Summary: Scorpius asks Rose out on a date but the boys in her family will do anything to keep the two of them apart. After encouragement from Lily, however, Rose takes a chance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter One: His Initials

I've never thought of Scorpius Malfoy as more than just a boy that I went to school with. For seven years, we took the same classes, studied in the same library, and ate our meals in the same Great Hall. So why now, two years after finishing our seventh year, am I wondering why we rarely talked?

Before I get too excited, let me explain a little about myself. My name is Rose Weasley. I'm twenty years old, and right now I'm working at a little restaurant in London, called Nathaniel's. I'm not quite sure what I want to do as far as a career, so I'm just working here to make some money until I figure out my goals in life. It's fun, I really enjoy it, and it suits me for now. I live by myself just a couple blocks down the road. Well, I'm not totally alone. I have a cat. His name is Gregory.

As I mentioned, I work at a restaurant in London. It's just a quaint little family-owned and operated establishment. For seven years I'd never thought of Scorpius as more than just a classmate. That was before Scorpius started coming to my restaurant for lunch every day during the week. I always wait on him and often find myself looking forward to his lunch break. I'm not entirely sure why we never talked in school.

Speaking of Scorpius, he's walking in the front door right now. I look at the clock. He usually comes in before noon. It's after one.

We greet each other and he sits down at his usual table by the register. I give him a glass of water.

"Thanks Rose. How's your day been?"

"Not too bad," I put a menu down in front of him, but it's really just a formality. I'm pretty sure he has that thing memorized. "You just missed the lunch rush. We were really busy about twenty minutes ago. Working hard today?"

He nods. "You could say that," he picks up the menu and flips to the desserts. He never orders one. He just likes to torture himself. His words, not mine. "I took a later lunch today because I had an interview this morning and we met for brunch."

"And here I was starting to worry that you weren't coming today. I was scared that you'd found a different place to eat your lunch at," I make a joke about it, but the few days that he hasn't come in for lunch, well… Let's just say that I noticed.

"You have such little faith in me," he scolds playfully.

I smile. "So, an interview, eh? Anybody exciting?" Scorpius works for the Daily Prophet. I've read a few of his articles. Okay, I've read all of his articles. He's pretty good.

"Not really. I interviewed the owners of the antique shop that just opened in Hogsmeade. They're a nice old couple."

He's only been working there for a year and a half so he still does random things that nobody else wants to do. Well, at least it's an improvement from his first months there. He's worked hard and has come a long way.

"When should I expect to see it in the Prophet?"

He shakes his head. "Probably tomorrow. You know, sometimes I think that you're just too nice. Besides the owners, and maybe my parents, you're probably going to be the only one to even notice that article."

"I have an appreciation for talent," I shrug. "Anyway, what can I get you today?"

I take his order and then busy myself with this and that. Scorpius talks to me all the while.

A few minutes later, Nathaniel, the younger one, yells that the order is up. Nathaniel's father, Nathaniel, owns the restaurant. Nathaniel, the younger one, is a year older than me and works as a cook. I serve Scorpius his food.

"Enjoy."

"Thanks."

"I'll get you some more water," I refill his glass. Scorpius is literally the only customer at the moment so I start doing whatever work I can do up front so that I can keep talking to him.

"Why don't you sit down?" He pulls a chair out for me.

"I'm on the clock," I remind him.

"Er, I think that you might be okay," he looks suspiciously around the restaurant. "Nobody out here is going to mind if you sit for a few minutes."

I walk slowly toward the chair and slip into the seat.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You're a bad influence on me, Malfoy."

Regardless of how bad of an influence he might be, I end up sitting with him until he finishes his sandwich.

He pulls out his wallet and hands me money. "I should head back now. Let Nathaniel know that I think he might have undercooked my food, it tasted awful," Scorpius says this loudly.

"You ordered a cold sandwich," Nathaniel yells from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be hard to screw up, too. Somehow you managed!" He yells back to him and winks at me. "Have a good one," he stands up. "Oh. I wanted to ask you. Do you like coffee?"

An inadvertent giggle escapes from me. I reach out and shake his hand. "Hello," I say. "My name is Rose Weasley and I've been addicted to coffee for at least three years now."

"Well that explains why you're so short. I hear coffee stunts your growth."

We share a laugh. For as much as I resemble my mother, I did inherit my height from my dad. I'm relatively tall for a girl. I wasn't quite the tallest girl in my class at Hogwarts, but I was close.

