Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Harry Potter. Which is a shame, because it'd have gone Harmony if I did…
A/N: An idea I had just after reading DH to make right things after the crapilogue. Hope you'll like the story, and please if you read, review, thanks.
This is a bit shorter than the last two, hope you'll like it all the same.
After The Night, Sun Shines
Chapter Eleven: Back To Hogwarts
The kids had left once again for school, and were now in the Gryffindor common room. Albus had gone to sleep, Rob and Kate were in one corner going over some Potions essay, and James excused himself from them for a moment.
He needed to have a word with Rose, who was currently reading in front of the fire.
"So, what's up, cousin?" he joked, sitting near her. She raised her eyes and smiled at him.
"Nothing new, same usual routine of going to lesson, doing the work, and such"
James nodded. He was still a bit embarrassed about the subject so he didn't really know how to start.
"You want to talk about Uncle Harry and Mum, right?" she guessed, and he nodded.
"I know they kissed" he whispered. "But I kept a close eye on them after that, and nothing else happened since. It's like…it's like they are scared!"
"Yeah, I know. they were also strangely a bit more awkward and distant from each other the last days we were there" she mused, closing her book. "But I'm absolutely sure thye love each other, James. They will have to admit it soon or later, and if this means we will have to work on it at Easter hols, we will" she said, determined.
James agreed.
"Yeah, they definitely need to open their eyes and accept the truth. Maybe we should talk to them and reassure them that they have our consent. I mean, Hugo and Lily are too young to understand things like this yet so they would never notice the difference. Albus is ok with it, I talked with him, so maybe if we tell them they have nothing to fear, it will ease their minds"
Rose thought about James' suggestion.
"Yeah, it may work. We need to do that face to face though, not through letters, so we will have to wait for the next holidays" she considered.
"They waited twenty years, they can wait a couple months, I guess" James joked, and Rose nodded, smiling.
"Is there anyone else I need to play matchmaker for?" he then teased her. She blushed scarlet red. "Don't you dare" she muttered.
"Aww, you got it bad for little Scorpikins here" he said, laughing, and Rose glared at him. But then, when he was going to say something more, he felt a finger placed on his lips, and looked up to meet the eyes of his girlfriend.
"James, behave" she scolded him softly. "Plus, would you like to leave your cousin be and pay some attention to your girlfriend?" she cooed.
"I definitely think that's a good idea" he huskily agreed, picking her up and carrying her to a dark corner in the room. Rose shook her head, amused, and caught Rob's eye.
He mouthed, "He's totally whipped" and the Weasley girl couldn't help bursting in laughter, but the couple never paid them attention. They were too wrapped up in themselves to care about them, anyhow.
Next morning, Scorpius waited for her outside the Great Hall. She was surprised to see him there, and ran to hug him.
"How have you been?" she asked, smiling.
"Well" he smiled back. "Especially since I got your letter" he added then, his grey eyes meeting her brown ones.
She blushed a bit, and nodded. "Thanks for the picture, I brought it here and it's on my bedpost, I look at it every morning" she admitted.
"So do I" he said. Then they entered the room and went for their house tables, nodding to each other. That could do nothing else than set aflame the rumour that they were dating, thus both of them were constantly teased about it by their housemates.
Rose found it quite annoying, she wasn't used to the attention, but luckily both Albus and Scorpius were enough to scare away whoever tried to tease her. The two boys had slowly warmed up to the other and now it wasn't hard to find them studying together even if she wasn't there, although they weren't properly friends yet.
"You just need to resist till some other rumour comes out, then they won't even remember about you and Scorpius" Kate reassured her.
"But it can take months!" Rose whined. She didn't want her cousin and Scorpius to risk getting detention for defending her, nor she wanted to get it herself.
"Hey, who says we can't help a new rumour to find its way to Hogwarts Castle?" Kate winked at her. "Leave it to me" she said then, and left.
Rose wondered what the older girl was up to.
She found out a couple days later, when at breakfast an Hufflepuff girl and a Ravenclaw boy got letters and then turned toward each other. Kate smiled at Rose who had looked at her in realization. Soon the school picked up on the new couple and started gossiping about them, although it wasn't so fun as gossiping about Malfoy's son fancying a Weasley.
"Future Potter, if everything goes as it should" Rose often thought.
