The Third Option

by meandering-bluebottle

At Scorpius Malfoy's 18th birthday party, his friend Rose makes an offer that he probably shouldn't take her up on but he can't refuse. After spending one night together they aren't quite sure if they remain just friends or friends with occasional benefits. See how long it takes them to realise that there may be a third option. Chapter 2/3 updated

1. Chapter 1

A/N: While I really should be working on finishing two of my other stories, this just wouldn't leave my head so I have been writing it between updates of Falling Short. Originally intended as a one shot but I'm far too wordy for that so this will be a two shot of fun Rose/Scorpius interactions. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer:All recognisable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

---

August 2024

It was 2am on a Sunday morning and Rose Weasley was drunkenly giving herself a tour of Malfoy Manor. She was attending Scorpius Malfoy's 18th birthday party and the small crowd had thinned out significantly as some people had said their farewells and gone home, others had fallen asleep on couches or the floor in the entertaining space while others had continued to help themselves to the generous amount of alcohol provided. Rose was one of these people. Her cousin Albus had poured her another drink and feeling fancy with her newly filled glass of champagne (she wasn't sure when she would have the opportunity to indulge in such an expensive drop so she took advantage of the situation), she decided she would go wandering her friend's childhood home. To be fair, it was still Scorpius' home as they had only graduated from Hogwarts a couple of months prior and he was still living here. Rose could understand why he wouldn't want to move out in a hurry, this place was huge. She held her champagne glass in what she thought was a posh manner and strutted down the marble floored hallways pretending to curtsey and chat to imaginary upper class guests, occasionally twirling so her dress would swirl out around her. She had never been happier to wear a flowing dress in all her life as the décor surrounding her just made her feel very fancy indeed. She opened random doors and peeked inside. She had already discovered a ballroom (cue more twirling), a large sitting area and another smaller lounge room which was decorated with more personal looking items (how many entertaining areas did one house need?). As extravagant as every room was, it was hard to top the sheer wonder of the first door she had entered which lead to the empty ballroom she had danced and twirled and spilled a small amount of champagne in.

She was making her way up the ornate staircase, slowly running her hand up the balustrade as she ascended, and decided if there was nothing interesting at the top of the stairs she would turn around and head back to the party. She was also almost out of champagne. As she reached the top of the stairs she looked in both directions and turned left on a whim. She ran her hand along the wall and each door as she walked and eventually stopped in front of some double mahogany doors. Her interest was piqued and she gently pushed the doors inwards, hoping that they weren't locked. To her relief, the doors gave way and as she stepped into the room she let out an audible gasp. It was a library. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, multiple comfortable looking chairs and couches were strategically placed about the room and there was a large mahogany desk which matched the doors that sat pride of place at the head of the room. Despite the vastness of the room it felt warm and inviting. Rose let out a squeal and did another twirl, ending her pirouette by draining her glass of its final drop. She ran up to the bookshelves and ran her hands lovingly across the spines, then let out another squeal and set out at a run when she realised there was a ladder on casters that was hooked onto a rail which ran the whole length of the room. It was as if this room was plucked straight from her dreams. She unceremoniously placed the champagne glass on one of the shelves and then proceeded to hug and caress the ladder. Her next move was going to be to climb the object of her affections but a light had now suddenly bathed the room in a warm yellow glow and a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Should have known you would find this room. Like a moth to a flame!" The voice said. Rose was so shocked to find someone else in the room she whipped her head around too fast and lost her balance, sliding down the ladder onto the floor.

"Oh shit! Rose, you okay?" the voice said and they made their way over to her. She was sprawled out on the floor looking straight up into the face of the birthday boy. She smiled and held her hands out.

"Hey! Scorpius! Happy birthday! Great party by the way." She said as he pulled her off the floor.

"Why are you in here, you should be at your party!" said Rose noticing that Scorpius must have excused himself from the celebration. Scorpius didn't reply as he had made his way back to the chair behind the desk. Rose looked around.

"Wait a minute, you're in here, in the dark with a drink. Did you leave your own party to come in here and mope?"

Scorpius looked at his glass and back to Rose who now stood next to the desk with her hands on her hips.

"No?" he replied, unconvincingly.

Rose looked at him in pity. "Oh, Sweetie."

"Don't 'oh sweetie' me. You only ever say that to pity or patronise me." Scorpius replied, leaning back on the large leather office chair and taking a sip from his glass.

"Looks like you're doing a good job of pitying yourself. Serves you right for inviting your ex and her new boyfriend to your party though." Rose said matter of factly, all traces of pity gone.

"I only invited Holly. She was the one who thought it would be a good idea to bring him."

"Ah Him." Rose stared off into space dreamily. "Typical tall, dark and handsome. She did well for herself didn't she?"

Scorpius glared at her. "Not helping Rose."

Rose shook her head to clear her imagination and focus on her friend. "Sorry." She said, now making her way to sit on the edge of the desk in front of Scorpius. "I thought you had agreed to stay friends though? Why all the moping, well apart from her bringing a foxy new man to your party."

This seemed to set Scorpius off. "First of all, we broke up at the end of school. Two months! Two months and she's found someone else already!" He stated, flailing his glass around so it was at risk of spilling the amber contents.

"And second of all?" Rose prompted. Scorpius appeared to have forgotten that he was making a multiple point argument.

"It's just-" Scorpius trailed off and looked at Rose with a pathetic expression on his face. "I'm not sure I should-" he paused again, looking at Rose's expectant face. "Ah fuck it, we're friends. Just, please don't judge me!"

Rose had no idea what juicy gossip she was about to be privy to but she leaned towards him in anticipation.

Scorpius took a big breath. "We were together for over two years. Two years and we never even-" He paused again.

"What? Never said you loved each other? Never went ten pin bowling? Never went on a tandem bike ride?" Rose asked with cheeky grin.

"Never slept together okay?"

Rose rolled her eyes and stole Scorpius' glass. "I thought that was where this was going." She said casually and took a sip of his drink. She sucked in her breath promptly after swallowing it. "Whoah, hard to transition from champagne to whisky. Why are you so worried about being a virgin? There's plenty of us who haven't been with anyone. We are only 18 there's a whole lifetime ahead of us to do that stuff. No point moping about it"

Scorpius stole his glass back. "Well, that's only half of it." He shot his head up and stared at Rose. "Wait a minute, you haven't?"

"Nope." Rose said without shame.

"What about with-"

"Nope." She cut him off. "So what's the other half to this saga?"

"Huh? Oh. Well, as I said, two years together and she never wanted to, you know-"

"Have sex?"

"That's the word. Anyway we did other stuff but she just never wanted to. With me. Two months since we broke up she finds someone new and they've already-" Scorpius trailed off.

Rose looked at him with a confused look on her face. "How could you possibly know that?"

Scorpius glared at her. "Tall dark and handsome likes to brag."

"Doesn't mean it's true." Rose offered.

"Huh, well I was hoping that too but then Holly came along as he was talking about waking up next to her naked that morning – oh yeah, he's all class isn't he? And she just – giggled and slapped him on the arm."

"Oh. Ouch."

"Yeah, ouch! Hard to not take that personally."

Rose nodded slightly and stole his glass once more to take a sip. "Well, allow me to blue sky this situation for you. You guys broke up, mutually as far as I am aware. It was your first relationship and you were just kids."

"Rose, it was two months ago!"

"I know, you keep saying! Think about how much more independent you've felt since leaving school. Sometimes people just need a different scenario to look at things differently."

"More like a different person." Scorpius mumbled.

"That's not what I mean. Look, you guys were young when you first started going out. Sometimes people just aren't ready and it takes a change of circumstances or just a tiny bit of growing up to realise that." Rose paused but still made her final point. "Or you guys just weren't compatible?"

Scorpius slumped and leant back on the chair again, holding his hand out for the drink.

"I just- is it me? Am I not good enough?" he asked sadly. Rose handed him the drink and then patted his arm.

"Don't you dare think that! Of course you're good enough. I thought you were past all of that?" Scorpius just shrugged in response.

"Oh Sweetie."

Scorpius glared at her. Rose smiled and held up her hands in surrender. "Sorry!" then she sighed. "You know how you thought Mark and I had slept together? Well, we never did. We got close a few times but he backed out the first time when I thought I was ready, then I backed out the other two times because I realised I wasn't ready. We gave it more time but we were never in sync so we decided it was probably best to break up because this apprehension just never changed over time. I think for me I thought I couldn't trust him for some reason. No idea why because he is such a gentleman."

"So you think Holly just never trusted me?" Scorpius asked horrified.

Rose couldn't help it, she laughed. "No! All I'm saying is that people are ready when they're ready, and if you're lucky the opportunity will present itself at the right time. Nothing worse than feeling ready and having no one to be with. Kind of makes me wish I had slept with Mark to be honest."

There was a pause as they both let their own thoughts carry them away.

"When did you get so wise Rose?" Scorpius finally asked.

"Just gotta be born with it." Rose answered, flicking her hair over her shoulder dramatically with a laugh. She lowered her voice to a loud whisper. "Or, and don't tell anyone this as it's highly confidential, it might just be the whisky."

