„So, we asked my brother James to do us a favor."
"And he agreed. Well, under some conditions, but nevermind."
"He is awesome at making potions, you must know, Scorpius", Albus smiled at him.
"So he brewed a bit of … guess it! Guess it, Scorp!" Rose looked at him, absolutely excited.
"I do not know?", he raised an eyebrow and looked at both of them, "what did he brew?"
"Felix Felicis!" Rose grinned at him. "And it worked! Albus and I, we both took a sip of it and persuaded Hagrid to do this!"
"Do what?"
"Well… we didn't walk fast enough for my great entrance! So you need to wait until we are behind Hagrid's hut."
She said so and smiled at Scorpius, leading him to the hut.
When they reached it, Albus and Rose continued walking to the backyard.
"Is this…? Really?"
"Yes, it is", grinned Rose at her new friend, "that's a hippogriff. I told Albus how badly you wanted to get in touch with one, so Hagrid and us, we are giving you the opportunity to do it."
" Oh Rosie… you are so, so great! Thank you!" Scorpius hugged her and even Albus. "You two really are true friends. Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome", smiled Rose, quite pleased with herself and her cousin's brilliant mind.

"And all I have to do is to look him in the eye without blinking and then I need to bow?"
"Her", Rose corrected him, "it's a female hippogriff. But yes, that is all you have to do. Sounds easy, huh?"
"It does, yes…" Scorpius nodded weakly.
"Shall Rose and I go first? But just don't take Rosie as an example. She is natural with all of those creepy, scary, dangerous creatures."
"They aren't scary and creepy! They are a bit dangerous, yes. But I love all of them! I love hippogriffs and thestrals and…"
"Wait. You can see thestrals?"
"Albus and James and Lily can, too!", she protested.
"And I always thought I was the only young person to be able to see them…"
"How come you…", Albus started to ask when Rose shushed him down.
"I'll show you." Rose squeezed Scorpius' hand lightly and bowed down in front of the hippogriff, trying to remain eye contact at all time. She waited until the hippogriff bowed, too. Happily, she walked towards the animal, stroking its feathers and its beak.
"See? She is a lovely hippogriff. Go on, Scorpius! Your go now."
She smiled at him and went back to Albus, waiting for Scorpius to do exactly what she had done before.
He was clearly nervous as hell, but he did a great job. With shaking hands, he stroked the hippogriff's beak and her feathers.
"This feels nice."
"You were fantastic, Scorp! Wasn't he, Al? Wasn't he?"
"Yes, he was great", Albus smiled, "and I think, Scorpius now deserves a treat."
"A treat?" He raised his eyebrow, "I am not a pet, you must know, Albus…"
"I know", he chuckled, "but still. Wanna show him, Rose?"
"Bloody hell, of course I want to! Hagrid? It's alright, isn't it?"
"Sure, Rosie, go ahead", Hagrid nodded. He loosened the hippogriff's reins, after Rose got on the back, holding out her hand to Scorpius.
"Come on! Get up behind me and hold on tight."
"Are you kidding me? Rose Nymphadora Weasley! You have got to be kidding me!"
She chuckled as he mentioned her second name. She has told him hers in return for him telling her his.
"I am serious. Come on, Scorp."
"Well.."
"You can trust me. I've done this so so many times…"
"Hmm…" He looked at her, his grey-blue eyes full of panic and a lot of other feelings Rose couldn't name.
Hesitantly, Scorpius sat up behind her, wrapping his arms around Rose's small waist. He held on tight and automatically closed his eyes as they got up high into the air.
"Open your eyes", he suddenly heard her voice very soft and near to his ear.
The blonde carefully looked around, starting to appreciate what he saw.
"Merlin! This is fucking amazing, Rose!"
"You're swearing, Scorp!", she laughed out loud, "you're swearing and you aren't even mad at someone! Must be my bad influence on you."
"No, it must be the view", he smiled, meaning not only the landscape beneath them. Although it was impressive as well.
They could see the lake, with so many of still undiscovered animals in it. They could see the Forbidden Forest, pupils walking around in the snow, seeming to be as tiny as ants.
"I think I spotted one of your cousins down there", he chuckled.
"I don't think so", she laughed, "it's just the sun setting down, so the red light reflects somehow. Don't know how. But doesn't it look amazing?"
"It does. So... I cannot find words to describe it." He gave Rose a kiss on the cheek and carefully watched her blushing.
"You know, you're a very smart boy, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. But you clearly have no idea how to enjoy yourself."
"Can you teach me? You and Albus. Can you two teach me how to enjoy myself, please?"
"Of course we can! Bloody hell, we are the best at teaching stuff like that! I mean, we are our fathers' children. We know all the secrets of Hogwarts. And one day, one day I'll take you to Uncle Charlie. He's in Romania, where he works as a dragonologist."
"He works with dragons? Blimy, Rosie! Your family is dangerous."
She giggled. "What did you expect?"
"I guess, I expected you to be dangerous", he chuckled and rested his chin on her shoulder.
Scorpius really enjoyed the flight. It was nice to be up in the air and much more comfortable than on the broom.
The air was cold but clear and fresh. Everything looked perfect from so high above. So calm, so peaceful. As if nothing would have ever happened to the world under him. No signs of the war anymore, nothing. Picture perfect.

