Scorose- Two With An Audience, One With A Crowd
"I still can't believe Uncle Ron let you come!" Albus, Rose's cousin and her best friend other than her loving boyfriend (whom Al said 'didn't count'), was drinking Butterbeer at the family New Year's party. Scorpius, the loving boyfriend in question, laughed, but glanced around the room to see if her dad—Uncle Ron to Al—was anywhere in the near vicinity. Rose slipped her hand in his, and he looked down at her fondly.
"Don't worry, Scorp," she told him gently, a small smile on her face. "I'll avenge your death." He mock-gasped, faking a wound and clutching his chest.
"Yeah right," snorted Al. "Then Aunt Hermione will have to avenge her husband's death."
"By killing her daughter?" Rose asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Well, he's been around for longer than you have. And she chose him, she just ended up with you," he pointed out.
"I like to think I was a pleasant surprise," Rose told him huffily. Scorpius let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
"Of course you would be, Ro," he assured her, and she smiled.
"But then you would avenge me, wouldn't you Albus?" She gave him a sickeningly sweet smile, but her eyes flashed a warning.
"Uh, of course!" he agreed, a little too quickly, and nodding more than necessary.
"But then Hugo would have to kill you, for killing his mother, his only surviving family," Scorpius put in, speaking up for the first time since they started the whole gruesome conversation.
"Right, right, but then James would kill Hugo for killing his little brother," Rose put in.
Al rolled his eyes and said, "And Lily would kill James for killing her favorite cousin, and then Fred would kill Lily for killing his favorite cousin."
"Naturally," Rose said, nodding. "But then Aunt Ginny would kill Fred for killing her only daughter."
"Roxanne would then have to kill Mrs. We—uh, Ginny for killing her twin," Scorpius commented, still getting used to calling adults by their first names, having been brought up to be a 'proper gentleman'.
"And my dad would kill Roxanne for killing his one . . . and only . . . love!" Al pressed a hand to his chest, saying each word like he was acting in a Shakespearian play.
"And then George would kill Harry for killing his daughter," Scorpius added.
"And his last child," Rose said, and Scorpius nodded, wrapping Rose into a hug. Though she looked surprised, she turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist as well, and he rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. They were both pretty tall, but obviously, Scorpius was taller, and he used it to his advantage whenever he could.
"Not that I don't love hugging you, but what's this for?" she asked into his chest.
"I just wanted to," he whispered, kissing her head.
"Gross." Al made a face and pantomimed retching. It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd witness the couple's little scene, because a few seconds later, the two were ripped apart by none other than Rose's dad. After separating Rose and Scorpius, Ron wrapped an arm around each of them, squeezing their shoulders. Maybe Scorpius's a bit harder.
"So . . ." Ron began tersely. "What're you kids talking about?"
"Uncle Harry's eventual demise and how a good portion of the family will turn to revenge, become murderers, and then be killed themselves." Rose told him matter-of-fact, trying to extract her shoulder from her dad's iron grip. "Oh, and look, Al, Scorp, it's starting." She eyed her dad's white knuckles on her boyfriend's shoulder, and her boyfriend's distressed, pale face slowly turning paler. He looked like a sheet of paper. When he saw the concern on her face, he flashed a cheeky grin, though his eyes still betrayed his fear.
"Avenge me, love," Scorpius said, craning his neck to see Rose past her dad, still grinning, and winked at her. "One more kiss, Ro?" Ron flinched at the nickname, but seemed to be so shocked by the normally polite and respectful boy's behavior he forgot he was supposed to be squeezing the life out of their shoulders, and Rose and Scorpius walked out of his grip.
"I'll miss you, Scorp," Rose said, brushing some of his hair out of his face and setting her hands on his shoulders as he rested his hands on her waist. Rose was vaguely aware that the rest of the family had quieted and was now watching the scene playing out in front of them.
"My darling, I'll fight to the end." Scorpius had sobered up, but his eyes sparkled with mirth. They knew they were milking it for everything they had.
"And Al will avenge me after I avenge you and my mom avenges my dad, only to be killed by Hugo, who will then be killed by James, who will be killed by Lily, who will be killed by Fred, who will be killed by Aunt Ginny, who will be killed by Roxanne, who will be killed by Uncle Harry, who will be killed by Uncle George, who will then probably be carted off to Azkaban for killing Harry Potter (and who really needs an elaborate plan to kill him when you have a caring family?), won't you Al?" Rose said this all very quickly, and then turned to Al, who, being confused as to what had happened and to which question he was supposed to be responding, just shrugged. Rose sighed and turned her head back to Scorpius.
