A/N: 8/50 of the 50Shuffle Challenge - 'Photograph' by Nickelback. I've never done a Rose/Scorpius fic before but I know it's time I should. It's never too late to make Draco/Hermione happen xD. Reviews please.
By the way, this is post DH and not really compatible to anything as Draco and Astoria are in the Order (cos they're good really ^^) and the war in DH never happened, so Voldemort wasn't killed then etc... It could happen :D
A single shaft of sunlight dared to peek around the moth-bitten curtains in a vain attempt to illuminate the room. In its path, the swirling dust that had collected over the years of neglect and seclusion became visible and danced through the air as the door to the forgotten room was casually flung open.
"Be careful!" hissed Rose, glowering at the Malfoy that stood in the doorframe.
"It's not like we're going to disturb anyone Weasel." he yelled back, his anger rising. Rose rolled her eyes at the overused nickname that Scorpius' father had, on numerous occasions in history, called her dad.
"Just please be careful." she emphasised as he flicked on the light switch with anything but caution. "This is my mother's room and I would appreciate it if you didn't treat it like your Common Room."
"This was your mother's room. Are you going to remember everything that happened last year or do I need to remind you that your parents are dead?"
Rose opened her mouth to spit some retort at him but quickly closed it again and looked at the ground, slightly taken aback by his bluntness.
He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry ok? That was harsh." Despite his apology she lowered her eyes to the ground again. "My parents are dead too remember!"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No. But I just wanted to remind you that you're not alone."
Rose smiled and returned her gaze to him. She had to admit that he was different to the other Malfoys. He still had an evil malicious streak and knew exactly how to hurt her if he wanted to, but he also cared about people. Rose wasn't sure what had changed him, whether it was the death of his parents or seeing the destruction Voldemort and his Death Eaters caused to the wizarding world, but something had made him a better person and she was forever grateful.
"What're you thinking about?" Scorpius interrupted her thoughts and she realised she had been staring at him. Idiot! she thought to herself.
"Oh," she said, pulling herself away from the emerald green eyes that reminded her so much of the house he was in; the reason why she couldn't , wouldn't, allow herself to love him, "I was just thinking about all the work we have to do."
She walked over to the other side of the room and Scorpius sighed quietly, reminding himself that she was a Gryffindor, and a Weasley nonetheless.
He sauntered over to the corner of the room and lifted an old looking trunk from beneath the table. Looking around, he noticed all the drawers, cupboards and smaller trunks and wondered how long they would spend in this room alone.
Despite spending the whole day in the dusty household, the pair had searched only 3 rooms of Grimmauld Place, looking for clues as to what the Order were up to when so many of them were killed.
So far they had found nothing of any great importance.
Scorpius found it hard to believe that it had been over a year since the Order was wiped out. He and Rose had just started their fifth year when McGonagall called them into her office to ask them 'a favour'.
Why the Headmistress had put the two of them together to search the house in the first place he'd never understand, but he would be lying if he said he was annoyed about spending so much time with her.
Attempting to focus himself on the task in hand and not the girl behind him, he lifted the tatty lid of the trunk and began to rifle through the documents within. Finding nothing that would help them, he closed the trunk and lifted it again returning it to the ground.
As he did so, he felt a crease in the side and bent down to take a closer look. He lifted the platinum crest of Gryffindor from the corner so that he could see properly, and noticed that the crease he had felt ran all the way around one side of the trunk.
He tugged on a piece of ribbon in the middle and the creases shifted, revealing a false bottom. With a confused look on his face, he opened it all the way and pulled out the thin box within, placing it atop the table.
"What the..." he whispered as he gazed, eyes wide at the cover of the box. For there, shining brighter than anything else in the room and unaffected by the dust and dirt, was the symbol of a snake and a lion intertwined by intricate lines.
"Rose?" he whispered, his throat denying him the ability to speak clearly.
"Hmm?" she replied, distracted by whatever she was looking at. When he didn't reply she turned around and walked to his side, following his gaze to the image and matching his confused look.
She reached over to trace the lion with her finger and trailed one of the lines that led to the snake, trying to silence the little voice in her head that was telling her what this symbol meant. It couldn't be...
Taking charge, she removed the cover and placed her hand inside, taking out a small stack of photographs.
Oh Merlin... she thought as she recognised her mother in the picture. She was wearing her school uniform and Rose hazarded a guess that she was a Fifth or Sixth Year, the same age she was now. She allowed a smile to form on her lips at the sight of her mother in her youth, before she looked at the rest of the photo.
She gasped and dropped the photos beneath it. To the right of her smiling mother, with arms wrapped tightly around her waist and forehead resting on her cheek, was Draco.
