Didn't want to just give you a mini chapter, so this is the beginning of the BBQ...hopefully it lives up to expectations :)

Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites. You guys are awesome sticking with me despite the long hiatus and I really can't emphasise enough how much I appreciate it.

It had been a long week for Scorpius. Monday it was everywhere. His new position in the Applyby Arrows was all over every newspaper and magazine, and it was coupled with the musings of many reporters on his relationship status. He stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow and was instantly greeted by a smiling happy Albus and an instantly angry Ron. Scorpius groaned inwardly at his luck.

"Hi." He waved as he brushed soot from his clothes.

"Hey Scorp." Albus grinned.

"Mr Malfoy." Ron nodded curtly, surprising Scorpius since neither his wife nor his sister were in the room to scold him if he'd chosen to just ignore him.

"Mr Weasley." Scorpius nodded back.

"I'm glad you finally turned up, I was wondering if you were going to wimp out on us?" Al smirked.

"Have I ever wimped out on you?" Scorpius scoffed.

"Come on, let's get outside, the kids have been asking about you non-stop since they got here," Al laughed.

The boys made their way out to the gardens and almost immediately Scorpius was swamped by small flying people. Frankie dove at him while both sets of twins squealed and screamed around his legs. Victoire took all of two minutes before passing a squirming, still Malfoy blonde, baby girl to him and walking back into the throws of her family party with a smirk on her face. Scorpius sighed and looked at Juliette before breaking out into a wide grin as the little girl giggled and squeezed his cheeks.

"Are you gonna come and play Scorp?" Frankie was bouncing around his feet.

"Yeah, we want to play ball," Mickey said.

"Did Aunt Rose come with you?" Max asked.

"No, why? Is she not here already?" Scorp frowned.

"No, but Aunt 'Mione and Uncle Ron are here with Uncle Hugo," Max replied as Scorpius then turned raised eyebrows to Albus.

"Don't look at me, apparently she's ill," Albus said. "Although I have a feeling it's something to do with last weekend, but no one will tell me what happened..." He looked pointedly at Scorpius.

"Don't look at me either." Scorpius shrugged, watching as the kids all ran off and waited for him to follow.

"Why would I be looking at you? You only ended up outside at the ball with my Uncle Ron to come racing back past me and towards the toilets at break neck speed followed by him, to then be saying goodbye to a rather shaken up Rose nearly an hour later...oh, did I mention your dad, the healer, also left when Flick came and whispered some quiet words in his ear...the same Flick who was spotted in the toilets with the shaken Rose before she left...?" Albus glared.

"She had a stomach bug and was throwing up everywhere," Scorpius said. "I thought Lily told you?"

"Right, because Rose having a stomach bug makes Uncle Ron look like he's going to go on some kind of massacre," Al growled. "Don't lie to me..."

"Fine," Scorpius said. "I'm sorry I l lied...but I can't tell you what happened."

"I thought being best friends was supposed to count for something." Al glared.

"Come on Al, don't be like that!" Scorpius groaned. "You know it's not for me to tell!"

"Does it have anything to do with Smith?" Al said.

"Al..." Scorpius sighed. "Please? Stop asking things I can't answer."

"Can you get her here? Tonight?" Al relented.

"Huh?" Scorpius frowned.

"I know she's not ill Scorp, but I've tried and she won't come for me, or Fred, or Teddy or Lily or Uncle George...most of us have all tried to get her to come but she won't budge...can you get her to come?" Albus asked again.

"I doubt it," Scorpius scoffed but when met with Albus' deadpan look he sagged slightly and gave in. "Probably but it would mean having an argument with her..."

