AN: I AM SO SORRY I HAVE TAKEN SO LONG! But here's the next chapter! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Enjoy! And review?

…

That Saturday morning in Hogsmeade was hectic. Girls were let off, scrambling to find a last minute dress through the snowy village. As the Weasley-Potter-Malfoy group descended down the pathway leading into the town, James pouted, "Why are we coming down here with you girls, again? This is going to take forever, and Al and I have practice in two hours. Speaking of Al, where is he?"

"'Studying' like a smart man," Scorpius replied. "Remind me too, why are we with you?"

Rose rolled her eyes, stopping her conversation with a tagged along Olivia and Lily. "Because, you said you needed supplies or something, remember?"

James and Scorpius looked at each other when Rose turned her head away. James swatted Scorpius in the stomach and mouthed, 'idiot'. He had almost spoiled their plan of going to Zonko's knowing that the girls would kill them if they went.

Once locating the dress shop that had only been in business a couple of years, the group split off-the girls to go shopping, the guys to secretly go joke hunting.

As the girls entered the stone building, Lily muttered, "They're going to Zonko's, aren't they?"

"Yep."

A tall woman approached them, winding through a gaggle of fifth-year girls. "Hello, welcome to Ginger's Dress Emporium. I'm Henrietta. I assume you're here for the same occasion everyone else is."

"Yes, we are," Rose replied.

"Then can I be of any assistance?"

"I'm looking for a dress," said Rose. Olivia already had hers and Lily just came along for the walk. Henrietta clasped her hands together. "Perfect!" She led them around the store stopping at almost every rack and pulled dresses. Taking them to the dressing rooms with a growing pile of multicolored fabrics in her arms, Henrietta motioned for Rose to step in.

"We'll be out soon girls!" she crooned as she pulled the flowery curtain closed. As soon as it was closed, the curtain opened back up. Rose stood clad in a shimmering green dress. As soon as she saw Lily's eyes light up and Olivia smirk, Rose said, "No. I am absolutely not wearing this!" It was not Rose's taste-too short and sequined-up with a neck line too low- although she did look good in it.

"Oh, why not Rosie? You look great!" Lily said.

Rose tried adjusting the dress, but to no avail. "Because I'm uncomfortable and Scorpius would be staring at me all night-in a way I don't want!"

"Alright, we'll try on the next one," stated Henrietta as she closed the curtain back on them. This was going to take a while, Rose thought. She wondered if the boys were having more fun than she was.

…

"Come on mate, quit it! You're gonna be late to practice!" Scorpius scolded James, who still browsed through the many aisles of jokes and pranks.

"I haven't found the right one! I want to knock Uncle Ron's socks off," James replied, holding up a package of some type of sock gaggle. "No pun intended."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You have twenty minutes to get to the Quidditch field. York is going to kill you if you don't get your arse going!"

James ignored him, moving to the next section. "You have five minutes to pick something out Potter, or I will tell the entire Quidditch team that you fancy York's younger sister. I wonder what York'll do besides make you run laps around the-"

"You wouldn't!" James growled, straightening. Scorpius's family smirk alit on his face. "Oh, but I would, mate. So I'd get to it."

James quickly scanned the shelves and grabbed something off the rack, rushing over to the pay counter. "If I'm killed by York or Uncle Ron, you're going down with me Malfoy," James hissed as he tossed the newly bought item to Scorpius, disappearing out the door.

Looking at the package, Scorpius' smirk just grew wider. James would certainly need the luck.

…

"Alright there's only two more. Pick one already," Lily whined. Olivia had left to get her hair done in a shop across the way.

"You didn't have to come!" Rose snapped from behind the curtain as Henrietta zipped up the dress. The curtain flew open.

Lily's mouth hung open, "Wow. Rose, you look-wow."

Rose's dress was a deep burgundy, with a deep sweetheart neckline-strapless; a plain, half-full ball gown skirt. The bodice had a beaded, laced flower pattern in black over a satin material. A ruched band was wrapped around the waist, a big bow in the back. She looked stunning.

