"Rose you can't do this! It's a suicide mission!" James exclaimed as they continued to walk towards the office.
"Quit being so dramatic James, really." Rose glanced over her shoulder in annoyance and observed her cousin.
"I'm not being dramatic, it's true. No one ever gets an interview out of Lucius Malfoy." James said as he grabbed his cousin's arm.
"Well duh! I know that James. You told me yourself that all newbies are given the assignment and they can accept or decline it and it won't affect their status if they choose not to go. It's just a test. If I stay long enough or if I even get two words from him then I pass."
"I know I told you that. But that was before I knew you wanted to go into journalism."
"And I wish that we worked for a different office!" Rose said and whirled around and continued to walk at an uncommon speed, considering she was wearing four inch heels.
James stood still for a moment and watched Rose walk. In a few years, he thought to himself, she'll be practically running the place. No one could dig out information like Rose. He remembered when she was a first year and she figured out James was secretly dating a girl.
It took another two minutes and futile requests for the two of them to reach the office.
"Right on time." Rose said as she checked her watch. It read 7:30.
Rose looked up to see James looking at her with a worry written plain across his face. Rose smiled. She loved her family.
"Don't worry about it James. I'll be back for dinner at the burrow. I intend to get more than just two words from Mr. Malfoy." Rose said as she pulled out her wand to aparate.
Just before she disappeared she heard James say, "What? Three words?"
Rose was still giggling when she landed by the front gate of Azkaban. The guard looked at her funny and she showed him her badge. She was in. She was shown the way to Lucius Malfoy's cell by a surly looking woman.
"Here you are, Mr. Lucius Malfoy." The woman growled, then left.
The man was looking at Rose through the cell bars and said nothing. No introduction, no curses, he didn't even tell her to leave him alone. Rose decided she would wait until he spoke, before she did. She sat cross legged on the floor on the outside of the cell and waited.
Half an hour went by. Then one. Finally two hours were passed before Lucius said anything.
"Don't think I don't know why you're here. I know you're a journalist. The new ones that get sent here as a joke every year." Lucius' voice was raspy and…..sad. Rose wanted to show him some sort of compassion, but he did not really address her, so she waited.
Two more hours went by and Lucius continued to stare at the woman whose first name he did not know, but without a doubt he knew she was a Weasley. She was sitting calmly on the ground reading a magazine. Lucius got up and walked to the door of the cell. The girl didn't blink an eye, she just kept reading.
"What do you want?" He finally asked her. "To humiliate me? To tell the world that I'm still evil? To see the once great Lucius Malfoy?" he said bitterly.
Rose didn't answer his question, but she did speak. "My dad, Ron Weasley, told me everything about the Malfoys. He wanted to discourage me from involving myself with them, especially since I was in the same year as your grandson. My mom told me not to judge someone before I knew them.
"But my Uncle Harry just told me about the war. He told me everything from start to finish without giving an opinion about anyone. He told me about the people and there was one woman whom I had heard very little, but she became my hero.
"Her name was Narcissa Malfoy. She saved my Uncle Harry because she loved her son more than she feared Lord Voldemort. I wanted to know everything about her. I've researched her for years and I wanted to write a biography. I need to interview all the people she loved and who loved her back."
Rose took a deep breath and then stood up so she could be eye level with Lucius Malfoy. He was just looking at her like she was a mental patient.
"You don't even know if we loved each other. You must know it was an arranged marriage." Lucius said quietly. He didn't realize that he was speaking to someone about himself for the first time in over two decades.
"I know she loved you. I've read her diaries-"
"You what? Those were sacred to her! You had no right!"
"And now I know that you loved her. I didn't take the diaries from her. When I was sixteen I went to speak to her at St. Mungos and she bequeathed them to me before she died."
"And what did Scorpius have to say about that?" Lucius asked and watched in fascination as Miss Weasley gasped and turned her head away.
"He wasn't very happy." Rose said through clenched teeth. He broke her heart because he thought she was trying to pry into his family and tear them apart even more. He didn't trust her and he didn't believe her.
