A/N: Hi, All! It's been a long time since I've written anything, but the recent heat wave gave me a dose of inspiration. This story is next gen and takes place after Albus, Scorpius and Rose's fourth year. It's not the same universe as my story "The Five Senses" for the sake of the plot. I hope you enjoy! Comments are appreciated :)

-SarahLou

The Blue Swim Suit

"Mum, this is stupid!" Rose said exasperatedly as she shuffled through rack upon rack of swim suits. She had never hated swim suit shopping before, but the recent news that a certain somebody would be joining her family and Uncle Harry's family at the Burrow had made this year's endeavor a grueling task, to say the least. Usually, she would pick swim suits based on their color or whatever was cheapest…but now she had to be tactical. She couldn't pick something that made her look like a granny, and she couldn't pick something that made all of her numerous flaws stand out. When did shopping for something so stupid get so difficult?

"Oh Rose, honestly! This has never been a problem in the past, what's wrong?" Hermione asked as she handed her daughter hangers adorned with different types of suits. Rose shrugged her shoulders and took the dreaded garments with a grimace. All of them were either a perfect fit for grandma Weasley to wear, or a bundle of strings and scraps of fabric that she wasn't sure were all completely decent.

"Really? None of those are acceptable? I thought you'd like the red one." Hermione fished out the red bikini with ruffles and held it up for Rose to see. Rose imagined how ridiculous she would look in that thing, and how her cousins would relentlessly tease her the entire time they were at the Burrow. No thank you. Not only that, but she knew it wouldn't fit her horrible excuse of a body anyway.

"Do you want Albus and James to laugh at me all summer?" Rose took the bikini out of her mom's hands and hung it back on the rack with the rest of the suits she knew she'd never look good in. With a sigh, she headed over to the one-pieces and decided it was time to accept her fate. After two minutes of searching, she found her perfect suit: It was a sky blue one piece with a princess neckline that tied into a halter. Perfect.

But will Scorpius think it's perfect? Rose's inner voice asked. Annoyed with herself and her shallow thoughts, Rose squinted at the suit and tried to imagine how it would look on her.

Hermione came behind Rose and frowned.

"I didn't know you liked blue. I thought your favorite color was green." At Rose's anguished look, Hermione quelled her criticism. "Blue's nice, though. It'll go beautifully with your eyes…and your hair" she said as she ran a loving hand through Rose's curly auburn locks.

"Does this have something to do with a certain boy, Rose?" Hermione asked slyly.

"NO!" Rose half-shouted, half squealed as she examined the blue suit. She blushed at her mom's raised eyebrows.

"Because, you know, if it is about a boy, who may be blonde and one of your friends…and I'm not saying it is…but if it is, then I'm sure that he'll think you're beautiful no matter what you're wearing. And if he doesn't, then he isn't worth your time."

Rose said nothing, but smiled weakly at her mother as she walked up to the register to pay for her purchase with the muggle money Hermione had given her. The suit would hang up in Rose's closet untouched until the end of July, when her family would finally head over to the Burrow for the rest of the summer.

The air was balmy and humid, the sun seemed to be hitting every spot of the garden in the Burrow; there was no safe haven from its powerful rays. Even the trees seemed to be cowering under its unnaturally powerful heat.

Scorpius flew his broom down to the ground so he could wipe the sweat off of his brow with a towel. He looked around to see if Rose had finally come out of her room, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, he saw an annoyingly perky and definitely underdressed Dominique waving vigorously at him. She hadn't left him alone since he had arrived, and all he wanted was to finally get some alone time with Rose…but Rose had been avoiding him like he had spattergroit or something.

"Oi, Malfoy! Wake up, and quit daydreaming!" Albus yelled as he threw a quaffle from across the make-shift Quidditch pitch. Scorpius caught the Quaffle with one hand and smiled smugly at his best friend.

Rose had woken up from her nap much later than she had planned. Her face, chest and legs were covered in a sheen of sweat, and her sundress felt as if it were plastered to her skin. With a miserable sigh she turned on her back and tried to absorb whatever breeze was blowing through her window.

She appreciated these few moments she had alone, seeing as how they were few and far between since she had arrived at the Burrow the week before. In the previous few summers, her family had always been there with Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny with their kids, but this year Uncle Bill's family was there too. It wasn't that Rose didn't like Dominique, she just felt like she couldn't compare to her prettier cousin. And the small room that she was sharing with Dominique and Lily was starting to become even more overcrowded and stuffy than when she and Lily normally occupied it.

