I must have been a sight, I realized. My comfy muggle clothes, my hair carelessly tied back, barefoot. Scorpius himself came to the door, blinking in surprise. "Weasley?"

"Malfoy."

"Come in," he invited, with a glance over my shoulder at the dark sky. "Why are you here?"

"Well, at some point I needed to tell my best friend we were getting married. And because she's got the biggest mouth she'd tell at least one other person the truth. So I told the lie. I told my best friend a lie. And now she wants to meet you." I was now pacing in front of the door, my bare feet plopping softly against the marble floor. "And like any boyfriend, she's sure you'll come right over and say 'hello'."

"So, you want me to…?"

"I need you to come help me convince her we're in love. I won't have my best friend think I'm marrying for money or status or whatever her mind will think up. And since I'm doing you, your family, the biggest favor of my life, I'm sure you will have no problem making this situation look good for me." I stopped my pacing and stood in front of him, arms crossed, my eyes piercing into his own gray ones.

"I suppose I have no choice," he replied. "What exactly have you told her?" I recalled as much of the story as I could. He snorted at the cheesy parts and I told him to shove it. "Then let's not keep her waiting," Malfoy said.

We walked out past the gate and I grabbed his arm tightly and turned on the spot, appearing directly in my bedroom. Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "I didn't want to land on her," I grumbled as he eyed my room with interest. "Come on."

I opened the door. "You took long enough," Zara said as she bounced off the couch.

"Here he is," I said as I walked towards her. I felt Malfoy following me. "Go ahead and say hi. I'm sure he has better things to do than sit through girl's night."

"So this is real." I looked to Zara's face; she looked more put out than anything. Why was that? "I guess I really didn't believe it until now."

I smiled uncertainly at her. "Well, believe it. We're getting married." I managed to keep an uncomfortable smile as I tried not to let Malfoy's presence bother me.

"So you made her fall in love with you." Zara addressed Malfoy. "And I thought you were just the sworn enemy."

"Well, she was bound to eventually. I suppose after a fair amount of adoration one begins to return affection." Merlin, had he been reading cheesy muggle novels?

"But she said she liked you from the beginning too," Zara informed him.

I tried to make it all work out. "Way to give away some of my power," I muttered.

Zara looked delighted, finally coming out of her confused state. "My best friend's getting married!" she exclaimed.

"Er, yeah. Will you be my maid of honor?" I asked with a smile.

I knew the answer before she exploded. "YES!" I was tackled with her hug, forcing me to step back a couple of times.

Malfoy watched us calmly. I caught his eye and tilted my head slightly. I wanted to know what he thought. He simply did the same. I translated it as 'whatever'. Interesting. "I suppose you can help me pick out a dress."

"Oh, you just gave me the best project. Don't worry; I'll look into everything. Stay free this weekend, all right? If you can tear yourself away from Malfoy's bed long enough for us to look around."

I blushed and Malfoy let out a deep chuckle. That was the first time I'd heard him sound so amused. "I like the way she thinks, Rosie."

Zara turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "So the virgin queen has been naughty," she said. "You didn't tell me…"

"No, I haven't, and don't call me that!" I exclaimed. I didn't miss Malfoy's surprise at her name for me.

"Sorry," she said with a reluctant smile.

And cue awkward pause.

"Well, Scorpius, I guess we've made our point." I was starting to feel uncomfortable, him in his rich robes and us in our muggle attire.

"Oh, don't make him go," Zara said. "I'll go, if you want anyone to. But seriously, Malfoy, stay."

A thought came to me. "That'll be my last name soon," I said aloud. My heart sank.

"I know," agreed Zara. "Rose Malfoy."

I had to hold back my emotion, as it was flaring up. I didn't quite know how I felt about that, but I certainly didn't like it. It must not have phased Zara, because she kept right on talking.

"How did you parents take it?" she questioned.

"Er…better than I thought. Much better, in fact." I frowned, remembering how they calmly accepted that I was marrying into the enemy's family.

"Is that bad?" Zara asked with a look at my expression.

"No. It's just confusing, is all." I mean really. I suppose my dad took his anger out on the world when I fell asleep, and mum cried. Hugo would just be confused but accept it. I mean, I never really saw it, the reactions. They could show that they objected, at least—

"I would have thought your dad would say no, go find someone else, that he didn't want Malfoy scum touching his girl." She turned and smiled. "No offence."

"Dad wouldn't approve of anyone touching me, so I guess it didn't matter much more," I explained.

Malfoy chuckled. "Should I be worried?"

"No, I'm sure he'll spare your life, as long as you're respectful," I informed him.

"Well, in that case, I'll sit down. I don't want to spend my last night tiring out my legs." Wow, I felt stupid. We'd been standing up this whole time.

