An Important Choice
The girl of red. Scarlet woman. Whatever you wanted to call her, Rose Weasley was certainly lawlessness unto herself. Any Weasley passing through Hogwarts was sure to be recognised as a relation to the 'Golden Trio' and pestered for personal information, but when you'd passed through Hogwarts with as much scandal as Rose, you were pestered for autographs in the corridors and held up as a model student of rule-breaking.
It had started in first year when Rose had attacked the fierce Potions teacher, Professor Crowe, for making her cousin Victoire cry. Though Victoire was older than Rose, she had a gentle, over-emotional nature and the sight of her cousin crying into her Draught of Living Death had been enough to make the fiercely-protective Rose whip out her wand. She'd received two months of detention and lost one hundred points for attacking a teacher, even when she'd sworn she had a motive.
In second year Rose had hidden in a broom cupboard to watch the ex-professor Gilderoy Lockhart arrive to talk about his recently published, entirely truthful autobiography. She'd promptly jumped out of the cupboard screaming excitedly and gone, truth be told, slightly wild. Innocent readers should not be forced to read what happened. Let's just say sixth years that had experienced the world had screamed and run off when they entered the scene. Rose had received seven Howlers, lost one hundred and fifty points, received one month of detention and been suspended from the Quidditch team.
In third year Rose had deliberately defied school uniform on Valentine's Day and turned up for breakfast in the most daring outfit. Boys followed her around like puppies all day. Several girls had followed her radical example. Rose had promptly locked them all in broom cupboards, with a little help from Peeves and only hours later did anyone hear banging and let them out. Observing a corridor weak with laughter, Professor McGonagall had smiled herself and only given Rose three detentions and a new role as 'Controller Of Peeves'.
In fourth year Rose had abused this role and told Peeves to release all of Hagrid's beasts. Soon the castle was filled with screaming pupils, MCCOs (Magical Creature Control Officers), a frantic Hagrid shouting, "Don' hurt 'em!" and a large quantity of fireworks shooting down the corridors, bouncing off ceilings and walls and exploding on impact with human skin. Rose had almost been expelled and ended up spending three weeks helping the house elves in the kitchens. Perhaps this was not a very good punishment, as Rose spent the entire time gossiping with Kreacher, Winky and the house elves belonging to her family that were lent to Hogwarts during term time.
In fifth year Rose had smartened up her uniform, behaved well and was elected as Prefect by the student body. She took to the role like a duck to water, patrolling the corridor and running the school firmly but kindly, diverting the attention of a Professor away from a pair of first years duelling in the corridor but reproaching and removing points later. She planned a trip to the Ministry to see how the magical government worked and had abandoned her group of first years after the wand check to find friends of her parents and grandparents and have a good gossip with them. She'd returned hours later to find her group trying to drown each other in the fountain and been stripped of her Prefect status.
Rose's sixth year came and people were surprised to see that, despite her trouble-making, Rose had achieved Outstanding OWLs in all her subjects. After a careers test Rose had set her sights of becoming an Auror like her father and uncle. Coming from a family of many Ministry employees, many of the Weasleys had Ministry-oriented ambitions. Rose had acted scholarly and eventually got back her Prefect badge. But then she had been found half-naked in the Quidditch stadium with Scorpius Malfoy. Her year-older cousin Dominique, who had found them, had got such giggles she'd barely been able to gasp the story to the first teacher she found. Both guilty parties had received Howlers and fifty points from their respective houses, but, as a disapproving but amused Albus had pointed out, at least Rose had gone astray with the right sort of boy, rather than someone like Randolph 'Randy' Vane, who had dyed jet-black hair, a pierced tongue and was rumoured to go all the way with three different girls a week.
Seventh year eventually arrived and Rose was elected Head Girl, as her mother had been before her. She was sweet, gentle and less feisty than she had once been. Her roommates reported her tidying a lot, telling them off for making messes, almost as if she was in a 'nesting' mood. Then, a few months before NEWTs, when her chances had looked good for excellent marks and her dream job, Rose had suddenly, inexplicably, dropped out of Hogwarts.
Teddy Lupin wandered along the corridors of the castle where he'd spent some of the happiest days of his life. Here was where he'd found love, where he'd learned of the Final Battle, swelling with pride whenever his family was mentioned. He found Quidditch trophies and, right in the middle, lying on a gold, claw-footed pedestal, a thick, emerald-green leather-bound book. Teddy could've recited the whole thing off by heart. The medieval-style writing embossed in gold on the cover read THE REAL TRUTH: MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Harry James Potter. Teddy didn't know how many times he'd read that book. It had soothed him to sleep as a child, travelled with him everywhere and still lay on his bookshelf at his home, very battered and expertly repaired by his resourceful fiancée.
Teddy was walking down the corridor when he passed two third years. He laughed at how small they were, remembering when he'd been that age. A frown suddenly bent his cheerful features, his hair turning dark brown, as he focused on what the little girls were saying.
"Yeah, so the rumour is that she is having a baby," said the smallest one, a tiny brunette.
"Pfft, I heard she's joining the dark side," said her blonde friend.
"Excuse me," said Teddy, hiding a smile as both girls jumped. "But who are you talking about?"
"Rose Weasley," said the blonde brightly. "She's dropped out of Hogwarts."
"And no one knows why," her friend chipped in.
