A Little Advice (Scorpius/Dominique, PG)
Author: briony_tallis
Title: A Little Advice
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2218
Pairing(s): Scorpius/Dominique
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy thinks Dominique Weasley is perfect. He just doesn't know how to tell her.
Author's Notes: From het prompt 97. It was certainly fun writing this, I'm happy to take part in this fest!
Scorpius quickly slammed his book shut and leaned back in his seat once he noticed Dominique coming over. He considered ruffling his hair up, or casting some sort of a silent glamour spell on himself, but both those ideas seemed stupid, and utterly pointless besides. What was messy hair going to get him? She never really looked at him, anyway.
"Hey, Scorpius," Dominique said casually, stopping beside his table. She tapped her nails on the tabletop, glancing around the library as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. The way she stood with her weight leaning to one side, a hand resting on her hip, and that long, strawberry blonde hair cascading down her back in shimmering waves - it was driving Scorpius mad. He had to fight to listen to the words coming out of her perfect mouth. "Do you have some extra parchment I could borrow? I can't seem to find mine, and I have this really long essay due tomorrow. I'll get you some next I'm in Hogsmeade, promise."
He practically fell over himself thrusting it at her. "Yeah, sure, have it," he babbled, sliding precariously out of his chair.
"Thanks," she gushed, flashing a dazzling smile at him as she took the paper. "See you around."
He watched her go longingly, hating his stupidity. She was never going to take him seriously if he did nothing but stutter at her. It was no wonder she barely spoke to him. If she'd had her own parchment, she would probably have just walked by without even looking at him. Dominique Weasley absolutely hated him, probably as much as he hated himself.
She did look back and wave at him before leaving the library, though, and so there was still a tiny ray of hope.
*****
"Albus, I need your advice," Scorpius hissed across the aisle during History of Magic.
Al gave him an open-mouthed look of confusion. "Couldn't it wait?" he asked incredulously.
Scorpius glanced up front, where that stuffy old ghost was still droning on. "Are you serious?" he demanded. "We're not learning anything, anyway."
Al smiled at him. "Okay, fine. What's the story?"
"I think I'm in love," Scorpius whispered. It was silly, but the words just came naturally to him, and he couldn't help but blurt them out. Besides, Albus Severus was his best mate; if he couldn't say it to Al, who could he say it to?
Al didn't seem too pleased to hear it, though. In fact, he looked like he might be ill. "Oh," he said. "I don't really think I'm the best one to give advice on that sort of thing."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Come on, there's got to be something you could do. What do you do when you fancy someone?"
Al made a face of disgust. "I don't fancy anyone," he hissed.
"Well, what would you do?" Scorpius was starting to feel desperate.
"How in Merlin's name should I know?" Al demanded. "Just tell her you love her or something."
"Just tell her?!" People were starting to stare now, as Scorpius's voice cracked with incredulity. "I can't just tell her. Never mind, you're completely useless."
Al grumbled something under his breath and went back to taking notes, shooting Scorpius a resentful glance as he did so. But Scorpius didn't care, because he was going spare with worry over this whole Dominique thing, and if Al wasn't going to help, he really needed to find somebody else who would.
*****
"Well, why can't you just tell her?" Rose pursed her lips in thought. "That seems like the easiest thing to do."
"She already hardly speaks to me," Scorpius explained angrily. Why did nobody understand? He should have known better than to ask another Weasley; they were all mental. With the exception of Dominique, obviously. "I can't just throw myself at her feet like that. It's humiliating. She'll laugh at me."
"You need to buy her a present," Lily suggested. "Girls love presents."
"Perhaps some simple conversation is in order," Rose said. "Build up an actual friendship first, to ensure she doesn't laugh at you."
"Dominique is so great," Lily gushed, clapping her hands together. "I completely see why you fancy her, Scorpius."
"That's not much help," Scorpius said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do I talk to her about?"
