~Scorpius~

I felt my heart skip a beat as I attempt to comprehend what just happened, Timothy just dared Rose to kiss whoever the bottle points to and it pointed to me. I can hear my heart pounding loudly, as I felt a smile slip onto my face.

"Well, at least it's not Albus," Rose shrugged, standing up, walking towards me and I stood up as well. She leaned forwards until our faces were merely inches away, I nearly groaned when she stopped, "Ready?" I nodded, "Then on three. One..."

I smirked, "Two..."

"Three," We both leaned forwards at the same time, our lips touched and I felt fireworks exploding in my heart and fluttering in my stomach. Butterflies as many called it. A feeling I am quite familiar with, seeing that it is a sensation I get every time I see her. The sensation which began when I first met her by a shelf in Flourish and Blotts, fingers flipping thoughtfully through the pages, face full of pure delight. The butterflies never really left, whether it is strong, a swarm of butterflies, filling his stomach, not leaving any space left. Or one, small, singular butterfly, soft, but not unnoticeable if you pay attention.

The butterflies, which make me stutter and embarrass myself. But it also makes me feel the feelings I feel for her, knowing that she can make me smile even on the worst of days, make my heart beat so hard I'd think that it would burst out of my chest.

Rose pulled back, her face red, "Anyways, my turn," She tapped her chin thoughtfully. I furrowed my brow, what? Is that it, that was one of the best things that happened to me, something I've been waiting for since first year and she just regarded it as nothing but a dare? "Dominique, who is your favourite cousin?"

"Wha-How, I mean- You can't ask me that," Dominique sputtered, throwing her hands up,

"Well then," Albus said, pushing a bottle to her, "You know what to do,"

She sighed and downed the bottle, "Hugo!" She called, "Who's your crush?"

Hugo turned red, hands shaking, he took a swig of veritaserum, "A Ravenclaw," He muttered, "Jordan,"

Lily clapped her hands together, "Ooo, who is she?" And Hugo muttered something indecipherable, "Pardon?"

"Nothing,"

"Your turn," Rose said, gesturing for Hugo to continue,

"Dominique," Hugo narrowed his eyes at her, "Who is your favourite cousin?"

"You can't do any repeats," She said, crossing her arms across her chest

"Then who is your least favourite,"

She narrowed her eyes at Hugo and Rose, "Well right now either you or Rose." They both laughed nervously as she turned to me, "Scorpius, let's see, I dare you to..."

~Rose~

The night went by in a blur, from cake to laughter to Scorpius turning into a big yellow canary after being dared to eat one of Uncle George's inventions. Don't ask. But as it got later, the party ended, everyone left their presents to Scorpius by his bedside and wished him a happy birthday before retiring to their respected dorms. Soon, all who are still here was me, Albus, and of course, Scorpius.

"Neat, you've got a new broom servicing kit!" Albus exclaimed, tearing open one of Scorpius' presents,

"You do know that he's supposed to be the one opening his presents," I said, exaggerating 'his',

"Oh come on, we're buds eh," Albus nudged Scorpius,

"Yes, but as Rose said, these are mine and I would like to open them myself," Scorpius said, unwrapping the rest of his presents. In total, he got the broom servicing kit, multiple sugary delights from Honeydukes, and a couple of new gizmos and gadgets from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Okay now all these presents are nice but, I think the clear winner would be me," Albus said, nibbling off the edge of one of many licorice wands.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that," I contradicted, pulling out a neatly wrapped card from my robe pocket.

Scorpius took it from my hands, "Light. And thin, like a piece of paper. You better not have gotten me a card or else that's what you're getting next year for your birthday," He eyed me warily as if to see if he can find any sign of emotions that could give him a clue of what it is.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, just open it," Albus burst out after a few moments of Scorpius staring at me not showing any emotions. "If you don't open it in the next ten minutes, I swear, I'll tear it open for you!"

"Okay, okay," He waved him off, "I'll open it," With that, taking off the small green bow, he carefully peeled off the tape, unwrapping the iridescent silver paper to reveal a card. But not just any card, a quidditch card, a collectible, of his favourite quidditch player, Oliver Wood of Puddlemore United, who got chose to play for England for this year's Quidditch World Cup. "Merlin's Beard! No way!" He reading the back of the card which contained a short summary of the player, "Is this the special edition!"

