Hey Red!
As much as I want to see you, my sweet beautiful darling Rosie, I have this terrible food poisoning that no charm or potion can fix. So to not run the risk of barfing up in your house and staining your lovely carpets, I think it's best I don't come over this summer.
Lots of love,
Scorpius 'used every ounce of energy left to pen this love letter' Malfoy
Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes after reading Scorpius's letter. It has been a week since she left Scorpius at the train station and they haven't seen each other since. But they've both been corresponding about the best way to break it to their parents that they were dating.
After days of deliberation, Rose had decided on the only way to not let her parents even have the chance to deny a meeting with Scorpius: spring it on them and surprise the bejesus out of them.
Hermione and Ron were dying to meet this 'secret boyfriend' of Rose's, and no matter how much they tried to pry it out of Hugo, he wouldn't budge (Rose had bribed him with a new chess set). Which was why they were overjoyed and more than willing to let said 'secret boyfriend' visit and stay at their place for a week when Rose suggested it. And then the week after that Rose would head to the Malfoy Manor to repeat the exact same thing with Scorpius's parents.
She was really hoping with all her heart that her parents wouldn't react too strongly. After all, it wasn't as if they've never met Scorpius. He had been over at the Burrow and Potter's many times when they were there as well. Although Ron had made it a point not to speak too much to him, only grunting in response every time Scorpius happened to say something.
Grabbing her ink and some parchment, she hastily scratched back a reply to Scorpius, tying the letter back to Scorpius's eagle owl's feet.
Scorpius 'useless prick of a boyfriend' Malfoy,
Nice try. Get your arse over to my house next week or I'm telling my dad you manipulated and coerced me into a relationship with you.
Your loving girlfriend,
Rose
"Give that bloke a few scratches for me, will you," she instructed, stroking the owl and feeding it a treat before he flew off with a hoot.
Scorpius awoke to his owl nipping away at his hair. Swatting the animal away, he gave a sort of grunt before burying himself deeper between his sheets. But his owl wouldn't relent and gave a particularly painful nip at his ear. Scorpius shot up right, rubbing the sore spot at his ear and cursing at his owl.
He untied the letter and waved his hand at the owl looking expectantly for him, "No treats for you for trying to murder me. Bugger off!"
He unfurled the parchment and read, a slow smile spreading on his face as he scanned her words. Scorpius chuckled after finishing Rose's letter, shaking his head as he tossed it onto his bedside table, making a mental note to write her a reply later that day.
At that moment, there came a soft knock at his door and a voice calling out his name.
"Yeah," he shouted in response, and his mother opened the door and entered.
"Scorpius! What are you still doing in bed!" Astoria exclaimed, striding over to pull the sheets off her son. "Time to get dressed, we need to leave soon, we can't leave the Waltmans waiting."
She was dressed in a stunning pant-suit that was deep emerald-green, and she had a string of expensive looking pearls around her neck.
"Where are we going?" Scorpius groaned, grabbing a pillow and covering his own face with it. He felt his bed sink slightly as his mother sat down.
"Your father told you yesterday Scorpius, we're meeting with the Waltmans today on their yacht," she replied. "They have a lovely daughter, her name is –"
"Mother, I thought I made myself very clear the last time," Scorpius growled, lifting the pillow off his face to give Astoria an annoyed look.
"I know Scorpius," Astoria sighed. "But you know this is not your father's nor my idea."
"Grandfather?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows. Astoria nodded, trying her best to give him a smile at the same time.
"But I already said, I have a girlfriend," he continued, frowning at the fact that his grandfather was once again on a mission to 'redeem the family name', by throwing stories into the press that his grandson was possibly having relationships with some girl from another prominent wizarding family.
"And your father and I are looking forward to meeting her in a few weeks. But before we meet her and your grandfather gives his approval of this girl, you are still to do as he says," she said, giving him a pointed look.
Scorpius knew better than to argue when it came to his grandfather, so he mumbled something incoherent and got out of bed to get dressed. Astoria, satisfied that she had gotten him to get up, gave a nod before exiting the room.
Rose,
Fine, seeing as to how either way your father is gonna kill me, I'll be there. Considering my impending doom, I feel a need to express my goodbyes to you now.
Farewell love, it was fun while it lasted. You were the best snog of my life. After your father kills me, please don't go back to Scamander or I will come back and haunt you as a ghost.
Scorpius 'soon to be dead' Malfoy
"Rosieeeeeee," Lily screeched from downstairs.
