For Lizaluvsdoggiesas a part of the Fanfiction Gift Exchange

Trust Me

"It's too hot," I exclaimed as I lay on the cool stone of the garden path. "I know I was complaining all winter, but this is out of line!"

"I think it's a welcome change," my best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, said.

"I'm sweating like a pig," I said, wiping my hand on my bare stomach and showing him the glistening sweat.

"Ew, Rose. That's so gross," he said, squirming away from it immediately and falling off the path onto the grass.

"Still," I said, "At least I might get a slight tan. My tummy is completely paper white… and my bikini gets a bit of an air out."

"Great, Rose, but I really don't care about your tan or your tummy," Scorpius said, shifting back onto the path to lie next to me. Scorpius may not care about my tummy, but I definitely cared about his. It was taking all of my self-restraint not to reach over and trace his abs with my finger. Eyes upstairs, Rose, I told myself firmly as my eyes started travelling lower, eyes upstairs, he's your friend and he doesn't like you in the way you like him, so for god's sake keep your eyes upstairs.

"Oh, you wish," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Rose, Scorpius, would you like another ice block?" I heard mum call from the house.

"Yes, please, Mrs Weasley!" Scorpius said eagerly, craning his neck to look at mum who was standing in the doorway.

"Thanks mum!" I called as she walked off to the kitchen to get them. "So, what have you been doing this summer, Scorpion?"

"Don't call me that, Rose Thorn." Scorpius teased, using the name that he knew I hated with a passion against me. I lashed out to hit him but he moved at the last second and my fist hit the pavement.

"So," I said, rubbing my knuckles, "What have you been doing?"

"Nothing much," Scorpius said, "Lazing around the house, listening to mum and dad fight about whether I should be friends with you and Albus, that's always entertaining," he said, winking at me, "I read a few books from the library. I know … scandal!" he added as I opened my mouth in surprise, "Apart from that, absolutely nothing. You?"

"I went over to Ella's place in the first week but otherwise I've been doing homework and reading the books that I got for my fifteenth birthday." I shrugged.

"Oh yeah, how was that? I'm sorry I couldn't come, my dad was in a bad mood when I asked him and mum couldn't convince him to let me come," Scorpius said.

"That's okay," I said, "I did kind of miss you, though. It wasn't the same without you there." That was a lie. I had been completely devastated that Scorpius couldn't come. That was when I had planned to tell him how I felt about him. I'd had it all rehearsed out, and then he hadn't been able to come.

"Nothing is ever the same without me there," Scorpius grinned, just as Mum came out with our ice blocks.

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley." Scorpius said, accepting his and ripping it open in the same second.

It seemed like ages that we lay on the path eating our ice blocks, until our hands and arms were sticky with the sweet substance.

"I'm bored." I said, turning my head sideways to look at Scorpius, "Let's go for a bike ride. You can ride Hugo's bike." I jumped up and started to make my way towards the shed that kept everything inside it. Like, literally, everything, from bikes to broomsticks.

"Rose, slight problem: I don't know how to ride a bike," Scorpius said as I reached the door to the shed.

"You're kidding? What child doesn't know how to ride a bike?" I asked in disbelief.

"This child," Scorpius said, indicating himself. "Seriously Rose, I grew up in a pure-blood family. Do you honestly expect me to know how to ride a bike?"

"Perhaps not…" I said, looking at the ground, hoping that another idea of what to do would come to me.

"Hey! I could teach you to fly!" Scorpius suggested.

"No," I said immediately, "No way. I am not touching a broomstick."

"Come on, Rosie! I'll let you teach me to ride a bike afterwards. Pretty please?" he gave me his puppy dog face. How could I resist that face?

"Fine," I relented, "Just know that I hate you, bitch."

"Hey! I prefer the term 'man-whore'," Scorpius teased as I reached into the shed and grabbed the two Cleansweep Sevens that had once belonged to my uncles. I tossed one to him.

"Come on, chin boy. Show me the stars," I said.

"Enough with the chin jokes, already! I know that I have a prominent chin, so you don't have to remind me every second of every day." Scorpius said in frustration.

