Chapter 21- Sway
The Great Hall was even more striking than usual with twinkling lights sprinkled all over, combining with the light from the stars above the Seventh year's heads to cast a soft silver glow around them. Scarlet and gold banners were still hanging proudly from the walls; Gryffindor had been declared as the House Cup victors of 2024 earlier that day.

As she stepped into the hall Rose was taken aback with the brilliance of it all over again. She felt like a flummoxed first year just before the Sorting ceremony, unable to believe that a place this beautiful could possibly be their school for the next seven years. Seven years that go much quicker than you'd think.

There were over fourty people present, including several Professors, and she was one of the last to arrive. Dom had insisted they get themselves ready at least a few hours before seven o'clock, the starting hour after the End-of-Term Feast, and they'd left the dormitory at quarter to seven in their fancy attire, only for Hugo to 'bump' into Rose on the staircase and insist on taking numerous photographs of her, telling her friends to carry on without her. He forced his sister to model for a ridiculous amount of pictures, including some ridiculous actions and poses, which Rose had to endure with impatience.

"Mum and Dad made me promise," he grumbled under his breath. "Although, I amgetting a good pay for this. You look really pretty, by the way, Rosie."

"Aw, thank you, hun," she beamed, throwing her arms around her brother (who was even taller than she was) and giving him a squeeze.

"Don't call me that," he whined, but he hugged her back just as tightly.

And so, as she tentatively entered the Great Hall, she realised that she was late and had no idea where her friends had got to. Stupidly, she had forgotten to make plans with Scorpius of where to meet, but she was in luck. She soon spotted him standing in the far corner of the hall with a smile on his face, watching Al and Lara dancing slowly together in the centre of the room, completely caught up with each other. How the teachers hadn't noticed Lara yet, Rose had no clue, as she was only a fifth year. Maybe they just didn't care. Rose certainly didn't mind. She'd never seen Al in such a smart get-up - he'd obviously made a conscious effort for Lara.

After a mere few seconds Scorpius' gaze slid over to meet hers, his smile slowly melting off his face as he looked at her. That's a good sign, right?She couldn't hold back the heat rising in her cheeks.

And then he was crossing the room towards her, pushing through the hectic crowd between them whilst Rose stood there feeling a little awkward, heart starting to pump faster as she inspected her well-manicured nails (Dom's handiwork). She pressed her lips together to hold back the grin that was forming. How overly-eager would she look, stood there grinning at him like a desperate idiot while he looked so serious?

But it was a completely different voice that first approached her – not her favourite warm and friendly one, whose sound never failed to fill her tummy with tumultuous butterflies – but one she hadn't heard in quite some time.

"Hey."

She looked up with confusion written all over her face. "Oh, hi Fabian."

"You look nice. Do you want to dance for a minute?" he asked quietly, giving his messy brown hair a scratch. She glanced over at where Scorpius had been a moment earlier, but he was lost in the crowd. Without waiting for an answer, Fabian took Rose's hand gingerly in his own and pulled her towards the throng of swaying figures. Rose was speechless with shock, caught off-guard, not knowing what to make of it.

It felt so wrong, being so close to Fabian again, like she was betraying Lizzie, Scorpius… herself. After a pause filled with discomfort at having his hands on her waist, so close to her, she asked him with a degree of caution, "so, where's Lizzie?"

"Over there," he replied, jerking his head towards the snack table where Lizzie was deep in conversation, a Butterbeer in her hand. His gaze lingered on what Rose guessed was Lizzie. "She's stunning, isn't she?"

Looking over at her best friend, Rose replied happily, "Yeah. Yeah, she is." She looked back at Fabian to observe his expression: he appeared completely captivated. "I'm glad you're happy together." He smiled in return but his eyes were still rested on Lizzie.

Elizabeth Martin had never had much luck with boys at Hogwarts, and Rose was delighted that she had finally found someone that honestly appreciated her for who she was, despite the hardly desirable circumstances in which they got together. She deserved it more than anyone, in Rose's opinion.

Rose counted five slow seconds in her head before she said, "So, why are you gawking at her when you could be dancing with her? What's up?"

"I dunno… nothing really. I guess I just wanted to say goodbye properly, get it over with. I hate goodbyes," he admitted, slightly bashful. "I wasn't sure if I'd have another chance to see you before we leave Hogwarts."

"Oh… well, that's sweet," she grinned. "Um, bye, then!"

He shook his head at her, chuckling. "What are your plans for after the summer?"