"So I was wondering, would you like to maybe go out for coffee with me tonight? There's a nice coffee shop near my flat. Muggles work there, but it's not bad at all."

I'm a little surprised. Scorpius and I have done our fair share of flirting in this past year or so, and we do enjoy our lunchtime chats, but I'd never before gotten the impression that he would want to invite me to spend time with him after work. I'm actually rather flattered. Why not?

"I should be able to. I don't think I have any plans tonight," I tell him.

"When do you get off work?"

"Tonight?" I think for a moment. It's Thursday. "Four."

"You know where the Daily Prophet is, right?"

"Of course," I answer.

"Would you be able to meet me outside of there at five?"

"That shouldn't be a problem."

He walks to the door. "See you then."

XXXX

Around half past three in the afternoon, James, Albus, Lily and Hugo walk through the doors. Uncle Harry's birthday is coming up at the end of the month and Aunt Ginny wants us to plan it. She says that every time she ever tries to surprise him, somehow he always finds out about it, so she wants us to see what we can do. I'd forgotten. I'm not going to be able to go out with Scorpius tonight.

"Something's different about you," Lily says right away when she sees me. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" I don't know how she does it, but that girl has a sixth sense when it comes to reading my emotions.

"You just look different."

James comes up to the counter and gets closer to my face. "She's right. Something is different."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I insist.

Hugo and Albus walk up behind James and stand on either side of him.

Still by the door, Lily snaps her fingers. "I've got it! Who is it, Rose? Who's the boy?"

"Boy?" James and Hugo both shout at the same time. Albus scratches his head.

"That's right. I haven't seen Rose smile like this since the early days of dating stupid old what's-his-name."

"His name's Jeff," Albus offers. I cringe at the sound of his name and Lily rolls her eyes at Albus. Jeff isn't exactly my fondest memory, but that's a story for another day.

"Anyway," James smacks Albus on the back of the head. "Is Lily right?"

I blush. "It's nothing."

"Right," Hugo isn't convinced. "Rose, you need to tell me if there's a guy in your life. I need to approve of him."

"I'm sorry, since when have I needed your approval?" I cock an eyebrow at my younger brother.

"Since I got taller than you, 'little' sis," he pinches my cheeks affectionately. It's true. He's finally taller than me. I had him for his first sixteen years, but then he all of a sudden had a huge growth spurt two years ago.

"It's nothing," I repeat. "Someone just asked me out for coffee tonight."

Lily's eyes grow huge. "Who? Is he cute? Is he older? Is he rich? What does he do? Does he have a younger brother?"

"Settle down, Lily. Take a breath," James chuckles. "She said coffee. It's not like he's taking her out to a five star restaurant. That barely counts as a date."

"Exactly," I agree with him. "We're just going to sit down and talk."

"Who is he?" Hugo asks.

"Because, we usually talk here while I'm working. He comes in almost everyday," I grab a towel and start wiping at a spot on the counter.

"Who is he?" Hugo repeats.

I start scrubbing furiously. "And I think it'll be nice to just be able to have a normal conversation without having to walk away and tend to other customers."

"Rose, if you don't tell me who it is, I swear I'm going to throw this vase at your head."

My brother loves me so much. I reach over and move the flowers off the counter.

"Do you remember Scorpius Malfoy from school?" I ask as I set down the cloth.

Everybody is silent.

Albus is the first to speak. "He was in Slytherin."

"That's right," Hugo's words come out harshly. "Slytherin. I don't think you should go out with him."

"Why not?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"I'm going to have to agree with Hugo on this one, Rosie," James adds.

I don't know what to think. Scorpius has never done anything bad to any of us. Like I said before, I never really talked to him when we went to school together. He was a bit of a loner and didn't give anybody any problems.

"Why are you so opposed to this? And don't say that it's because he was in Slytherin. Don't forget, Albus was named after Severus and he was a Slytherin. That's no judge of character."

Normally, I'm very laid back. But there are times that I can't just stay quiet.

"I don't want you to date him because of his name," Hugo starts to explain.

"What?"

"You're right!" Albus bangs his fist onto the surface. "Scorpius Malfoy! His initials are S and M. Rosie, that can't be a good sign," he enlightens the rest of us.