For a moment, she forgot to breathe and it wasn't until she saw Scorpius beside her bend down to collect the other photos that she remembered where she was.
She forced herself to look at the photos he was holding, each one bearing her mother and his father in each other's arms; always smiling; always laughing; always together.
In one particular photo, the couple were kissing and it took all of Rose's strength to stop herself from crying as a million questions raced through her mind. How could this have happened? Why didn't we know about this? How did they get away with it? Were they in love? What happened to them?
Is there hope for me yet?...
She closed her eyes and a single tear escaped down her cheek. A sudden warmth came over her as Scorpius raised his hand to wipe it away, pulling her into an unexpected hug immediately after.
Despite her best efforts to stop it, her head, by its own accord, rested securely in the crook of his shoulder, allowing her to take in his scent and feel his hair brush against her cheek as he bent his head slightly.
"Are you ok?" he whispered into her ear.
Suddenly, as if she had been hit by a spell, she moved backwards and stood up straight, scolding herself for getting so close to him.
"I'm fine." she said meekly, returning her attention to the box.
Fine... Scorpius thought, we all know what fine really means. He sighed.
"Look at this." Rose said, pointing to the inside of the lid; she had resumed her usual composure.
Bending down to see properly, he read the inscription inside:
To my 'Mione,
Remember us as we were in the better days and we'll be together again. There is hope for us yet darling.
All my love, always and forever,
Draco xx
He stood up straight and looked at Rose, who was still staring intently at the writing, as if trying to decipher some secret meaning behind it.
"So..." he said, breaking the silence and her concentration, "does this mean they were... in love?"
"What do you think?" she mocked, pointing to the penultimate line on the box.
"There's hope for us yet..." Scorpius whispered.
"What?" Rose was shocked by his words.
"I was just re-reading the inscription..." he explained.
"Oh. That makes more sense." She turned away.
"Makes more sense than what?"
She lowered her head in disgrace and disbelief at her own stupidity. I can't let him find out, I just can't! Yet somewhere in her mind, the voice popped up again and reminded her that she apparently wasn't the first woman in the family to love a Malfoy, an enemy.
"Nothing." she whispered instead of what she wanted to say.
"Than this?"
Rose's eyes closed as she felt his warm hands touch her shoulders and a shiver ran down her spine as he placed his lips on her neck.
For a while they stood like this in silence; him relishing in the silky feel of her skin and the fruity smell of her hair, and she simply trying to keep her balance and stop her heart beating so fast and so loud; she was certain if he listened close enough he would be able to hear it atop his own.
She had learnt from her mother to lead with her head and not her heart and so, ignoring the desperate longing for this to continue, she stepped forward and out of his grasp.
"No... we can't. We can't do this." she cried, looking him in the eye. "It's not right."
"Why isn't it?" he responded.
"Because - because you're a Malfoy and I'm a Weasley and... and we're enemies so it just... it just wouldn't work."
"Wouldn't it?" He picked up one of the photos and handed it to Rose. "Look how happy they were."
Rose said nothing but handed the photo back to him. As she did, he took her hands in his own and held onto her.
"Look, for years now I have been battling with myself, trying to convince myself I didn't feel this way. And now I know... if my Dad had no problem loving a Muggle-born then who am I to say that loving an enemy is so wrong?"
"But it is wrong!"
"Who is going to judge us? My friends? I don't care about them." Rose looked disbelieving still. "I care about you." He paused for a moment as she raised her head and looked him in the eye, trying to decipher if he was telling the truth.
"So let's give our parents what they want. Like my dad said, there's hope for them yet... maybe that's us."
"And... and he said 'forever' so that would include us, right?"
Scorpius smiled. "Right."
Rose had a sudden flashback, remembering the day she first stood on Platform 9¾. At the time she thought it odd how her mum had reacted when she saw Draco with Astoria, but dismissed it, thinking that was simply the way you reacted to seeing an enemy after so many years. But now she understood.
She also remembered so clearly seeing Scorpius, the exact replica of his father. Over the years he had grown more handsome but since that very day, she had loved him; she didn't know why.
It was fate.
"No-one is going to fault us for falling in love, you know." he whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
"Even if they do, I don't care. My mum loved a Malfoy and no-one hated her. I can love a Malfoy too."
Scorpius had just enough time to smile before Rose reached up and put her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss.
"Always?" he said when they finally parted.
"And forever."
A/N: Ahhh! I've never written a Rose/Scorpius before, as I said lol, so let me know if I did okay. I can't believe I killed off Draco :O
Hermione I don't care about... but DRACO!! Had to be done...
Reviews please :)