"Yes well, he did get the Malfoy temper." Lucius said, watching Rose carefully.
Before Rose could stop herself she said, "You've spoken to Scorpius."
"Yes, he usually drops by once or twice a week." Lucius said with a halfhearted smile that shocked the hell out of Rose. Scorpius smiled just like him. "He has Narcissa's eyes. "
"I know." Rose whispered quietly. The two of them had just bonded. Neither particularly wanted to admit it.
"Most of my book is already laid out." Rose began and Lucius listened now, completely interested. "I have her life almost completely mapped out, except for your version of the relationship you shared."
"What did my son say?" Lucius asked desperately. He loved his son, but Draco died in one of those muggle contraptions that are called cars, about a year ago.
"He said that you treated almost everyone you knew with disdain, but not his mother. He told me that you loved Narcissa more than anything in the world. He told me that he would have expected someone like you to treat her like a trophy wife, but you never did. You always valued her opinion and respected her as a woman. The last thing he said was that you never let Narcissa get more involved then she had to be, when it came to Lord Voldemort."
Lucius was actually on the verge of tears. He missed his son and he missed his wife. He closed his eyes, so he was surprised when he felt the girl grasp his hand.
"What's your name?" Lucius asked as he gripped her warm hand.
"Rose Nyphadora Weasley."
"I'll tell you about Narcissa and I. I was three years her senior and I met her the summer before I went to Hogwarts…."
"Lucius! Stand up straight." His mother told him.
"Yes, mother." Lucius said as they stood in line at the potions store. It was a painfully long line and Mrs. Malfoy was muttering to herself.
"Barbarians." She muttered as she glanced at two little girls in muddy dressed sulking behind their older sister.
Lucius' eyes caught on the girl with the blonde hair with a streak of black going through it. She was trying to shake off the mud like a dog and some of the mud got on the older girl. The older one screeched and made a beeline to the loo. The little girl smirked as she watched her sister go, and high fived the other little girl. They started giggling. Lucius watched with shock as the little girl took a wand out and made the two of them clean once again. She was too young to be doing some spell like that.
Lucius scoffed louder than he intended. His mother practically beamed at him when she saw what direction it was pointed at. The little girl saw it too, and she scowled at him. Lucius scowled back. He wasn't angry, it was just fun.
So Lucius' mother bought what she needed and then proceeded to drag poor Lucius out of the door. The blonde girl with the black stripe laughed at him and she mouthed her name at him "Narcissa"
Lucius knew it was wrong but he mouthed his name right back.
Three years later he saw Narcissa again, this time it was at the Hogwarts sorting.
"Black, Narcissa." The McGonagall called out and Lucius' head snapped up. He had completely forgot the girl, until now. He watched her get on the stool with wobbly knees, but she was smiling.
The hat sat atop her head for a minute or so, before it announced, "SLYTHERINE!"
Lucius didn't realize he'd been holding his breath.
He couldn't talk to her; it would have been very uncool. He couldn't watch her, because he was being watched too closely. But when his seventh year rolled around, she joined the quidditch team that he was already on.
"We don't take girls." Lucius said at the tryouts before anything had started. There was only one girl on the field: Narcissa.
"You will if you know what's good for you." Narcissa said calmly with no emotion in her voice.
"What position do you want?" Lucius asked just to humor her.
"Keeper." Narcissa said as she looked at the big burly 7th year next to her who had been the keeper last year.
"You want to go up to the hoops princess? Go ahead, but we're still not going to put you on the team." One of Lucius' cronies said.
Narcissa stuck her nose in the air and flew up to the hoops. Two hours the Slytherine team tried to get a quaffle past her. None went in. They tried to knock her off her broom. They failed. By the end it was obvious that she was the best keeper trying out and they begrudgingly gave her the position.
"No thanks," Narcissa said. "I was told that you don't take girls on your team and I wouldn't want to upset the team." With that she turned around and sauntered off the field. The whole team had eyes on her gorgeous ass.