"Brilliant." Albus grinned, slapping Scorp on the back. "Just hurry up about it."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and adjusted Juliette in his arms. He looked around the crowd to see a fair amount of ministry officials and most of the auror department along with the entire Weasley-Potter family and all their friends. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were currently in some sort of heated discussion with Hugo while their mother floated around the garden in a way only Luna could. Flick and Gabe were chatting idly with James and Fred the other side of the insanely large gazebo, Leilani Longbottom was giggling away with Roxie, Dominique, Molly and Fleur while her parents were talking to Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. The Finnegan brothers were widely gesturing to George and animatedly recounting some kind of humorous story of something they'd been up to the previous year at Hogwarts, Jemima Thomas and Richard Boot laughing along with them. There were a lot of people there and Scorpius couldn't help feel a little out of sorts, especially as the further in he ventured the more shrewd looks he was getting.

.

"Malfoy!" Lily screamed at him from across the garden, causing everyone who hadn't seen him to turn and look at him, and everyone who had seen him just seemed to stare even harder.

"What?!" He yelled back with a pointed glare as the red blur ran at him.

"What took you so long?!" She called, losing volume the nearer she got.

"The idea of having to put up with you was sort of making me ill." Scorpius smirked. "I kept having to retreat back towards the bathroom every time I thought of you, I wasn't sure the nausea would subside long enough for me to make it."

"Save the insults for later, when the kids are in bed and I can retaliate appropriately." She grinned, surprising most of the people still watching.

"Fair enough," he laughed, surprising more of them.

"So...when is Rose coming?" Lily asked, glaring the on lookers into shameful faces and embarrassing glances away.

"I'm on it, Al's already berated me into making her come," Scorpius huffed.

"Good." Lily nodded. "She hasn't been out of her room all week," she said quietly.

"What?!" Scorpius started.

"She's been cooped up in her room all week, refusing to come out," Lily explained as Scorpius gently guided her to a secluded part of the garden so no one could hear them talk.

"Aunt 'Mione said Rose is happy for people to go in, and she's talked to me and Aunt 'Mione a few times, but other than meals and bathroom breaks, she's kept herself in there the entire week."

"Dammit!" Scorpius cursed.

"D'you think you can fix her?" Lily asked, hope and desperation in her voice.

"Lily, I can just fix her..." Scorpius huffed.

"Yes you can, you bring her back, you remind her of who and what she is," Lily said. "She's fine in her room but as soon as she leaves she's like the trembling, blithering mess she was in when she left the hotel room last weekend..."

"Merlin!" Scorpius cursed again, raking his hand through his hair. "I can't fix that Lily!"

"Yes you can, I know you can," Lily said.

"I..." Scorpius went to disagree again but stopped at Lily's pointed look. "I'll have to have a very heated argument with her and it won't be very pretty..."

"But it's what she needs and none of us have the heart to do it," Lily said.

"Great, so I have to be the evil bastard who forces her out of it," Scorpius growled.

"You know it's for her own good," Lily said.

"If that's the case, why aren't any of you doing it?" Scorpius said.

"Because we all sort of take her bullshit..." Lily shrugged. "We've all grown up together and know exactly how to play each other, what to say and when to say it in order to get each other off our backs...she doesn't seem to have that with you, you won't let her get away with it."

"Fine..." He sighed defeatedly. "I'll talk to Rose."

"Thanks," Lily beamed.

"Anyway, just so I know, what exactly is the score with your family?" Scorpius asked.

"How'd you mean?" Lily frowned.

"Well, who knows what and has figured what out?" Scorpius said.

"Oh!" Lily caught on, "well, you are the only person who knows everything..." She huffed.

"I'm aware," he said. "But I don't know who I'm supposed to be saying what to."

"Uncle Ron knows what happened but not who did it, Aunt Hermione and myself have guessed the what and the who and it's taking all our self control and a lot of love for Rose not to find the little bastard and accidentally peel his body apart piece by piece..."

"Merlin Lily! Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you guys, you're a bloody violent lot!" Scorpius said, remembering Ron's descriptive words last weekend and Albus' the weekend before that.

"Yes we are." Lily smirked. "Anyway, basically...Uncle Ron knows the what and not the who, Albus knows the who and not the what, me and Aunt 'Mione know both but Rose hasn't explicitly told us, we're just that clever and the rest of the clan know something is up but don't know what," Lily summarised.