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As the time for the next Hogsmeade weekend came, Scorpius was elated. This was something he could ask Rose to go with him to. Anyway, thinking about it and doing it were two different things. For days he tried to find the right moment to ask her, but he never did. He started to get frustrated, but he knew he should keep trying, or someone would ask her before him, again.
"No, this time I won't fail" he muttered to himself, taking his books and heading to have breakfast. Albus seemed to have picked up on the fact that Scorpius wanted to talk with his cousin alone, and nodded, going to class before them, so that they could have some privacy.
Rose tried to call him, but he stammered something about having to check a book in the library before joining them, and hastily left. Scorpius was most grateful for that, while Rose looked quite puzzled at where her cousin had been, wondering what that was about.
The blonde boy took a deep breath, and then spoke.
"WouldyouliektogotoHogsmeadewithme?"
"What?" Rose asked, bewildered. "Why don't you speak slower?"
Scorpius sighed. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
Rose looked at him surprised, and he mistook her expression for reject. "I mean, as friends" he hastily added.
"Oh" was her response. "Well, yes, I'd like to" she smiled, although it didn't reach her eyes. He was too happy for her saying yes to notice though.
"So this is all what he thinks of me, then. He must have figured out his feelings" she sadly thought, entering the class and taking her usual seat.
Scorpius was oblivious to Rose's hurt, and grew more excited day after day, as the weekend approached. He knew now why she was so happy to go the Ball, that night, and never noticed she was constantly sad, or at least not happy as before.
She had started distancing herself from him a bit too, as it hurt to fancy someone you know doesn't fancy you back, and she wasn't ready for that.
However, she had agreed to go with him to the village, and so she met him in front of the Great Hall that day. She was dressed with a pair of low cut fitting jeans, a pink t-shirt and a matching sweater. Her hair was collected in a ponytail, and Scorpius swore he ahd never seen a more gorgeous girl.
He couldn't tear his eyes off of her.
"Hi" he finally shyly said. "You look…great"
She smiled, determined to not let her bad mood ruin the day. She was going to have fun with her best friend, and nothing could change that.
As they walked down to the village, they joked with each other, and hearing her soft laughter made Scorpius' heart swell. He suggested they go first to Zonko's, then they looked at some books in the local bookstore and Rose bought some quills she liked. Their next stop was to Honeydukes, where they found they shared a love for Sugar Quills.
She had never seen him with one so she was surprised to know he loved them as much as her.
Finally, both their stomachs rumbled, making the pair start laughing.
"I guess it's time to head to the Three Broomsticks" Rose commented, a twinkle in her eyes that made her even more beautiful to Scorpius.
"Yeah, I agree" he said, and took her hand in his own, following his instinct. She looked sideways at him, and entwined their fingers together, smiling.
Maybe not all was lost.
In there, they found Rob, Jennifer, Kate and James, and joined them at the table. After ordering two Butterbeers and something to eat, they started chatting with the others, who were, with time, adjusting to the idea of a Slytherin being amongst them.
The walk back to the castle was quiet, but it was not awkward. They were comfortable enough with the other to not feel the need to fill the silence with random words.
They spotted Albus talking with some of his friends, and a pretty redhead laughing at something he said.
"Seems your cousin has a fan" Scorpius joked.
Rose nodded, smiling. "Albus is so sweet" she said fondly. "At times I wish he would never change, but I know we all will, as we grow up"
"I hope for the better" Scorpius said, serious.
"You definitely have, this year" Rose encouraged him, and he looked at her, surprised.
"You really think so?" he asked, stopping.
She stopped too, and moved closer. "Yes, I am serious about it" she said, and he could see in her eyes she was sincere.
"I'm glad you think this way" he admitted, resuming their way up to the castle.
"I'm glad we became friends" she retorted, and took his hand giving it a squeeze, which he reciprocated with that charming smile of his.
Once inside, Scorpius escorted her to the Fat Lady, where they had to part ways. As they wished good night to the other, both too tired to go have dinner, plus they weren't that hungry, with all the Honeydukes sweets they had had that afternoon, rose decided to be bold once in her life, and gave him a quick peck on the lips, then she ran inside the common room, leaving a shocked Scorpius Malfoy behind, touching his lips with his fingers.
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