Little Things

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rose Weasley

The platform was crowded. More crowded than usual, at least that's what it seemed like to Rose. Or perhaps that's because she was looking for someone. A certain, blonde haired Ravenclaw who just so happened to be her boyfriend.

She had said a quick goodbye to her mom and dad, then raced to the train, hoping she'd find Scorpius aboard. Rose kept peeking into open compartments, scanning for Scorpius's blonde head. She had almost made it to the end of the train car, with no luck, when she felt someone gently wrap their arms around her.

"Miss me?" whispered Scorpius, directly into Rose's right ear. His breath sent tingles down her spine. She spun around, still inclosed in his grasp, facing him.

"Not as much as you probably missed me," she smirked.

"Want a bet?" Scorpius growled, playfully, before he crashed his lips onto hers. Rose kissed him back, captivated by his lips. She smiled through the kiss, willing herself to believe this wasn't a dream. Scorpius smiled back, kissing her back with the same passion and attraction that she had for him.

"Hey, love birds," called out a voice, making the couple jump away from each other. Scorpius and Rose turned to see Albus, smirking in their direction, with Lily, Louis and Jo laughing behind their hands in the background.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, but grab Rose's hand in his and walked over to the group. They all pushed into an empty compartment, Albus closing the door behind him. The others all sat down, leaving Albus standing in the middle of the compartment.

"Alright you two," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "I want to set a few ground rules."

"Ground rules," Scorpius started to protest, but Albus simply held up his hand.

"Let me talk Malfoy," he said teasingly. "First rule, please do not make out in front of me. I don't know what the other's stance on this is, but I don't want to see one of my best mates and favorite cousins sucking face in front of me, got it?"

Rose's face turned about as red as her hair. She wanted to say something, but Albus continued talking before she could think of anything.

"Rule two. Please don't rub your coupleness in my face. Just because I am forever alone, does not mean you can shove your perfect relationship in my face every single day."

Rose heard Scorpius chuckle beside her and she couldn't help but smile herself. "We promise we wouldn't shove our relationship in your face," she said.

"Okay, and third rule, that has just been added might I add, don't refer to yourselves as "we" or "our." Please, save us all from the cute, lovey dovey relationship stuff."

"Albus!" Rose shouted. "I only said that because there was really no other way to say it! My goodness, you are impossible."

Albus faked a grand bow. "Now, that is all the rules I have, however I do have a question. Are you two telling your parents about this? Because in my opinion it's best to keep under the radar for now."

Rose glanced over to Scorpius, who looked deep in thought at the mention of his parents. "I can tell mum, but dad would go absolutely ballistic. And if I told mum, she would no doubt tell dad." Rose said, relaying the situation over out loud.

Scorpius ran his fingers through his hair. "I can tell my mom too, but I'd rather not tell my dad." Scorpius turned to Rose. "Rosie, you know I'm not ashamed of you at all, but I think it would best if we didn't tell our parents right now. Let's just wait and see, then if we feel like we need to we can."

"Okay," said Rose, smiling at him. And with that, the secret began.

~

Rose returned to the Ravenclaw tower later that night, her heart beating a million miles a minute and butterflies in her chest. She couldn't wipe the smile of her face no matter how hard she tried. She had spent most of the evening with Scorpius in the library. They had just been sitting together, curled up on one of the couches, both reading. Even if they weren't doing anything, Rose was happy. She loved just being in his presence.

She made her way up to her dorm, skipping up the stairs a little as she did. She arrived in her room to find her roommates, Leanne, Gemma, and Flora sitting on their respective beds. Rose smiled at each of them, but then frowned noticing that Jo wasn't there. "Where's Jo? It's almost curfew," Rose asked aloud

"How should I know," Leanne said, as she flipped through a Witches and Wizards Weekly magazine. Gemma just sat on bed, her nose buried in a book, not even paying attention. That just left Flora.

This was the first time Rose and Flora has seen each other since Flora's confession on the train before Christmas holiday. Rose was afraid their interaction was going to be awkward, but it wasn't. "She ran off with Louis after dinner," said Flora, who was laying down on her bed, feet in the hair, reading. "That was the last I saw of her."

Rose nodded at Flora, smiling a little as she did. "Well, I'm going to go take a shower." Flora nodded back.

Rose went into the adjoining bathroom all five of the girls shared. She turned on the shower and hopped in, letting the warm water run over her. Her mass of curls soon became straight as the water hit them.

Once Rose was finished, she tried off and put on the pajamas she kept in the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, making silly faces at herself in the mirror as she did.

When Rose got back into the room, Jo still wasn't there. Rose glanced at her clock by her bedside table. 9:43pm. It was officially well past curfew and Jo knew that. Rose started to get worried. She decided she would wait till 10 o'clock and if she wasn't back by then, Rose would go looking for her.

The minutes ticked by and Jo still didn't show up. Then it was 10, no sign of Jo. Rose hopped to her feet. "I'm going to go look for Jo," she announced, grabbing her wand off of her bedside table. Gemma didn't acknowledge her and Leanne just nodded her head, caught up in her magazine.

"I'll go with you," said Flora, jumping up from her bed. "That is, only if you want me too."

Rose nodded, smiling, thankful to not have to go into the dark empty castle all by herself. The girls quickly slipped on slippers and bathrobes, and made their way to the Ravenclaw common room. Much to their luck, it was empty. They both quietly snuck out the portrait door.

Rose was definitely glad for Flora's company when she saw how dark and gloomy the castle was. "Where should we start?" whispered Flora.

Rose thought for a moment. "Let's check this floor first then make our way down, I guess."

The girls traveled in a comfortable silence, looking in empty classrooms, and small nooks and crannies. They came to a dark corridor, with one empty classroom on the left hand side being the only door.

"Let's go look somewhere else," Rose said, but then stopped herself. She thought she had heard a noise coming from the empty classroom. Rose held a finger to her lips, telling Flora to be quiet, then motioned for Flora to follow her. The made their way quietly to the classroom's open door and listened carefully, not daring to look in.

They heard a girlish giggle, followed by the sounds of lips smacking together. Flora and Rose exchanged awkward glances and sort of both mentally deciding to go somewhere else, when they heard some speak.

"Oh you're good at this," said a girl's voice and Rose recognized it immediately as Jo's. Rose rolled her eyes.

"It's Jo and Louis probably caught up in a huge make-out session." Rose whispered to Flora.

But then they heard another voice. "So are you," said a deep voice, that didn't belong to Louis. But Rose knew all too well just who that voice belonged too, for she'd heard it many times before. It was Christian Wood.