"Keep it sweet, Keep it slow. Let the future pass and don't let go"

-Demi Lovato

DISCLAIMER-I do not own Harry Potter nor any characters created/written by J.K. Rowling.

-This Scorose fic does not strictly follow Cursed Child aside from small elements taken by the story such as the houses the characters are in.

-In this story the pairings are as follows.

-Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy

-Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley

-Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger

-Albus Potter and OC (original character)

-Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon

-Hugo Weasley and OC

-Addy Black and Neville Longbottom

-Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley

*For the sake of this story, Marlene McKinnon and James, and Lily Potter survived the first Wizarding War. *

(Rated M for later chapters)

The next morning, Rose was up early. She wasn't a morning person but being back at Hogwarts gave her a bust of energy and so did her first class: Care of Magical Creatures with her parents' old friend Hagrid. She looked at the bed beside her and smiled as her younger cousin Lily Luna stirred awake.

Lily woke up and looked around the dorm room. Usually she was the first one up courtesy her mother training her and even if she was at Hogwarts and only in her third year, she continued her early morning training to become a future Quidditch star. When Lily saw Rose she jumped off her bed, "Rosie! When did you come?" she said, hugging her.

Rose hugged her back, chuckling at her cousin's enthusiasm. They had always been close and ever since Lily had started Hogwarts a year after her, Rose looked forward to getting to see her everyday. "Late last night...McGonagall sent us straight to bed."

"Trust McGonagall to do that" Lily chuckled "What classes do you have today?"

"First is Care of Magical Creatures, then Astronomy, I think...I may have skipped over the rest after seeing the first." she said, smiling sheepishly.

"So….classes with Scorp" Lily teased as she got up to change from her night clothes to her training clothes.

Rose sighed, tugging at a strand of hair, not realizing she was doing it "I don't know what you're going on about..." she said, hoping she sounded convincing.

"Oh you know what I mean Rosie" She said, now starting her stretching routine, moving her arms over her head.

Rose rolled her eyes then left the dorms to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Once she arrived she noticed Scorpius and Al were already there. It was still relatively early, so the tables weren't as crowded as they usually would be. She walked over to their table, ignoring the glares from the few other Slytherin students that were sitting. She stood behind Albus and Scorpius, putting an arm around each of their shoulders "You two couldn't wait to see me, is that why you're down here so early?"

Albus mumbled something as he took a forkful of eggs, while Scorpius turned to Rose with a tired smile "Of course it is. That and the fact that we were hungry and you always hog all the food."

"Oi!" Rose said slapping Scorpius on the shoulder making him chuckle. She moved over to the empty seat beside Albus and grabbed a piece of toast from his plate. Her cousin glared at her, pulling the plate away from her protectively.

Rose suddenly remembered that she hadn't picked up her class schedule. She quickly stood up as the boys gave her questioning looks.

"I should probably go find Professor Longbottom before classes start. See you both later!" Rose rushed towards the entrance of the Great Hall, He realized she must have been walking too fast because she bumped into her favorite Professor on her way out. "Professor Black, I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going..."

The aging Professor Sirius Black, Slytherin's head of house and Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, looked at Rose in a mock cross manner before ruffling her hair affectionately, "Call me great Uncle Siri when we aren't in class. Emphasis on 'great' " He grinned "I have known you since you were pooping in your diapers young lady!"

Although he wasn't directly related to Rose, Sirius, a former Marauder, had been the best uncle her parents, aunts and uncles could ever have. His daughter Addy was now married to Professor Longbottom and grand-aunt Marlene was the matron along with Scorpius' aunt Daphne Dreengrass. Hogwarts was always a close knit family even if they were away from home.

"Professor!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes wide at his last comment as she glanced around to make sure nobody had overheard. She was used to her Professor's carefree and humorous demeanor, having taken Defense Against the Dark Arts with him before. Her Uncle Harry would always speak about Professor Black-his godfather-with great fondness and admiration. At Sirius' raised eyebrow, she quickly corrected herself "I mean-Grand Uncle Siri..."

"Now come child help these old bones carry these" Sirius said handing her a pile of scrolls which upon first glance appeared to be holiday homework. Sirius' classroom was on the third floor. In his spare time he liked to keep himself busy and visit the hospital wing as often as he could to spend time with his wife. Even after all these years, the love they had for each was legendary. A Muggle-born and a Gryffindor Pureblood rebel.

Because he was so beloved, the majority of the time Sirius most always had someone helping him carry scrolls or parchment which he would grade at breakfast or in his office while having tea with Marlene. Being an Auror had naturally led him to keep himself quite fit and he was fifty-one years old, which was very young in the Wizarding World. Professor Flitwick was practically ancient compared to him. And Sirius would often remind him of the fact. Due to Sirius' work ethic and dedication towards his students he, despite not being the senior member of the staff, was the deputy and next in line for Headmaster after McGonagall.