"How does Ron not know who did it? Rose practically had her meltdown in front of Smith?!" Scorpius frowned in bewilderment. "I know he's not Granger smart but seriously?"

"Uncle Ron is too trusting for his own good sometimes," Lily sighed. "He would have automatically ruled out Smith because he likes the git and instead of seeing the irrefutable facts and sound logic, instead of seeing that Rose broke down because it was Smith, he'll have convinced himself that she was panicky and nervous because the arsehole was her ex and not because he was the culprit...he'll have assumed by now that the man he wants dead was someone she bumped into on her way to the bathroom."

"I know he loves his daughter, and I know he's fiercely protective of her, I know he's one third of the Golden bloody Trio, and he can be an ingenious and pretty smart man, and I also know he used to be one hell of an auror...but the man is a fucking moron," Scorpius growled.

"He can be when he wants to be." Lily nodded, chiding him with a look as she placed her hands over Juliette's little ears. "He's just very good at ignoring the obvious sometimes, it's like he knows subconsciously he was wrong but he just can't admit it to himself."

"I get that, but for the sake of his daughter, he needs to," Scorpius sighed.

"He will," Lily said.

"Before or after she gets hurt?" Scorpius said softly.

"Aunt 'Mione won't let that happen," Lily said quietly, now fidgeting uncomfortably at Scorpius' somewhat truthful words. Lily adored her Uncle Ron but his stubborn Weasley genes always seemed to kick in around the time it was most inconvenient.

"Scorp!" Frankie yelled. "Scorp! Come on!"

"You're being summoned." Lily smirked, a lighter tone returning to her voice,

"I heard," Scorpius grinned.

"Congrats on the Arrows by the way," Lily said.

"Thanks," Scorpius smiled before walking off towards Frankie and the other kids, Juliette still on his hip.

.

Scorpius spent around twenty minutes kicking the ball around with the boys all while balancing the blonde haired baby girl in his arms. Victoire had looked mildly alarmed for all of two seconds before Lily gave her more wine and she seemed to be surprisingly okay with it after that.

"Why is everyone looking at you funny?" Frankie asked.

"What d'you mean?" Scorpius asked, knowing full well what the boy meant.

"They either look like they don't like you..." Frankie observed. "Or they look surprised that you're playing with us...some of the girls actually look like they might want to kiss you."

"Really? Which ones?" Scorpius teased.

"I thought you liked Aunt Rose?" Frankie frowned, a disappointed look on his face.

"I do," Scorpius said.

"So why do you care if other girls want to kiss you?" He said.

"Because I like your Aunt Rose, but just as a friend, and friends don't kiss each other," Scorpius said.

"Friends don't look at each other like you two do," Frankie said.

"Frankie, drop it," Scorpius warned him.

"Fine," the five year old grumbled. "So, why do so many people not like you? Were you horrible to all of them or something?" Frankie frowned.

"No, but my family has been in the past," Scorpius said. "Everyone expects my dad to be like my grandfather and me to then be like my dad."

"But you're not?" Frankie ascertained.

"No, I'm not," Scorpius said. "My grandfather was a vile, evil, vindictive man with an arrogant and moronic streak a mile wide...my dad isn't much like him either but no one bothers to find that out."

"People shouldn't judge other people unless they know them, and even then it's wrong unless they're being very mean and nasty," Frankie said.

"Some people aren't as smart as you Frankie, even when they're a good twenty years older than you," Scorpius smirked.

"I am very smart," Frankie grinned.

"FOOD!" Max shrieked loudly as he spotted the large table at the back of the gazebo suddenly fill with barbecued meat, rolls and salads and an assortment of snack bits and pieces. The rest of the children all dropped what they were doing in favour of the food and Scorpius had to stifle a laugh as the herd of elephants were stealthily interrupted by their Nana Molly and her orders to find their parents first. Scorpius placed Juliette on the floor and held her standing up, his fingers wrapped in her little fists as she began to toddle on her tiny feet using him for support. Scorpius did his best not to roll his eyes at the almost obvious sighs of a few adoring witches as he past them, remaining overly patient with Juliette as he guided her over to Teddy and Victoire who were dealing with a bobbing Frankie trying to persuade his parents, through a series of logical arguments, that he should be allowed tomato sauce in quantity on everything.

