Hello everyone! I am so so sorry it's taken me so very long to update you with more chapters. I've written so much that I actually have three chapters instead of the usual two (which should be one anyway!) I'm still editing a lot of it so to make up for the stupidly long time you've all had to wait I'm promising a chapter a day for the next three days to make up for it, that way I can edit properly and you're not overwhelmed by an extra 20,000 words or so!
Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this fic, I really do appreciate it so so much. We all know I don't own HP so I'm going to let you get to the chapter you've already been waiting too long for!
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Chapter 10
The memorial ball came around fast. Rose stood in front of her bedroom mirror sighing and continuously smoothing down her gown. The dress was long and elegant, it was midnight blue with a sweetheart neckline. Delicate cobalt and silver beading covered the bodice all the way to the waist, the skirt was covered in an exquisite lace and atop that from the back to the sides was fine netting that ran all the way to the floor and flowed out around the dress beautifully. Rose had her messy and unmanageable frizz pulled into a side plait that fell across her shoulder, she had makeup on that was just a little bit more than natural but didn't make her pale complexion look washed out. She smoothed out the dress again and continued angling herself in different ways at the mirror, sighing to herself and getting frustrated at how nervous she was. She was never this anxious when it came to the charity balls or public events she was forced to attend as the first daughter of the Golden Trio, and it was doing her head in that she was currently huffing and puffing in front of her mirror like some thirteen year old that was completely unsure of herself. She heard her mother call out to her as she gave herself a final once over before rolling her eyes at herself and running down the stairs.
The ball was in full swing by the time her family got there. Her parents, being guests of honour, were required to arrive a little later so they could be paraded into the room with their adorable offspring and fed to the vultures that were the nosey dignitaries that also attended. The only mitigating factor was that her cousins, James, Lily and Albus, were in exactly the same boat. They'd learnt years ago to grab a partner and cling on for dear life until the storm of polite but usually far too inappropriate people had broken and the calm had returned. Rose grabbed Lily and they began making their way around the sea of unfamiliar and unrecognisable faces.
"Miss Weasley, it's a pleasure to see you again," an older, balding man extended his hand and Rose shook it, "you remember my wife?" He gestured to the spindly lady stood beside him, looking down her nose at the two girls.
"Of course, it's wonderful to see you both again too," Rose smiled politely,
"And how have you both been?" The man said,
"Well, thank you, and you?" Rose returned the question, used to feeling a little awkward at talking to a man whose name she couldn't remember,
"Yes, we have also been well," he smiled,
"I'm so sorry to hear about your recent break up my dear," his wife said, sounding almost snide about it, "Simon Smith was a good man, it's a pity you couldn't hold on to him..."
Rose felt a wave of nausea ripple through her and her body went incredibly tense at the sound of his name. She paled slightly and forced her smile to remain on her face as Lily looked up at her in concern.
"It obviously just wasn't meant to be," Rose said,
"Nothing is ever meant to be, you have to make it be," the woman replied haughtily,
"I didn't want to, we weren't in love and we couldn't see ourselves ever being in love," Rose couldn't understand why she was trying to defend herself to such a nosey and pompous old bint, but for some reason she was.
"Love has nothing to do with it dear," she said, "you have two options, you can find a career or you can find a husband, and since you haven't a job in sight maybe you shouldn't be turning down a good man who'd provide for you?"
"I don't want to be provided for," Rose said, "I'll choose my career when I'm ready and as for -she sucked in a painful breath as she forced his name out of her lips- Simon, our relationship and how and why it ended is no one else's business,"
"My dear, you are Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger's daughter, you are everyone's business," she smirked, "you need to realise that and start to act accordingly...I'd start by finding a nice young man if I were you!"
"I think that's my cue to go find Scorpius, don't you Lily?" Rose asked icily,
"Yes, I'd say so," Lily nodded once,
"Scorpius? As in Malfoy?!" The man hissed,
"Yes, unless you know another Scorpius?" Rose frowned innocently,
"That boy is not a nice one," the woman admonished,
"Why? Because his last name is Malfoy?" Rose scoffed,
"Yes! Why else?" The woman looked almost enraged,
"Oh I don't know..." Rose shrugged, "I was always taught you had to have an actual reason to hate someone, as opposed to taking offence at something they couldn't help, like the family they were born into?"
"How dare you?" The woman glared,
"How dare you, actually?!" Rose growled, "my life and my self are most certainly not everyone's business! And I will certainly never be okay with people poking their noses in for the sake of critiquing my life choices when they have absolutely nothing to do with it!"
"Miss Weasley!" The man glowered, "you will not speak to my wife like that!"
"Actually Sir, I won't be speaking to your wife at all!" Rose said definitively,
"I am so glad our Simon is rid of such an awful witch! No wonder it didn't work out between you two! I am so disappointed in you, I'd have thought you'd be more like your mother!" The woman cried.
"Our Simon?" Lily asked as Rose tensed up again and barely kept her cool. She needed to find Scorpius, she hated that she needed to find him, but it didn't stop her needing to find him.
