"What the hell, Scorpius! Are you out of your mind?"

The blond boy just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his scone.

"Tell me this is some kind of joke, please. You can't be serious! Fuck, Scorpius! I swear to Merlin, if this is just a game to you, I will kill you with my bare hands! I swear it. I am serious."

"I know you are. But just with your second name."

"Scorp! Shut up, okay? I am so mad at you!"

"Why?"

"Because you're playing games with her. She's really into you, Merlin knows why!"

"Why thank you, James Potter. You are really flattering."

"You know what I mean! I thought you were in love with Rose! Hell, Scorp! Leave her alone and try to get my cousin."

"Funny, but it turned out that my affection for Rose was not as strong as I thought. "

"You talk about this as if it would be a piece of cake, fucking easy-peasy, but it's not! It's a serious issue!"

"Look, James." Scorpius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. During the summer holidays, Scorp had spent an awful lot of time with James. Less with Albus, because Al was quite busy with his girlfriend. And since Rose had travelled to France and Romania, Scorpius had had to pass a lot of free-time. James had given him a make-over, taught him a few things about this and that. He really was a nice guy, but Scorpius had the bad feeling that spending too much time with James would probably affect him negatively. James was in university now and they'd only see each other once or twice a month, which was perfectly fine with Scorpius. Besides, he didn't need to be offended just because he had changed his mind, just because his heart turned out to be incorrect.

"What?" James hissed, "Don't give me an elaborate speech about how you forgot Rose. Because I know you couldn't. Because I know you love her!"

"I do not love her. James, listen. I do not mean to hurt anyone, okay? That is why I talked to you and Albus and Rose. I do not want to hurt you lot. I love you and you are my family. But I do not love Rose, I am not in love with her. I thought I was, yes. See, at the beginning of this year she got herself a new boyfriend. I am not even remotely jealous. I do not feel this tingling anymore which I felt this summer. I guess it was just a harmless crush. But now... but now it is real. I know it is."

"You're doing my sister!"

"I am not doing her, James. We have hardly had any dates, because you and Albus keep blowing them up. I will not hurt Lily, I promise. James, I really like her. I think it could work out with the two of us."

"You don't have anything in common! Lily hates kids and you love them! There is not one thing you and Lils both want. But Rose and you, gosh, you have so much in common, you want the same things!"

"No, we do not want the same things. Rose wants to travel, to work abroad, to experience the world, to live life to the fullest. I want to settle down, become a successful healer and found a family. That is not what Rose wants. And even if it was, I do not want to spend my life with her. Well, I do. I want to have her as my friend for life. She is amazing and I need to have her, to keep her in my life. And I want to date Lily. She is an amazing girl. She makes me laugh, makes me feel good about myself. Her smile is contagious. So is her laugh and she has the most awesome eyes I have ever seen." Most of it was true. But the eyes... no-one's eyes could compete with Rose's eyes. They were... Scorpius had no words for it. He could spend hours looking into her eyes, getting lost in the brown swirls, in the small blue spot which sometimes appeared, sometimes disappeared. He didn't know when or how or why it happened but it did and it always amazed Scorpius. Rose in general was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Lily couldn't compete with her. Lily couldn't live up to Rose, not at all. Scorpius didn't want to sound mean. He liked Lily. A lot. He really wanted to give it a shot. Lily was so into him, it was flattering. But that wasn't why he wanted to be with her. He truly believed they had a lot in common. "James, I want to date your sister and she wants to date me. But if you object, I will not make another move on her, I promise. If you do not want me and Lily to date, we will not date. Lily and me talked this over and agreed on it. If you and Albus are completely against it, it is fine. You are her big brother, James. And she will listen to everything you say, because she looks up to you and she loves you. And I, too, look up to you. We would never ever do anything against your will."

James clenched his teeth and simply looked at Scorpius. He looked at his subtle smile, into his grey-blue eyes. James was quite proud of himself. He did a great job turning Scorpius from a boy who just accompanied the Weasleys and Potters into a young, handsome man who could get every girl he ever wanted but didn't make those moves because he was way too nice and sophisticated. James had turned Scorpius into a better version of himself. Not a more handsome one, obviously. No-one could be more handsome than James Sirius Potter.

"Oh, fuck it, Scorp! Go and try it. But don't ever give me any details, okay? Don't ever tell me how cute she is, don't ever tell me how much you fancy her. She is my little sister and I want her to stay that way. I don't want her to become a woman, really. And I don't want you to tell me when you made her one."

"Trust me, I will not tell you if I have sex with her. That would be a bit disgusting, to be honest."

"Glad to hear. So, you are really over Rose?"

