The weeks leading up to the Yule Ball were fraught with tension. Scorpius was put on edge every time he stepped out of his dormitory. Girls were seemingly everywhere, pouting and preening and giggling together. Two of the Gryffindor girls in his year tailed him and Albus relentlessly—Hazel Thomas and Jaclyn Finnegan.

"Should I ask Jaclyn?" Al asked one morning as they got ready for class. He straightened his robes nervously and tried to push his hair out of his eyes. He hadn't cut his hair in a couple months, and it was growing evermore messy.

"She's nice," Scorpius said lamely. Jaclyn was kind and pretty, with doll-like features and long blonde hair, but she also talked non-stop. "She'll say yes."

"You're asking Jaclyn?" Avery asked from across the room, eavesdropping as he collected his books for the day. "How are you going to ask her?"

"What do you mean, how?"

"What are you going to do to ask her?"

"Maybe tell her a joke?"

"Who are you asking, Avery?" Scorpius asked.

"Hazel," he said confidently. "I have it all planned. During charms, I'm going to get one of the canaries to sing to her."

"Oh," Al said, turning to frown at Scorpius. "Who're you thinking of asking, Scorpius?"

"I haven't thought about it," Scorpius lied. He had, of course, been thinking of asking Lily. Every time she passed him in the common room, or joined practice on the Quidditch Pitch, or stopped to chat in the hallway, he thought of how he could ask her. Of course, she was Al's sister. It would never happen, he was sure of it.

"You could ask Clementine," Avery said helpfully. "No one's asked her yet."

"Sorry," Nash said from across the room, still in bed. His arm was slung dramatically over his eyes. "I did last night."

"Never mind, then."

"Isn't she a bit quiet for you?" Avery asked, somewhat teasingly.

"It's the quiet ones you've got to watch out for," Nash said knowingly, and then sat up. He winked roguishly at Scorpius. "Isn't that right?"

Yes, he was right. Scorpius realized this as he sat in potions later that day. Rose sat next to him, carefully measuring out slabs of Flubberworm Mucus to slide into her cauldron. She was whispering incrementally to him about the Yule Ball. She hadn't been asked yet, but she hoped she would be soon. Scorpius grinned as she suddenly cursed and broke off her stream of thought, frantically stirring her potion to make sure it retained its sage color.

He never had to watch out for Rose. He could see her coming from miles away, lead by her independence and her flaming red hair. She told him what was what—what was right, what was wrong, what she was feeling. She had all the subtly of a right hook. It was Lily, on the other hand, who Nash was right about. It wasn't to say that she was necessarily quiet—he had heard her screaming her lungs out during Quidditch Matches, so shrill she could shake the pitch. But rather, she was the one he had to watch out for. Look for hints, clues. Guess her feelings, rather than hear them.

"Do you know who you're going to ask?" Rose prodded him, interrupting his thoughts.

"I can't escape that question," Scorpius sighed. He ground up a sprig of lavender between his fingers and sprinkled it into his cauldron.

"So you don't know."

"No." Scorpius wrinkled his nose. "Do people go alone to dances? What if you, Al, and I were just to go as a group?"

"I don't think it works that way."

"Why not?"

Rose pointed towards the front of the classroom. Al was sitting at a bench with Jaclyn Finnegan today. He had just spilled a bottle of Essence of Peppermint all down her front, and was blushing and apologizing profusely. But as Scorpius watched, she lowered her lashes and giggled, before waving her wand and drying her robes. She leaned her chin onto the palm of her hand, inching her elbow across the table, closer to Al. Shyly, he turned towards his potion and away from her, but Scorpius could tell that he was pleased by the attention.

"Because he's going to ask Jaclyn."

"Well then we can all go. Al will have a date, is all." Rose was quiet. Scorpius winced.

"Not that I think you can't get a date," he said immediately, trying to remedy himself. "You can. You can get two dates if you want. I'll fifth wheel."

"You'll get a damn date," Rose murmured, rolling her eyes. "I shouldn't have asked." She was silent for another beat before asking: "Will you go to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday? I need to buy dress robes. I just—I want an objective opinion."

Scorpius felt rather guilty in that moment. And angry. Who hadn't asked her yet? Who dared ignore her?

"Only if you give me your objective opinion," he replied. "I need to buy robes too."

Al caused a rather large commotion in that moment by asking Jaclyn to the Yule Ball. In the middle of the class. She squealed aloud, and then threw her arms around him. Al nearly tottered off his stool. The rest of the class giggled, and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Settle down!" Professor Derrick shouted from the front of the class.

On Saturday, Scorpius and Rose headed into Hogsmeade alone. Al's parents had already purchased him dress robes in the beginning of the year, and he said (rather cheerily), that he was heading into the village later with Jaclyn, to get tea at a place called Madame Puddifoots. Rose snickered heartily when she heard this, but refused to say why.

When Scorpius and Rose reached Hogsmeade, they passed the stationary stop (earning a little whine out of Rose), and turned up High Street before stopping in Gladrags Wizardwear. Scorpius walked around the front of the shop, noting all the things he wouldn't wear in a lifetime (mismatched socks of wildly different colors and patterns), before a hawk-like woman swooped down on him and Rose.

"Looking for Yule Ball Robes?" She queried. "We have a fantastic selection of Dress Robes in the back of the shop."