"First I've heard of it!" said Teddy angrily, feeling a brotherly protection towards the sparky little redhead he'd helped to babysit so often. Before the third years could talk again, a harassed-looking Professor McGonagall appeared.
"Oh, Teddy, thank goodness, all the Weasleys have vanished and you can get a message to Ron and Hermione," she said, straightening her hat.
"What seems to be the problem, Minerva?" Teddy asked, grinning at the third years' shocked faces that anyone who wasn't a fellow teacher would call their headmistress by her first name.
"It's Rose," Minerva answered, and a cold feeling stole over Teddy.
"What's she done?" he asked, careful to keep his voice from shaking.
"I presume you know she dropped out," Minerva began, acknowledging Teddy's nod. "Well, it turns out that Randolph Vane got her pregnant. She didn't want anyone to find out so she left. But St. Mungo's just owled me. Rose went to Knockturn Alley and bought a cheap abortion potion from a very shady dealer. She's taken it and it's affected her badly. She's dying." Teddy moaned as she finished.
"I have to go there now," he said. "I'll send a speaking Patronus to Ron and Hermione."
"She's on floor three, room one hundred and ninety-nine," Minerva said. "Hurry, Teddy." Teddy was already gone, running through the corridors, already casting his Patronus, whispered instructions to the wolf that filled the corridor with its light and watched it run off.
Teddy disapparated straight to St. Mungo's, ignoring the welcome witch and dashing up to the ward. He threw himself against the door, causing the healer inside to scream as he flew in and to the bed obscured by curtains.
"Sir, that bed cannot be viewed by anyone but family!" she said, quite obviously terrified of this wild young man with his messy black hair and dark, angry eyes.
"I'm engaged to her cousin, that do?" Teddy shouted angrily, before ripping aside the curtains.
What he saw made him step back in shock. Rose…she'd been so full of life, a bubbly, lively red-head dashing about like a ball of flame, causing mischief. This thin, pale creature lying on the bed wasn't the girl he knew. The red even seemed to be seeping out of her hair. Their life together seemed to flash before Teddy's eyes as he watched the shallow movement of her chest.
He remembered holding her when she'd first come back from the hospital, stroking the fluffy red hair, the amazing feeling of the knowing blue eyes gazing at him while the little fingers closed around his trustingly. He remembered helping her blow out her candles on her first birthday, laughing as she shook each present like it was a bomb, his pride when she shrieked with joy at his present of a life-size toy unicorn. He remembered her clinging on to the same unicorn when he took her sledging. He remembered accompanying her, proud as any brother, on her first day at Hogwarts. He remembered dancing in the rain, yodelling in the snow, spinning on the grass as the leaves fell around them. He remembered sitting snuggled together in front of a roaring fire, simply content to be together.
Tears pricked his eyes as he swept her hair back from her face. That hair that was so beautiful, her father's hair. He'd brushed that hair so many times, letting his fingers run through the silky tresses, watched them writhe like flames when she danced. Her eyes were closed, but he knew that, beneath the purple-tinged lids lay eyes of warmest brown, like the chocolate from Honeydukes he loved so much and that his godfather gave him by the sackful every birthday and Christmas. He ran his fingers down the thin nose, traced the outline of the pale lips that were normally painted deepest crimson. All trace of colour was gone from the hollow cheeks.
"How is she?" he managed to choke out. Tears were already pouring down his face despite him trying to restrain them.
"She's not good," said the healer, now looking sympathetic. "That potion is never a good idea to take, and her system obviously reacted very badly to it."
"Why couldn't she have come here?" Teddy moaned. "She still could have kept it a secret and she'd be fine."
"She was probably just walking in Diagon Alley and it was the first thing she thought of," the healer said soothingly.
"Oh, Merlin, was it something we did?" Teddy said, the horrible idea suddenly coming into his mind. "Was she trying to commit suicide?"
"I'm sure not," the healer said. "I'm sure it was just the first solution that came to her." Teddy sat beside the bed of the girl who was like a sister to him, watching her breathing.
What felt like hours, but was surely only a few minutes, later, Rose's parents rushed in, accompanied by Victoire, all looking very shaken.
"Is our daughter all right?" Hermione asked, tears streaking her face as she clung to Ron.
"What happened, Teddy?" Victoire asked, sitting beside him and laying a hand on his arm. That was one of the amazing things about Victoire. She understood when he needed sympathy and someone to be with him, not blind affection.
"Rose was pregnant by someone she hates," Teddy said, preferring not to say who lest, if Rose awoke, her parents murdered her. "She didn't want anyone to know, so she dropped out of Hogwarts. She bought a cheap abortion potion in Knockturn Alley and it's affected her quite badly."
"Knockturn Alley?" Hermione whispered. "Why ever did she do it?"
"To block out the hurt," said Victoire, who was very good in incidents that involved psychology. "To block it out with an even greater hurt. Anything to escape the shame, the shame that would embrace her and her family."
Those four remained around Rose's bed for a long time, Victoire sitting opposite Teddy, her heart breaking as she looked at the utter despair on his face. Hermione's head was on Ron's shoulder, his hand soothingly stroking her hair. None of them could believe it.
It was after midnight, when the torches had been dimmed and the moans, snores and other sleeping sounds of the other patients filled the room and the hair-netted, black-clothed night healer had come on duty, when Rose stirred. The thin, pale hand that lay across her stomach moved ever-so-slightly. The looks exchanged by her companions all said the same thing: Did you see that? For the first time, Rose seemed to be breathing more steadily, more normally. Her hair seemed to be its usual bright red.
