Chapter 4 – The Planning
"I've made a list of all the things that could go wrong at our wedding."
Scorpius looked up from where he'd been reading the Daily Prophet, legs draped casually over the side of his armchair, with great amusement. "Excuse me?"
"Our wedding," Rose repeated, looking at him like he was stupid. "I've made a list of all the things that –"
"No, no," Scorpius interrupted, still thoroughly amused, "I heard you."
Rose looked irritated. "Then why –"
"I'm just trying to figure out if you're joking or not."
Scorpius swung himself round so he was sat in the chair properly, and carefully placed the Prophet on the coffee table.
They were in Rose and Taylor's lounge, the latter being at work. It was midday that afternoon, approximately a month after Scorpius had proposed, and two months since he'd asked Ron and Hermione for permission.
They were supposed to be making wedding plans, but so far, Scorpius hadn't been taking it seriously.
Rose was looking at him furiously. "Stop laughing," she ordered. "It's not funny ; I'm being deadly serious."
"That's why it's funny," Scorpius goaded her, knowing he probably shouldn't. "Rose, sweetie," he said more affectionately, "you need to relax – it's just a wedding."
"Just a wedding?"
"Okay, you know I didn't mean it like that," Scorpius hurriedly corrected. "But really, shouldn't we be thinking more about the boring, practical stuff – the flowers, the colour scheme, the cake, and whatever – rather than the things that might go wrong? Let me see this list anyway."
He reached forward to take the list from her, but Rose snatched it away, glaring at him.
"Do you care at all, about our wedding?" she demanded.
Scorpius retracted his hand, and sat up straight. "Of course I do."
"But you think it's boring?"
"No," Scorpius sighed, "you know I didn't mean it like that."
"So, you keep saying!"
"Rose, I just meant, whilst it clearly is important to you – all those tiny little details about the big day – and don't get me wrong, I do care, I'm just more excited about being married to you rather than, necessarily, the process of getting married to you."
When Rose looked at him with even more fury, Scorpius realised he'd made a huge mistake.
"Ah, there's not going to be a wedding now, is there?" he said good-heartedly.
Rose pursed her lips, but Scorpius could she was struggling to contain her laughter, until she could no longer maintain her fierce façade, and broke out into a smirk.
"Not if you keep referring to it as boring, and taking no interest in it," she replied, falsely sulky.
"Alright," Scorpius humoured, "let me here this list then. Why are you even thinking about all the things that could potentially go wrong?"
Rose instantly perked up. "By making a list of everything that could go wrong, we can therefore do everything in our power to prevent those things from happening," she explained. "We identify the problem, and we remove the risk before it can happen. You see?"
Scorpius nodded, trying to look as serious as possible. "Hit me."
Rose cleared her throat. "Okay, first: you might not show up."
"I – what?"
"You might get cold feet the night before and leave me stranded at the altar," Rose said seriously.
Scorpius was unsure whether to laugh or not. "Please tell me you're joking, Rose?"
Rose glanced down bashfully, a curtain of red hair hiding her blush. "I don't know," she mumbled. "This is a worst-case scenario kind of list… and that's about the worst thing that could possibly happen at our wedding. There wouldn't be a wedding," she said sadly.
"Rose," Scorpius said in bewilderment, laughing uneasily, "I would never do that you – you're not honestly afraid of that happening, are you?"
Rose had started chewing on the end of the pen she'd been writing with. She shrugged. "It's a big commitment – huge – and that might suddenly hit you, right before the wedding, and you could freak out, and –"
Scorpius stretched out a hand, to hold hers across the coffee table. He stroked her knuckles in a soothing manner, staring deep into her eyes. "I know it's a huge commitment," he said softly, "but that doesn't scare me nearly half as much as the thought of living my life alone – without you."
Rose shyly returned his smile. "We're so young though, and let's be honest, we've always sort of rushed into things when it comes to our relationship."
"We don't have to rush," Scorpius suggested. "We could be one of those couples who have a long engagement, you never know."
Rose's shyness had all been displaced, and she looked taken aback. "You don't want to marry me as soon as possible?" she asked in a somewhat hurt voice.
