For the QLFC S5 R12
The story of how Scorpius and Rose got together varies wildly from person to person. James claims that he saw Rose swoop into the Charms classroom on a broom and declare her undying love for Scorpius, before laying a big kiss on his cheek. At this point, Lucy usually butts in to say, no no, that wasn't it at all. It was Scorpius who swept in on a broom, but his control was so shoddy that he fell off the broom and was subsequently rushed to Madame Pomfrey's.
Albus will throw his hands into the air and say that there was no broom involved at all, that Rose sent Scorpius a Howler confession, and can everyone get their facts straight please?
He'll send Rose a wink, and she'll giggle behind her hands as the stories spiral more and more out of control.
In reality, it went like this: Scorpius corned Rose in an empty classroom and confessed to her inside. She had smiled, pleased, and accepted his confession.
There had been no brooms, no concussions, and definitely no Howler's. But no one needs to know that.
…
Victoire and Teddy get married in Rose's sixth year, and Rose takes Scorpius as her plus one. In hindsight, it had been a very bad idea.
"Stop fussing," Rose says, batting his hands away from her face.
"You can't go out looking like that!" he protests, brandishing the hairbrush like a sword and advancing on her. "I'll get your hair straight even if it costs me my life."
Rose hisses at him and hides behind the bedpost. "No one will even care!"
Scorpius pounces on her and wraps his arms around her so she can't wriggle away. Before she can say anything, he turns her around and pouts at her. He knows that she's weak to that. The injustice of it all.
"Just stay still for five minutes," he pleads, sounding close to begging. Rose sighs, before sitting primly on the edge of the bed.
"Time's ticking. You're getting five minutes exactly," she warns.
He beams and settles behind her, combing gentle hands through her hair and gently untangling her curls. Her hair wasn't quite as frizzy as her mum's, but still had enough curl in it to cause issues in the morning.
She stifles a yawn, but it's no use. She had to get up early to prepare and calm down the irate bride and the lack of sleep was catching up to her. Her eyelids slip shut.
Then, she feels two hands lightly clasp the side of her face and tilt her head back, and then there's a gentle pressure on her lips. Roses' eyes fly open and she jerks out of Scorpius' hold.
"Did you just—?" she asks, touching her lips, eyes wide.
He looks almost as shocked as she does, his pale face colouring from the surprise and embarrassment. "I wasn't really meaning to - it kind of just happened?"
"Do it again," Rose demands. He very willingly complies.
They end up twenty minutes late to the reception.
...
On the day of their third anniversary, Scorpius heads to Rose's apartment after work and immediately chokes on the scent of lavender air freshener. Pinching his sensitive nose in between two fingers, he makes his way to the living room, where Rose is curled into an armchair, studiously reading by the light of a lamp. She blinks innocently up at him when he goes to stand right in front of her.
"Hey, babe," she says casually. A little too casually.
"Hey, how was work?" he manages. "What's all this?"
"Work was great–we got out a little early," she says, finally dog earring the book (it used to drive him nuts, but she'd been stubborn about it and he lost in the end) and placing it down on the coffee table. "And what's with what?"
"The smell," he says finally, in despair. "You didn't try and cook and then try to cover it up did you?"
Rose has the gall to look offended, as if his suspicion isn't justified by the time she sent him straight to St. Mungo's from food poisoning.
"No!" she exclaims. "It's our anniversary, so I got us some nice take out from a restaurant we like."
"You found out," she sighs. "I knew you'd be insufferable if I told you. Wipe that look off your face."
She attempts to walk past him with whatever dignity she has left, but he catches her around the waist and tugs her down so she's sitting on his lap. Rose squeaks in surprise as her balance is suddenly thrown off kilter, but Scorpius just perches his head on top of hers and forcefully induces a cuddle session.
She grumbles a bit, but relaxes into his hold after a few minutes.
"You're never going to let me forget this are you," Rose says, later.
"Nope," Scorpius replies cheerfully. "You're never gonna live this down. I'm going to come by every morning just to tease you about it."
"You should just live here then," Rose says.
It takes him a while to realize that she's asking him to move in with her, but when he does, he jumps up and twirls her around to imaginary music in the living room
…
To Scorpius' credit, he tried–he really did. He had taken her out to dinner after they spent the day together, and he had worked together with the waitstaff to hide the ring in a baked potato. Except, and he really should've known better, except he forgets in a moment of delusion what a big eater she is, and she chows down on it without a second thought.
There's a loud crack, and Rose spits something into her hand and drops it onto the table. Scorpius, horrified, wonders if the ring broke in half, even though logically he knows it's unlikely. The ring, thankfully whole, if not dented now, teeters on its side and makes a nosedive for the edge of the table.
Scorpius lunges. He just manages to catch it, and when he looks up, Rose is staring at him in a stunned manner.
"Is that—" she says, hesitantly.
Scorpius starts. "Right," he says. "Um, will you marry me?"
Rose lets out a choked cry. "Yes!" she exclaims, flinging her arms around him.
Scorpius imagines the scene they must make–him, half kneeling, with a incoherently loud redhead clinging to his neck, still holding the remains of the dented ring with bits of saliva and potato clinging stubbornly onto it.
If this is what the rest of his life looks like, then he can't wait to start it.