a/n1: for Beth. My first attempt at shameless fluff, just for you :)

This was for "Write Me A Story" challenge on the NGF forum. I hope you enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: The world and names belong to JKR. All I own are the personalities and the storyline :)

Rose spun around, laughing as the rain plastered her hair to her forehead, and drenched her clothes.

How she loved those special little moments, where she could just let go, and not be Rose Nymphadora Weasley, the daughter of war heroes.

Scorpius headed outside, cursing under his breath. Why the hell had Teddy chosen him to fetch the ones in the rain?

"Oi, get in here!" he roared at a few first years, who sprinted inside to avoid the wrath of big, scary Malfoy.

He groaned. All he wanted was to get back inside the warm castle, but he figured he should check if there were any more stragglers.

He looked at the bleak sky grudgingly, and took a deep breath. He headed outside, using his arm to shelter his face from the rain, so he could see.

His breath caught.

There was only one person. It was Rose Weasley, dancing her heart out. In the rain.

She was soaked.

"Rose!" he called. Hearing no response, he tried again. "Rose!" Nothing. Finally, growing impatient, he shouted, "ROSE!"

Having finally caught her attention, he looked down into her chocolate-brown eyes as he ran to where she was standing. "Rose, you're soaked," he said, his tone a strange mix of relief and amusement.

Rose gave him a strange look. "Yes, Scorpius, I noticed. That's generally what the rain does, you know. Make things wet," she told him slowly, as if speaking to a small child, a glint of amusement in her eyes.

Scorpius shook his head. "I know, but why didn't you come inside when the rain started?" he demanded.

Rose looked up at him. "Because I love the rain. It washes all the bad things away," she said simply.

Scorpius ran his hand through his blonde hair, and said, "Right. Okay. Um, Rose, Professor Lupin sent me to get you."

Rose pouted. "But Scorpius, I'm having so much fun," she begged. "Can I stay out a while longer?"

Scorpius looked at her pleading eyes, and thought of Teddy's creative and gruesome punishments. He sighed. "Fine, you've got five minutes."

Rose's eyes widened. "Only five?" she asked incredulously.

Scorpius nearly ground his teeth in frustration. "Rose, it's freezing. You're going to catch your death of a cold," he argued, before smiling ruefully. "And your family would kill me if I let you get sick."

Rose laughed. "How about a compromise?" she suggested. "I'll go in when you ask, but you have to dance with me. Right here. In the rain."

Scorpius groaned. "You're impossible, you know that?"

Nonetheless, he put a hand on her waist.

Rose grinned up at him. "What did you expect, Scor? I am a Weasley, you know," she teased.

Scorpius flushed slightly and muttered, "Yeah, yeah."

Rose laughed, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"There's no music," Scorpius realized, glancing down at Rose.

Rose shrugged. "S'okay. You don't have to have music to dance, y'know," she informed him.

Scorpius stared at her, horrified. "But Rose! Where is the rhythm?" he demanded, looking lost.

Rose smirked. "I guess I'll have to lead, then," she said with a fake-sigh. She started to move her feet, and was delighted when he followed her motions. They were swaying, and had a steady rhythm, when Scorpius decided to take the lead.

Using the hand on her waist, Scorpius spun her out, and reveled in her delighted laugh, and the image of her twirling through the rain.

He twirled her back into him, and caught her as she landed against his chest. He could feel her giggling with delight against his chest, and he found himself smiling.

Rose tilted her head up to see Scorpius grinning down at her. He was a whole eight inches taller than her, towering over half of their year with his six foot frame. He ran his fingers through his hair and her breath caught.

Really, it wasn't fair that some boys could be smart, athletic and pretty too.

Scorpius tried to think of something to say, but his mouth was dry, and he didn't think any word he could utter would lift the tension he felt as he looked down at Rose, whose mouth was slightly open, and whose eyes were bright.

Rose watched Scorpius, not even realizing they were both still swaying. Her eyes roamed his face - his aristocratic features, his slightly crooked nose - a souvenir, Rose thought ruefully, of a Quidditch match at the Burrow where she had rocketed straight into Scorpius - beneath silvery-grey eyes, and his high cheekbones. His hair was light blonde and soft, and his light stubble was dusting his cheeks. It was his lips, however, that captivated her. They were a light shade of rouge and they looked so soft and supple. She shook herself mentally. Did she, Rose Nymphadora Weasley, just think of Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy's lips in a nice way? Not that she was ever mean about them, but she never paid attention to them. They'd probably been very nice for as long as he'd had them, really, she'd just never bothered to notice, nor had she had reason to. Not that she had reason to now, they just caught her attention. She groaned and slapped herself. Nice, Rose, you're rambling inside your head, she thought to herself.

