Disclaimer: If you don't know who owns Harry Potter, I would advise you to talk with that J.K. Rowling woman…

Summary: Scorpius's attempt at the perfect proposal doesn't quite go to plan. At all. Rose/Scorpius. –Written for the Flower Challenge-

A/N: Thanks a lot to my beta, Miles333. And to youcanreachthestars for the title. :)

Written for the Flower Challenge at HPFC.

Scorpius/Rose: Tulip

"Malfoy, relax." I scowled at my best friend, that's Lily by the way, and muttered something that wasn't about to repeated. She grinned at me, catching what I said before giving me a quick eye-over.

I squirmed, trying to relax too, scowling down at her again as she reached up and straightened my tie. She smirked, and her green eyes danced. Merlin. She was enjoying this.

"Lils….stop that," I whined, trying to back up away from her and her prying hands. But the bathroom that we were in was small and I couldn't back up far without running into one of the closed stall doors. My back was already as bruised as it needed to be. Lily…showing me a couple new ways to tackle someone…what I wouldn't do for her…and for some reason, I thought she milked that for all she was worth, but I wasn't pointing fingers.

"If you don't stand still, I will strangle you with this," Lily threatened, jerking my black tie even tighter to get the point across. I instantly stilled, knowing she would do what she said without a second thought. And seeing that I was about to ask Rose to marry me, it would put a definite damper on things if I were dead.

We were at some Muggle eating place, my girlfriend's favorite restaurant, and Lily was here to make sure I actually was "suitable" to "pop the Big Question to Rosie."

Rosie was Rose Weasley, my hopefully soon-to-be fiancée, and she only allowed Lily and her brother, Hugo, to call her that. I was hoping to wear her down to let others, namely myself, call her that as well.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to me, Lily stepped back, clearly pleased with my tie. At least someone was. I felt like I was choking. I had better not getting strangled or I would come back and haunt her as a ghost for the rest of her life.

"Now, don't you look pretty," Lily said, looking sweet and innocent. Since I knew her so well, I saw right through it.

I gently slapped her on the head, grinning now. "Malfoys and pretty don't mix, Potter."

"Fine, whatever," Lily sniffled, as she straightened my suit jacket. Shish. Women.

Lily stepped back again, glancing me over once more before grabbing the bouquet of flowers that lay on the counter. I had picked them out myself. They were a mixture of yellow and red, and I was pretty pleased with them

"Here you go." She handed the tulips to me before standing on her tiptoes and brushing a couple of fingers through my hair. I fought the urge to squirm, more than ready to get out of there and find my girlfriend.

She finished fixing my hair, then nearly tripped over my foot thanks to her high heels, and grabbed at my arm my arm to steady herself. Her fingers dug into my skin.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Potter? You're going to break your ankle in those," I scolded as she got her footing. She didn't bother to answer, just turned up her nose at me, a sure sign she was more annoyed than angry. I flashed a grin at her, causing her to stick her tongue out at me.

"Come on, boy. I bet Rose is sitting out there, waiting for you." She pulled me to the door and suddenly, I found myself very nervous. Oh, Merlin. What if I screwed this up?

Lily suddenly glanced at me, eyes sympathetic as she used her other hand to open the door. "Oi, Malfoy. You're not going pass out on me, are you?" That was Lily for you, tough love.

I weakly shook my head. Merlin, I had never been this nervous in all my twenty-one years, and that was all the other former Gryffindor needed to drag me out of the bathroom and past several crowded tables. I didn't register any of the faces, only searching for my girlfriend.

Then I saw what Lily apparently saw and almost choked. Rose.

She was sitting at a table, red hair swept in a bun, pearl earrings dangling from her ears. She was dressed in a low-cut, tight fitting black dress and I could see every curve and Dark Mark. She was gorgeous.

"Put your tongue back in your mouth, lover-boy," Lily advised me quietly. I swallowed hard, feeling my checks flush.

Cut it out, Malfoy. You're supposed to be a bloody Gryffindor. Where's all that bravery when you need it?

We reached the table and when Rose looked up, my heart stopped. Bloody Merlin, she was beyond stunning.

"Hey." It felt if my mouth had cotton in it and suddenly, it was really hard to talk. Lily rolled her eyes and laughed, and I mentally reminded myself to give her another head-slap when I saw her next.

"I think he's a bit tongue-tied, Rosie," Lily explained, and this time, it was me who rolled my eyes. Lily.

"Go, Potter, before I hex you," I ordered, finding my voice and sending my best mate a look that would make anyone beside her or Rose shudder in fear.

Lily just grinned sassily at me and winked at Rose. "Have fun, you two. I have to go shop for things." By the way she said "things" I think she meant engagement gifts and that totally didn't help my nerves. The look she shot me told I was right.

"I hate you," I mouthed at her, trying to ignore the look of amusement that was on Rose's face. Lily grinned cheekily at me.

"Love you, too," the redhead replied easily before waving and walking away. I scowled and Rose laughed, and then I forgot about Lily.