Years past and finally Narcissa graduated from Hogwarts. She had many suitors who wanted to make her their wife. She kept telling everyone that she was betrothed to another man. She wasn't. That is where everyone got the absurd idea that our marriage was arranged.
I'd been keeping tabs on her throughout the years. As soon as she graduated I asked her on a date. She was a purebred with the manners of a house wife and she could give him heirs. But to be honest, he would have asked her out if she had none of those qualities.
"You're the boy who scowled at me in the potions store." Narcissa said when he asked her out.
"Great," Lucius said. "I'll pick you up at seven."
They went out that night to an upscale restaurant in London. Narcissa wore the most stunning red dress that Lucius had ever seen. His mouth literally dropped open. No one would have believed that anyone could make Lucius loose his cool.
"You look gorgeous." Lucius said. It was the only thing he could have said.
"Yes, and you look silly." Narcissa said as she smiled and sat down at the table.
"I beg your pardon!" Lucius said shocked that Narcissa would dare insult him. Yet he was somewhat impressed. No one dared to insult Lucius if they wanted to live.
"I've never had anyone so obviously fawn over me. It's quite a good feeling, so you don't have to stop."
Lucius actually laughed. They had a marvelous time together and the world was forgotten. Lucius forgot that he was supposed to be the evil Death Eater, the mark on his arm was proof enough. Narcissa forgot that she vowed not to fall in love with this man, but knew it was too late.
Sooner than either of them wanted, the night ended. Lucius walked Narcissa back to her flat. He actually walked her! Narcissa could tell that he was starting to regret asking her out, she wanted to know why.
They reached the steps of her building and Lucius promised himself all he would do was say goodbye and walk out of her life forever.
"Will I ever see you again?" Narcissa asked.
"No." Lucius said promptly. Narcissa huffed and Lucius had to hold back a smile.
"Why not?" Whined Narcissa like a little girl.
"I'm already involved with things that are too wrong for you." Lucius said vaguely. He didn't want to admit to Narcissa what he was.
"You're a Death Eater. So is my sister Bella." Narcissa said calmly as she grabbed Lucius' hand and pulled him inside. This conversation was not one to be held on the streets of London.
Lucius followed, trying to figure out what Narcissa's angle was. They reached her flat they both sat down on the love seat. The close proximity making sparks fly that neither of them expected.
"Listen Lucius. I love my sister, but she has always been out for blood. It's her nature and when the Dark Lord asked her to be a Death Eater she was overjoyed. That was her path. But you're different."
"No I'm not." Lucius cut in.
"Yes you are. It doesn't matter to you if someone is pureblood or not. You are just siding with the Dark Lord because you think he will win. Your path is self-preservation."
"I. Am Not. A Coward." Lucius said angrily through gritted teeth.
"No! You choose to protect yourself and only yourself because you have no one else to protect." Narcissa said passionately and she climbed onto his lap and kissed him.
Narcissa's move was so unexpected that Lucius couldn't fight it. She was clearly an innocent, but what she lacked in experience she made up for in enthusiasm. His tongue brushed against her lips begging for entranced and he grabbed her perfectly firm butt as she straddled him.
She gasped in surprise as she felt his erection, his very large erection, press at her pelvic bone. If there was a time where Lucius could grab a hold of his lust, now was it.
"I cannot bring you down this path." Lucius said as he held her back. Her glazed eyes slowly came back into focus.
"You already have Lucius. I think I love you. Ever since I saw you in the potions store." Narcissa put her whole heart on the line. She knew that if he rejected her, she would have to let him go. But she also knew that if he rejected her, she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted tonight.
"It's too dangerous. You're too good." Lucius said as he carefully avoided the question in her eyes.
"Do you love me?" Narcissa asked and Lucius looked away. "Tell me. I deserve to know if you don't want me with you because you're trying to protect me or if you just don't want me near you."
"I love you okay! I have since you sauntered off the quidditch field." Lucius said as he dumped Narcissa off of him and began to pace in front of her like a madman.
"Then run away with me. Be with me because you owe it to yourself." Narcissa didn't even realize she was begging. Regardless of her upbringing Narcissa was a passionate person.
