Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.
They always have family parties on their birthdays and those parties are always big, encompassing not just blood family but also Order friends like Luna, Neville, Kingsley and Minerva.
For her sixteenth birthday Rose asks for a bigger party than usual, for the chance to invite some school friends.
"Only a few," she says, "Hyacinth, Gwen, Natalia and Scorpius."
She says the last name quietly, hoping her dad won't pay much attention. But Ron Weasley has a sharp ear for anything relating to the Malfoys – unlike Rose's mum and her uncle Harry, her dad still refuses to like the Malfoys, even if his dislike is less overt now.
"Why are you friends with so many Slytherins?" he asks her, "Malfoy's kid is bad enough but Zabini and Nott's as well?"
"Honestly Ronald," her mum says, "Rosie can be friends with whomever she chooses and none of her friends have ever shown any cruelty towards us, nor half the bias you seem to have against that House. They're all moving away from old prejudices - I strongly suggest that you do the same."
Uncle Harry, who is visiting, fixes her dad with a hard stare, "I know you're not being really serious, Ron, but you've got to let this Slytherin hatred go. You've got a nephew and a niece in that House after all," he reminds her dad, referencing Albus and uncle Percy's daughter Lucy.
Dad grumbles and walks out muttering about Slytherin invasions. Mum sighs.
"I really think he just likes to keep it up to annoy me. I've caught him a few times being friendly and chatting with Scorpius about Qudditch when he thinks there's no one watching."
Rose thinks that's just the sort of thing her dad would do to tease her mum.
But she also thinks all that genuine goodwill, hidden under a veil of hostility, will disappear if her dad finds out that she and Scorpius have been dating for the last six months.
They've told no one but Albus, because he's one of the few in her family able to keep a secret.
Rose is a Gryffindor but she's not quite brave enough yet to tell her family who she's dating, though she suspects her mum may have figured it out. And Scorpius is a Slytherin with a healthy dose of self-preservation that makes him wary of risking mauling by telling the truth to either his father or Rose's.
Their relationship is the real reason Rose asks for a bigger party, though of course she's glad to have her other friends there too. She wants to spend time with her boyfriend on her boyfriend, even if it has to be covert.
But she really should have known better than to think that they'd all get through the party with their dignity, secrets and (in James and Freddie's case) eyebrows intact.
In just the first half of the party the following occurs:
Fourteen year old Hugo rips his jeans attempting to keep up with Luna and Rolf's six year old twin boys as they climb the trees surrounding the field next to the Burrow where the party is being held. Rose thinks her idiot brother should know better than to try and compete with Lorcan and Lysander, who are generally believed to be part monkey thanks to their impressive tree climbing and swinging feats. The boys wave to them all with their heads poking out of the top of one of the tallest trees. Aunt Luna seems unconcerned by the dangerous games her small sons are involved in and Rose doesn't worry too much – the Scamander boys have done far worse and they always stay safe.
Two of Rose's best friends – Gwen Wood and Natalia Nott – have two minor altercations (thankfully without real hard feelings) over who has 'dibs' on James Potter. Rose doesn't know what they see in hum but she is amused by James' reaction to the flirting of Gwen (who is even more full on than he is) and Natalia (who knows Rose's cousin has a weakness for girls who speak foreign languages and who therefore uses her mastery of Russian and French to great advantage).
Teddy Lupin trips over two chairs, one small child, a crate of butterbeer and his own feet. His fiancée Victoire tries to be sympathetic. Her sister Dominique laughs and takes blackmail photographs.
There is a brief Mexican stand-off style silence when Scorpius arrives with his parents. Then a slightly longer stand-off between Rose's parents – "you never said you'd invited Malfoy!" "I told you five times Ronald, you just weren't paying attention" – but in the end they are all welcomed with only a little bad grace from her dad. And Draco Malfoy thankfully refrains from making any insulting remarks about the Burrow or the Weasleys in general out loud.
James and Freddie spend a suspicious amount of time hovering around the six-tier birthday cake that Grandma Molly has made. Rose is suspicious.
Her dad glares at Scorpius seven times.
Rose decides to drag Scorpius off for a little peaceful alone time together before the party gets into full swing and it becomes harder to sneak off. This plan goes awry when her dad nearly comes across them kissing and they end up having to hide together for ten minutes in a cupboard barely big enough for one of them.
Rose briefly considers whether it would be wise to end the party early. She decides against it, so she really has no right to complain about anything that happens next.
"Why do you have cobwebs in your hair?" asks Lily once Rose and Scorpius have managed to escape the cupboard and have parted blushingly in order to avoid suspicion.
"I had to get something from the cupboard inside the barn," Rose says.
Lily looks a little suspicious now.
"But you never go into the cupboards. You're almost as scared of spiders as uncle Ron. What did you get?"
Lily peers around and Rose curses her cousin's curiosity.
"I dared her to," Albus appears next to her, "you know Rosie's not good at resisting a dare. She only had the door open a second before the cobwebs got into her hair and she ran away before she could get me my broom."
Lily laughs. Rose pouts despite being grateful for the save.
"Thanks, Al," she says as Lily skips off, probably to spread the (fake) story about Rose's (admittedly real) fear.
"No problem," Albus says with a grin, "don't want the big reveal just yet. Need to wait until uncle Ron is front and centre for the best possible reaction."
Rose elbows him and refuses to feel bad about it.
When the food is served she and Scorpius sit next to each other and hold hands under the table.
He guards her favourite chocolate cheesecake for her, valiantly resisting the many small hands that make grabs for it. In a meal with this many hungry Weasleys food has to be very well protected.
