Thanks once again to everyone who reviewed or favourited this story! You guys are the best.
One more chapter to go! ~ Louisam
This was turning into one of the best days of his life, Scorpius decided as he looked around the Ravenclaw common-room at the happy chaos that surrounded him. There was nothing like winning at Quidditch, absolutely nothing in the world that gave you that high.
Except, of course, seeing Rose, which these days was giving him as much of a thrill as soaring through the sky at top speed on a broom. When he hadn't seen her at the Quidditch match that afternoon, he'd been a bit rattled, wondering where she had gotten to, and his concentration had been off for a while as he kept checking the stands for her. When he eventually saw her, waving at him and wearing his scarf, his heart had lifted and he'd gotten his confidence back.
However, the "grand romantic gesture" of handing her the Snitch had required almost more courage than he could muster, and for a second there he'd nearly backed out. But seeing the radiant smile on her face had made it all worth it, although he'd had to thump Mark for calling him 'Romeo' Malfoy, whatever that meant. He was pretty sure it wasn't a compliment.
Scorpius glanced at his watch, seeing that it was nearly seven, and started to move towards the portrait hole so he could meet Rose and her friends to let them in. He figured that Albus deserved an invitation, because it was his tip about Argyle that had allowed his Chasers to put extra points on the board, and then he added Beth because if Potter was after her, this might be the time, and he owed him one.
The portrait hole suddenly opened as a pair of Ravenclaws made their way out, and in walked Potter, Beth and ... Rose. Scorpius's jaw dropped and his vision darkened down to a tunnel that revealed only her at the end of it. Not only did she look prettier than ever, with her red, curly hair loose and swept in a side parting, her blue eyes enormous with a slight lick of mascara and her pink lips glossy, but she was wearing... Scorpius swallowed hard... a pair of jeans showing off endless legs, his Ravenclaw jersey, with – by the looks of it – not much underneath.
The jumper was far too big for her, and the point of the v-neck dropped deliciously low between her breasts, and he found himself gaping at the hint of creamy cleavage it exposed. She'd rolled the sleeves up to her elbows, and the neckline kept slipping slightly off her shoulder, exposing a glimpse of lacy black bra strap and an expanse of pale, lightly freckled skin. He had never in his life seen anything so sexy, and for a second he was paralysed into place.
"Bugger me," muttered Mark, who was leering at Rose. "I knew Weasley was attractive, but damn, she is the finest thing in the room right now."
Scorpius ignored this pearl of wisdom and stepped over a lurking footstool to head towards the group of Gryffindors. Somewhere between that point and his arrival in front of Rose, Albus turned to shake hands with Andrew Boot and Beth was laughing with Jennifer Corner, so he found himself standing before Rose alone.
"Er... hi there," he said nervously. He twisted his hands together; he could feel them shaking and he didn't want her to notice.
Rose smiled so beautifully at him his heart turned in his chest. "Oh, Scorpius – congratulations! That was a brilliant match today!" she said, and threw her arms around his neck. He scooped her into his arms, and felt fantastic softness pressing against him in all the right places – I keep forgetting how tall she is ... the top of her head almost reaches my nose – and inhaled her intoxicating vanilla scent. She hugged him for a fraction longer than was just friendly, and pulled away slightly to look up into his eyes. The world seemed to shrink down to just the two of them.
"And thank you for my present – that's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"You're welcome," he choked out, and for a second considered kissing her, but then remembered that they were in the middle of a rowdy crowd when a cheer erupted from the other side of the room where a group was playing Butterbeer Pong. He let her go reluctantly, and she stepped back, looking a little disappointed.
"Oi, Weasley – you're so hot you should come with a warning label," shouted Mark from across the room. Rose went bright red, but started laughing.
"He's subtle, isn't he?" she giggled.
"As a sledgehammer. Just ignore him... although he's absolutely right," said Scorpius honestly, watching for her reaction out of the corner of his eye. "You look fantastic."
"Too much?" she smiled, fingering the sleeve of the jersey, and leaning against him. She's actually flirting with me!
"Not at all," he said, taking the plunge and sliding an arm around her. "In fact..."
"In fact, I think that's Scorpius's jumper, and you need to return it, Miss Gryffindor," said Mark, arriving on the scene with bottles of Butterbeer and handing them around. "Right now, I reckon – we can only take inter-house unity so far!" He winked at her, and she regarded him levelly over the neck of the bottle after taking a sip.