"The Dark Lord would find us and kill you for my betrayal." Lucius said as he began to walk to the door. He intended to leave once and for all.
"Then stay with me." Narcissa whispered and Lucius' hand froze on the handle. "Let me be your anchor to this world when it gets darker. Let me be the woman who will be there for you regardless of what side wins. Let me love you."
Lucius thought to himself, How can I say no to that?
The two young people were married in December; the bride's favorite month. Everyone at the wedding was pureblood and wealthy. Everyone thought it was an arranged marriage and they couldn't get over what an outstanding couple Lucius and Narcissa were. There was not a scratch on either of their names. Well, at least to them there wasn't.
There was one young woman however that had to come in disguise, but had to come because it was her sister's wedding. The woman's name was Andromeda Tonks nee Black. Andromeda had married a muggle with whom she was deeply in love, but her family never accepted that.
Just before the newlyweds departed Andromeda approached them, still in the appearance of her muggle neighbor.
"Cissy." Andromeda whispered. Narcissa gasped when she recognized her sister's voice. She immediately hugged her. Andromeda had been the other little girl covered in mud all those years ago.
"Andromeda." Narcissa whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to see my sister on her wedding day. You snuck into my wedding as well, if you can recall."
"Lucius, this is my sister Andromeda. She's the one I've told you about." Narcissa said as she grabbed Lucius' hand tight.
Lucius smiled warmly at Andromeda. He knew that if they ever came across one another in public he would have to treat her terribly and he knew that Narcissa would have to as well.
"I had to come. We may never see each other happily again. I wish things were different. I love you so much Cissy!" Andromeda said as she hugged Narcissa once again.
Lucius watched the exchange with so much guilt it nearly suffocated him. Then Andromeda turned to him and gazed at him critically. She didn't say anything, but the message was clear. 'Protect her or answer to me.'
Years went by and the couple had a son they named Draco. As much as he wished he didn't have to, Lucius raised him terribly. Like his own mother had to him. But Narcissa made up for the way he treated Draco. Lucius killed and tortured not for himself or even the Dark Lord. He did it to protect his family. Then the war ended and the Dark Lord was defeated and both Narcissa and Lucius were relieved. But they both knew he wasn't going to be gone for good. He would come back and ask for his 'loyal' servants once again. So the charade still went on.
Through all of those years never once did Narcissa break her promise. She loved him no matter what. She anchored him to his humanity. She protected who he really was, not who he had to pretend to be.
Then the second war came and the Dark Lord was more powerful than ever. It became more difficult to keep the charade running. The night in the ministry, the reason why Lucius had screwed up was because of a young girl. Her name was Nyphadora Tonks and she was the daughter of Andromeda. Lucius had to juggle watching the girl to make sure she came to no harm and trying to get the prophecy also unharmed. He failed at both that night.
Then the worst thing possible happened. Draco became a Death Eater while he was in Azkaban. Narcissa followed his instructions and went to Severus Snape. Somehow Draco was saved. When they were holed up in the Malfoy Manner Lucius could see that Draco had seen the light. He would not turn out like Lucius had. For that Lucius was grateful. But Draco was lost in the Last Battle inside of Hogwarts while he and Narcissa were forbidden to go in.
Narcissa saved Harry Potter. Harry Potter killed the Dark Lord. Narcissa and Lucius were freed from all the acting. That night, before Lucius could be tried, the two of them sat and told Draco everything. Lucius asked forgiveness, but Draco had no idea what to do. Draco refused to speak to Lucius.
Two years later, while Lucius was in Azkaban, Draco came to visit him. He forgave his father and promised to drop by every day. Draco came for 20 years and occasionally Scorpius would tag along. Then Draco died.
Narcissa visited him every day too. She never stopped coming. One day she didn't come, but Scorpius did. He told Lucius that Narcissa was put in St. Mungos. He said she had some sort of brain aneurism that not even the Healers could take out. She would write him letters and on days when she could, she would visit him. He received one last letter from Narcissa after she died. It was a letter that was supposed to be sent after she was gone.