Scorpius, in turn, looked taken aback. Their conversation seemed so back and forth. "Well, yeah, of course, but not if you think we'll be rushing?"
Rose looked thoughtful for a second, still absentmindedly chewing on the end of her pen. "I want to get married in the summer," she decided.
"This summer?" Scorpius asked, for clarification. "As in, August, or something? Four months' time?"
Rose nodded, still looking thoughtful. "Like Teddy and Victoire," she said. "That's the only way the whole family will be able to come. Lily, Serephina, and Hugo will have finished their Seventh Year of Hogwarts by then, and hopefully everybody will be working less. Plus," she said brightly, "it will be beautiful, weather-wise."
"Well, I mean, we can hope it will."
"That's a good point actually," Rose said, suddenly panicked. She scribbled something down on the list of problems, muttering under her breath. "Weather not sunny…"
"That's not exactly a 'problem,' is it?" Scorpius laughed gently. "And if it did rain, what exactly would you do to stop it? Actually, come to think of it," he said, "how are you going to prevent the risk of me leaving you stranded at the altar?"
He was asking in humour, of course, but Rose looked serious, her eyes widening.
"We could make an Unbreakable Vow," she said excitedly.
"Merlin's beard, Rose, I was joking!" Scorpius clarified. "I don't think we need to bring magic into this – you have my complete word that I will see this wedding through, even if it's the most miserable, regretful day of my life."
Rose looked alarmed.
"Which it won't be," Scorpius assured her hurriedly. "I'm just saying, hypothetically, if I were to suddenly get cold feet, I would do the honourable thing and see the wedding through," he promised. "And then I'd leave you, quietly and subtly, once all the hype had died down."
Again, Rose looked alarmed.
Scorpius cleared his throat awkwardly. "I, err, I should stop talking, shouldn't I?"
Rose didn't say anything.
"You can – you can cross that one off the list," Scorpius mumbled, pointing to the first problem on the paper. "Should we move on?"
Rose cleared her throat and looked down at the list. "Jinx and Albireo could argue, and cause a scene."
Scorpius nodded thoughtfully. "They've been broken up for good for about five months now, I'm sure they'll be fine."
"Sam and Janey could argue, and cause a scene."
"They haven't broken up, have they?" Scorpius asked uncertainly. They had been more Rose's friends than his at Hogwarts, but he thought he would have heard.
"No," Rose said, "but you know what they're like."
"Touché."
Rose continued with her list. "Bobbin and Roberts could announce their divorce."
"What?"
She looked at him pointedly, and shrugged. "Worst case scenario."
"Yeah, but that's just –"
"James and Ebony could announce their divorce."
"Rose –"
"Teddy and Victoire could announce their –"
"Okay, okay, lots of people could announce their divorce," Scorpius interrupted.
"Someone could announce their engagement."
"Who, exactly?" Scorpius asked in amusement. "We don't know anybody who's in a serious enough relationship to be getting married. I mean, Jinx and Albireo are broken up, and James and Ebony are already married. Unless you think Sam and Janey, of course."
"No," Rose dismissed. "No, I can't see that ever happening."
Rose loved Sam and Janey, and she'd always found great fondness and amusement in their love-hate relationship. They'd been at each other's throats for six years before they'd gotten together, and their relationship had never been particularly harmonious, but they were still beautifully committed to each other.
And although Rose loved them, she couldn't see them ever getting married. It wasn't that she necessarily thought they'd break up, but more that, if they did stay together forever, they'd never go through the whole business of officiating it by marriage.
Sam, Rose knew, would definitely want to, but there was no way Janey would. She'd always been deathly afraid of commitment – her relationship with Sam being the most serious thing she'd ever experienced.
"Well, no one else is going to be getting engaged, so you can cross that off your list," Scorpius said. "And why would that even be a problem, anyway?"
"It would completely overshadow me getting married!" Rose protested. "I mean, err, us." She let out a nervous laugh, then looked down, and continued with her list. "Someone announcing their engagement," she mumbled, scanning the paper. "Oh, yeah – someone announcing they're pregnant."