"He's our nephew," the woman beamed as if she'd momentarily forgotten their heated discussion, "and he was devastated when you left him," she was back to glaring at Rose. Rose was close to tears, she didn't know what Simon had been saying and she didn't think she cared, but if half the hall thought she'd left him and he was a mess, they were all going to be disappointed in her and attempt to bring it up in conversation, all thinking that they might be the ones to bring her round so she'd make up with him. Rose felt claustrophobic and slightly panicked. She scoured the ballroom for the precise shade of blonde that was Malfoy, just seeing him would calm her nerves. She hated how dependant she'd become on him, she hated that he finally had one over on her and she hated even more that he was a decent bloke and never pointed that out. If he'd been a dick about it she wouldn't have to like him so much and then she probably wouldn't lean on him like she was.
.
Scorpius hated this event more then any other. The minute him and his parents stepped into the room it was like he could feel the disgust and loathing as it rippled around the room. His dad offered him a brief, forlorn glance while his mother held her head high and stalked on through the crowd, leaving them little option but to follow her. He caught sight of Albus who gave him a small nod accompanied by an apologetic grimace as he was pulled back into a conversation with a group of men who'd thrown him the dirtiest of looks. Scorpius sighed and settled against the wall just behind a seat his mother had taken. He reached for champagne as it came passed and grinned at the tall blonde who slid up beside him.
"Hey Scorp," she flashed her baby blues as him,
"Hey Flick," Scorpius smiled, "how've you been?"
"Oh you know, the usual," Flick grinned, the usual being mostly absurd and generally illegal,
"How's your dad coping with you at home and without any real direction?" Scorpius smirked,
"Not well, its hilarious," Flick smirked back, "and I do have direction, he just doesn't like my direction,"
"That's because it's towards prison," Scorpius laughed,
"Thanks, that makes me feel very appreciated and supported," Flick grumbled, "you're a great friend,"
"I'm the best friend," Scorpius grinned,
"Sure you are," she rolled her eyes,
"Hey guys," Gabe strode up and joined them, "how goes it?"
"It goes as well as usual," Scorpius replied,
"So, you're basically either being ignored or scowled at by everyone," Gabe sighed, "most of these people are hypocrites, what was the point in remembering the war if we weren't going to learn from it?"
"Rose said something similar last weekend," Scorpius nodded,
"Rose?" Flick jumped to attention, "as in Weasley?"
"Do you know another Rose?" Scorpius scoffed,
"Is this the last weekend Albus told me about where you and Rose ended up babysitting all the mini Weasley-Potters and practically fell in love?" Gabe smirked as Flick gaped between them,
"Yes and no," Scorpius scowled, "we babysat, we didn't fall in love, that's ridiculous!"
"Oh really?" Gabe looked less than convinced, "Al said you're in denial,"
"Al can go get screwed," Scorpius huffed,
"What did you do that made him think you'd fallen in love?!" Flick asked incredulously, an amused smirk spreading across her face,
"Nothing! We babysat all weekend and then when her family came back I didn't leave..." Scorpius began his awful explanation when Gabe jumped in,
"Apparently, instead of arguing between themselves they sort of teamed up and argued with the rest of the clan, had a huge water fight which Weasley won, a very interesting lunch whereby Al told them that 'friends' was a very loose term for them and to top it all off there were at least a couple of moments where he wasn't sure if they might kiss or not," Gabe grinned,
"There were no almost kissing moments!" Scorpius growled,
"I'll ask Lily, she'll tell me," Flick smirked,
"Come on! You can't seriously think me and Rose..."
"I think you and Rose are actually pretty perfect for each other," Flick cut him off, "and I've been waiting for you both to see that for a really long time,"
"Are you..."
"Yes I'm bloody serious!" Flick huffed, "she's the only woman I know who can keep up with you and your ridiculously fast brain, she can give as good as she gets, she doesn't swoon at the sight of you and she doesn't bend over backwards to please you or get your attention, which is exactly the kind of woman you need to keep your feet on the ground and stop your head from growing another two sizes too big,"
"We're going to drop this, now," Scorpius pursed his lips with a glare at the two of them,
"Fine," Flick said, "but just so you know, she's walking this way..."
Scorpius turned around and nearly hit the floor. Rose Weasley was walking directly towards him and he'd never seen a sight like it in all his life. She was stunning but she still looked like Rose. How did she even do that? Scorpius' throat was dry and his breath felt a little restricted. He mentally shook himself out of it and simply nodded curtly as Rose approached.
.
"Weasley," Scorpius said, ignoring the glares sent his way by his two best friends,
"Hi Scorp," Rose said, unperturbed by his sudden coldness and feeling herself instantly relax the nearer he was,
"What are you doing here?" He asked her lazily,
"I'm talking to my friends," she said simply,
"Your friends?" He scoffed,
"Yes, Flick and Gabe have been coming to my grandparents' events for years now and you and I spent all last weekend together with a bunch of screaming children, or does your default setting erase your memories too?" She asked bluntly, earning a snigger from Flick and Gabe,
"Weasley..." He started,
"Scorpius, don't make me melt you..." She pointed at him menacingly and he contemplated her for a second before sighing, visibly relaxing as a stunned Felicity took in his more easy going stance.
