„Scorp! Hey!"
Rose waved at him and hugged her friend.
„I am so glad you really came to meet up with Al, Dimi and me!"
"Is he here yet?"
"No… you can't see him, can you?", she chuckled, "but I am sure he will be here soon. He is usually a very punctual young man."
Albus nodded. "Rose is right. And he still has two minutes until it's three o'clock."
Scorpius nodded slightly and sat down next to Rose. A very punctual young man.
"Albus, would you like to come back to my house afterwards? Rose and I, we are heading of tomorrow to Italy and I thought a boy's-day would be nice. What do you think?"
"Sure, sounds good", he smiled at Scorpius and Scorpius smiled back. But only seconds later, his smile faded away as Rose jumped up and hugged Dimitri Krum. He sure looked good, Scorpius could not deny it. Dark hair, a bit longer than Scorpius', tall, a perfect physical appearance – at least Scorpius thought girls would really love the way Krum looked like. He looked perfect. Like a real gentleman, like everybody's darling. But he might still be a stupid coward, who knew? But if Rose liked him so much, he couldn't be bad or mean. And it annoyed him. It really did.
"Hi, I am Dimitri", the Bulgarian smiled, holding his hand out to Scorpius. For Rose, he thought. For Rose he wanted to be nice and friendly.
"Scorpius. Nice to meet you." He forced a smile and shook Dimitri's hand, "So, Rose told me, you are doing a trip around the world?", he asked curiously.
"Yes. I finished school last year and know I am traveling. I have already been traveling around Asia and Australia, New Zealand… Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah… pretty cool. And now you are traveling around Europe. And America afterwards?"
"Correctly. I've been to Scandinavia, Germany, the East of Europe and now I am here. And really glad I've got the time to catch up with my little Rose."
Rose laughed and cuddled Dimitri. "Don't call me that! I am not little anymore."
"Of course not. You really are a beautiful young lady now."
There were so many things which annoyed Scorpius. The way Rose looked at Dimitri, the way she ignored him – Scorpius – because she was too busy admiring Dimitri, the way she just left her friend behind for such a bloke, the way Rose laughed about the Bulgarian's jokes which weren't funny at all, the way her wonderful hazel eyes sparkled when she looked up to Dimitri. All of it annoyed Scorpius just so much. But he still tried to be nice.
"And which country did you like the most?
"England, of course. Here's where my beautiful Rose is."
Scorpius tried hard not to roll his eyes or to punch Dimitri in the face just to wipe off the smirk of his face.
Merlin, he hated him.
"And apart from England and Rose, which country?"
"I liked India. Very colourful but a very bad Quidditch national team. You know, Scorpius, you are quite young, as I can see. If you really want to impress the ladies, a world trip is always a great way to get attention."
"You know, Dimitri", Scorpius mimicked him, "I would rather impress a lady by who I am than by what countries I have seen. And I would rather travel the world to really experience a country and its culture than to have something to tell the ladies about."
"You really have a lot to learn about girls", Dimitri smirked and followed Rose out of the small café.
The day went by really slowly. As if it would never want to end.
Scorpius was glad when Dimitri finally left, after all of them took Rose home and Dimitri had a little chat with Hermione.

When he got home, he went straight up to his room and slammed the door behind him.
"Wow, Scorp! Calm down!", Albus chuckled and sat down on the sofa, "you don't like him, do you?"
"Not. At. All." The blonde let himself fall next to his friend on the sofa, "he is awful. Such a… I have no idea! I just hate him! The way he talks about his world trip, the way his voice sounds like, the way he always touched Rose's arm… no. Just no."
Albus grinned. "Sure you hate him. Because he fancies my cousin and she fancies him. Because you know she will talk about him all the time during your two weeks in Italy. Because you fancy her."
"I do not fancy your cousin, Albus. She is adorable and cute and stuff, but… Rose is too cute. Like… like a bunny, you know? People like bunnies, because they are cute, nice to look at, fluffy and adorable. But you do not want to have a bunny as a pet, because it is kind of boring, just being so cute and adorable. You want a dog or a cat, because they actually do something rather than being cute. You know I love your cousin. As a friend. And yes, maybe someday we will have sex. And maybe at some point in time I will fancy her. But I would never date her. And if I ever ever ever consider dating Rose Weasley, I make sure before I ask her, I am asking her dad, my dad and you for permission. Like a gentleman."
"Well, Scorp, that's really sweet of you. But you know my cousin is not a bunny, do you? I know, Rose is loud, all over the place, somewhat childish but she is just as powerful, fearless, awesome with animals, ambitious and loving."
"I know. But she is not the kind of girl I would date. Not now. Maybe in a year. When we both have changed a bit. But not now."
"I know what you mean. You need someone else but you are still jealous because you want her to like you, don't you?"
"Of course. But just as a friend. Please, Albus, let us chance the topic, alright?"
"Okay. But I can't talk about Dimi with you, because I like him."
Scorpius laughed. "It is alright. You do not have to. Although I really do not understand, why you like him. Or why Rose does."
"Like mother like daughter, I guess. Aunt Hermione fancied his father, now Rose fancies his son."
Scorpius sighed. "Okay. Change of topic! Do you think Rose is looking forward to going to Italy? With me? And my parents?"
"She doesn't talk about anything else than your holiday. How excited she is, how much fun it will be, how much she will enjoy it… Don't worry about it, Scorp." Albus smiled at him, "she will like it and I am sure you two will have a lot of fun together. She'll loose you up a bit and you might make her a bit more serious."
Scorpius really looked worried. What if Rose didn't like the house? What if she wouldn't get along well with his parents? What if they would fight? What if Rose and Scorpius would fight? What if it would rain? Or snow? What if Rose would really be talking about Dimitri Krum all the time? What if she would forget about Scorpius? What if Rose and Dimitri would end up dating? What if he thought about it way too much, so he would think of all the 'what ifs' rather than enjoying his holiday with Rose? There were just too many thoughts in his mind right now.
"Just make sure you don't say mean things about Dimitri."
"But I do not like him!"
"I know! Well… explain her, why you don't like him."
"Yeah, sure." He rolled his eyes, "What am I going to say? Hey Rosie. You know, I do not like your heartthrob simply because you fancy him and he fancies you and I know you will fuck."
"The moment you say fuck, Rose will know there's something wrong with you. But that's not what I meant. I meant you should explain it to her. Tell her you don't like him, because you think he is a show-off, because you think he does the world trip for wrong or weird reasons. She'll understand that and won't talk about him, I promise. I know my cousin, trust me."
"Alright then. I will try it. Thanks, Albus. You really are a true friend."