And this year's Christmas fic. I quite like this one, but of course, like my previous one and the ones before it, it has had minimal editing so if there's any obvious mistakes, please let me know.

Merry Christmas, Rose

Rose Weasley looked out at the crowd of people dancing merrily around the room. Standing off to the side, drink in hand, she couldn't help but ponder over her first year working at the Ministry.

It was certainly not what she had had in mind but it was one huge learning curve. She and a small group of trainees had been part of a new project that allowed a wizard or witch to spend time in the Muggle world as a means of learning more of how they lived. It was innovative in the realm of Wizarding understanding and somewhat more successful than any of them had ever hoped. Her supervisor, Graham Potts, was remarkably influential in getting some of the more rigid-minded people to at least spend some time in the Muggle world for a day and longer if they so desired. Rose herself had spent two weeks living in a small flat overlooking Hyde Park in London where she had spent time working as a waitress at a café not far away. She had had an unfair advantage, no doubt, but she still relished the time spent in a world that she had not spend too much time in.

Something caught her eye as she was thinking and she glanced up to see the blond hair of Scorpius Malfoy coming directly for her. Making eye contact, she smiled.

"Scorp," she said by way of greeting.

"Rosie," he replied, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Not getting up yet?"

She swatted his arm. "You know me; I don't dance in large crowds."

He rolled his eyes. "How could I forget? Leaving Feast, 6th Year. Our penultimate year at Hogwarts and the one time I finally ask you to dance afterwards and you flatly refuse!"

"Oh, Scorp, you didn't seem too fussed after Sarah Longbottom passed by."

Scorpius looked away wistfully. "Ah, Sarah," he muttered. "Best kiss I ever had. Of course, that was not planned at all."

It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes. "No? Not at all, I bet. We all know your reputation as a bit of a ladie's man, Scorp. You seemed pretty keen on keeping that reputation during our years."

"And yet, Rosie, you never once kissed me."

"Why would I? We've been best friends since we were children! Kissing you would be like kissing Hugo."

Scorpius smiled. "Perhaps." He said no more of it but instead changed the subject. "So, have you seen your mother here tonight? I must say, she looks lovely."

Rose smiled. Her mother had always been able to captivate an audience with her modest beauty and grace; the Ministry's Christmas Ball was no different.

"I know you've always had a thing for my mum, Scorpius. Was that why you chose the profession that you did?"

Scorpius looked mock-annoyed. "No! Besides which, I wasn't the only one who saw her in that way."

Rose grinned. "Oh, that's right. You and half the year level."

Scorpius raised his eyebrow. "Is it any wonder? She was single-handedly responsible for all the boys to discover how to use their cocks." At Rose's look of shock, he quickly amended his statement. "Not that she was responsible, but do you remember when she turned up for the Guest Lecturer History of Magic class? Now that was a class to remember!"

"How could I forget?" Rose muttered. "It was all I could do to get away from all the boys' whispers of 'blimey Rose, your mum's fit!'"

Scorpius laughed. "See? Now do you understand what I mean?"

"Fine!" Rose muttered resignedly. "Still, I wish Dad still saw her like that."

It was no secret in the Wizarding World that shortly after Hugo Weasley was born, Hermione and Ron Weasley's marriage fell apart. It was, perhaps, a marriage out of necessity and dependence and finally, Ron's jealous streak became too much. His constant put-downs of Hermione's success led her to finally pack up shop and move out, taking her two children with her. It had meant that she had cut off all ties with the Weasley family. Only Ginny and George remained in contact with her, except, of course, when it was Ron's turn to look after the children. Molly saw no reason to speak to Hermione although she did stop Ron from turning his children away from their mother. For that, Rose knew, Hermione was extremely grateful.

Scorpius said nothing. He knew how painful the separation was on Rose given he'd gone through the exact same thing with his parents. It was the thing that brought them together, knowing that the other knew of the pain and suffering that seeing your parents fighting caused. In Scorpius' case, it was his father's reluctance to open up about what had happened during the war. He knew that his father and mother loved each other deeply but it finally became too much for his mother who tried everything to get his father to get over his guilt. Finally, it took her to walk out on him for him to finally open up but by that stage, it was too late.

"Hey look!" Rose pointed to the other side of the room. "There's Albus. You want to come over and say 'hello'?"

Something else had caught Scorpius' eye, something that was not too far away from Albus. "Sure," he replied. "Why not?"

As they wandered over, Scorpius made sure that he was standing right next to Albus. "Al," he said by way of greeting.

Albus shook his hand. "Scor, Merry Christmas."

"Same to you. Many plans this year? Is the big Weasley get-together on the calendar?"

Albus rolled his eyes. "Mum and Dad have decided this year to avoid the chaos for once. They just want to be able to enjoy some time to themselves and honestly, I don't blame them. Victoire and Louis continually speak French amongst themselves just to annoy everyone else who can't understand them, then Teddy joins in because he spent a year at Beauxbatons with Victoire, and then Roxanne and Fred come up with some hair-brained but admittedly genius scheme to throw a backfiring wand in the works, much to the annoyance of Uncle Percy. It just gets too much."

Scorpius, who'd never had such a rowdy Christmas, seemed amazed. "But surely it would be so much fun with so many people around."

Albus threw him a look. "I understand why you'd say that but when you never get peace and quiet, it's too much. How about we trade places one year and you can see?"

Scorpius knew it was a hollow promise made in jest but he shook Albus's hand regardless. "Deal."