"You're impossible, d'you know that?" He huffed,
"Actually you're impossible," Rose huffed back,
"Melt you?" Flick asked interestedly,
"Rose..." Scorpius looked at her pleadingly,
"Yes, I told him he had the tendency to become an ice statue around others and threatened to melt him," Rose said, earning a grateful look from the ice statue,
"How exactly would you go about doing that?" Gabe smirked,
"Well, setting fire to him did occur to me but I actually found tickling worked best," Rose smirked, although her heart wasn't really in it, something that Scorpius didn't miss.
"Scorp isn't ticklish though," Flick said,
"Oh he very much is," Rose nodded as he scowled at her,
"Okay, I think we'll leave that conversation and find a new one," Scorpius glared,
"We can always discuss what happened between the two of you?" Flick suggested with a smirk, "I'm still intrigued..."
"Nothing happened!" Rose groaned, her hands finding her hips without her even thinking about it. She rounded on Scorpius.
"Why is it you can't just have a normal conversation with your friends? Huh? You just have to shut down and be as evasive as possible! It's infuriating!" She glared,
"You're infuriating! Whatever's got you all riled up tonight, it wasn't me, so stop taking it out on me!" Scorpius glared back,
"I'm not! I'm just trying to point out that if you just talked to your friends like any other normal person, no one would be intrigued about 'what happened over the weekend' because they'd already know!" Rose huffed, "but instead you have to refuse to really talk about it so they go and talk to other people, who are more than willing to exaggerate, and make up their own warped version of what happened, something you never actually deny because you refuse to bloody talk about it!"
"I did talk about it!" Scorpius cried, "but they'd already spoken to Al and his version is definitely more colourful than ours and now they won't listen to me!"
"Well maybe if you'd opened your mouth before Al had a chance..." Rose was cut off,
"Well, before I get caught up in whatever this is..." Gabe gestured to the two of them, "I'm going to go get some food,"
"Me too," Flick nodded,
"Pick me up a plate while you're over there," Scorpius said,
"What exactly is wrong with your legs?" Rose frowned,
"Nothing!" Scorpius huffed,
"So you can go and get your own damn food!" She huffed back,
"But..."
"But what? Are your friends your slaves? Do they look like slaves to you? And where exactly were your manners?!" Rose folded her arms and stared him down,
"I like her, she's definitely staying, you're staying right?" Flick grinned at Rose who returned it with one of her own,
"Rose, there are a lot of people out there who really don't want to see me up close..." Scorpius began,
"Well then, I'm sure you'll be fine," she said, "unless you plan on sticking your nose in all their faces?" Scorpius groaned as he waved Flick off, giving in to the demand of the woman beside him who seemed to know exactly how to manipulate him.
.
"So, what happened?" Scorpius asked, moving along the wall and away from his parents and any other unwanted ears.
"Huh?" Rose frowned,
"What happened?" He repeated, "you came up here practically looking for a fight..."
"No I didn't!" Rose cried,
"Rose..." Scorpius put his hand on her arm gently, forcing her to meet his eyes,
"I just met his Aunt and Uncle..." Rose said, her whole body beginning to shake slightly,
"Smith's?" Scorpius asked, and had to hold back an angry growl as Rose nodded.
"If they're here, he must be too..." She whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and trying to calm her breathing,
"Hey," Scorpius grabbed hold of both her shoulders this time and rubbed his thumbs soothingly across them, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, you're perfectly safe, okay?"
"But you can't stay glued to me..." Rose argued,
"Not technically no, but my eyes can," he smirked,
"Huh?" Rose frowned,
"I can keep my eyes on you," Scorpius said,
"All night?" Rose said,
"Yes all night," he smiled, his thumbs still smoothing over her skin,
"Okay..." Rose nodded, "I'm sorry..." All she wanted to do was lean into him and have him wrap his arms around her, but in this room, at this event, just the fact they were talking so intimately would cause a stir, let alone actually hugging it out.
"I told you, I don't want to hear you apologise!" Scorpius said,
"I know, I know," Rose shook her head and Scorpius felt helpless. He just wanted to help her, hold her, comfort her, but he couldn't do that without a bunch of people assuming he was hurting her instead. He sighed deeply.
"And the reason I didn't tell my friends about the weekend before Al did was because I hadn't seen them or spoken to them," Scorpius said, an idea forming in the back of his head, a terrible one for sure but if it made Rose feel better he didn't really care.
"What?" She frowned, "you went a whole week without talking to anyone?!"
"No! I was talking to you!" He flapped a hand at her, "or is it you with the memory problems?"
"I remember very well, thank you!" Rose folded her arms, "but you shouldn't just shut yourself off from people for so long!"
"Oh I'm sorry, I was a bit preoccupied, and tired might I add, from your lengthy, late night calls!" Scorpius bit back,
"I couldn't sleep and you told me to ring you! You also told me to not to apologise either!" Rose glared, "so way to go for making me feel guilty!"
"You don't feel guilty! You know I'd have made time if I wanted to!" Scorpius scoffed, "you're just pissed I'm using you as an excuse!"