"Oh, yes," Rose said.

"Will you be looking for matching colors?" The woman asked, beckoning them along though racks of pointed hats, some of which were elaborately studded with jewels. "Some dates choose to match the color of their robes…"

"We're not going together," Rose said, before Scorpius could. The woman didn't reply, as if she could feel the awkward point of her question butting into the room. The woman briskly whisked a couple of robes off of a rack and thrust them into Rose's arms.

"You're a red-head, dear, your color palette is quite narrow. Try these and then tell me what you think."

Scorpius flipped through a rack of robes half-heartedly as he waited for Rose to finish trying on the stack of robes the woman had given her. He held up a pair of plain black robes, neatly tailored and complete with a crisp white shirt underneath.

"Scorpius?" Rose asked uncertainly from the dressing room. "You've got to promise me you won't make fun if I ask for your opinion."

"I promise not to make fun," Scorpius replied. "Even though I might not be able to help myself, in the moment-" But when Rose stepped out of the dressing room, he found that he was incapable of finding his voice.

She was breath taking. She had put on a set of navy blue robes that cascaded down her body in swishy, soft fabric. It caught at her narrow waist and her hips, and Scorpius noticed, for the first time, that Rose had curves. The fabric was delicately threaded with bits of silver, and the dress shimmered the smallest bit when she moved. It looked like she had been catching stars.

"Er…" Scorpius said.

"You don't like it?" Rose asked, turning to look in a mirror. She pulled her hair out of her face, piling it on top of her head. Scorpius felt like he couldn't breathe when he looked at her. Rose was…she was so pretty. Beautiful. How had he not noticed, before? Perhaps he had noticed her beauty, but had never fully appreciated it until now. He felt his stomach twist. "I liked the color."

"Get them," Scorpius choked. "Get the robes."

"But I've only tried these on. I haven't even seen the other ones…" Scorpius shook his head. "Are you feeling alright?"

He wasn't. He suddenly felt very, very attracted to Rose. It took all he had not to let his gaze wander over the patch of exposed skin at the base of her neck and her chest. He couldn't even imagine touching her—he thought he might explode. Rose stepped forwards, her brows contorted in concern.

"I need fresh air," Scorpius said suddenly, nearly tripping over a rack of child's dress robes. "I'll be right back." He turned and walked quickly out of the shop. He marched out onto the street and breathed in deeply, stomping his feet into the light powder of snow that dusted the cobblestones. The air was cold enough now that it made his head ring. He leaned back against the window of the shop, trying to shake the image of Rose from his head. A few students clamored into the shop past him, giggling and whispering amongst themselves. Scorpius put his hands around his mouth and breathed into them, trying to warm himself up.

How could he have been so attracted to her? It was a ridiculous question, of course. He knew exactly how he could have been attracted to her. If anyone had seen her then, man or woman, they would have been attracted to her too. But this was Rose, his best friend, the girl who too often teased him and rolled her eyes at him. The girl who had told him all the facts she had memorized about the History of Hogwarts, and had shared with him all the muggle music she had collected over the summer. She was the girl who had helped him with his homework and cheered him on at Quidditch Matches. And she was also the girl he did not need to look out for—the girl who always told him her feelings.

"Scorpius?" Rose emerged from the shop, clutching a bag and wearing her overcoat. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she found him. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Scorpius replied, avoiding her eyes. "My stomach. It's better now. Fresh air." He waved his hand airily. Rose narrowed her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I said my stomach was fine."

"Oh please," she said knowingly. "It was all too sudden. Come on, are you still worried about asking someone to the ball? Is that it? I know there are girls who would say yes. Many girls would say yes." Scorpius was staring at her mouth as she spoke. Her lips were strikingly plump and red. It had never occurred to him, before this outing, that he had been an idiot. It was all there before him. He could ask Rose to the ball. Yes, of course. It was simple. They would go as friends, and then maybe he would forget all about his sudden attraction to her.

"Yeah, that's it," Scorpius said with a dry mouth. "Listen, Rose…"

"Oh hold on," she interrupted, holding onto his arm. "You'll never believe what happened to me in there."

"What?"

"Travis asked me to the ball."

"What?" Scorpius repeated, his stomach balling up.

"Yeah. He marched right over to me when I was paying and asked me. I think he had been psyching himself up, he looked a bit clammy."

"I didn't even see him go in," Scorpius said, as if that might make the whole scenario disappear.

"Well, I said yes," Rose continued, casting her eyes downwards. Her lashes were so long they cast shadows on her cheeks. "I felt rather awful after that day he tried to kiss me in The Three Broomsticks. I'm sure he thought I hated him. I don't hate him, of course. I don't like him, either, not in that way. But I told him I'd go with him, to make sure he knows I'm not revolted by him."

"Oh," Scorpius said faintly. "That makes sense."

"Anyway," Rose ended. "What were you going to say?"

Scorpius felt his focus sharpen. He looked past the window of Gladrags and saw Travis talking to the hawk-like sales woman. He was smiling like an idiot. Scorpius had never wanted to punch him more than he did in that moment. He looked back down at Rose, with her long lashes and red lips, and felt like she had delivered a punch to his gut. Slowly, he uttered the question:

"How should I ask Lily Potter to the Ball?"