60Scorpius tried not to admit it to himself, but he was nervous to meet Rose's family. There were so many of them, and he had no idea whether they would welcome him warmly. He knocked on the door of Rose's grandparents home. It was large, but built upward and looked like it was made out of so many mismatched pieces and bricks. The construction of the house reminded him of a patchwork quilt.
He heard shouting and then the door swung open. He was greeted by a tall, slender girl with glossy black hair and a deep olive skin tone. He remembered her vaguely as one of Rose's older cousins. She smiled at him, which Scorpius found to be reassuring.
"Scorpius, right?" she questioned, opening the door wider to let him enter.
He nodded. A second later, Rose appeared, shooing her cousin away. "Molly, Gran wants you in the kitchen." She gave Scorpius a wide smile. "You're right on time to watch everyone fight over who gets to do what." She let Scorpius in and shut the door behind him.
"You look nice," Scorpius said, and felt his face flush. Rose wasn't wearing her glasses. She wore a fuzzy red sweater and black pants, and her long, curly hair was loose. She wore a small pair of sparkly studs. She was wearing makeup again, enough to be noticed, but definitely not too much.
"You look nice yourself," Rose responded. "Exceptionally normal." Scorpius had decided against wearing robes, since he figured no one in Rose's family would. They all seemed to opt for more casual dress, and he didn't want to look like the uppity Scorpius Malfoy showing up in dress robes and perfectly styled hair.
"Thank you."
Scorpius heard a loud crash followed by laughter. He decided it must not be important, because Rose didn't flinch. "So, the tradition is all the kids help prepare dinner, while our parents talk around and do whatever. Have you ever set a table?" she asked.
Scorpius shook his head. "No, but I know how it's supposed to be set if that helps."
"Good. Everyone only gets one knife and fork though, so don't freak out," Rose said with a smile. "You can help me and James. Molly, Teddy and Vic are washing dishes. Al and Maxima are putting food in serving dishes. Hugo, Lil, and Dom are doing napkins, the twins are getting the drinks out of the basement, and my younger cousins are helping Gran with the cakes." Scorpius felt his head spin hearing Rose mention all of her cousins. He did catch her mention Maxima though, and was suddenly reminded that they'd have to act like a couple for the evening. Not that he dreaded it, he just didn't want to have to act out a lie while he was already stressed about so much else.
He followed Rose down the hallway to the kitchen, passing Rose's cousins and some of her aunts and uncles who moved in a flurry. He saw a few other people he didn't know who he figured must have been boyfriends and girlfriends. No one made a fuss about him being there, or stopped and stared at him. He figured Rose had already warned her family of his attendance.
He entered the kitchen and was smacked in the face with the smell of multiple dishes cooking, the sound of dozens of conversations happening, and the clattering of dishes. Rose approached a tall, slender older man. He wore glasses and his hairline of red hair was beginning to recede. He figured this must have been Rose's grandfather, Arthur Weasley, a man who Scorpius' own hated fervently, and he was sure Rose's grandfather didn't feel too differently.
"Grandad," Rose said, "this is me and Al's friend, Scorpius. He's going to help us set the table."
To Scorpius' somewhat surprise, Arthur turned and gave Scorpius a large smile. He extended his hand for a shake. "Pleased to meet you, Scorpius. Sorry we make our guests help, but you can see we need the extra hands," he joked. Rose smiled.
"It's no problem, Sir," Scorpius responded. "Thank you for having me."
"Please, just call me Arthur. Good to have you. Happy Christmas," he said, with another smile. With that, he went to chase one of Rose's blond cousins out of the kitchen after catching him sneak his finger into something he was cooking.
Rose's cousin, James, entered. Although he was a few years older, knew him relatively well from playing opposite him in quidditch, that along with his father being the most famous man in the wizarding world. He didn't resemble Albus much, but they had the same despondent, sometimes confused, expression.
"Oi, Rose, I'm not here to do this myself," he reminded her, picking up a bunch of plates.