"I'm keeping my options open. Might apply for a job at the Ministry or something, but it depends on my NEWT grades really. How about you?"

He seemed to stand a little straighter as he replied, "I'm working as an intern at Dominic Maestro's music shop in Hogsmeade, and I also have a slot every Friday night to perform at the Three Broomsticks. You can, er, come to watch me if you want."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Wow! Sounds like you've got everything all planned out." Her voice squeaked at the end. Clearing her throat, she quickly decided now was not the time to fret about her own future.

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck and avoided looking her in the eye, but she saw a little smile playing at his lips.

"That's so great, Fabian. I'm really pleased for you."

He muttered his thanks in embarrassment and she smiled up at him. "Are you going round saying a proper goodbye to everyone, then?"

With a shake of his head, causing dark chunks of hair to flop onto his face, he replied, "Nah, not everyone. Just the important people."

"Important? I'm that important to you?" she asked, face displaying genuine surprise.

"Well, sure. You're my friend, and my girlfriend's best friend, and you were, well, my first kiss, so…" he blushed deeply. Rose, although flattered by the compliment, had a feeling he hadn't meant for that last bit to slip out.

Her lips parted slightly. His first kiss! She couldn't believe it. He was such a sweet, good-looking boy; surely there'd been more girls before her?

"I was your first kiss?" she asked softly.

He nodded once and suddenly became interested in something behind her head.

"That is so cute!" His face was the reddest Rose had ever seen it; she sympathized with him and decided to let the subject drop, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable, but before she could even think of what to say next they were interrupted.

"Excuse me," interjected Scorpius, overly-polite, cutting in between the two of them. He looked Fabian in the eye, daring him to defy. "Do you mind if I take my girlfriend from you now?"

Up close and personal, Rose confessed (only to herself, of course- an inflated ego was never a good thing) that Scorpius looked even better than he did from the other side of the hall. She bit her bottom lip as she looked him over.

Although Fabian looked a bit startled, he quickly responded with, "I – of course not. She's all yours."

Momentary understanding or an agreement of some sort seemed to pass between the two boys. Rose sensed a kind of tension in the air – silly boys, she thought with a roll of her eyes – and decided to intervene before they were stood there like that for the next century.

"Well, I guess you can let go of me now," Rose hinted, attempting to pry Fabian's arms off of her.

"Oh, uh, right," he muttered and moved away from her, triggering a small sigh of relief from both Scorpius and Rose. "Sorry."

"That's alright. See ya, Fabian." She offered him a benevolent smile before turning to her impatient boyfriend.

"See you," Fabian replied, but she did not hear him; his voice was lost in the pulsing beat of the music.

When she turned back she was greeted with Scorpius looking down at her intently, studying every detail of her face as if trying to memorize each feature. Self-conscious, she wasn't exactly sure how to react, so she decided to do the same to him. Expensive black-and-white dress robes, blonde hair artfully styled and what she could only describe as searing grey eyes… to Rose, he was without a doubt the best-looking person in the room.

Without warning, he reached a hand out and touched her chin, tilting her face upwards, prompting a small gasp of surprise from her at the contact. When he spoke, his voice was warmer than she had ever heard it. "Rose, you look…"

There was a long, pregnant pause.

"I look what?" she prodded, batting her long lashes and tucking a loose strand of copper hair behind her ear.

"I can't find the right word… um… pulchritudinous," he finally said with a slight smile. Rose raised an eyebrow. "I've always wanted to use that word in a sentence. And it's true."

"Erm… is that a compliment?" she asked unsurely. It didn't sound very pleasant.

"Of course. It means you're very beautiful."

And she felt like it, too. "Thanks," she breathed, suddenly feeling shy. "Looking rather, er, pulchritudinous yourself."

"Thanks," he grinned, eyes sparkling cheekily. Sliding an arm around her waist, he enquired in a voice barely above a whisper, "Would you like to dance, Miss Weasley? I never got the chance to dance with you at the last ball, if I recall correctly."

"But wouldn't you rather dance with- oh, I don't know, Poppy Parkinson? Or Scarlett Bell, perhaps?" she teased, mirroring his tone.

They glanced over to where Poppy was dancing animatedly nearby wearing a tight-fitted black dress, surrounded by not one, not two, but three males, all of whom were dancing like Flobberworms on steroids around her.