The three of them continued to chat for some time when finally Albus was called over to his father to be introduced to a Ministry official. He bid his farewell, leaving Scorpius and Rose alone again.

"So, what do you suppose you'll be able to do next year, Scorp?" she asked.

Scorpius thought for a moment. "I don't know, to be honest. Your mother runs a pretty tight schedule in the Legal Department. I really do enjoy it though; I just hope that we get to actually see a few more cases come to fruition."

"I'm sure you will. I know she enjoys running Advanced History of Magic classes alongside her actual Law subjects. They go hand in hand, really."

"Yes, I know. At least she a wonderful teacher, and no, I'm not just saying that because I'm best friends with her daughter."

Rose smiled up at him. "I know, on both counts."

At that moment, the subject of their conversation both caught their eyes as she made her way to the drinks table. Not long after, another person also made their way to the drinks table, causing the two friends to gasp and look at one another.

"Your mum and my dad!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"I know!" Rose said, just as shocked. "I didn't think that they would ever get over their past."

"Do you ever think they will?"

"I don't know, but they seem to be getting along right now."

It appeared that they were not wrong. Hermione Granger (as she had reverted back to her maiden name) and Draco Malfoy were talking. It was one thing to nod curtly as they passed each other on the street but it was another thing entirely to not only talk to one another but to appear as if they were enjoying it.

Both Rose and Scorpius knew how big of a step this was in their reconciliation. They did not look overly comfortable but neither appeared to want to disappear, either. It made Rose and Scorpius inwardly happy to see their parents wanting to put their past behind them, especially in Scorpius' case. His father was not one to open up to many people but it appeared that Hermione seemed willing to listen. If the small smile his father gave her was anything to go by, it could not have been a bad conversation that they were having. He was willing to bet it was about him, given he was one of Hermione's first year trainees, but he didn't care. His father was willing to make a step in the right direction. His mother had clearly given him something to think about when she walked out.

"I'm so happy to see him make an effort," he said quietly.

Rose squeezed his hand softly. "I know how proud you are of him."

Scorpius looked down at his hand encased by Rose's. "That's what I like about you, Rosie."

Rose looked up, not realising she still had hold of Scorpius' hand.

He smiled shyly down at her. "Do you remember our conversation before when you said that you thought that kissing me would be like kissing Hugo?"

Rose nodded, still dumbfounded by the sudden change of Scorpius' tone.

"Look up."

Rose looked up, surprised to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging just above her head. She looked back at Scorpius in utter shock.

"Can we try that theory out?"

Having finally found her voice, Rose whispered, "But I never thought you were serious!"

Scorpius looked down at her earnestly. "Always, Rosie."

Rose' eyes widened. "Always?"

"Always."

Scorpius did not give her time to respond before he lowered his mouth to hers. Rose was still too stunned to push him away but she found that when his lips touched hers, she most definitely did not think that she was kissing Hugo. If truth be told, it was the best kiss that she had ever received.

Finally, her senses came back to her and she pushed Scorpius away, putting distance between them. Scorpius, to her surprise, did not look annoyed at all.

"But you're my friend, Scorp!" she exclaimed. "Besides which, what about all the others?"

He raised his eyebrow. "What others?"

"All those girls at Hogwarts and the ones you've dated since."

"I'm not interested in anyone else."

Rose creased her eyebrows in confusion. "But you're interested in me?"

Scorpius reached for her again but this time, Rose did not push him away. "At first I wasn't sure what I felt. Then I realised that I wanted you, Rose. I've always wanted you."

"But, we've grown up together, Scorp." Even now, Rose knew her argument was poor.

Scorpius pulled her closer. "No one knows us better than the other."

Then was nothing else that Rose could say. She could not deny it; Scorpius was always there for her, he was her best friend, he knew her better than anyone else, including her brother and her cousins. If truth be told, she never thought that she could live up to his expectations. Then again, she should have known better.

She did the only logical thing her mind could come up with and pulled his mouth down for another kiss.

Scorpius laughed against her mouth and kissed her in return. When they finally pulled apart, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Merry Christmas, Rosie."

"Merry Christmas, Scorp."

Unbeknownst to the two young adults, two much older adults had watched the entire scene unfold.

Hermione turned to Draco. "I must say, I was not expecting that they would finally succumb to their feelings so soon."

Draco gave a small smile. "I do believe the mistletoe had something to do with it."

"Your son is wonderful, by the way."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "I'm afraid I don't know your daughter except by what my son has said of her. By his account, she is a great friend to him. For that, I'm very grateful that he has had someone to be there."

Hermione smiled. "I think you'll be given plenty of opportunity to. I can only hope that she has as much of a positive impact on you as your son has on me. You are a credit to him, Draco."

Draco opened his mouth to respond but found nothing would come out. He looked away quickly.

"The war did some horrible things to us all but you do not need to stay in the past. Your son is testament that you are a good man."

Hermione spoke so softly that Draco was unsure that he had heard right. He finally looked back at her.

"Hermione…" he was unable to say anything more.

She reached into him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Draco," she muttered as she pulled away.

Draco stared down at her intently. "Merry Christmas, Hermione."

As she made to part ways, he reached out and caught her arm. She turned around, slightly surprised at his forthrightness.

"Did you want to go out for a tea sometime?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course. I'll await your owl."

Draco smiled genuinely as Hermione walked away. He slowly turned around and walked back to the group he had entered with, oblivious of the two young adults on the other side of the room, shocked but not displeased at what they had just witnessed between their parents.