"Ah yes, whisky makes us all into poets or philosophers."

He was leaning back in the chair as far as it could go and Rose's legs were lightly swinging in mid air as she sat on the edge of the desk. They continued to take turns with the whisky but there was very little left in the glass now.

"You know what's crazy Scor?"

"What's that?" He asked lazily.

"Who would have thought we both would be in the same predicament?"

Scorpius laughed. "What? You mean two horny teenagers with no one to do it with?"

"Would you just say sex like a normal person? And yes, that is what I meant."

"Well, as you said, we can't be the only ones."

There was a pause as Rose drained the glass. "True, but maybe we don't have to be."

"Ha, what, you think we should do it? Sorry, I mean 'have sex'?" Scorpius laughed and closed his eyes. The whisky was starting to make him sleepy.

"Maybe. I mean, I never got you a birthday present so-"

Scorpius' eyes shot open and he flung himself forward on the chair.

"Rose, are you serious? You're joking right? Haha good one!" Scorpius said in quick succession. He looked at Rose who was just staring at him calmly.

"You are joking right?"

Rose shrugged. "Nope." There was a pause. "Unless you don't want to and in that case -HA, I got you good!" she said as she lightly punched him in the shoulder.

After staring at her for a few more seconds, Scorpius snatched the empty glass out of her hand, put it on the desk with a little more force than intended and filled it up. He took a large swig of whisky and nearly choked. He stared at her again. She looked far too calm staring straight back at him and still lightly swinging her legs. How was she not freaking out about this?

"Okay. Um. Okay?" he said with a rising inflection.

"So, is that a yes?"

"Yes! I mean, no? Maybe? I don't know! Why do you want to sleep with me?"

"I told you, I didn't buy you a present." Rose smiled but Scorpius just glared at her, silently willing her to be serious. "I just- look, I've never actually thought about it, with you I mean, but in this moment we're both here, it's awfully convenient. We're friends and I do love you-" Rose saw the panicked look on Scorpius' face at this last statement so continued before he could interrupt her. "As a friend, Merlin Almighty! I'm not in love with you!" Scorpius visibly calmed at this. "You are quite good looking though so there's a bonus. But really, it's just that I trust you."

The staring contest continued.

"How do we know we have chemistry or are, what did you call it?"

"Compatible?"

"Yes! Compatible!" Scorpius almost shouted while pointing at her.

"How about we kiss, you know, as a test and then-"

"Ah, testing a hypothesis. Good. Good idea. I like that. Should we at least first-"

"Have a massive swig of whisky? Definitely." Rose said in a rush while taking the glass back, once again from Scorpius' hand. This was the first time she had shown anything but pure calm and confidence during this whole conversation. She filled the glass halfway again and passed it back. It was Scorpius' turn to drain the glass as he stood up and positioned himself in front of Rose who remained seated.

He placed his hands either side of her, leaning on the desk as his face became level with hers.

"You sure this isn't a bad idea?" he asked quietly.

"Only one way to find out." She replied.

Scorpius nodded. Rose noticed his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed nervously. She found this rather endearing and gently pulled him towards her.

Rose had honestly never thought about what it would be like to kiss Scorpius. They had been friends for so long, meeting in first year when Albus was sorted into Slytherin and forming an unlikely friendship with the blonde boy. Over time Rose and Scorpius had forged their own friendship which easily existed outside the group dynamic. She had no idea why she made this suggestion but she had always had such unwavering trust in the boy that in that moment it simply seemed like a solution to their rather non problematic problem.

Their lips met, the smell and taste of firewhisky mingling between them as their lips slowly moved together. The kiss was pleasant, causing the familiar tingling sensation that Rose had always felt during a good snog. Scorpius traced her bottom lip with his tongue and as she granted him entrance their tongues met tentatively, the tingling sensation now accompanied by what she could only describe as a swooping sensation which started in her chest and slowly made its way down her body, settling at her core. It was almost as if something snapped in both of them at this very moment as Rose pressed her mouth harder into his and snaked her hand around his neck and into his hair. Scorpius gladly reciprocated, mouths and tongues now battling for dominance but somehow also working together. As Rose gently grazed her teeth over Scorpius' bottom lip it seemed to pull him out of a reverie and he pulled away from her, both panting hard.

"Okay, test kiss complete. What are your findings?" He was still breathless so this sentence came out as a hoarse jumble.

"Hypothesis confirmed."

"Meaning?"

"That all logic tells me this is a stupid idea but it feels too damn good for me to care about that right now."

Scorpius laughed and leant his head on her shoulder, breath still coming out in short bursts. Rose moved her hand up to caress his hair again.

"What do you want to do?" she asked so softly that Scorpius wouldn't have heard her if his ear wasn't so close to her mouth. He turned his head slightly so his lips met the nape of her neck. He slowly kissed his way up her neck, her jaw and then gave her a peck on the lips once more.

"I think we may have started something we have to finish." He said finally in response.

"Are you sure?"

Instead of answering her, Scorpius finally moved his hands from the desk either side of her and placed them gently on her knees, having to shift her mid length dress up with his hands so he could touch her bare skin. He kissed her hard, hands moving up her thighs slowly, leaving an agonising but delicious heat in their wake. As his hands met the texture of her underwear, he gripped her hips and slid her forward so their bodies were now flush, completely voiding any ability to hide his reaction to their current situation. Rose was quite surprised at his boldness and gave a small whimper as she collided with the hardness he could no longer conceal. There was something so innate and primal about his sudden confidence and it sent new shockwaves throughout her body.

"That answer your question?" he asked.

"Mmhm." Was all Rose was capable of responding.

Scorpius grinned at her. "Good." And he promptly kissed her again.

The rest of the process was a blur as Rose and Scorpius continued in a haze of alcohol, hormones and sheer disbelief that this was happening. Hands fumbled over buttons and zippers, while the library was taken over by heavy breaths and the occasional moan or giggle. Scorpius was having trouble ridding Rose of her dress so she pushed him away and slid off the desk. He had managed to pull the zipper down at least half way but there was much more to go so she turned around, offering him the job of finishing the task. Scorpius was already out of his shirt and trousers so it was only fair for Rose to follow suit. Rose was shocked at the intimacy of this moment. Scorpius stood behind her and gently placed her hair over one shoulder. His hand followed the line of the open zipper, slowly grazing his knuckle along her exposed spine. His head was bowed beside hers still, offering the occasional peck to her shoulder or neck as it was exposed. His hand continued to descend along with the closed portion of the zipper and the odd combination of cool air on her back, warm body heat emanating from Scorpius' bare chest and the contact of his hand was enough to give Rose goosebumps. She thought it strange that this was the moment that had made her feel the most giddy.

"I like this dress. You look really pretty in it." Scorpius said absently as he slid the dress off her shoulders, letting the deep blue material pool on the floor. Rose turned around and face him.

"You don't have to butter me up you know." Rose said with a smirk.

"Not what I'm doing. Just telling it like it is." Scorpius said, quite obviously staring at her chest now that she had turned around.

"Well thank you. You looked quite dapper yourself tonight."

Scorpius glanced quickly from her chest to her face. "Looked? Past tense?" he joked.

Rose made a sweeping gesture to his bare chest and hair. "Less so."

"I take responsibility for being pale and scrawny but the hair is all on you!"

"And I'm not even sorry!" Rose said smugly and they both dissolved into another fit of giggles. Rose pulled Scorpius to her again and tried to set herself back onto the desk but Scorpius stopped her.

"As cool as that would be, I don't think my dad would appreciate us defiling his desk." He muttered as he pulled Rose's legs around his middle instead of depositing her on the desk. He attempted to lift her up with the intention of carrying her over to a sofa halfway across the room but after five steps he realised his trousers were still wrapped around his ankles, hindering his efforts and his strength wasn't quite up to the task. He set her down again.

"Sorry," he said between kisses and small kicks to rid him completely of his dropped trousers, not really caring that this made him look amusing rather than sexy. "Scrawny and all that."

"Doesn't matter." Rose said, looking behind her to see where he was taking her. She noticed the couch so she entwined her fingers with his and pulled him along with her, still attempting to kiss him as they stumbled their way backwards. Rose's legs hit the edge of the couch and she swiftly sat down and the pivoted so she was laying comfortably, of course dragging Scorpius over her as she did so. Their kisses became heated once more. Rose felt the delicious weight of Scorpius above her, the welcome heat and what she could only describe as electricity firing between the two. They continued on in a frenzy, Scorpius coaxing her forward so he could unclasp her bra, Rose using her hands and then feet to rid him of his pants in quite the display of athleticism. While Rose knew that they were pretty far gone the point of no return, reality flooded back for a few seconds as Scorpius slid his hand up to cup her bare breast while his other hand inched further downwards to the only piece of clothing separating them. She shot her eyes open, noticing that Scorpius must have had the same reality bomb hit him as well. He was staring at her, eye's half closed and breathing hard merely centimeters from her own flushed face. They made eye contact, a silent question shared between the two. Rose nodded ever so slightly and Scorpius met her once more with a searing kiss. The rest was once more a blur. Rose stopped him once because he was leaning on her hair. Scorpius cried out as Rose accidentally poked him in the eye. They even headbutted each other once. However there came a point where neither of them could focus on these things or even kissing as they became overwhelmed by their senses. Some sensations felt amazing and almost unbearable in a positive way, while for Rose in particular, some sensations were uncomfortable or even painful. This forced them to take pause and slow down making sure to communicate where each of them were at.