Scorpius shook his head, causing a piece of hair to fall in his eyes. "I learn from my mistakes, Rose," he said in a soft voice. "I'm not letting my opportunity pass by again."

Rose smiled. She laced her fingers through his and let him take her waist. They slowly revolved on the spot, hands entwined and eyes locked together.

"Not so bad, is it, dancing with a – what was it Dom used to call me… a slimy Slytherin Malfoy git? Merlin, that's a bit of a mouthful," he said after a few minutes of dancing, with a wink.

"Not at all. You're a surprisingly good dancer." As she looked into his smiling eyes, she realised she couldn't remember the last time she'd been this happy and untroubled. Perhaps after she'd received her brilliant OWL results two summers ago, or the times she and her family went on holiday together, or the other day when Scorpius finally asked her out…

"We're being awfully mushy, you know," Rose mused out loud, trying to hold back a laugh. "It must be quite a disgusting sight."

She wasn't particularly bothered by what people around her were thinking, though; she would have been perfectly content staying in that moment forever.

Smirking mischievously, he pulled her closer so that her head was hovering by his shoulder and gave the top of her head a kiss, lingering there to inhale the scent of her hair.

"Mm, you smell so good," he murmured.

"You sound like a bloody vampire," she answered distractedly, heart beating faster, as Scorpius had begun pressing delicate kisses against her skin: beside her eyelid, her cheek, and along her jawline.

"Scorp," she whispered hurriedly as his wandering lips continued down her neck, "we're in the middle of a room full of people. There are probably Professors watching."

She coloured at the thought. He grunted in response.

"Scorp," she said with more urgency, although she was finding that her concentration was waning with every passing second.

"Stop worrying. Do you want to go somewhere a bit more private?" Scorpius muttered into her ear.

Knowing her voice would come out awfully squeaky if she spoke, Rose settled for a brief nod and let Scorpius lead her out of the crowded Great Hall and outside the castle's front doors to a small opening behind some shrubberies.

Someone's a little eager, she thought mirthfully, as he wasted no time in wrapping an arm around her lower back and pulling her close, kissing her with a surprising force. Responding eagerly, she bit down on his lip and he let out a low moan.

She was winding her hands into his hair and pressing herself tighter against him when he suddenly said, voice raspy, "do you hear that?"

Rose held her breath and strained her ears, but was met only with silence.

"I don't hear –"

Scorpius yanked back a branch that was shielding them from view to reveal Bertie McGee, whose face was partly concealed by a large black camera.

"Say cheese!"

The flash was blinding.

"What the..?" Rose muttered, disoriented, with her arms still draped possessively round Scorpius's neck, his arm still holding her waist.

"What a great photo that'll make for the yearbook! Cheers guys!" Bertie exclaimed before scampering off to hunt down his next victims.

Since when was there a Hogwarts yearbook?was Rose's first thought. She certainly wasn't looking forward to seeing what other dreadful pictures of her Bertie could dig out.

"No! Bertie, wait!" she called after him, but to no avail. She groaned. "Oh, Merlin. Thisis how our classmates are going to remember me!"

"At least they'll remember your impeccable taste in men," Scorpius remarked.

She slapped him lightly on the chest and, after a short while of finishing off what they had started, they returned to the hall as inconspicuously as possible to get some drinks before resuming dancing. Luckily they were just in time for the hugely anticipated performance of one of Britain's most famous Wizarding pop bands.

Dom passed Rose and Scorpius on several occasions with a different person hanging on her arm each time, even though she had come to the prom with, surprisingly, Lorcan Scamander, as she thought he 'deserves another chance'.

"Some people never change," Rose reflected to Scorpius with a dramatic sigh, flicking her head in her cousin's direction with a smile.

Towards the end of the evening the Head Boy and Head Girl made brief speeches about how much they had loved being the Heads and how they'd miss everyone. Afterwards, the teachers went round wishing the students luck in their future careers. Rose had a long discussion with her favourite Professor, Flitwick, and even Professor Wright cheerily offered her his congratulations and slipped a packet of Muggle Haribo Starmix into her purse.

All in all, it was one of the best nights Rose had ever had. Never had she laughed so much in one evening. She honestly couldn't imagine how it could possibly have gone any better, and it was without a doubt an improvement on the last ball she had attended a few months earlier.

A/N: Fluff overload :P 1 chapter left methinks :) Thanks so much for reading! And thanks for the lovely reviews last chapter! You guys are the best :3

Disclaimer: I do not own Haribo, although I wish I did. They are yummy.