After Bruno Major's "The Most Beautiful Thing"

Scorpius was starting to realise that he had, after all, been stood up. Three cups of tea and one and a half hours after their arranged meeting time, he had yet to see hide nor hair of this lady from the upper crust his mother had essentially forced him into meeting. He emptied the last drops of the tea into his mouth with dismay. There was only so long a tiny, fragrant cup of tea would last at this godforsaken pink establishment that was Madam Puddifoots' Diagon Alley Branch, and soon the waitress would be coming over again, with a clipboard in hand and a pitying smile playing about her lips.

He wished he had brought a paperback along with him, or the Daily Prophet, anything that would give him the semblance of being occupied. But all he had was a large pink napkin, on which "Madam Puddifoots" was embroidered with many a flourish. He picked it up and dabbed at his lips. Then placed it on his lap. Then folded it into a pyramid. Then unfolded it and placed it on the table. He told himself to stop fiddling.

Everywhere around him were couples, couples, couples. The witch at the table to his left dressed in a tight pink robe was busy feeding her date a spoonful of cake - "Baby, say aaah ", and he was pretty sure the teenage couple who had made a beeline for the booth behind him were making out. Scorpius resisted the urge to groan. Was there no one else who had been left hanging by their date on this glorious, horrible, Saturday?

Actually, Scorpius noted as he gazed out of the large glass window next to which he sat - it looked as though it was about to rain. He sighed. That was it, then. His mother would have to be satisfied with the thought that he had tried - it wasn't his fault the girl hadn't turned up. He stood up, picked up the coat that he had draped over his chair, put it on, straightened his lapel, and walked towards the counter to settle his bill. He wondered absently if he could perhaps hit up the Leaky Cauldron for a good ole pint of beer to sooth his wounded heart - an excuse for his alcoholic habit - and had just turned the door handle - the bell had even jingled - when the rain came down like a sheet centimeters away from his feet.

"Drat."

Scorpius cursed under his breath and retreated back into the shop. He didn't have an umbrella, and it was coming down too heavily for him to make a rush for it. He made his way awkwardly back to his seat, and ordered a new cup of ginger tea. There was no choice but to wait for the rain to stop.

The waitress brought over the softly steaming cup of tea, and a plate with biscuits - complimentary , she whispered with a look of sympathy. Scorpius felt his pride hit rock bottom, and thought he might as well ask her for something to pass the time - perhaps they had sudoku…? But stopped himself. It would be too embarrassing. He gave her a smile instead, and hoped it didn't look like a grimace.

The waitress had just left when a series of loud sploshes came from just outside his window, followed by a thump as an absolutely soaked body threw itself against Madam Puddifoot's window and caught its breath. It was that of a rather small lady in a great trench coat, her long, red, curly hair a cloud pressed against the window. Scorpius found her figure rather familiar. Suddenly she whirled around, having seemed to have realised that what she was leaning against was the transparent window of a rather busy shop. Head bent, she rubbed furiously at the wet silhouette she had left with her equally wet coat sleeve - an essentially futile endeavour. She sighed, and raised her head. Brown eyes met grey, and Scorpius' lips rounded into an 'O' that was mirrored in the woman's expression.

Rose Weasley!

Scorpius beckoned at her to come in. She hesitated, then nodded at him, raising her hand to indicate, give me a moment . She cast a few drying spells at her coat, her dress, and her boots, but it wasn't much use - Madam Puddifoots' little scalloped awning was poor shelter against the rain and she was immediately drenched again. Giving up, she shook away the stray droplets from her hair - kind of like a big dog, Scorpius noticed with bemusement - and made her way to the door.

The bell jangled as she entered. Rose paused at the doorstep and cast another round of drying spells - this time successful - and Scorpius noticed that the damp cloth clinging darkly to her legs was actually a very nice floral dress that floated and bounced lightly against her calves as she made her way towards him. He raised his cup of tea to his lips so he wouldn't be caught staring.

"Fuck!" He spat. It was hot.

Rose draped her trench coat across her chair and sat herself opposite him. The waitress approached them with the menu.

"So your date finally came eh, hun? Lucky it started raining when it did," The waitress chuckled as she placed the glossy pink menu before Rose. "You sure left him waiting, lady. He's been waiting for more than an hour, not impatient or nothing. He's a fine catch, if I say so myself," she said, before turning to leave. Scorpius felt the heat of his blush all the way to his ears.

Rose was looking at him with her eyebrows raised, slightly amused. Her eyes twinkled.

"No-show?" She asked.

"Yeah," Scorpius replied. "Mother set me up on a blind date. I don't even know who the girl is."

"Sounds tough."

"I suppose… How did you get caught in the rain?"

"Hugo's dick of a quidditch mate bailed on me."

