Saturday November 7th 2020:

Scorpius withdrew from the Quidditch pitch with his panting drawing out as excessive wheezes. Sweat drenched his hair and then progressed down his forehead, cheeks, and neck until it reached the collar of his shirt. He was feeling the proudest he's ever been.

He was nearly away from the pitch, but a casual tap on his shoulder prevented him from walking any further. "Hi," the voice greeted. Out of all possible people that could have requested for his attention, it was Rose.

"H-Hey," Scorpius bashfully responded, presenting himself as well as he could, even though it was a difficult task with his clothes basically cemented to his body from his stentching perspiration.

"Good effort out there," Rose congratulated.

Scorpius blinked. Was Rose Granger-Weasley just complimenting him?

"Thanks, but I didn't really do much," Scorpius said shyly.

"Well, you didn't do nothing. Besides, I meant more in the way of you not falling off," Rose stated. Scorpius looked embarrassed. "It's not an insult or anything. It's just a fact that you didn't have the best balance in our Flying classes. I am impressed is all."

Albus and Lily bustled over to the path leading out of the stadium, but Albus nearly fell flat on his face from how abrupt he stopped in his tracks. Having no time to halt spur the moment herself, Lily bumped into Albus, but not with enough force to push him down. She was on the urge of questioning her brother until she — like Albus — pinpointed Rose speaking with Scorpius.

"R-Really? Well, thank you. You always fly great in your matches," Scorpius said, grazing the dampness of his hair away from his eyes.

"Thanks. I saw you supporting Gryffindor a few times. Which is interesting." Rose squinted at Scorpius like she was trying to figure him out.

"I was supporting both teams, but I figured I'd give you some support."

Rose cocked her eyebrows, surprised from the answer she got. "You know, you're not that bad, Scorp."

"Oh? But I'm still a little bit bad, Rosie?" Scorpius bantered.

Albus never heard that attitude from his friend before. Then again, he also never heard the pair talk any longer than a few seconds.

"You aren't, if you take back the Rosie nickname that is. No one but my father calls me that, but even then I don't allow it," Rose said, messing up Scorpius' presently cluttered and drizzly hair.

"Why? It's cute. Just like you! So it's perfect," Scorpius said, his boldness expeditiously reinstated by his awkwardness.

"Oh my God! Are they actually flirting?" Lily said in Albus' ear, her hands holding both of his shoulders.

"I doubt it," Albus renounced.

Lily gasped. "They totally are! Hey, if they ever fall in love and get married, Scorpius would be part of the family just like Ted—!"

"Hey, mate! Great game!" Albus purposely interfered, dashing over to Scorpius and patting his back. "You didn't fall once!"

"That's what I was saying," Rose chuckled.

"I knew you could do it all along, Scorpius!" Lily said, "and you did great too, Rose! But that's nothing new."

"Naturally," Rose bragged. Lily gave her cousin a high-five and Albus and Scorpius did the same with each other.

"I'm gonna hit the showers. I suggest you do the same, Scorp. Your "charm" can't overcome your smell of onions being let out in the sun for too long," Rose said.

"Thanks for the tip," Scorpius remarked.

The Gryffindor was accurate with that regard of Scorpius' revolting odor, yet the droplets of perspiration glazing his colorless complexion causing his odor was queerly enticing to Albus. Wait, did he really just think that?

Rose presented her fist in the blond' direction, and he blocked his face. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Aren't you going to hit me?" Scorpius responded, his hands still guarding his profile.

"Uhhh, no."

"Oh. I guess I just thought because of that last time you curled your fists, you kicked me in the shins—"

"You practically jumped on me with that hug. It's called boundaries. Now come on. I don't have all day here," Rose grumbled.

"Oh, it's a fist-bump! I remember this," Scorpius said boastfully. He attentively collided Rose's fist with his, and he beamed a little too far-ranging. Rose rolled her eyes, but for the first time ever... with a grin. She continued looking at Scorpius, seeming like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself and walked away.

"Guys, I actually think she's warming up to me! Did you see that? She ruffled my hair, gave me a fist-bump, and called me by my name!" Scorpius beamed, his far-ranging smile not relinquishing.

"She called you Scorp," Albus stated dryly.

"That's still part of my name. You two call me that," Scorpius said.

"I guess that is something," Albus affirmed, under his breath.

"Rose is a laid-back person once you get to know her," Lily said.

"Yeah. I can sense it," Scorpius pleasantly said. "Gotta go. If I don't want to smell like the grossest of odors, I better take a shower."

"Well, I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you. Bye, Scorpius!" Lily said, waving her hand with Scorpius waving back and trotting down the path.

"By the way, Albus, wish me luck." Scorpius fiddled with his clammy hands. "I am... going to ask Rose out."

Albus gaped. "You're kidding, right? This is Rose we're talking about. She—"

"Albus, come on. All I'm asking for is some support," Scorpius said, intensely sincere.

"I'm only being honest," Albus said. After saying that, Albus' heart reversed when he memorialized his own pledge of putting his friends feelings more into consideration, "but, Rose has seemed to warm up to you since then. Maybe you do have a chance," he corrected, hating to admit those things.

"Thanks," Scorpius said gleefully. He had an unexplainable urge to hug Albus so he extended his arms forward, only to stop himself.

Albus seemed to notice that little gesture. "Y'know, if hugging really makes you feel uncomfortable, we don't have to."

"N-No! It's fine!" Scorpius bumbled.