It wasn't a particularly long tryst; Scorpius had warned Rose of this potential outcome, but they lay together afterwards for the most part sated and definitely relaxed. Their breaths were still coming out in sharp bursts and Scorpius remained half on top of Rose and half on the couch, his head resting on her shoulder as he spoke.

"I can't believe we just-"

"Ah! Don't say it. It will be weird if you say it."

Rose felt Scorpius smile against her shoulder. "I just had sex. I mean, we just had sex. I had sex with Rose Weasley!" he said in a singsong voice, lightly tickling her side as he teased. She merely hit his hand away and tried to cross her arms in defense but this was relatively difficult as one of her arms was still trapped under the boy next to her.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." His face fell slightly and his voice lost its teasing tone. "You don't you think we just completely ruined our friendship do you?"

"Nah, I mean, I don't think so. It's just one more secret we get to keep together. Like the time I had to save you from the lake because the giant Squid took a liking to you and dragged you under."

"Hey, she was attracted to my shiny watch, not me, and I thought we were never going to mention that again!"

"My point exactly."

Scorpius paused a moment in thought. "Oh shit, that means I can't tell anyone that I finally lost my virginity!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble." Rose responded with a laugh.

"But, but I want to tell people, I need to tell people." He propped himself up on his elbow so he was looking down at Rose. "Can I tell anyone?" Rose simply shook her head. "Not even Albus?"

"Oh my god, especially not Albus!" She shot back.

"Yeah, alright." Scorpius bit his lip in thought. "Can I still say that I had sex but just not say it was with you?"

Rose laughed and shook her head, more out of exasperation than a refusal of his request. "Scor, you can tell people what you want as long as I'm not included at all."

"Okay, cool." He said and lowered his head next to Rose's once more.

"Does it make me an arse if I admit that all I want to do is sleep now?" Scorpius asked Rose after he had settled down and closed his eyes once more.

Rose turned to him. "If that is the case then I must be an arse as well."

"Excellent. Now we can just have a little nap then."

"As much as I would love to, it's now about four in the morning so it would actually be a sleep and not a nap. I also don't think your dad would be happy to accidentally find us in here. I mean, I'm sure he would realise that we respected his desk but what about this poor couch?" Rose joked.

Scorpius chuckled and then let out a childish moan. "Urrrgh, why are you always right?"

"It's a gift."

Scorpius let out a sigh, "And such a burden it is!"

Rose looked around for her wand then deflated as she realised that it would be with her dress over by the desk.

"I'm going to get up but um, can you not look?" She blushed at her own request. Despite still being naked and pressed up against each other on the couch, she felt like she would feel too much of an exhibitionist if he were to watch her walk back to retrieve her dress and wand.

"Would you be offended if I said I kind of don't even want to look?"

Rose laughed. "Personally, I'd be relieved." She made to sit up but Scorpius was still staring at her. Rose cleared her throat.

"Um, Scor?"

"Yeah?"

"Cover your eyes?" she said impatiently.

He startled and then covered his eyes with his hand. "Oh, right!"

Rose looked around for her underwear and then proceeded to put them back on very quickly. She noticed Scorpius' pants laying close by so threw them at him while she retrieved her dress and of course, her beloved wand. As she threaded her arms back through her dress she glanced back briefly at Scorpius. He was facing away from her, putting his own underwear back on. She smiled slightly and then gathered up his clothes and joined him again at the couch. She put his clothes in a pile on his lap as he sat next to her again.

"Thanks." He said as he proceeded to put his trousers and then shirt back on. Rose noticed he was taking his time with the buttons on his shirt. He always procrastinated when thinking too hard about something. While still buttoning the top button, he finally turned to her.

"Are you, ah – do you feel, you know, okay?"

Rose looked at him with an amused smirk. "Emotionally or physically?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Both?" he replied without a hint of humour.

"Absolutely fine. I think the adrenaline is still running a bit but I promise, I'm fine. How about you?"

At this, Scorpius jolted as if an electric current had passed through him and he smiled at her. "I had sex Rose, I'm pretty fucking fantastic actually!"

Rose smiled at him. There was a silence between them now and Rose couldn't figure out if it was awkward or comfortable.

She decided to break the moment either way as she turned her back to Scorpius.

"Would you mind?" she asked, indicating to the zipper. She moved her hair over her shoulder to give him full access. It felt like such an innocent request until she could once again feel Scorpius' hands graze her back once more as he did up her dress. She wasn't sure what it was but it felt like he took an eternity to complete the task and the same jolt went through her as it had when he had undone the fabric earlier. She put this down some form of post coital euphoria and did her best to lock the sensation away in the deep recesses of her brain where she could simply forget about it. She cleared her throat and briefly turned to him again.

"I'd better go." She glanced at him and then stood up. As if on instinct, Scorpius stood up as well.

"Do you want me to come with you? Will you be able to find your way back to the party?" he asked, tucking in his shirt.

"I should be able to manage it. Not sure how many people will still be standing though."

"You sure?"

Rose nodded in reply. They stood staring at each other once again, trying very hard not to avoid one another's gaze. Scorpius looked as though he was going to say something and Rose was terrified he would say 'thank you' to her which would just be too strange. But he didn't. Instead he wrapped her up in a tight hug which was slightly less mortifying than being told 'thank you'. She simply hugged him back.

They detangled themselves a few moments later and Rose gave him arm a squeeze in farewell. As she reached the library door she turned and called to him.

"Hey Scor?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday."

Scorpius chuckled and waved to her.

---

June 2025

Rose looked around her new flat with pride. She knew she wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford a place in Shepherd's Bush so she shared with her cousin Albus who would be an easy and often absent flat mate as he was regularly out of the country training and playing in the Reserves team for the Wimborne Wasps. Rose was also very aware that there were perks to her and Albus being the children of the saviours of the Wizarding World, namely that having the last name Weasley or Potter meant people offered for them to jump the queue for things such as renting a flat and even knock quite a bit of money off the asking price. She had found that people very much enjoyed being famous by association but tried not to use this not so secret weapon very often as she also had a very strong desire to prove her own merit rather than solely riding on the coattails of her parents. The building was split into four distinct apartments, each self contained on their own level. Albus and Rose's flat was of course on the top floor at the insistence of the owners, while some other poor soul's entire flat was contained within the basement level.

There were still a few odd boxes to unpack but she left them in favour of preparing food for housewarming dinner the following night with her parents and brother. As she collected some potatoes to peel she heard the doorbell alert through her wand. The owner's had told Rose that they had to block all access to the Flu network and also create a common apparition area on the ground floor landing as over the years too many guests or even inebriated tenants had accidentally ended up in the wrong apartment which caused all sorts of issues. It was for this reason Albus and Rose had set up a buzzer system (based on the muggle design) but instead of connecting through to an intercom, all correspondence came through the wands of the people who had permission within the flat.

Rose circled her wand in the air to respond to the communication.

"Hello."

"Hi Rose, It's me. Okay if I come up?" Came the voice of Scorpius.

"Sure thing, door's open." Rose replied, circling her wand once again to end the connection.

Rose soon heard movement at the door and as expected, the lanky blonde boy entered. Rose looked up but continued to peel the potatoes.

"Hey Scor, what brings you here?"

"Had nothing else on today, Candice is working so I thought I'd see if Al was free."

"Oh gee, thanks, I feel so loved." Rose said sarcastically.

"Aw don't be like that, you know you're my second best friend. Sometimes a man just needs another man's opinion." Scorpius said with a grin, sitting opposite her at the kitchen bench while she continued to prepare food.

"So I'm higher up than Damien?"

"Damien? No he's like, a definite 3rd!"

Rose pretended to contemplate this, then nodded. "That's okay then. But you're out of luck, your favourite friend has been dragged away to a team bonding weekend so your man's opinion might have to wait."

"Oh, right." Scorpius replied, visibly deflated. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Sunday night I expect. Why don't you just wand call him?" Rose responded distractedly while she started summoning containers for her prepared potatoes.

Scorpius scratched his neck as he replied. "Um, this is not really a wand call appropriate conversation. And besides, his coach doesn't let any of them carry their wands during practise."

"Don't you just hate that whole 'you're in the Reserves team, you have to earn your place in the firsts and you should be dedicated and not distracted by outside life'. Don't think that man has an outside life to speak of. Sometimes it would just be nice to know whether Al will be home for tea, that's all I'm saying!"

Scorpius smirked at her. "Al doesn't cook his own food?"

"Well he can but he's normally so tired after practise and I don't mind cooking for him."