Rose, in turn, makes sure Scorpius gets a decent plateful since he goes rather still in shock at what happens when Grandma Molly says for them all to tuck in – a plague of swarming locusts is an apt description.
But all through the chaos of trying to nab the last sausage roll and preventing any major food fights and spilled drinks and crumbs Scorpius is never irritated or too overwhelmed. He just smiles and keeps holding her hand.
She really likes it.
More hovering by James and Freddie next to the cake table.
She is now about 90% sure that they have put fireworks inside her birthday cake.
She opens presents when the food is all gone.
There are stacks of books, some broom servicing equipment and tickets from her parents for Wicked the Musical. Her cousins mostly get her joke gifts – like a spider catcher, a book worm t-shirt and some extra strong de-tangling conditioner.
There are so many gifts that no one really notices that none of them have Scorpius' name on the tag.
He gives her a beautiful bracelet and a rare book later on when everyone has dispersed to play games and chat before cake. It's a book she's been wanting for months but has been unable to find a copy of and a bracelet that her fussy taste in jewellery very much approves of.
She kisses him enthusiastically after thanking him and this time no fathers or cobwebs interrupt them.
Following presents there are a few games of Quidditch that Rose participates enthusiastically in.
She's been on the Gryffindor team as a starting player for one year now and as a reserve for two years before that, but her family has a lot of talented players, not to mention some of her friends (Scorpius and Gwen are Seeker and Chaser respectively for their Houses).
She doesn't mind losing too much – her competitive streak has always been more prevalent in academics than sport – and she always has fun, but she feels bad for Hugo and James, who are really very bad losers, when their team doesn't win.
She can see her dad sulking, glaring at Draco (Scorpius is on the winning team) before her mum pulls him away with an apologetic glance.
Rose knows no one will really be properly angry about the results but she doesn't much want to be surrounded by the grumbles that are likely to prevail until more dessert appears so she suggests to Scorpius that they race to the property line and back on their brooms.
It's true that she's not a bad loser but unfortunately she's not a gracious winner either.
She only stops gloating when Scorpius threatens to push her off her broom.
When Rose and Scorpius have returned to the party they find her mum and his dad locked in a fierce debate over creature rights.
"Merlin, no," Rose moans, "mum can talk about this for hours. And I can see your dad smirking, I know he loves this kind of argument."
"That's true," Scorpius admits, "he never fights with my mum really, she just raises an eyebrow and gives him her best 'are you an idiot?' look and then he caves. And he always says there's no point fighting with his employees because they're all morons. I guess he's enjoying the outlet of arguing with someone with a brain."
Rose grabs his arm and tugs him away, "let's leave quickly before they try to get us involved."
They look around. They can't go over to James, who is trying to fend off both Gwen and Natalia at the same time. Albus and Hyacinth are sitting two feet away from each other but they're exchanging the sort of looks that suggest a burgeoning romance neither Rose nor Scorpius want to interrupt. She thinks she spots Freddie with some Weasleys Wizard Wheezes products but she just pretends that it's a trick of the light because there's no stopping Freddie when he's got mischief in mind.
Just as they decide that going over to sit with Roxanne, Lily, Louis and Lucy might be safe, Dominique runs past them, camera clutched tightly in both hands and her strawberry blonde hair streaming behind her.
Teddy races after her, grabbing for the camera that has clearly been used to take one embarrassing photo too many.
But Teddy, as everyone is aware, inherited his mother's lack of grace.
He misses Dominique entirely and barrels straight into Rose and Scorpius instead, knocking them to the ground.
And in true bad luck fashion the pair manages to fall in the most awkward position possible and with their lips smushed together.
Her father goes ballistic.
Her mother gets a very pleased look on her face.
His mother smiles.
His father says loudly that at least she's a Granger-Weasley and has her mother's brains.
Teddy apologies profusely. Dominique grins wickedly.
Albus tells them that they'll have to admit it now, since they didn't immediately jump apart.
Lily jumps up and down and gets very excited, saying she just knew there was something strange about Rose being in the cupboard (when he hears that her father gets even more worked up).
Her friends squeal in union and, to Rose and Scorpius' horror, start arguing over maid of honour and bridesmaid precedence. The situation is not improved when Albus immediately demands best man and Lily pushes in on the bridesmaid argument.
Uncle George, meanwhile, is collecting money from almost everyone at the party and handing it to Rose's mum, who is excessively smug.
"You were betting on us," Rose shouts indignantly.
Her mum shrugs, only a little guilty, "I reacted exactly the same when I was younger, but we bet on everything in this family, Rosie, you know that."
She couldn't argue with those words. Could only be impressed by her mother's perfect guess as to when Rose and Scorpius's relationship would be made public. Apparently the idea that they wouldn't get together wasn't worth betting on.
"Not too hard to guess," her mum admits, "nothing ever stays secret long with the Weasleys, especially not at a party this big.
Then her mum wanders towards her dad to help uncle Harry and aunt Ginny calm him down.
And James and Freddie, using the noise as a distraction, put the finishing touches on their present to Rose.
The exploding fireworks birthday cake prank earns them both a month's grounding (and the refusal of their parents to let them grow back their eyebrows).
They insist it was worth it.
"This is really good cake," Scorpius says conversationally as he takes a chunk off Rose's arm, "your gran's a brilliant cook."
Rose swipes some frosting from his cheek and nods her agreement.
"Happy Birthday, Rose," he says, kissing her quickly in case her dad notices, "was it a good day?"
"The best," she assures him, "but maybe next year I should try for something more low-key."
He looks over at Molly Weasley hosing down the unrepentant, frosting-covered and eyebrow-less architects of the cake explosion with freezing cold water, "I think you may be right."
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.