A Proposal...Of Sorts
Celestia0909
*** Prompts displayed at the bottom ***
Scorpius Malfoy slowly fixed his cufflinks and stared at his pale face in the mirror. Behind him, he could hear someone cursing and tripping over something before they found their way and sung along to the song playing on the radio in the lounge. His eyes had heavy bags under them and his fingers shook as he smoothed the collar of his dress shirt. The black suit he was wearing made his naturally pale skin look even whiter and he took a few calming breaths.
He, for some imbecilic reason, had agreed to accompany his girlfriend to a family lunch and hadn't had a good night's sleep at all because of it. He had tossed and turned for hours before giving up on sleep and venturing out into the brisk autumn air for a walk around London, only returning after dawn to a very unimpressed redhead who berated him for disappearing.
'Merlin! You're still getting ready?' a flash of red rounded the corner and entered his room and he looked at the reflection of his girlfriend, trying to put a smile on his face. Her thick eyebrows furrowed and she stomped over to him with her hands on her hips. 'We were supposed to be there ten minutes ago, and they're not going to be happy, you know how much my nan hates people being late!'
Her hands smoothed his hair down and with no other words she held his hand in hers and with a pop they were standing in a small country lane that was thick with bushes on either side.
'You could've at least given me a bit of warning Rose…' he grunted. He had fallen flat on his arse and he was sure that the back of his perfectly ironed slacks were now covered in dust. 'It took me forever to get these cleaned after you spilt your lotion on it.'
'You big baby,' she rolled her eyes at him and stuck her head around his side before he felt a few delicate pats on his bum from her; whether she was trying to get the dust off or just enjoyed teasing him, he didn't know or mind. 'It's just a bit of dust.'
Seeing his opportunity, Scorpius wrapped his arms around her and kissed her square on the mouth. The hand that was patting his bum stopped and gripped his waist as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Rose Weasley was a hotheaded woman and her kisses made him feel hot all over, every single time.
He forgot all about lunch with her family as her hands snaked their way into his hair and his crept under her blouse. He let his fingers smooth over her soft stomach and groaned with pleasure as she massaged the nape of his neck.
'Morning…' Rose bit his tongue in surprise and Scorpius tasted blood as she shrieked and pulled herself away from him. He sucked his tongue and felt like crying as the sharp pain from his tongue made itself known.
The cause of his pain was leaning against a high brick fence and laughing his head off; his shaggy black hair covering his eyes. Scorpius didn't need to ask who it was, wordlessly he pulled his wand out of his inner jacket pocket and pointed it at the man, whose hair was slowly turning pink without his knowledge.
'Wait till your dad hears about this Ro!' James Potter stopped laughing and ran right through the creaky old gate towards the tall rickety house beyond. His girlfriend, who quickly glanced at him apologetically nodded towards the house before she ran off, screaming at the top of her lungs, towards her blasted cousin.
Pointing his wand at himself, Scorpius thought of the spell he wanted to do and a second later his tongue no longer felt like a couple hundred tiny needles were digging into it. He heard a loud pop behind him and with the crunching of wood hitting gravel, Scorpius knew that his father had arrived.
'Hey dad,' he smiled at the older man and hugged him; the older man, cane in hand, returned the hug enthusiastically and patted his head lovingly. 'How was Monaco?'
'It was great, although our vault is probably missing a few galleons…' the older man winked and Scorpius laughed.
His father had spent the last ten years travelling around the world, sometimes for work and other times for his own pleasure. He knew his father loved him, but he also knew that nothing could ever quite replace the hole his mother had left in his life. His mother had been his dad's one great love and he had told Scorpius about how she was his salvation in a lifetime of darkness. He was thirteen when his mother died and his father had told him, he hadn't understood what he meant but now that he was twenty-three with a love of his own, he knew why his father was never quite the same again.
Losing Rose would completely break him; not because they were dependent on one another, but because she complemented him in every way possible. He knew that he had a tendency to be serious and melancholic and she was the only person, apart from his best friend, who could bring him out of his moods. She made him unbelievably happy in a way that Albus, his dad, and his mum, before she had died, had.
'So is this it?' his father looked ahead at the brick wall which had leaves and ivy creeping along the top and bottom, and the rusty iron gate that obscured the house from the muggles in the village, but not from them. The older Malfoy's nose crinkled in disapproval and he surveyed the crooked house ahead. 'I still can't quite comprehend why you're marrying into this family…'
'You like Rose!'