At exactly one o'clock, Rose gasped, her eyes flew open and she sat up. Hermione screamed with joy and fell on her daughter, wrapping her in hug so tight it made Teddy wince just watching as he remembered similar hugs from Rose's grandmother. Ron was openly crying now, joining in the hug.
Rose came home the same day. The official story, the one fed by Teddy himself to her peers at school, was that she'd had a brief spell of panic at the pressure and importance of NEWTs and dropped out. After a 'personal insight', she'd returned. Rose, though shaken and physically weakened by the incident, was soon playing Quidditch with her usual enthusiasm. The mental scars, however, would take much longer to heal.
Teddy visited Hogwarts a lot more after that, not only searching for a job as a junior teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts, always his favourite subject, but to keep and eye on Rose. He noticed her particularly close friendship with Scorpius Malfoy and knew from Victoire's bubbly younger sister Dominique that they'd been caught together in the Quidditch stadium a year ago. While Rose liked to make an impact with her little mischievous schemes, Teddy couldn't help hoping that this relationship really meant something to her.
Since her near-death, Teddy had seen Rose in a new light. No matter how many times he'd seen her as the baby fat vanished from her face and her shape became more womanly, she'd stuck in his mind as the chubby, apple-cheeked toddler he'd gifted the unicorn to. Now he saw her differently. She was a mature, level-headed, mostly sensible young woman who could make her own decisions and usually made the correct choice. She was also ready for love. Though before she'd only had casual flings, everything about her indicated a girl who was ready for a real relationship.
Teddy wondered what sort of relationship she'd want. Would she want a casual, safe, cosy relationship, with a boy like Lorcan Scamander or Philip Longbottom, someone she'd known all her life? Would she want a love-hate relationship, kissing passionately one minute, screaming at each other the next, with someone like Othello Nott or Nathaniel Jacobite? Or would she want a sweet, tender relationship, where there were no secrets and everything was out in the open, and all affection was responded to in kind, with a boy who loved her as she loved him?
It's so obvious that they belong together Teddy thought, watching Rose and Scorpius laughing over their Potions textbook and a massive stack of toast, revising outside in the glorious sunshine. Why can't they get their act together and realise it?
"Honestly, Scorpius, you make me laugh like no one else can!" Rose exclaimed, weak with laughter.
"I love to make you laugh," Scorpius said, resisting the urge to say "I love you."
Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy had loved Rose Nymphadora Weasley since he'd first seen her, as beautiful as a flower, laughing on the Hogwarts Express. She was everything he wanted in a girl - beautiful, clever and loving, with a good sense of humour. She was fun to be with and didn't ever seem to get jealous. Scorpius remembered in third year when her first ever boyfriend, who had incidentally been the notorious Nathaniel Jacobite, had broken things off with her exactly two hours before the Valentine's Ball he'd promised to take her to months ago. Rose hadn't cared. She'd still put on her dress, gone to the Ball, gossiped happily with Nathaniel's new date Orla Quikke and commanded attention as she danced with herself.
Scorpius had always been there for her. She'd cried on his shoulder, he'd listened patiently to her problems and woes, he'd let her shout when she was angry, he'd suppressed his sadness when she was over the moon about a new boyfriend. The pain of unrequited love was unlike any other, yet he could never find another boy who'd experienced it to pour out his woes to. In their sixth year, Rose had thought up a stunt to get her noticed and dragged him to the Quidditch stadium before throwing herself on him.
Scorpius had thought it was genuine, not a simple stunt. He'd been so light-headed from the joy that he hadn't even tried to control his passion. He'd been heartbroken when Rose had deserted him. Her love had felt so real, and then he discovered that every kiss that robbed him of breath, every caress that rendered him speechless, it had all been fake. But Scorpius, who was a true Shakespeare fan, had read Lysander's speech in A Midsummer Night's Dream over and over. Thus, he had been thoroughly convinced that 'the course of true love never did run smooth.'
"There's so much drama going round at the moment," Rose said. "Everyone's whining that this guy deserted me and this girl is playing around with another guy and it's just boring."
"Much ado about nothing," said Scorpius, thinking longingly of how cunning and the simple act of matchmaking had brought Beatrice and Benedick together. Rose was rather like the mettlesome, lippy Beatrice and Scorpius had always thought of himself as Benedick. Perhaps there was hope for them after all.
Rose sighed and lay back in the grass, her arms behind her head. Scorpius forced himself not to stare inappropriately. His mother had raised him to be a true gentlemen and he would never force Rose to do anything. Yet, watching her hair flutter in the wind and her breasts rise and fall as she breathed in the scent of springtime, Scorpius longed to carry her away and ravish her, like some white knight in a fairytale seducing a fiery princess.
"Anyway, where were we?" Rose asked, rolling over, absent-mindedly pulling up blades of grass with her gold-painted fingernails.
"The advanced version of Pepper-Up Potion," Scorpius replied, cursing his shyness as yet another opportunity to initiate a real first kiss passed him by. He flipped the pages to the right potion and began to make notes in his neat script.