Rose shrugged. "Whatever you want, really. Anything at all."
"Tell her she's pretty," Lily said. "Tell her she's beautiful."
"Okay, you don't talk anymore," Scorpius said to Lily.
"No, no, wait!" Lily ignored him entirely, shooting up from her chair and pressing her hands to her cheek. "You don't tell her anything at all! You know what girls really like, Scorpius?"
"What?" Now she seemed to be finally getting somewhere.
"A surprise kiss," Lily said, sighing dreamily. "You just march right up to her and snog her senseless. All girls love that, it's so romantic."
"It most certainly is not," Rose said loudly. "That's sexual harassment, that is. Girls do not like being waylaid by violent kisses from someone they hardly know. Do not follow that advice, Scorpius, promise me."
"I don't know," said Scorpius. He smiled. "It does sound rather romantic."
Rose smacked her own forehead. "Merlin help us. Don't come back to me when Dominique sends you to the Hospital Wing, Malfoy. I mean it."
"Oh, pooh," said Lily, waving Rose off. "She'll love it, trust me. It's like a fairy tale."
"Fairy tales are incredibly unrealistic," Rose pointed out, but nobody was listening to her.
*****
Dominique cocked her head and gave Scorpius an odd look. "Are you even listening?"
"Of course I am," said Scorpius, who had no idea what, if anything, Dominique had just said. He was very busy contemplating her lips, and wondering what she would taste like. It had to be good. She probably tasted good. It looked like she would taste good.
"Hey." Dominique smacked the back of Scorpius's head, jolting him out of his reverie. "Malfoy. Stop it. Listen to me. I am talking." She glared at him. "Do shorter sentences keep your attention?"
"Fuck," said Scorpius, rubbing his head. That had really hurt. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Say again?"
She raised her voice. "I said, who do you think is going to win tomorrow's Quidditch match?" She paused with a perfect smirk. "It's Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff, if you've forgotten."
"Oh." It was settled, then; she thought he was simple. Scorpius huffed loudly and ruffled his hair in frustration. "Ravenclaw, of course," he said, speaking honestly. It was hard enough answering her at all, never mind considering the answer she'd most like to hear.
Which was not Ravenclaw, apparently. "What do you mean, 'of course'?" Dominique demanded, cocking her hip with a frown. "You do realize I'm a Hufflepuff Chaser, yes? I'd like to think I've added something pretty good to the team. We very nearly beat Gryffindor already, I myself scored five times! It came down to our Seeker missing the Snitch by his fingertips. His fingertips, Scorpius! Do you realize how close that is?"
Scorpius did, in fact, realize how close that was, but the fact had a hard time settling in his brain. Dominique was very intimidating when she was angry. It certainly wasn't helping that she kept flipping her hair back, sending waves of intoxicating flowery scents in Scorpius's direction. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sure you'll play well."
"Of course," she said, mocking his earlier words. Dominique shook her head and sighed at him, as though she were worried about him. Worried about his sanity, most like. "Well, you have a lovely day, Scorpius. Try not to root too hard against us tomorrow."
"That's not what I meant," Scorpius replied, but the words didn't burst out of him until she had already turned away. It seemed Quidditch, anyway, was not a safe way into her heart. Not now that he'd stuck his foot securely down his throat.
Rose's idea of "simple conversation" was proving difficult. Scorpius would have to do some more detective work before he attempted to approach Dominique again. Why did she have to be so perfect? He was bringing shame down upon the Malfoy name.
*****
"Gross," said Louis, wrinkling his nose. "You fancy my sister?" He seemed to think it over, and then shook his head. "Gross."
Scorpius somehow resisted the urge to punch him. "I was only wondering what we should talk about. As her brother, you should know her interests."
Louis shrugged. "Quidditch, I guess." He shrunk back at the look on Scorpius's face. "Well, she likes Victoire and Teddy. You could talk about Victoire and Teddy."