"Piss off, I was letting Scorpius in. He's going to help us," Rose said, handing a stack of plates to Scorpius before she picked up her own.
James looked over at Scorpius, as if sizing him up. He then smirked at him. "Well, I hope you have better hands with my gran's nice plates than you do at catching the snitch," he said. When James was still at Hogwarts, he'd played as Gryffindor's Seeker, and he'd been pretty damn good at it, giving Scorpius a run for his money every time he played the older boy.
"I've got perfect hands, I do remember catching the snitch before you quite a few times," Scorpius reminded him.
James snorted. "Maybe once or twice," he relented. "If I'm being generous."
"Can you two stop bickering and hurry up before my arms fall off?" Rose questioned, although she didn't seem to be annoyed as her tone suggested. If she was anything like Scorpius, she was probably happy her family decided to play nice. He set the plates down on the long wooden table and began spreading them out.
He jumped when he felt an arm around his back. "Scorpius," Maxima said, greeting him with a smile. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Rose suddenly became interested in making sure the forks were properly adjusted on the table. Apparently, Maxima hadn't forgotten about the need to play up their farce of a marriage either. He turned around. She leaned in to hug him, and then whispered in his ear, "We're all going to talk about everything after dinner." He nodded curtly so as not to give anything away.
"All right," he said.
"Hi, Rose," Maxima said, greeting her mildly. Rose offered a dry smile in return. Maxima then turned back and went to go find Albus. Scorpius followed James and Rose back into the kitchen.
"You lot, take these next." Scorpius looked up at the source of the voice. His new Transfiguration professor, Professor Lupin, was standing in front of him, holding a stack of steaming porcelain bowls. He'd almost forgotten that he'd basically been adopted into Rose's family. It was odd to see him dressed so casually, in a long-sleeve shirt and pants rather than robes. What startled Scorpius most was that his hair was turquoise, rather than the brown color it usually was when he was teaching. He wondered why he'd chosen to dye it just for holiday, and why that color.
"Hello, Scorpius," Professor Lupin said a bit stiffly. It bothered him that he'd always seen him be so nice and friendly to other students, but he was always rather standoffish to Scorpius. He supposed he couldn't help it.
"Hello, Professor."
"Please, just call me Teddy," he said. He tilted his head to the tall, beautiful blonde standing next to him, wearing a burgundy dress and a smile that seemed as fake as Teddy's. "This is my wife, Victoire." Scorpius had only seen her around briefly at school, he'd vaguely remembered her face. She handed Rose two large bundles of forks.
"Pleased to meet you," Scorpius said to Victoire as Teddy unloaded the bowls into his arms and retreated back to the other side of the kitchen.
"That was awkward," Rose said quietly as they made their way back to the table.
Scorpius nodded. "But not unexpected."
"What do you mean?" she questioned. "Teddy's nice, usually, he's one of my favorite cousins."
"And an estranged one of mine," Scorpius reminded her. "His grandmother and mine are sisters, our parents fought on opposite sides of the War, it's all quite much, but we very clearly don't speak." He didn't blame Teddy for feeling rather off-put by Scorpius. His presence probably reminded him of a lot of pain.
Rose chewed her lip. "Oh right, I completely forgot you two are actually related," she said. "He'll warm up to you."
"He hasn't this entire term." Rose gave him a look of sympathy, but didn't respond. She simply handed him half the forks in her hand and began placing them next to the plates on the table.
"Rose," Her brother, Hugo, entered the room holding a girl's hand. Scorpius didn't find her face to be too familiar, but assumed they went to school together. "We're done, do you know if anyone's in Dad's room? I just wanna, er… show Maggie around."
"No," Rose said, smirking at her brother. "Dinner's in twenty minutes, don't make Mum send me to come get you."
"Course not," Hugo assured her before leading the girl out of the room.
Rose turned to Scorpius. "Pretty sure 'show her around' means 'snog the daylights out of' in Hugo-speak," she joked.