"Oof," Rose said at the weight of the scrolls in her arms and groaned at the thought of the number of stairs she would have to climb. The scrolls were heavier than they looked. Nonetheless, she nodded, glad to be able to assist her favorite Professor. Following Sirius up to his office, she breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived, trying to catch her breath. Once Sirius pushed the door open, Rose smiled as she noticed her grand-aunt Marlene seated on one of the chairs by the desk, a cup of tea in her hand. Rose knew her of course, but she had entirely forgotten how lovely Marlene was, given her age as well.

Sirius reached the desk where Marlene was sitting and gave her a kiss on the cheek and took his seat beside her while his wife poured him some tea. "Hello Darling." he said then turned back to Rose who was standing by the door watching them with a smile. He waved a hand "Oh, Rosie you can set those scrolls down anywhere." he said with a smile.

Rose nodded, walking over to Sirius' desk and placing the scrolls neatly on top.

"Shouldn't you be hurrying to meet with Neville? First class will begin soon." Sirius said taking a sip of tea. Rose cursed under her breath having not realized the time and rushed back to the door but Sirius spoke again "Oh and Rosie thank you for the help... But next time make sure I don't put the paper weight charm on the scrolls" he said with a cheeky grin and a twinkle of amusement in his eyes

Rose gaped at Sirius before rushing out of his office, running down the several flights of stairs; adjusting the bag on her shoulder as she did so. "Late so late..." she murmured, finally reaching the bottom landing as she made her way out of the castle and out to the grounds. She was suddenly grateful that her first class was Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid's hut wasn't too far off from the Herbology greenhouses. When Rose arrived she quickly opened the door to greenhouse one where Neville's office was but there was no sign of him there. "Uncle Neville? " She called "err-I mean Professor Longbottom?" She was struggling to keep up with her Professor's/family friends' preferred names.

Neville was tending to the baby mandrakes which was traditionally the first exposure to magical plants the first years get when he heard a knock and his name being called. He was almost lost in nostalgia on how he once as a second year fainted in the same class. He sighed and went to open the doors of the greenhouse. He saw Rose standing and smiled at her, "Miss. Weasley come in, come in, hope you are well rested. What can I help you with?"

Rose smiled politely as she stepped inside the office "Well, actually Professor I'm afraid I'm running a bit late for my first lesson..." she admitted sheepishly "but we arrived last night, so I was wondering if you perhaps had my schedule?" she asked. Rose had always liked Neville and was happy when she found out he'd be Head of Gryffindor House. Based on the stories her parents had told her and Hugo, no one was better suited for the role.

Neville smiled, "Go off to the Care of Magical Creatures. Professors Hagrid and Grubbly-Plank are teaching the course starting this year. I'll have the schedule ready with me, make sure you collect it when returning back" It was Sirius' idea of having two professors teach the course, one an expert on Magical Creatures and another who actually knew how to handle them very well. So the course went from a glorified meet and greet to a proper one with theory classes running along with practical demonstrations.

Rose nodded, thanking him and rushed off towards Hagrid's hut. Now she understood why Hogwarts had never implemented some type of physical education course-well aside from flying lessons and Quidditch -walking to and from classes everyday was a sport on its own. Even more so when you were running late on your first day. Once Rose arrived, she sighed in relief, noticing only a small group of students had begun filtering in, while her two professors were standing on the steps of the hut chatting animatedly. Catching her breath, she put her hair up in a messy ponytail, not even wanting to picture the tangled mess from running around all morning.

"So you're finally here!" Called out Ali or Alice Longbottom who was standing beside Albus. She was a Hufflepuff and proud of it too. Electives were the classes which all four house students attended together. Albus gave her a smile, "taking inspiration from my sister? Running about the castle" he teased.

Rose rolled her eyes as she hugged Alice and shifted to look at her cousin "Shut it, Al." she said, grinning back "At least I didn't forget my tie..." she pointed out, gesturing to his shirt. Al groaned, realizing Rose was right. After breakfast, he and Scorpius had gone up to meet with Professor Black, but Albus had completely disregarded his tie. He also had a sneaky suspicion that Scorpius must have realized this as well. And hadn't said a thing. The git.

"Well I'll cover up with my robes," He said. "Luckily Hagrid doesn't fuss about ties too much," Al smiled. "What do you reckon we'll learn about in this class! I can't wait. I hope it's not Blast-Ended Skrewts."

Hagrid's booming voice interrupted them. "Blast ended-skrewts!" He announced excitedly. Rose snickered at Albus' defeated expression, while Professor Grubbly plank was struggling to get a word in, as Hagrid proceeded to explain the lesson. After some time Hagrid calmed down and Professor Grubbly-Plank got to the theory parts of the lessons.

…..

Meanwhile, Scorpius groaned sitting alone at Ancient Runes. Professor Babbling had praised him on his summer work and he was currently going through a revision of the previous year before moving forward. "I hope Charms comes soon," Scorpius thought to himself.

After Care of Magical Creatures was over, Albus and Alice accompanied Rose back to the greenhouses to pick up her schedule from Neville. They thanked him and made to walk back up to the castle together, but Alice had decided to stay back to speak with her father. Once they reached the castle, Albus and Rose headed to their next lesson:charms. Rose was looking forward to seeing Scorpius in class. She'd missed him in Care of Magical /creatures, especially because she knew he would have found the lesson fascinating.