"Did you want your daughter back guys?" Scorpius grinned as he approached and felt instantly choked up at the adoringly grateful way Victoire looked at him still walking slowly along with Juliette in front of him.

"In all honesty Malfoy, she won't eat anything if she knows you're here," Vic said with a smirk. "I'll take her back if you've had enough but we all know if she's going to eat anything, she's going to be attached to you whilst doing it."

"Has she eaten for you since last time?" Scorpius asked, mildly concerned at the idea Juliette now might not eat for anyone but him.

"Yeah, she's been fine, same as normal, it's literally just when she sees you she wants you," Vic smiled.

"Besides, if that was the case I'd have kidnapped you by now and held you hostage at my house." Teddy laughed, somewhat seriously Scorpius might add.

"Good to know," Scorpius said,."I've just got to make a phone call quickly and then I'll come back and help."

"Go get her Malfoy." Teddy winked.

"You won't be saying that when she appears from nowhere yelling at me," Scorpius mumbled and Teddy chuckled as the boy walked off to his doom.

.

"Hey Rose." Scorpius grinned as soon as he heard her answer.

"I'm not going and you can't make me," she said.

"You are going and I can make you," Scorpius said.

"Please Scorp? I really don't want to go...please don't make me do this..." She pleaded.

"Why didn't you tell me you hadn't been out of your room in a whole week?" Scorpius asked her instead.

"Because I knew you'd flip your lid and practically drag me out of it," she grumbled.

"So what makes you think I won't do that now?" He said.

"I've closed off the fireplaces and warded the house against apparition," She replied smugly.

"You told me to come, you told me you were going to demonstrate your deviousness," Scorpius reminded her. "I'm here Rose, waiting..."

"That was before last weekend," Rose barked at him.

"Last weekend happened, Rose, and I'm glad you've started to deal with it, if not a little erratically at first, but now you need to pull yourself together and get back in the game," Scorpius said.

"But you don't understand..."

"Of course I do! You're safe in your room and no one can get you, it's a controllable environment and a space you feel you're most comfortable in."

"Then why are you making me leave it?!"

"Because you can't live your life in your bloody room Rose!" Scorpius was practically growling down the phone at her.

"Well I can't live it much outside of it either when I'm a gibbering wreck!" Rose cried.

"Rose, last weekend was a formal event that practically everyone of age in the wizarding world attended," Scorpius tried to reason with her. "This is a family barbecue, your family barbecue...Rose you're safe here! I'm here! Not to mention your entire family who are all on high alert since last weekend!"

"They couldn't stop what happened last weekend though could they?! You couldn't either! For someone who's the new seeker on a major league team, you sure took long enough to get to me for someone who was supposed to keep his eyes on me the entire night!" Rose screamed down the phone.

"Hey! Don't start on me!" Scorpius did his best not to raise his voice too loud, not wanting anyone to realise he was shouting at the stubborn red head. "I was watching you the entire night, to the point where I had to promise a bottle of firewhiskey to each of your cousins should we ever get together because they wouldn't shut up about it!"

"It still took you too long..." She snapped.

"Stop blaming me for your cowardice." Scorpius hated himself for that line. "Stop making it my fault you're scared just so you have an excuse not to leave your room."

"I told you he'd won!"

"He hasn't won, but right now you're letting him!"

"You have no idea what it's like!"

"You're right I don't..."

"You're still not going to let me stay home are you?" Rose whined.

"Nope,"

"But..."

"He hasn't won and you aren't broken, so stop being a whiny little witch and get your backside out here!"

"You can't make demands like that of me!"

"I just did,"

"But..."

"Rose Weasley! You made me come today and promised me a show, now you're not here but instead holed up in the comforts of your own bedroom while most of your family and friends are looking at me the way a lion looks at an antelope!"

