I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause i know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

-Iris; Goo Goo Dolls

CHAPTER 8

ROSE WEASLEY

"Students, students, settle down." McGonagall called us to attention after we'd all finished our breakfast. She had that usual crisp air to her voice. I remembered my father and Uncle Harry telling me how she was always like that, and how Professor Dumbledore who preceded her was quite the opposite. They'd gone silent after that. "I have an announcement to make. I am pleased to say that the three hundred and ninety-fourth annual Masquerade Snowflake Ball is to be held in two weeks." The hall broke out in excited whispers from the girls and mostly groans from the boys. I thought of dancing with Scorpius and I smiled to myself, before remembering our argument. I felt my eyes well up and tried to brush the thought aside by listening to Lily's excited giggles next to me. She was already talking about dress shopping. I shook my head at her; she didn't waste any time, did she? I laughed and turned back to McGonagall, who was trying to catch the students' attention again. Eventually the noise died down and she was able to continue her speech. "This, of course, is no reason to show yourselves up. We teachers will be handing out punishments to pupils who behave badly before or during the event." She said sternly, and I saw Fred roll his eyes. McGonagall always gave out warnings like this; we were all pretty used to it. "As of before," she continued, "the Snowflake Ball is for fourth year students or above, although you may bring a younger student if you wish." There was a collective groan from all third year and below students, and I saw Lily beam. This was the first year she was able to go, as before she was a third year, and you could see the excitement on each of her delicate features.

McGonagall finished speaking and I found my eyes drifting towards where Scorpius was sat. How did it go so wrong? All he did was defend me, and I had to go and shout at him for no reason. I don't even know why I did it. It's not like Dominique has been particularly nice to me lately. She hasn't even been horrible. She's my family, and she's supposed to be my best friend, and yet she gives me a goddamn black eye? She's fucking twisted. And yet, some small part of me wants to make up with her, to forgive her and go back to how it was before. I know that's stupid, but now she's constantly with Albus – to his… pleasure – and it means I can't talk to him either. The only person I've been able to talk to lately is Lily. She seemed to understand, which I couldn't help think was odd. She was two years younger than me, yet she seemed to get what Dominique couldn't. She understood my situation with Scorpius, because I'd told her everything. I'd told her that he hadn't asked me out even though we met up every single day and he kissed me like we were dating every single day. I'd told her how I felt almost guilty for liking – or whatever it was that I felt – Scorpius, because I knew it was keeping me away from my two best friends. I'd told her everything until I was in tears, and she understood. I'm not sure how, but she did.

After our lessons were finished, I met Lily in the common room. We were discussing the kind of dresses we should wear, and it took my mind of Scorpius a little bit, but not much. We were laughing when Albus came up to us. For a moment I thought he was going to talk to me, but then I noticed his gaze was fixed on his little sister – and boy, did he look mad.

"Adrian Zabini?You're dating Adrian Zabini?" He shouted, causing several first years to cast around alarmed glances.

"Last I checked," replied Lily, coolly. I looked at her proudly; I would've spluttered and turned bright red.

"The hell you are! You are not going out with him. No sister of mine is going to date Zabini!" He roared. The whole common room was silent now, everyone listening to Albus rage at Lily. Lily's face looked so impassive I almost laughed.

"I'm your only sister, Al," she said in a bored voice, and I admired her courage to stand up to him. Or, in this case, ignore him.

"Your point is?"

"I'm pretty sure that was my point."

"I may not be able to control who Rose speaks to, but I can control who you speak to." He spoke my name like it was scum and the look on his face when he said it told me he thought as much. Suddenly, I felt dirty. I felt disgusting and contaminated. He was right, he couldn't control who I spoke to, but I knew he felt like I should've talked to him first. Part of me was outraged that he thought he could dictate what I did or didn't do, but the other part felt like I'd betrayed him somehow. His eyes flicked towards me. Anger flashed in them and I knew he thought that it was my fault that Lily was dating Adrian, like it was my influence. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, and I knew that queasy feeling wouldn't go away easily.