'Yes, her I like. You're absolutely sure about this?' his father's icy grey eyes boring into his with one of his eyebrows furrowing sceptically.
'Yes, I am,' and with no other words exchanged with each other, the two of them pushed past the creaky iron gate and walked along the worn dirt path to the Weasley's home.
Despite having dated Rose for five years, Scorpius had never actually visited her grandmother's house. It was far from the grandeur of his grandparent's houses but as he looked at the chickens roaming freely around the large yard, he decided that he quite liked the Weasley's home. It had a feeling of being well loved and as he crossed the threshold and past the open door, he was overwhelmed by the noises and smells that met him.
In a room to the right he could hear a large group of people arguing about something, some voices were deeper than others and there was a child crying in the midst of it. To his left was the kitchen and he could hear something simmering, and the sounds of pots and wooden spoons clanging together; and from that direction he could smell butterscotch, baked pastries, and garlic being sautéed. Right in front of him was a tall staircase that branched off in all different directions, and it reminded him a bit of a tree's branches.
'Rather chaotic…isn't it?' his father muttered, shrugging off his deep grey coat and hanging it on the already full coat rack. Scorpius followed suit.
'I like it,' and he really did. He glanced around the hallway at the tens of frames lining the walls, all of which had different families inside them waving and smiling at the camera. He recognised one golden frame with a turquoise haired boy and an old woman smiling at one another; another had two black haired boys and a red haired girl perched on one of their shoulders; each photo seemed to have a mix of red haired, black haired, brunette and blonde children and people smiling at the camera.
The biggest picture of all was framed in macaroni and beads, and in it all of the the people from the other smaller photos were wearing different coloured woollen jumpers with different letters on them. He smiled at the middle row who had managed to create a swear word and were roaring with laughter as the oldest redhead pulled the ear of the turquoise haired boy.
'Muuuum! Roxanne gave me a burn, look!' a stocky red haired man, probably only a few years older than himself, yelled in a deep voice as he crossed the hallway to the kitchen; there was indeed a deep red welt on his arm. At first he didn't notice Scorpius and his dad but he took another step forward before he stared at them with confusion. 'Who are you lot?'
Scorpius held his hand out and grinned despite the nerves eating away at his stomach, 'I'm Scorpius, this is my dad Draco.'
'Draco? You're not the Malfoys are you?' his blue eyes standing out from his dark freckled skin. Scorpius nodded and the boy's blue eyes lit up with mirth. 'Wait here a moment!' he disappeared behind a door down the hallway and Scorpius barely had time to look at his dad before a loud thundering of footsteps made echoed throughout the hallway.
Thirty seconds later a stampede of Weasleys squished their way through the hallway towards he and his dad. In the middle of the swarm he could see his girlfriend's head popping out from behind James Potter's temporary pink hair. Rose had said that it was supposed to be a small family lunch for him to meet her grandparents, but as Scorpius counted the heads making their way towards him he figured that this was probably most of her family.
Spearheading the crowd was a short, plump woman with a full head of greying red hair, her brown eyes kind and a wand and wooden spoon peeking out from her blue gingham apron. This must be Rose's grandmother, he thought. His dad snorted behind his back and he sent him a warning glare before a soft short body pulled him into a hug.
'Molly, I think you've scared the poor boy…' a kind voice, belonging to a tall thin man with but a few whisps of grey hair above his ears that made him look like some sort of muggle mad scientist. He pulled the woman away from Scorpius and he sent the man, probably Rose's grandfather, a thankful smile as he straightened his rumpled blazer and shirt.
'Nice lipstick Scorpius!' James yelled from the middle of the crowd, his black hair spiking up in all directions unlike his brother's and he smirked as Scorpius wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
It seemed that James' comment flew over everyone's head and the crowd of Weasley's pushed their way forward and started introducing themselves to Scorpius and his dad – who looked hilariously out of his depth as a few of the Weasley's hugged the poor bloke.
Scorpius knew some of them already – Teddy, James, Lily, Albus, Victoire, and Hugo just waved at him as he tried to remember the names of the others. There was Fred, Roxanne, Audrey, Bill, Charlie, Louis, Molly – wait, two Molly's? – Angelina, Bill, Charlie – wait there were only one of those surely?
