Rose was banging her head off the wall in her compartment. She was seated with Hugo, Lily, Louis, Ara Waters, Al, and Scorpius. No one talking. No one dared.

It was only awkward because they were acting like this whole thing was the end of the world. That's all. If she could just start up the conversation, things would be okay. It wasn't like there was any animosity between any of them, either. They just didn't know what to say.

But every time Rose tried to say something, her mind kept circling back to the letter hidden inside an old sock at the bottom of her trunk. She was getting nauseous just thinking about it. How could Teddy write that and think it would be okay?

Rose quickly pushed the thought out of her head. She wasn't going to do this. She had made it through two whole days without breaking down, and she wasn't about to lose it now.

Instead, she settled with banging her head off the wall behind her. Besides the roll of the train wheels, her methodic thump thump was the only sound they heard.

"Alright!" Lily finally shrieked, slipping her hand behind Rose's head and stopping the noise once and for all. "That's it! I'm done. Hugo, Louis, we're leaving."

Rose watched as the three fifth-years left. She could have sworn her brother muttered idiots under his breath before he exited the compartment.

"This is ridiculous," Scorpius finally said. He was to Rose's left, separated by his rucksack. "We're all basically adults. We all agreed to this. Can't we have fun with it?"

"Fun?" Ara asked, genuinely curious. She was a petite, pretty girl. Her mother was the famous Quidditch player Cho Chang while her father was a Muggle. He worked in an auto body shop, fixing large trucks. Rose and Ara were friends, but not inseparable like Al and Scorp had become during their time at Hogwarts. Rose could see herself meeting up with Ara down the road, catching up over coffee once every two years. She was content with that.

Unless, of course, it actually worked with Albus. Then Rose would be related to Ara, and their friendship would have to turn into play dates for the kids and complaining over a bottle of Riesling.

Either way, Rose was content with that.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe we could try to enjoy this wedding business," Scorpius replied. Rose couldn't help but smile. He clearly didn't have a clue how to make it "fun." But he was trying, and Rose appreciated that. "We're going to be making gingerbread houses… that's fun."

Al snorted.

"And didn't you say something about doilies?" Scorpius smirked at Rose. She held his gaze for a second, getting lost in his emerald eyes.

"They'll be heart-shaped if Vic can help it," Rose told the room.

"Excellent," Scorp smiled. "I don't think I have any heart-shaped ones in my collection."

Rose laughed as Scorpius wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh yes. Your collection. Probably right next to your tea set and home-made jammie dodgers recipe."

"How'd you know?" Scorpius feigned shock, which made Rose laugh harder. Ara and Al were laughing too, although Rose couldn't help but notice her cousin staring right at her. Slowly, he winked at her, and she stopped laughing and began coughing.

"Whoa, you okay there, Rose?" Scorpius had a hand on her wrist, while she coughed into her other arm. When she finally stopped choking on her own air, she looked down at her hand, which was still held by Scorpius.

Why was it that every single time they touched she felt little pulses coming from the source of contact? It happened in Potions all the time. Anytime they reached for the same ingredient or brushed each other accidentally, there they were. Miniature heart beats. Currents being sent from Scorpius to her.

Rose slid her hand away from his and into her hair. "I'm good. I guess I took in too much air or something."

After that, the four were able to speak easier.

"What did you tell your parents?" Al asked about an hour out from King's Cross Station.

"What do you mean?" Rose countered.

"You're bringing a Malfoy home."

"Yeah," Rose locked her eyes with Scorpius. He was smirking again. She decided it was a good look for him. "And you bring a Malfoy home all the time."

"But your dad. Both of your dads."

"Dad's met Scorpius before," Rose said. "And when I wrote them a letter about the whole thing, they said it was fine."

"They? Or your mother?" Al asked.

Rose knew where his concerns were coming from, but she knew better. Her father—bless him—hated Scorpius's dad. That wasn't changing anytime soon. But Al brought the Malfoy kid home almost every summer, and Ron Weasley was okay. He got over the initial shock of it, but he was okay. In fact, during some of the annual Weasley Quidditch matches, Rose's dad preferred having Scorpius on his team.

Rose heard him tell her mum that he felt sorry for the boy. He knew what it was like growing up and being attached to a name, and he felt guilty himself for adding to that hate toward Scorpius Malfoy.