The scratching of Scorpius' quill and the slight breeze ruffling the leaves of the weeping willow they lay under was the only sound in an otherwise still summer's day. Rose watched Scorpius' pale, strong hand moving across the page, the hand that was so expert at Quidditch, expertise that Rose hoped would transfer to…other areas.
Rose had always thought of Scorpius as a mate. She'd chosen him as a companion is her stunt last year because he was respectable enough that everyone would be shocked, but all would say she'd gone astray with the right sort of boy. Though that had been a simple joke, she often found herself wanting more. Wanting real, gentle, tender kisses to slowly become red-hot passion.
Rose found her gaze straying to the turquoise-haired, green-eyed young man sitting a distance away, watching her. Teddy Lupin…now there was an attractive man. Not that things between them would ever become more than a simple one-way crush. But Rose had always liked a challenge and an older man, who was undeniably in love with her cousin, was certainly a challenge.
NEWT revision could wait, Rose decided. She grabbed hold of Scorpius' hand, a smile twitching her lips as she felt him tremble at her touch.
"Let's stop for a while," she said. "We should enjoy the early nice weather. Want to go for a swim?"
"S-sure," Scorpius stammered. Rose felt amused, but pleased that she could reduce a boy to a nervous, stammering wreck.
Rose shed her robes by the lake, revealing a shimmery gold vest and red shorts. She always wore at least that much under her robes for such occasions. She couldn't help sighing as Scorpius took off his shirt to reveal a well-defined, muscular chest. She grabbed his hand, ran at the lake and jumped in with a huge splash. She clung onto him as they plunged beneath the surface, bubbles rising around them. She was shocked, but pleased as Scorpius, his eyes looking straight into hers, pressed his lips to hers, very briefly, before moving away.
They rose back to the surface, Rose unable to overcome a feeling of unbearable disappointment. Scorpius squeezed her hand briefly underneath the water before swimming away, stopping and grinning cheekily at her, just daring her to chase him. Rose laughed and followed him, swimming after him. For now, they were simply chasing each other in circles, but, however long it took, the scorpion would capture the weasel.
"Look what I found!" Lily shrieked, running into the common room holding a large unwieldy book in her arms. She tripped over the leg of a sofa, flew halfway across the room, somehow flipped over and was on her feet before anyone realised she'd fallen.
How does she do that? Rose wondered, accepting a piece of chocolate from a blushing Peter Creevey. If I tried that, I'd break my neck.
"What did you find, Lils?" Lysander Scamander asked, ungluing himself from Jayme Corner's lips for a few seconds.
"An old photo album," Lily said, dropping the book on the table and helping herself to a fizzing whizbee. "Look, guys!"
Rose's height helped her in looking over the crowd to see. She laughed as Lily flicked through pages of photos as babies. The Hogwarts reunions had been widely attended and many people had bought their children. There was Randy Vane, such a chubby, adorable baby with his innocent wide eyes and scruffy hair. Rose shivered. How could such an adorable little boy become so evil? There were her grandparents, surrounded by toddlers but still looking incredibly in love. Rose felt tears in her eyes. That was the sort of love she wanted, the love that lasted years, lasted through everything and was still as strong as ever forty years later.
Rose seized the book, ignoring the yells of protest, as soon as the Hogwarts years began. There was a picture of each Quidditch team through the years. Rose smiled when she saw the Gryffindor team when they'd won the Quidditch Cup in her sixth year, nearly disappearing under their fellow Gryffindors and hoisting the cup high. The Rose in the picture had tears pouring down her face but was proudly holding her Beater's bat high and hugging her cousin Louie, who was covered in mud but still holding the fluttering snitch in his left fist.
Rose smiled as she found the sweetest picture. It was captioned 'The Weasley Clan plus four.' It pictured her and all her cousins on the banks of the Black Lake in summertime, plus Scorpius, Lysander and his twin Lorcon and a visiting Teddy. Scorpius had his arm around her, while Teddy lay with his head on Victoire's knees, rubbing a strand of her long blonde hair between his fingers. Lorcon and Lysander were looking out from under overlong blonde hair with grey eyes and grinning identical naughty grins and, unbeknownst to poor Fred, making bunny ears behind his head.
Rose put the album down much later. It had made her realise how many memories she had that had all but left her memory. For instance, Valentine's Day in third year, when the ceiling in the Great Hall had rained confetti instead of water droplets. Rose remembered now. Scorpius had picked up his mug of tea for a drink and found it saturated with paper hearts and birds. When Rose had laughed, he pulled the soggy lump out of his mug and thrown it at her. A magnificent confetti fight had begun and not stopped until they were all tired and their food was full of confetti and entirely inedible.
Rose picked up the book again and found the picture. As normal, she'd defied the 'get dressed before breakfast' rule and stayed in her pyjamas and slippers. In the picture, she wore plain tomato red pyjamas and matching slippers. She looked down at her short nightdress of coffee-coloured silk. She had changed. The photo perfectly showed the scene. She was throwing handfuls of confetti at Scorpius, who was holding a plate in front of himself like a shield. Their friends were laughing and egging them on, while in the corner of the picture Slytherins shot disdainful looks and their headmistress marched towards them.
Rose walked slowly up to her dormitory, admiring the round full moon through the massive windows. Full moons always reminded her of Teddy. Poor little Teddy, who'd lost his parents before his first birthday. His father had been a werewolf but you wouldn't have guessed it. From the pictures she'd seen, he'd looked normal, aside from looking greyer, older and more tired than those around him. Teddy's mother had been a Metamorphmagus, like him. In the pictures she had bubble-gum pink hair and a grin on her face.