"So how did your job interview go, love?" I asked, loving the way Rose smiled. It was like the whole world brightened. I sat down opposite of her after I took off my jacket and placed it on my chair, placing the tulips in my lap for the time being.

Before she could reply, a waitress came over to take our orders. We had been here enough times for us to know exactly what we wanted without menus and we ordered, me asking for a bottle of champagne.

After the Muggle left, we resumed talking.

We caught up, me not having seen her since about two days ago. It was a few minutes later when I finally remembered the tulips.

"Here you go." I pulled the tulips from my lap. Seeing the way Rosie's eyes lit up with worth it.

Then she sneezed.

Several times.

"I –" sneeze. "Think –" sneeze. "I'm allergic –" Two sneezes then. "To them, hon." Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze.

I froze, distressed, as I pulled the tulips back. Merlin. Lily hadn't told me what to do if…then it hit me.

Making sure no one's attention was on us, I stared at the roses and said silently said thanks to whoever had invented Transfiguration. Seconds later, the tulips were roses.

Rose sniffled, blinked, then grinned. I handed them back to her and for a second, I was lost in her eyes.

Then the waitress came back with our food and I was pulled back to the real world.

As I started on my steak, I mentally patted myself on the back for thinking of such a quick way to make the tulips not so tulipish.

As we ate, we talked some more, well Rosie was the one talking…I was getting lost in her eyes, voice, everything again. We walked about her new job offer – DADA teacher at Hogwarts – and we talked about Lysander's upcoming engagement party with Victorie, which really surprised me. We talked about Lorcan and Lucy and what they would name their baby girl Lucy was suppose to have in a mouth.

And of course we talked about Lily and whether or not Teddy was ever going to man up and ask her to marry him. If he didn't, I was going to have a bit of a discussion with him.

As Rose was talking about her Uncle Charlie and the fact he had finally decided to move back home, the nausea decided to attack.

It swept over me like a broom and it took everything I had not to puke. It reminded me of when I got the stomach flu. It was that bad.

I must have looked as bad as I felt because Rose stopped, looking concerned. "Honey, you okay?"

I didn't respond…in seconds I was up, making my way through the crowd, and then I was in one of the bathroom stalls, throwing up my guts.

I don't really want to go into it but after a lot of throwing up and dry-heaving, I finally stopped. I leaned back against the stall's wall, tired, my abdomen throbbing painfully as I closed my eyes. If this wasn't food poisoning, I didn't know what was.

"You okay?" I jumped at the sound of her voice before relaxing again. I'd had no idea that she had come. Her hand in mine, simple action and all, but it was comforting.

"Yeah, peachy," I replied, smiling even through my throat and inside of my mouth ached and tasted like bile. I loosened my tie and tightened my grip around Rosie's hand, telling her silently "thank you".

Then suddenly, I remembered the ring I had in my pants pocket and swallowed hard, mentally gagging at the disgusting taste in my mouth. Well, I guess this was as good as time as any to propose.

I used my other hand to pull the box out. Opening my eyes, I kept my eyes firmly on the box as Rose gasped her surprise and prayed to anyone that was listening I wasn't about to mess this up.

"I know this may not be the best place to ask you this considering we're in a bathroom stall and I'll probably throw up again in a minute but Rosie, I love you and I can't live without you and I want to build a life with you and want to have several kids with you. Maybe eight. And Rosie…will you marry me?" The words trembled out of my mouth before I could think about them and I felt my checks flush, which for the record didn't happen a lot.

"Yes…yes…yes!" Then Rose was throwing her arms around me and I felt her tears falling on my shirt. I thought the happiest day of my life was meeting Rose…this day tied. I couldn't even begin to say how happy I was.

Then we kissed and I forgot all about my bile-smelling breath and I was more happy than I ever had been in my life.

Suddenly Rose broke away and I was left confused. She grinned at me and the look she gave me that had Lily written all over it.

"Maybe we could continue this after you brushed your teeth and feel better?"

I laughed, trying to ignore the nausea that was sweeping over me again. "You know, Rosie? I think that would be best."

Silence. "Don't call me Rosie."

First, here's some UBI about the tulip:

Tulips can mean a variety of things. They are sacred to Mars (Men) not Venus (Women).

Multi-colored tulips are supposed to represent people with beautiful eyes, and therefore beautiful souls. (The eyes are the window to the soul.) Be careful. Yellow tulips mean hopelessness, so be wary of those who give you these. Overall, tulips mean "perfect lover" so it's the perfect flower to tuck into the buttonhole of his tux. :-)

In different places, flowers take on diverse meanings. In general a tulip represents a perfect lover, fame, love, passion, luck and is the flower emblem of Holland. A red tulip usually means believe me or a declaration of love.

A variegated tulip stands for beautiful eyes while a simple yellow tulip means 'there's sunshine in your smile' or that you're hopelessly in love with the other person.

The word tulip is said to be derived from tulbent, which is the Turkish term for turban due to the shape of the bloom. It was the Middle East that led to the emergence of this beautiful flower more than a thousand years ago. It symbolized the Turkish Empire.prestige. They are a wonderful flower to gift when you want to show your passion for the one you love.

Second, please review. :D