If Scorpius had been drinking something, he would have spat it out.
Rose ignored him, and carried on. "James could get outrageously drunk, and cause a scene."
Scorpius nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, fair enough."
"Janey could draw a lot of unwanted attention, due to her being a 'star' and all. Gwen could draw a lot of unwanted attention due to her Quidditch success. Taylor could draw a lot of unwanted attention due to –"
"I get the point," Scorpius interrupted. "There could be some unwanted attention."
"Our dads could argue, and protest against the marriage."
"What?" Scorpius said. "Rose, that's not going to happen; they're on good terms now. I know they've had their differences, but they're alright now, and you know it. Besides, your father wouldn't have given me permission to even ask you to marry me if he was going to protest the wedding, now, would he?"
Rose shrugged. "He could change his mind."
"Yeah, but –"
"It could turn out we're related somehow," Rose continued down the list, ignoring him.
"I think we can safely assume this is the first time a Weasley and a Malfoy have ever gotten married…"
"We're both from pure-blood families," Rose pointed out, "which means, somewhere along the line, we have shared relations."
"Well, yeah," Scorpius said, "but not in a way that would prevent us from being married."
"I'm just trying to cover all the possibilities," Rose said huffily. She returned to the paper. "Someone could announce their secret, undying love for me right before the vows –"
"Woah, woah, woah, what?"
"What?" Rose asked innocently, looking up at Scorpius. "You don't think it capable of someone to harbour a secret, undying love for me?"
"Well, sure, of course" Scorpius spluttered. "I mean, I know I would if it was me, and you were marrying somebody else. But who, exactly, are you expecting to announce they've secretly been in love with you for years?"
Scorpius was highly amused by it all, but Rose didn't look impressed. In fact, she looked offended by his unwillingness to take it seriously. "Well," she said indignantly, "we know Sam used to have a huge crush on me –"
"He's been happily committed to Janey for even longer than we've been together!"
"– and there was that one time when me and Mason kissed and –"
"You said that was a one-time thing and meant nothing!"
"– he could all of a sudden realise he wants another taste, or something."
"Rose!"
"Oh, Scorpius," she sighed, "I'm just saying, it's not so crazy that somebody other than yourself might find me attractive, and want to marry me."
"That's not what I was saying, at all! I just –"
"Okay, next point: someone might –"
"Hang on a second," Scorpius interrupted. "If you're putting down that someone might crash the wedding and announce their secret, undying love for you, then don't you think you should put down that someone might announce their secret, undying love for me, too?"
Rose raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, okay, Scorpius," she snorted. "So, anyway, someone might –"
"Hey, I'm being deadly serious!"
Rose stopped again, staring at Scorpius incredulously. "Why, who do you think's in love with you?" she teased.
Scorpius' cheeks filled with colour. "Well, I don't, I'm just saying, as you're making a list of all possibilities, then you might as well…" He trailed off, feeling patronised by Rose's continuing smirk. "Ebony!" he declared suddenly. "Or – or Lily."
Rose raised her eyebrows again. "You think Ebony's secretly in love with you, and wants to crash our wedding? You think Lily's in love with you?"
"No," Scorpius mumbled. "I'm just saying –"
"Yeah, okay, moving on. Someone might try and assassinate Evangeline – if she comes, that is."
Scorpius was still sulking at Rose's cruel dismissal of the idea that someone might secretly declare their love for him.
"Your mother might protest the wedding," Rose continued.
"What?" Scorpius snorted, instantly perking up. "From beyond the grave?"
"Don't you remember how much she hated me, Scorpius?" Rose asked, deadly serious. "She could very well come back as a ghost, or – or a zombie, or a spirit, or something, and put a curse on me! I wouldn't put it past her."
Scorpius had to laugh at that. He loved his mother deeply, of course, but he wouldn't put it past her either. "I'd still marry a cursed girl," he said brightly.
Rose looked flattered.
"So, is that the end of the list?" Scorpius asked.
Rose scanned the piece of paper. "No, just a couple left."