'OI! WOULD YOU LOT SHUT IT FOR A MOMENT! YOU'RE SCARING MY BLOODY BOYFRIEND!'
Scorpius smiled thankfully at his girlfriend and she pushed her way forward to hold his hand and say hello to his dad.
'Anyway, Scorpius Malfoy this is my family; you lot, this is Draco and Scorpius' the Weasley's roared with laughter as Rose glared at them all. Mr Potter pushed his way forward and glared at his dad.
'Malfoy,' he spat out, his green eyes narrowing behind his round glasses. Scorpius felt his blood run cold as his father stepped forward with his shoulders stiff, staring at the other man with equal intensity. The black haired man, James' dad, stepped forward and his mouth twitched before he gave his father a warm hug. 'How was Monaco mate?'
The Weasley's roared with laughter again and Scorpius calmed as Mr Potter and his dad began chatting. It was still odd for him to see his dad being so friendly with Albus' dad, especially after he'd heard that they were far from friends at school. Sometimes he wasn't sure if they'd go back to enemies. He supposed that after the war though, they had put it behind them and had decided to become friendly with one another after Scorpius became friends with Albus.
'Ze lunch eez ready!' a stunning silver haired woman breezed into the crowded hallway from the kitchen and with another great rush of feet, everyone had rushed out from the hallway and into the yard behind him where a long table stretched parallel to the brick wall and was laden with all sorts of pies, pudding, roast meats, and vegetables.
'I told nan it was supposed to be a small lunch…' Rose whispered as he wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled.
'This is better, your family's great!' she snorted sceptically at him and pulled him towards the already full table where everyone was helping themselves and chatting amongst themselves.
Hours later, after the Weasleys and Potters had eaten, drunk, and played round after round of backyard quidditch, Scorpius stood in the Weasleys warm kitchen with Rose and washed up the piles and piles of dishes from lunch before Mrs Weasley finished cooking dinner.
He had chatted to Rose's mum and dad earlier and told them about his intentions toward their daughter, and they each had given him a tight hug with watery eyes before catching up with Mr and Mrs Potter and playing a round of quidditch against their children.
'Hey Rose, you remember what I told you before you won your first quidditch match?' she hummed in reply and smiled at him. Her warm brown eyes, identical to her mother's, boring into his with a tenderness that made him want to kiss her.
'You said that if I survived you'd marry me…' both of them smiled at the memory and she put the small blue porcelain plate and rag on the counter as she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. 'Never did though.'
He turned so that their chests were pressed together and he knew that she could feel the uncomfortable sharp box on the left side of his chest. She pulled away and reached into his hidden pocket, pulling out his wand and a small maroon velvet box.
'What's this?' he eyebrows furrowed and he nodded at her, encouraging her to open it. Her soapy hands pried the box open and she furrowed her brows tighter together. 'There's nothing in it…'
The grin that was spreading through on his face dropped and he hastily pulled the box away from her; there was nothing in it, just like she'd said. He had it planned out for weeks, she would open the box, pull the ring out and he would put it on her finger, and thus proposing to her rather romantically.
'But – it – I put it in there myself! I don't understand…,' Rose shrieked with laughter and her normally rosy cheeks turned even pinker with laughter. Confused, Scorpius examined her body for signs of injury and noticed the brilliant diamond ring between her pointer finger and thumb.
Maybe marrying her would be a mistake, he thought; but as he stared at her flushed face and the few tendrils of curly red hair that had escaped her bushy ponytail, he knew that he'd do anything for this woman.
'Don't look so put out, you still want to marry me don't you?'
'Yes, of course!'
'Put it on then, and do a speech,' she thrust the ring into his face he rolled his eyes as he adjusted his trouser leg and knelt in front of her on one knee.
'Rose Granger-Weasley, you drive me mad most of the time but Merlin's beard I love you and so does my dad. We've basically been married for a year and when you fell off your broom three months ago it made me realise how stupid I'd been for not doing this earlier…so, will you marry me?'
'Yes! A hundred thousand times yes!' and after he pushed the large diamond ring on her slender finger he pulled her into a tight hug and snogged her to the distant applause and cheering of their family from the backyard.
Hope you all enjoyed it!
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