"No you can't. You can't control who either of us speaks to. You do realise you condemned Rose for speaking to Scorpius? You're meant to be her best friend, and you turned against her because she spoke to someone you don't like. You can't control who she talks to, is friends with, or loves." Albus' eyes looked at me in shock, and I realised that Lily had pretty much said that I loved Scorpius in front of the person who hated him. "You can't control who I date either. Adrian and I are happy. Don't you get it? Not everything revolves around Albus Potter, the son of the Boy Who Lived. Do you see James acting that way? No. You don't. You don't understand that you don't have a hold over me, and you don't have a hold over Rose. I can do what I like, and she can too. Grow up, and accept that you're not going to get your way all the time." Lily's control had snapped, and I saw the fire in her eyes, heard the rage in her voice. She stormed past Albus, who looked more confused than anything. I resisted the urge to laugh but his eyes soon turned towards me. I'd expected them to be full of fury, and they were. I tried to hold back but I felt a tear run down my cheek, and I saw his shock. He'd never seen me cry before. The fury was still there, but it was lessened slightly – but still only slightly. We froze there for a while, him staring at me like I was dirt on the bottom of his shoe and my trying to fight back the tears that my eyes seemed fixed on letting out. I think we both realised at the same time that the room was still silent, and he walked away. Recognising that there wasn't going to be more of a fight, the common room became noisy again. Everyone became distracted, although I heard snatches of conversations about what had just happened.

I stared intently at the fire, meeting no one's gaze, and I let the tears roll down my face. I was tired of holding them back; I needed to let them go. I hugged my knees and buried my face, and the tears just kept coming. Eventually I went up to my dorm room, still weeping because I found it too hard to stop. I let them flow out, and I sobbed harder and harder. I ran into my room, grateful that no one was in there. I cried and cried and cried until I couldn't breathe. I just prayed that it'd be over soon.

XXXXX

"You're not going with Scorpius?" Lily asked, as we traipsed around Hogsmeade in search of dresses. "Did you guys have a fight or something?" I felt my eyes brimming with tears as I recalled our argument. I felt so stupid! It was over nothing, I knew he didn't like Dominique, why did this change anything? I wanted to go and make up, but I felt him avoiding me. I knew when I was looking at him that he knew I was, and I could always sense a mental battle in his head deciding whether to look back at me or to ignore me. The latter always won out.

"Yes," My shoulders slumped and I immediately felt bad. She was so excited about Adrian taking her that I felt horrible for putting a damper on her mood. "It's probably for the best anyway, with Albus and Dominique..." Her face fell slightly, but it soon turned into a hard resolve. She was a fierce fourteen-year-old, I thought absent-mindedly.

"Screw Albus." Lily spoke through her clenched teeth. I'd forgotten about their argument, and I mentally chastised myself for bringing him up. "We'll find you something gorgeous to wear anyway, and then Scorpius will be jealous out of his mind. I may even get Adrian to tell him that you're thinking of dating someone else. Maybe that'll wake him up and then he'll realise that you should be with him, and he should ask you out already." She got that happy vibe again after thinking about Adrian. I'd nodded, but I couldn't help but feel horrible. Lily thought this was entirely his fault, when really it was all mine. I ruined everything.

We walked into a dress shop where Lily picked out dresses for me to try on. They were all beautiful – well, all except this pink one… it clashed horribly with my hair – but none of them took my breath away. None of them was right. I knew I had to have the perfect one, I couldn't explain why, but I needed it. Lily found hers though; a strapless, deep red dress. The skirt went just above her knees, and the bodice was embroidered with gold. She bought some gold heels and a gold mask to match and she was all set. She was the embodiment of a Gryffindor, but it suited her well. Money was never an issue with the Potters; Uncle Harry's fortune left by his parents started that, and then with the money from being Head of the Auror Office, while also being Harry Potter, kinda kept them rich. Of course, we Weasleys were quite well off aswell, with my father being an Auror, but he was always very conscious of spending money. Mother said it was because when he grew up he didn't have a lot of money, so he always makes sure he doesn't spend too much so he doesn't have to go back to that.