Rose walked into her dormitory and was greeted by the sleeping murmurs of her dormmates. She climbed into her four-poster and looked fondly at the picture of a red-head with two boys by her side. One had blonde hair, the other turquoise. Briefly, Rose let her fingers trail across her Head Girl badge, blew a kiss to the picture of her family and fell asleep.
She was walking in a dark forest, her torn skirts rustling on the ground. She didn't know where to go. Then a large chestnut horse halted beside her. The face that peered down at her had deep green eyes and unruly turquoise hair. His lanky body was clad in a red tunic.
"Poor maiden that wanders lost," he whispered tenderly. "I will take you home." He offered a hand. She took it and landed lightly in front of him on the saddle. As she felt his arms wind around her and he pressed a kiss to her cheek, another horse cantered up.
She caught her breath. The man riding this horse was as pale as his mount. His platinum-blonde hair fell over breath-takingly beautiful grey eyes. He wore a black tunic that contrasted with his white skin. He offered a hand.
"Come with me, fair maiden," he whispered. She looked from him, her white knight, to the raffish rogue seated behind her. Which one was she to choose?
Rose awoke with the pale dawn light filtering through her curtains. She sat up, straightening her night-dress and sliding her feet into slippers. She took an over-sized red and gold dressing gown from a hook beside her bed and wrapped it around herself. What had the dream meant? Rose didn't need Sybil Trelawney to decipher that dream. She was lost in life and Scorpius and Teddy were frantic to rescue her…but which one was she to choose? After all, it was her choice. Would she choose the boy who was more like her brother, the boy who loved her cousin, the boy who had the power to destroy her entire family should he try anything with her? Or would she choose the boy who'd always been their for her, the boy who inspired feelings in her she'd never had before, the boy she - dare she even think it? - loved?
Rose found the common room deserted, the skeletons of last night's fire being cleared by Kreacher. Rose walked over to him and kissed the top of his bald head.
"Mistress Rose is happy today," Kreacher said brightly. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason," Rose said airily. She duly admired Kreacher's prized locket that hung around his neck, as she did every time she saw him, and then dismissed him.
Rose lay down on the floor, remembering a technique her aunt Bronwyn, who was very hot on things like yoga and aromatherapy, had taught her.
"If you ever need to make an important decision to make, use this technique." Rose remembered her aunt telling her that in a breathy voice before Uncle Charlie had come looking for food.
Rose grabbed a cushion from the sofa and put it beneath her head. The stone floors, while very beautiful, were not very comfortable. She closed her eyes and allowed her imagination to sweep her away.
She was floating aboard a yellow dinghy. The was no sound but the cawing of seagulls wheeling in the clear blue sky and the lapping of waves against the side of her boat. In the distance she saw an island. She lay back in her boat, closing her eyes and feeling the heat of the sun beating down on her.
It seemed several sunlit days later that her boat bumped the shore of the island. She opened her eyes and saw curly dark red hair, freckled bare arms and a wide, kind smile.
"Glad you made it here, Rose," Bronwyn said, laughter in her wide brown eyes as she helped Rose out of the dinghy. Rose noted that Bronwyn wore a white floral skirt and sleeveless floaty top.
"Where am I?" Rose asked.
"The island where you make important decisions," Bronwyn said. "I'm glad you're making use of what I taught you. Ask me your question."
"Should I choose Scorpius or Teddy?" Rose asked. Bronwyn sucked in a breath.
"Interesting," she said slowly. "Follow the path to the centre of the island. There you will find your answer." She handed Rose a white one-shouldered dress. Rose wondered what it was for until she realised that she wore only a sodden pink bikini. With a friendly smile for Bronwyn, she slipped the dress over her head and began to walk purposefully across the powdery white sand.
It was not long until she reached a small village. If you could call it that. It was a village square made of smooth white pebbles surrounded by five houses made of wood and grass. Very pretty. There were a few people selling unique jewellery, food and drink and clothes. She was willing to pay a few coins for a half-shell of coconut milk and what the stall owner called 'fruit salad on a stick'. She brought an exquisite top crafted of delicate lace and a skirt of plain cotton with dried flowers stitched on in swirly patterns. One woman kindly offered use of her bathroom and Rose put on the new clothes, leaving her dress for the woman as a gift of thanks.
Leaving the house, Rose noticed for the first time a monument. It was a large, pale pink shell, set firmly into the sand. She couldn't resist walking up to it and found herself pressed against, feeling the energy of the earth throbbing beneath her fingers. The monument was connected to the earth. The power of the earth was surging through it into her.
Rose felt empowered and began to walk along a path of stones. She heard the chattering of monkeys and the calls of tropical birds. Then, she came to a fork in the road. There was a sign stuck in the sand between them. It was in French, but Rose had a solid knowledge of the language and so could translate it.
"Le choix que vous effectuez affectent votre vie pour toujours. Choisissez votre chemin," she whispered. "The choice you make will affect your life forever. Choose your path."
She looked at the paths. Each seemed identical: lined with palm trees, leading towards the same destination of a thick crop of trees, both with a rider at the end. One rider was identical to the raffish rogue from her dream, the other to the white knight. Only on closer inspection did the paths reveal a difference. The path towards the white knight was covered in sharp stones that would surely cut her bare feet, while the path to the raffish rogue was powdery white sand.