What upset Rose even more was that Lily, who was normally Rose's biggest confidant besides Albus, was hanging off of Dominique like her life depended on it. And Scorpius was (unsurprisingly) paying so much attention to Dominique that it seemed like he didn't even notice that Rose was even in the same vicinity as him. They were always together, laughing and looking like they were two seconds away from snogging the pants off of one another. It angered and saddened Rose more than she was willing to admit.

She and Scorpius had been close friends since their Second year. Rose steered clear of him because of her father's warning and the Malfoy reputation their first year, but when Albus got sorted into Slytherin he and Scorpius became the best of friends. And once Rose realized that Scorpius wasn't half as bad as she thought he was, she realized that they shared a lot of the same interests. They both played on their respective house Qudditch teams, shared a love for shepherds pie, and hated Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Scorpius could make her laugh until she was sore in the side, and he knew without her having to say anything if she was having a bad day. Of course, that was mostly due to the fact that Rose would become especially argumentative and mean, but Scorpius knew when it was right to push her buttons, and when it was best to just leave her alone. Rose knew about how Scorpius felt the need to eradicate his father's bad reputation by being the best at everything he did, and how upset he was on the rare occasion when he failed. He was also the only person who was allowed to tease her about her unruly hair or know-it-all attitude without getting cursed. It wasn't long before Rose's feelings grew from friendship to something else, and she was convinced that Scorpius would never reciprocate.

Rose's reverie was broken by the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Rose kept her eyes closed tightly and pretended to be asleep so her cousins would leave her alone, but…

"ROSIE! ROSIE! Get up!" Lily Potter howled as she poked Rose in the side. "Rose! Come on, let's go swimming! It's as hot as a fire-breathing dragon out there and you're stuck in this stuffy room. The boys are waiting for us downstairs." Rose moaned in her pretend-sleep state and peeled her eyes open to Lily's eager face inches above her own.

"Do I have to?" Rose asked. Lily rolled her eyes and began searching the tiny room's closet to find her swim suit and a towel.

"Where's your suit? I'll get it for you while you wake up." Rose knew very well that Lily was not going to find her suit in the closet, as she had kept it safely packed in the confines of her suit case and had not even so much as looked at it since she had gotten to the Burrow. On the other side of the room, Dominique was already changed and looking at herself in every possible angle of the dusty mirror that occupied one corner. Rose noted that she had picked out the exact red bikini that she had discarded only a month before…and she looked like a golden goddess.

Dominique pouted in the mirror as she grabbed her invisible fat rolls. "Rosie…does this make me look fat?" Rose kept her mouth shut and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she shook her head. "No, of course not," she replied. She and Dominique had a strained relationship at best, and over the past few weeks she had grown even more irritated with her beautiful, perfect cousin. It felt like she was in a competition that she knew she could never win, and it was exhausting.

"Merlin, Dominique! Are you kidding me? That bikini was MADE for you!" Lily gushed as she pulled on her hot-pink suit. Dominique flashed Lily a brilliant, million dollar smile as thanks…her ego finally sated. Rose could feel her anxiety grow and decided maybe she didn't want to go swimming after all.

"Rosie, I couldn't find yours…where is it?" Lily asked as she grabbed a towel and threw it at Rose.

"I don't really feel like swimming…it's not even that hot out." Rose said with a fake laugh as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. The looks she was getting let her know that her statement was completely mental. Great, her own family thought she was going mad.

"Fine! I'll go. I'll just, uh, meet you downstairs." Rose smiled in what she hoped was a confident way and shooed Dominique and Lily from the room. Once she was alone again, she heaved a sigh and pulled out her swim suit. She thought that it looked amazing in the store, but now she wasn't so sure. She wasn't necessarily fat, but she didn't have the same kind of body that would look amazing in a bikini. What if she looked chubby? What if Scorpius laughed at her? He probably would, he was always making fun of that Hufflepuff he oh-so-nicely named "Big Rhonda". But she didn't want everybody to think that she was being strange. Making an executive decision, she put on her blue one-piece…followed by the biggest t-shirt she could find in her suitcase.

