A/N: Howdy, all! So this story has been working its way around my brain for a while now, but I'm finally at a place where I feel good enough to put it out there for all of you.

You know the drill: read on, let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Summary: Rose Weasley is entering her seventh and final year at Hogwarts when things change for her. And it's not the first time things have changed. From a sweet, shy girl, to the meanest girl in school, Rose is not about to let anybody walk all over her. Soon, however, a new professor comes along and rocks Rose's world from top to bottom, making her question everything. Although at first, it's safe to say that she despises him, everything changes after one misunderstanding. It starts with a tingle, but it ends with her feeling things she's never felt and craving things she never knew it was possible to crave. He's forbidden. She's forbidden. It's all forbidden, but often the things most out of our reach are the things we need the most. It's a complicated relationship for them, but neither knows if their raw desire for each other can help them through the hardest times.

Chapter rated K+ for mildly suggestive themes.

Chapter 1: Prologue (Present Day I)

Scorpius always tells me how sexy I look in red lipstick. I can't help but smile to myself at the thought as I drag the shocking red tube across my lips. I hope he likes it. I always hope he likes it.

I stand up straight after I finish the final touches and step back to admire myself in the mirror. The tight, bright blue dress I'm wearing brings out my eyes. Sometimes even I'm amazed at how impossibly blue they are. Scorpius always tells me that he could get lost in my eyes. "You'd have to send in a search party, baby," he tells me. "Because I will get lost in those oceans." Idiot, I think to myself.

Things between Scorpius and I have been rocky lately. Honestly, things between Scorpius and me have always been rocky. It's always been complicated between him and me, but every time we find our way through—every time we know we belong.

We fit.

He loves me so much, and I love him all the more. We fight. For the year and half that we've been together we've been fighting. But it never lasts. After so many fights, he simply sweeps me into his arms and tells me to shut up as he kisses me. And that kiss feels like it did the first time—that first time I got the taste of the forbidden fruit. And I've been addicted to the fruit ever since.

I sigh and roll my head around my neck right before I take one last look in the mirror, grab my bag, and head out the door.

Scorpius and I have been apart for a month—a long, terrible month when he had to go to the States and do a favor for his father. A month long favor. Who's ever heard of such a thing?

The problem is that before he'd left for the U.S., he and I had a big fight. I can't even remember what the fight was about now. All I can think about is how it literally ached when he was away. The pain of being away from someone I love so deeply was almost more than I could bear. There were times when I thought I would just leave. I would put everything on halt and go to America and be with him. Those were the worst days. But after a big glass of wine and some stern talks from my friends and family, I would realize that it was only three more weeks (then two; then eventually one) and then he would be back with me again. And our fight would be forgotten, as they always were.

My heels click clack on the pavement as I walk to my destination—a little tavern several blocks away that became our place after I graduated from Hogwarts. It had become our place when our family and friends didn't want us together, and we told them all that we'd broken up. We'd even contemplated actually breaking up, but then, after we'd decided that maybe it was all for the best, we had somehow both managed to find this tavern—a shabby place that neither of us had ever been to but had happened to walk into on a night when we were both feeling low.

It was in that moment, when I had looked up and seen his eyes staring at me from across the room that I knew Scorpius Malfoy and I were meant to be. He is my destiny.

I begin to feel the familiar twist and turn of butterflies in my stomach as I get closer. I start to feel that familiar tingle. I always feel like this right before I'm about to see him. Even when we weren't together, the thought of being in his presence had always sent me into a tailspin. Before I couldn't pinpoint the feeling, but now I know it's the kind of excitement and anticipation that is only reserved for one person—the person you love.

I take a deep breath as I put my hand on the door of the tavern and push. Immediately, my eyes find him. His grey eyes are so intense as he makes a beeline to me from across the room. It's like the moment five months ago when we'd first seen each other here. He has that same look that says he never wants to be apart from me again. My heart seems to swell at the thought.

He stops abruptly in front of me when he makes it to where I am, still by the door. My heart is beating madly, and I want so badly just to reach out and touch him. I need it. I need to feel the heat of his body, the strength of his muscles, the fire that he lights in me. But I don't touch. I wait.

It seems like a million years before he speaks. His eyes travel all around my face, neck, chest, and body, as if he's trying to take it all in and remember why he can never leave again. There are so many emotions flickering in his eyes that I can't possibly decipher them all.

He takes a shuttering breath and steps closer, causing my breath to hitch.

"God, I missed you," he breathes.

Then the world stops. Our mouths crash together as he pulls me close and I wrap my arms tightly around his neck, holding on for dear life. In that moment, as we say hello, I think back. I can't help but remember what got us to this point.

Next chapter:

Some time earlier, Rose sees the new professor for the first time.