"Oh."

Silence settled upon them like a wet cloak. Heavy, and slightly uncomfortable. The couple next to them had progressed to smooching, loudly and wetly, and Scorpius could feel the time drip by.

Rose folded the menu and raised her hand for the waitress, catching Scorpius by surprise.

"Oh, um. What are you getting?" He fumbled out the words.

"Err... Madam Puddifoots'... Very Berry Much in Love Double D'lite Strawberry Parfait …?"

The effort of uttering the cheesy name made her crack into an embarrassed grin. Scorpius looked at her. She held his gaze for a beat. Then they both broke out chuckling. It was a rather ridiculous name to give a basic strawberry parfait. The cloud of awkward silence that had hung over them dispelled in their laughter, dissipated by a gentle breeze.

Scorpius met Rose's eyes, still struggling to hold back the chuckles. "Wanna share? It doesn't really live up to the fancy name, based on what I've seen from" - he gestured at the rest of the cafe - "my several hours people watching, but it does fulfill the Double D'lite promise. The portions are quite big, especially if you want to get dinner later."

"Sure," Rose agreed. "Sounds good."

The waitress took their order, and returned a few minutes later with a whopping pink confection in what could only be called a bowl, not a parfait glass. On a bed of pink cornflakes lay a thick, fluffy chunk of yoghurt, which was, of course, in Madam Puddifoots' style, also dyed a shade of pink. A wall of strawberries followed, followed by slabs of light pink sponge. Above all that two scoops of ice cream, one strawberry and one vanilla, were heaped and topped with generous smatterings of sprinkles.

"Enjoy~" Trilled the waitress, sending them a wink.

Rose and Scorpius shrugged, and were about to tuck into the parfait when they realised why.

On either side of the parfait.. bowl.., on the fancy lace doily on its fancy gold tray, lay a lone tablespoon. It glinted suggestively under the cafe lights. Scorpius looked at the waitress. She winked back another exaggerated wink.

Scorpius groaned, then turned to Rose apologetically. "Sorry, she's definitely misunderstood something. I'll ask for another one."

Under his breath he muttered, " Merlin's soggy underpants. How pathetic did I even look for the waitress to be playing Cupid….."

Rose giggled. "It's fine," she said, placing her hand down on his half-raised one. Scorpius wondered if he was the only one feeling the static at her touch. Rose nodded at the room. "They're all sharing one. Seems to be the default here. Good ol' Madam Puddifoots. Good to know they've stayed the same since Hogwarts."

She took a big scoop out of the parfait and extended it to him. "Here, you can taste it first."

Scorpius stared at the spoon. She wiggled it at him. Go on , it seemed to say.

He gulped, and felt his adam's apple bobbing. Then he leaned forward, and took the bite. Ice cream dribbled down his chin. It was cold, and sweet. Scorpius raised his chin to keep the ice cream from dripping onto his clothes, and scrambled blindly for a napkin.

Laughing, Rose reached across the table to dab it away. Scorpius felt his blush rising again, and fought to keep it down. He thought about how cold ice cream was, how chilly it must be with the rain outside, the coolness of the window pane, and only looked back at her when he thought he finally had it under control.

Rose was carefully transferring a large spoonful of parfait from the cup into her lips. Her lips. Scorpius noticed that Rose had plump lips - his, in contrast, were thin - and that they were still slightly rouged from what must have been lipstick. The rain had smudged it slightly, making her look like she had been ki- Scorpius knew then that he could no longer keep his blush at bay, and once again felt the familiar heat dusting at his cheeks. Rose was smiling contentedly at her successful transfer of parfait, and emitted a satisfied Mmm~ from her throat as she swallowed. Scorpius raised his cup of now cooled ginger tea to his lips and took a shaky sip. He looked at her over the rim of the cup. She did not seem at all to be conscious of the effect she was having on him.

They'd barely interacted in school, coming from different houses, and having different circles. She had been a Gryffindor, and he a Slytherin. They'd shared a few classes, and had even been potions partners once, so they'd talked, but never deeply. Rose had always disappeared with one or another of her many friends and relatives the moment the bell rang, and as for himself, he had just gone on his own merry, solitary way. Hogwarts was a big enough school for that to happen, like two intersecting lines that meet once and then never meet again.

But here they were, seven years after graduation, sitting in Madam Puddifoots' sharing a parfait on a rainy day.

He looked at her. She caught his eye, and took it as a sign to scoop out another spoonful.

"Ah, I can eat it myself," he was about to say, but the moment he uttered the first syllable Rose had placed the spoon in his mouth.

Is it because she has a younger brother? Is she entirely unconscious of me?

Scorpius found himself strangely morose at the thought, and masticated in silence. The metal spoon was cold as Rose withdrew it from his lips.

