The Burrow was spotless. Everything was quiet, deceptively calm, until you reached the sitting room from which one could see the rising sun through the window.
Hermione Weasley née Granger was usually a very calm, rather restrained woman. She would have to be, as a high official in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, wife of Ronald Weasley, best friend of the head of the Auror Department, and mother of two. But at the moment, she was rushing around madly, barefoot, with her heels thrown in a corner. Her hair was escaping from the bun she had so painstakingly arranged it in. She waved her wand, seemingly at random. Cushions righted themselves. Her husband was following her, bleary eyed with a scowl on his face, still in his pajamas. He carried a mug of steaming coffee.
"Are you going to help me or just stand there?" Hermione snapped. "Your daughter is getting married today, and you're drinking coffee? Are you even going to get dressed?"
"Calm down, woman," Ron snapped at her. "This is an unreasonable hour."
He nursed over his mug of coffee, his hands clenched tightly around it. "The place's as clean as it's ever been. Making it cleaner won't prevent Rose from marrying a Malfoy. Thus, we should go back to sleep."
Hermione ignored him, rushing out of the sitting room and into the kitchen. With a flick of her wand, the white tablecloth was replaced with a blue and gold one. Scorpius came in, smiling weakly. He helped himself to coffee, then collapsed into a chair.
"At least make it red and gold," Ron started to protest. A glare from Hermione shut him up.
"Go wake up Rose," she ordered, hands on hips.
"Good morning!" Astoria chirped as she entered the kitchen, bright and very awake. She, too, was dressed for the wedding. "How can I help?"
"That's fine, Astoria, just get ready," Hermione told her, exiting the kitchen with Ron and Astoria following her. Her mother in law squeezed past her, into the kitchen.
Astoria looked down at the neat dress robes she wore, then touched her hair, looking bemused. Before she could say anything, Draco joined her. They stood together, Astoria offering help, Draco getting to remain unnoticed.
Hermione and Ron left Astoria and Draco in the sitting room, Astoria on the sofa and Draco skulking in the corner, looking thoroughly displeased. Astoria's eyes were unusually bright and she was sniffing. Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Honestly, Astoria, pull yourself together. Especially in front of this...rabble."
Astoria looked very close to tears. "My only son is getting married, Draco. Do you expect anything different?"
Draco sighed testily. His eyes flitted to his father, just to avoid looking at the wedding cake on the table. The rest of the house's inhabitants had risen by this time. Lucius and Arthur Weasley were glaring at each other.
Hermione rushed into her daughter's bedroom, her hair everywhere. She had been up for hours, doing as much last minute preparation as she could. She wore a slightly manic expression. "Rose, wake up! You're going to be late for your own wedding! Scorpius is already ready!"
"Calm down, Hermione!" Ron snapped, following close behind her. Hermione was out of the room almost as soon as she had entered. Ron was slower to leave. After his wife had left the room, he leaned down to his daughter's ear and whispered furtively, "It's not too late to back out!"
Rose glared at him, pulling herself out of bed. She stalked past him, into the narrow passage that led to the stairs. She descended them, entering the kitchen.
Molly Weasley was bustling around inside, a taller blonde woman standing regally in the corner.
"Are you going to stand there or come help?" Molly demanded, chopping vegetables as if each one had personally offended her. "Your only grandson is getting married today! This is a big day, and we have a lot of work to do!"
"Really, I insist you allow me to call for a caterer. Cooking for as many people as this is simply absurd," Narcissa Malfoy drawled, raising her chin proudly.
"Nonsense, I've done it for years," Mrs. Weasley replied briskly. She jerked her chin toward the oven. "Check on it, would you?"
Narcissa wrinkled her nose, protesting, "This is ridiculous."
Mrs. Weasley waved her wand, setting two other knives slicing meat and bread. She stepped away from the counter, glaring up at the taller woman. "I insist, you either help me or leave without the useless suggestions!"
Narcissa turned without another word and strode out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley smiled at her granddaughter, sliding a plate of toast in front of her. Rose started eating cheerfully.
Out in the sitting room, the glaring had expanded into a full out brawl. Lucius and Arthur were on their feet, wands pointed at each other. Astoria, Draco, and several others were seated in sofas and chairs around the room, taking in the scene with mild interest.
Arthur sent a book flying at Lucius, who dodged, allowing the book to send flying and smash a vase of flowers that had been set on the table. Water dripped off the table's edge and soaked into the carpet. Lucius hissed something under his breath, just as Arthur threw up a Shield Charm.
Lucius's jinx ricocheted off Arthur's Shield, knocking over the elaborate wedding cake. The duelers cursed in unison.
Perhaps at the sound of their voices, or a delayed reaction to the sound of the breaking vase, Rose and Scorpius ran into the room, Rose seconds ahead.
