lily just as he approached. "Could you have taken any longer?"

"Yes." Rose smirked and motioned for Scorpius to join them as they all began to walk to the path that led to the lake.

"Bollocks! We forgot to bring blankets and chairs and towels!" Albus said as they arrived on the white sandy shores of the lake. Rose dropped her bag, took out her wand, and proceeded to expand the chairs she had shrunk and spread out the blankets, making sure to set a charm so that they wouldn't blow away in the wind. Extra towels made their way to the spot in front of her complaining cousin. Al looked sheepish as he readied himself for a swim.

Scorpius noticed that there were only two blankets on the ground. He wondered weather he should conjure his own or if Rose minded sharing hers with him. She noticed the dilemma brewing behind his expression and nodded and smiled at him. He returned her smile and began to take off his shirt, dropping it lightly in a pile at the corner of his blanket.

Rose tried not to look, she honestly did, but she caught a glance out of the corner of her eye and she couldn't help but stare at his well toned physique. His pale chest and chiseled abdomen. His well defined arms and curved back. She forced herself to look away as he was stretching and focus on getting ready herself. She pulled the dress over hear head and folded it neatly, taking way too much time than necessary so as not to let go of the only covering she had left. She grabbed her sunscreen from her bag and began applying it. Muggles were brilliant sometimes, and she was thankful for their useful inventions. She felt his eyes on her, despite being turned away. She turned around to offer him the bottle and found him blushing mildly at being caught staring.

"Sunscreen, oh palest Malfoy?" She held out the bottle, grinning. He stuck his tongue out at her and grabbed the sunscreen, applying it himself as she summoned butterbeer for the four of them, smiling to herself.

"Thank you, oh freckled Weasley." He noticed that her back and shoulders were riddled with freckles, some faint and others easily visible. He wondered what it would be like to run his fingers across that skin, whether it was as soft as he imagined. He chided himself for staring again, after already being caught. Scorpius handed the bottle back to Rose and presented a challenge.

"I bet I can get to the water before you!"

"You sure about that, Malfoy?" She grinned, putting away the sunscreen and the barely-sipped butterbeer. When she looked back up, she found he was already sprinting toward the shore. "Cheater!" She yelled in protest and began to run out to the water as well. She dove into the water right after a laughing Scorpius and began splashing him incessantly for being the annoying, competitive, cheating prat that he was. She could hear his laughs over the splashing, he was swimming towards her. She smiled in victory as she anticipated wining this. Next thing she knew, her hands were immobile in front of her. He chuckled as he held her hands in his own.

"No more splashing for you." She attempted to struggle her way out of his grasp, halfheartedly, while she did want to continue her assault on him, she rather enjoyed the feeling of his hands entwined with hers.

"Cheater." She repeated, sternly looking at him.

"How am I a cheater? I specifically told you my challenge, and it was your decision to waste time putting things away."

"You could have waited for me to be finished, but I think you were probably just scared that you'd lose to me again."

"I lost because you cheated."

"How did I cheat? I merely used strategy."

"Yes, by falling out of the sky with no warning, scaring me to death."

"Aw, was little Scorp worried about me?" She smiled, playfully teasing.

"Yes." His response was utterly serious. Her smile fell and she looked apologetic. "But I shouldn't have doubted your flying skills, my mistake." He smiled, carefully folding away his concern. She returned it. He dropped her hands and sent a giant splash across her head. "HA!" He swam over to Lily and Albus who had matching amused, knowing looks on their faces. Rose followed, angrily. Before any more fighting could ensue, the group turned to the approaching noise from the woods.

"Oi, guys! I cant believe you left without inviting your dearest cousin and brother and pal!" Hugo emerged from the trees and dropped his stuff on the ground and joined them in the water.

"You were doing your sneak-around-in-your-room-planning-catastrophes thing, even mum's suspicious." Rose replied to her approaching brother.

"Me? Planning catastrophes? Dearest sister, how could you suggest such a thing?" He flashed his biggest innocent smile.