"Okay, I need to leave," said Scorpius. He wasn't going to be able to resist that urge forever. "Hufflepuffs are incredibly irritating."
"I was only answering your question," Louis said, sounding hurt. "You don't have to insult my house. Dominique's in Hufflepuff, too, you know."
"I know." Scorpius pressed his fingers to his forehead. The conversation was starting to give him a headache. "How is talking about Victoire going to help me?" he demanded. "I don't even know her."
"You don't really know Dominique, either, though," Louis reasoned.
"You're so lucky I don't have any good hexes on hand," Scorpius said to him. "This is what you're supposed to be doing for me, genius, is helping me know Dominique! I'm not speaking to you for the fun of it. Because believe me, fun is not what we're having right now."
"Why don't you just talk to her? That's how people get to know one another," Louis said.
"Fine," Scorpius snapped. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem," Louis replied, and Scorpius had to walk away very, very fast to get away from him and that murderous urge again.
*****
"Scorpius, were you planning on asking me something?" Dominique asked, placing her hand on her hip in that maddeningly sexy way again. "You look like you wanted to ask me something."
Scorpius took a deep breath and tried hard to formulate the perfect question. But it wasn't coming; the Weasley clan had failed him, and his mind was a confusion of unintelligible wanting-type thoughts. "Screw it," he said finally, and reached out for her, smashing his lips onto hers.
She was very warm, and he'd been right; she did taste good. Unfortunately, he didn't get to taste her for long, because Dominique shoved him away from her and slapped him, hard, across the face. "Oh," he said, rubbing his cheek in a daze, as a painful, hazy embarrassment settled over him. He was going to have to go groveling back to Rose, after all.
"What was that for?" She demanded angrily, both hands on her hips now, and Scorpius fumbled, his face burning as he prayed to disappear from humanity. He was on the verge of turning and running when Dominique, incredibly, laughed at him. "You really should have just asked."
He didn't understand. "Pardon me?"
Dominique reached out and placed her palm against the place where she'd hit him. "I am sorry about that," she said kindly. "Instinct, you see. I much prefer to be asked before someone manhandles me. You can understand that, right? You should have just asked me out if you like me so much."
Scorpius stared open-mouthed at her. "Say again?"
She rolled her eyes, though there didn't seem to be any malice in it. "Malfoy. Listen. Ask me out. I will say yes." She winked at him. "Shorter sentences help?"
He nodded. "Yes. Er, I mean, yes. I mean, will you go out with me?"
"Yes," said Dominique. She laughed again. "You are ridiculously cute. And who knows? If it goes well, I might let you kiss me for real this time. Provided you ask permission first, of course."
"Yes," said Scorpius, as the feeling came back to his limbs, as he started to regain his place in the world. "Permission. I will most definitely ask permission."
She smiled at him, so seductively he was surprised his entire body didn't just burst into flames right there. "Good. Then it's very likely I'll say yes to that, too. But let's plan our date first, all right? How does next Saturday sound?"
"Sounds perfect," said Scorpius, who was thinking, You're perfect.
"See you around," Dominique said, with another wink, and as she sashayed away from him, Scorpius thought that maybe his kissing plan wasn't such a miserable failure, really. It had gotten him a date, after all.
Though he would definitely keep his promise about asking permission. His face really hurt.
"Oh, and I'll expect you at my next Quidditch match!" Dominique called over her shoulder, grinning broadly at him. "With a banner proclaiming my greatness."
"Of course," Scorpius replied, feeling slightly shell-shocked. A banner was the perfect way of telling her how he felt, without all of those pesky speech sounds getting in the way. Why hadn't any of those Weasleys told him that? It only proved how much more perfect Dominique was. Really, though, it was all right, because he had a date with Dominique Weasley.
His heart stopped as he realized that he had no idea what he was going to say to her on said date. "Oh, no," Scorpius moaned, as he contemplated whether or not to consult the family again. It was going to be a long week.