"So you're not planning on respecting my Rosie?" Zara said immediately, sitting in the armchair.

"Er—no. I mean, yes, I'm going to be respectful but…" And then something strange happened. Malfoy turned to me for help. His eyes begged for assistance, not sure what to tell her, not sure what she would expect.

"What he means," I interrupted, sitting down on the couch next to my fiancé, "Is that he'll be as respectful as I want him to be. It works both ways, though, meaning he'll be as disrespectful as I want." I winked, trying to sound sly.

"Alright then." Zara nodded. And then went into a full talk about colours, matching to the season, blablabla… I didn't really pay attention. I didn't really care, to be honest. Maybe if it was a wedding for love, a wedding to last forever, I'd care more. But I sat, just as bored as Malfoy, enduring her speech.

And it went on. How many different shades of red had she listed? I never before had seen this side of her. Zara was actually boring me to death. I broke into the bottle of wine, pouring both Malfoy and I generous helpings as she moved on to the different shades of white and the pros and cons of each. Where did she even get this info?

Suddenly it came to me. "Hey, Zara. Not that this isn't interesting or anything, but Malfoy and I needed to be somewhere tonight, in a bit. I only just remembered," I wildly invented. Thank Merlin she was gullible.

"Oh? Where is the happy couple going?" Zara asked with a smile.

"Er—" And I did it, too. I turned my gaze on Malfoy for help.

Lips met mine, briefly and quite sweet. My eyes instantly, instinctually closed. "Does that give you an answer?" The lips were gone and Malfoy's voice filled my head.

"Oh, I see." I looked to see Zara actually blush. "Well, it is late."

"Yes, we'll pick up on this soon, I promise," I said with a smile. "Thanks a ton for coming," I told her. "It means a lot." I stood up and hugged her.

"It wasn't a problem. It was actually a pleasant surprise," she informed me. "Bye, then. Owl me a time and place to meet, yeah?"

"Will do. See you." She disappeared with a pop. I immediately collapsed back onto my couch with a loud groan, covering my face with my hands.

"I think that went well," Malfoy commented from next to me.

I jumped, forgetting he was there. Looking sideways, I assessed his face. He looked comfortable and calm. "I just told my best friend I was marrying a Slytherin. Of course that went well. That went bloody brilliant, considering how things could have gone."

"Oh, are we still holding grudges because of our house?"

"No, of course not," I said. "It' just…"

"I wonder how much it would take for me to marry a Slytherin," I'd once said.

"You couldn't pay me enough," Zara said. "They're so…creepy."

"Not even for a million galleons?"

"Well, I suppose every girl has her price." We laughed and headed to class.

"Anyways, I'm not going to hold a grudge because you were in Gryffindor."

"What's wrong with Gryffindor?" I demanded.

"You're all bloody show-offs, you lot. That and the obnoxious personalities-"

I cut him off. "At least we aren't creeps who live in a dungeon, never smiling or laughing."

"Oh, you think we never smiled?" We were facing each other now, arms crossed.

"I suppose maybe you did, alone with each other in that snake's nest, after you ate the heart of some poor first-year."

"I thought you were trying to help my family's reputation, not spread rumors about us."

We sat in the silence, glaring at one another. This was the Malfoy I knew. "That's right. What was I thinking? I suppose we can break off the engagement—"

He grabbed my hand. "I didn't mean it like that." I looked to his suddenly desperate face. "Weasley, please. You don't understand how much we need you."

I was taken aback by the sudden seriousness of his pleading. "Why don't I understand?"

"My mum wanted to make reservations at a different restaurant, that night of my birthday. But they said they wouldn't serve death eaters. She cried, because of how unfair that was; of course dad wasn't still a death eater." My eyes widened. I had no idea. "Then the person taking reservations at the restaurant we ate at did it reluctantly, after mum mentioned she was friends with the owner. But they definitely did not want to have us at their restaurant. They were afraid we'd ruin their reputation, simply by enjoying the food."

"I'm sorry," I said. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"That's the reason I want-I need to marry you. You could make our lives so much better. We've received countless threats against our lives. Rose," I looked up sharply as he said my first name and touched the ring on my finger. "Please, let's get married soon. We can do anything you want, however you want, but before the New Year?"

"Are you aware the new year is just over three months away?" I asked coolly.

"I'm telling you, we're desperate. As soon as the public sees us together, all will be forgiven. We'd be a new kind of Malfoy family. I just—" his voice broke off. "I just can't stand to see my mum suffer anymore. You're my only hope."

"Okay," I said quietly. Damn him, damn my parents for raising me to please others. "We can get married before the new year."