"Aw, it's so nice that Al has a live in wife to look after him."
Rose stopped in the middle of summoning some carrots and threw a potato peel at Scorpius.

"When your cousin husband doesn't come home for tea can I have his share?"

"Ha ha. Don't think Candice would appreciate that."

"She won't mind as long as you make extra for her. She's not big on cooking. Maybe you should just invite us to tea every night and then it'll never be a problem!"

More potato peel was thrown Scorpius' way.

"Speaking of problems, what's this issue that isn't wand call appropriate for Albus? I don't have a man's opinion but could I help?"

Scorpius rubbed his neck again, a clear sign he was uncomfortable. "No no, I think I can wait until-" Scorpius trailed off, staring at Rose while she continued to chop carrots. The sudden silence made her stop what she was doing and look up. Scorpius was still looking at her, face contemplative and his hand held up slightly as if pointing at her.

"Actually," he said, "It might make more sense to talk to you."

Rose looked at him blankly.

"You know, cause you're a girl and all."

More blank staring.

Scorpius jolted and suddenly stood up and was fully animated.

"Okay Rose, I need you to help me but it requires two conditions."

"Ooookay?"

"First condition: don't 'oh sweetie' me, I don't need your sympathy or your pity. And secondly, I just realised you're the perfect person to talk to about this but it does mean breaking our rule about mentioning previous events which we said we would never discuss again."

Rose's hands dropped to the bench.

"Oh no. This is going to be a sex question isn't it?"

"Maybe."

"And you seriously thought Al was the right person to talk to about this?"

"Yeah, he's more experienced than I am."

"Okay, that's just a whole other issue. I think I'm going to regret this question but, what do you need help with?" Rose asked, covering her forehead with her hand in slight exasperation.

Scorpius became animated again but in a more fidgety, nervous way.

"Okay, well, when we – you know – did you enjoy it?"

Rose's eye widened in surprise at this question but she tried to pull herself together. She had a feeling where this was going. "I certainly have no regrets."

"Yeah but did you, you know, at the end?"

This conversation took the turn Rose was fearing it would. "Wow, if this is the same question you were going to ask Al then we definitely have a whole other issue on our hands!" she said, trying to make light of the situation.

"Rose." Scorpius warned, clearly wanting a straight answer.

She sighed. "Sorry, but no." She noticed Scorpius visibly deflate again. "It's not that I didn't enjoy it though."

"Oh. Okay. How could it have been better, I mean for me to be better?"

Rose covered her face with both her hands. "Please don't make me give specific feedback Scor. That's one step too far considering neither of us has even mentioned it for nearly a year now."

"As helpful as that would be, that's not what I'm asking."

"Well then what are you asking?"

Scorpius took a big breath in and then said very quickly. "Candice and I have been going out for six months now and it's good, I mean it's all good but I don't think she's enjoying herself as much as I'm enjoying myself if you know what I mean and I wanted some tips or advice to just be – better."

Scorpius finished his outburst with a sweeping hand gesture towards Rose as if to formally hand the topic over to her.

Rose was processing the information with her hands still on her cheeks.

"So you don't want specific feedback, just some general advice?"

"Exactly."

"Look, to be honest I don't know how much help I'll be. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had sex. And I don't mean people, I mean actual occasions!"

"Doesn't matter, you're a girl and you'll know about this stuff."

Rose let out a sigh. "Have you thought about, I don't know, asking Candice?"

"Nah she wouldn't want me to ask." He paused, uncertain. "Would she?"

"Oh sweetie, you might want to sit down."

Scorpius pointed at her accusingly. "I told you, don't call me sweetie!" He sat down anyway and gave her his rapt attention.

"I may not be very experienced but I am a girl and know what I like, and you're lucky that I have friends who are willing to share their own sexual escapades so, brace yourself."

Scorpius nodded. "Should I write this down?"

Rose burst out laughing. "As wonderful as your enthusiasm is, maybe just try to remember it. It won't go down well if you have to check your notes mid session."

Scorpius glared at her but said nothing.

"Just for reference, all us girls are different so there is no rulebook, but there are a few more common things that might work. I'm just going to abridge everything so you have the main points, then you have to figure it out for yourself, well, for Candice." Rose checked that Scorpius was paying attention. She let out a large breath, steeling herself for the rest of her advice.

"Foreplay, very important, you don't want to just dive in so test the waters first, figure out the little things that get her going. Don't go for the obvious areas like the boobs and um, elsewhere straight away. Do whatever you would normally do to get in the mood but take your time. Use your lips, hands sometimes teeth in different places to see what she likes."

"Teeth? Really?" Scorpius interrupted. "And how do I know what she likes? What do you like?"

Rose had to hold back her exasperation and instead continued with the calm of a teacher educating a difficult student. "No, no, no, no, no, we are not going down that path as this isn't about me. Yes, teeth. It's not like you're going to chomp down, just a graze or nibble in the right spot here and there. Only an idea, not for everyone. And as for how will you know if she likes something - you'll know. She might move into your touch, she might make a noise, might tell you she likes it. She might move in a way to give you better access for – well whatever you're doing and if you're lucky she might do it back to you. Do things lightly first and then maybe slightly harder and just gauge the response, stick with the things that get the best response but mix it up."

Scorpius looked contemplative. "That makes sense, some new things to think about. I think I'm okay at some of that stuff so I'm not completely useless."

Rose was about to say that he definitely wasn't useless at a lot of that stuff as she knew first hand, but she thought better of it.

"How can I make sure she gets there though?"

Rose resisted the urge to cover her face again and just powered through. She really wished he would talk to his girlfriend about this instead of her. "Sweet Merlin." She muttered. "From what I understand, most girls won't come during sex alone, you have to make sure there is stimulation of the clitoris. This may mean a different position, hands or mouth have to be involved and maybe don't be so concerned about coming at the same time because I understand that it's rarer than what some media has us believe."

Scorpius was staring at a spot above her left shoulder and she saw him swallow. Great, she thought, now I've got him imagining it in my kitchen. She clicked her fingers in front of his face to bring him back.

"That's it, that's my wisdom and that's all you're getting. Now you're on your own."

Scorpius smiled sheepishly. "Thanks Rose. Sorry to ask, but thanks."

"Don't thank me yet." Rose smirked, and was grateful to return to chopping her vegetables.

"Well, I might go and contemplate and unpack – all of that." He said as he grabbed his wand and made his way to the door. A sudden thought occurred to him and he swung around quickly. "You won't tell Candice you helped me will you?"

Rose looked at him incredulously. "She definitely won't be hearing it from me."

Scorpius gave her a thumbs up and a wave before exiting.

Rose let out a large groan as the door closed and leant her head on the table. Their friendship was definitely a strange one.

The following night, Rose's mum, dad and brother came to her new flat as planned. After a quick tour of the finally unpacked apartment and some compliments about the delicious aroma that was to be their tea, they each had a glass of wine and were preparing to sit at the table. Just then, the door flew open and a tall figure rushed towards Rose. Ron had gotten up as soon as the commotion occurred and quickly stormed forward with his wand raised, suspecting a threat to his family.

As it turns out, it was not a threat but a very grateful Scorpius who had barged in and made a beeline for Rose, hugging in a fierce display while lifting her off the ground.

"You Rose, are a genius!" he said enthusiastically, then kissed her messily on the forehead.

"Scor, I kind of have company?" Rose said, wiping her forehead with a mildly disgusted look on her face as he set her down. Scorpius looked around and startled, realising that Ron had his wand outstretched while Hermione and Hugo looked on vaguely amused by this point.

"Oh, Mr and Mrs Weasley!" he said, walking up to Ron and vigorously shaking his hand. Then he made his way to Hermione, giving her a hug and a kiss on either cheek.

Scorpius was about to make his way over to Hugo but he held up his hands and said, "I'm all good mate." With a laugh.

"May I ask what this is all about?" Hermione asked, now thoroughly amused.

"You're daughter Mrs Weasley, is a genius!"

As this didn't answer her question, Hermione looked towards Rose for an explanation.

"I helped him out with a problem for ah, work, that he was having trouble with."

"Yes, work. Work!" Scorpius almost shouted. "Completely saved a vital work relationship." Scorpius said while nodding.

"As glad as I am that this work problem is now sorted, I do have company so-"

"Oh, right you are. Sorry, just wanted to make sure you knew your advice worked. And I mean it really worked Rose, well and truly."

Rose just laughed. "I'm glad."

Scorpius clapped his hands together and announced. "Well, I'd better let you all tuck in to your delicious food. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Hugo, always a pleasure."

"Scorpius, why don't you join us?" Hermione asked, looking towards Rose for silent permission which Rose granted.

"Oh no, you enjoy your night as a family."

"Don't worry about that, we see each other most weekends. I insist." Hermione continued, nodding at Ron to offer his support as well. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you can tell us all about this problem Rosie helped you with."

"Yeah, then I can beat you at chess." Hugo offered slyly.

This time it was Scorpius who silently asked for Rose's permission with a glance which of course, she also granted.

"Well, my mum did always say it was rude not to accept an invitation if there was no good cause for declining."