"So you admit it was an excuse!" Rose pointed her finger triumphantly at him,
"Yes, because I don't like talking to someone every minute of the day! It might surprise you to learn that you can go a week or two without talking to people and still be good friends!" He glared,
"We've spent practically every minute of the day talking since you got your phone on Monday..." Rose said, shifting slightly as she broached dangerous territory, "...you never sound tired of talking to me..."
"You're different," Scorpius said simply,
"Different?" She raised her eyebrows,
"Yes, just different!" He cried, wanting to kick himself for starting this ridiculous argument just to make her feel better, which was actually working if he wasn't mistaken. He hadn't missed her easy smile slowly creeping back to her face, or her demeanour relax somewhat as they stood and had a hushed screaming match in a corner of the room.
"Different good or different bad?" Rose asked,
"What is that supposed to mean?" Scorpius furrowed his brow,
"Like, I'm different because you actually like talking to me all day every day or different because I'm too persistent so you have to talk to me all day every day?" She said,
"Merlin Rose! Do I really have to answer that?!" He groaned,
"No, but we both know you're going to," she smirked and he knew she was right. He wriggled a little uncomfortably at his imminent confession being in a room filled with over a thousand people before sighing in defeat and rolling his eyes.
"Good different," he said reluctantly with air of boredom, "I like talking to you so much...happy?"
"Yes," Rose grinned widely and Scorpius couldn't help but copy her. They chuckled a little as they found themselves relaxing back to how they were a week ago. Rose smiled as she looked up at the clever and truly caring man beside her; she'd successfully managed to melt him tonight of all nights and she couldn't be more pleased. Scorpius just sighed and shook his head, unaware of how he ended up here and unsure as to how he was supposed to proceed. He didn't like being this readable in public, but he couldn't stop his almost automatic response to Rose. He didn't feel vulnerable when he was with her, he felt stronger if anything, even though there was more of him for the world to see and more of him for the world to pick at. There was just something about her knowing his secrets and him knowing hers that made them feel safe together, like they weren't alone, like someone understood.
.
It wasn't long before Flick came back with two plates of food and looked ashamedly at Rose's reproving face.
"Force of habit, sorry," she murmured,
"Thanks Flick," Scorpius grinned, "you know I love you?"
"Yeah, yeah, just eat your food," She grumbled,
"Looks like you managed to make up..." Gabe smirked, "you also managed to elicit a number of interesting conversations around the room too..."
"Hey!" Scorpius grabbed Rose's hand as she picked up a small pastry from his plate, "get your own!"
"No!" Rose said, snatching another one with her free hand and popping it into her mouth,
"You can't do that!" Scorpius said,
"I just did," she grinned,
"Well, your not having a second one..." He said as she used her free had to take the pastry out of the hand that Scorpius was holding before eating that one too,
"Now you're just holding my hand..." She giggled as he dropped it and glared at her,
"There was barely anything on this plate as it was!" Scorpius huffed,
"Come on then," Rose gestured to the buffet table, "let's go get some more, Gabe's practically inhaled his lot anyway..."
Gabriel Zabini had indeed finished already. He was well known in most social circles as the man who could eat great quantities and still remain gentleman-like while doing it. His father was nothing if not proud of him for that fact.
"Yeah, I'm still hungry," Gabe nodded,
"I really don't want to go up there," Scorpius swallowed nervously, "I like my hidey hole here..."
"Rose!" Lily cried as she walked quickly towards her, "I've been looking for you for ages!"
"Sorry Lils," Rose looked guiltily at the floor, "I didn't mean to storm off and leave you to deal with it,"
"It's fine, I fully intend to return the favour," She grinned,
"Well, this is interesting," Flick said, "a Weasley and a Potter over this side of the room..."
"Yes, it's certainly a development," Lily scowled at Rose, "I was coming to drag you back before Uncle Ron loses it,"
"Really?" Rose sighed,
"Yeah, sorry Rose," Lily grimaced,
"That's okay..." Rose said, "we were just about to grab some more food anyway,"
"Yeah, I've only eaten one plate," Gabe grinned,
"I'm not hungry," Scorpius said,
"If you're not hungry why'd you just bite my head off for pinching your food?" Rose smirked,
"Matter of principle," he said,
"Come on, you're not getting out of it that easy," she smiled, nudging him with her shoulder,
"Fine!" Scorpius sighed and reluctantly followed suit as the small group strode towards the table.
.
Rose was more than aware of how uncomfortable Scorpius was, and of all the disgusted glances he was getting. She purposefully made sure she was next to him as they picked up plates and drifted down the table with Gabe and Flick in front.
"I really don't like you much right now," Scorpius growled at her,
"I know," she smiled, "just relax, it's really not that bad,"
"Not that bad?!" He cried in a whisper, "are you insane?"
"Some might call it that, yes," Rose smirked and bumped his shoulder with her own for a second time. He couldn't help but smirk back at her, shaking his head in disbelief at how easily she made his tension slip away.
"Ooo, can you grab me one of those biscuit things all the way at the back?" She pointed to her favourite thing on the table, always situated further than she could reach and always something she usually couldn't have because her cousins refused to get them for her and she couldn't look ladylike trying to do it herself. Scorpius reached across and dumped three of them on her plate.
