She'll always hate me.

Scorpius mused sadly, coming to the bottom of his third bottle of Ogden's. Oh, dear.

When Scorpius became drunk, he wouldn't become louder or more raucous like most people - in fact, he would become exactly the opposite - more quiet, serious, and more thoughtful. And he realized now, too late, that the drinking wasn't helping this whole depression thing at all. But it was too late to stop.

How could she possibly like that prat - what was his name - Lysander Salamander? What did he have that Scorpius didn't? Looks? Scorpius had those. Popularity? Check. Quidditch appeal? Scorpius was the Slytherin Seeker, for Merlin's sake!

But the Salamander had a name. Even if was a rather strange one at that, he had an honorable name, untarnished by the war - if not decorated by it - and his parents were family friends of the Weasleys.

Was this his father's fault? If his father hadn't hated Harry Potter so damn much, maybe he and Rose would've gotten together by now. Or at least, maybe she'd give him a standing chance.

Scorpius laughed at himself. What was he doing, blaming his father for things? It wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. It just wasn't meant to be, he told himself.

To his embarrassment, he felt moisture in his eyes once more. Oh great, he thought, I'm crying again like a nancy. Thank Merlin it's the middle of the night and no one's up to witness this.

Then, to his utter horror, the door to the Astronomy Tower creaked open.


That last person she'd expected to see up at this hour, at this place, was him.

The moment they saw each other, one turned very red and one turned very white. Scorpius immediately leapt up out of shock, sending the empty whiskey bottles on the floor tumbling.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't - I mean, I wasn't -" Rose spluttered, then silenced, utterly mortified. Her ears felt like they were on fire.

The two just stood there for a moment, both embarrassed and confused, not daring to look at each other. The tension was thick enough to cut with a butter knife.

Rose felt an unbelievable pang of guilt as she sneaked a fleeting glance at Scorpius. His hair was a mess, and he was still in his school robes, which were wrinkled and spotted with beer stains. His eyes were redder than her own, and were circled with dark purple bags. Scorpius looked so . . . . .tired. Rose felt a sudden urge to just give him a huge hug, but the awkwardness of their meeting restrained her.

"I didn't know there'd be anyone up here." Rose said quietly, flushing once again.

"Whatever." Scorpius shrugged after a bit, his voice a bit hoarse. He cleared his throat. "I was going to leave, anyways." He Vanished all the firewhiskey bottles and headed towards the door.

Rose stood, glued to the floor, her mind completely fogged up as he passed her on his way out.

Panic rose in her throat. She couldn't let him go! Not like that - no, she had to stop him! She had to say something -

"Scorpius?" Rose breathed.

Scorpius froze, surprised at the use of his first name, but didn't turn around.

"Um, Scorpius." Rose approached him tentatively. "I just - er -"

She fidgeted as he turned around and looked at her tiredly with those despaired gray eyes. C'mon, Rosie, you owe him this.

"I just wanted to apologize for what an arse I've been to you!" Rose blurted, then burst into tears.

"Hey." Scorpius' voice was soft and sad as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Rose was amazed at how much better she felt just by that touch. "Look, today, it was completely my fault, alright? You had every right to slap me. There's nothing for you to be sorry about."

"No." Rose shuddered. "I mean, I've been so prejudiced against you for years. I judged you before I even met you. And what I said earlier about you being scum . . .I wish I could take it all back. I can't believe I let those words come out of my mouth."

Scorpius pulled her into a hug, and Rose sobbed into his shoulder.

"It's alright, Rose, the past is the past. I'm willing to forget history, if you will?" Scorpius murmured into her ear, sending tremors down her back.

Rose smiled through her tears, blushing.

"To tell you the truth . . . " She said sheepishly. "I don't really want to forget what happened in Potions class today. Do you?"

Scorpius smirked. "I'll be more than happy to refresh your memory." Then he tilted her chin up so her blue eyes met his silver, and Scorpius Malfoy kissed Rose Weasley as the stars and the moon smiled down upon them.