One Less Problem

The student body was in a frenzy to get on to the Hogwarts Express, but none more than Rose Weasley. She managed to squirm her way through the crowd with her shoulder-bag swinging and colliding with the students around her, and was one of the first to step onto the train, walking very quickly towards her intended destination. She opened the door and tossed her bag onto the seat next to her, putting her feet up and letting her head fall back with a sigh. She was here.

It was about thirty seconds before the train was to leave when the compartment doors opened once more and Scorpius Malfoy sat down across from Rose, putting his feet up so they were next to her.

"Your cousin's trunk fell on me when I was trying to put away mine," he said, rubbing his arm and grimacing slightly.

"Which one?"

"The one with red hair," he quipped.

"That's nearly all of them," Rose snapped, jabbing her foot into his side.

"It was Molly, I think, and I also think she did it on purpose," he said, eyebrows raised.

Rose exhaled deeply and quickly, as if the sudden mention of her cousins rudeness had flipped a switch on inside of her. It had been something of a sore spot for herself and Scorpius; since Christmas, which was when they had gotten together, her cousins has been particularly nasty to him. With the exception of Hugo, who didn't wish to get in his sister's way and cared quite a lot for her happiness, and Lily, who just didn't really seem to care all that much, all of her cousins at one point or another had contributed to the antagonizing of her boyfriend.

She counted herself lucky that he put up with all of that.

Honestly, she knew that their families hated each other in the past, and were barely civil now. But this was a new generation, and times were changing. Wasn't that what her parents had fought for? Blood purity was not important, not to him and certainly not to her. She was a legal wizarding adult; she was almost eighteen, and he already was!

As she was too busy thinking up a storm, she hadn't notice Scorpius get up and sit beside her. It wasn't till his arm was around her shoulders that she had been pulled from her thoughts.

"It's fine," he said lowly, and she rested her head on his shoulder and let her body relax. "Everything will work out. My mother likes you, which is a miracle really, considering she doesn't even like my father. Your mother is fine with me."

Rose shifted, nodding. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blurred Scottish countryside, faded greens and browns in the awakening spring. "I know, I know. We've already talked about this. My dad will overreact, though…"

"And so will mine, but that's why we're going to do this right away. Better to get it done and over with, I say…" She had never been more grateful for his soft, calming voice, one that he could use to his advantage - he could convince anyone to do anything, speaking like that.

It was quiet for a few brief moments before a stomping shattered the silence, and the floor of their compartment seemed to shake.

Lily Potter had looked at them, looked behind her, and stormed in, slamming the compartment door and stomping her foot slightly and hissing under her breath, throwing in a few colourful curses. Rose caught Zabini and loser among the angry, unintelligible muttering.

"What's he done now, Lils?" Rose sat up and shrugged Scorpius' arm from around her. Lily deposited herself in the seat across from them, flicking her eyes up to the ceiling.

"He was getting all close with Maggie Collins. And when I say close, I mean whispering in each other's ears and all that - right in front of me. I called his name six times before he realized I was there, and even then he didn't notice me. I'm his girlfriend!"

Rose frowned at her cousin. Why did she put up with all of this? Zabini wasn't a great bloke in the first place, but with every day they dated he seemed to become even more ignorant.

"I'm sorry to say this," said Scorpius, pausing to catch Lily's attention, "but maybe you just need to break up with him."

Rose nodded emphatically. "It's not right for him to be treating you like this, Lily…"

Still looking at the ceiling, she nodded defeatedly. "I… know. I guess you're right… it's been a long time coming. I'll be right back." Slowly, as if the life had drained out of her, she had gotten up and exited their compartment, quietly closing the compartment door and leaving Scorpius and Rose in the aftermath of her crisis.

"Zabini has always irritated me," Scorpius said, trivially, "and having shared a dorm with him for nearly seven years I know that bloke is a prat of the highest order."

Rose hmmed, but didn't respond with anything and leaned her shoulder against him once more while looking out of the window; the Hogwarts Express winded through what now must be the British countryside, out of view from all Muggles and in the middle of nowhere. Even though she was almost finished her seventh year, the magic of it never failed to astonish her.

It had probably been a quiet fifteen or twenty minutes of their breathing when Rose spoke again. "I was thinking…"

"Oh no."

"Ha, ha. I was thinking… that if Lily can go break up with Zabini after dealing with all of his idiocy for so long, then we can do this. We'll get off the train and then we'll snog for a bit to get our point across and then… well, we'll see, but…"

Scorpius nudged her shoulder. "Just as a proper, righteous Gryffindor should behave."

The Hogwarts Express ride seemed to go by much more quick - Rose and Scorpius made idle conversation about everything from Lily's impending breakup to Scorpius' father to their classes and the panic that NEWTs had thrust upon them. It had only seemed to be minutes later, rather than hours, when the Hogwarts Express slowed and entered King's Cross Station, platform 9 ¾.

As the train came to a screeching halt, they clutched each other's hands, both nervous for the outcomes of their action that needed to be done.

And when students descended off the train in a flurry of black robes they remained intertwined, even when Roxanne pushed past and Molly glared at him.

Their hands were still clasped when her parents noticed first, and then his, and that was when they knew it was time to show just how much they meant to one another.

Their lips met in the middle of Platform 9 ¾, slowly but surely, and nothing had ever been so perfect.

a/n - for the lovely Puddles Keeper, SailorOwls, whose favourite pairing is Scorrose or Dramione. I hope this is alright :)