Title: A Little Advice
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2218
Pairing(s): Scorpius/Dominique
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy thinks Dominique Weasley is perfect. He just doesn't know how to tell her.
Author's Notes: From het prompt 97. It was certainly fun writing this, I'm happy to take part in this fest!
Scorpius quickly slammed his book shut and leaned back in his seat once he noticed Dominique coming over. He considered ruffling his hair up, or casting some sort of a silent glamour spell on himself, but both those ideas seemed stupid, and utterly pointless besides. What was messy hair going to get him? She never really looked at him, anyway.
"Hey, Scorpius," Dominique said casually, stopping beside his table. She tapped her nails on the tabletop, glancing around the library as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. The way she stood with her weight leaning to one side, a hand resting on her hip, and that long, strawberry blonde hair cascading down her back in shimmering waves - it was driving Scorpius mad. He had to fight to listen to the words coming out of her perfect mouth. "Do you have some extra parchment I could borrow? I can't seem to find mine, and I have this really long essay due tomorrow. I'll get you some next I'm in Hogsmeade, promise."
He practically fell over himself thrusting it at her. "Yeah, sure, have it," he babbled, sliding precariously out of his chair.
"Thanks," she gushed, flashing a dazzling smile at him as she took the paper. "See you around."
He watched her go longingly, hating his stupidity. She was never going to take him seriously if he did nothing but stutter at her. It was no wonder she barely spoke to him. If she'd had her own parchment, she would probably have just walked by without even looking at him. Dominique Weasley absolutely hated him, probably as much as he hated himself.
She did look back and wave at him before leaving the library, though, and so there was still a tiny ray of hope.
*****
"Albus, I need your advice," Scorpius hissed across the aisle during History of Magic.
Al gave him an open-mouthed look of confusion. "Couldn't it wait?" he asked incredulously.
Scorpius glanced up front, where that stuffy old ghost was still droning on. "Are you serious?" he demanded. "We're not learning anything, anyway."
Al smiled at him. "Okay, fine. What's the story?"
"I think I'm in love," Scorpius whispered. It was silly, but the words just came naturally to him, and he couldn't help but blurt them out. Besides, Albus Severus was his best mate; if he couldn't say it to Al, who could he say it to?
Al didn't seem too pleased to hear it, though. In fact, he looked like he might be ill. "Oh," he said. "I don't really think I'm the best one to give advice on that sort of thing."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Come on, there's got to be something you could do. What do you do when you fancy someone?"
Al made a face of disgust. "I don't fancy anyone," he hissed.
"Well, what would you do?" Scorpius was starting to feel desperate.
"How in Merlin's name should I know?" Al demanded. "Just tell her you love her or something."
"Just tell her?!" People were starting to stare now, as Scorpius's voice cracked with incredulity. "I can't just tell her. Never mind, you're completely useless."
Al grumbled something under his breath and went back to taking notes, shooting Scorpius a resentful glance as he did so. But Scorpius didn't care, because he was going spare with worry over this whole Dominique thing, and if Al wasn't going to help, he really needed to find somebody else who would.
*****
"Well, why can't you just tell her?" Rose pursed her lips in thought. "That seems like the easiest thing to do."
"She already hardly speaks to me," Scorpius explained angrily. Why did nobody understand? He should have known better than to ask another Weasley; they were all mental. With the exception of Dominique, obviously. "I can't just throw myself at her feet like that. It's humiliating. She'll laugh at me."
"You need to buy her a present," Lily suggested. "Girls love presents."
"Perhaps some simple conversation is in order," Rose said. "Build up an actual friendship first, to ensure she doesn't laugh at you."
"Dominique is so great," Lily gushed, clapping her hands together. "I completely see why you fancy her, Scorpius."
"That's not much help," Scorpius said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do I talk to her about?"
Rose shrugged. "Whatever you want, really. Anything at all."