"Yes, silly me for suspecting anything from my well-behaved, loving brother."

"Well, your well-behaved, loving brother is bored. Let's play something!"

The five of them went back to the good old days of youth and played ridiculous water games from wizards and muggles alike. They progressed from Marco Polo, to beach volleyball, to swimming contests, even building sand castles. Rose's intricate castle was clearly superior to the others, enveloped in realistic carvings of brick and ivy, tall towers, and arched windows. At least, until Hugo "accidentally" stepped on it while walking backwards to the lake. Scorpius had to restrain her from committing fratricide on the "insolent brat," as she so eloquently dubbed him. Scorpius was agile and stealthy in Marco Polo, quickly catching Rose's slow, cautious escape and Al's loud, splashy failure. Lily proved herself to be quite talented at volleyball, which surprised everyone because of her notorious difficulties with quidditch, and almost made up for it, but not quite.

The day passed in the warm lull that summer days usually do. The sun was in the midst of setting and the group had parted ways earlier after the activities were exhausted. Lily was set on getting some tanning done; she ended up falling asleep on her stomach. Rose cast a spell on her so she wouldn't get burned instead of interrupting her sleep. Hugo and Al made some ridiculous bet and rushed into the forest to find Merlin knows what before the other one could, which left Rose and Scorpius floating calmly on the lake, content in silence. Scorpius had his sight set on the peak of the rocky cliff that hung over the lake; Rose had her sight set on Scorpius. She noticed where he was gazing.

"That's one thing we haven't done yet."

"What's that?"

"Dive off the rocks." She motioned toward where he was looking earlier.

"Can we?" His face lit up in excitement. Rose laughed.

"Let's go!" They both swam to the rocks and began climbing up the side. Scorpius let Rose go ahead of him because she knew exactly where to climb, having done it so many times as a child. They stood at the peak and looked out at the fiery hues the sun painted across the heavens and the miles of trees that surrounded them. A chilly breeze blew in from the north and Rose shivered, goosebumps covering her skin. She was trying in vain to cross her arms and warm herself up when she felt his arms envelop her and pull her flush against himself. She thrilled at the contact, the feeling of his skin on her own, without awkwardness or pretense as a barrier. Rose placed her head against his chest and could feel his heart beating erratically, just as her own was within her chest. Scorpius placed his chin on her head and held her closely.

They stood there watching the sunset contently for several minutes. Just as it delved below the earth, Scorpius placed a kiss on the top of her head. She lifted her head and looked up at his familiar face, one she'd seen almost daily for the past six years, one she couldn't imagine living without, one she could keep looking at infinitely, and smiled slightly. He leaned forward slowly, eyes never leaving hers, worried he'd overstep some boundary or ruin it. He heard her faint intake of breath before his lips pressed against hers.

His lips were soft and gentle on hers as he pulled her closer to him, fingers running down her bare back tantalizingly slow. Rose shivered, but not because of the cold. She wrapped her arms around his neck, entwining her fingers in his fine hair. She could feel every line of his body against hers. The world melted around them as his lips caressed hers slowly, as they moved in the same rhythm, as every wall they ever built collapsed.

He pulled away and kissed his way up her neck, beginning at her collar bone. She moaned as he lingered on her pulse point and continued kissing across her jaw, returning finally to her anticipating lips. She slid her right hand away from his hair, slowly tracing up his neck, and cupped his cheek, gliding her fingers across his skin. She could feel him smiling as he sighed against her lips. She pulled away and rested her forehead against his, searching for his grey eyes. They were still closed, but revealed themselves slowly. She loved the way he was looking at her, as if he was content with staying there indefinitely.

She found herself grinning, she couldn't help herself. The absolute happiness that she felt and the happiness that was radiating from him were undeniable and all-encompassing. She untangled her arms from around his neck, grasped his hand firmly, and laughed along with him as they ran and threw themselves off the rocks and into the warm waters below.

Please take a moment and review, feedback makes any writer a happy writer. : ]

Cheers!