Written for The Original Horcrux's Last Ship Standing Competition. I used the prompts 'a character must drink Firewhisky', 'elated' and the song '"Smile" by Uncle Cracker'

Written for The Original Horcrux's Family Boot Camp using the prompt 'intimate'

You Make Me Smile

Rose had always hated having her birthday two days after Christmas. It was so frustrating, because it was almost always forgotten by everyone who wasn't her parents.

Her cousins would always still be in the Christmas spirit, flying around on their new broomsticks, or trying out their new pack of Exploding Snap. Although there would be a cake and she would receive more presents, no one really cared.

It annoyed her to no end. She just wanted people to acknowledge that she was a whole year older again; that she was another year into her life.

Why was it so hard for people to do that?

OOO

On December 27, 2028, Rose stirred. With a brief squint through her sleepy eyelids she saw that the window was frosted over in the early hours of the morning. She had many covers over her, and a pair of nice, warm arms wrapped tightly around her body.

"Morning," Scorpius mumbled, yawning as he spoke. "Hap-happy birthday, Rosie." He planted a kiss on her temple, before drawing her closer to him. Rose snuggled into his comfort.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"And, since it's your brirthday, we can do whatever you want to do. We can go anywhere you'd like."

"Okay," Rose answered, still sleepy. "But we have to be back by five. Mum and Dad have the birthday thing, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, that." Scorpius sighed, causing Rose to lift her head slightly to look at him.

"At least try to be excited about it," she said.

Scorpius smiled, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "I'll try my best," he assured her. "Though, being around your family is really difficult when I know they hate me."

"They don't hate you," Rose replied.

"Well, they certainly don't like me. I can't even kiss you without having your dad's eyes burning into my back."

Rose laughed, wrapping her arms around Scorpius' neck and bringing his lips to hers. "That's just Dad," she said. "Just ignore him. We all do."

"Easier said than done," Scorpius mumbled against her lips. "He's a scary man."

Rose snorted. "Dad?" she asked, and Scorpius nodded, causing Rose to laugh even louder. "You're scared of my dad?"

"Is that so hard to imagine?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he's my dad, and he's not scary at all."

"Easy for you to say when he likes you."

"Okay, Scorp," Rose sighed. "Let's not talk about him anymore. We'll see him tonight, and I'll prove to you that he does like you. We should go on a picnic or something."

Scorpius smiled. "Leave that to me, Rosie," he said, and he kissed her once more.

OOO

"Scorpius, where are you taking me?" Rose asked for the hundredth time as he led her by the hand through some thick shrub, somewhere into the wilderness. She had no idea where they were; he had simply told her to close her eyes, and then he had Apparated her, picnic basket in hand, to somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Now, he was taking her through a forest. Rose wondered if they were even still in England.

"You'll see," Scorpius assured her just as they stepped into a clearing.

Rose blinked, her jaw almost hitting the leafy ground.

"But…."

"It seems that great minds think alike, Rosie," Scorpius answered, tugging on her hand to bring her further into the opening. "Because a picnic is what I planned a few weeks ago."

Rose stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at what was before her. Wherever they were, Scorpius had decorated the trees with pretty, magically-lit, fairy lights. In the centre a table with rose petals and two wine glasses sat there, waiting to be used.

"Happy birthday," Scorpius said, leading her over to the table where he placed the picnic basket. "You have your brother to thank for this."

"Hugo did this?" Rose questioned, not believing that her brother was capable of such beauty.

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, I needed help," he explained, "and I turned to Hugo."

"It's wonderful," Rose responded in awe. "This is already turning out to be the best birthday ever."

Scorpius grinned at her, and pulled out a chair. "Have a seat, my dear. Today, I am completely waiting on you."

Rose smirked. "That's a change, isn't it, sir," she replied sarcastically. "The boy who grew up with ten house-elves."

"There's a first time for everything," Scorpius answered absently, rummaging through the basket and setting out the food he had packed.

Rose just sat there, smiling from ear to ear, as she took in what was happening. This was her third birthday with Scorpius – though not in a row – and he had never done anything like this for her before.

It wasn't even a special birthday. She was only turning twenty. Seventeen was the one she was meant to celebrate.

"Champagne?" Scorpius questioned, holding up a frosted bottle.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Muggle drinks?" she questioned.

Scorpius nodded, before pouring her a glass. "I like it," he said.

Rose took a small sip of the stuff, unsure of whether or not she would like it, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It actually tasted sweet. She took another sip.

"So, are you actually going to tell me where we are?" Rose questioned as her boyfriend took a seat opposite her. "Or are you going to leave me guessing?"

"Well… I could leave you guessing…."

"Scorpius!"

"We're not far from the Burrow, actually."

"What?"

"We're not far at all, and I thought seeing as that's where we're going next, we'd only have a short distance to travel."

Rose nodded. "Fair enough," she concluded. "But, I still want to get changed anyway. Though, I am still amazed you did this for me. What's so special about my birthday this year, that wasn't last year?"

Smiling, Scorpius picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. "Are we not allowed to celebrate twenty years of your life, Rosie, dear?" he questioned. "That's two whole decades."

Rose shrugged, still not seeing the significance, but she didn't say anything. She didn't mind. She liked that she got to spend the day with her boyfriend before having to spend the night with her family. She loved them all dearly, but being with Scorpius was more special.

She loved him in a different kind of way.

OOO

"Do I look okay?" Rose stood in front of Scorpius, arms outstretched, and twirling on the spot. Her dress flowed just above her knees, and he smiled.

"Positively beautiful," he assured her, pulling her towards him and giving her a kiss. "You'll stand out for sure."

"And if I don't want to stand out?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked him squarely in the eye.