"You can always come here and we can hide together?" She suggested.

"Yes, I'm sure that would do wonders for my already non-existent friendship with your father," he snapped.

"I'm not coming out."

"Fine, then let Smith win, see if I care..." Scorpius shrugged. "I never pegged you for a quitter Weasley...or the kind of girl who'd lose without a fight."

It was the use of her last name coupled with his insinuation that she would indeed be allowing Smith to win that finally knocked her out of her reverie.

"I'm not a quitter, and I'm certainly not a loser Malfoy," she hissed.

"Sure you're not," he said sarcastically, knowing full well he might as well be provoking a sleeping dragon. "Unless you want to count flying..."

"Do you really want me to show you up in front of everyone?" Rose cackled.

"You couldn't show me up if you tried!" Scorpius continued to taunt.

"Malfoy I could fly rings around you and you know it!" Rose raged.

"Prove it," Scorpius said.

"Oh I intend to," she growled. "Just don't come crying to me when the press get hold of the fact that the amazing new seeker for the Arrows got his ass handed to him by a Weasley girl who hasn't flown in weeks!" The line went dead and Scorpius half groaned and half grinned to himself before flying back into the crowd at almost break neck speed.

"MALFOY!" Rose shrieked as she stormed out of the back door of the burrow only moments later. She'd snatched up a t-shirt and a pair of jeans after hanging up on him and tied her bushy hair up in a loose pony tail. For someone moping around in her pyjamas only moments ago, she looked pretty well put together. The fire in her eyes made most people shrink back from her gaze as she searched the crowd for the blonde man she wanted to pummel.

.

Scorpius ducked inside the gazebo and as far from the house as possible. Moving quickly to the back of the crowd so he could make a run for it across the expanse of fields should he need to, he paused at the edge to see Rose exit the house in a gust of crackling fury.

"What did you say to her?"

Scorpius jumped feet and whirled around to see Ron standing with a bewildered expression on his face.

"I, uh...well..." Scorpius fidgeted uncomfortably and raked his fingers nervously through his hair, while Ron looked on at the incredible transformation this guy seemed to bring out in his daughter. His passionate, fiery, sparky Rose was back full force as she stormed towards them looking for the man stood next to him.

"Whatever it was, it worked," Ron said, a grateful look on his face that made Scorpius blanch and wonder if he'd hit some sort of twilight zone.

"It wasn't very nice," he found himself saying without thinking, grimacing as he waited for the man's outburst.

"I shouldn't have expected it to be." Ron growled.

"Look Mr Weasley..." Scorpius said before Ron sighed and cut him off.

"Rose is a lot like me in a lot of ways," Ron said reluctantly. "Sometimes the things she needs to hear aren't always the most pleasant, and sometimes those things just need to be said..."

"I'm sorry Mr Weasley...but what's happening right now?" Scorpius asked in confusion. "I was left with the distinct impression last weekend that you still hated my guts, did something change?"

"I went home and I thought about everything." Ron shrugged. "I was unfair to you and I'm sorry for that..." Scorpius could hear still hear Ron's reluctance at talking to him, let alone that he was apologising but his sincerity was far more prominent.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley." Scorpius nodded. "That means a lot."

"Thank you for protecting my daughter while I was being an oblivious idiot," Ron said quickly, as though he was ripping off a plaster and the faster he did it the less painful it would be. "I can't begin to explain how angry I am with myself."

"You didn't know."

"I should have known, it wasn't hard to work it out afterwards," Ron said.

"Work it out?" Scorpius swallowed nervously.

"I know who hurt her," Ron said. "Not that anyone but 'Mione knows that I know."

"Right..." Scorpius said, not sure where he was going with this.

"I don't want them all worrying I'll go off and..."

"Please, no descriptions, I'm already traumatised by the extensive imagination your family has when it comes to killing a person," Scorpius grimaced.

"Thanks." Ron gave him a genuine grin. "I like to think we can be pretty scary when we want to be,.