"Finally" Scorpius muttered as he hurried to the third floor to reach Charms class. Not that he was particularly looking forward to Flitwick's lesson but rather the anticipation of seeing Rose . As he turned a corner he bumped into someone he didn't expect. He looked down and spoke with a sour face, "Fancy bumping into you here."

Sienna grinned at Scorpius suddenly giggling, vexing him to no avail. She was entirely oblivious to the way he was rubbing his forehead frustrated.

"Is it fancy? Or just fate?" she said tugging innocently at his tie. Scorpius wasn't buying her act.

"It is neither Miss. Parkinson, in fact this is an absolute stroke of the worst luck" Scorpius said with a deadpan trying to tug his tie out of her hand.

Sienna gasped, tossing her hair behind her shoulder, which made Scorpius glad because she'd let go of his tie to do so. "Rude!" she said, pouting.

"I'm just speaking the truth," Scorpius replied, trying to walk past her. But she stepped in the way and they both bumped again. Unfortunately this time they fell, with Sienna on her back and Scorpius on top of her. The class, which was starting to fill in, walked into this scene and started wolf whistling making both of them blush red.

Rose and Albus had arrived along with the rest of the class, looking around at the commotion. Rose's eyes immediately fell on Scorpius and Sienna who were on the ground in a rather compromising position. She suddenly felt a pang in her chest that she couldn't explain as she quickly diverted her eyes elsewhere, before brushing past them and heading inside the classroom. Albus looked at her before exchanging glances with Scorpius and going inside as well.

Scorpius sighed knowing fully well how Rose felt about Sienna and sighed. As he was about to enter the room he saw said girl trying to pick her things up and put them back in her satchel. He knelt down and started helping Sienna gather her belongings, feeling bad that no one else was.

"Why must you do this every time Sienna?" He asked, "You know that I am not interested in you that way ... We were such good friends when we were younger" his face went from annoyed to soft. Sienna frustrated him because he knew that she could be better than the way she acted.

"I don't know!" Sienna exclaimed,her voice cracking slightly, as she grabbed the quill and textbook Scorpius had picked up from his hands, quickly stuffing it in her bag. She stood up, dusting her skirt off and without another word, went inside the Charms classroom as well.

Scorpius sighed, standing up "I'm going to pay for this later..." He said remembering rose and entered the classroom.

Inside he went to sit beside Albus and asked, "Rose being moody?"

"Err..." Albus answered hesitantly. He glanced over at his cousin who sat at the desk beside them. She was tugging at a strand of hair, brows furrowed as she stared down at the book in front of her. But Albus knew she wasn't really concentrating on the words on the page. Shifting to look at Scorpius he shrugged "You tell me..."

Scorpius peered over at Rose, "I don't know. I didn't do it on purpose, it was an accident" he whispered as Professor Flitwick entered the class.

Albus nodded, whispering softly "I know mate..."

Scorpius turned, attempting to concentrate on what the Professor was saying, talking to Rose would have to wait. Summoning charms! Great, he knew them already. He looked at Rose again and then towards Sienna... Yup he was in trouble.

Once the lesson was over and they were dismissed by Professor Flitwick, Rose immediately stood up, gathering her things and made to head back to the common room. Her mind felt jumbled and she was surprised she'd been able to concentrate at all.

"Rosie! Rosie! " Scorpius called out running after her.

Rose froze "Damn it…" She mumbled. When he'd caught up with her, she sighed, turning around to face Scorpius "Yes?" She said with a forced smile.

"About Sienna….That was just-" Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck, trying to explain.

"Scorp, it's fine, really-" She said, trying to brush past him.

"Ros...please….." Scorpius said, looking at Rose with a tenderness that nearly made her lose her resolve. And she almost did. After a moment she spoke.

"I better start heading out for my next class." Rose said begging to walk down the spiral staircase.

Scorpius saw her leave and at that moment he felt alone. He knew he wasn't. He had his father, Albus, even Harry who was a second father to him these last few years. But the pressure and stress that had been on his shoulders putting on a strong front after his mother passed away, with trying to move on with life and aft the same way he always did for the sake of others seemed to have finally beaten him. He wasn't acting like himself. He kicked the nearby wall, walking towards Transfiguration which the Slytherin shared with Ravenclaw trying not to think about Rose for the time being.

….

The rest of Rose's classes went by in a blur, following her conversation with Scorpius.. As much as she wanted to skip dinner to avoid seeing him and curl up in her bed-being both mentally and physically exhausted-she was her father's daughter. Which meant skipping meals was not in her vocabulary. Practically dragging her feet to the Great Hall, Rose sighed in relief, noticing that neither Al nor Scorpius had arrived yet. She went over to sit at the Gryffindor table, when she felt someone suddenly sit beside her. She smiled at her brother.

Hugo sat beside her and pouted, "It's the first time since we arrived that we are talking Rosie" he said. "Now tell me why does it look like you have thunderclouds over you head"

Rose smiled, giving Hugo a side hug "I know...I'm sorry. Also I do not have...'Thunderclouds' ?" she said, chuckling to which Hugo nodded gravely.