"You always want to stand out, Rosie. You always want to be the centre of attention."

Rose beamed. He knew her oh so well.

OOO

The moment she walked through the door of the Burrow Rose let out a loud gasp. Scorpius squeezed her hand.

"Scorp, what are your parents doing here?" she asked, her eyes going straight to the two people standing in the corner, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"They thought it was about time they came," Scorpius replied with a shrug. "We've been together for a while now."

"You made them, didn't you?"

Scorpius gave another sheepish shrug, but didn't say anything. They didn't have time to talk anymore, because Rose was soon engulfed into the loving arms of her mother.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," her mum said. "It's so good to see you today. Scorpius hijacked you for the morning and afternoon."

Rose smiled. "It was nice, though, Mum," she said.

Her mum returned the smile. "I know." She gave her another hug, and then Rose did the rounds, accepting her family's birthday wishes, and many hugs and kisses. She let them. The same thing happened to everyone in this family.

"Twenty years ago today, I was holding this beautiful baby girl in my arms," her dad said as she approached him last. "I wasn't much older than you, actually."

Rose laughed, and then threw her arms around her dad's neck. "It's gone so fast," she whispered.

"Too fast," her dad replied. He placed a kiss into her hair and then pulled away, looking her up and down. "How have you enjoyed your day?" he asked.

"It's been great, Dad!" Rose replied cheerfully. "Scorpius took me on this really nice picnic, somewhere not far from here, which apparently Hugo helped to set up. We spent the morning just lying in bed, and now we're here… with everyone." She once again directed her attention to Scorpius' parents, still looking extremely uncomfortable where they were. She leaned closer towards her father. "Is everyone okay with them being here?" she asked quietly.

Her dad shook his head. "But Scorpius insisted," he told her.

Rose smiled. "Well, I consider them family," she said, "So I'm glad they're here."

She was glad everyone was here, actually. As a child she had invited friends from Hogwarts to her place over Christmas to celebrate. Sometimes, a lot of them wouldn't come because they were with their families. These days, she liked that it was intimate. She liked that it was just her family with her, and close friends.

She didn't need anyone else.

"Well, you better go and say hello," her dad then warned. "Before they leave."

The rest of Rose's birthday evening was spent in joy. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she talked to her cousins, her aunts, her uncles, and most importantly Scorpius. He waited on her like a house-elf that night, getting her drinks, and bringing her food.

Just as she was about to take a sip from her third glass of Firewhisky that night, it was removed from her hand.

"Scorpius, what are you doing?" she asked as he set the glass aside.

He grinned. "Speeches," he said.

Rose groaned. She hated this part.

"Er… if I could have everyone's attention." At those simple words, the whole room silenced, which surprised Rose. Normally, they wouldn't have heard a pack of centaurs blowing trumpets through the room.

It was almost as if they had been expecting it.

"Um… I'd firstly just like to thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate Rose's birthday," Scorpius then continued. "I'm sure she's had a great time." He looked to Rose as if asking if this were true. She nodded.

"I'm also sure many of you have a lot more memories about her than I do, too, that you'll all love to share, but if I can just say a few quick words first…? Okay, well, as you all know, I met Rosie when we were both eleven years old. We were sitting in Potions, and I being not so good at the subject, and she brilliant, she decided she wanted to help me. On our very first lesson, I exploded my brand new cauldron, and from then on, the two of us have been friends.

"It didn't take me long to realise that not only was she my best friend, but I had fallen in love with her also. She's pretty, she's smart, and she's just a very beautiful person inside and out."

Rose smiled at him.

"We've obviously been through a lot. A few break-ups, probably a lot of tears, but it never stopped me from loving her. And I know some of you didn't approve of us being together – some of you still probably don't – but I love Rose with all my heart, and there is nothing I'd love more than to spend the rest of my life with her."

Rose's eyes widened in surprise at Scorpius' last words. They grew even wider as he dropped to one knee, a ring suddenly in his hand.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking around the room at everyone's unsurprised faces. They'd been in on it, she realised. They had known the whole time and not bothered to give her any kind of warning. Even her dad wasn't upset, or angry, or marching over to Scorpius to drag him away from his daughter. Was that even a smile she saw on his face?

"Rose Nymphadora Weasley," Scorpius began. "It would be the greatest honour if you would agree to becoming my wife. Will you marry me?"

Rose gaped as he opened to ring box to reveal the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. She was too busy staring at it that her Uncle George had to whisper in her ear to remind her that she owed Scorpius an answer.

"Oh, yes, Scorp, of course I'll marry you!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Scorpius beamed as he slipped the ring onto her finger and everyone began to woop and cheer.

"So, you had this planned the whole time?" she questioned, admiring the stone that she was now wearing.

"Yep."

"So, all that stuff about you being scared of my dad and not wanting to go… that was all part of this?"

"Well, me not wanting to go, yes, but I'm still bloody terrified of your dad, Rosie."

"But he didn't try to stop you from proposing," Rose reminded him.

Scorpius shrugged. "Maybe I'm growing on him," he replied, leaning forward to kiss her again. "I love you, Rosie."

"I love you too, Scorpius." Rose kissed him back, shaking her head. "I can't believe it!" she then exclaimed. "We're getting married!"

"We are." Scorpius nodded.

Rose shook her head again. "Scorp," she began, "This has truly been the best birthday ever! Thank you."

Scorpius' only reply was to kiss her again.

Well, I made it to round 2 of LSS. Scorose are going strong. I normally don't like writing or reading proposal fics because they're always terribly cliche (which I think this once is) but at the same time, getting engaged plays a big part in my Scorose head canon.

Anyway, I hope you liked it. It's also dedicated to Nayla, just because.