Hola, friends. Ten chapters hey? I know it doesn't sound like that much of an achievement, but it's more than I've ever written before so it makes me happy. :) I'm also happy because I received a nice review or two- please keep these up! So here is Chapter 10. This is how I envisage Scorpius and Rose getting together, hope you like it! :D Bg.97 xx

Rose and Scorpius have a chat (April 2021)

Rose sighed. This had not been her week. She had a bruise on her stomach from a nasty Quidditch practice, her boyfriend Ryan had dumped her, she had failed her astronomy exam... Everything had gone wrong, so in the typical Rose Weasley fashion, she had grabbed a book and had headed to her usual corner of the library. She pulled her knees in towards her on the bench and rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie.

"I thought I'd find you here," the voice of her best friend made her smile, but she continued to read. Scorpius threw his arm around her and grabbed the book from her hands. "The Princess Bride, I should've known. When you're in a mood like this it could only have been that or Matilda."

Rose smiled as she leant into his shoulder, "How is it you know me so well, Scor?"

"Well, Al isn't the most observant kid, so someone has to be," chuckled Scorpius. Rose found herself laughing too, before she was reminded of the bludger she taken to the stomach, making her grimace. Then she was reminded of all her other recent problems.

"It really has been a shit week for you." Rose scoffed at her friend's bluntness, and was suprised to see the concern in his eyes when she pulled away to look at him. "I didn't mean it to be harsh. It really isn't shit though. Not if you think about it properly."

Rose put her book down on the table, crossed her legs where she sat and waited for Scorpius to continue.

"Well, let's start with the Quidditch injury. You'll be out of goal for a few weeks. That's a few weeks away from Fred making us do laps at 5am every morning. That's a few weeks away from James trying not to step in and do captain duties like he had to the last two years. You don't have to deal with James and Al's petty squabbling. No Roxy kissing arse so as to get the captaincy next year. That sounds like a lot of positives to me."

Rose considered this, and then nodded at him to continue.

"And you getting a P in the Astronomy test, means that you have helped your best mate to get the highest mark in class, so he has a great report to send home to his parents."

"That helps me how?" Rose asked.

Scorpius shrugged, "It doesn't; I just wanted to brag about beating you."

Rose playfully smacked him on the arm and then sighed once more. "What about Ryan? I got dumped by a Hufflepuff! How are you planning to make that a good thing?"

Rose looked Scorpius straight in the eye, and could see all the cogs turning in his mind. He bit his lip as he thought, then he took a deep breath.

"Well first of all, I'm sure you already know, but James and Fred have ensured that he won't be hurting anyone anytime soon..."

Rose winced as she remembered her cousins hexing her ex-boyfriend.

"And now you're rid of him- you can complain about the bastard as much as you like. I mean he does bloody deserve it," Rose went to interrupt, but Scorpius continued. "I mean, he really didn't appreciate you and that pissed me off to no end. You are the smartest girl in our year, you're funny and can play Quidditch, you can be girly or one of the guys. Also, though guys are too scared to admit this in fear of your cousins, most of them think you're bloody gorgeous. And they're right! You're beautiful inside and out, and the guy who will eventually win your heart forever will be the luckiest I know!"

Rose stared at him incredulously as his eyes burned with something she had not seen before. To stop herself from crying, she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug. Then to her suprise, she felt Scorpius' lips kiss the top of her head.

All too soon, he pulled away and sighed. "Look, Rose, I need to talk to you."

Rose smiled at him. "I'm listening."

He took in a deep breath. "Rose... I think... Well, I know. Umm, crap this is hard to say," he cleared his throat and started again. "Rose, I like you as more than a friend."

Rose stared blankly at him, not quite sure if she heard that right. "You what?"

Scorpius laughed, "I like you Rose. As in I think you're beautiful and I love spending time with you and I can't look at your lips without getting distracted..."

Rose realised she was chewing on her bottom lip and stopped. "I don't know what to say to that."

"Say what you feel: Nothing more, nothing less."

Rose groaned. "You can't just drop bombshells on me like that, Scor! I mean of course I like you- you know me better than anyone and every girl in Hogwarts knows you're a catch. But... I can't be in a relationship with you. Not at the moment, anyway."

Scorpius sadly smiled. "Okay."

Rose's voice went wobbly. "I don't want to ruin what we have. If we dated, I'd need to be completely sure about it, because if it ended badly, I'd lose you and I couldn't live with that. So here's what I propose. A year. We revisit this in a year. That gives us time to date other people, try and get it out of our system, and if we realise that we do really like each other, we'll give 'us' a shot."

"Deal."

They spent the rest of the evening mindlessly chattering and enjoying each other's company as best friends.

(6 months later)

Scorpius straightened his tie as he waited for Rose to exit the common room so they could do their prefect rounds. He loved this time where it was just the two of them, even if nothing romantic was happening between them.

Rose stumbled out the portrait hole, "Sorry, I'm late."

Scorpius shrugged, and they started wandering the castle. They were conversing about Al and Ariadne's strange relationship when Rose butted in.

"So, what's this I hear about you and Morgan?"

"Nothing, really. Went to Hogsmeade together, trying to keep myself distracted."

Rose nodded, and Scorpius thought he saw the trace of a smile on her lips.

"I broke up with Dorian," Rose announced.

Scorpius feigned disappointment, "I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Rose stopped walking. "Damn it Scorpius, a year is too long."

Before he could register what she meant, Rose had pulled his lips down on to hers. Without even thinking, his hands moved to her waist and pulled her closer. How many times had he imagined doing this, yet the reality was so much sweeter. Rose moved against his mouth and all he could think of was how he could taste cinnamon on her lips. It tasted like bliss. They eventually pulled away, their foreheads leaning against each other.

Then, completely out of character, Rose giggled. Scorpius couldn't supress his smile.

"Well, that was amazing."

Rose tucked a bit of stray hair behind her ear. "Yeah, it was."

She began to laugh, which confused Scorpius.

"Right now, I'm so glad we're not like my parents. We'd have been waiting for a war before admitting any feelings for each other!"

Scorpius chuckled and leant down to kiss his girlfriend once more.

I hope you enjoyed this- I absolutely loved writing it! I know it's fluffy, but I can't help it because they are too cute. Haha- anyway, since it's the 10th chapter, I thought I'd set you a 4 point review challenge. Here are your points to comment on: favourite chapter; favourite character interpretation; something you like; a point to improve. If you could do this it would be really helpful! I'll update soon. Next chapter is Chapter 11: Roxanne receives a letter :) Bg.97 xx