"Careful! You'll poke someone's eye out," I teased, only to be poked in the side with the handle of his broom. "Hey!" I giggled.

"I don't even know why I'm friends with you most of the time," Scorpius said, shaking his head at me, "Come on then, nose girl: time to learn how to fly."

"Oi! It's only alright when I insult your chin! You cannot insult my nose, okay?" I scolded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, nosey," Scorpius teased. It was now my turn to poke him in the side with my broom. "Okay, I'm being serious now. Let's go into the orchard so that we have space and nobody can see us from the road."

"Sounds good," I said, "Just make sure I don't crash into a tree or anything."

"Hey, just trust me for once, Rose," Scorpius said as we jumped the fence into the orchard that was adjacent to my house.

"The last time you said that I ended up with a venomous tentacula bite. So excuse me if I'm a little hesitant to trust you," I said in my defence.

"That was in second year!" Scorpius exclaimed, "I can't believe you're still holding that against me!"

"It's good ammunition in an argument," I grinned as we walked into the trees. "Okay, so. How the hell do I fly this thing?"

"Okay, so you sit on it like you're sitting on a bike or whatever." He said, demonstrating on his broom. I mounted it, feeling incredibly stupid just standing there holding a stick of wood between my legs. Oh god, no bad thoughts. Bah, I think I needed innuendo rehab. I do not need to be thinking these things when the person that I have had a crush on since forever is in the same vicinity as me with his shirt off.

"Are you even listening to me, Rose?" Scorpius asked, slightly irritated as I gawped, mouth slightly open at his abs.

"Yeah, bend my knees and push off from the ground." I said, snapping out of my trance and back to reality.

"Yeah, and then put your feet in the stirrups at the back, or you'll fall off." Scorpius said. "Just like this." He pushed effortlessly off the ground and hooked his feet back into the stirrups as he glided higher and higher. I watched him fly in circles around my head for a while before I attempted to join him.

To my surprise, it was a lot easier than I had anticipated. All I had to do was keep my hands on the broom and I was completely fine… until I rose above the 's when I started freaking out.

"Shit, Scorpius, how do I get down?" I called in a panicked voice.

"Hey, you're okay. I've got you. Just trust me." Scorpius said, from behind me as he steadied me on my broom. His touch on my bare skin sent tingles up my spine as he held me firmly around the waist, making sure that I wouldn't fall off.

After a few minutes, I started to become more comfortable with the altitude that I was at.

"I think I'm okay now," I breathed to Scorpius and slowly but surely he released me. My broom started to rise higher and higher and I started to enjoy it more and more as it carried me above the orchard and my house. I let out a long shout of laughter. It was amazing to just be off the ground and be floating above the ground.

"Having fun?" Scorpius asked, swooping around me as I kept both hands on my broom.

"Yes!" I said, smiling widely. "I feel like a bird!"

"You glad that we did this instead of ride bikes?"

"Yes," I laughed, shaking my hair out of my face. "Thank you, Scorpius."

"You are perfectly welcome," he grinned, "Do you want to stay up here or should we go and climb a tree in the orchard?"

"Climbing a tree sounds nice." I said. While I loved the feeling of being up in the air, I kind of did want the security of being a little closer to the ground.

"Alrighty, then," Scorpius said, "Just angle your broom handle down slightly and you should go down." I did exactly as he said and sure enough, I felt myself dropping slowly. It was a weird feeling, like the world was falling past me, not me falling past it. I landed gently on the grass below and dismounted quickly. Scorpius breezed in beside me and dismounted as well. Before I could say anything, however, he was half way up the nearest tree.

"You coming, Rosie?" he asked, settling himself in a fork near the top.

"Yeah." I said, hoisting myself up into the lower branches and climbing up to where he was and sitting side saddle on a branch that stuck out a few centimetres below his fork.

"So," Scorpius said as I started to swing my legs back and forth, "What has been your most embarrassing moment?"

"What is this, a Spanish inquisition?" I joked. Scorpius just looked confused. Note to self: never mention Muggle history around Scorpius again. "I'm kidding." I reassured him. "I'm not sure what my most embarrassing moment is… the time that I had a mental breakdown over not completing McGonagall's homework in third year was pretty high on the 'embarrassing moments' list. You?"