"You really can, all of yo.," Scorpius nodded back, unsure whether he should be slightly concerned by Ron's mild change of heart or over the moon.

"I'd make a point of remembering it if I were you." Ron gave him a pointed look.

"I don't think I'm likely to forget it, even if I want to." Scorpius said.

"Good." Ron nodded, then after a pause continued. "I still don't trust you Malfoy, and I don't like you, but I've been persuaded to at least try and give you a chance," he said seriously. "Don't be the first time I regret listening to my wife." Ron gave him a warning look.

"No sir." Scorpius nodded. "I won't, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Malfoy." Ron looked at him disapprovingly.

"I never do sir," Scorpius said sincerely, wanting to add that it was his dad who'd taught him that but knowing it would get him nowhere and would also make the situation a thousand times worse.

"We'll see," Ron said as he looked through the crowd to catch sight of his daughter rampaging through it, a smirk creeping it's way slowly across his face. "Good luck," He chuckled.

"Huh?" Scorpius frowned and Ron gestured back to the crowded room. Rose was standing not three feet from him, a deathly glare in her eyes as the people around her looked almost afraid to be in her presence let alone under her scrutiny.

"Malfoy..." She whispered furiously.

"Weasley." Scorpius smirked, unable to find her adorable despite everyone else cowering for cover.

"Ahhh!" Rose launched herself forwards and pounded her fists on his chest much like she's done the weekend before but this time she didn't break down in front of him.

"How dare you say those things?!" She steamed. "How dare you tell me I'm a quitter?! I'm a loser?! I'll show you who's the loser!" She slapped his shoulders furiously and he chuckled, making her anger flare that much more.

"I'd hold on to that anger Weasley, if you're serious about proving it?" Scorpius taunted.

"If you're serious about being humiliated, of course I am!" Rose growled.

"Grab a broom then and let's get flying..." He gestured to the fields behind him.

"I suggest you wipe that smug smile off your face, you're going down!" Rose glared.

"Never, where's the fun in that?" Scorpius laughed as he followed Rose to the broom cupboard and picked up an older but still reliable model.

"Have fun flying without all the expensive commodities," Rose sneered.

"You know I can fly on a sweeping brush just as well as I can on my broom." Scorpius' frosty gaze met her own and she smirked before kicking off the ground.

"Catch me if you can then." She grinned, speeding off with Scorpius in hot pursuit. The people gathered below were watching avidly at the two former enemies competing so violently that it looked like their friendship might not last long at all.

.

Rose soared ahead for all of a few seconds before Scorpius ducked under her and zoomed off. He really was bloody good on a broom. Rose stretched herself nearly horizontal, adding to her speed and catching him up quickly. They were neck and neck two laps around the field before things started getting ugly. Rose in her fury, purposely bumped into Scorpius and sent him spinning out of control for a few minutes, Scorpius then retaliated by racing towards her from below and knocking her into a dive. The two of them continued their violent race until out of ideas and breath, instead ending up just flying and zooming around the skies. Rose soared up and down and laughed as she felt the wind rushing through her hair and the cool breeze on her skin as she absently zigzagged through the air. She sat up on her broom and gave Scorpius a scathing look as he settled beside her.

"Am I forgiven yet?" He asked.

"I haven't decided," Rose said, the corners of her mouth betraying her mood.

"Sure you haven't." Scorpius smirked. "D'you feel better?"

"...yes," she answered begrudgingly.

"Good." Scorpius nodded as if that was that. "I have a small child that needs feeding..."

"Juliette?"

"Who else?"

"What were you doing talking to my dad?" Rose questioned.

"He actually apologised to me," Scorpius said, his tone still matching his surprise and apparently Rose's as she stared in shock.

"He...are you sure?" She frowned. "Your not just saying that so I'll forgive him?"

"No, he said he was sorry and he thanked me for protecting you," Scorpius said.

"Oh Merlin! He must be ill or something!" Rose cried.

"I don't think so, he sounded sincere and if it helps, it also sounded like he really didn't want to do it but he knew he should," Scorpius explained.

