A/N: As always, thank a bunch to everyone. Rushing to get this up, I have to go golfing (I hate golf). :( But anyway, this one's pretty long! I don't think the details of their fight are needed, though. So, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Don't own!

.:Live to Love:.

.x. balloon .x.

"Happy birthday, Rose!"

When I headed out of the Burrow that afternoon, the sight I met left me speechless. All of my cousins and friends were crowded in the Weasleys' backyard, beaming at my startled expression. A picnic table, towering with tons of snacks and desserts, sat behind them, and some color changing balloons and fireworks from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes lit up the dusky sky.

Honestly, for an observant girl, I missed a lot of things. One of them being a planned surprise party behind my back.

"No way!" I screeched, running forward to hug my mum. "A surprise birthday party? For me?"

"Of course! Our one and only daughter," my mum said into my ear above the chattering crowd behind her. She gave me one last squeeze before letting go and allowing my dad to engulf me in a tight hug.

I eventually gave up trying to remember how many people were there. After I had hugged Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Fleur, it was safe to assume that every single one of my adult relatives were present, whether I had hugged them or not. The little cousins rushed up to me next: Lily, Lucy, and Roxanne. Hugo was somewhere in the mix, eager to run off and play Quidditch with James in the forest behind the Burrow.

My older cousins came next. Victoire chastised me on my slacks and over-sized T-shirt outfit. But, after a quick squeeze, she pulled Dominique ahead and I hugged her too. Molly came next, and she gave me a stiff 'arm-draped-around-shoulder-almost-hug' that I barely recognized. Fred fought his way through the crowd sometime or other for a birthday greeting, even though he was way older than me and I had only seen him once or twice in my seventeen-year-old life.

Grandpa and Grandmum Weasley both swept me into a duo-hug that crushed my lungs. My twin friends Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were there too with their parents, as well as some of my friends from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

But there was one person in particular that seemed to be missing.

Fighting my way through the mass of people gathered around the huge backyard table, I found the person on my mind standing a way off, chatting with Albus and Louis. I approached them with a wave. Louis instantly ran up and greeted me, overlong strawberry blonde hair swinging behind him.

"Hey, Rose, you were surprised, right?" he asked in a hurry, grinning.

"Of course, Louis. Thanks, you're the best." I hugged him quickly – what was it, hug-a-palooza today? – and he waited beside me as Albus approached us.

He grinned a little when I met his emerald-eyed gaze. "Did you have any planning in this, Al?" I asked when he was close enough to hear.

Albus shrugged, and the white-blond boy that I saw over Al's shoulder gave me a little smile. "Maybe," Albus said. "Not much. Just a little bit. Barely anything."

"Oh, stop, Al," Louis said, punching his cousin. "He planned the whole thing, practically. It was his idea in the first place." I saw him glance over Albus's shoulder at the Slytherin boy standing by the brown fence, almost a little hesitantly.

Because Scorpius and I hadn't had… a good parting. The last day of school, we had gotten into a huge fight. There were hateful words exchanged over Merlin-knows-what, and we parted back to hating each other like first years again. The long summer had passed – those two whole months – and it killed me. Because I hadn't heard a word from him.

Until now.

But I only smiled wider at Al's previous sarcastic tone, pulled him into a bear hug and whispered, "Thanks, Al. I hate surprises. Therefore, I hate you a lot."

"Hate you too." We broke apart, grinned at each other to know we were kidding and meant the opposite, and Albus stumbled off in the other direction when Louis tugged on his sleeve.

Finally, the one I had been waiting for. I shyly made my way over to Scorpius Malfoy, who was standing there with a peculiar expression on his face. One that I couldn't decipher. "Hey."

"Hi," he said and took my hand to drag me closer. His palm was warm in a comforting way, for such a pale man. He put his other arm around my waist, let go of my hand, and reached over to a pile of color changing balloons next to us.

"Happy birthday," he whispered and handed me the balloon.

"Thanks," I whispered back, looking up at the rainbow helium-filled ball floating above me.

We just stood like that, in complete and utter silence. It was full and heavy, filled with things we needed to say, but didn't want to. That is, until Scorpius spoke up. "Look, I – "

"Don't be sorry, Scorpius," I interrupted, looking up into his pleading gray eyes. "I said some stupid things too. Don't beat yourself up."

His smile was pained. "I could barely stand it."

"The summer? Me neither. I just… I don't want another summer in silence."

"I don't either."

"Then I bet you're pretty glad that Al invited you, huh?" I joked, bumping his hip with mine.

He laughed, a sound I'd come to love. And, recently, to miss. "Term starts tomorrow, anyway. But yes, very glad. Your cousin's very nice. Louis's not that bad either."

"I know. They're pretty great." I looked to my right, where Albus, Louis, James, and Hugo could be seen above the treetops in an intense Quidditch match. James was yelling at Hugo, his face beet red, while Albus and Louis pumped their fists and high-fived.

"Yes," Scorpius said, his smile fading fast, "but please listen to me. I need to let you know I'm truly sorry, I didn't mean any of it." I could feel his voice reverberate from his chest, where I had laid my head. "I hurt you – "

"And I hurt you. We're even, OK?" I stared off into the evening sun. It was oddly comforting being in Scorpius's embrace, even with the silent summer we had shared, after all those hateful words were exchanged on the last day of sixth year. "Just let it go."

"Let it go?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"How?"

"Like this." And I released the ribbon of the balloon I was holding, letting it float up into the clouds. Scorpius looked down at me with surprise in his gray eyes, but I simply redirected his gaze back to the color changing balloon drifting higher and higher into the sky.

I looked eagerly up into his face once the balloon was completely out of sight, only to find him staring down at me with a quizzical expression on his face. I sighed and interlaced our fingers.

"See? Go, going, gone."

A/N: This is my longest one yet! Review to celebrate? :)