Rose took a step back. Which path was she to choose? The easy path to the rogue or the hard path to the knight? It took her barely seconds to realise who she wanted to run to, who she'd wanted all along.
She began to run along the path towards the knight. The stones really were sharp. They hurt her feet and she soon had tears streaking down her face. She heard hooves behind her and was unable to stop herself being swept onto the chestnut horse ridden by Teddy. She was surprised when he cantered her down to Scorpius and then shook his hand. He looked at Rose and pressed a kiss to her nose, a grin on his face and he wiped away her tears with a wrinkled tissue.
"Look after her for me," he said, transferring her hand from his horse's mane to Scorpius' pale, trembling hand. Incredulously, Rose slid onto the white horse mounted by the speechless pale rider. She felt rustling around her legs and looked down to find her lace and flowers had transformed into a deep green velvet gown shot through with silver threads. She gazed into the eyes of her white knight and knew that her decision had been right. He smiled at her, patted the horse and was kissing her as they cantered off into a pink and gold sunset.
Rose opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself back in the common room, lying on a hard stone floor. It had been so real. She'd found the right boy for her. She'd made the right decision. Scorpius was the boy for her. As she lay still a silvery hyena walked through the door.
"Hey," it said with Lorcan's voice. "Did you mean to fall asleep on the floor? We'll meet you in Honeydukes."
Rose ran upstairs and leapt into the shower, gasping at the freezing water. She shampooed her hair with one hand while brushing her teeth with the other. She dashed back to her trunk and grabbed a cashmere jumper in rich brown, gifted to her by her Slytherin friend Harmony Zabini. She pulled on jeans and outlined her eyes with smoky grey, performed a drying charm and a styling charm and slid her feet in brown leather ankle boots charmed for comfort.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Hair shining and tumbling around her shoulders, eyes wide and excited, clothes perfect. She laughed at herself. There was no need to be so nervous. She selected a pair of gold hoops from her jewellery box and slid them into her ears before running out of the common room, down the staircase, through the grounds and into Hogsmeade.
She found her group in Honeydukes, sampling chocolates. She averted her eyes from the sight of Jayme and Lysander sharing chocolates and kisses and looked frantically for Scorpius. She saw him over by the so-called 'Muggle sweets', wearing a coat of black dragon-hide her Uncle George would've killed for. Ignoring the annoyed comments from those she pushed aside and the yelled greetings of her family and friends, she ran to him and kissed him.
It was only after they drew apart that Rose registered wolf-whistles and cries of "Getta room!" Her friends were staring at her open-mouthed. Only Teddy was grinning, in a smug 'I knew it' sort of way. Rose disentangled herself from Scorpius' arms and hugged Teddy.
"I love you like a brother," she said. "I'm so glad you helped me realise." Teddy returned the hug and kissed her nose.
"Glad I could help, Rosie," he said. He bit his lip, smiling naughtily.
"Go on," Rose teased. "I know you want to say it."
"Oh, fine," Teddy said, his grin stretching wider. "I always knew you'd end up together."
"I knew first," Rose said. "You and Victoire, my ninth birthday. Excessive public displays of affection. Gran was shocked." They exchanged a high-five and Teddy walked over to Scorpius.
"Congratulations, mate, she loves you too," he said, clapping a hand to Scorpius' shoulder.
Scorpius walked slowly over to Rose. He traced her features, ran his fingers wonderingly through silky red tresses and looked deep into her eyes.
"I can't believe it," he whispered. "I'd wanted it for so long. How did it happen?"
"I remembered how you'd been so wonderful through the years," Rose said. "And I realised that…I love you.
"I love you, fair maiden," Scorpius said.
"My wonderful white knight," Rose said ecstatically and their lips met in a kiss that was the sweetest and the purest. There was applause around the room and then Victoire, also visiting, rushed up to the glowing, smiling couple.
"I always knew!" she shrieked excitedly. "We must make haste to a jewellers! You will wear this darling little dress I saw when shopping for mine, Rose, and the theme will be flowers, flowers and more flowers!"
"Steady on, love," Teddy said, ruffling her hair good-naturedly. "He hasn't even proposed." Scorpius caught Rose's eye and slid his arm a little tighter around her waist.
"Yet," he whispered. Rose leant gratefully against him as they walked towards The Three Broomsticks.
"Your usual Butterbeers?" Rosmerta asked as the group walked in.
"Hell, no," Albus exclaimed. "We're celebrating. We'll have your best bottle of malt whisky for us guys."
"Pink champagne for us girls!" Jayme exclaimed.
"French pink champagne, sil vous plait," Victoire corrected with a charming smile. An inquiring look came over Rosmerta's face.
"Pray tell, what are you celebrating?" she asked.
"Rose and Scorpius have finally got together," Albus said. He turned around and was shocked to find no one there. "I swear they were just here."
"Blimey, Lysander!" Lorcan yelled. "Rose and Scorpius are having it off in the Gents!" Albus went running and found Lorcan, Rose and Scorpius, all sitting at a table looking mischievous.
"Little imps," Albus said, taking a seat.
"Had to get in one last prank before I become a respectable wife," Rose said. Albus nearly dropped his tray of drinks.