Hugo smacks himself on the forehead and I hear James choke back a laugh. "Not at all what I meant, but a valid point, I guess. Thank you, Albus. Rose," he turns to me. "He is a Malfoy. His family does not get along with our family at all. I'm pretty sure dad would kill you and, regardless of what I may have said when I was younger, I don't really want to be an only child."

"It's not like I'm planning on marrying the boy. He just asked me out for coffee."

"You shouldn't date him," James persists.

"Hold on. Just a minute ago you said that this barely even counts as a date, James."

"That was just to shut Lily up and make her stop bugging you about it. Besides, you know as well as I do that that's how dating starts."

"I can't believe this," I'm getting frustrated.

"Rose," Hugo places his hand over mine. "I don't want you to go out with him. There's just something about him that I don't trust."

This is ridiculous, but not something I want to fight about right now. "Fine. I won't go out with him tonight."

"Good. Glad to hear it," Hugo says.

"Hey, James," Nathaniel, the younger one, calls from the kitchen.

"Hey there. How's it going?" James and Nathaniel played Quiddich against each other when they went to Hogwarts. Nathaniel was in Hufflepuff.

"Not bad. I got a new tattoo last week. Come take a look."

"Is that right?" James wanders back to the kitchen, along with Albus and Hugo, to talk to Nathaniel.

Lily, who has remained silent up until now, leans on the counter and stares me straight in the face. "Are you really going to let them tell you who you may or may not date?"

I shrug. "If they can't get along with him, then I probably shouldn't date him anyway. You know how important my family is to me."

Lily raises her eyebrows and continues staring until I feel uncomfortable and look away. "Still, I don't think you should give up completely. They only don't like him because he's a Malfoy and, regardless of whether or not they admit it, because he was in Slytherin. I've personally never had a problem with him, and, as far as I know, neither have any of them," she indicates the boys in the kitchen. "Scorpius is as nice a boy as they come," she states matter-of-factly.

I consider her words.

"I never told anybody," she whispers. "But I used to have a crush on Scorpius." Sneaking a peak at the kitchen, she continues, "I always thought he was so gorgeous. I could imagine him being the very quiet, sensitive, romantic type, you know?" She sighs. "And his body, oh don't even get me started. The things I would do to that boy-"

"Lily!" I do not want to hear my little cousin talking like that!

"I think you should date him," she concludes.

I look behind me. "Hugo would be pissed. So would your brothers, I'm sure. Not to mention my dad would murder someone."

"It'll be alright," she dismisses my concerns.

"I don't know."

"Come on. I'll even help cover for you," she winks.

I'm silent for a long while. I do really like Scorpius. He's always very friendly. I think I might like to get to know him better, preferably when I'm not wearing an apron. "Do you really think that could work?"

"Sure it'll work," Lily persists. "See those guys back there in the kitchen? You know the ones who are trying to see if they can get the leftover lunchmeat to stick to the ceiling? They aren't exactly the brightest stars in the sky, to say the least. Besides, that would be terribly romantic, don't you think? A secret affair, it'd be just like something out of a romance novel," she sighs.

I smile at my cousin's sappy expression. She's really into fairytales, and 'They Lived Happily Ever After' nonsense. As for me, well, I'm well aware that fairytales and real life are two separate things. She and the boys sit down at a table and start discussing party plans. Lily shoots me a look.

I shake my head and go back to the back of the restaurant to write a note telling Scorpius that I can't meet him tonight. I use the owner's owl to send it.

A few minutes later the owl returns. Nathaniel hands me the note but doesn't ask any questions. For that, I'm thankful.

Sorry to hear that you're busy tonight.

I read the first sentence before Hugo comes up to the counter. I shove the note under a pile of receipts. "Everything okay?"

"Sure," I answer, maybe too quickly.

He eyes me suspiciously. "Can I get a few sodas?"

I return the look. "Are you going to pay this time?"

"I'll see what I can do about that."

I hand him the drinks. "I get off in about fifteen minutes. I'll be over then. And you better pay!"

He nods and returns to the table.

I finish reading the note.

Actually, tomorrow will work better for me, too. It looks like I'm going to have to work late tonight. I'll see you tomorrow.

Hey, I told my brother I wouldn't go out with Scorpius tonight. I didn't say a damn thing about tomorrow.

I look up and see Lily watching me. She smiles knowingly.

XXXX

That's it for the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Um, yeah… The first person present tense style seemed to work really well for the last story I wrote, so I'm going to try it again. It's a very interesting way to write. Let me know what you think!