"Tell her she's pretty," Lily said. "Tell her she's beautiful."
"Okay, you don't talk anymore," Scorpius said to Lily.
"No, no, wait!" Lily ignored him entirely, shooting up from her chair and pressing her hands to her cheek. "You don't tell her anything at all! You know what girls really like, Scorpius?"
"What?" Now she seemed to be finally getting somewhere.
"A surprise kiss," Lily said, sighing dreamily. "You just march right up to her and snog her senseless. All girls love that, it's so romantic."
"It most certainly is not," Rose said loudly. "That's sexual harassment, that is. Girls do not like being waylaid by violent kisses from someone they hardly know. Do not follow that advice, Scorpius, promise me."
"I don't know," said Scorpius. He smiled. "It does sound rather romantic."
Rose smacked her own forehead. "Merlin help us. Don't come back to me when Dominique sends you to the Hospital Wing, Malfoy. I mean it."
"Oh, pooh," said Lily, waving Rose off. "She'll love it, trust me. It's like a fairy tale."
"Fairy tales are incredibly unrealistic," Rose pointed out, but nobody was listening to her.
*****
Dominique cocked her head and gave Scorpius an odd look. "Are you even listening?"
"Of course I am," said Scorpius, who had no idea what, if anything, Dominique had just said. He was very busy contemplating her lips, and wondering what she would taste like. It had to be good. She probably tasted good. It looked like she would taste good.
"Hey." Dominique smacked the back of Scorpius's head, jolting him out of his reverie. "Malfoy. Stop it. Listen to me. I am talking." She glared at him. "Do shorter sentences keep your attention?"
"Fuck," said Scorpius, rubbing his head. That had really hurt. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Say again?"
She raised her voice. "I said, who do you think is going to win tomorrow's Quidditch match?" She paused with a perfect smirk. "It's Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff, if you've forgotten."
"Oh." It was settled, then; she thought he was simple. Scorpius huffed loudly and ruffled his hair in frustration. "Ravenclaw, of course," he said, speaking honestly. It was hard enough answering her at all, never mind considering the answer she'd most like to hear.
Which was not Ravenclaw, apparently. "What do you mean, 'of course'?" Dominique demanded, cocking her hip with a frown. "You do realize I'm a Hufflepuff Chaser, yes? I'd like to think I've added something pretty good to the team. We very nearly beat Gryffindor already, I myself scored five times! It came down to our Seeker missing the Snitch by his fingertips. His fingertips, Scorpius! Do you realize how close that is?"
Scorpius did, in fact, realize how close that was, but the fact had a hard time settling in his brain. Dominique was very intimidating when she was angry. It certainly wasn't helping that she kept flipping her hair back, sending waves of intoxicating flowery scents in Scorpius's direction. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sure you'll play well."
"Of course," she said, mocking his earlier words. Dominique shook her head and sighed at him, as though she were worried about him. Worried about his sanity, most like. "Well, you have a lovely day, Scorpius. Try not to root too hard against us tomorrow."
"That's not what I meant," Scorpius replied, but the words didn't burst out of him until she had already turned away. It seemed Quidditch, anyway, was not a safe way into her heart. Not now that he'd stuck his foot securely down his throat.
Rose's idea of "simple conversation" was proving difficult. Scorpius would have to do some more detective work before he attempted to approach Dominique again. Why did she have to be so perfect? He was bringing shame down upon the Malfoy name.
*****
"Gross," said Louis, wrinkling his nose. "You fancy my sister?" He seemed to think it over, and then shook his head. "Gross."
Scorpius somehow resisted the urge to punch him. "I was only wondering what we should talk about. As her brother, you should know her interests."
Louis shrugged. "Quidditch, I guess." He shrunk back at the look on Scorpius's face. "Well, she likes Victoire and Teddy. You could talk about Victoire and Teddy."