We were just about to leave the shop when I saw it. The dress. It was beautiful. I saw it and I knew it was perfect. It was a green silk sheath dress, and when I tried it on it came to about two inches above my knees. And it fitted like a glove. I found some silver shoes and a matching mask and then we headed back to the castle. I felt Lily's buzz of excitement as she walked beside me, and I saw the happy grin fixed on her face. I smiled to myself because I knew she was thinking about Adrian.

We were passing the Three Broomsticks when suddenly someone stepped in front of us. Adrian. I laughed as Lily's smile broadened and he pulled her into a kiss. Looking at them you could see how in love they were, and it almost brought sadness to my smile. Adrian made me think of Scorpius.

"Rose, darling!" He exclaimed in a posh accent, hugging me joyously. Adrian had a way of making everybody laugh. "Let me guess, dress shopping?" He returned to his usual voice and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"I don't know why I would be, seeing as you actually haven't asked me to the ball yet." Lily said, pretending to look upset. It amazed me how comfortable they were around each other, seeing as Lily was only fourteen and she had always been told by Albus – who could be surprisingly scary when he wanted to be – not to hang around with a Malfoy or a Zabini.

"Why do you think I came over here, Little Potter?" He grinned lopsidedly. I noticed he did that a lot around Lily. She smiled at her nickname. Only he used it. At least, that's what she thought; my guess was Scorpius probably used it too.

"Well it wasn't to grace us with your wit and charm, seeing as you're lacking in those." Lily grinned back, and Adrian took on a look of mock offence.

"You're breaking my heart here, Little Potter." He joked.

"So go on then, why are you here?" She asked, a look of false inquiry crossing her features. Adrian looked like he'd been waiting for this. I shook my head, knowing he probably planned it all out. He leapt up on a table that was outside a shop opposite the Three Broomsticks.

"Lily Potter, will you go to the ball with me?" He shouted so everyone could hear him, and he did indeed get lots of shocked looks from random passers-by. Apparently it wasn't known all over that a Zabini and a Potter were dating.

"Hmmm… well I suppose I can't say no after that, can I?" She teased him, and he jumped down from the table.

"So is that a yes, Potter?"

"I guess so, Zabini." He cupped her face and gently brought her lips to his. Giving her a gallant bow, he turned and walked into the Three Broomsticks. I realised with a pang he was probably meeting Scorpius. I forced my face to smile as Lily spoke dreamily about Adrian. She didn't seem to notice how controlled my smile was as she was off in her own little world. We walked back to the common room and I headed up to my dorm to put my dress away. Up until now I hadn't properly seen Dominique in the dorm; one of us was always up there before the other at night and out of there before the other in the morning, so I was a little shocked when I opened the door to see Dominique on her bed.

"What are you doing here?" She said immediately, throwing me a scathing look. I started to splutter but then I regained my control.

"This is my room." I stated, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible.

"It's mine too!" She spoke as if I'd said that it wasn't.

"Yeah, I know…" I said uncertainly, and she seemed to realise the stupidity of what she said. She didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes told me I was not welcome there. At first I was outraged – I had every right to be there, it was my room too! – but then I thought I didn't want to be there anyway. Why should I? She's the one who punched me! She's the one who stopped talking to me just for speaking to Scorpius. Why should I want to be around her?