"Oh Rose…that shirt is hideous!" Dominique squealed in horror from her towel on the lawn as Rose trudged outside, clad in her suit and an ancient and oversized Chudley Cannons t-shirt. She was originally going to use it as a night shirt, but when she saw how she looked in her swim suit, she knew that she couldn't let Scorpius or anybody else see her. Rose ignored her cousin and laid her towel on the ground. She didn't see Scorpius watching her from his spot in the air.

"Aren't you a little warm?" Lily asked from her place on the grass. Rose shook her head no, and Lily shrugged her shoulders. Rose sat on her towel for awhile in the heat while Dominique and Lily chatted about the guys they would try love potions on if they ever had the chance.

Fed up with her cousins' mindless chatter, Rose made her way over to the water through the weeds and tall grass, gingerly dipping in her toe and trying to get used to the cold water. Before she knew what was happening, she was being shoved, hard, and subsequently belly-flopping into the shallow water.

"Rose! Are you okay?" She heard Scorpius ask from his broom as she emerged from the pond. He had a smile on his face and was chuckling slightly. Rose glared at him before she spit water out of her mouth and pushed her hair out of her face.

"Did you think that was funny?" Rose asked, the venom clear in her voice.

"Well, kind of." Rose raised her eyebrows "I mean no! No, absolutely not." Scorpius recovered quickly, realizing that he had said something horribly wrong. He could see Albus shaking his head in shame at his best friend's slip up.

From the edge of the water, Dominique was laughing hysterically.

"Rose! Quit being-so sensitive, It was-just a-prank!" she managed to say between her fits of laughter as she doubled over again in a fit of giggles. Rose's face turned an outrageous shade of scarlet as she attempted to climb out of the water. She slipped on some mud and fell into the pond again, which almost sent Dominique into tears she was laughing so hard. Scorpius landed his broom and held his hand out to Rose, but she climbed out on her own and stormed past him, afraid that her unshed tears would surface.

"Rose! Come back, please! Rose, wait!" She heard Scorpius call after her as she walked as fast as she could into the Burrow.

"Just leave me alone, Scorpius!" She yelled as she walked through the back door and right through the family room. Different family members were seated in the kitchen with raised eyebrows and questioning looks, but Rose didn't care. She climbed the stairs into her bedroom and collapsed on her cot in a fit of tears, not caring that she was still wet and muddy or that she was still in her ratty old t-shirt. Her muffled sobs could be heard from outside the door, where Scorpius was sitting quietly, his head in his hands.

Sometime later, Rose heard a knock on the door.

"Go away" Rose said fatly as she sat up on her cot and stretched.

"It's me" Hermione's muffled voice responded through the door. "Can I come in?"

Rose felt a great rush of affection for her mother in that moment. She knew that, if she wanted, Hermione could unlock the door with a flick of her wand…she'd done it many times before when Rose was younger and felt like "rebelling" by locking the door. Rose got up and unlocked the door before sitting down again.

"How are you feeling sweetheart? I heard you had a nasty fall into the pond today."

"Yeah…I did. It was—oh mum it was awful!" Fresh tears started pouring down Rose's face as she lost her composure. "Dominique pushed me and I belly flopped in front of Scorpius and Albus and now I'm sure they both think I'm an idiot! And-and she made fun of my shirt too." Rose added as an afterthought.

"Oh honey," Hermione cooed as she held her crying daughter. "Well, it may interest you to know that Scorpius and Albus really gave it to Dominique after you left and Scorpius came back downstairs. I had never seen Albus yell like that before. All of us could hear it from the kitchen…it wasn't pretty. Your Aunt Fleur wanted to intervene but Uncle Bill told her he saw the whole thing."

Rose sniffed a little and ungracefully wiped her nose on her shirt. "I'm surprised Scorpius didn't congratulate her." She said sarcastically.

"Why would you say that, Rosie?"

"Because! He's been ignoring me the whole time we've been here, and he's been all over her, it's like I don't even exist! I may as well be using Uncle Harry's invisibility cloak."

"Ah, yes…boys tend to be very stupid when it comes to that sort of thing, unfortunately… especially at your age."

"Mum, why is being 15 so difficult?" Rose asked as she picked at a stray thread on her t-shirt.

Hermione laughed heartily "I could tell you some stories about your father when we were 15. He was a right git most of the time, and completely jealous for no reason. It was awful; you know how your father's temper is." Rose smiled. "He just needed some time to grow up and make a few mistakes. Listen; if Scorpius doesn't see how amazing you are, then that's his loss. But I can almost guarantee that within the next few years, he'll come around." Hermione gave her daughter's shoulder a squeeze.