"Okay, I need to leave," said Scorpius. He wasn't going to be able to resist that urge forever. "Hufflepuffs are incredibly irritating."
"I was only answering your question," Louis said, sounding hurt. "You don't have to insult my house. Dominique's in Hufflepuff, too, you know."
"I know." Scorpius pressed his fingers to his forehead. The conversation was starting to give him a headache. "How is talking about Victoire going to help me?" he demanded. "I don't even know her."
"You don't really know Dominique, either, though," Louis reasoned.
"You're so lucky I don't have any good hexes on hand," Scorpius said to him. "This is what you're supposed to be doing for me, genius, is helping me know Dominique! I'm not speaking to you for the fun of it. Because believe me, fun is not what we're having right now."
"Why don't you just talk to her? That's how people get to know one another," Louis said.
"Fine," Scorpius snapped. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem," Louis replied, and Scorpius had to walk away very, very fast to get away from him and that murderous urge again.
*****
"Scorpius, were you planning on asking me something?" Dominique asked, placing her hand on her hip in that maddeningly sexy way again. "You look like you wanted to ask me something."
Scorpius took a deep breath and tried hard to formulate the perfect question. But it wasn't coming; the Weasley clan had failed him, and his mind was a confusion of unintelligible wanting-type thoughts. "Screw it," he said finally, and reached out for her, smashing his lips onto hers.
She was very warm, and he'd been right; she did taste good. Unfortunately, he didn't get to taste her for long, because Dominique shoved him away from her and slapped him, hard, across the face. "Oh," he said, rubbing his cheek in a daze, as a painful, hazy embarrassment settled over him. He was going to have to go groveling back to Rose, after all.
"What was that for?" She demanded angrily, both hands on her hips now, and Scorpius fumbled, his face burning as he prayed to disappear from humanity. He was on the verge of turning and running when Dominique, incredibly, laughed at him. "You really should have just asked."
He didn't understand. "Pardon me?"
Dominique reached out and placed her palm against the place where she'd hit him. "I am sorry about that," she said kindly. "Instinct, you see. I much prefer to be asked before someone manhandles me. You can understand that, right? You should have just asked me out if you like me so much."
Scorpius stared open-mouthed at her. "Say again?"
She rolled her eyes, though there didn't seem to be any malice in it. "Malfoy. Listen. Ask me out. I will say yes." She winked at him. "Shorter sentences help?"
He nodded. "Yes. Er, I mean, yes. I mean, will you go out with me?"
"Yes," said Dominique. She laughed again. "You are ridiculously cute. And who knows? If it goes well, I might let you kiss me for real this time. Provided you ask permission first, of course."
"Yes," said Scorpius, as the feeling came back to his limbs, as he started to regain his place in the world. "Permission. I will most definitely ask permission."
She smiled at him, so seductively he was surprised his entire body didn't just burst into flames right there. "Good. Then it's very likely I'll say yes to that, too. But let's plan our date first, all right? How does next Saturday sound?"
"Sounds perfect," said Scorpius, who was thinking, You're perfect.
"See you around," Dominique said, with another wink, and as she sashayed away from him, Scorpius thought that maybe his kissing plan wasn't such a miserable failure, really. It had gotten him a date, after all.
Though he would definitely keep his promise about asking permission. His face really hurt.
"Oh, and I'll expect you at my next Quidditch match!" Dominique called over her shoulder, grinning broadly at him. "With a banner proclaiming my greatness."
"Of course," Scorpius replied, feeling slightly shell-shocked. A banner was the perfect way of telling her how he felt, without all of those pesky speech sounds getting in the way. Why hadn't any of those Weasleys told him that? It only proved how much more perfect Dominique was. Really, though, it was all right, because he had a date with Dominique Weasley.
His heart stopped as he realized that he had no idea what he was going to say to her on said date. "Oh, no," Scorpius moaned, as he contemplated whether or not to consult the family again. It was going to be a long week.