"Thanks," She grinned,
"You're making people talk you know?" He gave her a reproving glance,
"I can make it worse," Rose grinned mischievously,
"Really? How exactly do you plan on doing...that?" He trailed off as Rose planted a swift kiss on his cheek before she thanked him for her biscuits and wondered off with Lily in tow. A good twenty to thirty people surrounding them had gone unusually quiet, Gabe and Flick were staring open mouthed at Scorpius while he groaned inwardly before brushing past them and back to the place he was standing before Rose bloody Weasley descended down on his night.
"What the hell was that?!" Flick whispered furiously at Scorpius as she approached,
"The hell if I know!" Scorpius snapped back,
"Look, I know she's a sweet girl..." Flick was cut off as Scorpius snorted,
"There is nothing sweet about Rose Weasley," Scorpius laughed,
"Really?" Flick raised an eyebrow, "so something did happen over the weekend?!"
"No! Nothing along the lines you're thinking!" Scorpius hushed her,
"So then what?" Flick asked,
"...we talked, okay? A lot..." Scorpius shrugged, picking up another glass of champagne as it walked by,
"Really?" Gabe grinned, "about what?"
"...kind of...everything, I suppose," Scorpius rolled his eyes and shifted uncomfortably,
"Everything as in...?" Gabe pried,
"Just everything! Okay!" Scorpius cried, "will you please shut up about this now?!"
"Sure, but I'm not sure she's going to..." Gabe said as he pointed out a very determined Rita Skeeta on her way towards them. Scorpius groaned out loud before fixing his eyes on the bloody red head that thought this was a good idea.
.
Rose grinned at an equally astounded Lily. She popped one of her beautiful biscuits in her mouth and waited for her cousin's shock to subside.
"Rose!" Lily whispered furiously, "what was that?!"
"What was what?" Rose asked innocently,
"You just kissed Malfoy!" Lily hissed,
"Don't be so ridiculous!" Rose said, "I gave him a peck on the cheek in thanks,"
"It's Malfoy!" Lily glared,
"I don't particularly care," Rose said,
"I gathered that," Lily growled,
"It's not my fault! He started it!" Rose huffed,
"Really? Because all he looked was perfectly uncomfortable at being over there in the first place!" Lily said,
"He said I was making people talk..."
"Which you were..."
"And I said I could make it worse..."
"Rose!"
"And he asked me how,"
"That is not his fault!" Lily admonished her, "the poor guy isn't particularly welcome tonight as it is...and now you've just gone and made him Skeeta's new target!"
"What?" Rose whirled around to see the heinous woman stalking towards Scorpius, whom she'd just realised was glaring at her from across the room. Rose giggled at his ferocious glare and all he could do was roll his eyes at how unthreatened she felt despite putting most of his effort into it. There was only one thing for it, Scorpius decided. With a long breath and a mischievous grin, he began striding across the hall towards Rose. If she could play him, he was definitely going to play her.
"Now you've got it!" Rose laughed, as Scorpius approached her, both of them ignoring the whispers and odd glares they were getting from around the room.
"Hey, you started this!" He laughed back, "I'm just unwilling to take all the flack on my own!"
"This is an awful idea!" Flick hissed,
"I totally agree!" Lily said,
"I need to talk to you about these two..." Flick gestured to Rose and Scorpius, "I want the inside scoop,"
"Owl me, I'll make time," Lily smirked,
"There's no inside scoop!" Rose huffed,
"There's plenty inside scoop," James popped up behind Rose, his fiancée Polly nodding vigorously beside him.
"Oh not you too, Pols!" Rose groaned,
"I think the only people who don't believe there's an inside scoop is the two of you and Uncle Ron, although I'm pretty sure he's in a different kind of denial," she shrugged,
"We're just friends!" Rose cried,
"I think that kiss you gave him says otherwise, at least it will to everyone who reads any newspaper or magazine," Gabe grinned,
"It was just a quick peck on the cheek! Come here Gabe, I'll give you one too, make it even..." Rose said,
"You bloody well won't!" Gabe looked at her in horror, "not after last time..." He shivered,
"Why? What happened last time?" Scorpius asked,
"He was whining about how I wouldn't give him a kiss when I'd given his older brother one so I pretended like I was going to kiss his cheek and then licked up the side of his face instead," Rose shrugged,
"I really wish I'd seen that!" Scorpius laughed,
"It was brilliant," Rose said, their small group growing the more Weasley-Potters noticed the addition of the Malfoy on the light side of the room.
"Yes, but it was in our back garden where no one could see, or photograph it!" Lily glared,
"Come on, you guys can't be serious?" Rose started to look more than a little frustrated,
"We are more than serious!" Flick said, folding her arms in contempt.
.
"Hey! Malfoy!" Roxie grinned as she joined the group, barging in between him and Rose,
"Hey Roxie," he smiled down at her,
"So, any particular reason why no one thought to split these two up till now?" She asked,
"We hadn't got round to it yet," James grinned, "I quite liked the ruckus they were creating,"
"Any other event and I'd agree..." Roxie said,
"I'm not pretending to hate him just to please the rest of the wizarding world," Rose said,
"I'm not suggesting you do," Roxie said, "I'm merely suggesting you could be a little less in their face about it...maybe refrain from the kissing..."
