Scorpius at the Yule Ball (working title)

Chapter One

Scorpius stood with perfect posture, a picture of Malfoy pride in fashionably cut wizard's formal wear. His black tailcoat was trimmed by a ribbon of Slytherin green satin on each side, a white piqué silk double-breasted vest, a matching bow tie that he'd fought with briefly before remembering the charm his mother had sent him, and wing-collar shirt. There had been white silk gloves as well but he'd forgotten them in the Slytherin common room. He'd taken off the shining black top hat and white silk scarf as soon as they'd entered. Now he folded up his best black cloak and arranged it underneath the hat and scarf. Fiddling and nit picking his clothing was one of the few nervous habits he retained. Especially when he was wearing a silk bow tie that itched.

He kept the new cane his mother had commissioned for him and put the rest of his things on the table he was sharing with Albus - Asp - and a few other Slytherins. It had scroll style staff made of blackthorn wood wrapped with black wrought iron. The handle was sterling silver with a black stone, obsidian probably, he thought. He sat sown and stared at the cane, wondering at his father's distaste for it. An early memory of his grandfather's use of his old cane floated into the back of his mind but Scorpius pushed all of that away. He didn't want to think of any reason not to like his new present. Not that everything from his parents wasn't new, but he liked this present. The ring around the staff was engraved with his initials SHM and an image of a scorpion.

He had been surprised that the Malfoy family crest wasn't engraved there instead but he realized his father wanted to move on from blood purities and family names and all of that outdated ridiculousness. From his father's point of view being from a pureblood family was no longer associated with power and therefore it was no longer important. It was one of the reasons Draco Malfoy had gone into business instead of buying himself a position in the Ministry as Grandfather Lucius had done. Scorpius realized that his father wanted a new way, a new path for his son and subsequent generations. He just wished it hadn't been taken quite so far. His middle name didn't have to be Hyperion, after the titan god of light who sired the lights of heaven. Scorpius rubbed his thumb over the obsidian stone as he examined the engraved scorpion. The only good thing about his first name was that it wasn't Hyperion.

He sighed and dropped his head back while his thoughts ran around in circles, consuming themselves like the ouroboros. He was still only Scorpius to most of the students of Hogwarts. A Slytherin scorpion that would kill the swan that attempted to carry him across the river, the Malfoy heir. A delicate pale pink hand descended was set lightly on his shoulder and he opened his eyes and stared awkwardly at the upside down face of Rose Weasley. He quickly sat up straight, rose from his seat, and bowed to the young lady.

"Brooding again, Scorpius?" Rose teased him lightly.

"If I was I must stop immediately," Scorpius said, his tone equally light, "A vision of beauty such as yourself could distract the lowliest and most unlucky sap from dwelling on his woes."

"That's more like it. Now you're being yourself, flattering any girl who walks by -- as shameless as you ever were, Scorpius." Rose couldn't quite keep herself from blushing. The warmth in her cheeks and the smile on her face kept her response from sounding as dry as it would have otherwise.

"Never just any girl, Rosie," Scorpius said warmly and was pleased to see her flustered. It was true, even to someone who wasn't as fond of Rose as Scorpius had come to be would have to admit she looked fetching dressed so formally. The white silk chiffon ball gown was not as expensive as Scorpius's formal wear but then again, no one at the Yule Ball this year could hope to be wearing clothing as expensive as his staff by itself.

Ron and Hermione were well off as a result of their hard work for the Ministry and Ron's share of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes profits which were quite abundant. The corset was tied with ribbon that looked like satin to Scorpius, and matching ribbons were wrapped around Rose's hands and up her forearms in place of gloves, he supposed. Meanwhile, Rose's full skirt fell past her ankles and just short of the floor. The matching wrap was draped around her back and wrapped around both of her wrists. The scattered crystal beads in the gown and were also placed in her rarely tamed red-brown hair, styled into ringlets for the event, and everything about her caught the light. She seemed to glow and Scorpius imagined the light found her as attractive as he did and lingered around her to create the effect. The gown suited Rose, but he was surprised she hadn't worn red or pink to go with her name. Still, he estimated it would not have gone well with the red highlights she'd inherited from her father's side of the family.

"You are a vision of loveliness, Rose," Scorpius felt the need to reinforce his earlier compliment. Her blue eyes shined in response to the sincerity of his praise. "Will you dance with me?" Scorpius asked her, offering his hand.

"Of course," she laid her wrap over his top hat and it fell in a shimmer of sheer silk and scattered crystals to cover and blend with the thick white silk of his scarf. It was an appropriate image, he thought as his grey eyes met hers. His left hand met her right, palm to palm as it was with Romeo and Juliet's chaste first kiss. There were a well-matched couple of average height so Rose's fingers rested on the seam of his coat sleeve. With more confidence than he actually felt, Scorpius placed his right hand on her back to loosely cup her shoulder blade. Her left hand and forearm rested on the his upper arm. Just like that he held her. They spent the rest of their evening together just like that, looking into each others eyes and floating across the floor.

Author's Note: I updated this story incorrectly and lost one review. I sincerely apologize to whoever reviewed this and I hope you can post your review again.