*Unedited*
..."I knew it!" Sounded the familiar voice of a very familiar Lily Potter
Scorpius and Rose froze the minute they heard Lily's voice. Both of them prayed that she was talking about knowing something else. Fat chance. Said the voice which resided at the back of both their heads. Rose wanted to be like an ostrich and stick her head into the ground so that she wouldn't have to face Lily.
So much for lying will work perfectly. The voice said again and Rose told it to shut up. Lily approached them and said, "What the hell is going on here?!"
"Um..." Scorpius trailed off, glancing at Rose, waiting for her. But Rose was still thinking about the advantages that ostriches had. Finally he said, "Well, I told Rose that I had a mouth ulcer so-"
"She snogged you to find out if you were telling the truth?" Lily said, giving him a flat look of plain disbelief.
"Well, to be honest, there was no tongue so-"
"By Merlin's Most Baggy Y Fronts! I don't want details, Malfoy!" Lily half-shouted, covering her ears immediately. This action snapped Rose out of her daydream and she said, "Lily calm down! Nothing's going on between us! It was just an accidental kiss! That's all!"
"Don't you lie to me, Rose Weasley!"
"I'm not lying! We've been doing on-and-off kisses a lot lately! It's all friendly! I swear!" Rose said, trying to create a guilt-free face. Lily searched her face through narrowed eyes. Rose sighed and said, "Seriously, Lil. We're just friends."
"With benefits." Scorpius murmured next to her so that only Rose heard. She bit back a smile but her eyes lit up with amusement. Thankfully, Lily didn't notice. Finally Lily said, "Fine. I believe you. But I'd rather not see you two snogging all over the place if you want to pretend that you're 'just friends'." Rose rolled her eyes and said, "We're not pretending. We are just friends."
"With- oof!" Rose elbowed him before he could finish. He threw her a dirty look but didn't say anything, knowing that he had deserved it. Lily nodded and then went forward and hugged Rose, whispering into her ear, "I wouldn't mind if you got together." Rose couldn't hold back the smile that was forming on her face. Lily pulled away, smiled at her and said, "Okay, I have to go back because Roxanne will kill me for not working on my OWLs. She really needs to calm down. They're just exams! Am I rambling? I think I'm rambling. So I'm going to go now and leave you two to your...business." She struggled for the right word for a few seconds. Rose and Scorpius hid a smile each and nodded in understanding. She gave them both a bright smile and then turned around and left. They stood there staring at her retreating figure until Scorpius finally said, "Shall we?" And offered her his arm.
"We shall." Rose replied, taking the crook of his elbow and letting him lead the way to the common room.
Once inside, they sat down to finish their incomplete homework. Only, they couldn't concentrate. They kept trying to write but would keep sneaking glances at each other and often caught the other glancing. Finally Rose put down her quill and said, "This is a disaster."
"Tell me about it." Scorpius said, glad to put down his quill too. The only word he had written so far was 'The' to start the next sentence (which remained incomplete). Rose had written a single letter— 'A'— as the start of a sentence.
"So are we going to pretend to be 'just friends'?" Rose asked, after a pause.
"I don't see why we have to do that. I really don't understand."
"Because, Scorpius. It's us. It's a Weasley and a Malfoy. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin. Al would flip if he saw us and I shudder to think what James would do."
"What about your brother?"
"Hugo? Hugo hopefully won't tell my parents."
"We have to hide it from our parents?"
"Um..."
"Rose Weasley..." Scorpius tried in vain to sound threatening. But it did make Rose laugh. She said, "Calm down, Scorpius. It hasn't even been a day. If we last—"
"Which we will." Scorpius interjected.
"— we'll tell them. We first need to see where this goes."
"Okay." Scorpius said dejectedly.
"You don't need to sound so upset about it. After all, wasn't it you who said that we were, and I quote, 'friends with benefits'?" She smiled teasingly and Scorpius mimed her speaking manner, rolling his eyes and opening his mouth wider than necessary. Rose laughed and said, "Well you did say it!"
"But I didn't mean it!"