The only thing Rose—and Scorpius, for that matter—had to worry about was the word "date." That was the thing that changed everything. It didn't matter if the boy was Malfoy, Longbottom, Lovegood, or even Merlin's offspring himself, he would always be a boy and Rose would always be too good for him.

It was annoying, really, but she could survive it.

It wasn't like Scorpius was a real date anyways.

"Relax, Albus," she smiled. "It'll be fine."

HERE

"Malfoy?" Mr. Weasley was attempting to whisper, but he was failing. "Are you serious, Rose?"

"Dad, it's not that big of a—"

"It most certainly is a big deal!" So much for subtle. Mrs. Weasley flinched, clearly torn between quieting her husband and making Scorpius comfortable.

"Just be glad he's doing this in public," Hugo whispered to Scorp. "If it were at home, they'd both be yelling something awful."

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," Mrs. Weasley mumbled, eyeing her family.

"Dad, please! You're insulting him." Rose again. Scorp smiled at her defending him. Was he insulted? Of course not. But he liked that she thought it did.

Merlin, everything she did, he liked. It was as if Albus's stupid remark was the catalyst needed to see how brilliant Rose Weasley could be. After that dinner, when she came over and said she'd go through with Al's plan, Scorp saw her everywhere. There were these blue stained glass windows in the bathroom that reminded him of her eyes. There was this painting of a redheaded archer he couldn't stop staring at on the third floor. He even watched her all throughout their Potions test the day before.

She would put the quill in her mouth when she was thinking. The feather tip was damp by the time the period ended. She would tap it on her nose when she got an answer right, too, and would flinch each time the wetness touched those three adorable freckles on her face.

Yeah. He had it bad. He hadn't fancied anyone like this in years. His last (and only) girlfriend was Gwen Finnegan and that lasted about three weeks in his fifth year. Sure, Scorp had kissed girls here and there, some drunkenly after a Quidditch victory, others seeing if there was anything there, but he never really bothered much.

But Rose. Yeah. She was something else, and Scorp didn't even know it. Al saw it in him first, and the blond resented that.

"Rosie, I'd be okay with any boy, really. But a Malfoy? I'm—I can't handle this," Mr. Weasley tried to reason.

"Dad, you know Scorpius. He's friends with Al, and he's your go-to Chaser when we play Quidditch!" Rose's hair was shaking around violently. "It's just for the wedding. We're just friends. Can't you be nice for just two weeks?"

Ah, right. Just friends. Just two weeks. He was here just for the wedding.

Scorpius really hated that word—just.

"Well, I think we've waited long enough," Mrs. Weasley walked over to the arguing pair. She started scolding both of them much quieter than before so that Scorp couldn't hear a thing.

"I like you," Hugo said, hoisting his trunk onto his shoulder. "If Rose is going with anyone, I'd almost rather it be you."

"You mean to the wedding?" Scorpius asked. Where else would he be going?

Hugo smiled. "Not just the wedding. Al told me." Scorp felt his face heating up. "Calm down. I take secrets to the grave."

"You've had experience with that already?" Scorp teased.

"Har, har." Hugo grabbed at his owl's cage. "I will take secrets to the grave. Happy, grammar guru?"

"I don't think that was a grammar issue."

"Keep pushing it, Malfoy." Hugo began walking away. "I might let this secret slip."

HERE

The Ron-and-Hermione Weasley home was quaint. It wasn't nestled in some remote place where only wizards could go; it was smack in the heart of Muggle territory. Rose explained to Scorpius that it meant a lot to her mum to be near her Muggle parents, and her dad had no issue assimilating.

Scorpius was currently seated in the guest bedroom, where he'd be staying for three days until they left for the destination wedding on Christmas Eve. He didn't want to unpack and then repack, so he decided to live out of his trunk for a few days.

Rose told him to come downstairs when he was settled in, so he retraced his steps to the stairs, the front landing, and finally into the kitchen, where Mr. Weasley was preparing a quick dinner.

"Uh, hello." Wow. Could he be any more awkward?

"Hello, Scorpius." Mr. Weasley nodded back. He was pushing some cut up onions into a frying pan while a knife was magically cutting up sausage slices.

"Need any help?" Scorp offered.