"Right that's settled. Come on Scor, I'll get you a glass of wine."

Scorpius followed her into the kitchen which, to be fair was only a few paces away in the cosy flat. Rose gestured for Scorpius to fetch a glass while she grabbed the wine bottle.

"Please, please, please tell me you haven't come here straight after being with Candice. Because that would be bad and also a little gross." Rose said in a low volume so the other guests couldn't hear her.

Scorpius grinned at her as she poured his wine. "Nah that was last night. And this morning. Candice is travelling to France tonight to spend the week with her grandmother." He replied, holding his glass out for Rose to clink in cheers, then he swiftly summoned an extra set of cutlery and set his own place at the table.

"Well at least one of us is getting some." Rose muttered to herself and took a large sip of her wine.

---

April 2026

Rose was getting frustrated. She was getting ready for a date. She was already dressed and her hair done but for the life of her she couldn't get her makeup to look good. She was fairly proficient with basic magical makeup application; skin care, light foundation, mascara and lipstick but she felt this occasion warranted a more fancy look. Unfortunately she hadn't thought to look up more complicated makeup spells so she was attempting to manually apply eyeshadow, liquid eyeliner and lipstick in the last hour she had before needing to meet her date and it was not going well. Her skin looked flawless but her eyes had become a smudgy and uneven mess. She looked in the mirror and almost cried. She had been looking forward to this date or in fact any date for a long time now. Before she could dissolve into self pitying tears, she heard the door to the flat open.

"Al?" she called out.

"Nah it's me. I take it Al's not in then?" Came Scorpius' voice.

"Qudditch." She said. It was pretty obvious since they had moved in together that when he wasn't at home, Albus was doing something Quidditch related.

"Does that boy do anything else?" Scorpius' voice came from just outside the bathroom. "Are you decent?"

"No, it doesn't seem like he does do anything else. And yeah, you can come in." Rose said with a sigh.

Scorpius still knocked out of habit and entered the bathroom. "Hey, you look nice – whoah." He had started talking when he could only see the back of her, and mid sentence she had turned around.

Rose's face finally fell and her eyes welled up with tears. "I know!" she sniffed, "I just can't get the makeup to work and now I don't know what to do!"

"Hey Rose, it'll be okay. What's the occasion."

"A date."

Scorpius grinned and leaned against the door frame. "Oh, a date! Who's the lucky guy?"

"Guy named Steve. I met him at Aunty Ginny's birthday. He's started an apprenticeship of sorts with the sports section of the Prophet."

"You must really like him if he's got you in this much of a tizz?"

Rose sniffed again and nodded. "Yes, I really really do. We've been for coffee a few times and he's really funny and we've talked about so much stuff." She looked down at her feet. "He's seen me how I normally look and I just wanted to look a bit more 'wow' tonight."

"Oh Rosie, you always look beautiful. And why is this the first time I'm hearing about this guy?" he asked offended but continued anyway. "But if you like, I think I can help with the makeup situation."

Rose looked up at him. "Huh? How?"

"Promise not to tell anyone?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "We have so many secrets between you and I, what's one more?"

Scorpius joined Rose over at the vanity and started sorting through her makeup. "When I was going out with Candice, she broke her right arm and had to be in a cast for six weeks. I'm sure you recall she very rarely ever stepped foot out in public without a full face of makeup." Scorpius paused, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Go on." Rose encouraged

"I may have had to do her makeup for her that entre time." Scorpius said, looking very interested in an eyeshadow blending brush.

"You know how to do makeup?"

He nodded.

"Did she teach you the spells or did you look it up yourself."

"Oh no, I wasn't allowed to do it with magic." He made eye contact with Rose who was looking very confused. "She didn't want magic interfering with her skin's natural features, something about pH and pores and well I don't know. When she did her makeup it was all by hand so-" he trailed off and held up his hands, indicating that's also what he had to use.

"But that still doesn't make sense. Why would she be in a cast, and for so long? Bones get fixed overnight."

Scorpius looked at her, suppressing a grin. "You think the girl who wouldn't use magic on her face would let anyone fix her bones with magic?"

Rose looked confused. Scorpius just laughed.

"But – she wasn't a muggle was she and I just never realised?"

"No, not even muggle born. She just had some weird hang-ups."

Rose furrowed her brow. "Why were you with her for so long then? That completely goes against the logic that you like."

Scorpius shrugged. "We still got on really well and had fun. Definitely time to end it when we did though. Anyway, that's not the point. Makeup, do you need my help or not."

"Help, yes, I need all the help!"

Scorpius clapped his hands together. "Right, how long do we have?"

Rose grabbed Scorpius' wrist towards her so she could read the time. "About 45 minutes."

"It'll be tight but I think I can do it. What look were you going for?"

"Subtle smokey eye I guess?"

"Colours?"

"I don't know, I haven't gotten that far yet."

"You were trying to put eyeliner on before eyeshadow? Oh Sweetie, you are an amateur."

"Hey!"

"Right, subtle smokey eye. Let's see, you have-" he looked at her eyes, "brown eyes, huh, I thought they were blue for some reason. Brown eyes, brown eyes, what colours do you have in your pallette? Let's do browns and a little bit of burgundy. What the hell, let's go full house pride and add some gold in there."

Scorpius said this more as a stream of consciousness while Rose looked on, completely baffled. Rose had to close her eyes as Scorpius started clearing away her failed eye makeup attempts with a makeup wipe.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" She asked skeptically.

"You know how you said Candice's makeup was flawless at my birthday last year?"

"You did that?"

"Sure did." He was now fanning her face with his hand. Rose had a sudden thought and opened her eyes, pushing Scorpius' hand away from her face.

"Hang on, Candice wasn't in a cast for your birthday."

Scorpius looked away quickly and busied himself with organising the brushes.

"Did she really break her arm or did you just want to do makeup?"

"Oh that's all very true. It's just that I kind of got used to it and may have offered to do it for my birthday."

Rose tried not to laugh at him.

"You know what, I'm saving your arse here and I refuse to pretend that I'm not good at this or enjoy it. Kind of nice to finally share my talent with the world. Well just you perhaps."

Rose lost it at that point and openly laughed at him.

"Okay chuckles, we're running out of time here so shut up and close your eyes so I can work my magic."

Rose tried hard to stop laughing and closed her eyes.

After Scorpius had 'worked his magic' in his own words, Rose was allowed to finally look at herself in the mirror. She was shocked to see he was indeed very proficient with a makeup brush. She was concerned that it would be over the top and garish when he mentioned Gryffindor colours but the effect was striking; browns and burgundy colours blended seamlessly and the gold was merely used as a highlight on the centre of her lid. He had also perfected the winged liner that she had been attempting when he arrived and pretty much saved the day.

"Holy – how did you do that? I look –" she trailed off, half closing her eyes to see his handiwork.

"Gorgeous?" Scorpius supplied smugly.

"Ugh, wouldn't go that far but definitely way better than I normally do."

Scorpius shook his head at her self deprecating manner. As Rose continued to inspect her flawless makeup (she was turning her head in different angles, realising that Scorpius had frosted her upper cheeks with a highlight) Scorpius eyed her outfit and a line formed between his eyebrows.

"Are you still um, going to wear that?" he said indicating to her dress.

Rose whipped around, "Huh? Oh no, what's wrong with it?" she asked, slight panic in her voice.

Scorpius hesitated before answering. "It's just that – it looks great but, is there any other dress you could wear?"

Rose was looking at her watch and began to panic again, "What kind of dress do I need?"

"I don't know, any dress just - not that one." He replied, averting his gaze.

Rose looked at her watch and then took a breath to calm herself. "Bugger it, I love this dress so too bad if you don't like it. I don't have time to change."

Rose started around the flat trying to find her handbag and wand, leaving Scorpius to himself in the bathroom. As she gathered her things and quickly made her way to the door, she glimpsed herself again in the mirror by the entrance and smiled. She turned to Scorpius who had ventured out into the lounge and was sitting on the armrest of the couch, now very amused as he watched her.

"You really are a genius you know. Thanks again." She said.

"Oh I know. And you're very welcome. Good luck with the date."

She crossed her fingers in front of her in a similar gesture of hope. "Just lock up when you leave."

Scorpius nodded and Rose disappeared behind the door.

Four hours later…

Rose appeared in the apparition section of her flat and plodded her way up the stairs, huffing with each step. She reached the door to her flat and angrily forced it open, throwing her bag onto the floor in frustration. It took her a full 10 seconds to realise that Scorpius was still there, legs curled up on the sofa staring at her.

"Oh no, bad date?"

Rose huffed again and then stomped over to the sofa and plopped herself on the free side, not bothering to take her heels off before propping her legs up on the coffee table.

"Bad doesn't even cut it."

Scorpius visibly deflated. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." She looked from Scorpius to the TV which had been paused mid show. "What are you still doing here."

Scorpius grinned sheepishly. "You know that show you got me to start watching the other week?"

"Game of Thrones? You didn't like it."

"No, I said it was too slow! I saw the discs sitting there and thought I'd watch one more episode."