As Rose looked in the full length mirror, she was amazed at how wonderful she looked. The dress hugged her in all the right places and made her feel beautiful.

"I think this is it; I think this is going to be the dress, Lil!"

As Lily gushed, Rose thought, Scorpius is going to be floored.

…

That night, an hour before the ball, Rose donned the dress she had bought earlier that day, thankful that Henrietta had given her the dress for half off.

She put her red hair up in a style her mother had shown her once before -a style her mother had once put up for her own Christmas ball. She clasped a small book necklace around her neck, a gift from her father, and dusted her cheeks with a dash of rosy pink blush.

Rose smiled at her reflection in the mirror and slipping on her one-inch red heels, headed down to meet Scorpius.

…

The three boys stood in the common room, surrounded by other students, girls and boys alike. Scorpius absent-mindedly pulled at his collar. "Make to practice on time, James?" he asked, to break the small silence amongst James, Albus, and he, amidst the growing chatter in the cozy room.

"I did, thank you very much," James replied stiffly, crossing his arms over his chest. He had decided to wait along and see his friends off, finding his other option of doing late homework boring.

"We've got ten minutes before the Great Hall opens up. I wish girls didn't take so long," Albus said, looking at the grandfather clock hanging in the room.

"Yeah, well they're girls," said Scorpius. "Oh look, maybe this is them."

As another group of dress-donning girls came down the enchanted stairs, the boys strained to find their dates. And when they did, their jaws dropped. Olivia, with her brown hair curled around her shoulders, wore a lightly embroidered iris colored dress that pooled towards the bottom of her feet. She had put on an eye shadow that made her amber eyes pop a bit more and her lips were painted a light hue of red. A shawl in a slightly deeper shade of blue hung loosely around her shoulders. To Albus, she was stunning, but to Scorpius, Rose was extravagant. Her red hair being put up gave way to more prominent features, like the freckles that dotted her nose or her blue eyes that sparkled with excitement.

"Hey, guys," greeted Olivia, getting a tighter grip on her shawl. "You two look nice," she added, motioning towards the dress robe wearing boys. The flustered boys both replied in a similar compliment. After a quick silence, Rose, who had been staring at Scorpius for a bit too long, exclaimed, "Oh, James you're not going? Sara will be there; bet you can sweep her off her feet better than her date."

James' cheeks heated up at the mention of York's younger sister and muttered "Dances are too stuffy. I'll see you around," before slinking upstairs.

"Shall we get going?" Albus asked, offering an arm to Olivia. Scorpius followed suit and soon the four were on their way to the Christmas ball.

…

Christmas trees decorated with snow and festive wreaths stood tall in different places of the hall; the heavy wooden tables pushed around the perimeter of the room, each laden with platters and platters of food. Groups of students stood off to the side talking or already began dancing on the spacious dance floor. An orchestra was playing a faster tempo song the moment the four arrived; a second stage being set up for a later, more popular music group. Christmas caroling ghosts soared around the air, mistletoe sprouting above unexpecting couples.

Albus and Olivia split away from Rose and Scorpius, leaving them to stand by themselves.

"So…" said Scorpius, glancing at Rose, who was taking everything in, "what do you want to do?"

After realizing the question was for her, Rose turned her head in his direction. "Well…we could go eat, if you're hungry, or we could go dance."

"Dance…dancing sounds good."

Taking the initiative, Scorpius held out a hand and guided Rose onto the dance floor. Tentatively he rested his right hand just under her bare shoulder-blade. Rose placed her left hand on his right shoulder; their free hands clasped at shoulder height. As the new, slightly waltz-y song began to play, the two locked eyes.

"You clean up nicely," Rose stated, looking momentarily at her swaying hemline.

"And who said I wouldn't?" he replied, a tinge of a smirk in his voice. "You look very nice by the way, Rose."

She smiled. "Thanks. You do too." She was almost captivated by the way he had tousled his blonde hair for tonight's occasion, cleaned up so nicely; even wanted to dance with her.