"What?" he gasped, gaping at Scorpius and scrutinising Rose's hand for a ring. Rose sighed, rolling her eyes.
"It was a joke, Al!" she said. "Honestly, some boys are so stupid!"
The group sat happily around the table, talking, laughing, drinking and eating the sweets they'd bought at Honeydukes. They were by far the busiest, noisiest table in the pub. Rose sat with her head resting on Scorpius' shoulder, eating chocolate and wondering if she'd ever been happier. Teddy and Victoire were sharing tales of old times, laughing and joking. Rose felt her heart swell as she looked round at the odd assortment of people. They were all her family, no matter what.
Rose sucked the end of her rook feather quill, gifted to her by Lysander and Lorcan's mother, wondering exactly how to put things in her letter home. How would she say that she had fallen in love with Scorpius Malfoy and, miraculously, he loved her too?
"What you doing, Rose?" Lily asked, who was glued to a romance novel, lying with her head on the floor and her feet on the sofa, listening to Celestina Warbeck, eating chocolate frogs and dictating an essay to a Quick Quotes quill dashing across a roll of parchment. Rose admired her cousin's ability to multi-task.
"I'm writing home to Mum and Dad," she replied, pulling the end of her parchment out from under her cat Quibbler, son of her mother's ancient old cat Crookshanks.
"Go and put in a note from me, asking Dad to send out some textbooks I forgot to pack after Easter break," Lily said. "I need to revise or I'll get straight Troll OWLs." Rose laughed.
"I don't know how to tell them about me and Scorpius," she said.
"Just write it," Lily said. "'Dear Mum, I am dating Scorpius Malfoy and in future we may get married.' Couldn't be easier!"
"Couldn't be harder!" Rose corrected. "Mum would be furious if she knew her precious daughter, who was supposed to get all the necessary NEWTs and go and do Auror training, wants to marry as soon as she's out of Hogwarts."
"No she wouldn't!" Lily said airily. "After all, your dad's parents eloped at seventeen because she was pregnant."
"They never did!" Rose said, shocked. "They got married in their twenties, before she was even pregnant."
"Think of the dates," Lily said, smiling evilly. Rose's mouth fell open as she realised that the dates matched.
"Merlin," she whispered. Lily laughed and went back to her book. Rose took a deep breath and began to write. She knew what to write. She wrote what was in her heart.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Thanks for your last letter and the sweets. I shared them with Al and Lils over homework. NEWTs are quite soon, but I'm not too nervous. Having Al to go through it with and to share late night revision sessions with make it a hundred times easier than trying to do it alone.
I have some other news. I know my plans, and your plans for me, were for me to get my NEWTs and then go to Australia for Auror training like Dad did. Well, recently my plans have changed. I still want those NEWTs, and I still want to be an Auror, but I'm thinking I want to squeeze in a wedding.
Mum, I know this will be hard for you and dad to come to terms with. Merlin knows it took me a long time. But, the fact is…I'm in love with Scorpius Malfoy.
Yes, the Malfoys' son. But you mustn't let prejudice blind you…especially you, Dad. He's sweet, kind, smart, gentle and loving. I'm asking you to give your permission to marry him. If you don't, we'll elope anyway, but I'd far rather marry with you and those I love around me instead.
I love him. I can't help it. I've loved him since the day we met, I've just been too arrogant and wrapped up in myself to realise it until now. I know this is a shock to you, but I assure you I write only what is in my heart. Lots of love,
Rose.
Rose looked critically at the letter for a minute. Having decided it was suitably formal and would break the news sufficiently to give the softest blow possible, she added a PS:
Could you ask Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny to send Lily her OWL textbooks she left at home over Easter break? She needs them for revision. R.
"Ron!" Hermione yelled up the stairs. "Get your lazy arse out of that bed! The post is here and Harry and Ginny will be here soon." She listened for a moment and heard the sounds of her husband moving about their bedroom. Satisfied that he was getting ready to face the day, she slit open the first letter on the pile. It was from Rose. Hermione smiled as she thought of her eldest child. Strong, loyal, smart, cunning, brave, not to mention incredibly beautiful, Rose was her pride and joy. She read the first paragraph, smiling at the friendly chatter and the mention of her cousins. A frown came over her face as she read on. My plans have changed…what the hell did that mean? Then, she read the fatal words: I'm in love with Scorpius Malfoy.
Hermione screamed, dropping the letter as if it had burned her. Ron came hurtling down the stairs, his hair sticking up all over the place, wand out.
"What is it, love?" he asked. "What happened?"
"A letter from Rose came," Hermione whispered. "She wants to get married after Hogwarts." Ron stuffed his wand into his pocket, looking disgruntled.
"You made me run down the stars at Olympic sprinter speed because our daughter wants to get married," he grumbled. "Who?"
"Scorpius Malfoy," Hermione said, her voice and hands trembling with the shock.
"WHAT?" Ron shouted, grabbing the letter from her. He read it quickly, his eyes whizzing back and forth. Then, with a perfectly calm face, he took hold of it and ripped it into tiny pieces.
"Cooee!" Ginny called, dumping a bottle of Firewhisky and assorted jams and chutneys onto the kitchen table. She stopped short when she saw Ron shaking with rage, Hermione looking shocked and sad and a pile of ripped up paper on the floor. "What happened?" she asked, picking up a few pieces of paper.
