Enjoy! I know it's summer but—

Merry Christmas!

Chapter Eleven: Rose Weasley

YEAR ONE

I'd really rather you quite pestering me about whether I love Scorpius Malfoy or not. Anyways, I'm Rose Weasley.

When Christmas break came around, everyone was filled with more energy than usual. The Great Snowball War ended up having to be postponed due to weather issues. Thankfully, really. The battles were incredibly draining.

From the time that Scorpius and I made up to now we've been closer than ever. We still bicker, but more teasingly than anything, which is what I'd rather over a full-fledged fight. In fact, I caught him owling some sort of company with an order sheet, so I suspect that he is planning to get me a present.

That's alright, because I have quite a few surprises for him, too.

When everyone left, I expected it to be quite lonely in the castle. As it turns out, that wasn't so. Since we didn't have classes, most of the teachers went to spend time with their families, if they had any. Some students were left, but not many, which left plenty of room for Scorpius and me to get into plenty of trouble.

Basically, the first few days went like this:

We had spent the hours after Alice and Albus left in absolute boredom and decided we needed to do something about that. Then we remembered that in the spring, first years were due to take flying classes. That meant that there had to be a stash of brooms outside in the shed where they practiced.

Daring as we were, it wasn't hard to get out there and get the brooms. I suppose the teachers didn't care much as long as we didn't get killed. I already knew how to fly, and so did Scorpius, so it wasn't much of an issue.

Careful to not be seen, we zoomed toward the Quidditch pitch. There, we alohomora'd the lock to the Quidditch balls

"What do you reckon we play with first? The Bludgers are too risky."

Scorpius nodded. "I suppose we could let the Quaffles out and toss them to one another. No Keepers. We could also let the Snitch out."

"I've always wanted a go at the Snitch," I admitted.

Scorpius had grinned and without a word, released the golden orb. "First one to catch it wins?"

I laughed. "This is why we're friends." I pushed him over and jumped on my broom.

"No fair!" He called, but I was already flying.

The next few minutes were spent circling the pitch. Sometimes I would fly in the middle, just to confuse him.

It became quite a game to me, really. It was only when I saw the Snitch that I knew it was over.

I knew I could catch it.

I probably flew the practice broom faster than it ought to go, but I didn't care. It just wouldn't fly fast enough or make the right turns. Scorpius was trailing behind me, looking for an opportunity. He would get it if I didn't catch it soon.

When I got close enough that I could feel the flutter of its tiny wings, I did something incredibly stupid. I leapt off my broomstick, my arms outreached toward the thing.

I didn't even scream. But he did.

"Rosie!" I heard before swoosh , there was a hard impact and I got the wind knocked out of me. I figured the all would have hurt a lot worse, but when I opened my eyes, I was still in the air. On Scorpius's broom. He landed and threw the broom down on the ground, and caught me before I fell.

"What were you doing, Weasley? You could have been killed!" He was yelling at me. I was confused.

"I caught it."

"Yeah, you did! That was the stupidest thing you could have done!"

"But you caught me!" I was still having trouble breathing at this point, and I struggled to form words.

"You can't do that, Rose! Don't do that again!"

"But… I got it." I opened my palm to show him the Snitch. He grabbed it away from me and crushed me in a hug.

"You could have died," he said slowly. "Please don't do that again."

"I didn't know you cared so much."

"Of course I care," he pulled back, looking slightly hurt.

I was dizzy. It's like my lungs weren't being lungs, and I tried to say back "Thanks" but it came out more like a whimper. Suddenly my legs gave out and I collapsed.

I didn't black out, so I could see the panic in Scorpius's face. I couldn't hear, though, so although he was saying, maybe screaming stuff, I didn't know what it was. I just squeezed his fist to let him know I was okay. He pulled me over to the stands, the castle still a long way away.

We sat there for a few moments. I looked at the sky, struggling to breathe. It was the impact from when I hit Scorpius that did it, I think.

"I'm… alright," I tried, pretty sure I said it because he relaxed a bit.

Slowly, my hearing came back. "I think… I just got the wind knocked out of me… Couldn't breathe… Tried to talk…" I wheezed.