"And that turned in to how many?"

"Another three, then this one."

Rose smiled and shook her head.

"Well, it got good!"

"What if I'd brought Steve home."

Scorpius looked momentarily horrified. "Oh shit, didn't think of that, sorry!"

Rose sighed. "Doesn't matter anyway, the guy's a complete wanker."

"What happened?"

"Well I don't even really know! We genuinely got along so well on our coffee dates but this time it was so different. He greeted me, we sat down and started to talk but he kept looking around and I have no idea if he was just wanting people to see us – "

"Oh no, Saviour's Spawn Complex?" Scorpius asked. That was what they called it when people wanted to get to know one of the Potter or Weasley clan purely to be 'famous' by association.

"Big time! So he's looking around, maybe trying to show people he's with me or looking for these other people to arrive, I'm not sure, because very coincidentally he saw that head bloke from the International Quidditch Association – "

"Bigsby Beckmore?"

"That's the one. Anyway, Steve gets his attention, sprouts about working for Aunt Ginny, dropping names left right and centre and then offers for him to join us because he's with me and wants to introduce me blah blah blah."

"So you spent the rest of the night as a pawn?"

"Pawn, bishop, castle, every bloody chess piece apparently."

"That sucks. You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to rage about it first." Rose threw herself backward and leaned her head against the back of the sofa. "The worst bit is I have no idea if that was his plan all along or whether I got lucky and found out he was a dick before investing any time into it. I just thought this might go somewhere, that's all."

"You should tell your Aunty, she'll be sure to punish him in her own unique way."

Rose grinned evilly at this suggestion. "Oh you are so right. I'll try and meet up with her this week." She sighed once more. "Well, I suppose I need to change out of this get up. Can you help me with the zip?"

She asked Scorpius, shifting in her seat to present her back to him without waiting for an answer.

She heard Scorpius clear his throat quietly, then she felt his hands at her neck, slowly pulling the zip down. The sensation felt so familiar, some distant memory coming to her mind causing a slight shiver to ripple down her spine. She thanked him for his help and plodded off to her room, removing her shoes as she walked. As she closed her bedroom door, she caught a glimpse of herself in her standing mirror and even though she had chosen the dress herself she suddenly realised exactly which dress she had chosen. Dark blue, mid length and lace trim. The same dress she had worn to Scorpius' 18th birthday party. Was that why he didn't want her to wear this dress on her date? She looked back at her own confused face in the mirror, and then toward the door, her stare aimed at Scorpius who she assumed was still relaxing on the sofa. She looked back down to the dress, absently running her hands over the pleats before deciding to let that thought go. She had done enough contemplation about her date to last a lifetime and was still mulling that topic over so she didn't need to add to her mental load. She quickly changed into her pyjama pants and an overlarge t-shirt and exited her bedroom without further contemplation.

It was a design flaw that both bedrooms sat wall to wall on one side of the flat while she always had to traipse through the open living area to reach the bathroom on the other side. It wasn't far to walk but it definitely felt a long trek in the middle of the night.

Rose reached the bathroom and stood staring at herself in the mirror, hands either side of the sink. Not for the first time in her life she thought that she must not be good enough. Not attractive enough to get whatever date she wanted. Not interesting enough for people to see her as a person first and the daughter of celebrities second. Not fun enough to stick around for more than a couple of dates or a few occasions of passion. Rose generally had a sunny outlook on life but every now and then her doubts would sneak in and overwhelm her. She was a crier. She cried when she was happy, when she was sad, when she was frustrated or when she saw something so beautiful or cute that it demanded a tear be shed. Right now, her tears were split equally between sadness, anger and self pity. She turned on the tap and started washing her face to hide her sniffling. Unfortunately Scorpius must have known her well enough to tell she was crying, even through the rush of the tap water. He was right there behind her offering her a towel by the time she had scrubbed her face clean. She blindly took the towel from him and dried her face, still sniffing and trying to get a grip on herself. As she lowered the towel, she stared at Scorpius in the mirror, making a facial expression of silent thanks at him. He simply stood there staring back, his face poised in its usual patient and calm manner for moments like these. Rose took a deep breath, Scorpius' presence helping to settle her tears. She covered her cheeks with her hands and let out a laugh while shaking her head, trying to indicate she was being silly. Scorpius knew exactly what she was trying to say, a testament to their close friendship.

"You're not being silly. You're allowed to be upset." He said, taking a step closer to her.

"Ugh, not over such a silly boy I'm not."

"Well, I'm afraid to tell you but most of us are just silly boys. But that doesn't mean you're not supposed to be upset when something doesn't work out."

Rose sighed. "Just another one in a growing list of silly boys really."

Scorpius didn't reply to this but simply stepped forward once more and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind. Rose rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror as she realised this gesture had made her tear up again. Scorpius must have noticed yet again as he spoke softly.

"You may not think you're good enough but you so are Rose. You're fun and kind and smart and I wouldn't be your friend if you weren't amazing. Not to mention you're a killer cook and absolutely gorgeous. I mean, you looked stunning tonight! If that tosser didn't even compliment you then it's his loss."

Rose chuckled and squeezed Scorpius' arms which were wrapped solidly around her waist.

"Sorry I just washed your artwork down the drain."

He squeezed her tighter. "Nah, if anything you look even better like this." He said and leant his head down, placing a kiss on her neck as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do – she wasn't even sure if Scorpius was aware that he had done it. The same shiver from earlier lead down Rose's neck and shoulder – her hair standing on end, a warm heat suddenly coursing through her. Scorpius must have realised what he had done as he stood stock still behind her, his head still half buried in Rose's hair. Rose realised her breath was coming out faster than before and she would have tried to hide it had it not been so obvious to Scorpius as his front was flush with her back. Rose had no idea what to do. While their friendship was entirely platonic she couldn't deny that they had the odd spark of attraction between them, a moment here or there but never acted upon since their night together years before. Try as she might, Rose couldn't ignore the constant tingle and warmth emanating from the boy behind her. She noticed the small puffs of air from Scorpius' mouth tickling her neck and she absently angled her head to the side so more of her neck was exposed. She felt Scorpius grip her t-shirt in one of his hands and he let out a hurried breath before apparently convincing himself to continue.

He kissed her neck lightly again, his lips dancing over her skin in between deliberate pecks. He made his way upwards and she could hear as well as feel his light, fast breaths against her ear before he nuzzled into her and lightly sucked her earlobe. Rose had never realised how sensual ears could be until this moment. It was the feel of his hand tightening further and his teeth grazing her earlobe that caused Rose to give in completely to whatever this was. She wrenched herself out of his arms and turned around, making sure to remain as close to him as possible. While Rose felt as though she was holding her breath, her body was making a liar out of her. They stood close enough to each other that their breath was mingling, both of them panting and staring at one another in a mutual silent question. Rose felt her head nod ever so slightly as she gripped onto Scorpius' shirt with the intention of bringing him down to her level. Scorpius obliged willingly, one arm pressing insistently against her lower back while the other gripped her neck, tangling in her hair to bring her closer to him. Everything about him was warm – his hands, his body, his lips. He kissed her hard, lips moving slowly but with the most incredible pressure. Rose kissed him back enthusiastically, teasing her tongue against his bottom lip while her hands made their way into his hair. There was a moan from someone, Rose wasn't quite sure who and she didn't really care. The room heated up considerably. Scorpius was now insistently leaning into her and pushing her backwards, her backside now pressed firmly against the bathroom bench while they continued to kiss fiercely. There was not enough friction in the right places so Rose quickly detangled herself from Scorpius and hoisted herself up so she was sitting on the bench. She gave a quick breathy chuckle at Scorpius' initial disappointed expression as she moved away from him which he then quickly recovered from as she dragged him back to her so they were pressed together in all the right places. Scorpius recaptured her lips, his arousal even more obvious now. They were now in a frenzied state of no return. Scorpius let out a noise of surprise as his hands made their way under her t-shirt as he realised she was not wearing a bra. How he hadn't noticed this was beyond her comprehension but it still thrilled her that he was impressed. She had started working on unbuttoning his shirt when she came to a stand still. She had heard something. Scorpius was attempting to lift her shirt up in between kisses when Rose definitely heard the front door open and someone walking around in her flat.

"Oh my god, Albus!" said in alarm. Scorpius' hands went still and he pulled away quickly.

"I'm Scorpius!" he said, openly offended.

Rose looked at him incredulously. "Ew, no!" she whispered harshly as she hit him in the shoulder. "Albus is home!" she added.

Scorpius comically looked from her to the bathroom door and back again.

"Oh!" he said.

"Yeah, oh!" she said, disappointment clear in her voice.

Scorpius sighed and leant his forehead against hers. "Oh well, probably wasn't a good idea anyway."

"Hm." Rose replied.

There was a pause as they listened to Albus turning on the kettle and then apparently heading for his room.

"What now?" Scorpius asked her.

Rose sighed. "I'll go out, you stay in here a bit and um – calm down."

Scorpius looked down at his trousers.