"You don't have to tell me anything more." Rose said quietly as tears ran down her face. She had never realized just how wrong she had been about Lucius Malfoy. Rose gripped the old man's hands and held onto them as both of them cried.
"Thank you." Lucius said which completely bewildered Rose.
"For what? If anything I owe you a thank you."
"No. You showed me something that I thought was impossible. Look at you. You are a beautiful young woman who has no reason to be anything but cruel to me, yet here you sit, being more compassionate than anyone has in a very long time." Lucius spoke from the heart.
"I've been told before that I had no compassion and have no right to know the truth." Rose said sadly and glanced down at the front page of the Quidditch magazine she'd been reading. Scorpius was on the front page. Rose did not know that she had just given away who had said those things to her.
Rose looked at her watch and her eyes almost bulged out of her head. It was already 6:30 which meant that dinner at the Burrow had started 30 minutes ago.
"You're late for something." Lucius said as he observed her.
"Yes, dinner with my family. I'm so sorry. I don't want to rush off." Rose said even as she stood up and whipped the tears out of her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere." Lucius said with half a smile on his face.
"I have everything I'll need for the biography, but I'd like to stay in touch."
"Feel free to stop by anything."
"It's probably best that I don't seeing as Scorpius drops by frequently." Rose said as she bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was to run into the man who had broken her heart little more than three years ago. She still loved him.
"Don't let that rapscallion keep you away." Lucius said affectionately.
"I think it's for the best." Rose said as she turned away.
"Okay then." Lucius said. "It was very nice to meet you. It meant a lot to me that you came here."
"Thank you. I like you Mr. Malfoy. Thanks for telling me everything. I promised that whoever helped me with the book would get a free copy. I'll write to you later." Rose said as she walked away.
"Will Scorpius be getting one?" Lucius asked. Rose turned back around to look at Lucius.
"Yes. His last words to me were, 'You've got the interview, now get out of my life.' I did." Rose said and then she ran away.
Rose didn't see the shocked expression on Lucius Malfoy's face.
Rose was outside the gates of the prison when she started crying. It was all too much to have gone through. The way they talked, the way they smiled. Everything about Lucius brought back painful memories of Scorpius. Why couldn't he have just understood that she had to do this? Narcissa Malfoy was her hero. Someone owed it to her to be remembered as a hero, not a villain. The same could be said about Lucius. With all the things that he had told her today, he could be freed from this place. Lucius had said none of that in front of the court. If he had…he would never had been sentenced for life.
The wheels in Rose's brain were turning. Her mother was the greatest lawyer the ministry had. Maybe she would defend Lucius. If not full freedom, then at least house arrest. Rose had been pacing in front of the gates for at least 10 minutes. It's funny how one simple decision can affect you for the rest of your life. If Rose had left a minute earlier, if she had apparated even 20 seconds earlier, Scorpius would not have been there. Scorpius would not have been able to grab a hold of Rose and keep her from leaving. It's funny how fate works.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Scorpius asked as he grabbed Rose to keep her from leaving.
"Let me go Scorpius. You know there's only one reason why I'm here." Rose said and met his eyes, refusing to let him see how hurt she was.
"I told you three years ago to stay away from me and my family." Scorpius shouted at her. He gripped her arm tightly, but not enough to really hurt her. Scorpius had never hurt her physically and she trusted that he never would.
"You know Scorpius. I am sick and tired of you talking to me like I'm trying to destroy your family!" Rose yelled fiercely as she broke his grip. "Because I am not. I am trying to help!"
"Yeah right! The only reason you were with me in the first place was to get your stupid interview!" Scorpius yelled right back. Neither of them realized that two guards were watching their blowout.
"Is that what you think?" Rose screeched. "Who in the bloody hell told you that?"
"Orchid McLaggen: your room mate!" Scorpius yelled.
"Did you ever think that she lied? I knew you never trusted me, but believing her over me." Rose started with a yell, but it became a hurt whisper as it ended. "I loved you and you betrayed me! Who put the moves on you after we broke up? Orchid did, didn't she?"