"How-" he swallowed. "How's your brother?"

"Hugo? He's fine, but he's not going to be once I find him."

She stabbed through the ice cream with a vengeance. The spoon scraped at the walls of the parfait cup with a painful screech.

"I didn't know you knew Hugo though," she said.

"I don't. You mentioned him earlier. You know, I never really interacted with the Weasleys or the Potters back in Hogwarts."

"True." Rose admitted. "We were in the same year but only ever really worked together on that potions assignment right? I remember seeing you around a lot though."

"Really?" Scorpius had to admit he was surprised. She'd always been surrounded by people; it was hard to believe that she'd noticed him.

"Yeah... " Here she paused. "... You were good at charms. I always had a hard time with charms."

"Oh, yes." He recalled. "We had charms together in second year. The Gryffindors and the Slytherins. You didn't look like you were struggling, though. I always had the impression that you were pretty good at everything."

"Pshht." Her smile was wry. "I was just average. The teachers just liked me because, well, I guess they have fond memories of my mother."

"Better than the memories they had of my father, that's for sure."

"Ah, I didn't mean…"

"Nah. Sorry. Bad move." He rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "I shouldn't have brought it up again. It's all from our parents' generation, or even our parents' parents' generation, for god's sake. I believe it's time to let the past be the past."

Rose nodded in agreement. "I get what you mean. I hate it even as I do it, but I can't help mentioning it either. It's just…I don't think we'll ever escape it, you know, as Weasley- " she pointed at him with the spoon. "- and Malfoy."

She took another heaping spoonful of parfait and turned it over in her mouth, thinking.

"Actually…"

Then she dropped the bomb.

"... I used to like you, Malfoy."

"What?"

"Back in second year."

"Wait. How? When? We barely knew each other."

"I'd always been aware of you, actually. Didn't your dad ever say anything? Mine pointed you out right at Platform 9 and ¾ on the very first day of school."

"No, he didn't. My father isn't much of a talker."

"Makes you wonder what my dad kept going on about all that for, huh? Sworn enemies and all that crap."

"Glad you didn't take it seriously."

"No, I did actually, at least at first. I was quite obedient as a kid, see?"

Rose leaned back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other. She shook out her hair, letting the mass of red strands fall about her shoulders like a mist. "Man, was I a sweet child."

"What made you change?"

"Because I watched you so much."

"Oh." He said. He didn't know what else to say. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Rose gazed out of the window. The rain had not stopped, but it was lightening. It must have been about four p.m. Scorpius thought her expression was just like that light fall of rain - a slightly melancholic wash of blue.

She pointed a finger at his cup.

"Mind if I have that?"

"It- It's gone cold though. Do you want to get another cup?"

"Nah, it's fine."

He handed her the cup. She took a large mouthful of tea and continued.

"I watched you, and watched you, and then I realised. It was very simple actually. You never did anything deserving of all this… unfounded hatred that you got. And I never did anything so wonderful to get all that praise. It felt kind of fake actually."

Rose raised her arms above her head, stretching and smiling widely. "I never had the balls to confess to you or anything, but time passed, and I grew out of it. So it's a pretty pleasant surprise to see you after all these years, and fiiiii-nally get it off my chest."

"Looks like the rain's letting up. I'll make a run for it. Thanks for everything today. I'll pay on the way out."

She downed the rest of his ginger tea and made to leave.

The parfait sat on their table, melting softly.

Scorpius clenched his fists under the table. Go for it , he told himself. It's now or never, Scorpius Malfoy.

"R-Rose." His nails dug into his palms. "I'll leave with you. I've spent enough time in Madam Puddifoots' as it is." He tried to smile, casually, casually, and glanced at the counter. "That waitress is never going to let me live it down if my date walks out on me."

Rose laughed. It was like a tinkle of bells on a bright Spring day.

"Sure." She treaded an arm through his elbow, pulling him up. "Let's go, my date ," she said, and laughed again at what she herself had said, seeming to be in high spirits.

Scorpius laughed as well, getting up. He paid for their bill at the counter, and when Rose tried to pay him back for the parfait at the door, somehow managed to ask her to dinner and drinks at the Leaky Cauldron. Then, because it was still drizzling slightly, and because there was still time before dinner, he let Rose lead him to a used bookstore she said she'd found by chance one day. And as they raced down the capillary of back lanes that branched off Diagon Alley, Scorpius noticed that Rose did not let go of his hand.

fin.

Author's note: I had pasted the lyrics to Bruno Major's song here at the end of the fic, to mimic the ending credits of a movie, but have since removed them to comply with guidelines. They're really beautiful lyrics, so I recommend searching for them and giving the song a listen.