"Yes, yes I agree less thunderclouds but more of what Aunt Luna calls 'nargles.' " He said sagely.

Rose laughed softly ruffling his hair "Not more nargles than I bet you have over your head Hug."

"Hey!" He said childishly. Then he softened, seeing his sister's expression "But something is bothering you isn't it sis?"

Rose's smile faded as she glanced at the Slytherin table "No...I'm fine." She said, grabbing her hair.

Hugo grabbed her hand in his and gave her a smile, "You are going to pull all your hair out one day!" He said, "Whatever is bothering you, I'm sure you'll fix it, you're Rose Weasley after all"

Rose sighed and smiled at her brother's words. Soon enough she noticed Al and Scorpius walk in. With sigh, she automatically grabbed another strand.

Scorpius did not want to be there, he neither felt hungry nor did he feel strong enough to put on a front. He just wanted to sleep it off, but Albus dragged him down to the Great Hall saying that he needed to eat. They did wait until quite late so the Great Hall was almost empty but to Scorpius' luck it still had the one person he was nervous to see.

He saw Rose sitting with Hugo. He felt happy that she still had people she could enjoy dinner with especially because he felt poor Albus was practically stuck with him. The previous night, Albus had had to listen to Scorpius talk about Rose.

Scorpius reached across the table, somewhat distracted and as he took a slice of the mince pie and a few beans he saw Sienna come and sit across him. He did not want to deal with her but he was thankful that at least she blocked his view so that he couldn't see Rose and concentrate on his meal

Rose watched as Sienna took a seat across from Scorpius. She suddenly lost her appetite. Standing up she glanced down at her brother "Eat all your food." She told him before leaving the Great hall. From the Slytherin table Albus sighed, noticing this.

Albus gave Scorpius a pat on his shoulder saying he would see him in the dorms and chased after Rose. He finally caught up to her as she had reached the magical staircase. "Hey Rosie, wait!" He said panting.

Rose turned around watching Albus with curious eyes "Al? What's wrong?" She asked, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

Albus raised his hand indicating he was still trying to catch his breath. Geez he seriously needed to start running. "I just wanted to see if you were alright.."

Rose glanced down at her feet before shifting her attention back to her cousin. "I'm fine.." she said, hoping she sounded more convincing than she felt.

"Rosie..." Albus said, "please tell me..."

Rose sighed, knowing Al was someone she could confide in. She hadn't said anything to Hugo when he'd asked because she didn't want to burden her younger brother with her problems nor wanted him to worry. "Scorp and I got into an argument...Sort of it. I mean we didn't really say much…" Her voice began to crack slightly.

Albus nodded understanding seeing the parallels between his cousin and Scorpius' current mental states. And it broke his heart that two of the people he loved most in the world, and who loved each other so much, were too stubborn to admit it and that is why they were struggling so much.

He put a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder, as he'd just done with Scorpius moments ago. "It'll be fine Rosie. Scorp is just upset because….well because you're upset…and he doesn't really understand why…"

Rose looked up at him "Has he said anything to you?"

Albus replied, "He hasn't ... He had just been moody and broody all day and night. Little bugger didn't let me sleep! He didn't even want to come down for dinner...I had to practically drag him down to breakfast."

"I wasn't going to come down either..." Rose sighed "I'm heading back to the common room...but look after him, please?" She said as she leaned forward, hugging her cousin.

Al hugged her back and said, "Even if you're not exactly happy with Scorp at the moment, you better not ignore me... You're my sister first."

Rose smiled softly, touched by Albus' words before nodding "Thank you Al." With another quick hug, Rose returned to the common room. As she settled into bed, she couldn't help but think about Scorpius. She missed him and worried for him. She got little to no sleep that night.

Scorpius saw Al leave behind Rose and sighed. He was thankful that Albus could at least talk some sense into her, or maybe just calm her down. He was about to get up when he was interrupted by an 'ahem' from Sienna.

"What's the matter with you?" She said, propping her elbows on the table and tilting her head to the side "I've been sitting here talking to you and you've been quiet the whole time!" She said with a frown.

Scorpius looked at her doubtfully and said," You have? I must be going deaf because I didn't hear a word."

"And you also didn't say a word!" Sienna pouted, crossing her arms "You seemed distracted." She said accusingly, raising an eyebrow.

Scorpius merely sighed and disregarded his breakfast, and made his way out of the Great Hall.

…..

A couple days later, it was the weekend and on a particularly windy Saturday morning, Rose had decided to go down to the Owlry and send off a letter to her parents. She hadn't spoken to them since they'd dropped her off with Harry, and Rose had promised to let them know that she'd arrived safely. Walking up the stairs to the Owlry, she pulled the letter out of her pocket as she watched her own owl Lila swoop down beside her. Rose smiled, gently patting her head.

"Take this to mum and dad for me?" She said putting the envelope in her mouth. Lila hooted happily before flapping her wings and flying off. Rose sighed watching her, suddenly wishing she had wings of her own to escape her worries sometimes. Adjusting the Gryffindor scarf around her neck, Rose began to descend the stairs to head back to the castle. She realized that it had gotten darker and to her dismay and rotten luck, it had begun to rain. "Brilliant..." she murmured.

