A/N: Finally getting back to writing after a two-year break. I missed this so much! Hope you enjoy this ridiculously sweet ScorpiusRose. Also, of course this isn't betaed. I barely even reread it (yes, I know, very unprofessional of me). And also, yes, I don't know anything about horror movies, especially Saw...
Title: The Best Movie Ever
Summary: Albus, Rose and Scorpius love watching dumb horror movies.
WC: 1,799
"This is going to be amazing!" Albus exclaimed, as he flicked through the film programme. "Saw 17 is supposed to be the best one that has ever come out!"
"Albus, it's the seventeenth Saw, it can't exactly be the best of the lot," Rose replied, rolling her eyes.
"No, no! They've brought in a new director. I read an interview of his in Cinema Geeks, and he had clearly identified what went wrong with the previous 15 ones, so this should be great!" Albus continued. "It's going to be the best horror movie ever!"
Rose shot Scorpius a disbelieving look, which he fully reciprocated. The three of them absolutely loved watching really bad horror movies: they had been watching them together ever since they were 11, when their parents did not know that a) they were up past their bedtime and b) watching 13 movies (that had sometimes led to the unfortunate nightmare during one of their many sleepovers at Scorpius' house, who was the only lucky one to have a TV in his room, ideal for bad horror movie watching).
However, while Rose and Scorpius did not take the movies seriously, and always made bets on who was going to die first or alternatively, took shots when the dumb blonde went out first (but only after they were of legal drinking age, of course), Albus genuinely seemed to enjoy the bad films they watched, and revelled in the details of each movie.
"And did you know that the music composer is the same as Saw 6, which is objectively the one with the best music," Albus prattled on.
Once again, Rose was unimpressed. "It's basic horror movie music: get a couple of ominous strings and silence at the right moment and there you go. It's not exactly rocket science."
"On the contrary, dearest cousin of mine," he retorted. "It is a fine art that you cannot begin to comprehend."
"Stop bickering, the two of you!" Scorpius exclaimed. "It's our turn to get tickets."
The three of them were currently honouring their annual Halloween tradition: go and see the worst rated horror movie of the month. They were queuing in front of the cinema, and the ticket lady was beckoning them forward.
As Rose paid and Albus rattled on about camera angles or something, Scorpius murmured to her: "I have a bad feeling about this..."
"No kidding. Is he even going to shut up?"
"Hey, I heard that!" Albus exclaimed.
The three of them laughed. Albus did often seem to hyper-fixate on the worst things, and the other two loved to tease him about it, but it was all in good fun. They continued to chit chat as they made their way into the dark room and stuffing their faces with popcorn, as Rose had gotten a batch (and even convinced the bored teenager at the machine to make them a fresh one).
They quickly found their seats, Rose in the middle (as she had the popcorn bucket) and the boys either side of her. Thankfully, there weren't too many ads, and the trailers were mildly interesting-showing them some more bad horror movies they could go and see. Soon, the lights dimmed fully, and eerie music filled the room, that was only half-full, and Albus finally stopped dropping random trivia on the movie.
Scorpius reached over to grab some popcorn, but as he was fishing about for an appropriate sized handful, he accidentally brushed Rose's fingers. "Oops, sorry!" he exclaimed and blushed. But Rose barely noticed as she continued to stuff her face.
Because, see, the real problem in their friendship was not the fact that Albus really did know too much about bad horror movies in the twenty-first century, but rather the fact that he was desperately in love with none other than his other best friend: Rose Weasely. He'd always had a crush on her, from day one when they had met on the first day of school. But crushes were just something that happened, back then. He'd had a bunch of crushes in primary school, on all the daughters of his mum's friends. He didn't think much of it, and at the time it had been a lot more fun just to be friends, watch bad movies with Albus and her, and just generally goof about.
The crush had faded away, as all things do, and especially when the person's face suddenly covers with zits and got the worse of both parent's genes by both having bad teeth and bad hair. But then suddenly, and without warning, she'd grown up and the zits and the braces had disappeared, and the mass of red hair he used to tease her relentlessly about (almost as much as they both teased Albus about horror movie trivia) became gorgeous, lustrous ruby curls he for some reason could not stop thinking about.