"That is beside the point." Scorpius said. But he didn't yell. For the first time in the three years since they broke up, he was doubting whether he had been right about breaking up with her.
"I don't want to fight with you. I've already told you why I wanted to interview you and your family. I'll not do it again." Rose took a few steps and held out her wand. Scorpius made no move to stop her.
Rose paused and looked over her shoulder one last time to speak to Scorpius. "If you get Lucius a good lawyer and have him tell the lawyer everything he told me, he'll most likely be able to get out of here." With those last words she vanished.
Two Months Later
"It's done!" Rose squealed and looked at the first copy of her book. Narcissa Malfoy: A Brave Woman by Rose Weasley. The picture on the front was of a picture that Narcissa herself had found of Lucius, Draco, and herself. It was when Draco was just a baby and the three of them were smiling at the camera. Just the sight of Lucius smiling would sell dozens of copies. Then there was the fact that many people seemed to think that the title was a contradiction. And on top of all that, she was Rose Weasley.
"I still can't believe that you got an interview out of Lucius Malfoy." James exclaimed. He'd said it about a million times since she got back.
"I've already sent signed copies to Lucius, Astoria, Andromeda, and Scorpius." The book hits the shelf tomorrow and I'll be at the book signing in Diagon Ally. I'm so excited!"
"Two days ago you were nearly tearing your hair out with worry that no one would want to buy your book." James said laughingly.
"Yes, but yesterday I got a letter from Andromeda and Lucius telling me that it was brilliant. And mom and dad promised to buy one, so at least I'll sell one."
"Okay Rosie. It is brilliant by the way." James said mischievously.
"You took it and read it before I could send them didn't you?" Rose said affectionately.
"You'll never know." James said before leaving with a great POP.
Rose blissfully laid down on her couch and smiled at the ceiling . She had not 2 minutes of silence before she heard another POP and incisive banging on the door.
As she was opening the door she said, "What did you forget this time?"
"I see you've recently had company." Scorpius said as he looked down at Rose's shocked face.
"I did. I obviously wasn't expecting you." Rose said and was about to slam the door in his stupid handsome face.
He stopped the door with his foot. "I really think you need to hear what I have to say." Scorpius said as he fought his way through the door.
"I don't care what you have to say about the book. You can give it back if you want to, just leave me alone Scorpius." Rose said desperately. The last time they were together in this room he had broken her heart.
"This has nothing to do with your book as I haven't even opened it yet." Scorpius said as if this was supposed to help. He'd probably thrown away the book before he'd even opened the damn package.
"Then what the hell does it have to do with?" Rose said as she stood behind a chair, using it as a barrier.
"When we fought at Azkaban I didn't realize we were being watched and since no article came out after I didn't think anything of it."
"Just get to the point Scorpius." Rose said, annoyance laced in her voice.
"Tomorrow there is going to be a cover story about us as a secret couple." Scorpius said calmly.
"Excuse me." Rose said, thinking she must have misunderstood.
"What was anyone supposed to think? We were fighting and very close and all I know is that one of the guards heard you tell me that you love me and somehow Orchid is involved."
Rose sank slowly into a chair and Scorpius sat across from her. "Why would they wait until now to give the paper the story?"
"One of them must have been keeping track of the Quidditch season. They must have known that my team, the Falmouth Falcons, were a shoe in for going to the Quidditch World Cup. Which we now, as of a week ago, are. My guess is that it was an added bonus when they found out you were writing a book that's to come out tomorrow. They get paid more money if it's more interesting."
"Uhh. Why couldn't she have been a Crabbe or a Goyal? Of course she just had to be a Malfoy." Rose murmured angrily under her breath.
"I don't see that big of a problem. Plus it should give you publicity to be able to sell more books." Scorpius scoffed as he said it.
"Yeah it would have been fine, if it wasn't you!" Rose yelled at him. He made her so angry.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Scorpius asked angrily.
"It means that whenever something good happens to me, you always come and screw it up!" Rose said. And Scorpius didn't pretend to not know what she meant.