It was an autumn weekend and Hogsmeade wasn't open to students yet. So Scorpius decided that he would take a few flights around the Quidditch pitch to clear his head. Being in the sky and doing really dangerous maneuvers tend to really pump the body full of adrenaline. As he was taking his final lap, it began to rain really hard. So much so that he could hardly see ahead due to lack of proper goggles. His only option was to try and make out landmarks or he risked flying in the wrong direction in the storm. So first he flew towards Hagrid's hut which was now bigger as a result of his status as a full time professor. And then he flew to the Owlery. From there he planned to fly low and fast straight through the gates of the castle past the greenhouses. When he reached the owlery he descended, planning to wipe off a little so that he didn't lose his grip. However he failed to notice Rose standing at the gate, too busy looking in the direction of the gate and trying to figure out the best time to make the dash.

Rose wrapped her arms around herself as she felt the wind and rain begin to pick up. Her vision was hazy from the violent raindrops that continued to cover her face, but she could just about make out the gate to the castle. As she walked a little further, wiping some water away from her eyes, the sound of the thunder began to numb her surroundings. Which is why she failed to hear a figure heading straight toward her, as she was suddenly thrown back with force, falling to the wet ground as she felt the weight of someone on her. Groaning, her body ached and she felt a sting on her arm, knowing she probably had an annoying scratch from the fall.

"Ouch Ouch" Scorpius said,

Upon hearing Scorpius' voice, Rose's eyes widened as much as they could in the heavy rain. "Scorp?" She whispered, glancing up at him. "Ow." She mumbled.

"Ros?! Shit!" He said quickly getting up. And offering her his hand." Oh Merlin! I'm sorry. Are you ok? " He said, pulling his jacket off and wrapping it around her.

As she took his hand and he pulled her up, Rose nodded, letting him put his jacket around her and she held it close to herself. instinctively reached up and pushed away some of Scorpius' hair that was sticking to his forehead from the rain. "It's fine..." she said quickly "come on, let's get out of this rain."

Tring to blush at Rose's gesture, Scorpius led her over to his both had been at Hogwarts for four years now and they knew how bad the weather would get. The rain wouldn't let up for at least a few hours. Scorpius grabbed his broom from the ground before mounting it, then Rose proceeded to do the same, wrapping her arms around his waist. She tried to ignore the flips her stomach was suddenly doing.

"Hold on tight Weasley." Scorpius smirked, turning to glance at her and took off. He flew as fast as he could and landed in the courtyard outside the entrance to the castle. He and Rose dismounted, and ran inside, stopping just outside The Great Hall. The warmth from the castle was a welcoming sensation as they were both drenched from the rain.

Rose turned to him, pulling out her wand from her pocket and pointing it at waved her hand in a quick motion until a small blast of hot air erupted from the tip, drying Scorpius' robes. She then pointed the wand at herself and did the same. She sighed, suddenly feeling comfort at her robes not being soaking wet anymore. She looked up at Scorpius "Are you ok?" She asked him softly.

Scorpius watched Rose use the advanced hot air charm in awe. "I'm alright Ros…" He said softly, giving her a sad smile. It'd only been a week since that day outside the Charms classroom but for Scorpius, there was that nagging feeling that Rose could be upset with him. And worse, he could lose her.

Rose immediately saw through his facade. She took his hands in hers. "Hey..." she said gently "It's me...you know you can tell me anything."

Scorpius looked at her with that same fondness he always did then looked down at their intertwined hands. "I….missed you." He admitted."I didn't know why you'd gotten so upset."

"I missed you too…" Rose sighed "Honestly...I don't know either...I suppose I wasn't...Not really." she said frowning "It's just I saw you and Sienna and...I don't know why it bothered me..." she said glancing away.

"But you know how much Sienna annoys me... Ros..."

"Not as much as she annoys me..." Rose mumbled.

Scorpius' raised an eyebrow and he chuckled "Wait….Don't tell me you were….jealous?" He grinned.

Rose's eyes widened as she tugged on a strand of hair "What?! Me? Jealous? You're dreaming."

"You're tugging your hair Ros…." Scorpius smiled.

Rose paused for a moment before crossing her arms across her chest "Yeah, so?"

"We both know you only do that when you're nervous" he said tapping his nose with his finger indicating he caught her bluff.

Rose rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to smile at the fact that he knew her so well. "You're crazy..." she said with amusement in her voice.

"You mean I'm amazing," he said cheekily. Both of them actually laughed at that and they started walking towards the staircase so that they could reach their respective dorms. It was comfortable silence when Scorpius nudged Rose with his shoulder, "Hey Ros... I really am sorry…"

Rose nodded "I'm sorry too. For being a brat…"

"A jealous brat." Scorpius smirked. .

Rose smacked him on the arm "Oi, watch it Malfoy."

Scorpius laughed then leaned down to wrap Rose in a hug before pulling away "See you at lunch?"

Lunch." Rose smiled, then climbed up the spiral staircase to head back up to Gryffindor Tower.