"Good grief, this is going to be the world's most disastrous wedding, at this rate…"
"Our families, in general, could argue –"
"Unlikely."
"– Someone unexpected could hook-up and cause a huge scandal that upstages us –"
"Well, that's more likely to happen."
"– And finally," Rose concluded dramatically, "somebody could die."
She set the piece of paper down on the coffee table with finality. Scorpius observed Rose with a measured expression, afraid to laugh in case she was being deadly serious. It was deeply hard to prevent it; he could feel the edges of his mouth curling upwards.
Rose was eyeing him beadily, just daring him to laugh.
"Someone could – die?" Scorpius repeated, struggling to suppress his laughter.
Rose said nothing.
"From what, exactly?"
"I don't know," she dismissed, "but it could happen!"
"Well, it's not," Scorpius said firmly, suddenly finding her paranoia disturbing rather than endearing.
"You don't know!"
"I do know that, Rose. I can promise you, one hundred percent, that nobody is going to die at our wedding. All of these problems, in fact – none of that stuff is gonna happen, alright? You need to calm down, relax, and focus on the positives on the day," Scorpius instructed.
Rose felt only mildly reassured by Scorpius' advice. "You mean the practical, boring details?" she asked sarcastically, echoing his previous words.
Scorpius brightened up, now that she was being more light-hearted. "Yeah," he grinned, "exactly that."
"Alright." Rose flicked her hair away from her neck, meaning business. "But you have to help me. I don't care how boring you think all this planning is – this is your wedding too."
"Can't we just elope?" Scorpius suggested, though he was joking. "You know, like James and Ebony? So much less hassle, and a hell of a lot cheaper!"
Rose glared at him. "We are having a proper wedding, and it will be the happiest and most beautiful day of our life, shared with those we love most. Now – planning," she announced.
Scorpius leant back in his armchair. "What will you do if I refuse to help?" he asked, a teasing grin on his face.
"Well, let's put it this way, we'll be one of those celibate couples for all eternity."
Scorpius' eyes widened. "Good Lord, I'll do anything!"
Rose smirked. "Good to know where your priorities lie," she teased. "So anyway, I was thinking of a fairly small ceremony, about a hundred guests or so."
"A hundred?" Scorpius echoed. "A hundred is small?"
"Well, yeah, when you think of all the people we could invite. I mean, we both have large families."
"I don't!"
"Well, not closely related, but you come from a very ancient, very noble family, Scorpius. You're pure-blood, after all."
"Yeah, but I don't want to invite any of those people," Scorpius dismissed. "I don't even know my distant family, and somehow, I don't think they'd approve too much of me marrying you. No," he decided firmly, "I only want my dad and my sister there. My grandmother, too, and my grandfather. If he'll come, that is," he gulped. "Which I highly doubt…"
"We'll still invite him," Rose said kindly. "Although, if my grandparents are going to be there, there might be some conflict."
"You think?" Scorpius snorted.
Whilst Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley were now at peace with their children's relationship, and had since formed a truce, resolving their old differences, Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley had not. And it wasn't just Rose's grandfather; Mr Malfoy still despised the entire Potter-Weasley family.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Rose said firmly. "But you're right – he probably won't come. Anyway – colour scheme?"
"Green, and, err, red?"
"Green and red?" Rose scoffed.
"You know – to represent our houses," Scorpius explained, rather proud of himself for his idea. "Slytherin and Gryffindor."
But Rose was horrified. "Scorpius, it's not Christmas. Can't you envision how horrific that would look for a wedding? Do you have any other suggestions? Mud brown, perhaps? Pus yellow?" she asked sarcastically.
"This is exactly why I didn't want to help!"
"Alright, fine," Rose relented. "What about yellow, or something?
"Yellow makes me look washed out," Scorpius said, still sulking.
"Gold, then?"
Scorpius wrinkled his nose.
"Red, blue, orange, pink, purple? You have to give me some kind of hint!"
"Hot pink," Scorpius grunted.
"Really? With my hair colour?"