"Oh, well," she muttered.
"How, in the name of Merlin's scraggily gray beard, did you remember all that?" Scorpius asked, leaning towards Rose, his voice suddenly husky. They were inches away from their lips touching, when they heard an amused voice call out and footsteps towards them.
"All right, you two. That's enough. Before Ron has to go to St. Mungo's." It was Rose's uncle and Al's dad, Harry Potter. Rose and Scorpius broke away, and looked at Ron, who was red in the face and looked entirely conflicted. The pair glanced at each other and burst into laughter. Scorpius was clutching his stomach, bent over, his pale cheeks and nose pinking. Rose was laughing just as hard, one hand on her face, the other set on her stomach, leaning back so far she fell over. Both Rose and Scorpius stopped laughing for one, silent second, before looking at each other and starting up laughing all over again. When they finally stopped laughing, both still red in the face, they apologized to Rose's dad, and went to go to talk to Victoire and Teddy, who brought along their toddler.
"Let's play a game!" Everyone had talked to everyone, had eaten everything, and was getting bored after hours at the New Year's party, and it was only 9 o'clock. Lily's suggestion of a party was welcome, and all the cousins (with the exception of Victoire and Teddy) came and sat down on the floor per Lily's instructions. The adults all watched, because with the Weasley-Potters, everything was bound to be a spectacle.
"We're going to play . . ." Lily started, pausing for dramatic flair, "truth or dare!" She ignored the groans and cheers of her cousins and siblings. "Who wants to go first?"
"I'll go," Roxanne said. She sympathized for Lily, who was just trying to bring some fun to the party. "Lily, truth or dare?"
Lily rolled her eyes at being picked first, but suspected it when Roxanne volunteered. "Truth."
"Okay . . . have you ever kissed anyone? Oh, and if so, who was it?" Roxanne gave what she thought was a pretty normal question, but she forgot that all of Lily's family was sitting around her.
Lily debated. Should she go the safe route and say that she's never been kissed, and risk humiliation for it later, or should she tell the truth and risk her and the boy getting beaten to a pulp? 'Well, I can't risk being humiliated," she thought.
"I have, in fact, been kissed. By Lorcan," she said haughtily. The Scamanders were good family friends, and recently she and Lorcan had gotten closer.
"That little bastard, I'm gonna—" James was absolutely furious, and Fred, who was sitting next to him, had to clamp his hand over his mouth. Al looked queasy, as if his sister's love life was something he never wanted to hear about.
"I can never look at him the same," he groaned quietly. Harry was looking about as conflicted as Ron did a couple hours previous.
"Anyways, let's see . . ." Lily continued, wanting to take the spotlight off of her. "Scorpius! Truth or dare?" Scorpius looked like a deer in headlights as he tried to figure out which would be less painful. He knew from the look in Lily's eyes that neither would be any good, and just decided to get it over with.
"Dare," he sighed, and Lily's eyes brightened.
"Kiss Rose," she demanded. Painfully, aware of her entire family's on him, half of them glaring, he turned to Rose and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Lily sighed.
"That was horrible. I hope you kiss her better than that when you're alone. Go ahead, Scorpius. After that God-awful kiss, I hope at least you have a good truth or dare," she muttered. Before Scorpius could utter a single syllable, Ron jumped to his feet.
"I'd like a question," he seethed. "How far have you and my daughter gone?" Everyone held their breath, and though both were just about frozen in fear, Rose and Scorpius glanced at each other and grinned.
"THREE, TWO, ONE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone cheered.
"Happy New Year, Rose," Scorpius said quietly, and somehow she heard him over the commotion and turned to face him.
"Happy New Year, Scorp." She wound her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. They both smiled, and though the room sounded like it was going to explode purely from the sound, the couple was off in their own world.
Scorpius leaned down to capture Rose's lips with his, and this time, everyone was too distracted to stop them. One of Scorpius's hands found its way into her curly red hair as the kiss deepened. Rose curled her hands into his silky blonde hair, and smiled against his mouth.
"Bloody hell, Uncle Ron's gonna—"
"YOU LITTLE WEASEL, GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!"