"'T's alright," the tall redheaded man said. He and Rose were extremely similar in appearance: the red hair, the blue eyes, the freckles. The only difference was height. Rose took after her mum's smaller frame, while Mr. Weasley was a giant. Or so Scorp felt, anyways.

"So," Mr. Weasley started again. "I owe you an apology."

Scorpius watched as Mr. Weasley looked toward another door. Scorp had a strong feeling Mrs. Weasley was behind it.

"I overreacted. I do that," he cleared his throat, not sure what to say.

"It's okay," Scorpius sighed. "I get that a lot, actually. I'm used to it, so it's ok—"

"No." Mr. Weasley paused in his movements. "No it's not. And you shouldn't ever let it be, you hear me?"

Scorp could only nod.

"My biggest concern," Mr. Weasley went on, "is that you are a boy. A teenage boy. And my daughter is still this big to me." The grown man held his arms like he was holding a baby. "I know teenage boys. I was one, and I was not a model citizen all the time." His eyes looked back at the door from before, only this time they lit up.

Scorp cleared his throat, pulling Mr. Weasley back to reality.

"Anyways, Rose doesn't do this. At all. She doesn't date. She doesn't bring boys home. It's just—weird for me."

There was that word again. Just. Scorpius smiled as innocently as he could. "If it helps, I was planning to hang around Al mostly. And Rose was gonna meet up with Al's date, Ara."

Mr. Weasley visibly relaxed.

Not knowing what to do now, Scorpius continued to watch as Mr. Weasley fried up dinner. After a couple of minutes, neither of them could take the awkward silence much longer. Both spoke simultaneously.

"Do you know where Rose—"

"Rose is still up—"

They smiled.

"Is?" Scorpius finished sheepishly.

"Upstairs. Third door on the left. Leave it open," he said, turning away.

If Al hadn't been worried about Mr. Weasley's reaction, Scorp felt like he wouldn't have been either. He felt comfortable around Al's family, so he assumed he would be comfortable around Rose's. The problem was that Scorp hadn't actually ever been alone with Mr. Weasley before. Sure, Ron was at all the family gatherings Scorp attended with Al, but the two were never left alone.

The apology was still running through his head. Mr. Weasley looked so adamant about not accepting peoples' prejudices against him. Scorpius had dealt with really horrible people all his life. He was fully aware of the weight of his surname, and he was fine with how some people reacted. That was life. His own father would grin and bear it, so why shouldn't he? It never really occurred to Scorp that he could—and possibly should—get angry about it. But what would that solve anyways?

Scorp shook his head, ascending the stairs to Rose's room. She was sitting on her bed, her back turned to him, reading off of a note. His heart skipped as he looked around her bedroom. It was yellow. There were raven figurines everywhere, along with fake roses and rose-shaped memorabilia. Scorp figured that her multitude of family members liked getting her things that reminded them of her name.

She sighed. And Scorpius felt his chest tighten again, this time butterflies appearing in his stomach. He was in her bedroom. He was in her bedroom and he was starting to really fancy her.

He cursed Al for ever bringing these feelings up inside of him.

HERE

Rose turned around. Scorpius stood in the middle of the doorway, staring at her with his emerald eyes.

"Knock, knock," he smiled. Rose slipped her letter into her jean pocket and stood. "Everything good?"

"Yeah… why?" Rose felt her nose scrunch up. Scorpius's eyes watched closely, causing Rose to rub at her nose instead.

"Don't know, you look worried is all," he plopped down on her bed. "Nice roses, by the way."

"Ugh, don't remind me," she glanced around at the various knick-knacks she hated but couldn't get rid of because she'd feel guilty. "Everyone thinks they're so clever. 'A rose for Rose!' Lily gets it too. It's maddening."

"Thought so," Scorpius smirked, putting his arms behind his head. "And the ravens?"

"Ravenclaw?" Her nose scrunched again. This time Scorpius's eyes twinkled. "What?"

"You do that a lot."

"Do what?"

"You know. It's actually adorable."

Her nose scrunched up at the comment, and Scorpius began laughing. Adorable? Her? And on top of that, he thinks so?

Why did this matter to her so much?

"Whatever," she smiled, sitting herself beside his sprawled out form. "You look comfortable."

"You said make yourself at home," he winked.

"You're impossible," she slapped his stomach lightly.