"Most likely so. Not particularly a bad idea." Scorpius raised his eyebrows at Rose.
"Quiet, or I'll poke you with one of these forks," Rose threatened with a smile.
"Joking, only joking."
Scorpius almost yelled when a child brushed past his leg, chasing under a cake that was hovering above his head, making its way to the table.
"Got it, Gran!" He shouted with a devious smile, pulling the cake platter out of the air and setting it in the middle of the table.
"Oh brilliant, Louis!" A stout, cheery woman entered the dining room and rubbed Louis on top of the head. She looked up when Louis ran off, noticing him and Rose for the first time. "Oh, you must be Scorpius! I couldn't wait to meet you!" He was enveloped in a hug, much to Rose's amusement.
"Great to meet you, too," Scorpius responded with a smile. Rose was definitely right about her grandmother being a warm woman. He didn't think his mother and grandmother combined could have given him such a tight hug.
"Albus introduced me to your fiancée earlier, she's absolutely lovely!"
"Oh… thank you," Scorpius said sheepishly.
"You're welcome, dear. I think Fred and Roxanne could use some help with the ice if you two are done."
"Actually, Al asked us to help him finish up," Rose lied.
"Oh, all right. Well, I'm trying to have everyone together and seated in the next few minutes, so do try to round up anyone if they run past," Molly said, giving Scorpius a final smile before heading back to the kitchen.
Albus didn't remember the last time Christmas dinner was so tense. He sat between Maxima and Fred. Scorpius sat on her other side, between her and Rose. He wondered how Scorpius felt about his family. He looked a bit uncomfortable but like he was trying not to show it. Rose seemed rather annoyed as well. She usually sat with Roxanne and Molly, but from what he gathered from Fred, Rose and Roxanne weren't talking. No one would tell him why. He tried to listen to the lighthearted chatter some of his younger cousins were engaged in.
"It truly is a shame what happened to Kingsley," his Uncle Percy started. Albus rolled his eyes inwardly. It was only a matter of time before one of his family members brought it up.
"Percy, dear, don't ruin everyone's Christmas with that dreadful news," Molly chided. "It's absolutely terrible what happened, though."
"We're looking into it, Molly. Believe me, we are," Harry assured her firmly. "It's become even more difficult now that this entire thing has become a media circus. Once the Prophet gets ahold of something, nothing is sacred."
"I don't think we should be talking about this right now, it's Christmas dinner, and like Harry said, he and Ron are working hard as they can to figure things out. Kingsley… Kingsley wouldn't want us to be worried about this right now," Aunt Hermione said, forcing a smile. His Uncle Ron put his arm around her.
"Right, we should all be relishing in the fact that Charlie decided to grace us with his presence," Uncle Bill said, clapping his older brother on the back.
"You lot have so expertly reminded me why I prefer dragons to children," he said, smiling at his nieces and nephews. Albus laughed. He missed his favorite uncle.
"He was the one Rose was talking about, the dragonologist," Albus explained to Maxima. He was doing his best to keep their conversation platonic. Luckily, his family didn't seem too interested with Scorpius and Maxima's marriage, so they weren't exactly pressed to keep up their charade.
"Oh," Maxima said. "In Romania?"
Albus nodded. "That's the one."
"You know something?" Maxima asked quietly.
"Hm?"
"You invited me to a family dinner months ago, and now I'm here," she reminded him.
Albus had almost forgotten about that. "I didn't think it'd happen this way, but I'm glad," he said. Maxima gave him a small smile.
His Uncle George cleared his throat loudly and dramatically. "So, Miss Thomas, I hope you found my humble little joke shop to be up to your standards of humor? I could tell you stories about the shop and our dear little Hugo here that would make your head spin. How many times have I had to regrow your eyebrows? Four? Five?"
"Uncle George!" Hugo snapped, his face turning the same color as his hair.
"George!" Aunt Angelina said in unison.
"I liked it," Maggie said with a laugh. "Especially seeing the back, Hugo said not everyone gets to go backthere."