"Ah, yep. Good point." He said. He backed away from Rose as she let herself down from the bench, turning to fix her hair in the mirror.

"Think he'll suspect anything?" Rose asked, still trying to get some tangled bobby pins out of her hair. Scorpius smiled at her struggle and helped pull the offending items from her hair.

"Nah, I'm here all the time so not suspicious at all. Besides," he said placing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Albus isn't the most observant person at the best of times, let alone when pissed."

She looked at him questioningly.

"The kettle? Albus only ever makes a cuppa at night when he's plastered."

"Good point." Rose replied, most of the warmth and excitement of their rendezvous now gone. "I still can't believe you thought I'd called out his name. He's my cousin!"

"Well unfortunately it's not the first time that has happened." Scorpius replied, scratching at his neck in embarrassment.

Rose burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh Sweetie!"

"Hm." Was all he replied.

As Rose calmed herself down they looked at each other.

"Still friends?" she asked.

"Absolutely." He replied, giving he a quick hug. And with that, Rose ventured out of the bathroom, hoping that Albus didn't realise her and Scorpius were both in there together.

---

15th October 2027

Rose was just barging her way through her front door with her hands struggling under the weight of numerous grocery bags after a long day – make that a long week at work - when her wand started buzzing. She quickly shuffled her way through the lounge and dumped the grocery bags as gently as she could on the kitchen counter and the floor, cursing her ability to always forget that she lived in a wizarding housing block so it was perfectly safe for her to levitate her bags up the flights of stairs to her flat. Shaking her head at herself, she finally had her wand in hand and circled it, responding to the call.

"Hey," She said, not actually sure who had wand called her – it was only a short list of people that she had approved to contact her by wand call so she was sure it was someone important.

"Hey Rose, what you up to?" came the voice of Emily, Scorpius' girlfriend for over a year now.

"Oh you know, just carrying my groceries into my flat, forgetting I'm a witch as per usual. You?"

"Ha, again? How long have you lived there now?"

"Too long to keep forgetting I don't have to carry everything up the damn stairs!"

"You're a crack up! Anyway, you doing anything tonight?"

"Just baking. You not with Scor tonight? You can come and join me if you like."

There was a slight pause before Emily answered. "Yeah, looks like I'm free tonight so I'd love to if that's not too much trouble. I can bring wine!" she rambled, but Rose didn't miss her hesitation and the change in her tone.

"Em, what's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing really but um, do you know what date it is?"

Rose paused in thought, "October 16th ? Oh shit, I didn't realise." She had been writing the date down all day while tracking the samples of various ingredients in different types of vessels for her latest research project but hadn't really paid attention to its significance.

"Oh no, is he not doing well?"

Emily's voice took on a sad tone. "Well I turned up after work, you know because I couldn't get the day off, and he didn't want to see me. Just turned me away and said he wanted to be alone tonight."

"That's not good." Rose said in reply, leaving her wand on the kitchen counter while rushing around putting the cold groceries in the fridge while leaving everything else in the grocery bags.

"Em, I'm going to go and talk some sense into him. Give me a couple of hours and rock up to his place at – " she looked at her watch, it was already 5pm, she might need a few hours. "Eight o'clock alright?"

"But he said he didn't want to see me!"

"He's lying, I promise. This time he's probably just more stubborn as it's been five years."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. His place, 8pm okay?"

There was a small sniff from the other end. "Alright. Thanks Rose."

Rose quickly picked up her wand and ended the call. She grabbed a few things from her grocery bags and a special bottle of vodka that she was saving as Scorpius' Christmas present, and rushed out the door, skipping steps as she descended to the ground floor and the apparition area. She disapparated with a loud crack and when she opened her eyes, she was standing in front of the large looming front doors of Malfoy Manor.

Rose knocked on the door and stood back, waiting. She had expected Slinky the house elf to answer the door so she was completely surprised when Scorpius' dad answered the door instead. He looked tired.

"Oh, hi Mr. Malfoy. I've come to see Scorpius."

Mr. Malfoy sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Miss Weasley, I am under direct instruction to not allow anyone to visit today. He's already turned away Emily so I don't see how he will allow you to stay."

"Well, I'm far more persistent." Rose said with a small smile which was not returned. Rose shook her head slightly and continued. "Look, I know he turned Emily away, that's why I'm here. He's usually mopey at best but it's been five years, I think he's gone down a deeper hole than usual."

"I'm well aware of how long it's been." Mr. Malfoy said with a cracked voice.

"Oh gosh, I know, I'm sorry. Are you doing okay?"

He simply rubbed at his eyes again. "He won't even talk to me." He said eventually.

Rose didn't know what to say to that so she resorted back to the original reason she was here.

"Let me talk to him. Every year he says he doesn't want company but every year he let's Al or I stay with him. If you let me see him, I'll try to talk him round and maybe then he'll talk to you too." She paused, not wanting to overstep the line but she said the next sentence anyway. "And it sounds like you could use him to talk to too."

Draco stared blankly at Rose, tapping his fingers on his leg before stepping out of the doorway, indicating her to enter.

"He's in his room." He said and went to walk off.

"Hang on! Where's his room?"

There was another sigh as Draco stopped and doubled back, now walking toward the staircase, indicating for Rose to follow him.

"Sorry," she said, coming into step beside him. "I've only been here twice before and this place is huge!"

They walked in silence up the stairs, down a corridor, up another set of stairs and then they stopped in front of what must have been Scorpius' room.

"Um, I'm kind of here to just bring him around so I've asked Emily to come here at eight. Would it be okay if you let her in and lead her here?"

"Fine." He answered flatly. The Vodka bottle caught his eye.

"What on earth is that?" he asked her. She held up the bottle.

"This? It's for Scor, a special concoction I was saving as his Christmas present but I thought he might need it now instead."

Draco was looking at the bottle in thinly veiled disgust. "It's got – floaties – in it."

"Ha, yeah. You put sweets in it and they dissolve into the vodka which gives it flavour. It would have been perfectly dissolved by Christmas but, bit early you see."

He shook his head but Rose could almost see the corner of his lips twitch. "You kids are completely mental. Call for Slinky if you need to find your way back."

He was already half way down the hall when she called out 'Thank you."

She took a deep breath and then knocked on Scorpius' door. She thought she heard him reply but it was hard to tell as he must have been playing loud music. She rolled her eyes and burst through the door. He hadn't locked it so he mustn't have been that keen on not being disturbed.

"Dad, I said I didn't want to talk!" he yelled over the music, a rock song with a very heavy baseline.

"Lucky I'm not your dad then!" Rose called back, pointing her wand at the wireless to reduce the volume. Scorpius shot up from his bed when he realised it was her.

"Rose!" he said dumbfounded.

"Scorpius!" she replied, using every inch of her restraint not to laugh at him. He was in pyjama pants, his favourite Quidditch jersey which was comically large on him and his hair was in complete disarray.

"What – what are you doing here?" he asked almost accusatorily.

"Emily said you turned her away."

Scorpius pouted like a small child and flopped himself back onto the bed. "Yeah, well-" he trailed off.

"I know you told her you wanted to be alone, but you say that every year."

"Hm. Maybe this year is different." He replied sulkily.

Rose took some steps towards him. "Nah, I don't think so. You would have locked the door for starters."

Scorpius had started to pick at a thread on his jersey.

"Yeah well, I didn't think anyone would get past the front door. Looks like I have Dad to thank for you being here then."

Rose sat next to him on the edge of the bed and put the bag of goodies she brought down.

"Pretty much, although I was very insistent so don't just blame him."

Scorpius' gaze was now on the bag at Rose's feet.

"You brought goodies?" he asked hopefully.

"You bet I did."

He sat up straighter. "Home made stuff?"

"Sorry, store bought. Custard creams and jammie dodgers. I got stuff to do some baking tonight but then Emily called me so –" she trailed off.

"What's that?" he said, pointing to the vodka bottle.

"This, is your very special pick me up!"

"It's got floaties in it." He said bluntly.

"Yeah, well you're going to have to get over that! It was supposed to be your Christmas present but I thought you could use it now. Glasses?" she asked. Scorpius waved his wand and two tumblers came zooming their way. Scorpius held them and stared at Rose incredulously as she undid the cap of the bottle and poured them each a small glass of the clear liquid with floaties in it. Rose took her glass from him and tapped it against Scorpius' glass in cheers before taking a sip.

She made an impressed face. "Not bad at all!" she commented. Scorpius looked at her skeptically but took a sip all the same. His eyes widened.

"It's sweet!" he said.

"Yep."

"And minty!" he continued excitedly.

"Candy canes. You know, for that Christmassy feel." She replied, laughing.

"I normally can't stand straight vodka. This could be dangerous." He said, taking a few quick sips.

"Easy on! You can have it straight or mix it with something."

Scorpius raised his glass to her. "Merry Christmas then!" he said smiling and downing the rest of the glass. As he poured himself another glass, Rose decided to bite the bullet.

"How are you, really?"

His whole face changed, as if her just asking that question made the entire five years of hurt he had experienced since his Mum died came crashing back to reality.

