Title: The Promise
Author:
shy-of-realityPrompt: 085. She's head girl. He's head boy. They fancy each other. But, unbeknowst to her, he promised Albus that he wouldn't do anything. How long will he be able to hold it in when she's walking around their private common room in skimpy pajamas.
Summary: Rose is Scorpius’ dream girl. As her best friend he wasn’t on her dating radar, but just when he thinks he might have a chance with her, Albus steps in and makes him promise not to do anything with her unless she makes the first move.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 1482
A/N: Thanks to my beta for looking over this for me.
Scorpius Malfoy groaned in his sleep as he tried to move, causing pain to race through his already achy body.
“Don’t move, Scorpius,” he heard a voice say.
He opened his eyes a little and saw a head of curly, auburn hair, recognizing the unique color as Rose Weasley’s. He closed his eyes again; he had to be dreaming, Rose would never be by his bedside.
Rose Weasley was the only girl he’d ever wanted, but she was also the only girl he could never have. Previously, it had been because they were just friends; not to mention she usually had a boyfriend.
Something had changed in their relationship last spring, however. After catching her last boyfriend, a Ravenclaw a year ahead of them at Hogwarts, cheating on her, Rose had turned to Scorpius and her cousin (and his best friend) Albus Potter. The more time Scorpius spent with her, the more his feelings for her grew. Rose was either oblivious to his feelings or didn’t care, whereas, ever-perceptive Albus, who had figured out Scorpius’ feelings for Rose back in third year, could see things were changing as well.
When their Hogwarts letters arrived a couple weeks before the start of their seventh year, Scorpius learned he was Head Boy and that Rose had been made Head Girl. Before he had even begun to think about how that would change their relationship, Albus had shown up on his doorstep with one request: that Scorpius promise not to do anything with Rose, unless she made the first move. It was out of respect for his best friend that he had made the promise, even though he thought Albus was overreacting to Rose’s most recent heartbreak.
With the start of September came school and his new living arrangements. As Head Boy and Head Girl, he and Rose were assigned their own living quarters near the Great Hall. They each had their own assigned bedroom and private bathroom, but they shared a small sitting room. Aside from the door that led to the corridor, there were four other doors that led off the sitting room and allowed entrance to the House common rooms via secret passageways, in case either of them needed to make a visit to deal with a problem.
The school year started just like the six previous to it. He went to lessons, did his homework, made his rounds, and prepared for the upcoming Quidditch season when practices started. The only thing that was different was Rose.
In previous years, Rose hadn’t shied away from the attention that guys had given her as they fought to be her next boyfriend, but this year, she had turned them all away. With less distraction, the already brilliant Rose had become an even tougher competitor in the classroom.
Between their Head duties and Quidditch practices, Sunday nights were the only ones that he and Rose were both in their private quarters studying at the same time. Unlike Scorpius, who always wore his weekend clothes-dark jeans and a long sleeve shirt or sweater, Rose always opted to change into what she called her “comfortable clothes”-dresses, shorts, skirts, tank tops, tight fitting shirts, etc., all of which revealed quite a bit of skin.
Needless to say, her outfits were a distraction, especially if he was trying to write an essay or something. They also made it difficult to keep his promise to Albus, though, he continued to.
The biggest challenge had come the day before the first Quidditch match. He had returned to the Heads’ quarters with the plan of studying and had been working for less than five minutes when Rose came out of her room wearing a short, silky night dress that reached mid-thigh. With his eyes glued to her and the way her very fit body moved in the silk, he watched as she walked over to the coffee table and bent over to grab a book.
As if it was happening in slow motion, his eyes zeroed in on the cleavage she was showing and he got a long look down the top of her night dress before she stood back up. As she turned, his eyes narrowed onto her bum and watched as she walked back to her room.
The next day, their house, Gryffindor, had won 250 to 20.
Or so Scorpius had been told, as he couldn’t remember more than the first goal scored for Gryffindor, because he had been taken out by a bludger. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he had been watching Rose speed towards the goal posts and hadn’t seen the bludger until it was on him. The last thing he remembered about the match was Rose scoring the goal before he was hit in the shoulder and fell off his broom.
He’d woken up in the hospital wing and informed by Madam Pomfrey that he had broken his collarbone and fractured a rib. She had repaired the breaks but insisted on keeping him until Monday morning. His teammates had been allowed to visit him for a short while, but Madam Pomfrey had shooed them all out before dinner and asked them not to return until morning.
He’d eaten dinner alone and Madam Pomfrey had given him a pain potion before she had retired to her room for the night. He should have felt alone in the hospital wing, but he didn’t.
Remembering the auburn hair he’d seen earlier, he wondered if Rose was really there with him. He scoffed mentally; of course she wasn’t there with him. Rose played by the rules; she wouldn’t sneak into the hospital wing to see him. Would she?
Needing to know, Scorpius opened his eyes and forgot to breathe when he saw Rose sitting in a chair next to his bed. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
“Ouch,” he muttered.
Rose sat up with a start, making him jump as well. “You’re awake,” she said, once they’d both recovered.
He nodded.
“How do you feel?” she asked him. “Do you need more pain potion? I can leave and-”
“I’m okay,” he cut her off. “What are you doing here, Rose?”
“I was lonely,” she replied. “Our quarters are too quiet.”
“You could have gone up to Gryffindor Tower,” he told her. “I’m sure your old bed is still in your dorm.”
In the moonlight streaming in through the window, he saw her bite her lower lip and saw a thought-induced expression cross her face, making him wonder what she was thinking about.
“I wanted to see you,” she finally said.
“You-you did?”
She nodded and silence stretched between them again.
“Scorpius, can I ask you something?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Albus told me that you liked me,” she told him.
Scorpius forced himself to remain calm; he was going to kill his best friend.
“And I like you, too.”
Okay, maybe he wouldn’t kill him.
“I’ve been trying to get your attention all term.”
The image of her in that short nightgown crossed his mind.
“But you haven’t been responding to anything I do.”
Killing Albus was back on the table.
“So I have to ask, do you still like me? Did you ever like me?”
Scorpius took a deep breath and then answered, “I still like you.”
“Then why haven’t you responded to my flirting?”
“When did Albus tell you?”
“Right after we got our school letters this summer,” Rose replied.
A grin crossed Scorpius’ face and he shook his head. “That stupid git,” he muttered. “I don’t suppose he mentioned paying me a visit around the same time, did he?”
“No, why?”
“Because the git made me promise that I wouldn’t do anything with you unless you made the first move,” Scorpius revealed.
“That git!” Rose exclaimed loudly. Her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth.
They sat still and silent as they waited to see if Madam Pomfrey had heard Rose’s voice and if she would come to investigate. After five quiet minutes, they relaxed again.
“No, my cousin did not mention that to me,” Rose said, quietly. “Had I been aware of that, I would have made a move weeks ago.”
“Really?”
Rose smiled and nodded.
Before Scorpius could say anything else, Rose leaned over and kissed him.
-----
Monday morning, Scorpius entered the Great Hall towards the end of breakfast. He was looking for Albus when he saw Rose running towards him. She launched herself into his arms and kissed him. He reacted by wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her back.
It was the clearing of a throat that broke them apart and Scorpius could see Albus standing behind Rose as he let her down.
“I just couldn’t keep my feelings for Scorpius to myself anymore,” Rose told her cousin. She winked at Scorpius and then left the Great Hall.
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