"Of course not, just girls my brothers and cousins are trying too hard to impress," Lily said, rolling her eyes. Albus noticed she'd been especially annoyed since Hugo seemed to be getting a girlfriend. The two of them were typically inseparable.
"Boyfriends, too, apparently," Uncle George agreed with a pointed look at Roxanne. She winked at her father. "You're getting nothing but footie pajamas and huge turtlenecks for Christmas."
Roxanne had mentioned inviting Ivan to dinner, but he had declined. Although he knew Ivan would never have come anyway, Albus felt his absence was a bit suspicious. Perhaps he was paranoid, but that was almost never the case these days. He happened to glance over at Rose, who was gripping her fork so tightly he was afraid she might snap it in half.
"What's the deal with them?" Albus asked Fred, hoping to get an answer this time.
Fred shook his head. "Mate, bringing that up is not a good idea right now, for anyone's sake," he responded, looking down at his food.
Albus noticed the furtive glances Scorpius and Rose were casting at each other every so often. He hadn't seen his cousin so head over heels for a boy, even when she was with Lorcan. He still wasn't sure how he felt about Scorpius. Honestly, he didn't like him much, but he had to admit Scorpius wasn't as bad of a guy as he'd originally seemed. Granted, his family didn't seem to dislike him, and they had more reason to than he, if any of them did.
He watched as Louis very quietly waited for the adults to fall into conversation before getting Lucy to sneak him a small slice of cake. Dominique noticed and narrowed her eyes at her younger brother, who simply stuck out his tongue in response. Oh, how he missed family dinners.
"Oh please, at least just take some snacks with you," Molly pleaded to her grandchildren.
"Like we'd ever say no to that, Gran," Fred said, accepting an assortment of cakes and biscuits and pies from his grandmother before following his cousins upstairs. Once they were in a room, Rose shut the door behind them and muttered a locking and silencing charm. She sat down beside Scorpius on a cushion as Fred balanced the tray of sweets on the table in front of them. Roxanne immediately grabbed a handful of biscuits and propped her feet up. Albus helped Maxima sit down gingerly. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Albus asked her.
Maxima nodded. "Yes, just a bit tired. You were right, dinners are… loud with your family."
"Yes, well, get used to it," Albus smiled. Seeing them together made Rose's insides hurt. She wanted that with Scorpius, not that they were actually together. Sometimes, he made it seem like he wanted nothing more than to be with her, other times he made it seem like he still had his reservations. His hopeless ineptitude at flirting was cute, though.
Roxanne wrinkled her nose. "Am I missing something?" she questioned, pointing her finger between Maxima and Albus. "Isn't that your woman, Malfoy?"
Rose clenched her jaw.
"Legally, yes, but Maxima and Albus are a much better pair than Maxima and I," Scorpius said shortly. "Not that I need you to go spreading that around to the press before we get married."
Roxanne lifted an eyebrow. "I'll try not to."
Scorpius leaned forward, his expression calm. "Then I'll try not to remind the owner of the Falcons he might be recruiting a student who was arrested for allegedly casting the Dark Mark," he threatened coolly.
Rose couldn't help but smirk, glad Roxanne had finally met her match with Scorpius. She glared at Rose. "Is something funny, Rose?" she questioned.
"Roxanne, can we not for just one bloody second?" Rose questioned, feeling her hands shake. She hated her crass cousin, and hated even more that her cousin showed no remorse for taking from her one of the people she'd cared for the most.
Rose felt Scorpius' hand on hers. Although she said nothing, she felt that he understood.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Albus demanded. "The two of you have never been this made at each other. Something happened."
"Mate," Fred said. "We're not here to talk about-"
"Y'know, since we're all about being honest with each other, this isn't really my secret to keep. Roxanne slept with Lorcan. That's why he broke up with me," she told her cousin. Scorpius' hand tensed on hers.
"Ah, shit," Fred muttered.
"What, Rox?" Albus questioned.
