She waited at the Astronomy Tower, just as the letter instructed her to do. She wasn’t sure who had asked her to come, but for a month she had been corresponding with her mystery pen pal in secret.
Every other day, a colorful toucan would arrive with a rose and letter. But it wasn’t addressed from anyone in particular. It just flew in one day and landed beside her with the note.
“A turnip walked up to me and asked what I was eating?” said the letter with a white rose attached.
She thought it was funny and sent a reply back with the toucan. “So what did you tell him?”
The same toucan came back with another white rose. “Nothing. I ran. I thought it knew I had eaten its relative.”
It was a corny start, but it opened the door to friendlier communication between the two. One day, the toucan arrived with another note and a pink rose in its beak. The letter had her giggling so loud that it caused others around her to take notice of her reading.
“What’s that you’re laughing at?”
The familiar voice sent an uncomfortable jolt down her spine. “Nothing,” she replied to Scorpius Malfoy then quickly moved away his view.
After that incident, the letters started to get more heartfelt and serious. They were still funny to laugh at, but some were more thought provoking then others.
The toucan started to deliver peach colored roses with her letters. One note asked, “Do you always believe what your parents tell you?”
She thought for a moment then sent the note back with the bird. “Most of the time ‘yes’, but sometimes I have to see things for myself.”
Then one day…
“I want to see you. Can you meet me at the top of the Astronomy Tower this evening?” This time the toucan arrived with a red tipped yellow rose in its beak. But there was still no name as to whom the bird came from or where her responses flew to.
“I wouldn’t,” advised her friend, Laura. “It could be a trap! You don’t know who he really is!”
“I would think he’s from this school since he does talk about some of the class lessons we’ve had during the day,” chimed Victoire. “But still, it does sound dangerous, Rose. You could get into trouble here and at home. You know how your mum is and how they talk about the old days.”
Rose huffed loudly as she glared at the ambers in the fireplace, “This isn’t the old days, Vikki! There is no Voldemort in the wings waiting to take over the world. There isn’t a Basilisk underneath the school getting ready to kill Muggle-Borns. There’s just us now… and this is our time.”
She began to regret those words as she waited in the cold for her mystery friend.
“Did you wait long?”
She turned around to see the somber face of the blonde haired boy she’d been warned to stay away from. She felt her face grow warm as her complexion turned crimson.
“No. I-,” she was speechless. She turned away for the exit.
“Why do you do that?” His question caused Rose to stop in her tracks.
“Do what?”
“Run whenever you see me. Do I have dragon pox or something?” He began to chuckle nervously.
“Not that I could see.”
“Good. Cause my great grandfather had it and I was worried that I might pick up on it one day.” Rose nodded her head and resumed her hasty retreat. “Don’t -!”
“Look! I was waiting for someone and it’s obvious that he hasn’t shown so I’ll just leave!”
“But I wrote 9 pm on the letter and it’s only 5 minutes to 9,” he said calmly.
Rose’s mind worked furiously as it mulled over his words. She spun around to give him an accusing stare, “What trick are you playing at?”
“No trick! I-!”
“Thought it would be funny to send letters to a Weasley! Thought maybe you could get back at my family by playing -!”
“I do not play games, Rose! And I wasn’t trying to-!”
“My father warned me about you! He said you would be up to no good just like your-!”
“I am nothing like my father! And if we were to believe everything that our parents told us then you are just as stubborn and as pig headed as your father!”
“OH, YEAH!” she yelled as she geared herself up to smack him down
“YEAH! Just like him!” he yelled back. “But even more beautiful then your mother!”
Rose was prepared to say something back, but fumbled over his word. “You think… I’m more beautiful…then my mother?”
Scorpius began to blush as he and Rose began to calm down. They stood in silence, taking in the peace that the moment offered. Then Rose headed for the door again. “Please don’t go,” he pleaded.
Rose looked flustered as she turned in his direction. “I don’t know what you’re getting at by asking me to come here.”
“I wasn’t getting at anything, Rose. I was just trying to get to you. To get through to you.” His eyes conveyed so much sincerity that it caused Rose to do a double take.
“But why? Why the letters?”
He took a few steps towards her, just enough to be near. “I was hoping you could see me for who I am and not what others in this school have claimed me to be. I was hoping you were open minded enough to get to know the man behind the Malfoy name.” He took another step forward so that he was only inches away from her. “I needed for you to see me for me and not my name, Rose.”
She looked into his eyes and was enraptured by the intensity of his deep blue stare. She had never fully looked at him before until that very moment.
Rose was always mindful of what her parents had warned her about the Malfoy family. Her father had felt that the boy would be trouble since his father, Draco, was always the troublemaker in school.
“It runs in the family,” Ron Weasley told his child. “His father, his grandfather, Lucius, and now him. He’ll follow the same path that all the men in that family do.”
Yet as Rose stood close to Scorpius, she didn’t feel a hint of danger or any threat emanating from his presence. She felt at ease standing in front of him. She felt as if they were kindred spirits meant to be friends…or maybe more.
As she looked into his eyes, she felt herself being drawn into his space. She was so close to him that she felt his tender lips parting hers away. Rose’s first reaction was to tighten her mouth, but his lips found a way to ease them open, allowing him to deepen his kiss.
She quickly pulled away yet he still held onto her. “We shouldn’t! My father would –!”
“My father would do the same,” he said breathlessly against her mouth. “But you know what? I don’t care. I never did care about that. The only thing I care about is you.”
Scorpius didn’t rush the moment. Instead, he continued to hold Rose in his arms, savoring the warmth between them. His head rested against hers so that his lips were just inches away from another embrace.
“Does your heart always do that?” he asked her. Rose looked up to him wondering what he was referring too. Then Scorpius took her hand and held it firmly against his chest. She could feel his heart pounding fiercely against her palm. “My heart does the same whenever I see you.”
Rose smiled meekly, “I’m sure you say that to all the girls that fall in your clutches.”
Scropuis laughed then whisper in her ear, “You’re the only girl that has fallen into my clutches, Rose Weasley.” Scropius pulled out a single rose. It was a deep shade of red this time that matched perfectly with her hair. He placed the flower in her curly locks, right by her ear. His hand cupped around her face, causing her checks to redden from his touch. He then kissed her hand and placed it back to his chest so that she could feel his heart beating again.
“And my heart only beats this way for you.”