I answered the question for myself: I missed her. I wanted to forgive her, but I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to apologise which I know she'd make me do. I didn't do anything wrong, why should I apologise? All I did was speak to Scorpius. And I hate myself for shouting at him. I defended her even though she punched me. I defended her even though she condemned me for speaking to someone she doesn't like. In fact, it wasn't even that. She hated me for not telling her, which I thought was even more retarded. It was when I was thinking all this when I realised why I'd got so mad at Scorpius. I didn't trust him. I liked him, I might even have loved him, but I didn't trust him. Not entirely anyway. I'd grown up with it being drilled into my head that Malfoys were bad, that I shouldn't be involved with them, that I should hate them. That lack of trust wasn't helped by knowing he used to pull girls into broom closets all the time, or knowing that he didn't care about them really; it was just a game. He had seemed different with me, but it probably seemed that way to the other girls as well. I'd got mad at Scorpius because I wanted him to prove to me that I was different, that I was special. I wanted him to show me. How was I supposed to know if he even cared about me at all?

XXXXX

*TWO WEEKS LATER*

"It's tonight!"

"Yes I know, Lily, you've told me six times already." I laughed at my younger cousin's restlessness. The Snowflake Ball was tonight, and Lily couldn't be more excited. In all fairness to her, this was the first time she was allowed to go, and she was going with Adrian Zabini. Honestly, if I were her I would've died by now.

"Yeah, but its tonight!" She squealed, and I shook my head at her again. She checked her watch and realised it was five o'clock. The ball was in three hours. "Oh my god, we have to start getting ready!"

"It's in three hours." I said questioningly, but she waved me off.

"Yes, but my hair takes ages to do, and I know yours too. Now come on!" I grimaced at the girl talk, but I complied anyway. Truth was, I was never really that type of girl. The one who cared about make-up and hair and clothes and guys. I just never thought it was that important. I liked looking good, and I liked people noticing that, but it never seemed dire to me like it did to Dominique or Fate. My hair did take ages to do, though, and that's part of the reason why I never bothered with it. It just never seemed to go straight enough or curly enough. It was always just somewhere in between, so I usually just put it up or clipped it back. Albus, Dominique, and I never went to the Snowflake ball before this either. We went to Hogsmeade instead, because all the teachers were policing the ball it was easy to get to the one-eyed witch statue and head into Hogsmeade for a few Butterbeers – or Firewhiskies in Albus' case – down at the Three Broomsticks. It was fun, a laugh, but that wasn't going to happen this year so I supposed I better enjoy it. We went to Lily's dorm to get ready, because she had everything there – curlers, straighteners, rollers, make-up, hair grips, headbands, hugely tacky ornamental things to put in your hair, everything.

In the end it did take us about three hours, after both of us showering, doing our hair and make-up, and putting our dresses, shoes and mask, and putting our things in our bags. Lily looked stunning. Her jet black hair was down, cascading down her back in a tumble of waves. She wore false eyelashes on her eyes and a soft pink lip gloss on her lips. When she was all ready I would've said she looked my age, not two years younger. She looked beautiful. When I looked in the mirror, I almost didn't think it was me. My hair was up in a loose bun, and the few strands at the front that were left out were curled to perfection. Lily had applied liquid eyeliner to my eyes, and they definitely made them pop. I pulled on my shoes and I held my mask – it was one of those ones that had a stick – and we walked out of the dorm and down to the common room. There were only a few people there, others having already made their way to the ball, but everyone there was also in dresses and suits, including Dominique, and lots of heads turned when we walked down the stairs. I smiled nervously at a few people whereas Lily just full on beamed. She was so excited; it was almost adorable, except, with the way she looked, she couldn't be classed as adorable. She was beautiful. It'd never hit me before just how stunning she was, but at the moment I realised just how exquisite she was. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up into a proud smile as we wandered down to the Great Hall where the ball was being held.

XXXXX

SCORPIUS MALFOY

Adrian had dragged me into the Great Hall for the ball. I didn't particularly want to go, but I couldn't help perk up a bit when he told me Rose was going. Not that I let him know, though. He was meeting Lily in there, so we went in to get some drinks. I poured a bit of the Firewhisky I kept in a flask into mine; I'd had a feeling I'd need it if I was going to see Rose.