Roxanne scoffed. "Please, don't tell me we didn't all see it coming that you'd be the one to ruin things between Scorpius and Maxima," she snapped.
"That's absolutely untrue, there's more to Albus and I than sex, and not some horribly misjudged one-night stand at that," Maxima responded pointedly.
Fred clasped his hands. "All right, so what's the news?" he questioned, gearing everyone back on task.
Rose looked at everyone, save for Roxanne. "Scorpius and I went to visit the Scamanders and we found out something pretty important. Apparently, the other dragon sales are a distraction for the dragon eggs the Stanislov family wants: Romanian Longhorn eggs. Their horns make a powerful antiaging potion. Also, Bianca's parents got hold of Maxima's earrings somehow, but, plot-twist, the earrings first belonged to Scorpius' great-grandmother, some woman from France." Rose spoke slowly, leaving room for anyone to interject with correct details.
"Wait," Albus said, leaning into the conversation. "Bianca said she got her bracelet from her great-grandmother. You don't think…?"
"That they're the same person?" Fred questioned. He looked at Scorpius for an answer. Rose had thought the same thing, but wanted to wait before approaching Scorpius with the information. She knew his mind was reeling, and didn't want to appear to overstep by trying to be pushy and connect all the dots for him.
"That isn't possible," Scorpius said, looking stunned himself. "My grandfather would know if we were related to some entire other family."
Rose pursed her lips and squeezed Scorpius' hand. "You did say in your letter that no one really knows what's happened to her. Scorpius, don't you think it's possible that it could be the same woman?"
"Well I… I mean… it very well could," Scorpius said dumbly.
Albus put his hands up. "Maxima said she could talk to Bianca. Her parents might be up to something and, we could maybe talk to her about her great-grandmother, see what she knows?"
"What if she tells?" Rose questions.
"I'll assure her that she shouldn't," Maxima answered. "Our fathers know each other and well, if mine could be up to something, then it's very possible hers could too. Hopefully, I can get her to trust me." Maxima answered. She looked down, playing with the pendant on her neck. Although their relationship was still a bit complicated, Rose felt she and Maxima were reaching a level of understanding, no matter how basic. Possibly, it could one day evolve into respect.
"Ivan said she's fine," Roxanne offered. "You guys keep forgetting she has family here."
Rose wanted to approach the situation regarding Ivan tenderly, but knew full well Roxanne wouldn't hear her no matter what she said.
"Actually, we sort of think Ivan may not be as nice as he seems, not that he seems that nice now," Albus said tentatively.
Roxanne stopped chewing the chocolate frog she'd just opened. "What?" she questioned, nearly to the point of laughter. "You guys think he's behind this? You think a fit, teenage, quidditch player may possibly be one of the people behind one of the darkest plots in wizarding history? What's next, you think he killed Minister Shacklebolt too? He's a nice guy, he's just… shy. Just like his dad, he and Aunt Hermione used to get along just fine."
Albus shook his head slightly. "Maybe not all that. But we all know there's something odd about him. Bianca always seemed to be so afraid of him. And she said she doesn't know Ivan all that well, but she's very close with the rest of her family. That doesn't add up. Also, think about this: your wand goes missing just after you meet him, and someone casts the Dark Mark with it? Right after you start getting close with Ivan?"
Rose was glad Albus brought it up so that she didn't have to. She could see Roxanne's demeanor change slowly.
"He doesn't have a reason to do this," Roxanne said slowly.
"That you know of," Fred said. "Honest, Rox, the bloke gives me the creeps."
"Because none of you know him," Roxanne said defensively.
"I'm sorry, but do you?" Rose spoke up. "Before you make a disparaging remark, think about it. You said all you do is talk about quidditch and shag. Is that really it? Has he told you about himself, his family, what he did before he came here, anything?"
Roxanne was quiet for a long while, her eyebrows creased in thought. "He said… I dunno, we talked about quidditch a lot, and me playing for Falmouth, and Bianca and Albus, and there was a lot of shagging… mostly shagging actually," Roxanne said.