"Uh huh," I nodded, "Turn it around, look on the other side."

He obliged, and when he did, let out an audible gasp, "Did he-"

"Yep," I said, unable to keep the smile off my face,

"Is this real?"

"Of course,"

"What is it?" Albus asked, attempting to look over Scorpius' shoulder to see what got him so excited,

"Read it out loud to him will you?" I said,

Scorpius nodded, "To Scorpius Malfoy; I heard you are a fellow Quidditch player, and my oh my, I remember my glory days at Hogwarts, including the Gryffindor championship game in my last year. I wish you the best of luck as you continue your Quidditch journey, if by the time you graduate, you are interested in playing Quidditch competitively, send me a letter and I'll see what I can do, Oliver Wood,"

"What, no way, how did you manage to get that?" Albus asked, eyes staring jealously at the card,

"I got the card in one of the back alleys of Diagon Alley and as for the signature," I paused, "Well I called in a favour with the great Harry Potter, after all, he was on the same Quidditch team as Wood,"

"My dad?" Albus exclaimed, then muttered, "Traitor,"

I rolled my eyes, "So what do you get him, after all, you made such a big deal of it,"

Albus' expression instantly brightened, "Can I get a drumroll please," There was a pause, none of us making a single sound. "Or not. Anyways, here you go fella," He tossed a small, clear glass vial of golden liquid through the air to Scorpius.

"What is this," Scorpius asked, turning it over, examining the swirled design, brushing it lightly with the tips of his finger,

"Guess," Albus said as I walked over. I gently took the vial from him just in case it was anything explosive. I furrowed my brow, sure that I've seen it somewhere before, then, all of a sudden, realization dawned on me.

"Merlin's beard," I breathed, awestruck, "No way,"

"What?" Scorpius asked, "Do you know what it is?"

"Felixis Felix," I whispered, barely audible,

"Pardon?"

"Felixis Felix," I said again, louder this time.

"You mean liquid luck," I nodded, "Wow,"

"But remember," I said, "No using it during quidditch matches, tests, exams, or the OWLs,"

"Why," He said smugly, "Afraid I'm going to beat you,"

I scoffed, "As if,"

"Oh don't worry, I'd beat you with or without liquid luck,"

"Are you two serious?!" Albus exclaimed, "You've got liquid luck mate, and all you're thinking about is using it on tests and exams?"

"Well, what do you suggest?"

"Think bigger, think the Christmas Ball," He said,

I laughed, "Seriously, out of everything you want him to use it on a stupid ball?"

The Christmas Ball is a tradition for Hogwarts and has been for almost twenty years. Each year it is held in the Great Hall two days before Christmas, so I don't even get why they call it that. It is held on the 23rd so that the students could leave for home early the next day. Only fifth years and above can go so it would be the first year we're all allowed to go. I remember Victoire always just gushing about how for her first ball, Teddy took her and how fun and romantic it is. But I simply just don't see the point.

"It's our first year there and he'll need the luck if he's going to ask her," Albus said, emphasizing 'her', and he nudged Scorpius,

"Her?" I repeated, "No way, does liddle widdle Scorpie has his first crushie wushie," I said in a baby voice, laughing although I can't help but feel a deep void in my stomach. Why am I feeling that way, I should be happy for him not... I'm not sure the word for this, sad? Angry? Or even jealous? And moments of early tonight started to resurface. No, I shouldn't sad, angry, or jealous, and there is absolutely no reason for that.

"Haha, you're so funny," Scorpius said sarcastically,

I checked my watch, "Oh, I should probably go soon, it's almost curfew," That was a lie, of course, there was still plenty of time left, but they don't know that The only clock in the infirmary is on a wall all the way on the other side of this wing.

"Okay,"

"Bye," Albus said, waving me off, and I tried to keep a big smile on my face for as long as I can muster, but the void in my stomach is just getting deeper. And I managed to make it to the door when my smile dropped.

Quickly and swiftly, I speed-walked down the corridors, not paying any attention until I nearly crashed into Dominique.

"Oh my god, I so sorry, I wasn't looking and I-" I started, but Dominique interrupted me,

"It's alright," She said, brushing it off, "I was looking for you anyways, I wanted to talk to you about your kiss with Scorpius,"

And that's when all my thoughts, feelings, and emotions that I had been trying to bury all night burst out.