A/N: Thanks for everything, all of you. It really means so much to me! I apologize for the late update. And, just a quick explanation about this one-shot before I'm off to play my PS2: you need to have an imagination for this one, because I certainly had a wild one when I wrote it. So, I hope you enjoy it anyway :P

Disclaimer: Nope.


.:Live to Love:.

.x. ribbon .x.

Aunt Ginny had given Rose her first ribbon when she was only nine.

It was long, at least two feet, and smooth, the creamy color of pink. Rose cherished the thoughtful gift with all her heart – her mum later told her it was worth a galleon – but wore it only begrudgingly. To be honest, she had never been the type of 'fancy, dress-up' girl that her mother desperately hoped she would be, but she wore the ribbon out of courtesy to her Aunt Ginny at family parties and outings.

But one day, when her personal idol Teddy Lupin told her she looked cute in it, she wore the ribbon even more often. Soon, it was ever-present in her tangle of red curls so much that the ribbon soon began to fray at the edges. Her dad kept questioning her as to why she would wear it, long after her infatuation with Teddy was over, when Rose came to an important discovery.

She realized ribbons suited her.

Her mum gave her the next one when she was eleven as congratulations for being accepted into Hogwarts. Of course the letter wasn't much of a surprise, but together with Al and Louis, it called for a celebration.

The new ribbon was a deep dark blue, longer than the pink one that she loved so much. Even at the tender age of eleven, Rose couldn't help but see a stark contrast between the two ribbons. The pink emitted a more positive and pretty message, while the dark blue was more solemn and trailing.

So, even at a young age that was way too rash for promises, Rose swore only to wear the pink ribbon when she was happy, and the dark blue when she was sad.

Albus got her the next one for Christmas that year. It was bright and yellow, shorter than the others, a sunny color. Comparing it to the pink and dark blue one, Rose concluded that it was just too radiant to be ignored, and vowed to wear it when was feeling incredibly accomplished or ecstatic. On those days, that ribbon would be swinging behind her head in a loose ponytail.

Victoire, Dominique, and Louis all pitched in one year later to get her a gigantic chest of ribbons. There were a variety of colors, ranging from blue to green to purple and even more shades of the original pink. As Rose delved more deeper into the voluminous box, she realized that there were even some carbon copies of the ribbons she already had.

Rose wasted no time in picking out a mood for each one – light blue for witty, green for sinister, purple for relaxed – and wore each and every one of them when the time was appropriate, except for one particular color.

The single red ribbon at the bottom of the chest. It would just sit there as the others became frayed and torn, smooth and silky and beautiful just like the day she received it from the Weasley trio. But even then, she never touched it. Because there was an unsaid purpose for the red ribbon that Rose wouldn't dare utter to anyone.

Especially to her good friend Scorpius Malfoy, who often chastised her for wearing the ribbons and being 'too predictable'.

"See? You're happy today. It's easy," he said when Rose came down for breakfast one morning, sitting by his side at the Ravenclaw table. "You're wearing that pink ribbon, the one you've always had. It's so easy to decipher your emotions, Rose. Believe me now?"

"Nope, Scorpius," she had grumbled and sat down next to him.

Nevertheless, Rose continued to wear the ribbons. Even when she entered her fifth year, at least one ribbon was present in her hair everyday, whether it was holding up a ponytail in the back or tucking a piece of hair behind her ear in the front. But as school got more hectic, Rose found her mood changing constantly, and thus changed her ribbon color practically every hour, accompanied by Scorpius's snide comments.

"The fifth one today," Scorpius said, rolling his eyes as she opened the chest on a couch in the Ravenclaw common room. "Did you hear me? Fifth."

"Yes, yes," Rose said, waving him off, and grabbed her orange ribbon – for frenzied. Before she shut the lid, he stuck his hand in the crack. She scowled at him.

"Hey, what's this one?" he said, grabbing the red ribbon and holding it out between his hands like a wand seller in Diagon Alley. She frantically tried to grab it from him, but he kept it completely out of her reach. "I've never seen you wear it."

"Just give it back," she growled. But when she wasn't looking, he must've slipped it into his pocket, because Rose couldn't find it anywhere in her trunk later in the day, and she didn't bother to ask for it. He was right, after all; she never did wear it normally.

It wasn't until a Hogsmeade trip in May that the ribbon made its reappearance. Rose was desperately hoping – the sparkling violet ribbon in her hair – that Scorpius would ask her to go with him, instead of them meeting at the Three Broomsticks later on. She was positive that he liked her, and she hadn't pulled the dark blue ribbon out of her trunk in months.

But he didn't. He went with a Slytherin bimbo instead, and when they met at that cozy little pub later in the day, Rose couldn't stand the sight of his lips locked on hers and immediately bolted out of the Three Broomsticks faster than he could say Accio. A few minutes later he had followed, finding her in a deserted corridor of a deserted floor with a gloomy gray ribbon in her hair back at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Rose." He slowed his pace when he saw her, but she only curled tighter into a ball and buried her face in her knees. "Why'd you bolt? Why, Rose? You're sad. The ribbon says so. Why?"

"Just go away," she grumbled, not allowing her blue eyes to meet his gray ones.

"C'mon. You know I'm not going away until you tell me why you're sad." Scorpius bended down on his knees, reached up with one hand, and caressed her cheek. "So, why?"

"You can't figure out by now?" She almost choked on the tears, thickness in her throat.

And, suddenly, realization dawned on his face, replaying the position he was in at the pub, the way the bell chimed furiously on her way out, the tears streaming down her face and the gray ribbon in her hair all day long. "Wait… you… you can't mean…" He ran one hand through his white-blond hair.

Rose just nodded, for a lack of something better to do or say.

So it was surprising when Scorpius took her face in his hands and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. Soft, sweet, and making her crave more. When he met her eyes, Rose gasped, "What… what was that for?"

"An apology." Scorpius smiled a little as he reached into his robe pocket and drew out an object that he held behind his back. She tried to peer over his shoulder to see it, but he just shook his head and firmly said, "Take your gray ribbon out."

"I… wait, why?" But, nevertheless, she obeyed anyway, releasing her tangle of red curls and shoving the gray ribbon deep into her pocket.

"For this." His reached behind her head, making her feel protected and safe inside the walls of his arms. She could feel the wind on her neck again, and looked up quizzically at Scorpius. But he only smirked when he placed the ends of the ribbon over her shoulders. And only then did she realize the color of the ribbon in her hair.

Red. For love.


A/N: Please leave a review? Pretty please? :)