Rose rolled her eyes inwardly.
"So, nothing?" Albus asked for clarification.
"I suppose, if you consider that nothing."
"It's definitely nothing," Fred said shortly. "You didn't tell him about us, did you? Or any of this?"
Roxanne shook her head. "Merlin, no. Don't know if you guys are aware, but messy family drama and dark wizarding stuff gets in the way of shagging," she said sarcastically.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "So, moving forward, what do we think should be done about Ivan?" he questioned. "Does Roxanne keep dating him?"
"Well, I don't think that's everyone's decision," Roxanne said sharply.
"Roxanne, the bloke's a sleaze, and possibly a dangerous one," her brother reminded her. "But possibly one that has information. We could use this." He said.
"Just slip him whatever Roxanne got into in order to admit she shagged Lorcan," Rose muttered.
Fred shook his head. "If he finds out, he might kill her," Fred reminded them.
"Whoa, so now he's a murderer?" Roxanne questioned.
"Likely not, but we don't know what he's capable of, so let's not egg him on, yeah? Just go on being regular, non-suspicious Roxanne, and if anything comes up, tell us immediately," Albus prompted.
Roxanne made a disgruntled noise. "I can do that, I suppose."
Maxima nodded. "And I'll find a way to speak to Bianca once term starts. It may be late, but doing it outside of school would raise suspicion. I do feel like her father may be behind the Minister's death." Rose wasn't sure what exactly made Maxima believe that, but she didn't necessarily disagree with her either.
Albus smiled at her. "That'll be perfect."
Rose gave everyone a weak smile and stood. "I have to use the bathroom."
She got up and left, shutting the door after her. She could hear the rest of her family downstairs, playing some loud game, and whooping and hollering. Some of her other cousins were upstairs jumping around. Trying as hard as she could to remove herself from the excitement, Rose retreated to her father's old bedroom, a horrendously orange, Hugo-and-Maggie-free room. The room had an older, drafty smell and it reminded her of visiting her mum's parents' house. The walls were covered in Chudley Cannons posters, and some photos were tacked to the wall of himself and her mum when they were her age, along with their Uncle Harry, her Aunt Luna, and her other host of aunts and uncles. She imagined how scared and how nervous they felt, and she hated that she was beginning to understand it. It did cause her to respect her parents a lot more, though. Luckily, they had each other. And just who did she have?
As if on cue, she heard a knock on the doorframe. She glanced up to see Scorpius standing in the doorway.
"Interesting looking bathroom," he noted with a lopsided grin. "Don't look shocked, I followed the smell of your perfume. Roses, ironically, I never would have guessed."
Rose laughed in spite of herself. "Can't you go two minutes without saying something hopelessly unfunny?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows in an expression of false pity.
"I believe I just heard a laugh from you," Scorpius countered, giving her a smile of his own.
"All those books have your mind numb, because you definitely didn't hear me laugh," Rose said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Doubt it. You read more than me, and your mind is sharper than ever." Rose felt another smile forming. Scorpius shut the door behind him. "Thank you for inviting me, your family is very kind."
"More like very annoying," Rose nodded. She did appreciate the fact that her family had treated Scorpius well. Even her own father had given him a kind handshake, something she hadn't much expected, but appreciated nonetheless. "But I told you they aren't that horrible."
A bout of silence passed between them. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was Roxanne," he said gently.
Rose shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she said stiffly. She felt Scorpius' hands gently grip her shoulders. He couldn't help but think how much more attractive he looked when he dressed like a normal person. His hair wasn't styled, it hung loosely, so that his bangs swept his platinum eyebrows. His eyes were such a light grey that they almost appeared white. He almost looked unreal.
"I can't begin to understand how much that hurts," Scorpius said. "But it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. You're brilliant, beautiful, and kind, and you have loads of other great friends and family."
Rose nodded. "Thank you…" she said.
"Of course, it's the truth," Scorpius assured her. "I know, that I'm completely… what was your word, a dork?" he asked.