Scorpius smiled watching Rose before she disappeared from view. Scorpius swung his broomstick over his shoulders and ran down to the dungeons. When he reached the boys' dormitories, he quickly stashed his broom and entered the showers. After he'd dried off, he pulled a pair of jeans and a blue sweater over his head. He left the common room and was returning to the Great Hall when he bumped into Albus. "Hey Al, where have you been all morning?"

Albus looked at Scorpius "Oh hey Mate...woke up late, it is Saturday..." he deadpanned, ruffling his messy hair. "What about you? You seem in a better mood...wouldn't have anything to do with my cousin, would it?" He asked teasingly.

"You obviously saw us with that god-forsaken map of yours" Scorpio replied.

"Hey don't insult the map!" Albus exclaimed chuckling "But everything ok with Rosie?"

"Yes... The rain helped" he said cheekily.

Albus raised an eyebrow "The rain."

"I flew into her at the owlery trying to get back. Flew both of us back to the castle, got drenched, she cast a warming charm and we talked in the process" Scorpius said with a wry smile

"Wow...I suppose you could say you two 'fell' for each other." Albus said with a snicker, not resisting the temptation to tease his best friend.

Scorpius' smile suddenly wavered, "We're just friends….that's it." He said glumly. "And it was more of a 'I'm sorry for being a dick' situation..."

Al sighed "Does that mean that you want to be something more than friends with Rosie?" He asked. He knew very well what the answer was but was adamant that Scorpius admit out loud.

"That hardly matters Al" Scorpius said with a sigh. "Please stop reading too much into it."

Albus couldn't help but roll his eyes at his friend's stubbornness. "Fine, fine. Denial..." he said with a cough at that last word. When Scorpius gave him a look, he immediately changed the subject. "So you hungry? Let's go get some lunch."

Scorpius suddenly perked up "Yep!" Scorpius said a little too excitedly, which made Al even more curious but he didn't comment.

The duo reached the great hall and it was full of students and chatter. He saw Rosie sitting with his siblings and hugo. While Alice was talking to her father sitting at the staff table. They both went and greeted them, "Hello everyone!" Albus said

Rose glanced up from her food at Al and Scorpius when they walked up to the Gryffindor table. She smiled at them then turned to Lily who was sitting beside her "Look Lily, your brother's so happy to see you..."

Lily looked at her goofball of a brother and then at her other brother James at the other end of the table. "He does seem very happy today" said brother commented.

Lily nodded enthusiastically "I agree! Oohh maybe Al's got a girlfriend." She said in a sing-song voice.

Albus blushed red and sputtered out, "N-no... I just woke up after taking a long nap!"

"Uh hu..." Lily snickered skeptically as she and Rose burst into giggles.

Albus whined and looked at his brother for help.

"No, I think Albus is speaking the truth... Ali has been with her father and grandparents all day" James said with a snicker.

"Ali?!" Rose and Lily exclaimed simultaneously glancing at Albus with wide eyes. They had both neglected to pay attention to Al's romantic tendencies. "Our Ali?!"

"There is no "our" Ali!" Albus said, smashing his head on the table, and almost into the mashed potatoes. "She just ignores me... And besides, she likes that 5th year, Kip Scamander" he mumbled.

Rose sighed, patting her cousin on the back as she exchanged knowing glances with Scorpius.

"Al, don't think about it too much...aren't you friends?"

"Yes." Albus replied, taking an angry bite of the mashed potatoes.

Rose chuckled, then James looked at his brother with a sheepish smirk "Sorry Al...I didn't mean to share your big secret." He said in an amused voice, but Rose suspected James truly wasn't too worried.

"Sod off James" Al mumbled. "Now go chase Annabelle Clearwater... She is probably in the library" he said.

James looked around and coughed. "Well

Scorpius looked at Albus "She isn't in the library is she?"

Albus smirked, shaking his head "Extra Potions..."

Scorpius chuckled then turned to Lily excitedly "Yes! How is the new Potions professor? We haven't got a class yet."

"Professor Hawthorn's great..." Lily replied, taking a sip of her orange juice "He tends to drag on the lesson for ages though...It wasn't till the end of class that we actually managed to brew something." she said, frowning. Lily had inherited her late grandmother's aptitude at potion-making and had been looking forward to being able to create more complicated concoctions.

"Phew" Albus said, "at least I'll have less of an opportunity to screw up Potions... "

"Don't worry, you always find a way Al..." Lily snickered, as Albus threw a slice of toast at her head. Rose smiled at her cousins then turned to Scorpius "You seem in a good mood today..."

"Do I?" Scorpius smiled, grabbing a muffin.

"You were brooding not a week ago..." She reminded him with a grin.

"You weren't talking to me a week ago…So how would you know, Weasley?" He teased.

"Al." Rose said gesturing to her cousin who had stopped throwing food at Lily and gaped at Rose.

Albus proceeded to grab a handful of potatoes and aimed to hit Rose who was sat across from him but she expertly dogged it and it hit the back of a Hufflepuff's head instead. The Hufflepuff retaliated by casting a charm on a gravy boat which ended up hitting Albus square on the chest and the food fight began.

