The Before
Disclaimer: Do not own.
A/n: Can follow Shotwand Wedding and The After, but wouldn't be that bad of an idea to read this one first. I wrote this one last out of the three, though.
It happened in her 7th year at Hogwarts. Or rather, at the celebratory Quidditch match in Gryffindor Tower. Gryffindor had just beaten Ravenclaw, meaning they only had to take on the Slytherins for the Quidditch Cup.
Rose had been sitting between her cousins Albus and Dominique, even though they weren't in Gryffindor. Albus had been sorted into Slytherin, Rose into Gryffindor. Dominique had been sorted into Ravenclaw, while Lily had also been sorted into Slytherin-she was currently standing across the room, outright flirting with Olivia Wilson.
Rose watched as Lily smirked, and placed a delicate hand upon Olivia's shoulder, taking a step towards the 6th year Hufflepuff. Olivia's eyes were wide, her cheeks pink. Lily said something to the girl, causing Olivia's blush to deepen, before closing her eyes. They leaned close, and both their heads disappeard behind the red curtain that was Lily's long silky hair.
"Er..."
Dominique had happened to see where Rose was looking, and looked wide eyed at Albus, who's own face was red. His eyes seemed to be looking anywhere but at the scene currently unfolding just 16 ft away from him.
"So!" he said loudly, causing Dom to stifle a laugh.
"I'll get us some drinks, shall I? Firewhiskey? Okay!" And then he nearly tripped over his own feet in his effort to get up off the couch.
"Well," Dominique said, settling down in Albus recently vacated spot. "Lily looks like she's found herself a new toy."
Rose shook her head, sighing.
"She's nearly as bad as Malfoy! Did you know, I had to hear from Abbitha Smith that Lily was catching up with him? If Malfoy hasn't gotten to them, then Lily has!"
Rose rolled her eyes before sneaking a look at her cousin again. She couldn't really tell what was going on, since Lily now had Olivia up against the wall, snogging her senselessly.
"Merlin forbid..." she muttered, before standing up.
"Where are you going?" Dom asked, confusion marring her pretty face.
"To stop these shenanigans before all the boys in this room...well...I'm not going to finish that thought."
With that, she stalked over to the two girls. Once Rose got closer, she wished she hadn't done this. They looked like they were trying to eat eachother's faces.
Rose cleared her throat, but the two continued to snog.
"Lily." A little more firmly. When she continued to get no response, Rose huffed, and grabbed Lily's shoulder.
"Wha-!"
"Hey! I am a prefect in this school, and you will listen to me when I am talking to you! 20 points from Slytherin for...public indecency! Now-"
"Rose I didn't hear y-"
"NOW! You two will go find a room before you end up shagging on this floor. You're making all of our friends and family embarassed, not to mention the males in this room are ready to...bust in their pants!"
Lily rolled her eyes, before pushing Rose to the side and dragging Olivia off with her. She watched as they both exited the portrait hole.
Rose made her way back to the couch, where thankfully Albus had returned. There were three drinks hovering next to him. She reached out and grabbed one before sitting back down.
"Where'd Dom go?" she inquired, taking a large gulp of the Firewhiskey before shuddering.
"This is atrocious!" she sputtered, eyeing Albus. He nodded before throwing back half of his.
"Dunno where Dom went, although I suspect she went to seek out Lorcan. And yeah, this stuff is horrible. But once you get used to it, it's not so bad."
Rose watched as Albus finished his drink off, before eying her own. 'What's the worst that could happen?' she thought, before throwing back the rest of her own.
Well, it turned out, it did get a WHOLE lot worse. At some point, Scorpius Malfoy had come up to her. Him being her cousin Albus' best friend, plus the fact that two cups full of Firewhiskey and Pumpkin Juice had loosened her up, caused her to actually give him the time of day.
"Well what have we here?" Scorpius drawled, setting down next to Rose, who tried to glare. She ended up squinting at him instead.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Trying to make you go away. Is it working yet?"