"It clearly makes you feel uncomfortable. We'll just stop with the hugs from now on. Okay?"

"I—" Scorpius wanted to say that hugging was something he wanted to do, but wouldn't that be an odd thing to say? Maybe Albus was right. "Okay."

Albus and Scorpius both avoided eye contact, unsure of how to progress their conversation from there.

"You might want to take that shower," Albus said eventually.

"Right," Scorpius said timidly.

Now alone, Scorpius had more time to reflect on their decision. He couldn't see why they shouldn't hug. Maybe they could… in a new version of them.

XXX

Scorpius searched far and wide for Rose; he caught a glimpse of her outside, but his schoolmates were flocking his way out, and so he couldn't tell where she wound-up. His exploration went on for much longer than contemplated. He was about to bail just before he heard Rose's voice ask, "Looking for someone?"

Scorpius turned around and looked up as he saw Polly Chapman leaping from the tree that Rose herself was lounging on and ignored him while heading to the castle.

"I'm guessing it's Albus?" Rose said.

"What about him?" Scorpius asked.

"Him being the person you are searching for. Since you two are often inseparable," Rose answered. "I spotted him talking to a girl just over there, but now I don't know where they went."

"No, I actual— Albus talking to a girl? Really?" Scorpius said, not knowing how to feel about that. He turned his head around for proof, but immediately decided to pay no mind. "No, I was actually looking for you."

"Alright. What is it?" Rose asked, acquiring a taste of her Honeydukes Mice Pop.

Scorpius was at the point of talking, but alternatively he strived to climb the tree. He latched onto the near-at-hand branch, but it was too lean and feeble to mount, and there were no other branches to correspondingly lift himself up. Nevertheless, he tried binding his feet to any hollow crease of the enormous and outspread tree he could find and pulled himself up with all of his strength. This attempt failed as the feeble branch snapped and he was left with his delicate fingers clawing the bark.

Due to the Malfoy's lack of success, Rose shook her head and smirked. She pointed her wand in his direction, and Scorpius felt light as air as he rose from the grass, soon to be by her side.

When he had reached where Rose intended him to be, a pink flush shaded his cheeks, both in humiliation, and from just being alongside her.

"The hover charm," Rose answered Scorpius' unasked question.

"Brilliant, but won't you get in trouble for using magic outside of class?"

"Only if you tell someone."

Scorpius was appalled. He didn't imagine Rose being a rulebreaker, but that somehow made him draw to her even more.

Scorpius shot a quick glance over to the school. "Since Albus and I already have detention for an extended period of time, it's best that I should be leaving soon to show our progression. So, I am just going to make this short and sweet."

"Sounds reasonable," Rose said.

Scorpius cleared his throat, and he made certain that their eyes were focused with each other, understanding the significance behind it when being up-front. "Rose Granger-Weasley, will you do me the honor of —" The Slytherin was incapable of speaking due to the other teen's fingers sealing his lips together in a puckered up state.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to stop you right there. I will not marry you. For many — hopefully obvious — reasons," Rose said.

"What? No! I wasn't going to say that," Scorpius said, once her digits were released.

"Oh."

"Maybe I should have phrased it a little differently, huh?" Scorpius said, regarding his mistake.

"A little bit. Yeah."

Clearing his throat a second time, Scorpius said, "Okay. So, Rose—" Rose nodded, forming an A-ok gesture with her fingers. "The Christmas dance is coming up, and it's been the talk of the school lately. Some are even bringing their dates. So, I was hoping maybe ... you might go to the dance with me, as my date?"

Ensuing another lick of her Mice Pop, Rose replied with, "Much better. Didn't appear too desperate, had an acceptable topic sentence, buildup, and conclusion."

"Yeah?" Scorpius said, hopeful.

Rose's face — for the first time ever in his company — softened, indicated with remorse. "I am going to have to reject your proposal. I'm not really interested. Besides, I have already asked somebody else."

"S-Someone else? Who?" Scorpius asked, making a burdensome effort to conceal his discouragement.

"Well, I know you're not the judgemental type and all, but I rather not say who she is."

Scorpius' eyes widened. "You mean, you — I didn't know you were — well — that you fancied girls."

"Well, to me it's the heart and soul that matters."

"That's — good for you, Rose. To be so open about it, and loving who you love," Scorpius said with a meager grin.

Rose coughed to break the awkward tension. "You better get going, if you want to make that good impression that is."

"Right. Thanks," Scorpius mumbled, sliding off the tree with Rose watching him. He looked back up at the tree for a brief moment, his spirits rising when he saw a genuine smile on Rose's face. Suddenly he didn't care about the fact he was rejected, or the fact that she was going with somebody else, but was instead overwhelmed with pride with taking the bullet, and judging from her smile, knowing that there was still a chance for them.

Scorpius turned on his heel towards the castle, only to be startled from Albus stopping him in his tracks.

"So, Rose is going with someone else, huh?" Albus said.

"You heard that?"

"I heard pretty much everything." Albus grinned amusingly. "Can't wait to discuss all of this."

A/N: The ending of this chapter would take place directly before the events of Act 4, Scene 14 of The Cursed Child. If any of you reading this consider the play canon of course xD

Another little detail I thought I'd add is the fact that the last act of the play takes place in summer, which would make the events of Act 4, Scene 14 also take place in summer. But honestly I preferred Rose and Scorpius to get along earlier than that so I decided to take some liberties. Then again, there's a few differences from the script vs the actual play, so I can do I want haha