"That's not true. We would have been fine together if you just listened to me and didn't write that book. If you really loved me you wouldn't have." Scorpius said in a deadly rage.
"If you had really loved me you wouldn't have asked me to give up part of who I was. I never ever would have asked you to give up Quidditch even though it killed me to watch you get injured nearly every game you played in!"
"You said that you loved watching me play." Scorpius said now confused.
"I do, you ride so gracefully. But didn't you ever wonder why before all of your games I was so gloomy. You're a great man, but you never noticed me. You never really saw me for who I was because you knew if you tried you wouldn't like what you'd find."
"That's a lie. Maybe I didn't notice that but name something else I didn't notice." Scorpius asked not knowing what he had just asked.
"Well apparently you never noticed that I hated Orchid and that I wouldn't have told her anything about my relationship with you. You never noticed that whenever I was with you I was fighting my family. They never trusted you and I should have believed them. You never noticed that time I was sick for three weeks, you didn't visit me in the hospital. I told you I didn't need romance because I loved you, but that doesn't mean I didn't want it." Rose would have continued, but her throat closed up and she started crying.
"Stop Rose." Scorpius said uncomfortably. Girls never cried in front of him. "You know I don't know how to handle this."
"T-that's another t-thing. I c-cried over you f-for hours after you l-l-left m-me." Rose said as she hugged her face to her knees.
She continued crying for another minute or so before she felt Scorpius' breath on her arms. Rose looked up and saw that they were nose to nose.
"I was such a bastard to you. I'm sorry Rosie." Scorpius said as he moved to put his arms around her.
"Don't! Don't!" Rose yelled and Scorpius froze completely bewildered.
"What?" He asked.
"Don't you dare touch me! You can't accept the fact that I had no intentions to hurt you. I just wanted to write a book about my hero. And I wasn't dating you for an interview. I dated you because I liked you and then I loved you. You are never going to get the chance to hurt me like you did again."
"Rosie." Scorpius said more guilty than he'd ever felt in his life. He felt even guiltier than he did after his Grandfather told him about his meeting with Rose.
"Leave. I never want to see you again." Rose said as she stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Scorpius speechless and alone in the living room.
After a near sleepless night Rose awoke and got ready as fast as she could to go to Diagon Ally. The excitement of her book signing almost made Rose forget about Scorpius. Almost being the key word. Rose got to the book store ten minutes before she was supposed to start and to her surprise and pleasure nearly a hundred people were lined up to buy her book. It was going to be a good day.
It was nearly noon before anyone mentioned the story about Scorpius and herself. To Rose's astonishment Scorpius was at her side when the journalists began asking her questions regarding her relationship with Scorpius. She didn't get time to answer because Scorpius did it for her.
"What were you two really fighting about?" The snobby journalist asked.
"I was being a complete ass." Scorpius said and Rose whipped her head up to look at him. He was looking at her and smiling. He kept answering the question but he was talking more to Rose. "I didn't believe her when she said she wanted to help, but I realize now that I was about as wrong as anyone could ever be. See I was so in love with her that I was already half crazy and never in my life had I loved anything as much as I loved her."
Scorpius ignored the journalists and now his and everyone else's attention was on Rose. "I hurt you Rose. I'm so sorry. I spent all night reading your book and realized what a stupid mistake I made letting you go. This morning I went to see your mom and I asked her if she would represent Lucius in court; she said yes.
"I don't know if you still love me, but I've never been surer of my love for you. I'm noticing things about you I never cared about before. If you love me, if you might want to take a chance with me, I want to ask you to marry me."
All of these words were whispered lovingly in Rose's ear. Not one person in the crowd had heard what Scorpius had said to Rose, but before their very eyes she kissed him as passionately as was appropriate then whispered something into his ear.
"I've always loved you, but you should know this time around if you hurt me, my whole family will know about it." Rose said.
"Is that a yes?" Scorpius asked eagerly as he pulled a ring out of his pocket. The whole crowd saw that and gasped. "Because if it is, this is the ring that Narcissa Malfoy wore."
"Scorpius, how could I say no?"
e HeHE