A/N: They're growing up!

Summer between 5th and 6th year – July

Scorpius was visiting the burrow for the Annual Potter-Weasley Quidditch match. The first time Scorpius had participated was the summer after 2nd year, so this would mark his 4th year participating. Time flies.

Ron Weasley almost refused to let him participate that first time in the summer after 2nd year because all he could remember was how miserable Rose was when she spent Christmas with green hair. But even Ron had begrudgingly let him participate after realizing they were short one Beater and, yes, the Malfoy kid was maybe just a little bit talented. Nowhere near as talented as his Rosie, but just talented enough to be bearable to have around. Though he would never say that aloud.

And maybe Ron didn't mind him being there in the summer after 3rd year because he was Albus's friend, and he couldn't be rude to his nephew's friend, could he?

And maybe he even asked if Scorpius was coming in the summer after 4th year because he wanted to scout out the competition for Rose and Hugo after Gryffindor lost the Quidditch finals to Slytherin the first year Scorpius was playing. He wanted to see what all the fuss was about and help his children with some countermeasures. That's all there was to it.

And maybe Ron was the one who actually reminded Albus to invite Scorpius this year, all the way back in January, just because he would begrudgingly admit that the Malfoy kid was pretty good and he wanted him on his team instead of Harry's.

But it definitely wasn't because the Malfoy kid could actually make some good conversation with him when arguing with him about Quidditch. And it wasn't because the kid always brought scones that Astoria baked herself and they just happened to be some of the best scones that Ron Weasley had ever tasted (please don't tell Hermione or his mother). And it absolutely wasn't because the kid was pretty good at Wizards Chess, a talent which his own children happened to lack.

And alas, Scorpius was there. And he was being greeted by the entire Weasley-Potter clan like an old friend. Ron may have even been one of the first to say hello.

Rose noticed that maybe this year he only grew maybe 2 cm since the last time she saw him. But his shoulders were wider and his arms were more… muscley. She ignored that part.

Rose had a new boyfriend by the name of Rowan Wood that she started dating just before the summer, and he also had wide shoulders and muscley arms. He didn't have the left-sided dimple like Collin Williams from the Chudley Cannons, but he would do.

Scorpius had also noticed Rowan Wood, the soon to be 7th year Gryffindor beater. Scorpius didn't know why he felt disappointed by his presence, but he did feel disappointed until he remembered that he was the superior beater here. In fact, Ron Weasley didn't even pick his daughter's boyfriend for his team. He picked Scorpius and James. This absolutely delighted Scorpius and made him almost forget how Rowan had his hand around Rose's waist. (He was just disgusted by the public display of affection. That is all.)

Scorpius made a quick mental note that Ron Weasley had good taste. Clearly, his daughter did not inherit this.

Rose shot a glare towards Scorpius but held in whatever insult she was going to throw his way once she realized that he was playing on her team. Then, she made an attempt to be somewhat civil. She, like her father, wanted to destroy Uncle Harry's team and wipe that smirk off of Albus' face.

When they won against Harry's team, Ron was so ecstatic he may have given Scorpius a hug. Everyone pretended not to see it.

Rose was also ecstatic and went to kiss her boyfriend, who looked ecstatic by the kiss despite his own loss. Ron yelled at her to stop but they kept kissing.

Scorpius was not ecstatic, even though he should have been.

Albus took note of all these events but kept quiet because he knew what was best for his own self-preservation.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at the Burrow with good food and good company, listening to Ron boating about his victory. Scorpius played a game of Wizard's Chess with Ron, toured James' Quidditch memorabilia collection, gave Albus a hard time about losing against him, complimented Grandma Weasley's cooking, bantered over politics with Hermione, shared a mutual grudge against the Chudley Cannons with Ginny, drank a butterbeer with Harry, and listened to the complicated love life of Lily and Roxanne.

Once it was time for Scorpius to go home, he said goodbye to the entire Potter-Weasley clan, who were all strangely sad to see him go. James even offered that Scorpius could stay in his room if he wanted to come by another time for another game, almost forgetting that Albus would have offered him anyway and that Scorpius was a Quidditch rival and he shouldn't be fraternizing with the enemy. And even Hermione Granger had packed him some leftovers from dinner to take home with him.

Scorpius ran into Rose on his way out.

"Leaving, Malfoy?"

Rose had just come out of the shower after spending some time with Rowan after the Quidditch match. Her hair was still damp, and she was only wearing a stringy tanktop and shorts that didn't seem appropriate for a family affair. That was not an image Scorpius needed, especially considering she was going back to join her boyfriend with her family.