Rose sighed, turning to Albus whom she was having a conversation with, and saying, "She needs to stop doing that, I swear it hurts my ears every time I come over."
They were at the Potter's, their parents enjoying some rare time that the four of them got to hang out alone. Rose liked coming over, because it meant that she got to spend time with Albus as well, which she regretably realised was far less after she and Scorpius started dating. Albus was of course busy with Terra as well, but it was nice when it could be just him and Rose alone.
Lily had ran upstairs now, bursting into Albus's bedroom.
"Oi!" he shouted. "Who said you could just come in here like that!"
Lily ignored her brother, waving the magazine in her hand excitedly.
"I've got some juicy gossip on your man Rose," she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
She hopped onto Albus's bed where he and Rose were sitting, earning another scowl from him. Spreading the magazine before them – Witch Weekly – she jabbed her finger at a two page spread on none other than Scorpius Malfoy and some girl named Elizabeth Waltman. The headlines read 'Malfoy and Waltman – more than just business?'. There were dozens of pictures of the Malfoys and Waltmans on a yacht, and one particular one where Scorpius was apparently leaning over the deck with Elizabeth and engaging in a conversation. The Scorpius in the picture smirked at Elizabeth as she tossed her blonde hair back and laughed.
Rose felt her stomach do a flip-flop, not in a good way, as she read the short article.
"Oh come on Lil, what're you doing showing this to Rose for?" Albus said, obviously annoyed at his little sister.
"Just thought she might be interested. He is her boyfriend after all," Lily shrugged.
"Witch Weekly is a stupid magazine Rose, you know Scorp isn't doing anything he shouldn't," Albus said, defending his best mate.
"I know," Rose smiled, shaking her head. "He wouldn't."
"Of course he wouldn't," Albus affirmed.
"I wasn't insinuating that he was, just showing you what the magazine said," said Lily, and then she grinned wickedly and added, "Besides, there wasn't a single picture of Scorpius topless anyway, so I guess it hardly makes an interesting article."
"You wanna see Scorp topless?" Rose laughed.
"Yeah, Witch Weekly used to print all these pictures of Scorp looking mighty fit. But don't worry cuz, I wouldn't dream of stealing him away from you, he just has nice abs," Lily winked, causing Rose to give a tiny giggle.
"You're right he does," she agreed, thinking of all the times she had seen Scorpius without a shirt on in the Heads common room, and running her hands over those abs.
Albus groaned and shot them both imploring looks, "Guys, a bloke really doesn't wanna be hearing his sister and cousin talk about how his mate looks 'mighty fit' and has 'nice abs'."
Scorp,
You are so dramatic. And seriously, Lorcan? Do you really think I'd go back to that? And what in Merlin's name is this I see in Witch Weekly about you being on a yacht with the heiress of Waltman Wizards Empire, Elizabeth Waltman? (Who by the way does not look good in the photos)
If you're cheating on me Malfoy I'll put a hex on you that'll never let you celebrate Father's Day ever.
Rose
Rose 'ever trusting and loving girlfriend',
Since when do you read stuff like Witch Weekly? And is that jealousy I hear? If you looked at the pictures then you would see that there were barely any of Waltman and I. Father is in business with them, it was just some yacht event.
With regard to the hex you threatened to put on me…I just love when you're feisty love. Don't worry, I only fall for strange redheads named after flowers. (I just wrote that and realised Lily was named after a flower too. What is up with your family and flower names? And no I'll never fall for Lily, only you Red)
Scorpius 'ever faithful boyfriend'
Scorpius,
It was Lily's copy of Witch Weekly, I was over at Al's that day and she showed it to us. And she's named after her grandmother Lily Evans!
Al is over now and he insists I say hi in my letter even though I know he just saw you yesterday.
One more day! Can't wait to see you love!
Rose
Rose made her way downstairs in the morning, careful not to be too loud so as to wake anyone else. She was usually the first one to be up on Sunday mornings, which was why she was surprised when she found both her parents in the living room.
Hermione was waving her wand, bewitching the feather duster to dust the furniture around the room, and magically cleaning the carpet as well. Ron on the other hand seemed to have taken out half of his Chudley Cannons memorabilia and were arranging them on the coffee table.
"What are you guys doing?" Rose asked, stopping mid step on the staircase as she stared at her parents.
"Oh morning sweetie, we're just getting the place ready for your boyfriend!" Hermione smiled.
"Yeah, wanna show him my Cannons souvenirs. You said he played Quidditch right? Oh he's gonna love hearing the story behind his Cannons jersey," Ron said excitedly, fingering a worn Quidditch jersey he had laid out.