Scorpius smirked before scooting closer to her and leaning forward. She could smell his cologne, and the scent of Firewhiskey on his breath as he spoke.
"Nope," he replied, continuing to smirk. Rose sighed, before scooting away from him. But everytime she did so, he scooted closer to her. Eventually, she ended up with her side pressed against the arm of the couch, and Malfoy's body pressed against her other side.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" she slurred out, vaguely annoyed. Scorpius shrugged before draping his arm across the back of the couch. The tips of his fingers brushed the back of her neck briefly. She shuddered before smiling at him.
"So, Miss Weasley. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You do realize that this is my common room, right? I live here."
Scorpius glanced away before grinning sheepishly at her.
They sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes before Rose slurred out, "You know Scorprus, you're not so bad. You are a man whore...but..." she trailed off, seemingly too drunk to continue.
Scorpius chuckled, ignoring the fact that she had just called him a whore, let alone butchered his name. He instead leaned in close to her and whispered, "You're not so bad yourself, Rose."
The use of her name caused Rose to shiver involuntarily. It also made her face turn red. In an attempt to not have him see her blush, she turned away from him and scanned the crowd for Dom and Albus. However, neither one she could immediately see.
Rose really had no idea what the two of them were doing. Scorpius was her cousins best friend. They knew each other fairly well. He'd been over to their family gatherings during Christmas and Easter before. He was a playboy-and was currently involved with nearly every girl in the school.
Rose took a deep breath, and blew it out with puffed cheeks. Scorpius was still staring at her, and she suddenly felt very very self-concious.
She shoved him away and stood up all in one go. Scorpius frowned, and Rose attempted another glare. This time it seemed to work, because any trace of whatever had just happened between them disappeared.
"I don't know what you're playing at, Malfoy," she bit out. "But just because I'm drunk doesn't mean I'm your toy. I don't think Albus would appreciate hearing what you're trying to do with me."
Scorpius glared and crossed his arms before muttering something under his breath. Rose didn't ask what he said, instead striding away from him in a huff.
What a way to sober up.
She found Dominique in the hallway, with Lorcan like Albus had said. They looked as if they were about to shag right there against the wall.
"Dom!" she snarled loudly, causing the two of them to break apart. Lorcan paled when he saw it was Rose, before trying to clean himself up.
"Relax," Rose shot towards him as she walked closer to the two.
"Dom, what the fuck? You left me alone in there!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.
"And Malfoy was getting to close to me," she added in a lower voice. Dom snorted as she buttoned up her blouse.
"Please! We both know you could hex Malfoy into old age."
"Even so," Rose replied, watching as Dom threw hair back into an elegant pointy tale. "I thought you were my friend! And friends don't leave friends alone with Malfoy!"
Dom rolled her eyes and pushed past Rose. "Rose, you're the best girl in our year! You have top marks, your family is famous and you're one of the few who HASN'T slept with Malfoy yet! I mean, even I've-" she stopped short, suddenly realizing that Lorcan was still standing there next to them.
"Er..."she trailed, turning to look at him.
He smiled awkwardly, before scratching the back of his head and saying, "I'm just going to-go. Yeah. Go. Uh-I'll see you later. Bye."
Dom smiled back just as awkwardly, her cheeks a delicate pink. She muttered a weak goodbye to him before fixing Rose with a half-hearted glare.
"Dammit, Rose! I was about to get some, and you just ruined it!"
"Serves you right! You left me alone with Malfoy!" Rose turned and walked back to the portrait hole.
"Well-you left first!"
"Yeah, to make sure our cousin Lily-you know, the redhead related to Albus?-didn't re-enact a scene from some lesbian porno!"
Dom giggled, before conceding. "Fine," she said, still giggling.
"I'm sorry I left you alone. But seriously Rose-don't ever interfere when I'm trying to get laid again. I haven't had anything between my legs since Brent."