"Oh!" Rose went back to looking shocked. "And mum or Aunt Ginny or Lily were no where in site?"

"Nope."

"And that's all he said?" Rose asked.

"Well yeah, in a few more words," Scorpius said.

"How many more?" Rose narrowed her eyes at him.

"As many as a usual apology takes." Scorpius gave her a deadpan look.

"Maybe it's his way of trying to find out who hurt me...?" Rose mused.

"I don't think so, I honestly think he genuinely realised what an arse he'd been," Scorpius said.

"Don't start advocating for my father." Rose smirked. "The last thing I need is for the two of you to end up best buddies."

"Why? Because I'd actually win your challenge? And then you'd really have to go a whole year unable to support the Cannons just to save face!" He laughed.

"Oh please! I think we all know it's going to be easier for me to turn traitor than it is for my dad to like you!" Rose laughed. "Not put up with you, not appreciate you, not accommodate you but actually like you..."

"Not if you talk to Albus." Scorpius grinned. "And based on the conversation I've just had with your dad, I'm inclined to agree." he smirked.

"I think you're underestimating my dad's hatred of your father," Rose said.

"I think your overestimating your ability to trade allegiances," Scorpius countered.

"We'll see..."

"Speaking of challenges, my parents are holding a formal ball in two weeks and since we drew on Frankie's challenge I believe you're my plus one for the next six months...?" Scorpius grinned.

"I have yet to get access to your library." Rose raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll give you your access at the party and introduce you to the library at the same time, the ball is at Malfoy Manor," Scorpius said.

"Fine, I'll be there," Rose huffed, secretly looking forward to it if it meant she could get inside that library.

"It starts at eight on the Saturday night, if you floo in I'll meet you when you arrive," Scorpius said.

"Sure." Rose nodded, a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach at the idea of having to arrive in a room she didn't know, amongst a group of people she didn't know.

"He won't be there, I promise," Scorpius said. "I made dad uninvite him and his entire family, much to mother's outrage, and then ward our entire house against him so he can't apparate in or use the floo network."

"Thanks..." Rose smiled softly.

"I'm not inviting you to a party where you won't feel safe." Scorpius shrugged.

"I suppose it's for the best if what you plan on doing is avoiding a few lustful witches and getting drunk to enjoy yourself," Rose snickered. "After all, you don't have to like me to have a good time," she teased.

"Exactly!" Scorpius laughed, beginning to return to the ground with Rose beside him.

"Come on, it's getting late and we've still got your initiation to do and our family reputation to live up to." Rose smiled.

"I am only looking forward to one of those." Scorpius grimaced as he dismounted, following Rose to the broom cupboard.

"Initiation will be easy, you're a friend so it's likely to just be the same as Gabe and Flick, basically you'll be asked a few questions and made to do a few tasks to prove your loyalty...just be grateful you're not going to get the full package." Rose laughed.

"Which is?"

"The highest level of initiation entails both our clan and the initiate getting to know each other on the same level as the rest of us already do, so it's much more in depth and the tasks are more intricate and personal, plus you get some help so we're all in it together...it can be quite complicated," Rose said. "The last person to go through it was Polly after she had Samuel and her and James got engaged."

"Has anyone failed initiation?" Scorpius asked.

"Sure, Molly's husband Mark flat out refused to do it, Roxanne has had a few boyfriends and only one has ever passed, although the initiation isn't as intense for a semi-serious partner..."

"Who was that?"

"Gabe of course, why else do you think he still gets an invite and is included in the family business on some level?"

"So, if I pass, regardless of what happens between me, you and Albus as friends, I'm a part of this 'family' and that's the way it stays?" Scorpius frowned.

"Pretty much, unless you intentionally cause a lot of hurt, pain or bodily harm," Rose said.

"Then what happens?" Scorpius said.

"Very bad things," Rose said casually but in a way that made Scorpius absolutely sure that should he pass, he'd never intentionally do anything to them, ever.