Scorpius suddenly twirled Rose, making her squeal slightly at the motion. She smiled, "I didn't know you could dance." Scorpius averted her steady gaze. "Mum made me learn when I was younger."

Rose giggled. "That's adorable. Why haven't you told me? I've always liked ballroom dancing."

"I always hated it. Thought it was stupid. And it wouldn't go over too well with Al and James."

"Oh."

Rose had noticed they had stopped dancing, yet their hands were still joined. Sensing that that moment was over, Rose quickly changed the subject and unclasped her hands from his. "Are you hungry?" she asked, before leading them over to one of the many buffet tables.

Grabbing something warm, Rose heard a familiar voice nearby. She asked Scorpius, "Do you hear James?"

"What?"

"Do you hear James' voice? I thought-" Suddenly there was a small giggle a few feet away, and both turned towards the high sound. And standing around them was James, clad in a nice dress shirt, slacks, and dress robe, laughing along with a girl. The girl just happened to be Sara York.

"Wow, I can't believe he showed up; or took that advice even," Rose exclaimed, watching the two converse easily.

"C'mon," said Scorpius, taking her hand and guiding her over to them, before Rose could even protest. As James and Sara were talking, Scorpius and Rose stopped right behind James.

"Hey, James," said Scorpius. James, surprised by the voice, jumped a little. He turned, glaring at Scorpius. "Hey…"

"I thought you said dances were stuffy, Potter?" Scorpius mentioned, earning him a jab in the back from Rose.

"Changed my mind, Malfoy." As the two boys glared at each other, Rose apologized from over Scorpius' shoulder to Sara, "Uh, sorry to interrupt you." Sara, who had been slightly alarmed at the intrusion, shook her dirty blonde locks. "Oh, no, it's okay. Um…we…I'm Sara York," she introduced, her voice light and quiet.

Rose moved away from the boys and extended her hand towards Sara. "Rose Weasley. And that is Scorpius Malfoy."

Sara smiled at her. "Nice to meet you." Rose glanced back at the two boys, who were now glaring harder, a few words exchanged.

"Really sorry about them, they get like that sometimes," Rose apologized.

Sara smiled asking, "Competitive?"

"No. Stupid." Sara tilted her head in a slightly confused manner as Rose sighed. "Well, nice meeting you. I'll let you enjoy the rest of your night." Rose marched over to the two boys and hissed to James, "Stop it. Don't leave Sara over there by herself." With that, she grabbed Scorpius by the arm and pulled him away, stopping behind a towering Christmas tree.

"You're an idiot, Scor."

"What? Didn't want to mess with your cousin?" he asked a smirk on his face fading.

"No! I didn't! He was with a girl, Scor-a girl he likes. How would you feel if someone interrupted you talking to a girl you fancied?" She continued before he could open his mouth. "So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Do you like Zax?"

"Excuse me?" What was he getting at? Rose thought that topic was over. So, why would he bring it up now, at the Christmas ball of all places?

"You heard me." His expression had suddenly turned serious.

Rose was nearly at a lost for words as another orchestra song changed from slow to fast. She took a deep breath, looking confused at him. "No. I don't like Zax. Wanted to hex him though. Why?"

"I…" Scorpius started blushing and averted his gaze. Why was he suddenly nervous? This was Rose of all people. And what was his reason for asking? Jealousy? But why would he be jealous?

It suddenly dawned on him. His want for needing to know, asking her to the ball- heck, his surprise at seeing how wonderful she looked was all because he had harbored feelings for her. He fancied his best friend.

"No reason," he said quickly, recovering from his realization. "I just was remembering something and thought of that." He smiled at her, but it faded as he watched Rose look above them, and suddenly become wide-eyed.

"Oh no," she said, pointing.

Scorpius looked up and blushed. Hanging directly above them in mid air was mistletoe.

…

AN: So there's mistletoe, music, and students are becoming couples. Review? Sorry it took me so long-writer's block. Oh and I'm officially a Ravenclaw on Pottermore!

Review!