"Rose wrote," Ron explained through gritted teeth. "She's in love with Scorpius Malfoy and wants to marry him." Ginny's jaw dropped.
"Ron, calm down," Hermione said softly, laying a hand on her husband's arm. Ron turned to them.
"I'll calm down better on my own," he growled. "Both of you, get out of here." Ginny grabbed Hermione and dragged her out of the room.
"There, there," she said, conjuring a handkerchief for Hermione's tears. The comfort was no good when the two women heard a thump that made it clear someone had smashed his fists - or his head - against the wall.
"I don't begrudge Rose happiness, I really don't," Hermione sniffed, wiping her eyes. "But to find it with a Malfoy is a bit of a shock."
"Ron's always been a prejudiced, judgemental git," Ginny said. "He's only so annoyed because it's a Malfoy, not because it's Scorpius. The boy is charming and sweet, not like his father at all. He got his mother's temperament, thank Merlin." Hermione looked up.
"You've met them?" she asked incredulously.
"Al bought him home one summer," Ginny said. "Stayed a week while Draco and Astoria were in Spain and was the politest house guest you could wish for. You'd love him for a son-in-law, and so would Ron." Harry walked in and looked confused when he saw Hermione crying, Ginny looking worried and heard the repeated thumps.
"Ron's all wound up about Rose's latest letter," Ginny explained. "She wants to marry Malfoy's son. Go in there and calm him down, would you?"
Harry nodded, kissed his wife's cheek and walked into the room to find Ron repeatedly slamming his fists against the wall.
"Slimy…smarmy…bastard!" he growled, punching the wall with every word, as if imagining it was Malfoy's face.
"Ron, stop it!" Harry shouted. Ron ignored him. Harry pulled out his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" Ron fell to the floor, completely frozen but for his eyes, which looked accusingly at him. Harry couldn't help laughing.
"Sorry, mate, only way I could get you to listen to me," he said, sitting on the floor beside Ron. "Look, I know you hate Malfoy for being the git he was at school. I do too, but Malfoy today isn't that same slimy, smarmy bastard from school and Scorpius certainly isn't his father. It's a great compliment to you that Rose wants to bring such a wonderful boy into your family." He unfroze Ron, curious to hear how his best friend would respond to this argument.
"I know you're right," Ron groaned. "But I can't help thinking that Malfoy told his son to make Rose fall in love with him and then break her heart."
"Any loving father would think that," Harry replied. "I'll bet your dad felt the same way about me and that Hermione's dad felt the same with you. I know I felt the same way about Philip Longbottom when Lily started dating him."
"Scorpius is different from his father, right?" Ron asked, his eyes pleading for confirmation.
"Couldn't be more different," Harry said firmly. "Sweet, polite and loving. Perfect for your Rose."
"Rose wrote that Lily says you should send her the OWL textbooks she left at home in the Easter break," Ron said. Harry laughed.
"So you read that letter before tearing it up," he said. Ron laughed too and gave Harry a high-five.
Four days later, as her exams began in earnest and she was kept awake at night by worry, Rose received her parents reply. When she opened the envelope, a silvery terrier popped out.
"Hey, Rose," it said with her father's voice. "We were a little shocked when we got your letter but Harry and Ginny helped us realize you're perfect for each other. Get married with our blessing. Good luck with your NEWTs. Love, Dad and Mum." The terrier disappeared for a moment then reappeared. "PS: Harry says he's sent Lily her textbooks." Rose laughed as the terrier dissolved into mist and ran out of her common room to find Scorpius.
She found him squeezing in some last minute revision underneath the willow tree they'd come to know as 'their place'. His hair was tangled and there were dark purple smudges under his eyes. He looked like some knight in a fairytale, who'd stayed awake all night writing poems to his lady love. She dropped onto the grass beside him before pressing a long, sweet kiss to his lips.
"What was that for?" Scorpius asked.
"I owled my parents to tell them," Rose said. "And they sent back their blessing for our marriage."
"In that case, I will do the formal thing," Scorpius said. "Rose Nymphadora Weasley, will you marry me?"
"I will marry thee, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," Rose replied. Her fiancé kissed her and, taking off the silver ring emblazoned with the Malfoy crest, slid it onto her finger.
"That will do until I get to a jeweller," he said. "Though as you're becoming part of my family I should really let you keep it."
"I love you," Rose said. She gazed deep into grey eyes and felt herself levitating with happiness. As her gaze drifted down to his lips, she began to daydream.
She was waiting beneath the willow tree for a lover who seemed like he would never come. She ran her fingers nervously through long red tresses and smoothed the red gown she wore.
Then her lover emerged from the lake, clad all in black and fastened a string of large diamonds around her neck. Tears of gratitude and love in her eyes, she thanked him silently with her eyes.
"Fair maiden, what can a humble knight do to win your heart?" he asked.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet," she replied.
"I am sworn to be your love," he replied, melding his lips with hers.
"Daydreaming again, Rose?" Scorpius asked. "What about?"
"I fantasised that you were a white knight and I was a princess and that you asked how to win my heart," Rose said, blushing slightly.
"How will I win your heart?" Scorpius asked. Rose pulled his face down to hers.
"With kisses," she replied.
Hope you enjoyed it! There are a few Shakespeare quotes sprinkled throughout, from Romeo and Juliet and so on. The meditation technique rose uses was taught to me at my drama class and is called 'The Island'.