Rose sighed as she worked on her schoolwork in the Great Hall. Normally the boys would be present for study hall, however Albus was tutoring some first-years for their Charms lesson and Scorpius was running some Quidditch drills for the Slytherin team. Today, Rose was feeling restless for some reason and could not focus on her assignment.
"Rosie? Is everything alright?" asked Lexie.
"I'm not sure," said Rose rolling up her parchment. "I think I'll go for a walk to clear my head."
"We'll watch your things," said Pooja. As Rose walked out of the Great Hall, she saw Hugo and Finn entering with Louis with his left arm in a sling.
"Lou, what happened?" asked Rose.
"I fell off my broomstick doing a zig-zag," replied Louis.
"We were trying to see how many Lou could do under a minute!" said Finn excitedly.
"Why would you do that?" groaned Rose.
"Why not?" countered Hugo. "Anyway, if you're looking for your boyfriend, he's out on the Quidditch pitch."
"He's not my boyfriend!" retorted Rose as the boys walked away laughing.
It was the first mild weather week of the school courtyard ground had patches of green and trees with some white and yellow blossoms sprouting around the trees. Even the sky was clear blue with a few wisps of clouds and no longer grey.
The ground beneath Rose was so soft from the melted snow that she had move quickly to avoid getting her school shoes muddy. When Rose reached the Quidditch pitch, she looked around for Scorpius. As she walked around the pitch, she found Scorpius with a white unicorn with a shaved horn. Scorpius saw Rose and waved at her to come over towards the unicorn, Lachasse.
Lachasse was a gorgeous unicorn with a white coat, wispy mane, and a shaved down silver horn. Due to the cruelty of her prior owner, Hagrid took in Lachasse since she would have not survived in the wild with her shaven horn. Lachasse still had on her leather halter and reins, so Scorpius was able to have some control over her.
"Go on," urged Scorpius. Rose reached out her hand so Lachasse could smell her scent, which was a trick Rose learned from her Uncle Charlie. Lachasse nuzzled her nose into Rose's hand and made Rose laugh with glee.
"You know," said Scorpius with a mischievous grin forming across his face. "Hagrid's probably looking for her..."
"Oh no," said Rose stepping back from Lachasse. "Absolutely not! You're not riding Lachasse, Scorpius, it's too dangerous!"
"Rose, I'm a Quidditch player," argued Scorpius. "If I can control a broomstick, I can control a docile unicorn. Now, hop on!"
Rose was torn. On the one hand, she was afraid she may fall off and break her neck against the ground. On the other hand, she wanted to prove Scorpius wrong.
"Levisocorpus," said Rose pointing her wand at herself to get on Lachasse's back. Shortly after Rose got on Lachasse's back, Scorpius repeated the same charm and placed himself behind Rose.
When Scorpius reached his arms out to grab the reins, Rose blushed as she felt his arms at her sides. Although they were used to sitting next to each other for six years, this was the closest they had ever been together.
"Rosie, can you help me?" asked Scorpius. Still in her fog, Rose fumbled to hand the reins over to Scorpius.
Suddenly, Scorpius tugged the reins and Rose felt the air from Lachasse's wings hit her cheeks. The next moment Rose looked over Lachasse's shoulder and saw Lachasse's shadow growing smaller and smaller.
"Hold on tight!" said Scorpius. All of the sudden, Lachasse darted towards the clear blue sky, making Rose scream out of fear and Scorpius whoop out of excitement.
"Look Rose!" cried Scorpius excitedly. Slowly Rose opened her eyes and lifted herself up after immediately grabbing Lachasse's shoulders upon takeoff. When she looked to the right, she gasped at the view.
From this vantage point, Hogwarts seemed like a dollhouse. Rose remembered how enormous the castle was when she came to the school as a first-year on a boat through the Great Lake. Now the castle dwarfed in comparison to the acres of land surrounding the school.
All of the sudden, Rose felt Scorpius giving her the reins. Before Rose could asked him what he doing, Rose noticed two arms and realized Scorpius held his arms out like wings.
"Are you mad?!" cried out Rose.
"Try it!" said Scorpius taking the reins back from Rose.
"I can't!" said Rose, holding tight to Lachasse.
"Yes, you can!" said Scorpius. "I've got you!" Before Rose could protest, she felt Scorpius's arms wrapped around her waist and a sense of security came over her. Rose raised her arms and felt the wind against her school robes. The cold air made Rose feel invigorated and exhilarated. For the first time Rose understood her family's love of flying and Quidditch. As Lachasse whinnied, Rose also yelled out of euphoria and joy.
Just then, Lachasse began to descend towards Hagrid's hut and Rose grabbed Lachasse's shoulders. Once Lachasse landed and came to a full stop, Scorpius jumped off of Lachasse before helping Rose down.
For a brief second, Rose and Scorpius faced each other with his arms holding her waist and her hands on his shoulders. Rose noticed Scorpius slightly blushing and a slightly playful smile. Still feeling the rush of euphoria from the flight, Rose began to lean in towards Scorpius.
"Hullo Rose! Hullo Scorpius!" cried out Hagrid coming out of his hut. The booming voice caused the two teenagers to break apart. "What are ye two doin' here?"
"Lachasse was at the Quidditch pitch," said Scorpius feeling sheepish about his interrupted moment with Rose. "We figured we bring her back."
"Well, thank ye both!" said Hagrid, taking Lachasse's reins. It was clear that Hagrid was oblivious to the tender moment that he has interrupted as got in between Rose and Scorpius to take Lachasse. "Much appreciated! I'll make sure ye each get points for yer houses!"
"Thanks," said Rose and Scorpius, without much enthusiasm.
"Ye two better get back to the castle - it's almost supper time," instructed Hagrid.
"We will," said Rose. "We'll see you later, Hagrid."
"See ye around!" said Hagrid, walking away with Lachasse.
Both Rose and Scorpius stood in awkward silence as they could hear Lachasse trying to pull away from Hagrid and Hagrid grumbling at her. Rose couldn't believe she had attempted to kiss Scorpius. Now she was convinced that she had gone completely mad.
"We really should head back," mumbled Rose.
"Yeah," said Scorpius as he looked down so Rose would not see his red face. "I hope there's pie tonight." At that remark, Rose groaned as the palm of her hand hit her forehead.