And that's when she walked in.

Beautiful no longer adequately described her. I noticed she wore Slytherin colours; a green dress and silver shoes. I couldn't help but feel as though she was wearing them for me. I turned to Adrian to tell him Lily was here, but he'd already gone. I looked back over and I saw him sweep her a gallant bow. I smirked; he loved her so obviously it was actually funny. They moved onto the dance floor where a few people were slow-dancing. I got out my flask, took a big swig, and walked over to Rose.

"My my, don't you look good?" I said, my usual smirk on my lips as I tried to act normal. Rose looked into the eyes behind my mask and registered who was talking to her.

"Scorpius." It wasn't a question as much as a statement, but it did have the air of wondering if I was actually talking to her or not. In all fairness, I hadn't exactly been talking to her lately. Not that I didn't have a reason, but I hadn't gone out of my way to try and get her back. I'd been sort of avoiding her actually.

"Dance with me." I imitated her in the way of not asking a question while pulling off my mask and putting it on the table next to hers.

"Why do you think I would want to dance with you?" She said, but letting me lead her to the dance floor all the same. She even said it jokingly. I wondered why she changed her mind about being mad at me…

"Because, for starters, you're wearing my colours." I grinned, pulling her in close and wrapping my arms around her waist. She looked down and looked surprised at what she was wearing.

"I hadn't noticed." But I saw something in her eyes that told me she had, on some level anyway. She then wrapped her arms around my neck and looked into my eyes. We stood like that for a while, neither of us talking, just staring into each other's eyes. We got some shocked looks from people around us, but mostly we just got a disapproving look from McGonagall because we weren't wearing our masks. There was a knowing stare behind it though, and it sort of freaked me out... I focused on Rose again as she buried her head in my shoulder, and I felt her steady heartbeat against my chest. I felt my own heart race, and I think she felt it because she lifted her head up and stared at me, a puzzling look crossing her features. Her mouth was slightly parted, and her brow furrowed. And I kissed her. She seemed surprised at first but then she kissed back with a matching force to how I kissed her. Again, I realised how much I loved her. We broke apart, our heads resting against each other's and our breathing heavy.

We stayed on the dance floor until the night ended. My hands slotted perfectly into the curves of her waist, and her head snuggled into my shoulder. When we had to leave, I held her hand and walked her back to her common room. When we reached it, she leaned back against the wall and pulled me into a kiss. It had all the intensity that we always did, but the gentleness that showed that she'd really forgiven me, and that I'd forgiven her. Neither of us had even apologised, but we had a silent agreement to forget it when I asked her to dance.

She went through her portrait hole, and when it had swung back into position I waved my wand. Then I started walking back to the Slytherin common room, smiling at the fact that she'd think of me before she went to bed.

XXXXX

ROSE WEASLEY

I walked into my dorm room, grateful to find my roommates fast asleep, and I started to get into my pyjamas. I was about to get into the bed when I saw a deep red rose on the pillow, with a note next to it that said,

"My Red Rose.

Thankyou. –S"

I felt a broad smile creep across my face as I read it, and then I placed the rose in a tall, glass vase on top of my dresser and I propped up the note beside it. I got into my bed and buried my head in my pillow, grinning at how much it reminded me of Scorpius' shoulder.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

hey guys! well I've put a lot of work into this one, and I've rewritten it a few times, but I'm happy with it now so hopefully you will be too. I hope that ScorpiusPOV bit wasn't too rushed for you guys, it's meant to be spread out over a few hours.

well you knew I was going to say 'My Red Rose' somewhere in that, and there you have it. I think I'm going to make that what he calls her a lot now, I originally just planned on it being said once and you get that moment when someone says the name of the book or something like that and you're like "OMG" and get really overexcited... or is it just me that that happens to?

thanks guys!

beccasophX