Rose started dating Lorcan Scamander that summer. No one saw much of her after that.

Or, at least, that was the impression Scorpius got. Sometimes he worried that she was avoiding him specifically, but most of the time, he had Al's complaints over her chronic cancellation syndrome to remind him that he was probably worried for nothing. Maybe worried wasn't the right word. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, exactly.

That was, until spring holidays. No one would ever tell him what happened, (possibly no one knew), but she returned freshly single and... different. More patient, but also more brazen. She'd cut her hair, but stopped having outbursts. On the occasion that he was in position to rile her up, she would only leave, sometimes after giving him an odd look he could never decipher. Her entire wardrobe changed and she started skipping classes, but her confidence had noticeably increased. There wasn't a single part of it he knew what to do about. He missed her fire, but was also thankful she'd stopped finding his weak spots and verbally assaulting them. The worst (and best) part was that her friend group also changed. Worst, because it seemed like a sign something bad had happened, or at least something important; and he hadn't the faintest idea what it could be. Best, because she started spending a lot of time with Benjamin Nott, Elspeth Avery, and Roman Zabini (they had friendship bracelets, for Merlin's sake!); which meant she spent a lot of time in his orbit.

Meanwhile, Scorpius took the year to focus on himself. He had big plans for his future. He wasn't sure which of his big plans he was actually going to pursue in his life after Hogwarts, but he was determined to make sure his grades were high enough for him to avoid being locked out of any of them. Just in case. He swore to take a hiatus from the dating scene - but his need for intimacy made that a mountainous marathon of a task. He took solace in whatever company he could get to ease his loneliness. The silver lining holding him together was how much closer he got to his friends in that time; if you'd asked him back in sixth year, he wouldn't have thought it possible.

And, it worked.

He achieved Os in all but one of his NEWTs, and graduated Hogwarts at the top of his class. All without a single messy breakup. He and Albus got a flat together in Greater London, and his parents gave him a sizeable monetary graduation gift; sizeable enough, certainly, for him to take the summer to enjoy himself while weighing his career options.

Scorpius Malfoy was having a very, very good year.

Then the fire returned to Rose Weasley's eyes.

Rose's fingers ran softly along Elspeth's arm. Her gaze was distant, conflicted.

Elspeth squirmed in her lap, hip jostling Rose's knee as she strained to achieve eye contact from where her head rest on Rose's torso. "Well?"

Rose dropped her head forward to rest her cheek against the top of Elspeth's head, hiding her face in her dark brown locks. "Are you sure?" she asked, voice stretched between upset and teasing.

There was a meaningful pause. Elspeth reached for her hand, voice small. "Are you mad?"

Rose hummed, careful to control her breathing. "...And you trust him?"

She nodded. The brunette turned over in her lap, dark eyes suddenly inches from hers - and unwavering. "I do," she responded in earnest.

Rose pondered this. One hand remained entwined, but the free one raked through the thick of Elspeth's hair, forehead resting on hers. When her palm reached the back of the woman's neck, their noses brushed. "And I trust you. You're a big girl, plum, and the last thing I would ever want would be to get in the way of your happiness." Elspeth's smiling mouth brushed hers, but she pulled back, nose scrunched up. "Even if the source of that happiness is the scorpion."

She was awarded one legendary eyeroll before the pair bubbled into giggles, and their mouths collided.

After a few minutes, they were interrupted by a hum against their wrists. They broke for air and inspected their charm bracelets, which only missed identicality by a couple charms. Both included a small dog, which was currently wagging its tail; and a pearl-sized orb of bottled sunshine, which glowed brightly and swirled. They gave each other lopsided grins that toed the line of salacious.

"Looks like Benji and Roman are having fun out there," Rose observed with a laugh in her throat.

"Think they miss us?" Elspeth tilted her head, as she often did when speaking in rhetoric.

Rose snorted, which made Elspeth laugh. "I suppose I'm obligated to mingle at my own birthday party," she conceded. With a long hug that wasn't quite long enough, and one last kiss for the road, they untangled themselves from each other and made their way into Albus's sitting room. It was tradition, after all, for the cousins to celebrate their birthdays together.

It was near the end of the night when she spied a certain blond slinking down the hall, alone, and decided to follow. When he opened the door, she squeezed in behind him and found herself in his bedroom. He spun to her looking right flabbergasted. "I'm leaving tomorrow," she said by way of hello.

"Wha-?" he choked.

She took a deep breath, trying to keep her face from giving away too much. "We need to have a talk before I go, Malfoy."

"Go...where?" The words dragged, and she got the impression he had more questions than he could manage to articulate. It took some effort not to roll her eyes.

"Not about that. I..." She surprised herself by drawing a blank. Words rarely failed her so spectacularly. I should have planned this more. Rose sighed, shuffling her feet and biting her lip while her cheeks betrayed her with their warmth. Scorpius, for his part, presented less startled by the second, and soon his gaze was roaming her primarily with curiosity. "You like Elspeth, don't you?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "Of course. What does that have to do with-"

"No," she cut him off with a focusing hand wave. "I mean, I see the way you look at her." His face went blank, but she suspected it was an orchestrated shift. She gave him an incredulous look, eyebrows lifting, chin dipping. "In the quiet moments, when your eyes get heavy and you think no one's looking."

It was his turn to be betrayed by his own cheeks, which rapidly flushed. "What are you getting at, Red?"

She looked away for a moment, cleared her throat, scraped her nails against her palms.

"You should ask her out," she blurted, hurried by the worry that she might convince herself not to. When Scorpius simply gaped at her, she felt the strangest need to fill the silence. "I have it on good authority that she'd quite like that. But, Malfoy-"

"I never thought you'd be setting me up with someone. Shouldn't you be warning - no, forbidding - her from dating me?"

She huffed. "Don't think I didn't," she snapped. Her eyes closed. "Sorry."

Scorpius's head was spinning. Did she just apologize? Was he dreaming? Her eyes opened to reveal the flaming look he hadn't seen in months, and suddenly he wasn't sure. His pulse skipped.

"It doesn't matter what I think. She trusts you, Malfoy, and I know you want to. So, just..." She tapped her finger anxiously against the side of her thigh, then stepped into his space. He froze, face unreadable. "Elspeth is special to me, Malfoy. And she... I think you could be happy together. Just remember, if you hurt her," her eyes flashed, "I will make it my passion project to fuck. up. your. life."

Scorpius swallowed. "Noted."

The air was getting too thick to breathe. After a pregnant pause, Rose gave him an alarmingly chipper smile. "Good. Well, I suppose this is goodbye." Before he could fumble over whether to shake her hand or what, she stepped away from him in a blur of bouncy red curls. As the door closed behind her, she tossed singsong over her shoulder, "Enjoy the rest of your summer, Scorpion."

He wouldn't see her again for three years.