"So you enjoyed it?", Albus asked Scorpius curiously as soon as the pair of them was back on the ground.
"You bet I did", he grinned at him.
"He liked it so much, he even started so swear!", Rose announced brightly.
Albus started to laugh. "So it must have been damn good for you! Well, anyway, I am heading off. I have to write my essay for Astronomy." He rolled his head and hugged Rose good-bye, waved at Scopius before he left.
"And I am going to kidnap you. To start our teaching lesson." Rose grinned at him and took him by his arm.
"And what are we going to do?"
"We grab some food in the kitchen and then we go to the Room of Requirement."
"You really love that room, am I right?", he giggled.
"Yes, I do! 'Cause it's awesome as hell!"
Scorpius laughed and put his arm around her shoulder. He didn't really think about it, it just came naturally. Rose smiled lightly.
"Have you ever been to the kitchen before?"
"No, never. I never needed to go there. I usually do not eat that much, you know."
"Yes, I know. But I want chocolate and fudge. And I am sure we can find something for you, too."

"I am so glad you enjoyed it", Rose smiled as she placed herself next to Scorpius in the sand.
"Because, frankly, I was a bit scared. Oh! By the way, your mother answered me!"
She handed him the letter and, while he was reading, got rid of some of her layers. The Room of Requirement was warm, the sun was shining and they had a small beach with a clear lake in the middle of the room.
'Dear Miss Weasley,
Thank you very much for letting us know about our son's injury. We will talk to Professor Lennod; he surely finds a way to punish the boys.
Yours sincerely, Astoria Malfoy'
"That is really nice of my mum", he smiled at her, "although I do not want them to be punished."
"Why not?"
"Well… I think you and I, we could punish them better and with less negative effect for me than Professor Lennod."
"Oh! Was that just Scorpius Malfoy suggesting getting revenge at assholes?" Rose chuckled and took a bite of her chocolate fudge.
"Well… sounds pretty good, if you ask me. Albus'll help us, I guess. And I got the perfect idea! But the problem is, they will already be in trouble, Professor Lennod doesn't hesitate. So we need to wait for another opportunity to pay them back. And as cruel as it might seem, I guess they are going to pay you back for telling them off."
Scorpius nodded. "I am sure, you are right. Sad but true. And I do not want to know what they are going to do next. Sending Bludgers after me and hexing away the bones in both of my arms was not as nice as it might sound", he muttered sarcastically.
She glanced at him, and then started to laugh. "You know, Scorp, you are so bloody funny! You really are! I love being around you, I sure do." Rose shook her head, still laughing.
"Well, I am glad my pain and anger amuse you, young lady."
"See? You're awfully funny! Did you know that farmers try to raise chicken without feathers? It's easier to kill them without the feathers. Good thing I don't eat meat, isn't it."
"How…" He shook his head. It was better not to ask why she came up with this sort of random fact about chicken. Too confusing. Just like Rose herself. Too damn confusing.
"You are vegetarian?"
"Yes I am. But I love chocolate! And Uncle Charlie told me, as a vegetarian, I can't work in Romania. They have hardly any there, so there isn't much food for vegetarians, unlike in England. I love Quorn! It's brilliant and tastes just like meat."
"What is Quorn?"
"Well… fungi. Yeah, I think you could say that. If you visit me over Easter, I'll cook a meal with Quorn for you. Because Dad said that you are very welcome to visit us. What do you say? Do you come to spend a few days with me and my family? Albus will come, too!", she quickly added after noticing the doubt in his eyes. They gave away so much. Like an open book. Sometimes Rose wasn't sure what exactly his eyes were saying but she wasn't that bad at guessing it.
"I am sure you would like it. We have a pool. Does that change your mind about it?"
"No, not really. A pool is not that tempting for me", he chuckled, "I have to ask my father and my mother first. I promise you, I will write them a letter, okay? This evening, as soon as I am back in my dormitory."
"Oh, that would be wonderful! Mum will love to get to know you! And Daddy said, as long as you can keep me happy, he's fine with it. See? No hate, just a lot of tolerance. Will be the same with your parents, I suppose."
"I hope so."