"Probably when I told your cousin Dominique that I was in love with her in second year," he said. I couldn't help but let out a loud laugh; that had been hilarious. "Your turn," he said, "make it a deep question."

I thought for a second, "Alright, your worst fear."

Scorpius bit his lip as he thought. "Probably being murdered. You?"

I knew exactly what my worst fear was and it would be completely embarrassing to say to him, but I said it anyway, "Probably growing old alone," I said timidly. "Your turn."

"Do you have a crush on anyone?" Scorpius asked. Damn. I knew this question was going to crop up sooner or later. I wasn't going to lie to him for two reasons. One, I hated lying to people and two, this might be my chance to tell him that I have a complete and undying love for him.

"Yes," I said nervously.

"You do!" he said, leaning forward eagerly, "Who is it?"

"Doyou have a crush on someone?" I asked, turning the question on him as my heart thundered at a hundred miles an hour.

"Yeah," Scorpius admitted embarrassedly.

"I'll tell you who mine is if you tell me who yours is," I offered immediately.

"Deal, nose girl. You first," Scorpius said.

"No way chin boy, you first," I said.

We stared each other down for a few seconds before Scorpius suggested the rational thing.

"Together?" he said.

"Sounds like a good idea," I replied.

"On the count of three we'll say, okay?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"One," Scorpius said.

"Two," I said.

"Three," Scorpius said.

"You," I said in a rush just as he said,

"You."

We both looked at each other bewilderedly. Could this really have been possible? Could we really have both had a crush on each other at the same time?

"You're kidding," Scorpius said.

"No," I said, smiling slightly. It was the best news that I could've hoped for.

"Well, that saves us both the awkwardness of telling each other." Scorpius said, rubbing the back of his neck while his pale features turned bright red.

"Yeah," I said, biting my lip embarrassedly. "Well at least we both kno-" as soon as I had looked up, I'd found Scorpius' lips on mine.

I almost fell out of the tree in shock, it was that out of the blue. I managed to grip onto the branch that I was sitting on and steady myself quickly enough to kiss him back before he broke away.

"What were you saying?" He grinned slightly.

"I think we definitely know that we like each other…" I said breathlessly, still feeling like I was on top of the world from the kiss.

"Like?" Scorpius said, "Rosie, my dear, I would go so far as to say that I love you. What say you?"

"I would definitely say that I love you," I said. "I always have."

"As have I," Scorpius said, "You're very beautiful." His lips were only inches from mine again.

"Mmm, and you're very handsome," I said. I could feel his breath on mine, and his lips were so … close, I just couldn't resist kissing him again.

"We'd make a good couple," Scorpius said when we broke apart.

"Mmm, I'd bet we would," I said, winking at him.

"So, do you want to be a couple?" Scorpius asked.

"I'm all yours, sweetie," I said.

"Great," Scorpius said, smiling giddily as he sat back on his branch. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

"So have I," I admitted, "So have I."

The next thing I knew I was falling out of the tree. "You like falling out of trees, then?" Scorpius said as I tumbled onto the ground. He had set up a cushioning charm so that I wouldn't get hurt.

"I am going to kill you," I said as he rolled himself out of the tree and landed beside me.

"Nah you're not," he said, stroking my face with his thumb. "You love me too much."

"You're right," I said, propping myself up on my elbows so that our faces were inches away from each other again.

"I do," I added, capturing his lips with mine for the third time.

If Scorpius and I had gone bike riding instead of that, then that would never have happened. I may not have trusted him at all before that day, but today, trusting Scorpius Malfoy was the best thing that I'd ever done.

AN: Many thanks to the lovely Being a Wallflower for beta'ing

In addition to writing this for the wonderful Lizaluvsdoggies, I have also written this for;

The OTP Bootcamp Challenge – Prompt #45: Patience

The School Subjects Competition: Astronomy - Romance

The Chinese Moon Competition: Romance Slice

I'd love it if you could leave me a review.

Potter on

~The Original Horcrux~