Again, she felt her hand pulse at the contact. The sensation didn't stop, either, when she pulled her fingers away.

"How'd you think you did on your Potions test?" Scorp's eyes were closed now, which allowed Rose to look him over. He looked peaceful. He was lean, but she knew he had muscle. Hell, she'd seen him every summer when they would go to the lake at the Burrow, and he'd strip down to his swim trunks.

For a moment, she couldn't believe that Scorpius Malfoy was in her house. In her bedroom. She probably had one conversation per week with him, and it was during Potions. And only when they worked with a partner.

And yet, it was so easy to talk to him. On the train, once everyone was over the initial weirdness. On the platform, waiting for her parents. Even in the car, they talked at length about Puddlemere's chances this season.

And here. In her bedroom. They were talking like friends.

"I think I did fine, but I really don't want to think too much about school," she said.

"That's fine by me," Scorpius smiled, eyes still closed. "Thanks, by the way, for defending me."

"When?"

"On the platform. To your dad. He talked to me about it downsta—"

"What!?" Scorpius shot up at her sudden squeaky voice. "What did he say?"

"He said sorry," Scorpius began. Rose held her breath, and she could see it in Scorpius's eyes that she was scaring him. "Are you okay?"

Her dad said sorry. To a Malfoy. Rose knew her father would be understanding, but she never expected him to repent for his behavior. "What else did he say, Scorpius?"

"He said he overreacted, that he shouldn't judge me by my name," he was still watching her intently. "I told him I'm used to it, and he told me that I shouldn't let people do that—treat me badly for being me."

"He said that?" Rose whispered. When Scorpius nodded, she found her voice again. "He's absolutely right, you know."

"Rose, I've dealt with it my whole life—"

"And that makes it okay?" She was lucky her family had always been good. Something about the way Scorpius just accepted the bad didn't sit right with her at all.

"Well, no," he continued, "but when it's a constant, when it's everyday your father steps out of the house, you start to get a tough skin about it. That's all."

"Scorpius—"

"No, please, let me explain it," he had taken her hand again, and Rose found that concentrating on his words was getting a bit harder. She made herself hear, nonetheless, but the little electric zaps coming from the contact of his hand were extremely distracting. "I never really questioned it. I never really fought it. All because I know it won't do anything. Yeah, it bothers me sometimes, but mostly I start laughing now. Did you know Al used to call me pureblood trash?"

"What?!" She squeaked out.

Scorpius nodded. "First year. And part of second too, although by then it became more of a joke. He didn't always like me. I made him like me."

She laughed at his mischievous grin. "How?"

"Do you remember those cold chili balloons Peeves got his hands on second year?"

Boy, did she. There was meat sauce all over the castle. All over professors and students. Even some of the paintings took a hit. Rose had helped Gloria the Galant clean up her oil pastel home from the red beaned and spicy mess.

"You were behind that?"

"I was proud at the time, until Peeves turned against both Al and me and doused us with enough chili I'm still pulling it out of my hair," Scorpius laughed.

"Yeah, sure."

"No, really," he took her hand, which he still had in his, and placed it in his hair, "see for yourself."

Rose shifted on the bed so that her knees were tucked under her. She knew this was ridiculous, but she was going to play along. His hair was soft, silky, and she couldn't help but notice her heart beating like a metronome. Slowly, she brought up her other hand to sift through his hair. She weaved her fingers through it, tsking at her lack of findings.

"I don't believe you at all," she teased. She looked to his face and realized he was right there. Centimeters away. He shivered, and Rose froze. This was intimate; extremely intimate. Too intimate, because they weren't even that good of friends. Right?

She pulled her hands away, resting them in her lap. "Sorry, Scorpius."

He smiled at her again, but his eyes didn't light up like she expected them to. "Please, don't worry about it."

"Dinner!"

"Looks like we're needed elsewhere," he jumped off her bed, leaving her there. She felt his absence immediately, and along with it, the tiniest bit of disappointment. "Come on then."

He offered her his hand, and eagerly she took it. She wanted the disappointing feeling to go away, and just seeing his outstretched hand made her relax.

"Thanks." She stood a head shorter than him.

"No problem, Rose." He started heading toward the door, then turned back quickly. "You know, you can call me Scorp like everyone else."

She blushed, embarrassed by the statement. Only his close friends called him that, and she didn't want to cross any line between them.