"Right now?" she queried, raising one eyebrow and smiling innocently at him. "Well, if you insist..."
She passed the bottle back to Mark and made as if to grasp the bottom of the jersey to pull it over her head, but Scorpius was too quick for her. Stepping behind her and sliding his arms around her waist, he grabbed both her hands and laced his fingers through them, holding them in place and pulling her body flush back against his.
"Not a chance," he growled possessively.
Mark burst out laughing. "For your eyes only, Scorpius?"
Scorpius felt Rose's body relax against his, and her fingers grip his own as she pulled his arms tighter around her. "You're damn right – now sod off and find a girl of your own," he suggested, frowning.
Mark, who had a hide as thick as a rhinoceros, took this with a shrug and a laugh, and wandered off, saying "you can thank me later, mate," as he headed towards Beth.
Realising what he'd just suggested, Scorpius felt himself go red-hot with embarrassment and held Rose with her back against him so she couldn't see. "Uh, Rose... you know I didn't mean... you're not my property, I just..."
Rose just laughed and turned in the circle of his arms, slipping her arms around his waist. "It's OK, Scorpius ... I know what you meant," she said, and then leaned up to whisper in his ear. "I wouldn't have a problem with it if you did mean it that way, you know."
Goosebumps erupted across his neck and he gazed down at her, almost drowning in the intensity of her eyes. "Do you want to get out of here?" he said suddenly, desperate to get her alone. "We can go to the Room – I don't want to be with anyone else tonight, just you."
"But you're the star of the show – you can't leave your own party now... can you?" Rose sounded hopeful.
"I can see this lot any time," said Scorpius firmly, only letting go of her to take her hand. "Let's go."
As Scorpius led her out of the Ravenclaw common-room, Rose could feel butterflies churning in her stomach and she clutched at his hand fervently. Her heart was beating so fast that all she could hear was her own pulse, roaring in her ears. He does like me ... more than that, he WANTS me, she thought, unable to stop herself from smiling. Although she wasn't experienced with boys, the look in his eyes when he'd seen her arrive at the party was unmistakable – pure desire. And the jealousy and protectiveness he'd displayed when Mark was teasing her had taken her breath right away.
She hadn't been sure about wearing just the Ravenclaw jumper with her jeans, but Beth had persuaded her that if she wanted to nudge things in the right direction, this would definitely do it. And Albus's comment ("Planning to get snogged tonight, Rosie?") had earned him both a punch on the arm and a laugh, because that was exactly what she had in mind.
They were only a few steps away from the common-room, heading towards the stairs that would take them to the seventh floor, when Scorpius hesitated. "Rose, I... " he began, and she panicked.
Oh no, he's starting to rethink this! she thought frantically. "Do you want to go back?"
"God, no!" said Scorpius, startled. "I just... I just wanted to say that if you don't want to leave, we don't have to – I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to come with me, or ... " With that, he ran out of words and just stood there, holding her hand and staring down at her.
"You're not," Rose said softly, turning to face him. "I want to be alone with you too." And using every ounce of Gryffindor courage she had, she wove her arms around her neck, and moved her mouth slowly towards his.
Scorpius met her halfway with alacrity, and the second their lips met she felt a sizzle of electricity run down her spine. The kiss was soft, exploratory, and set her nerve endings on fire. She ran her fingers up the back of his neck and let them tangle in his hair, and she felt goosebumps erupt on his neck. And then the kiss wasn't so gentle anymore – he slanted his mouth firmly against hers and she felt his tongue flick out against her lower lip. Opening her mouth to touch her tongue against his, she felt him pull her more fully against him and warmth pooled in her lower abdomen.
Too soon, Scorpius pulled away, breathing deeply, and leaned his forehead against hers. "Let's go – I want you all to myself," he whispered, and with another quick, burning kiss he turned, slipping his arm around her waist, and led her away.
As it turned out, they couldn't make it to the Room of Requirement without more snogging. They kissed in the stairwell on the way down to the seventh floor. They kissed behind a suit of armour next to the Charms classroom. They kissed in the alcove next to the Library, and once again at the entrance to the corridor where the Room was situated. By that stage, Rose was flushed pink and literally couldn't wait to get Scorpius alone. He seemed to feel exactly the same way, for he had initiated at least half of the snogging and was getting a case of seriously wandering hands.
After walking backwards and forwards three times (with a quick kiss at each end), the door to the Room appeared and Rose grasped the handle. Scorpius pulled her back.