"I am rather kissable," Scorpius winked at Rose who narrowed her eyes as her cheeks flushed pink,
"That had nothing to do with it!" She growled,
"Oh! So you do find me kissable, it just wasn't the reason why you kissed me?" Scorpius smirked,
"Malfoy, that's not helping, don't make me banish you to back the dark side," Roxie glared,
"I kind of like the dark side," Scorpius said, "I'm left alone over there...or I was until Rose decided to show up and ruin it,"
"Then why'd you end up over here?" Teddy asked,
"I wasn't in the mood to deal with Skeeta alone, especially considering it was Rose's fault she wanted to talk to me," Scorpius said,
"It was not!" Rose said adamantly,
"It was too!" Scorpius said, "I don't believe anything I said led to that! It was all on you!"
"I told you I could make it worse and you asked how! I was merely showing you!" Rose threw back,
"You could have just told me how! You're adept at using words and you love using a lot of them, I don't think I've ever heard one person talk so much in one week!" Scorpius hadn't been thinking as he finished that sentence,
"What?" About half the group replied in unison and Rose raised her eyebrows pointedly and looked at him like she wanted to kill him,
"What?!" Scorpius huffed, "she talked so much last weekend and I've only seen her for maybe an hour tonight and it's already exceeded my weekly communication dosage!"
"If she -James pointed at Rose- wasn't a bloody book, you'd have got away with that," He smirked and Scorpius shoulders slumped as he turned to Rose, it was his turn to glare at her like he wanted to kill something,
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rose asked, trying and failing spectacularly at some sort of unreadable mask. Her face was an amazing red that Scorpius wasn't sure he'd seen before and he couldn't help but snort and laugh out loud. Rose's awful act disappeared in seconds as she scowled at him.
"So, you've been talking, a lot..." Albus said, looking pointedly at Scorpius who cleared his throat and returned his gaze effortlessly,
"How'd you do that?!" Rose cried, "Merlin, if I could just get that Malfoy mask down I'd be..."
"The most dangerous woman on the planet," Scorpius dead panned,
"Yeah, Malfoy has a point, you'd be terrifying," Teddy laughed,
"You're already terrifying," Victoire grinned, "you'd just be close to unstoppable,"
"You're going to have to teach me," Rose said simply,
"It can't be taught," Scorpius said, his eyes flickering briefly as they met hers and she remembered why and how exactly he'd had to learn it.
"That's such a shame, I was looking forward to ruling the world," she smirked, moving on before anyone pushed it.
"You don't need to learn that to rule the world, I'm pretty sure you'll get there just as you are!" Scorpius said, giving a her a grateful smile as most of the group laughed in agreement.
.
"Well hello dears!" Rita Skeeta pushed in amongst them, a smile and a look of glee on her face, "well, I must say, this is rather exciting! A Malfoy in our midsts, now however did that happen? And however did you win the heart of a Weasley?"
"How could he not win my heart?" Hugo asked, sneaking up beside Scorpius the other side of Roxie, "he's just devine, don't you think?"
"I was talking more about the Weasley who kissed him," Rita smirked,
"Oh shit, I didn't realise you'd seen that! I thought we'd been careful!" Hugo gasped as he flung his arm around Scorpius' shoulder. The entire group was in fits of laughter, including Scorpius, as Hugo placed a kiss on his cheek and muttered countless apologies to the blonde for not being careful enough.
"I was referring to Miss Rose Weasley, actually," Rita scowled,
"What? You kissed my Malfoy?!" Hugo feigned tremendous upset as he mock glared at his sister, "and I thought we were friends not just siblings!" He hissed dramatically,
"I'm sorry Hu!" Rose pleaded just as dramatically, "can you ever forgive me?! He was just irresistible!" Scorpius gave her a wink and she giggled,
"I'm sorry Miss Weasley, but I find it incredibly disrespectful that you're making light of such a situation, tonight of all nights!" The woman looked pained and furious, her tone immediately destroying the laughter, "we are remembering the war, are we not? How is it not offensive to align yourself with a Malfoy after their family did so much damage and hurt so many people?"
"Excuse me?!" Rose turned ferociously towards the bespectacled woman,
"How can you come to this ball, commemorating the war and all that happened in it, and laugh and joke like you are, with a Malfoy?!" Rita said, "do you not understand how many people that hurts?! How your parents must feel?! How the public will feel?! How can you not see that you're being so offensive to a lot of people who fought in that war, whose families and loved ones died in that war?!"
"Surely it's more offensive to forget how we ended up at war in the first place?" Rose countered, just as angrily, "surely it's more offensive, and also dangerous might I add, to assume things about people without proof and then extricate them from society because of those assumptions? I believe that was the problem we had to begin with, don't you? That muggleborns were assumed to have stolen magic? That muggles were basic, disgusting creatures that could barely function? How is it different and absolutely okay to assume that a Malfoy is a dark and cruel creature based on little to no knowledge of the recent generations?"
"Miss Weasley, you were never a part of the war, you don't know..."