Scorpius's pout melted into a smirk. "Yeah, I know, I was joking." He heaved himself upright from where he'd slumped down in defeat. "Honestly, Rose, I haven't a clue – you know I'm not good at this stuff."
"Just pick anything," Rose said kindly. "I promise I won't mock you this time. Next thing you suggest, we'll go with, even if it is pus yellow."
Scorpius paused, deep in thought for a moment. "Alright," he said after a while. "Blue, I guess?"
"What kind of blue? Turquoise? Baby? Aqua? Cobalt? Royal? Navy?"
"Midnight."
Rose broke into a smile, proud of Scorpius. "Good choice," she praised. "We can work with that."
Scorpius instantly perked up with her compliment. "What's next?" he asked, more eagerly than before.
"Location."
"Hogwarts?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Bobbin and Roberts got married at Hogwarts!" Scorpius protested.
"Yes, but she's the headmistress, and he's the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."
"I don't know, then? Somewhere outside, maybe? We could go to the beach, or put a tent up in the garden."
Rose didn't look thrilled by his ideas. Although she wasn't normally too vain and self-absorbed when it came to things, and was much more content with small, homely situations, she longed for a wedding as grand and beautiful as she'd always dreamed. She would only ever get one wedding, after all.
And whilst Teddy and Victoire's had been cosy and romantic, in the garden of the Burrow, Rose longed for something bigger.
"I guess we can look at venues later," Rose decided. "We should probably think about the guest list."
"And the honeymoon," Scorpius said wickedly.
Rose ignored him. "Have you thought about who you want as your best man?"
"Yep," Scorpius confirmed. "Albus."
"Perfect."
And it was. Being both Scorpius' best friend, and Rose's cousin, the bridal couple were incredibly significant to the youngest Potter boy. The three of them had been an inseparable trio at Hogwarts, even sometimes compared to the likes of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"You should ask him soon," Rose suggested, "and I can think about my bridesmaids."
"Ah." Scorpius looked sheepish. "I kind of already have."
"What, chosen my bridesmaids?"
"No, no," he clarified, "I mean, I've already asked Albus if he'll be my best man. He said 'yes,' of course."
"You asked him without even asking me?" Rose demanded, looking hurt.
Scorpius struggled to understand her upset. It wasn't like he'd thought she'd have a problem with him asking Albus. In fact, who else would she have even considered him asking?
"Err, yes? Is that a problem?" he asked uncertainly.
"No," Rose dismissed, but she was pouting, letting Scorpius know she meant otherwise. "I just thought, you know, we'd make decisions about our wedding together."
"But it's – it's my best man," Scorpius said incredulously, not understanding her attitude in the slightest. "Aren't you happy that I asked Albus?"
"Yes, obviously," Rose replied, rolling her eyes.
Well, Scorpius decided, that was certainly the last time he was going to do anything regarding their wedding, without consulting Rose first.
"Anyway, guest list," Rose piped up, letting her mild aggravation towards him pass. "I know you don't want many people from your family, but I've got a lot of people in my family, and they'll all want to come. And I was thinking – do you think we should invite any of the Hogwarts staff, or would that be too weird?"
Scorpius considered it. "Maybe not everybody," he suggested. "Bobbin and Roberts, obviously, and Professor Longbottom, but maybe just them."
Rose nodded in agreement, back to chewing on the end of her pen. She began scribbling names down eagerly. "Do you think Evangeline and Piper would come?"
Evangeline Amberry and Piper (who apparently had no last name) were two highly special cases when it came to Rose and Scorpius' lives. Evangeline had been the temporary roommate of Rose and her friends in Fourth Year, Evangeline herself being a couple of years older, and only a temporary guest at Hogwarts, on account of the fact that she was the heir to the Russian monarchy in the wizarding community, and had been in hiding whilst dark wizards hunted, and tried to assassinate, her…
And Piper's involvement in their life was even more confusing. On a reckless adventure to reunite Evangeline with her parents (now deceased), Rose, Scorpius, and a whole team of their closest friends, had come across Piper in a cursed forest, where she'd held a dagger to Sam's throat and threatened to kill them…
Rose considered them to be two of her most invaluable friends.