So he pretended not to see that the fair skin on her body was less freckled than her face, except for that one small spot on the bottom of her neck. And he pretended not to notice that her lips were rosier than usual from the warmth and humidity of the shower, making them appear rather... plump. And he definitely pretended not to follow the rogue water droplet that escaped from her damp curls and made its way down her shoulder and into her cleavage.

Yeap, he didn't see a single thing.

He swallowed back any indecent thoughts because, note to teenage hormones: this is Rose Weasley and we're not allowed to have any thoughts about Rose Weasley. In fact, the moment we have any thought of that nature towards Rose Weasley, the girl will probably permanently remove our favorite appendage.

He nodded, pretending to be as nonchalant as always.

"Good." She said, "We won't be missing you."

He was surprised that her comments didn't quite have as much bite to them as usual. And her eyes were filled with more mischief than contempt. Was Rose Weasley teasing him?

And, suddenly, he lost his nonchalance again because, not only was Rose Weasley scantily clothed, but she was teasing him. Once again, note to teenage hormones: teasing is not always a prelude to some special form of physical activity. Please get your mind out of the gutter and get a hold of yourself.

He suddenly had the urge to say something to her, though he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say. Instead, he said the most normal conversational goodbye greeting that came to mind.

"I hope you have a good summer, Rose."

He hadn't meant for it to sound so soft or so warm or so friendly. He had tried to sound casual and flippant. He had obviously failed because Rose was staring at him like he grew a second head. He waited for the biting remark where she'd say something like It'll be great because you won't be here! Or It's already not good because I had to see your face.

Instead, she tilted her head to the side curiously and said, "You too, Scorpius."

And that was the first time she called him by his first name. She didn't even realize it.

But he did.

6th year – December

"Why don't you come over for Christmas, Scor?"

"I would feel bad leaving my parents."

"But you said your grandfather will be there for Christmas this year."

Scorpius groaned at the reminder.

Lucius Malfoy had decided that he wanted to be at Malfoy Manor for Christmas this year to the absolute horror of practically everyone in the house. Astoria was absolutely besides herself trying to change the house back into what Lucius would deem acceptable. She would have to hide the muggle Christmas tree and stockings she loved to put up every year and get Draco to collect the little gnomes they put in their yard. She'd also have to hide all the homey decorations, the goofy family pictures, their muggle movie collection. Thank goodness she was good with cleaning spells.

"Don't remind me. It'll be the worst Christmas ever."

Scorpius shuddered at the thought of having to exchange gifts in front of his grandfather. The magic of Christmas was already gone.

"Even worse than the one where you were throwing up slugs?"

Scorpius contemplated it for a second, remembering the taste that he had been washing out of his mouth for weeks. "Yes."

"Then come over to the Burrow for Christmas! You already come over for Quidditch in the summer! Christmas is a blast with us."

Scorpius did not doubt it. He could only imagine Grandma Weasley's fantastic cooking, the hustle and bustle of the clan running about, their yearly competition on who could make the best snowman.

The competition was something Grandpa Weasley set up once he found out that muggles make little figurines of men out of snow for Christmas (how fascinating!). Scorpius made a note that maybe Grandpa Weasley would get along with Astoria Malfoy over their shared fascination with muggle holiday décor, but that was actually too strange of a mental note to make so he tried to erase it from his brain.

"My grandma even made you a Christmas sweater this year," Albus said while pulling out an emerald green sweater with an "S" at the front. It had little reindeer horns on the front to border his initials.

Scorpius couldn't tell if it was ugly or cute, but he loved it nonetheless. He pretended to take it begrudgingly, but he didn't pretend very well because Albus saw through it completely and grinned.

"I'll think about it."

"You'll be missing out. James is going to smuggle us some spiked eggnog and firewhisky at the end of the night."

"I think I'll pass on dealing with a drunk James."

Even the thought of a drunk James Potter made Scorpius shudder. Fred and James were truly always up to no good, and Scorpius wanted to be nowhere near the two when alcohol was also clouding their judgment.

"It's fun, Scor. Even Rose got drunk enough last year that she started singing muggle Christmas carols."

Now that peaked Scorpius' interest. Rose Weasley drunk enough to sing? This could be great ammunition for the whole rest of their Hogwarts careers.

"Like I said. I'll think about it."

But he had maybe already thought about it.

He sent an owl to his parents that night.

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