That had been three years ago, and since then, he'd never found the guts to say anything. As a matter of fact, Scorpius was generally quite shy about all of these things. And it was just so much easier most of the time to simply be best friends, the same old trio they had always been. It was just that now when he watched movies with them, he spent a good portion of the movie simply watching her, in the dark, when he was certain she would be too engrossed with what was happening on the movie to notice him.
Today was no different. He just couldn't help but sneak a glance at her as the movie progressed. She just had the prettiest hair... he wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through it, probably getting stuck in the process.
"10 pounds on the blonde," Rose suddenly whispered to him, flashing him a large grin.
Scorpius, startled, struggled to quickly find a witty reply. "No fair! Of course it's going to be her!"
"Tough!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Fine. 15 says the kid is the last one alive."
"You're on!"
Had she noticed him looking? Scorpius was getting less and less discreet. He would have to make more efforts.
But on the other hand...
Maybe he was only imagining things, but he could've sworn that at least once or twice, he had caught her looking at him. He was probably only imagining things. The logical part of his brain argued that she was only checking if he was enjoying the movie or something, or maybe she only wanted to see his reaction when something dumb happened on the screen once more. But another part of him dared to hope that perhaps, just perhaps it was something more...
Damn it, why was he in love with his best friend?
This was extremely frustrating, as he had absolutely no one to tell about it. He and Albus were rarely without Rose, and even if they were, he would never have told him. Rose was his cousin after all, and there was always a risk of things being awkward if she didn't reciprocate (which she probably didn't anyways). Obviously he would side with her, because, once again, she was his cousin.
The movie slowly progressed one as the characters died in a very predictable order. Scorpius had to give it to Albus, the music was not 100% awful, and bringing in that old composer had probably been a wise move.
Before he knew it, the movie's was almost coming to an end. The most suspenseful scene was beginning. Admittedly, it was a little bit scary (one of the girls a couple of rows in front kept screaming at literally every little thing that happened on screen). Scorpius held on to the edges of his seat as he relished the cathartic fear that came when watching a horror movie.
But suddenly, he felt something delicately nudge his right pinky finger.
He dared to glance at what it was. Sure, enough, it was Rose's pinky finger too!
She however, wasn't looking at their hands at all, and Scorpius blushed and quickly looked back at the screen, where someone was currently getting dismembered, not that he cared much about that.
Had she done it one purpose? She wasn't moving her hand either. The tips of their pinkies were simply touching and nothing more. What could it possibly mean? Scorpius' brain was working overtime to figure out what on earth was happening. Perhaps he should move. That would be the appropriate thing to do. But then again, perhaps she hadn't noticed that their fingers were touching? And if he moved, then they wouldn't be touching anymore.
Suddenly, he felt her hand move even closer to his, pinky fingers intertwining almost automatically, just as the second-to-last character, the child's parent, suddenly received a bludgeon to the head.
What on earth was happening? She was definitely doing this on purpose... But it was now or never. Rose had clearly initiated the movement, she had always been so much braver than him. This was his chance, he just couldn't let it pass or who knew how much time would pass before he could muster up the courage to do this?
Scorpius opened his palm and took his hand in hers, barely daring to breath, squeezing his eyes, hoping that this wasn't just an accident, some awkward interaction that would haunt him for weeks to come.
Nothing happened. She didn't move.
He let out his breath and dared to glance at her.
She was looking at him too, a shy but slightly proud smile on her beautiful face, a slight blush on her cheeks that matched her hair wonderfully. Scorpius couldn't stop the massive smile that bloomed on his face, and squeezed her hand, which she immediately squeezed back.
It was perfect.
It was like their hands had always meant to be together. Her hand was soft and just the right size. It was just the right pressure: not too tight, not too loose. Neither hand was clammy, it was just perfect.
Soon, far too soon, the movie ended. And yet, she didn't let go of his hand, and so he kept his grip tight. Even as the lights came back on, they were still holding hands.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she murmured, softly.
"No, it wasn't." They both smiled a little dumbly at each other.
"No, it wasn't!" Albus exclaimed, completely oblivious to what had just happened between his two best friends, and the fact that he had probably become an unfortunate third wheel. "It was the best one yet! The film critics were absolutely right about that and..."
He prattled on, but Scorpius agreed. This was definitely the best movie yet. He had absolutely no idea what on earth it could be about, but it was definitely, absolutely amazing.
