“I’m going to pop off to the loo. Be right back.”

Molly Weasley felt her insides clench in trepidation as Joshua Lake, her sixth-year patrolling partner, left her standing alone in the corridor. She knew those halls like she knew her own home, but they were just so different at night; they were bright and cheery in the daytime, but in the dark, there was something ominous about the shadows, especially the ones in the dungeons. Which was exactly where she found herself on her first evening as a prefect.

And it didn’t help that she was hearing voices. She could have sworn there was giggling nearby, but there was a good chance that she was imagining the whole thing. Her nervousness was probably sending her mind on all sorts of wild tangents because she truly detested being isolated at night-time.

When the faint echo of laughter persisted, Molly started to think that perhaps she wasn’t imagining things. Whoever was making the noise couldn’t have been more than a hundred metres down the hall, and judging by the amount of time that Joshua had already spent in the bathroom, he’d clearly either found a way to skip out on her or had fallen into the toilet.

Rule Number One: Never patrol alone.

Since the lack of anything to keep herself occupied was only adding to her childish fear of the dark, Molly decided to see if she was really imagining things or if there was really someone out past curfew.

Her answer came as she walked toward the disturbance; the giggles, which were newly accompanied by a deeper masculine chuckle the further she went, became more pronounced. There were definitely students out of bed after hours, and on her first night as a prefect, she was going to suss them out. That thought alone made her forget all about being by herself.

Around the corner, she spotted the culprits, which were masses of blond and chocolate brown hair joined at the face. Snoggers. Dom had warned her about snoggers, which were the most persistent form of delinquents for prefects, since they all insisted that they weren’t doing any harm by wanting a bit of privacy. But the rules were there for a reason, and they were breaking them.

Rule Number Two: When confronting rule-breakers, always do so confidently. Don’t give them an inch.

“Um, excuse me,” Molly said weakly, “you’re not supposed to be out past ten.”

The unidentified snoggers parted lips to see who dared to interrupt them. The girl was Elizabeth Flint, Slytherin sixth-year, and the boy was —

“Care to join us, Weasley?” Scorpius Malfoy drawled, not showing the slightest inclination to discontinue the illicit activity. “There’s always room for an extra set of —” he visually perused her body, lingering on her smallish breasts, “— hands.”

“N-no,” Molly stammered, her face turning a shade of red that could have paralleled her hair colour. “You need to go back to your common room. T-ten points from Slytherin.”

Scorpius smirked. “Liz, you can go back to the common room. I’ll catch you up.” As his paramour rolled her eyes and complied, he turned back to Molly. “I’ll take care of our guest.”

The way he said the latter made Molly shiver. She couldn’t tell whether he was being cheeky or threatening, but she was sure she was ill-equipped to deal with him either way. Leaving without Joshua had been stupid, and now she was eyeball deep in a situation without backup or proper knowledge of how to resolve it.

Molly hadn’t realised that she’d been backing up until she bumped into stone. She could see a predatory glimmer in Scorpius’s eye as he inched himself so close that he was but a hair’s breadth away. He wore an airy, fresh cologne and something distinctly earthy, and he was so close she could almost taste him.

Rule Number Three: Always avoid physical contact with rule-breakers if at all possible.

His finger lazily traced her jawline. “You know, for a ginger, you’re sort of cute. It’s a shame you’re a Weasley.”

That remark stung Molly. “I’ll never be ashamed of being a Weasley. Never.”

He chortled. “Don’t take it so personally. It’s a compliment.” He leant in close and whispered into her ear, “Girls are supposed to like those.”

The feeling of his breath rushing across the skin of her ear sent a shiver all the way down to Molly’s toes, but when his lips brushed her cheek as he withdrew, she had to gasp just to fulfil her lungs’ plea for air. He noticed her distress immediately, judging by his self-satisfied smirk.

“I knew it,” Scorpius said. “I could tell by the look in your eye.”

“T-tell what?”

“When you were watching Liz and me... you wanted it.”

“No, I didn’t,” Molly said, her voice almost coming out as a squeak. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you,” he said before touching his forehead to hers. “You’re supposed to stay with your partner until you’re ready to be out and about alone. How did you ditch him?”

Without thinking that this conversation shouldn’t even have been taking his place, Molly said, “He went to the loo, and then I heard you. He’s likely looking for me right now.”

“Probably,” he said as his eyelids drifted downward. “But he can wait.” His smug pretence gone, Scorpius lowered his lips to Molly’s in the softest hint of a kiss.

Had she not been standing with her back against the wall, Molly was sure she would have fallen over; her knees felt liquefied. And when Scorpius didn’t encounter any resistance, he deepened the kiss and sent her senses reeling on a whole new level. She felt the warmth of his palm on the curve of her waist, causing her skin to tingle in anticipation of where his hand might explore next.

Fingers were a hair’s breadth from forbidden territory when they both heard the footsteps. Then came the hail, which was definitely Joshua, trying to find her. Before Molly could even muster the presence of mind to push Scorpius away, he was already far away and retreating down the corridor toward the Slytherin common room. And then he was gone.

Molly couldn’t wrap her head around what had just happened, let alone move, and that was how Joshua found her.

“Merlin, Weasley, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“Sorry,” Molly said blandly, still staring down the hallway after Scorpius’s long gone back. “I thought I heard something.”

“Find anyone?”

Rule Number Four: Report any and all wrongdoing.

Knowing she could definitely lose her prefect badge if she said what really happened, Molly said, “Just a couple snoggers. I docked them ten points and sent them on their way.”

Nodding in approval, Joshua said, “Rightly so. Well done, Weasley.” He clapped her on the shoulder in a show of confidence. “You’re going to be all right.”

With the feel of Scorpius’s lips still tingling on hers, Molly doubted that she would ever be all right again.