But she was being ridiculous anyways, because he was at her house and he was her date for the next two weeks.

"Right. Sorry, Scorpius," she began. But he looked right at her again, and she felt like her heart was bursting. "Sorry! Scorp. You are Scorp."

They both started laughing, and Rose couldn't help but smile brighter. It just felt so natural: Scorp.

HERE

They were hustling to get to their portkey on time. Living in a Muggle neighborhood meant that the nearest portkey location was thirty miles away. Scorpius was waiting by the front door while the Weasley's ran around grabbing this and that for last minute needs.

Rose stopped in front of him. "How are you ready?"

"I pack lightly?"

"I'm envious," she darted off toward the stairs as one of her parents yelled her name. Hugo was jumping down the stairs, three at a time, and Scorpius watched as they rammed right into each other.

Next thing he knew, he was holding them both back at arm's length as the siblings continued to fling insult after insult at each other.

"If you weren't such a clumsy prat, everything would've been fine!"

"Maybe if you opened your big stupid eyes once in a while, we wouldn't have these issues!"

It was like being with the Potters, only there were two Weasleys. Usually, by this point, James or Lily would have jumped on the most vulnerable sibling, and Scorpius wouldn't have enough arms to stop them.

"Oi!" Mr. Weasley was at the top of the stairs. "You will stop this now or I'm getting you both aeroplane tickets!"

That shut them both up. Hugo ran back upstairs to get his things, Mr. Weasley disappeared into his bedroom, and Scorpius still had a hand on Rose's shoulder. She was flushed, her hair wild, her eyes on fire.

She laughed nervously, and Scorpius couldn't help but smile.

"Now you know just how dumb we can be," she shrugged. She used that word again. That bloody just. "Anyways, I guess they don't need me anymore."

Rose was embarrassed by her outburst, and Scorp was dying to kiss her. Instead he dropped his arm. "You act like I've never seen a famous Potter-Sibling-Row before."

She laughed along with him, then slid around him to head upstairs.

It had only been three days inside the Ron-and-Hermione Weasley house, yet Scorp had fallen into routine. He woke with the crack of dawn, helped Mrs. Weasley with the coffee, and spent another few hours on school work. Rose would be up after that, and he'd spend the day with her and Hugo. The day before, Rose had taken him for a tour of the neighborhood.

"It's freezing," Scorp said. "It's worse than Hogwarts."

"Oh, it's not that bad!" She had hit him lightly on the shoulder, which caused her to avert her eyes quickly. He liked it; it made his own feelings seem justified, like he wasn't the only one experiencing this newfound fancy for someone he knew very little of.

Of course, that was changing too. They had spent two and a half days already with each other, and only each other, because Hugo knew and because Hugo knew, he kept leaving them to it.

Scorp didn't know whether to strangle him or kiss him.

Because now he knew so much about Rose Weasley, and it only made him like her more. Her favorite color was green, she adored the Holyhead Harpies, she liked green bell peppers but not red, she wanted to work in the curse breaking department of the Ministry once she left Hogwarts, she used to want to be a Healer but Potions held her back (though he knew that already), she loved Charms. There was more, too. Lots more. She was embarrassed by the sheer size of her family. She wished she was less likely to argue for less work in class. Rose hated anything rose colored. She smelled like vanilla, she chewed her lips when thinking, she constantly had ink smudges on her left hand from writing.

She was a lot of things, and Scorpius wanted more.

"It's colder for those of us without gloves," he finally replied.

"What?" her blue eyes looked down. "You should've told me!"

Her gloved hands quickly wrapped around his bare one. The other was tucked neatly in his pocket.

They walked like that for a log while—holding hands. And they talked like nothing was wrong. Nothing was different. But Scorpius thought his insides were going to explode at any minute. In just a few short days, he was consumed by her.

Rose came barreling down the stairs, her trunk in tow, and her winter gear on.

"That's it," she cried, "I'm done!"

"Congratulations," Scorpius laughed. "You're grand prize is a week trip to Paris."

"Oh, how romantic," Rose crooned. "I can't wait to fill up that doily collection of yours, Scor."

They were both laughing now. Scorpius's ears perked up at the sound of his name. Scor. Not Scorp, but Scor. He liked how natural it sounded, coming from her.