"Of course you didn't." Rose said, still laughing. She got up from the floor and shifted to the sofa, lying down across it. Scorpius was sitting against it and even then he was tall enough to kiss her. He grinned and leaned in, about to kiss her when—
"By Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts! Stop!"
"Don't you people ever knock?" Scorpius muttered under his breath when he heard Hugo's voice. Rose looked up, frozen. Hugo was staring at her, flabbergasted.
"Hey, Hugo. Long time no see. Would you like something? Water maybe? Or a knife to kill yourself?" Rose said and Scorpius couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not because of how sincere she sounded.
"What? How? What? When? What?" Hugo finally sputtered and Rose looked relieved that he still had the ability to speak. She got off the sofa and went to Hugo, obliging Scorpius to follow. He stood behind her and she told Hugo what she had told Lily: It was nothing serious. It was just on-and-off kissing. Scorpius didn't even interject with the "with benefits" part while she spoke. Hugo was who he considered to be Rose's family (since he was immediate family). Lily, according to Scorpius, was just...there.
Maybe you should be "just friends" the voice at the back of his head suggested.
With benefits?
No, no. Just friends. Literally. Without kissing or anything. It would make the whole thing a lot simpler. And it would mean fewer lies.
But the lying is worth it. I mean, it's Rose! How often do you meet a person as Rose as her!
I cannot believe you just turned her name into a adjective.
And I cannot believe that I'm basically talking to myself.
Hey, that's your fault. It's a push and pull.
Then shut up and go back to your corner. Scorpius said to it and then tuned back into Rose and Hugo's conversation. But what the voice said still haunted him... "the whole thing a lot simpler." As much as he hated to admit it, the voice was right. It would be.
But the point is not about it being easy. It's about meeting speed breakers and driving over them no matter how much it damages your car. At the end of the day, it'll be worth it. Trust me. The voice said, making Scorpius sigh with frustration.
You are so bipolar. He said to the voice and realised that Rose was saying bye to Hugo. Once Hugo had left, he turned to Rose and said, "What did you talk about?"
"Are you actually joking? You were right there! How did you not hear anything!"
"Zoned out."
"Well I told him that we were just casual. Nothing serious. And that he shouldn't worry about anything since we won't be snogging again. It almost happened just that once." Rose explained and went and lay back down on the sofa. Scorpius sat on the carpet at her head, leaning against the sofa. He said, "Just casual huh?"
"Do you have a problem with being just casual?"
"No." Scorpius said in a very unconvincing tone. Rose propped her head up on one hand, her elbow digging into the cushion. She lay on her side and said, "You're upset. What's wrong?"
"Well I thought that we were more than...casual."
"Wasn't it you who wanted to be, and I quote, 'friends with benefits'?" Rose teased and Scorpius reddened slightly.
"Well..." he started but didn't say anything. Rose rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair, saying, "You're so cute."
"You know, if we were just casual, you wouldn't say that." He said, grinning.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Scorpius. Whatever helps you sleep at night." She said, laughing and jumping off the couch, going to the staircase leading to her room. Scorpius looked at her and said, "Leaving so soon?"
"You're welcome to join me, if you like." She said, grinning.
"I'll take you up on that offer." He said, following her and reaching her in a few long strides. Immediately Rose put a hand on his chest and pushed him back, saying, "No. Scorpius I'm sorry but we haven't even gone out yet. All we've done is kiss. I'm not letting you into my room. Much less my bed. I'm sorry." She added the apology in a softer tone. And by the look on his face, she knew he had understood and, possibly, agreed with her. They weren't going to go there. They definitely weren't ready. Scorpius nodded and said, "I know."
"Good night then?" Although it was meant to be a statement, it came out as a question. Scorpius gently pressed his lips against hers and they kissed for a few moments before she broke the kiss and said, "By Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts, Scorpius. That was amazing."
"Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts. Is that our thing now?"
"Only if you want it to be."
"It sounds like the best couple thing ever."
"Well it's our thing now. And we're a couple?"
"We'll find out, won't we? After the first date?"
"After the first date." Rose agreed and they said goodnight again before going to their respective bedrooms.