"I am a prefect, you know," Rose stated, hands on her hips.
"I can still take points off for finding the two of you in a compromising position." Rose had her most serious look on her face. Or her best attempt, at least.
"Yeah, you could! But I know you won't," Dom responded, before giving the password (pig snout!) "Because you love me!"
Dom put a hand on her shoulder before walking past Rose and into the common room. Rose just sneered before following her inside.
Back to the party.
Scorpius was still sitting on the couch where Rose had left him, but this time Albus was sitting next to him. Al seemed to be significantly drunker than he had been the last time she had seen him-which was what? Only twenty minutes ago?
"What a lush you are!" she exclaimed, plopping down next to him. Albus only muttered something incoherently before grinning through half-lidded eyes at her.
"I think he's had a bit too much to drink," Scorpius told her, still staring at Albus' face.
"Whay's the room all spinny like?" Albus slurred before promptly bending over and throwing up on the floor. Rose shrieked and jumped up on the back of the couch which ultimately made her fall backwards OFF the couch.
"Albus!" Dom yelled amid the laughter of their schoolmates. When Rose finally stood up, she grimaced at the smell and quickly whisked it away with a banishing spell.
"Melin forbid, Al! I told you not to take those shots with Brent!" Scorpius exclaimed, grabbing hold of his best friend. He was just about to stand up when Dom pushed him back onto the couch.
"The drunk helping the drunker? Please. Sit down, I'll run him back to his own dorm. Besides, I gotta find Lorcan."
And suddenly Rose and Scorpius were left alone. Again. After she had just told Dom how she wasn't to be left alone with him.
Rose watched as Dom dragged Albus out of the common room and then crossed her arms angrily.
"Sorry about that," Scorpius said, scratching the back of his neck. "I tried to stop him, but you know how he is."
Rose stared at him sullenly before closing her eyes and shaking her head.
"It's okay," she finally replied. "I do know how my cousin is. He never says no to a challenge."
Scorpius nodded and fixed his eyes on her. While Albus couldn't hold his liquor, Scorpius could.
"Speaking of shots," he drawled. "Wanna do one with me?"
And just like Albus, Rose Weasley couldn't say no to a challenge either. Scorpius seemed to already know her answer, because he promptly summoned one of the nearly full bottles of Firewhiskey and two shot glasses.
Rose felt something tighten in her stomach as she watched him pour them each two shots of the amber liquid. He corked the bottle and handed her one of the glasses, before leaning back against the arm of the couch.
Rose studied his face-there was no hint of malice or mischief in his eyes. She was seeing more of Malfoy's personality than she had ever seen before.
"So," he quipped, eyeing her. "I heard you took 20 points from Slytherin. What for?" Rose gave a small smile, shaking her head.
"Ahhh-Lily and Olivia were goin at it. I for sure thought they'd shag right there on the carpet."
Scorpius chuckled before throwing back the whiskey. Rose did the same, her face crumpling up into a grimace at the after taste.
"Woo! This stuff is strong. I don't blame Albus for getting sick. Good thing I can hold my alcohol," Scorpius said off handedly before pouring themselves each another shot.
Rose soon found herself having a fairly nice conversation with Scorpius. She also soon found herself drunker than before, yet she didn't seem to mind so much this time. She also didn't seem to mind that Scorpius and her were back in their previous positions before Rose had stormed off.
"Hey, Weasley. Can I ask you something?" Scorpius was looking at Rose through his shot glass, causing Rose to giggle like a maniac.
"Yesh," she responded, her reply slurred.
"I was jus wondering...why do you hate me so much? I mean, I never did anything to you. Did I? I just want you to know that I've always respec-respected tyou...I can barely speak right now..."
Rose shook her head. "No, you shound much better sthan I doooo!"
Scorpius laughed, and thanked her.
"But chou didn't answer my quesshin?"