"I hope so, because this waiting part is getting kind of old."

Later that night, Rose lay in her cot, this time in her pajamas instead of her disgusting and muddy t-shirt. She thought about the events that had happened over the past eight hours and wondered what Scorpius and Albus were talking about downstairs.

After she had talked with her mom, Rose was brought up some sandwiches and pumpkin juice before she sneaked to the shower and downstairs to play a game of wizard's chess with Hugo. When she returned to her room, Dominique was busy reading With Weekly with a scowl on her face and Lily was getting ready to owl her best friend. Lily turned around from the desk where she was seated and smiled, but Dominique seemed to take no notice of Rose's entrance. Lily rolled her eyes in Dominique's direction and Rose shot her an "oh well" smile before getting into bed.

That was an hour ago, and although her cousins' snores let her know that they were asleep, Rose was nowhere close to unconsciousness. The moon was full and shining bright in the starry sky. The weather was still balmy and humid, and what sounded great at that exact moment was a swim in the pond.

This time, with nobody watching or waiting for her, Rose crept out of her bed and put on her swim suit. She couldn't find a t-shirt to wear, so she grabbed her wand and towel and headed for the door. Before she exited, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror…her reflection wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be, but she was still too pale, too fat, too plain…especially for somebody like Scorpius. He deserved somebody like Dominique, who was beautiful and smart. Rose sighed, muttered "lumos" and headed downstairs.

"…completely obvious. You may as well tell her."

Rose stopped in her tracks. Albus and Scorpius were talking…about girls. Rose's curiosity got the best of her and she pressed her ear to the door.

"He's right, mate, it'll be an easier summer if you just get it over with." Hugo's voice chimed in. Who were they talking about?

"As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with them. Even if she is my cousin." James agreed.

"Sure, just so you guys can take the piss for the next six weeks. I don't think so." Rose heard Scorpius say with a laugh, she pressed her ear closer to the door. "Besides, I don't even like her like that. We're just friends." She thought she heard Albus and Hugo scoff in disbelief. They had to be talking about Dominique.

Rose's legs were starting to ache from standing in the same position for so long, and one slight shift of her knee made a floorboard creak. Damn.

"Wait...did you hear that?" Scorpius asked. Rose didn't wait to hear James, Albus and Hugo's replies and instead tip-toed as fast as she could out of the Burrow. Once she knew she was free from being caught, she let out a sigh of relief.

The weather was even hotter outside than she had imagined, and there was no wind. She walked across the garden and placed her lit wand and towel on the grass. Not ready to get in the water just yet, she sat down and breathed in the warm summer air.

Five minutes passed before she heard someone walking behind her. Rose stood up with her wand and turned around as fast as she could. She ran into something hard.

"Ow! Bloody hell Rose! Are you trying to kill me?" Scorpius asked as he rubbed his head.

Rose sighed angrily, "Sorry, I just get kind of defensive when somebody creeps up behind me in the middle of the night." She said sarcastically, not sounding sorry at all. It was then that she realized she was just in her swim suit. She panicked and reached for her towel, but Scorpius was faster than her and snatched it up before she could.

"Sorry," Scorpius said with a cheeky grin. Rose crossed her arms in an attempt to hide her chest without being too obvious.

"I promise it's nothing I haven't seen before. Although I do like your swim suit."

"You're disgusting!" Rose said as she made a grab for her towel, which Scorpius held above her head. She backed up when she realized their close proximity and how she was about six centimeters away from his lips.

"Your face is awfully red, Miss Weasley," Scorpius said in the same mocking tone as he tossed Rose's towel back at her.

"Well, unlike Dominique, some of us don't enjoy walking around half naked." Rose spluttered while she wrapped herself in her towel. Scorpius looked at her oddly. There was a silence as each of them glared at the other.

"So, are we gonna go for a swim?" He asked finally as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"I don't even know why you're out here right now, shouldn't you be asleep?" Rose asked the top of his head, carefully avoiding his absolutely perfect body. Scorpius caught on and stepped closer to her, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable she was.

"Well, what's funny about that…right before your brother, Albus, James and I were about to shut our lights off we heard a noise outside of our room, and it sort of woke us up. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" By this point, Scorpius was so close that Rose could see the moonlight reflected clearly in his gray eyes.

