A Place Called Home

Part One

There are many words to describe a normal dinner at the Weasley house. Chaotic, disturbing, headache inducing, loud. My brother Hugo seems to have a contest to see how much he can gross us out, and hardly a day goes by without at least one family argument.

But none of those dinners would compare to the one about to take place.

"My life is over," I moaned. I was currently sitting in the kitchen of my best friend and cousin, Dom.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Rosie. It's just a dinner. It's not that bad," Dom said comfortingly while handing me another cookie. My eyes have been giving off the universal Morse code that all girls seem to understand, "my heart is broken, give me sweets now!" It's my fifth cookie, but who cares about that when you're distressed anyway?

"Not that bad? Have you met my family?" I exclaimed. Bringing anyone home would be bad enough, but the fact that I am bringing home the son of my parent's old school enemy makes it a million times worse.

Okay, I need a plan. Thinking, thinking. Damn it! Where is the Granger brain when you need it? Is it too late to put myself up for adoption? Then I could have a new family, one that is normal and won't hate my boyfriend. I'm only twenty-two! That's not too old, right?

"Maybe I could break up with Scorpius! You don't have to bring someone home if it's not serious. I could break up with him, and then get back together with him. Guys don't mind too much if you constantly break up with them, right?" Of course, there is the fact that I live with him. It would be a pain to constantly have to move in and out, unless I still live with him when we are broken up. There's a thought.

"Oh Rose, you are so funny."

Funny? Not funny! This is serious.

Oh Merlin. I am so screwed.

It all started that morning at breakfast. I was eating some porridge and reading the newspaper as usual when my parents' owl flew in. I rolled my eyes, hoping it wasn't another one of my dad's attempts to set me up with a "nice boy". Usually the thought of his little girl being with anyone is enough to get him into one of his rages, but apparently now that I'd decided to date Scorpius, he felt it was time for desperate measures. According to Aunt Ginny, Grandma Weasley was helping him out with that.

After opening the letter, I wished it had been another matchmaking attempt. Instead, it was an invitation from my parents saying that they were willing to give Scorpius a chance and would we like to come over for dinner Thursday night? I moaned loudly.

"Who's the boy this time?" Scorpius asked, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

"No boy. My parents have decided they want to have us over for dinner," I said.

"Us? As in, you and me?"

"No, us as in me and the cat. Yes, you and me!" I replied.

"No need to be sarcastic. I was just surprised, is all."

"This is going to be a catastrophe!" I exclaimed.

"No reason why it should be. I can finally show your parents that I'm serious about you," he said, coming over to give me a kiss on my forehead.

"Mmmm," I said as I kissed him deeply. When we separated he said, "I have to go to work now. Try not to work yourself up too much over this."

"Right," I mumbled.

"Well, it could be worse. It could be dinner with my parents," Scorpius said. And with that cheerful note, he was gone.

Truth was, in the end it didn't matter what my parents thought. I was an adult now and could make my own choices. But I wanted my family to support me, and this dinner could change everything.

That was how, half an hour later, I found myself in Dom's kitchen.