He took another slow sip of his refreshed glass. "Not great." He said, voice cracking so similarly to his Dad's voice earlier in her visit. Rose started taking larger sips of her own glass.

"Well, I'm here because I know that whatever you say, you don't want to be alone. But what we do is up to you. I'm here if you want to talk or even if you just want to be distracted. Your call."

There were at least five minutes of silence as they sat there, side by side, sipping from their respective glasses. Rose busied herself looking around Scorpius' room. She had imagined that his room would be a replica of the Slytherin dorms – all moody, messy and with copious amounts of green furnishings. In reality it was far more mature and neater than she thought it would be, the only real nod to his school days being his broom in the corner and a Slytherin scarf draped over a comfortable looking chair in the corner. She was so busy trying to figure out the last time she had seen him wear the scarf that she almost missed his voice.

"How can it be five years without her Rose?"

"I don't know Sweetie." She replied, willing herself not to cry at his sad voice.

"I miss her so much." He said, voice breaking. He gave a sniff and that was all it took for Rose to let her own tears fall.

"I thought it wouldn't hurt so much after all this time but – " he paused, thumbs digging into his closed eyes as if pushing hard would stop the tears and the hurt. "Most days I'm fine, it makes me sad she's not here but sometimes something will happen and fuck, it's like losing her all over again."

He picked up his glass once more, trying to distract himself.

"And it doesn't help that I'm still in this bloody house and Dad's moping about all day here and all day at work half the time. It's just a constant reminder that any time I'm happy or having a good time that I probably shouldn't be, you know?"

Rose let more tears flow at this comment and sniffed, no longer able to hide that she was crying. Every year she thought she had heard everything about his grief and every year he always surprised her with something more in depth and secret than the year before.

"It's so stupid! See, I was sad about being happy and now I'm fucking angry. Why the hell did she have to leave, it makes no sense!"

This was more what Rose was used to.

"You know it wasn't her choice to leave. She loved you very much." Rose managed.

"Well, maybe I didn't love her enough when she was here, maybe that's why having me made the curse worse."

He often spoke irrationally on the anniversary of his Mum's death, but Rose knew it was just venting so she always listened.

"Hey, you know you were the light of her life. Not once would she have thought twice about having you. She was so proud of you, still would be too I reckon."

"Ha!" he said bitterly. "Still living at home, automatically get a job working for Dad instead of going out on my own to get a job, totally inspiring!"

Rose tried to be the voice of reason.

"Okay, what would you want to do instead?" she asked.

"Bloody hell, I don't know! Anything!"

"We have a job going, you can come and work with me in research!" she said, mock excitedly. She knew he found her job dreadfully dull.

"Boring, no thanks." He replied with an eye roll.

Rose smiled. "Well, why are you still living here then?"

He returned to picking at his jersey once more.

"You're here because you're an amazing son. You love your Dad and can't bear to see him alone in this, ridiculously huge house. I know you – you wouldn't still be here if you didn't want to be, and you wouldn't be working for your dad if you didn't want to. You're here because you love your family despite all the shit that comes along with being a Malfoy, kind of like she did, and that is damn inspiring. Your mum would be proud."

"You think so?"

"I fucking know so!"

Scorpius gave her a small smile and flopped backwards onto the bed, almost spilling the remaining contents of his glass. Rose joined him. They turned to face each other. They lay half a metre apart, legs dangling off the edge of the bed.

"Mum always liked you." Scorpius said.

"Really? I only met her a few times!"

"Yeah but she liked what she heard. I always talked about you and Al."

"All good things I hope?"

"Oh of course!"

There was a comfortable silence which Scorpius eventually broke.

"Do you think she would like Emily?"

Rose smiled at him. "Absolutely! Who doesn't like Emily!"

"Really?"

"Are you kidding, you know how I feel about her! She's gorgeous and funny and smart and I can't tell you how bloody nice it is to have a girl to hang around with instead of you stinky boys all the time!"

"What about Candice when she was around?" Scorpius asked.

"Ugh, no way. We never clicked."

"Really?" Scorpius said, shocked at her admission.

"You didn't know? I thought she was all sorts of crazy. After you told me the broken arm story, I think I was warranted in my opinion. But Emily? Hell, if you hadn't said you loved her I would have!"

Scorpius smiled slyly at her. "Well-"

She reached out and hit him. "Oh, stop imagining it!"

"Not my fault, you were the one who put it in my head!"

"Oh shut up."

They sat in silence for a few minutes more.

"Did I ever tell you about the time Mum caught me trying to feed Dad's reserve red wine to the peacocks because I thought it would make them red instead of white?"

Rose smiled. "Yeah but I like this story so tell me again."

Rose spent the next hour laying across from Scorpius, hearing all his favourite memories of his mother. She had heard every single story more than once but she wasn't lying, she loved hearing about her. They way Scorpius lit up when reminiscing about her was enough of a reason to enjoy the stories, but she was also an extraordinary woman who clearly loved her son very much. She listened patiently, making all the right responses for every single story until it came to Scorpius recounting his very last memory of Astoria Malfoy.

"I'm so glad I got to say goodbye to her. I know a lot of people don't even get that." He finished his story, trying to ignore the tears that were now sliding off the bridge of his nose onto the bed linen. Rose instinctively reached out and wiped away the stray tears with the pad of her thumb. When the tears were all gone, she shifted her hand to Scorpius' cheek and continued to move her thumb in a gentle circular motion, trying to convey all her comfort and emotion into that one simple gesture. A distant but familiar swooping sensation coursed through her as she held Scorpius' gaze, She was brought out of her reverie as she felt Scorpius' arm shift and she caught a glimpse of her watch: 7:57.

"Oh, I forgot, I have one more surprise for you!"

Scorpius looked a little dazed as Rose sat up.

"Better than the candy cane vodka?"

"Way better!" she said. She started collecting her things as Scorpius stared at her from the bed.

"You're leaving?" he said, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Yeah, you want me to leave the biscuits?"

"Oh, sure." He said absently.

Rose was about to say something to him but there was a knock at the door. Rose strode over deliberately and opened the door with a flourish. Emily stood on the other side, looking slightly worried and tentative. She looked past Rose to the bed where Scorpius sat bolt upright.

"Emily?" he said in disbelief.

"Hi, I know you said you didn't want me here but – " before Emily could explain what Rose's plan had been all along, Scorpius jumped up off the bed and strode deliberately toward her, bringing her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm so glad you're here." He said into Emily's hair. Scorpius looked passed Emily's shoulder over to Rose who was standing in the doorway now. He mouthed 'thank you' to her while she nodded at him and smiled in acknowledgement. With her task now complete, Rose exited the room and closed the door behind her, knowing Scorpius was in good hands.

Rose walked down the corridor, not really know where she was going. She was about to call for Slinky to help guide her but there was a heavy object inside the grocery bag that kept banging against her leg as she walked. She peered into the bag and realised she had accidentally taken the vodka with her. Not wanting to head back to Scorpius' room, she continued to walk. She saw Scorpius at least two to three times a week, she could give it back to him soon enough. As Rose tried to find her way back to the front entrance, she came across a familiar set of grand mahogany doors. The library. There was a dull light shining underneath the door. A completely crazy idea popped into her head and she opened the doors. Sitting behind the desk at the head of the room was Scorpius' dad, alone with a photo album opened on the desk in front of him. Rose knocked against the open door to alert him to her presence.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy?"

His head shot up, he cleared his throat and he quickly closed the album in front of him.

"Miss Weasley."

"He's a bit more chatty now. Emily is up there so he should do fine tonight."

Draco cleared his throat again.

"Very good." He said.

Rose reached into the grocery bag and pulled out the bottle of vodka, at least a third of the liquid now gone.

"I ah, accidentally took this as I left. Could you give it back to him?"

Draco said nothing but reached out his hand, an invitation to pass the bottle over to him.

"You can have some too if you like."

Draco scoffed. "I'm afraid it won't be to my taste."

Rose shrugged. "Oh well. Scor and I had some and it was pretty good so feel free to have some if you change your mind."

Draco looked at her incredulously but nodded all the same.

"I'm going to go. Is it down the hall, then the stairs?"

"That's right."

Rose was nearly at the door when Draco called out.

"Rose?"

The use of her first name shocked her so much that she stopped but didn't turn around. Draco had accepted that his son was friends with the children of his enemies at school, but it didn't mean he was comfortable with it. Draco had always referred to Scorpius' friends as Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley, not daring or even willing to be on a first name basis with his son's friends.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to Scorpius."

Rose was glad she hadn't turned around as this was far too awkward than she could handle.

"He deserves it. Besides, he would do the same for me."

There was no immediate response and Rose didn't know if she should stay or keep walking.

"I think you're right. Good evening." Draco finally responded, his way of giving her permission to leave.

Rose left Malfoy Manor and apparated back to her own building. Emotionally drained, she returned to her own quiet flat where she spent the night alone.

---

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, part two hopefully coming in the not to distant future. I love receiving reviews so if you enjoyed this or have any feedback, please leave a review! Stay safe xo