"Would that even be safe?" Scorpius asked worriedly. "For Evangeline? Is she allowed to travel?"
Where Evangeline went, Piper went too. But to Rose's knowledge, since returning to Russia, they'd never left the country.
"We can still send them an invite," Rose said. "But it won't be the end of the world if they don't come. Who else?"
"Bobbin's Army," Scorpius said with fond amusement.
'Bobbin's Army' had been the name of the group they'd created before embarking on their crazy mission, a parody of 'Dumbledore's Army,' which Rose's parents had been involved in.
Rose returned his smile, thinking back to their time at Hogwarts. "Okay." She poised her pen on the piece of paper. "Give me names."
"Well, other than the obvious ones – all your cousins, and stuff, and the people we're still in contact with – there were the other Prefects. The Hufflepuffs: Annabel and Tom. And the Ravenclaws: Isabella and Henry."
Rose's eyes widened. "We can't invite Henry and Isabella Fontayne."
"Why not?"
"Can you not remember the huge drama between them and Sam and Janey?" Rose asked shrilly.
It had been a huge, vindictive mess, with Sam and Janey going out of their way to sabotage the other's relationship with the respective half of the brother-sister Ravenclaw duo, all before they'd gotten together, of course. It had all been out of jealously, but Rose was certain the tensions would still prevail. Janey did not forgive so easily, and Isabella represented everything she hated.
"It's not their wedding," Scorpius reminded Rose bitterly.
"What, are you saying you want them there? I can't say I'm particularly bothered with them coming."
"I don't know," Scorpius shrugged. "I mean, I was a Prefect with them for three years, after all. I kind of got to knew them."
Truthfully, Scorpius just wanted more involvement in the wedding than he currently did. He didn't have a lot of links to people who Rose didn't, and as he didn't want to invite a lot of his family, he just wanted someone there to make up his half of the guests.
"No," Rose said firmly, much to Scorpius' anger. "And I don't think we should invite the Hufflepuff Prefects either. Annabel's Albus' ex-girlfriend, after all, and it will be really awkward for him."
Scorpius, feeling hard done by, decided to invite them all anyway. Rose would be so excited on the big day that she probably wouldn't even notice.
"What about any of your old Quidditch buddies?" Rose asked.
Scorpius very nearly snorted. "Old Quidditch buddies?" he repeated in amusement. "Definitely not."
"Not even Deneb?" Rose teased.
Scorpius frowned. "Rose, that's not even funny."
Deneb Jacobson had been in the year above Rose and Scorpius – Slytherin Quidditch Keeper, tall, dark, and handsome, womaniser, and general ominous character. Scorpius loathed him intensely. Many a time he had tried to pick up Rose.
"No, I was joking," she clarified.
"Can we take a break from this?" Scorpius asked suddenly, bored out of his mind. He was interested in the wedding planning, despite what Rose thought, but he suddenly felt discouraged by his lack of friends outside those he shared with Rose.
"Of course," she said politely.
Rose made her way over to Scorpius, still sat in the armchair, to sit on his lap and embrace him. "We made good progress," she praised, planting a kiss on his cheek.
Scorpius rubbed her back soothingly. "I didn't know it would be this much work," he confessed sheepishly.
"Well," Rose said kindly, "you're doing a great job."
Scorpius knew she was lying, but he appreciated her reassurance anyway. "Can I throw this list away then?" he asked teasingly, reaching for her list of drastic things that could go wrong at their wedding.
"Only if you promise me that none of them will come true."
"It's okay that you're anxious about the wedding, Rose, but really, I can promise you that this is a little extreme."
"Okay," she finally conceded. "You can bin it."
This time it was Scorpius who planted a kiss on Rose's cheek. He screwed the paper up, and tossed it into the bin across the room, with the ease of a Quidditch Chaser.
Little did either of them know that, shockingly, almost every problem on Rose's list would occur.
Author's Note: I've not abandoned this story, don't worry. It's just been a really crazy busy time for me, so I've been getting a bit behind. The missing chapters will be uploaded in addition to the new one (hopefully some time this week) - sorry :(