Rose widened her eyes in amusement at her parents. She hadn't seen them this excited ever.
"It's just my boyfriend, you don't have to go through so much trouble you know?" she said. "Besides, he's not turning up till this afternoon."
"We know that, we just wanna leave the best impression we can," said Hermione breathlessly as she hiked herself onto a stool to check that the charmed feather duster had indeed cleaned off all the dust on the top shelf.
"Alright," Rose smiled. And then her expression turned serious as she said, "Um Mum, Dad? Before you meet Sc – uh my boyfriend, I just want you guys to know that he's really important to me, and I'm very sure of what I'm doing, and that no matter what, I love you guys, ok?"
"Of course Rosie," Ron grinned at her, before turning back to his Chudley Cannons collection.
"'Mione! He's coming any minute now!" Ron shouted to his wife. Hermione came hurrying out of the kitchen.
"Coming, coming," she said, positioning herself beside Ron in front of the fireplace.
Rose personally thought her parents were taking this a little too far, the way they had insisted Hugo change out of his pyjamas and wear something proper to meet Rose's boyfriend.
Hugo and grumbled and said that it wasn't as if he hadn't met Rose's boyfriend before, but that didn't stop Ron from making him stand there with them, like some sort of welcome procession, as they waiting for Scorpius, who was due to arrive any minute now by the Floo Network.
And at that moment, the flames in the fireplace suddenly turned green. There was a load roaring as the fire rose up. The dust cleared and a young man stepped out of the fireplace. One look at his pointed face, blonde hair and ice coloured eyes, Ron turned pale and Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
"Mum, Dad. You know Scorpius," Rose said, intertwining her fingers with his, taking in a deep breath. "My boyfriend."
Ron turned, if possible, even paler and looked like he was going to be sick, while Hermione merely gave her daughter a weak smile. But she was the first to recover from the news, though Ron looked like he was never going to recover from it.
"Well, it's nice to see you again dear," she said to Scorpius.
"Hey Scorp," Hugo greeted, grinning at him.
"Hey buddy," Scorpius replied, pulling Hugo into a brotherly hug.
Ron continued gaping, unable to conceive the notion that a Malfoy was standing in his living room.
"Well, why don't you go and put your things in the guest room and Rose will show you around. I'll get ready for dinner," Hermione smiled.
Scorpius nodded and carried up his bags. He and Rose walked past her parents and up the stairs. Ron watched them, the look of shock still upon his face.
"Well, that certainly was a surprise," Hermione said calmly.
"Surprise? She might as well have announced that she was dating the Giant Squid!" Ron burst out.
"Really Ron, there's no need to make such a big deal of it," said Hermione, going into the kitchen and busying herself with preparing for dinner. Ron had followed her in, still appalled by the fact that his daughter was dating a Malfoy.
"He's Draco Malfoy's son!" he cried out, as if unsure of whether his wife had noticed it yet.
"I know who he is Ronald. And I'm warning you, be nice to him during dinner, or Rosie won't be happy with you," she said.
"But –"
"No 'buts'! He's Rose's boyfriend, and unless you want to start a row with your own daughter, you will be nice to that boy," Hermione said with finality, leaving Ron scowling behind her.
"This is the guest room," Rose said, turning on the lights of the room as she walked in with Scorpius trailing behind her. "We changed the sheets this morning, and it's just down the hall from mine so –"
She was cut off when Scorpius grabbed her from behind and spun her around, planting his lips on hers. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer as his other hand played with her soft curls. She sighed contentedly into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
When they finally broke away, he whispered, "I missed you so much Rose."
"Missed you too," she said, pressing her forehead to his.
"So, I think I left quite the impression downstairs," Scorpius smirked.
"I don't see how you are finding this situation amusing at all," Rose scolded, smacking him lightly on the arm. "My dad looked like he was about to faint."
"He did, didn't he? Does he really despise me that much?" Scorpius asked, cocking his head to one side.
"He just doesn't know you yet, that's why," Rose said.
"Don't worry, it's gonna be ok," he murmured.
Rose had heard him say those same words over and over every time they discussed this. She wasn't so sure how much she believed that. But she sighed and nodded anyways.
A/N: Thanks for the awesome response to the first chapter of this story! Really encouraged by all the lovely reviews! Hope you guys enjoyed this one, managed to finish writing it much sooner than I expected so I put it out earlier than the week and a half deadline I gave myself.