"I know enough!" Rose barked, unaware that Hermione was currently making a beeline for her as was Draco to his son, and also unaware that most of the room around them had gone deathly quiet, "I know Scorpius had nothing to do with the war, same as me or my brother or my cousins...but we still get dragged down by it all the same, don't we? We're still forced and pushed into the public's images of ourselves, made to believe we have to be the epitome of our parents because that's what's expected of us! I'm supposed to be highly intelligent, always logical and most importantly, know exactly what I'm doing with my life, because that's the perception you have of my mother! And it sucks having to live up to that, but it's no different to the skewed perception you have of his dad!" Rose continued to rant as she pointed briefly as Scorpius who was staring at her with wide eyes, as was most of the people looking at her, "you eat up what your told and you believe what you choose to when you fill in the blanks just because we don't want to tell you every aspect of our entire lives, and while for me and my family that pertains to incredibly high presuppositions that are almost always impossible to attain to, for the Malfoy family it generally means a big black hole from which they can't climb out of!"
"Draco Malfoy was a death eater!" Rita screeched, a flicker of pain and anguish passing both through the eyes of both Malfoy men as Draco approached, their masks effortlessly pulled out in seconds and their faces turning to stone.
"Draco Malfoy was seventeen years old you abominable woman! Where exactly were you in the war?! I don't remember it being mentioned that you were on the front lines, fighting for your life and your family?! This is bloody ridiculous! They were cleared of all charges and the only reason anyone has any problem with that is because none of them bloody died for the cause! I mean seriously?! Sirius Black died a hero, regardless of the fact that he came from a family of dark wizards, but we can accept that because he proved it by dying for us. Severus Snape was a death eater, but he was honoured as a war hero despite the fact that he killed Dumbledore and as headmaster, stood back and watched his students using unforgivable curses on each other, because it was a time of war and it was necessary...but it's okay, we see past that, because he died for us, for our cause, he proved it! What does that say about us? That the only way you can redeem yourself is by sacrificing your own life to save ours? And at what point do we forgive the fact that the chance might never have arisen? You're punishing their family for staying alive when that's exactly what most of our side did, except it was okay for us because we were on the right side," Rose breathed in deeply, "what is the point in commemorating this war, remembering it, if we can't learn from it?"
"But you hated him in school?" Was Rita's feeble attempt at a reply,
"Yeah, because our dads hate each other, something they did before the war, and made us assume things about each other that weren't true, so we never gave one another a chance," Rose said, "we were horrid to each other, as in we were both as bad as one another...I didn't hate him because he was a Malfoy or because he was mean to me, I hated him because he beat me in half my subjects and rubbed it in my face most of the time, but I did exactly the same to him..."
"Why are you all of a sudden defending him?" Rita asked,
"Because we spent some time together last weekend in a situation that drastically inhibited our ability to curse or kill each other and which ultimately forced us to get along...it turned out he wasn't so bad," Rose shrugged, "we became friends, I'm protective of my friends, and I refuse to abandon them because social standing demands I should,"
"Mr Malfoy?" Rita turned to Scorpius, "is this true?"
Scorpius, unlike Rose, was more than aware that the entire room was looking at him. He wanted to talk openly like she had but he just couldn't, force of habit dictated that he would remain stoic and say almost nothing. It didn't help that his father was stood beside him, the same expression on his face.
"More or less," Scorpius gave a cold nod while his friends glared at him and Rose rolled her eyes,
"You and Miss Weasley are now friends?" Rita said, still in shock,
"In a manner of speaking," he said,
"Oh for merlin's sake Scorpius! Don't start that again!" Rose admonished him, slapping his arm lightly and glaring at him, "say words that mean something!"
"All words mean something," he grumbled, his answer being the first crack in his mask,
"Scorpius..." Rose folded her arms as he sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes, his entire facade crumbling before everyone's very eyes. Even Draco let surprise seep through his own stone-like expression.
"Fine! Yes, we're friends," Scorpius bit out reluctantly, "you happy now?" He looked irritatedly at Rose,
"Yes, thank you," she nodded with a smile,
"Good, I'm glad somebody is!" He huffed, gesturing to a sea of faces displaying varying shades of awe all the way through to anger.
"Don't be such a grump," Rose bumped his shoulder and Scorpius instantly felt the tension slip away, his stance becoming less threatening and his face relaxing even more than before,
"I'm not being a grump! I'm just not used to having conversations with an audience!" He said, "not to mention half of them want to kill me now!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Rose said sarcastically, "next time I'll drag you out of the room and leave everyone behind to talk about us instead of to us, would that be preferable?! We'll let them make up their own minds about what we could possibly be getting up to outside their view..."
"Don't start getting clever!" Scorpius said,
"I'm not, I was clever to begin with," she smirked,
"You were also unbearable to begin with too!" He smirked back,
"Oh come off it! If anyone was unbearable it was you!" Rose said, "I was a sweet little angel who did nothing but work hard and study a lot..." Scorpius couldn't help but laugh, Rose's family following suit. The crowd of people all looking at them were shocked to see a Malfoy look like a real human being let alone show such carefree emotion.
"Now that is a reputation that needs correcting," he teased,
"Don't you dare!" She laughed, "or I'll tell everyone just how wrong they are about you!" She said only loud enough for Scorpius to hear,
"Hey, it's a secret I shall keep with me till my grave," He winked. The people all watching had finally decided the show was over and began mixing and meandering around the hall again, leaving the 'performers' in peace.