Rose smiled at him. "Yes, that's it."
"But I do like you a lot. A lot, Rose Weasley."
Scorpius' touch seemed like it was heating Rose's body up a thousand degrees. "You too, Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius looked around the room, and Rose felt a bit of embarrassment for her father's childhood taste. "What is it?"
Scorpius wrinkled his eyebrows as if he was in deep thought. "This does seem to be a great room to snog in," he said with a smirk.
Rose opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Scorpius bowed his head and kissed her. He kissed her more passionately than he ever had. His breath tasted like her Gran's baking, and his strong hands moved from her shoulders to her waist. She decided she'd most likely have to curse anyone who walked in on them. Scorpius edged her backward until they were on her father's bed. Rose was suddenly bombarded with the thought that her parents had probably snogged in this bed multiple times, and tried to push that thought from her mind as quickly as possible. She wanted to focus only on Scorpius, and his delightful snogging abilities, and how she absolutely couldn't wait for his marriage to Maxima to dissolve.
Rose looked up when she felt Scorpius' hands under her shirt. Scorpius immediately frowned. "What, should I not?" he asked, suddenly unsure of himself.
"No, it's fine," Rose smiled, finding Scorpius' insecurity endearing. She kissed him again before his lips moved to her neck. Rose closed her eyes, wondering why things had to be so complicated. How in a perfect world, she and Scorpius could snog, hang out, do homework and be Heads together without any family drama, relationship drama, or the impending threat to the wizarding world at large. Without all the complications he could have been… her boyfriend?
Scorpius didn't seem to have it in him to hurt anyone. He'd had many opportunities to do so and never did. He could have easily cheated on Maxima with just about any girl, but waited until their relationship was over to be open about his feelings with Rose. He was nice, had great manners, was studious, loyal, and he wasn't a blood purist. He made her laugh with his absolutely cheesy and often awkward comments. He was a bit too obsessed with quidditch, but everyone had their faults. Rose couldn't help but admit she was falling hopelessly for Scorpius, and he seemed quite clearly to be falling for her too.
"Rose…" Scorpius breathed. "Not that I want to, but maybe we should stop, before… well your whole family's here, and I think I shouldn't ruin the fact that they actually do like me."
Rose sat up slowly. Did she mention that Scorpius also had a sense of judgment that could rival hers? "Probably a good idea," she agreed, straightening her shirt. Scorpius combed his hair back into place with his fingers. She couldn't help but kiss him again. His face was redder than she'd ever seen it.
"Sucks that we have to keep all this secret, doesn't it?" Scorpius questioned, folding his hands in his lap and looking down at them.
"This?" Rose questioned. "What exactly is 'this'?"
Scorpius blew air out of his nose. "The fact that I want to be with you, but can't right now," Scorpius admitted for the first time. Rose felt her stomach do a flip.
"You… do?"
"Well, I don't just snog girls like that for my health," Scorpius informed her, earning a smack on the arm from Rose. "But if anyone found out, they'd think I was cheating on Maxima and everyone would hate you. That's not fair to you."
"I know, Scorpius. It's fine, we can wait," she assured him, feeling a bit of pain when she said so.
Scorpius looked up like he was shocked. "You would? I mean, I couldn't ask you to… that wouldn't be fair."
"I thought it was obvious I have a thing for blond gits," Rose said with a tiny smile.
"I'm not that sort of git," Scorpius assured her. "And luckily, being Head Boy and Head Girl, we'll be able to spend quite a bit of time together without anyone getting suspicious. And because of… everything else."
Rose nodded solemnly. "Let's not talk about it anymore, it's almost Christmas," Rose reminded him. "Happy Christmas, Scorpius."
Scorpius smiled and gave her a kiss. "Happy Christmas, Rose."
*Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, to all of you guys! Do people say 'Happy Christmas' everywhere but the US? We say 'Merry Christmas'. Slow clap it out for my OTP, Scorose! Leave a review!