"What is it?" she asked, feeling nervous again. "Oh – you don't want to go in."
"No, I really do, but I just want you to be aware that the Room might not look the same as last time – you've been distracting me so much I wasn't concentrating on studying," said Scorpius, not meeting her eye. "Who knows what it's come up with."
"So, like a bed, or something?" Rose giggled at his discomfiture.
Scorpius went red. "Or something," he agreed, corners of his mouth twitching.
She raised one eyebrow. "Well, let's see, shall we?" Teasingly, she slowly opened the door and peered around the edge.
"Well?" asked Scorpius, who had his hand over his eyes.
"You naughty boy, Scorpius – there are red satin sheets on a big circular bed, and ... oh my God, are those massage oils?"
"No way!" He pushed the door wide open, appalled, and was met with the sight of their normal study room, complete with roaring fire.
Rose couldn't contain her mirth any longer and burst out laughing. "Got you!" she chortled.
He stared at her with his mouth open. "You really are related to James and Fred, aren't you? So, so evil."
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Clearly not, but I fully intend to find out." And with that, he hoisted her in a fireman's lift over his shoulder and carried her kicking and shrieking with laughter into the room. He kicked the door shut behind him, and then strode over to the couch where he dumped her unceremoniously on her back.
Giggling, Rose looked up at him as he stood laughing over her, his teeth very white in the dim light. His blond hair was messy and falling over his eyes, and dressed in jeans and a plain black T-shirt, his shoulders looked very broad. Merlin... what is a gorgeous boy like this doing with someone like me? she thought, suddenly feeling insecure. But those thoughts were swept away when he sat down next to her, and his eyes flicked downwards to a strip of pale skin on her stomach that had been exposed where the Ravenclaw sweater had ridden up. Scorpius looked steadily at her, and that look of desire she'd seen when he first saw her in his jumper was back in his eyes.
He slowly leaned in to brush his mouth against hers. Sighing in satisfaction, Rose put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer, and he responded enthusiastically while stretching out next to her on the couch. As his mouth explored hers, Rose's mind went blank of everything but him. He tasted of Butterbeer, and the scent of his earthy cologne filled her senses. Wanting to feel Scorpius even closer, she slid a little further down the couch and rolled him until he was lying half on top of her.
He groaned in appreciation, and left her mouth to trail warm kisses down her jaw and onto her neck. Rose gasped as he sucked a sensitive point at the junction of her throat and collarbone, and couldn't help it when her hips moved instinctively against him because of the sensation his kiss had produced. Scorpius groaned again, deeper this time, and his hand trailed to where the soft skin of her abdomen was exposed. As he slid his fingers along it, Rose returned the favour by slipping her own hands under the hem of his t-shirt and caressing his lower back. And exactly as she had imagined it, his skin was taut and warm, and she could feel the play of the muscles as he moved. Unable to help herself, she traced the deep path of his spine further up his back, caressing the hard ridges of muscle on either side.
Scorpius shifted over slightly until he was lying completely on top of her and went back to kissing her mouth, and now she could clearly feel the evidence of his arousal as it pressed firmly against her inner thigh. Feeling utterly desirable and very turned on, Rose kissed him back hard, sucking at his lower lip and tangling her tongue with this. She kicked off her flat black pumps, then bent her right knee and slowly dragged her instep up against his calf, feeling his sharp intake of breath as his chest hitched against hers. In the back of her mind, a small voice that sounded suspiciously like her mother's was telling her to slow down, this was moving too quickly, but she tamped it down.
Suddenly, Scorpius broke off kissing her and pulled back slightly to look at her.
"Is everything OK?" she whispered, worried that she'd done something wrong, or worse, that she was a terrible kisser.
"It's perfect... like you," he whispered back, looking into her eyes intently. "You're beautiful, Rose. I'm so lucky."
"You're sweet ... but you don't have to say that, I know I'm not..." she trailed off as he put one hand gently over her mouth.
"You are, you're gorgeous," Scorpius insisted gently. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I haven't been able to get you out of my head since our first night here."
"Me either, but I thought you only wanted to be friends."
Scorpius snorted and pushed himself up a bit on his arms so he could look at her. "You wouldn't say that if you knew the terrible things I've been wanting to do to you. Anyway, I thought you just wanted to be friends too."
Rose reached up to brush the hair from his eyes. "So it looks like we've had a bit of a misunderstanding," she said, grinning. "We've wasted the last few days – let's not waste any more time, yeah?"