Scorpius was shocked out of his stupor when Rose randomly smacked her forehead. Startled, he began to laugh. She glanced up at him, an image of pure disgruntlement (in all honesty, Scorpius thought, in that moment, she rather resembled her mother's orange beast {that she claimed was a cat}) before she started giggling.

Soon enough, the pair were laughing as the rain drenched them, but not even caring. With a final chuckle Scorpius looked down at Rose, who was watching him carefully. He hesitantly tucked a wet lock of dark red hair behind her ear, and tried to gauge her reaction. Her expression was unreadable, but there was a hint of a smile playing around her lips - and was that a spot of red in her cheeks?

Rose watched Scorpius bite his lip nervously - it was cute, to be honest - as he pushed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. His touch was soft and warm, she mused. It felt nice. She felt a smile tug at her lips, and she gave in, allowing a grin to settle on her face.

Scorpius breathed in a sigh of relief. Rose wasn't yelling at him, or asking him what the flippedy heck he was doing. Did he dare...?

She's Al's cousin.

She's also his other best friend.

Al likes MY other best friend!

But you're not related to her.

Rose's eyes never left Scorpius' face while he battled with himself, and that gave him courage.

He leant down, and in one fluid motion, captured her lips with his own.

It wasn't fireworks. It wasn't clichéd wedding bells ringing, or heavenly choirs. There were no sudden feelings of epiphany, and there were no signs from the heavens that this was destiny.

It was so much better. It was natural. It wasn't a parade - it was just Scorpius Malfoy finally kissing Rose Weasley.

It was slightly salty lips capturing soft ones that tasted like candy floss and her favourite Honeydukes chocolate. It was silver-grey eyes locking with chocolate brown ones as he leant down to kiss her. It was a pleasant tingle down their arms, and the slight popping noise her foot made as it left the ground.

It wasn't an award-winning kiss with spectacular lighting and a million rapt audience members; it was a simple kiss in the rain, between two people who were maybe a little bit more in love than they'd ever admit.

But for them, it was perfect.

"Oi, Malfoy, Weasley, get your useless arses in here!" hollered the Professor of Transfiguration, Teddy Lupin.

Groaning, Scorpius moved his face away from Rose's. He could only hope that the rain had blurred Teddy's vision of the pair – Scorpius may be his cousin, but he adored Rose, and was fiercely protective of her.

Laughing, Rose grasped his hand and pulled Scorpius as she ran, shouting, "Coming, Teddy!"

Scorpius felt a wide grin spread over his face, and he ran with her, easily matching her pace with his long strides.

They entered the hall, and got ready to head off to Charms, not even realising their hands were no longer connected.

Rose went skipping off down the corridor, and Scorpius made to follow her – however, Teddy stopped him.

"I'm in two minds about this," Teddy said eventually, after Scorpius was certain an hour had passed. "On one hand, Rosie is beautiful, and I don't want her to ever get hurt – she's too precious. However," he continued, sensing Scorpius' will to interrupt, "I also know that you're a good guy. And you make Rose happy."

Scorpius allowed a massive grin to slide onto his face. "Does that mean I can-?" he began, before being interrupted.

"I don't want to know what you're going to do," Teddy said, looking slightly nauseous. "But be warned – if you hurt her, it won't be just me on your tail. It'll be the whole clan, all ready to castrate you in several ways, and to stick your head on a pike and parade it around the castle. In fact," Teddy said, looking down at his watch, as if calculating the amount of time elapsed since Rose had gone down the corridor, "I wouldn't be surprised if Luce has already started drawing up plans on the most efficient way to slice certain parts of your anatomy."

And with that frightening image, Teddy left Scorpius to imagine horrific fates that he may be subject to one day. Scorpius shuddered. If that's how they'd all react if he hurt Rose – which was an unimaginable concept, really – he was too terrified to imagine their reactions to if he ever married Rose.

With a gulp, he began the steady march to Charms.

a/n2: I hope you liked it, please R&R, even if it's just pointing out errors.

I like to know what people like and don't like about my fics :)

Thank you!