Skinny Love [SCORBUS] ; hp next generation

Chapter Three

Scorpius's pov

The rest of the week passed by quickly at it was right after breakfast, on Saturday morning. Scorpius stood in front of the mirror, adjusting and straightening out his outfit. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to fix it, before he stopped and sighed. If it didn't look good now, it was never going to. Albus was standing next to Scorpius, and he was entirely aware of the way Albus's eyes were roaming over him, Albus wasn't being very subtle. It surprised Scorpius when he realized he didn't mind, in fact, it made him feel kinda funny inside. But in a good way. Scorpius smiled, and turned towards Albus.

"Well, do you think I'm ready? I have to meet Rose at The Three Broomsticks in under an hour!" Scorpius said, smiling nervously.

Albus tore his eyes away from Scorpius, seeming to look almost anywhere but him. "Ye-yeah you look fine, but you don't have to leave quite yet, you still have a bit of time before you need to leave?"

Scorpius smiled. "Well you know what I say, it's always great to get a head start! Besides, being late for a date is no way to impress Rose! I would have absolutely no chance with her if I showed up late!" Scorpius said.

Albus nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Guess you should get going then, good luck." Albus said, but Scorpius couldn't help but notice that his heart didn't seem to be much into his "good luck." Scorpius frowned, wondering if he'd done anything to upset the boy.

Scorpius nodded. "Alright, well, I should be going now? Uh...I'll see you later at the Great Hall for dinner!" Scorpius said as he left the common room, leaving Albus alone.

Scorpius sighed as he walked by himself to Hogsmeade. As he grew nearer, he couldn't help but wish his best friend was by his side. He immediately shook his head upon thinking that. Silly him! Bringing Albus on his date with Rose wouldn't have helped at all, he was just fine going by himself.

~~~~~

Scorpius walked into The Three Broomsticks, looking around, and noticed Rose was already sitting at a table in the corner, by herself, a butterbeer for her, and one waiting for Scorpius. Scorpius silently cursed himself, he knew he should've left sooner. He walked up to the table, and sat down, across from Rose.

"i'm so so sorry I was late! I knew I should've come sooner, I told Al that, it wasn't my intention to make you wait I-" Scorpius rambled, before Rose cut him off.

She laughed, and waved her hand. "No no, it's okay, you aren't late, don't worry. I got here a bit early because James's girlfriend, Samantha, wanted me to help her look for a gift for her dads, Dean and Seamus, in the shops." Rose explained.

Scorpius sighed, relieved, "Oh thank merlin," he praised. "Al told me I wasn't going to be late, but I didn't believe him." He chuckled slightly, and took a sip of his butterbeer.

Rose laughed too. "Well, you worried for nothing. Anyways, have you started your History of Magic paper yet? Binns said it has to be four feet of parchment, but I've only gotten three!" She exclaimed.

Scorpius smiled. "I've gotten about three and a half feet, I was just working on it with Albus before I came here, actually."

Rose nodded. "I'll probably finish mine up after dinner tonight, would you like to meet me in the library to help me with it?" She asked smiling, but with a perculiar look on her face. Scorpius didn't know what it meant, but he answered honestly, nonetheless.

"Oh Rose, I would absolutely love to, but I already told Albus I would continue helping him with his paper after dinner, I'm sorry." Scorpius apologized.

Rose's face took on an even more peculiar look when he said that, but this time Scorpius thinks he recognized what the look was. A confirmation of some sorts. It seemed almost like, Rose had a mental list of something she was tallying. Scorpius didn't know what. But Rose nodded, "that's alright." She said.

Scorpius laughed nervously, "okay, maybe some other time though?" He asked, hesitant.

"Sure thing." Rose smiled.

The rest of their date went fine, they finished up their butterbeer, and walked throughout the shops in Hogsmeade, Rose telling Scorpius stories, and Scorpius telling Rose stories, all of which happened to be about the same person. Albus. Scorpius couldn't help it really, it's just that Albus was the best person Scorpius knew, his favorite person. He could talk about Albus all day. He wondered if that was a bad thing, or if it was normal for best mates to think about each other. He pushed the thought aside. That was something he could think about later.

Rose was telling him a particularly funny story of something James did one time, and Scorpius laughed. "You know, that reminds me of something Al did one time, he-"

Rose cut Scorpius off. "You know Scorpius, well, oh just come here." She grabbed his hands, and led him over to the bench, on the side of the path.

Scorpius couldn't help but notice that he didn't really feel anything when she grabbed his hands. It just felt like, well a hand. He found himself wondering what Albus's hands would feel like. And then he wondered why he would be thinking about Albus's hands.

Rose sighed, and she had that look on her face again. Before she could speak, Scorpius spoke up. "Rose, you have that look on your face again, like you're analyzing something? I don't know...oh I hope I didn't offend you! Or did you realize you don't want to date me? I don't mind much, I kind of expected it to be honest, I'm just a bit boring and well, we didn't seem to connect much really, did we? I mean not much more than as friends..." Scorpius trailed off as he noticed the look Rose was giving him. She looked seconds away from laughing, as she was visibly holding in her laughter.

"Oh Scorpius, well, that's kind of what I was going to tell you." She began. "See, I can't help but notice that almost every sentence that came out of your mouth was about Albus and, not very many people I know want to spend a date talking about their bloody annoying cousin. And, I've been noticing for a while, and it doesn't take a genius to figure this out, but I was wondering. Maybe..." Rose hesitated, as if unsure how to phrase what she was going to say next. Scorpius had never witnessed her like this before, she was always certain of everything.

"Maybe...you interpreted your feelings wrong, and actually have feelings for the other, uh, male cousin." She finished quietly, but with a small, genuine smile on her face.

Scorpius immediately felt his face catch flame, a red flush crawling up his neck. He ducked his head down to hide his face. "I uh..what?" He asked, a bit lamely.

Rose smiled gently. "Scorpius, I think you like Albus."

Scorpius looked up and shook his head, very quickly. "No, nope. Never, why would I? Haha, only platonic feelings, for my very platonic mate, uh friend, friend mate, friendly friendly only friends."

Rose's face softened, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Scorpius, it's okay, you know, if you like Albus."

Scorpius shook his head again. "I can't. I can't," he said quietly. "It would ruin our friendship, he only thinks of me as a friend."

Rose shook her head. "No, no Scorpius. It's completely mutual. Have you never noticed how he acts around you? Especially when I'm around? He gets all sulky, like I stole the love of his life, and in his eyes, I did, he doesn't realize other wise, because he is so idiotically blind."

Scorpius shook his head. "No." He stated firmly. "He does not feel the same. And you can't tell him," he begged desperately.

Rose sighed. "Fine, I won't. On one condition. You tell him by the end of the year."

Scorpius's eyes widened. "Wha- no I can't!" He exclaimed, but when he realized Rose wasn't going to budge, he unwillingly admitted defeat. "Alright." He said dejectedly.

Rose nodded, satisfied. She stood up, and motioned for Scorpius to come with her. "Well, Thad enough for today, don't you think? Time to get back to your man, I'd say." She laughed, teasingly, but not in a rude way. Scorpius couldn't help but chuckle with her.

"You only agreed to come with me on this uh, 'date,' so you could help me realize who I have feelings for, didn't you?" He asked smiling.

Rose shrugged nonchalantly. "I won't deny it," she said before giggling.

Scorpius laughed with her. He hoped Albus was as excited to see him when he got back, as he was to see Albus.