"Stop," he said gently. He sat next to me as I caught my breath. Soon, I felt normal.

"Sorry," I said weakly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

He tried for a smile. "Hey, you're my best friend. What would I do without you?"

I sat up and hugged him. Muffled, I murmured, "I dunno."

When we walked back to the castle, I felt fine. He insisted on putting his arm around my waist, though, in case I fell. That's what best friends are for, I suppose.

I wonder what would have happened if I had never met Scorpius Malfoy. Would I be dead right now? No, I thought, I'd be at a Quidditch game. Would someone else have come up to my compartment on the train? Would Gryffindor have ever one a single battle in The Great Snowball War? Would the world seem as great as it does when I'm with him?

These are the thoughts of a girl who breathed slowly as a boy practically carried her to the castle she called home.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Rosie."

"Hmm?"

"It's Christmas."

I opened my eyes and blinked. Smiled. Scorpius and I managed to change the furniture in the common room from and back from beds, so we've been sleeping there. It seems much cozier when you aren't all alone in your dorm.

"Is it really?" I ask dreamily.

"Yes," the voice laughed. "C'mon then, I have presents for you."

About five minutes later, after some coaxing and persuading, I finally got up. Scorpius had a small, silver-wrapped box in his hand.

"Ooh, presents," I smiled. He sat next to me and gingerly handed over the box.

"Did you wrap this?" I wondered.

"Well, yes, but I had some help from one of the professors."

I laughed. "I didn't know wrapping paper was so dearly important to you."

He smirked. "You're important to me, and I wanted it to be special."

I leaned a head against his shoulder as I slowly unwrapped the box, careful not to tear it. It was a box that looked like it was made for jewelry. "Now what did you go out and get me?" I muttered.

When I opened it, I gasped. It was a small, silver charm bracelet, with just a single charm of a small rose and a very small diamond heart. On the back of the heart, it had a small engraving.

"To Rose, Love Scorpius," I read, my face probably beet red.

"I thought that maybe each Christmas we could add a charm," Scorpius said sheepishly. "I know you aren't one for jewelry, but—oh."

I didn't let him finish, because I was too busy hugging him. "It's beautiful," I say to him. "I love it."

I could see his face light up. "You do?"

"Without a doubt."

"That's good, I was worried. You know, getting that was quite nerve-wracking."

"You shouldn't worry so much. Are you ready for your presents?"

The grin on his face was all the answer I needed. I sprinted upstairs and came back down with a couple of boxes. As I came down, I noticed we had missed something. "The tree!" I said. It had all of the presents my family had sent me, and I could only imagine the number of sweets we'd be feasting on for quite a while. "Brilliant," he smiled as I handed him his presents, all wrapped terribly in red.

"It's the thought that counts?" I tried, grinning. "I wasn't going to measure my affection for you by how perfect the wrapping was, because there simply isn't enough wrapping to describe it!"

"That was a good one," he laughed and opened the first one. It was a special edition everything-about-Quidditch book that was not available anymore. I had to do a bit of searching, but the look on his face was worth it.

"You're joking."

"Nope."

"Is this real?"

"Yep!"

"Rose, they don't even sell these anymore!"

"I know."

The next hug lasted quite a while. "You have another one, Scorp," I laughed.

"Right," he said, reluctantly pulling away. He opened the other one. It was pair of dragon hide Quidditch gloves in top shape, along with a broom servicing kit.

"I figure, you know, you'll lay Quidditch next year, and at least you'll be ready."

"Rose, you are bloody brilliant."

"Anything for you, Malfoy."

You could say that we spent the next hours eating candy and looking through a certain Quidditch book until we finally dozed off straight through supper.

In fact, I would bet on it.

Alright, then! Halfway through the year and many, many chapters yet to come.

I hope you've enjoyed it so far.

As for the poll I have any answers.

If we are talking about villains, I'd say Bellatrix all the way. If I was a villain she would be my role model. I've always had a soft spot for Narcissa though, so it depends on which perspective you look at the poll with.

Poll:

Scorpius POV

OR

Rose POV

Let me know!