They both took a moment to stare in shock. Then they started talking all at once, both trying to drown out the other, screaming at their grandfathers to calm down.
"Don't talk over me!" Rose snapped at Scorpius.
"I wasn't - " Scorpius started to protest. Rose's hand snapped out, slapping him across the face. She pushed past him to get back the stairs. When she reached them, she sprinted up them, yanked open the door of the first bedroom she reached, and flung herself inside.
Scorpius stayed where he was, raising his hand to his cheek. There was a second of silence before Rose's brother and several of her cousins stood to yell at him.
"Malfoy!" Lily Potter screamed, but that was as far as she got before her voice was drowned out by the voices of her relatives. All Scorpius could hear was, "idiot", "angry", "Rose", and "wedding". His eyes flickered over to Albus, who was still sitting. He was quite obviously torn between a desire to laugh at his friend's expense and the obligation to get up and defend him. The first won out.
"You're the worst best man ever!" Scorpius hissed at Albus, who shrugged, clearly unabashed. Scorpius stayed there for a few minutes, allowing the cousins to yell at him. Then he turned on his heel and bolted, dashing after Rose.
Albus reclined in his chair. His mother came running in, robes soaked and hair plastered to her face. She dumped down a pile of presents unceremoniously, absentmindedly waving her wand and drying her robes. Behind her was Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Percy, all just as wet. They put down their own armloads of presents.
"All of you, out!" Hermione ordered. "It's raining, and no one's set up the tent!"
Narcissa's annoyed voice came from the direction of the kitchen. "Now will you allow me to call a caterer? The wedding can take place at...a later date."
Everybody ignored her.
Albus, Lily, Hugo, Fred, Roxanne, Lucy, and James all made their way outside, shepherded by Ginny and Hermione. Harry and Percy led the way, Ron hanging back.
"Harry, you, Ginny, and Percy help me set up the marquee. You all go inside with the presents and start drying them off," Hermione directed. They all nodded. Hermione waved her wand in a long, elegant movement. Harry, Ginny, and Percy mimicked her.
The massive pile of material soared upwards, settling slowly into the proper shape.
Albus, Lily, Hugo, Fred, Roxanne, Lucy, and James all rushed inside, carrying tables, food, and gifts. Taking shelter, they started to dry all that had been soaked.
As soon as Roxanne had placed the final dry present on a table, the patter of the incessant rain stopped. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She kicked off a shoe and reached to massage the aching foot.
"Thank Merlin..." she breathed. "Where are Rose and Scorpius?"
The Burrow shook with the scream of one woman. Normally pleasant and warm, her wrath was a sight to see when it was induced. And right then, she was furious. Lucius and Arthur quavered under her glare.
"HOW COULD YOU, YOU BLITHERING IDIOTS?" Molly screeched. "I SPENT HOURS MAKING THAT CAKE PERFECT! ARTHUR WEASLEY, LUCIUS MALFOY, I AM SICK OF YOUR ATTITUDES! ARTHUR - OVER THERE! MALFOY - THERE! YOU ARE GOING TO BE RELATED IN A FEW HOURS, AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS...THIS IDIOCY! SOMEONE, GO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE CAKE!"
"I'll do it!" Astoria volunteered eagerly. She, seemingly unaffected by Molly's rage, rushed over to raise the cake off the ground.
"Thank you, Astoria," Molly said. She glared sharply at the two men until they went to the corners they had been directed into. Arthur folded his arms over his chest. Lucius glared at the wall, poking the air with his wand. Molly waved her wand unnecessarily violently, cleaning up the shattered glass.
Upstairs, huddled by the window in a bedroom, were Rose and Scorpius. Scorpius had an arm around Rose's shoulders.
"Think it's safe to go back down?" Rose wondered. They both winced at the sound of someone's raised voice. "I guess that's a no..."
"Definitely," Scorpius nodded. His eyes left the tent. Then he swore loudly. "Oh, no..."
"What?" Rose asked, following his gaze. She gasped sharply, then looked down at her nightgown. Scorpius leaped to his feet, pulling her up with him.
Hermione froze at the sound of her nephew's voice.
"The guests have started coming!" Albus yelled, coming running into the tent. "Uncle Ron and Mr. Malfoy are yelling at each other, Granddad and Mr. Malfoy's dad are throwing things at each other, Mrs. Malfoy says the cake isn't ready, and I can't find Rose and Scorpius!"
Hermione was about to reply when Rose and Scorpius came sprinting out of the house. Rose was still in her nightgown. Scorpius was gasping for breath, dark circles under his eyes.
Hermione rushed for the house, presumably to fetch Rose's dress. Scorpius collapsed into the nearest chair. Albus summoned a mug of coffee and handed it to Rose, who drank it all in one gulp, slamming it down. Albus grabbed her arm, pulling Scorpius up with his free hand, and started to drag them back to the Burrow.