Rose immediately pulled Scorpius down with her under the table when she noticed Albus arming himself with a fistful of rice. She could hear Albus shout as Lily poured her juice on him, only to receive vegetables at her face in retaliation. Rose groaned when she glanced down at a strand of her hair and noticed it was dripping with gravy.

Scorpius took her hair carefully in his hand and cast Scourgify to clean it. He then pulled her closer to himself so that they were properly hidden under the table as the food fight started to get rowdier.

"Thanks..." Rose said, as a roll of bread rolled underneath the table hitting Scorpius' foot. Because they were so close, she looked at his face and stifled a giggle "You have pudding on your forehead..."

"That pudding is my hair..." He said cheekily and kicked the bread roll away from him. He took the napkin and wiped his face nevertheless.

"Yeah?" She grabbed the napkin from him as she reached up and wiped away what was in fact pudding, off his forehead. "See?" She said, smirking as she showed him the napkin.

Scorpius just looked at her and they stayed like that for a few moments before Rose glanced away, clearing her throat. "Umm..."

"Hmm?" He asked, as he dared to lean forward and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Rose looked at Scorpius, seeing those blue eyes she loved so much. "No-Nothing..." Rose said, smiling as she pulled away from him and began crawling across the floor towards the entrance of the Great Hall. "Are you coming? I don't fancy being in the middle of a food fight, do you?"

"Wait up, Weasley!" Scorpius said crawling behind her "I'm coming too".

Rose and Scorpius were army crawling their way across the Great Hall, underneath the Gryffindor table. Scorpius was having a rather difficult time looking everywhere but in front of him. Because there was Rose. Crawling. And that meant that in front of him was also her attractive bum. He was completely red in the face the moment he realized that.

Rose sighed crawling out from underneath the table when they finally made it across it, as Scorpius proceeded to do the same. They quickly opened the door of the Great Hall, and before she stepped out, Rose caught a glimpse of Albus in a fork fight with Lily. She chuckled, shutting the door before she was hit in the face again. Outside the Great, she looked up at Scorpius "You're all red Scorp...Are you ok or did you get hit with a tomato?"

Scorpius from her, "Ahem... Well you see... You were... We were" he tried to think of a way to get out of the situation without Rose killing him but relented, "You ...Your…umm. bum... Was in my way the whole time..." He mumbled out awkwardly.

Rose looked at him with wide eyes, then proceeded to smack him in the arm "Scorpius Malfoy, who told you to bloody look?!"

"Well it's not like I could help if it's waving right in front of my face can I?!" He said incredulously

Rose gaped at him "I wasn't waving it!" She said frustrated. Then they looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

"What do you want to do now?" Scorpius asked after the laughter had subdued.

"Well, actually-" Rose said but stopped when Lorcan Lysander came up to them. "Lorcan!" She said, giving him a quick hug. Lorcan was a family friend, and he was also one year above them. "How are you? I don't think I've seen you since term started..."

Scorpius was silently frustrated that Lorcan had interrupted them. He liked the bloke well enough and he was generally friendly with everyone so Scorpius greeted him. "Hey Lorcan, good to see you mate."

"Hello Scorpius," Lorcan said with a polite smile "Yeah...my brother and I have been helping Uncle Neville at the Greenhouse, and Quidditch practice, it all tends to pile up..." he said shaking his head "But I'm glad I've finally run into my favorite Weasley." He said tapping Rose on the shoulder, which she replied with a smile.

"How is your brother, Lorcan?" She asked.

"Oh he has been doing well" Lorcan replied, "Been keeping his head down and staying out of trouble" he smiled. "I was actually looking for you because there's something you have to see down by Hagrid's hut. He's there too but asked that I not tell you until we get there."

"That's vague..." Scorpius mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry mate, what was that?" Lorcan asked.

"I said, that's great." Scorpius corrected himself quickly.

Rose gave him a look then turned back to Lorcan "Sure, I've been meaning to visit Hagrid. Merlin knows how he gets when we don't visit..." she chuckled "Scorp are you coming too?"

"Yeah" Lorcan said wearily "Scorpius, you should join us."

Scorpius had a feeling Lorcan wasn't too keen on him going with them and was just playing a part for Rose's sake.

"No, I have to head over to the library for some revision..." Scorpius replied "But thanks anyway Lorcan."

Rose glanced at Scorpius who was staring at his feet, his brow furrowed."Hey, I'll see you later?" She said smiling at him.

Scorpius have her a weak smile and said, "Yeah. Later." He then turned around and walked away. He considered actually going to the library. He did have some pending homework. Although he wasn't too certain coursework could help keep his mind off of Rose. Nonetheless, he turned a corner towards the first floor corridor.

...

Rose had followed Lorcan to the grounds, when they arrived she glanced at him curiously. "So what was this you wanted to show me?" She said with a smile.

Lorcan smiled at her and pointed towards the mountains, "I'm surprised you didn't see it" he said. It was a rainbow. Rose frowned peered over at the mountains and saw a rainbow in the distance. And it wasn't any ordinary rainbow, it was a double rainbow. They could see a horde of unicorns frolicking under it.