"I guess I never loved her. Guess it was all just an illusion. Something my mind made up. It is fine. She is happy with Hakim. He is a good guy and I trust him. Sure, I need to get to know him better but he is way nicer than Dimitri ever was. Which really is not that hard. But anyway, I am happy for her and I want her to enjoy this relationship. I know we will not spend as much time together as we used to, but it is fine. Maybe us four could even go on a date, once Lily and I are a proper couple. That would be lovely."

"Man, I guess I'll have to get used to the idea of having you as my brother-in-law. Well, at least you'll make a decent amount of money to support your family."

Scorpius had to laugh. "Yeah, I guess you are right. I will make a hell lot of money. But do not expect me to marry your sister. I am 16, nearly 17. Who knows where I will end up after graduation. No-one ever thought you would end in university. We all guessed that you would become a Quidditch player, like your mum. We never even imagined you would want to major in learning disabilities and Squib magic."

"Well, it's bloody interesting. And I think that it is so important to included Squibs into our magic society. We are oh-so-open and tolerant, but Squibs are still a taboo."

A small smirk crept upon Scropius' lips. "You Weasleys and Potters are all so passionate about what you are doing and what you want to do for a living. It is great. I hope to be so passionate one day."

"You already are. Just about different stuff. About your sister, about Rose. Books and potions and plants. Rose is freaking passionate about animals and beasts and family. Everyone is passionate about something. And I am quite passionate about myself and Quidditch. And how awesome I am. And Squibs. And how awesome I am. How good-looking. How nice. How tolerant."

Scorpius laughed out loud and shook his head. "You are unbelievable, James! Really. So, when are the others coming?"

"They'll be here in about half an hour, I guess. At least Albus told me so. He wanted to get a birthday present for his girlfriend and meet up with her before meeting us and Rose and Hakim. She said she'll bring sweets."

"I like sweets."

"I know you do" Scorpius heard a voice behind him, "And I bought all of your favourites, sweetheart." Rose kissed her best friend's cheek and slumped down unto the chair next to him, her boyfriend sitting down next to her, kissing her on the lips. Scorpius was again surprised to find himself perfectly fine with it. No jealousy, no hard feelings against Hakim, no problem with some guy slightly stroking up and down Rose's thigh. Maybe his feelings have really just been an illusion, a fantasy, a hope. But Lily was real and she was there and interested and interesting and pretty and intelligent and fun to be with. She was no fantasy. She was sitting right next to him, beaming at him, hanging on his lips, listening carefully to everything he said. Scorpius loved it. She made him feel incredible. Never in his life would he have imagined that Lily could make him feel this way. He would love to kiss her. But they weren't there yet. This wasn't even a date. Lily had been with Hugo and Louis, Rose had been with Karim, Albus had been with his girlfriend and now they all just met up to have a drink and then go separate ways again. Lily would be going with Rose, because they were going to meet up with Roxy and Dominique, whereas Scorpius would be heading back to Hogwarts with the rest. Maybe stop by at George's to buy some new gadgets.

"So... you and Scorp then, he?" Rose asked her cousin, beaming from ear to ear.

"You're not mad at me, are you? You know I have a thing for him since like forever."

"Yes, I know. That's why I am so glad he came around to finally notice how great of a young woman you are, Lils. You deserve him. I am not so sure if he deserves you, but we'll find out."

"He clearly deserves me. I promise you. He is amazing and so lovely. He made sure that you and James and Al approve of this thing we have before making another move. But since you all do, I suppose he'll ask me for our first proper date in public quite soon."

"As long as I'll be your first child's godmother, I am perfectly fine with everything."

"You do know I really don't wanna have kids. That is your thing, not mine. I am not that keen on tiny human beings who do nothing but cost you money, stink, ruin your body, make a mess and ruin your career. Don't try to convince me, really."

Rose smiled, quite sure that Lily would come around sooner or later. She was part of a Weasley-Potter-family. Kids were inevitable with those. In addition, a future with Scorp would not work without children. Everyone knew that.

"But Lils, just remember that Scorp is quite a sensitive boy, alright? Don't mess with his heart. Don't mess with his mind. Well, mess a bit with it. Messing with a guys mind is what makes them interested in you. No, not with Scorp. Be nice to him."

"I will, don't worry. I wouldn't want you as my enemy. I mean, if Scorpius and I ever break up, I know you will be on his side, no matter what. Whereas everyone else will be on mine."

Rose continued to smile but actually, she wasn't sure about that. If they broke up – which Rose was certain they would rather soon after Scorpius' graduation -, she would be there for Scorp. Al and James probably, too. Hugo and Louis were questionable but mostly to be sided with Scorp since they adored the hell out of him. Rose was sure that Louis had a crush on Scorpius. Just a small one, like one adores a random stranger passing by on the streets. Anyway, she would always stand by Scorpius. He was everything to her. So why did it seem so strange to imaging him kissing Lily? Probably because she was her younger cousin. Yes, that would it be, Rose was certain. It felt weird because she was family.