"Uhh…no…abso-absolutely not." Rose stammered, cursing her lack of suaveness. She needed to think of something to break the tension.

Hardly thinking, she turned away from Scorpius and plunged into the pond with a run. Moments later, she heard a splash. Rose wasn't sure if it was the cold water or the nagging voice in her head that told her she had nothing to lose, but suddenly, she felt bold.

"So, why do you like her?" Rose asked Scorpius as he shook water out of his ears.

"Who?" He asked, looking generally confused. Rose gave him a look. "I really don't know who you're talking about."

"Dominique!" Rose said, frustrated. Why was he playing dumb?

"Dominique…what? No!" Scorpius said, a look of disgust on his face.

"You know, you don't have to lie to me. I thought we were friends" Rose said as she treaded the water, making sure to keep the hurt out of her voice. She felt Scorpius's gaze on her and tried to ignore it although she felt her face getting hot again.

"We are, we're best friends, and I'm not lying. I have feelings for somebody else." Scorpius said, his tone serious. Rose was feeling the intensity of the moment grow again, and it became too much for her...maybe she wasn't the one who was ready. She splashed Scorpius in the face with a laugh and leapt out of the water before he could drag her under. Not knowing what to do and feeling awkward, Rose sat on the grass and picked a mosquito bite while she waited for Scorpius to get out of the pond.

"You know I'm going to have to get you back for that," he said as he sat beside her and bumped her shoulder.

"Oh I'm ready" she replied, following his teasing tone. They were quiet for a few moments as they gazed at the stars.

"You need to stop being so insecure." Scorpius said, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, not sure whether she should be offended or not. Her curiosity got the better of her. This time, it was Scorpius's turn to look shy and sheepish.

"I just—well I've noticed how Dominique treats you, and I hate it. She's mean, and I think she's jealous of you because you're so nice and smart and she knows she isn't. If she were a bloke I would have already taken care of the situation, but since she's a girl there's nothing I can do. I hate it because you're a great person and she makes you feel like you're a-a dungbeetle…or something." Scorpius finished quickly. Rose was shocked to hear him talking like this but remained as blasé as possible.

"Well, if that's the way you feel, then why have you been all over her since you arrived?" Rose asked as she picked pieces of grass out of the lawn.

"I haven't! In case you haven't noticed, I've been trying to avoid her. She won't leave me alone, and I think it's because I'm the only boy in our year who she hasn't snogged yet, besides Albus, and he obviously doesn't count. You need to stop worrying about her."

The next words fell out of Rose's mouth without her even thinking

"It's just, she's so pretty and I'm so—plain." Immediately, she regretted her words.

"Are you kidding me?" Scorpius asked, clear disbelief in his voice. "Rose, look at me" he said sharply. When Rose didn't, he grabbed her face with both of his hands. Her eyes grew wide in shock, but he ignored this and kept talking, figuring that he had already done enough damage.

"You. Are. Lovely. Okay? You're perfect, and if Dominique or anybody else has ever made you feel otherwise, then I will seek them all out myself and tell them how stupid they are. Because you are the best person I know, you got that? The best. You are the smartest witch I know, you're always there to help others, and you are the best chaser that Hogwarts has had since your Aunt Ginny. Not only that, but you have the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen. And when you smile, your whole face lights up. So don't you tell me that you're not pretty or that you don't matter, because it's a bunch of bullocks, and you know that."

Finished with his tirade, Scorpius felt a great sense of relief wash over him. Rose was looking at him still, her eyes large.

"Scorpius?" Rose asked quietly.

"What?" He replied, his heart beating a mile a minute

Was this the moment?

"I. Can't. Breathe." It was then that Scorpius noticed his hands were squeezing Rose's face so hard that she looked like a chipmunk.

"Oh, right, sorry." He said quickly as he let go, feeling mildly embarrassed. The pair sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

"Did you mean it? What you said?" Rose finally asked.

"Every word." Scorpius muttered, his face a faint shade of pink. Rose was silent again.

"You know, today didn't turn out to be so bad after all." She finally answered, flashing Scorpius a genuine smile, "but I'm tired, so I think it's time for bed. Are you coming?"

"No, I think I'm going to stay out here for awhile. It's nice outside."

"Alright, if you're sure. And Scorpius? Thank you." Rose said, and before she could think twice, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her towel and wand and walking back to the Burrow.

Scorpius placed his hand on his cheek and smiled.