Hermione caught up with them by the door. She shoved the dress into Rose's arms. "Get dressed, Rose! The guests are coming!"
Scorpius started banging his head against the nearest wall. Albus patted him on the back awkwardly. "Everything will be okay..."
His voice died out as Ron and Draco stormed into the house together. They were glaring at each other.
"Go away," Ron snapped. "Right now, all I want is to get drunk. But Rose says that I can't have anything stronger than Butterbeer."
"I," Draco said haughtily, "would like to enjoy the last few minutes before my son ruins both his life and mine. Therefore, I am trying to avoid human contact. You are disturbing the peace."
"You are a Death Eater that made my life miserable," Ron growled. Neither he nor Draco appeared to notice Albus and Scorpius, the latter starting to hit his head against the wall even harder. Albus patted him on the back again, shaking his head sadly.
"This really is a deranged family, isn't it?" he asked. Neither Ron or Draco heard him. Scorpius sighed, nodding.
Lily led the final guests - Lorcan and Lysander Scamander - to their seats. The first few guests were beginning to shift restlessly in their seats.
Lily's eyes widened as her oldest brother ran to the front, where everyone could see him. Fred joined him.
"Scorpius," James screamed, mimicking Rose's voice startlingly well. "Don't you dare tell me what to do! If you haven't noticed, this day is going terribly!"
"I'm a Ravenclaw!" Fred yelled. "I'm not stupid! My day is going just as badly!"
"Don't yell at me!" snapped James, pushing Fred and rushing past him.
He stared on the next impression immediately – Ron Weasley. "Malfoy, I hate Voldemort. I hate Death Eaters. I hate you. I hate your son."
"My son? What about your daughter?"
"What about her?" James demanded.
Hugo walked in front of them, looking very unenthusiastic. He carried a sign that read, "Ten minutes later".
"I object!" Fred pronounced dramatically.
"What? Dammit, Malfoy, I was supposed to object!" James protested.
Lily buried her face in her hands. Poor Rose. Her Valentine's Day wedding really wasn't turning out very well.
Rose gave up. With a snort of disgust, she shoved the dress away from her. She stormed out of the house, barefoot and in her nightgown.
Narcissa Malfoy gasped. For once, Molly Weasley's face mirrored the Malfoy woman's. Both were fixed into expressions of sheer horror.
"Rose!" Molly gasped at the same time as Narcissa murmured, "This is the girl marrying my grandson? This?"
Molly was too shocked to reprimand her.
Scorpius ran out to her, all traces of fatigue gone from his face. He glared at the audience, which had begun to stir. Voices were being raised until low murmurs had become shrieks and screams. The young man stuck two fingers into his mouth and let out a whistle.
"Listen up, all of you!" he yelled. "If you all don't shut up now, I'm grabbing Rose and Apparating to Paris! We can elope there!"
Rose flushed, embracing Scorpius. He returned the hug, and the couple stood together clinging to each other as if they were drowning. Somewhere amidst the swarm of people, Draco was looking sick. Ron, sitting next to him, was resisting the urge to vomit.
Harry, always the reliable uncle, stood and shouted, "Can we get this over with now?"
Rose was holding Scorpius's hand. The second she saw her father walking towards them, she ducked away, pulling Scorpius with her to talk to someone that may or may not have been related to her.
Ron sighed and fell down heavily into a chair. Draco was sitting next to him.
Ron opened his Butterbeer, staring mournfully at the bottle. "We're related, Malfoy."
"I know," Draco agreed, his voice equally sombre. "Where did we go wrong?"
"Cheers," Ron said dully, holding up the bottle. Draco clinked his own against it. "Guess we're going to have to live with it. I don't know if it's possible to drink yourself into an oblivion with Butterbeer, but I'm going to try. In?"
Narcissa stood next to Lucius. Both were firmly ignoring the food that Molly had spent hours cooking. As Lucius put it, he had no intention of eating "food cooked by this lot".
Albus, his plate piled high with food, sauntered over to where Fred and James were crouched. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them, then shrugged and let it go. After all, it was Rose and Scorpius's wedding. And if he didn't allow it to go mad, who would?
He jumped as he heard several screams. He looked around, then sighed with relief. Just fireworks. He smiled at the sight of Lucius Malfoy putting out the fire that had been set to his hat. Nothing important.
Scorpius and Rose waved their goodbyes, then grabbed the shoe. They vanished.
"That Portkey was unregistered!" yelled a voice from somewhere in the crowd. Ginny Weasley turned around, and yelled back, "Shut it, Percy!"
"Where are we?" Rose asked Scorpius. He looked around, then back at his wife.
"You know...I have no idea."