.
"But what about Mr Smith?" Rita had shaken herself out of her stupor and begun her line of questions again. Scorpius felt a growing hatred for the woman who wiped the smile of Rose's face, something be noticed Albus saw too as Scorpius watched the grip on his champagne flute tighten and his knuckles near turn white.
"Mr Smith and I are no longer together," Rose said quickly,
"But surely you're moving on a little too fast?" Rita's eyes sparkled as she saw how uncomfortable Rose was with this line of questioning, she'd found her trigger and now she was out to exploit it.
"What? Move on too fast? With who?" Rose frowned, the shock of his name being brought up quelling her ability to think clearly and understand what Rita was getting at.
"You and Mr Malfoy of course," Rita smiled, "you're obviously romantically involved..."
"No we aren't," Rose shook her head,
"We're just friends," Scorpius said, "and we're still getting used to that,"
"It's true," Albus said, and Rose wanted to hug him for his sincerity, "there's nothing going on with them, trust me..."
"Trust us," Lily said, "we were with them most of last weekend, I think we'd have seen it if they were getting more than friendly..."
"Besides, there were too many kids to watch for them to get that cosy," Roxanne laughed,
"Kids?" Skeeta frowned,
"Yeah, we were all babysitting for our family last weekend, Scorp came to keep Al company as the only bloke there..." Lily said,
"They went off to play quidditch for a bit but came back after," Rose added to the lie with a small truth, in case someone who'd played quidditch with Al ratted him out,
"If you're lying, I'll know," Rita scowled,
"Ms Skeeta," Hermione spoke up from behind Rose; she whirled around to see her mother glaring daggers at the awful woman, her hands on her hips and business in her eyes, "quit bugging my children or I'll be forced to bug you, if you catch my drift?"
"My apologies Mrs Weasley," Skeeta glared back but not half as ferociously,
"Skeeta, whatever article you plan on writing after tonight, keep in mind that if I don't like just one word of it, I'll be coming for blood and I promise it will be yours," Hermione snarled,
"Well well well, Mrs Weasley, can I quote you on that? The infamous Golden Girl threatening a beloved member of the press who's only trying to get to the bottom of some nasty family secrets," Skeeta smirked,
"Quote me on whatever you like Skeeta, but I don't make threats, I make promises," Hermione spat vehemently, "my family didn't put themselves on a public pedal stool so I couldn't give a crap how long we stay there,"
"So I'm to take it your were more than proud of your daughter's little impromptu speech?" Skeeta said,
"Yes, you are, because I am," Hermione gave Rose a small smile, "now leave my family alone,"
Rita Skeeta disappeared through the crowd quickly and didn't look back. Hermione sighed a breath of relief and turned her gaze and a proper smile back to her children, the rest of her family and their friends.
"Wow, and I thought I was supposed to be afraid of your dad!" Scorpius sucked in a breath, bumping Rose back to normal as Hermione gave him a warm chuckle,
"It's nice to know you still have it in you Granger," Draco smirked,
"It's Weasley now Malfoy..."
"Ugh! Sorry, Granger, never gonna happen," Draco shook his head,
"And," Hermione gave him a pointed look for interrupting, "just because I actually like your son and think he's a good man, does not mean I think he got that from you, and it certainly doesn't change how much I truly do loathe you,"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Draco winked and Rose shared a worrying look with Scorpius as Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes.
"You're just as insufferable as ever!" She glowered,
"As are you," Draco said before Astoria sidled up beside him. Rose noticed both Malfoy men immediately tense up at her presence.
"Draco, Scorpius," she said sweetly, "I think we've spent long enough in the company of attention seekers, don't you? Come on, let's go," she put her arm through Draco's and pulled him back towards the other side of the room, looking back expectantly at Scorpius. Hermione was about to give both Astoria and Draco a haughty reply until she saw Draco's eyes literally cloud over and his expression change back to the same unmoving one she'd seen since the war. It made her falter and not in a good way, in a way that made her question what she really knew about the man and whether Rose was privy to some inside information she wasn't.
"Scorpius?" Astoria said firmly, in a tone that implied it wasn't really a question. Scorpius stood stuck to the ground. He wanted to stay but habit was telling him to go. Rose pretended to fidget slightly beside him, purposefully knocking against him in a way that sent the tension straight back to where it came from. Hermione didn't miss that.
"I'll be over in a while mother," Scorpius said,
"Make sure that you do," she said icily, and the fact that Scorpius didn't even shiver gave Rose another insight as to how bad it really was. Hermione gave Rose's shoulder a quick squeeze before walking back towards Ron, who'd purposefully stayed away so as not to end up in a brawl with the older Malfoy.
A/N: I just wanted to say that Hermione and Draco are not a thing in this fic and they never will be. Whatever thoughts or feelings it may look like they have, it purely platonic. Whatever actions they take will usually stem from Draco wanting to wind Ron up or Hermione and her incessant need to want to save everyone. Just in case there were any ideas that they'd end up together too, I thought I'd clear it up from the start :)