"Oh, that. Well one time when I was younger-it shwas about threed year-sorry third year-I accidentallly fell into my mum and dads penshiv-penshieve? Those things that you can store your memories I-you ever seen one of shose things?" Rose was trying her best to tell this tale, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere.
Scorpius was leaning close to her, sniffing her hair. He moaned and then nodded, both their foreheads touching.
"Yeaaaahhh. My father has one a dose...of those! He has one, but I've never been allowed to get close to it. I don't really wanna look at my dad's memer-memories, though. But wat does thish have to do with me?"
Rose breathed in his cologne-something spicy, with just the hint of a floral scent-before smiling. "I wanna anoder shot. And then I'll keep tellin it to you."
Scorpius fumbled with the bottle and poured them each another shot, sloshing it onto his pants leg. It was the one time a Malfoy didn't freak out because an item of their clothing had gotten ruined.
"Oops," was all he said before snickering. Rose giggled and took her shot. It tasted almost like water and the burn that usually accompanied was not there.
Scorpius corked the bottle and set it between Rose's thighs. He leaned his head back against the couch, and turned it at an angle so he could still see Rose's face.
"The story," Scorpius prompted, and Rose nodded before resuming.
"So I wash only like, in third year and I was all alone in the house cuz my mum and dad were off with my brother getting things for my little brothers new sh-school. School year. Yeah they were getting things for my little brother's new school year. And I went downstairs to get some food and happened to see this thing that I had never seen before! It was so pretty almost like -"
"You're pretty," he suddenly said, causing Rose to blush.
"Th-thanks..." she stuttered and then cleared her throat.
"The shtuff in that bowl was like...light. And smoke and other things that you can't really capture. It like...hypnochized me. And then I was suddenly inside the bowl. And I...I saw things. Things that I had no bussinez seeing. I saw your family tortuing my mum...and she was screaming...and this vile woman...Bella something. She carved the word mud-mudblood. She carved it inta my mum's arm."
Rose finished the story in a whisper, and it was then that she actually realized that most people had either left or passed out entirely. She suddenly felt really sad, and took a drink of the Firewhiskey straight from the bottle to distract herself.
"Oh...I'm. Rose. I'm really sorry...I honestly-are you okay? I can see why you would. I mean. I hate what my family used to do too. I promise I'm not like them...and...Merlin," he finished. He seemed to be shaken up, and took a giant gulp of the whiskey himself.
"It's 'kay," Rose replied. "I know chou didn't really do any of shose things I seen in the bowl. It just really makes me wonder, you know? How could my...how could my uncle an aunt look at Albus being friends wit you?"
"Maybe...maybe they see that I'm not my fathser. Cuz I don't wanna be like him. And I know he does feel bad for all dat stuff he did back when he went to school here. He wasn't mad or upset when I tolt him who my best frient was. He was just like...'okay son.' Ad that was it..."
They sat in silence, passing the bottle between the two of them. Scorpius was now leaning his head on Rose's shoulder, Rose herself had her arm resting comfortably against his own arm.
"I'm sorry." Scorpius said, his breath tickling her cheek. Rose shook her head, and turned to face him.
"It's alright," she murmured, before leaning in and kissing him. She didn't know why she did it. Maybe it was because she had just shared a story that she had never shared with anyone before, not even her brother. Maybe it was the alcohol. All she knew was that she really wanted to forget why she hated this boy so much. And he wasn't really a boy any longer, but a man.
Scorpius responded to the kiss near immediately, taking in a sharp breath when Rose's arms wrapped around him.
"We-Weasley. Rose. We shouldn't do this," he muttered, before kissing her again. Rose just groaned and continued the kiss.
"No, we shouldn't," she finally responded when they broked apart.
But they did anyways. Rose didn't remember to much of the incident-only that it felt good and that at some point she returned the 20 points to Slytherin.
And three months later, when the school year ended, Rose Ginevra Weasley found out she was pregnant with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy's child.