"Wow..." Rose said, awestruck. She'd never seen so many unicorns that close before. "They're meant to have more speed than a werewolf...incredible." She said spotting a foal among the horde.

"This is the horde which lives in the Forbidden Forest" Lorcan said beckoning her to follow him towards the noble creatures. "They usually do not come out, but we are in luck that they did. Come... Let's see if they allow us to pet them"

Rose followed him, hardly waiting to tell Scorpius about her encounter with the unicorns. As Lorcan offered his hand to help her over a small gap of branches on the ground, Rose looked at him with wide eyes. "Do you really think they would?" She asked excitedly.

"Unicorns are the lightest of creatures in the world... I'm pretty sure they mean no malice so they probably would... Though stay away from the goal, they spook easily" Lorcan said as they arrived near the horde. To their surprise, or perhaps not so, Hagrid was already there brushing the unicorn with much love.

"Hagrid," Rose said smiling at the half-giant "Oh i'm sorry...I meant Professor..." she said with a small grin as she and Lorcan walked over to him.

"Hagrid 's fine ousside th' class" he said smiling to his students. "Have yer both come to see th' unicorns?"

Rose and Lorcan both nodded "May I?" Rose asked tentatively gesturing towards the brush in Hagrid's hand.

"No." Hagrid said with a grin. He supposed having lived so long in the company of Sirius had turned him into a bit of a prankster. "Ther' 're more in th' bucket ther'" he said gesturing towards a bucket with some water, a washcloth and some soap. He also had some ointments in case any unicorn needed it

Rose smiled as she bent down to grab a brush and damp cloth from the bucket before walking back over to Hagrid. She reached up slowly, gently stroking the unicorn's mane. Smiling when the creature seemed to lean into her touch. Rose then Rose began to slowly brush the mane.

...

Scorpius had managed to make it to the library but he could hardly concentrate. He shut the book in front of him close. All that clouded his thoughts was that Rose was with Lorcan. He sighed. There was no use thinking about it. His mind wandered over to Albus and how Al had accepted the fact that the girl he liked, Ali, liked someone else. Scorpius decided to follow Albus' example and be happy for Rose. Even if it hurt him.

...

When Rose had realized it was getting to be a bit late, she and Lorcan said their goodbyes to Hagrid, and began their journey back to the castle. Once they reached the entrance Rose turned to Lorcan. "Hey, thank you so much for showing me that. It was incredible." She said smiling.

Lorcan gave her a charming smile and said, "Special moments need to be shared with special people."

Rose chuckled softly, blushing a bit "Thank you. I had fun."

"You're welcome..." Lorcan said leaning down to place a kiss on Rose's cheek. "Good night Rose."

"Good night Lorcan." She replied with a smile.

...

Meanwhile Scorpius had finally managed to finish all his coursework. He remembered his mother often whenever he studied. She always told him to hold himself with a higher standard and to always strive to learn more and be better. A frown reached his face as he was packing his Potions essay... He considered revising it once more

Rose watched Lorcan leave, she wanted to find Scorpius and realized, more than likely, he'd be in the library. Making her way there, as she went to open the door, Rose nearly gasped when someone had already done so, the door bumping her forehead in the process. "Ow." She groaned rubbing her head, glancing up to see Scorpius.

"Owww" he said rubbing his head, "You really have a hard head Weasley" He teased.

"And you really like bumping into me Malfoy." She said grinning back..

Scorpius smirked but it soon faded noticing the smile on Rose' face. "You look like you have had a great time with Lorcan..."

Rose nodded smiling "I did...Scorp, it was incredible. There was a double rainbow and a horde of unicorns, Hagrid even let me touch one."

Scorpius gave her a wry smile, "Lucky you..." He said. "And here I was stuck doing homework"

"I know...i'm sorry..." she said sincerely, giving him a weak smile. "Come on, let's go find Al, I'm sure he hates me after that food fight." She said chuckling as she grabbed his hand, nudging him.

"You wont find him. He and Lily were called to McGonagall's office after the food fight. Detention in the kitchen." Scorpius grinned.

"Al got detention." Rose snickered "I mean I feel terrible for Lily... but Al got kitchen duty!"

Scorpius chuckled, gently tugging her hand and pulling her towards the courtyard. They spent the rest of the evening there, exchanging notes on magical creatures, until it was time for dinner. When they found Al in the Great Hall, he was pouting and told them he had received a very angry letter from his mum. Rose knew her Aunt Ginny could have a temper when she wanted. And two of her kids had received detention.

Classes soon came and went. At the end of the year, and much to her surprise and Scorpius' dismay, Lorcan went up to Rose and asked her to have dinner with him, to which she'd agreed. A few weeks into the summer they had begun writing to each other and officially decided to become a couple. Rose was surprised at herself, knowing full well the feelings she had for Scorpius. But she was certain that those feelings weren't reciprocated. And Lorcan was a nice guy who she got along with well. Even though she had much more in common with Scorpius. When she told her parents about Lorcan, Hermione had smiled at her telling her if she was happy, then she was happy as well. Ron had grumbled for a few days claiming Rose was too young but eventually came around.