A/N: So here's the next chapter! Hopefully I did Ron justice. Like with His Only Daughter, I see him more as just saying/doing unfortunate things in reaction rather than actually being unsupportive or angry. Well, I guess he's a bit angry, but his only daughter just told him she's fraternizing with the enemy. I think he's allowed one reaction of anger, but in that anger will be him saying unfortunate things, and he will be regretful of what he does say. Also, there will be a couple of interactions between Rose and her parents in this chapter, so this first one isn't the end all be all of it. I also forgot that Easter is in April, so I definitely unintentionally skipped over a month… But I was planning on doing some time jumps anyways to avoid the very large amount of filler chapters I seem to have, so I guess it works out. I'll address the things I skipped over through character interactions so we don't have to spend forever showing them. Sometimes telling is just more efficient than showing haha. Anyways, read on and hopefully enjoy!

Chapter 21

The silence was enough to drive me insane. Luckily, I'd chosen a moment after my parents had both swallowed their mouthfuls of tea so neither of them choked, but their surprise was evident as they searched for something to say. Not that I could blame them, really. They were confused as to why I'd insisted on this little get-together, and Dad had protested heavily, telling us it would be a cold day in Hell before he let Scorpius Malfoy into his home willingly. Mum persisted, though, and talked him into grudging agreement. I think she subconsciously sensed what was about to happen even if Dad had remained completely clueless up until this point. His face would have been funny had it not been directed at me. Maybe I should have taken James's tip and sold tickets; it probably would have eased some of the tension filling the room.

Dad seemed to stir first, which was definitely not was I was expecting. Usually it was Mum who recovered quickly from a shock with just the right thing to say. Whatever was about to happen would not likely be the right thing to say at all, an assumption proven correct in the following minute.

He started laughing. Ron Weasley's first reaction, having just been just told that his daughter's dating a Malfoy, was to double over laughing. Even Mum looked confused. He's gone mad, I thought to myself in a panic, I've driven him to madness.

Between bouts of laughter, he managed to spit out, "That's- that's a good one, Rosie. You almost got me."

Understanding dawned at his words. He thought this was a joke. I couldn't decide whether to be offended or not. "I'm not kidding, Dad. I'm serious. We're together, have been since January."

His laughs slowly faded away as he realized my face was dead set. Watching as reality hit him pretty hard in the face, I almost winced. He was back to the shocked, blank look from before. I saw Scorpius turn to me with a raised eyebrow in my peripheral vision and realized I was digging my nails into his skin quite hard. I shot him an apologetic smile as I loosened my grip slightly, something Mum noticed. Her gaze softened as she studied the two of us, and she finally smiled.

"That's great news," she told me.

I blinked along with my father and Scorpius. Clearly, Mum was the insane one out of the three of us if we were all taken aback by her reaction.

"It is?" Dad and I chorused, staring at her as though she'd sprouted a second head.

She shot Dad a look before turning back to Scorpius and I. "Yes, it is. We're happy for you."

"We are?" Dad asked.

"You are?" I said at the same time.

Scorpius seemed unable to decide between fear and amusement at the situation unfolding before him.

"Yes," Mum replied firmly, "We are. Why do you sound so surprised, Rose?"

"Well…" I started, fishing lamely for a polite way to say it. "I just- You guys- He's Scorpius Malfoy," I finally blurted out, cringing. I hated to put it that way, but that was what it boiled down to. He was Scorpius Malfoy.

Mum's smile was understanding despite my less than tactful answer. "And he obviously makes you happy or we wouldn't be sitting here, now would we?"

It was my turn to stare at her, shocked. Dad was still trying to catch up on the events of the past minute, and Scorpius had finally settled on amusement. I was at least grateful that he wasn't offended by my comment.

"Rose, we're your parents. We'll support you no matter what, so long as you're happy. Won't we, Ron?" She asked, punctuating her question with a practiced look at her husband.

Dad remained silent, his face turning slowly red as he tried to work out what was going on. He regained his voice when Mum kicked him in the shin, though. "I, er, of course."

I didn't buy it for a second. I knew my father, and there was no way he was fine with this. His brain hadn't caught up to a proper reaction just yet, though, and it was best to get Scorpius out of here before that happened.

"Look, I don't mean to drop something like this on you guys and run, but Scor and I actually have plans to meet Al so we'd best be going. We just wanted to tell you in person."

Mum sent me a knowing look. Of course she understood exactly what I was doing. Praying she wouldn't stop us, I stood and pulled Scorpius with me. I noticed Dad eyeing our intertwined fingers and resisted the urge to pull my hand back. He'd best get used to seeing us together, because I had no plans to let Scorpius go anywhere. Not after how long it took me to realize I was in denial. Perhaps engaging in a bit more PDA than we usually did around him would get him accustomed to the idea a little faster. Or it could get Scorpius hexed into oblivion. I'd have to determine where the line was before making the decision.

I was ready to apparate and leave this whole uncomfortable situation behind, but it appeared Scorpius had different intentions. He squeezed my hand lightly, indicating he wanted to stay a moment longer. I glanced at him, confused, but his expression clearly said 'trust me', so I did.

"Look, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, I know this probably isn't what you were expecting to happen… And I know there are loads of better guys out there…" He raised his hand to stall my protest to his words. "But I really do care about your daughter. I just want you to know that."

One corner of my lips turned up in a soft smile as my mother smiled at Scorpius warmly.

"That's all we ask," she replied.

I chanced a glance at Dad's face and decided it was time to go before he blew up. It was always best to give him some time to process unexpected news, preferably with Mum there to make him see reason. Shifting uncomfortably, I realized that my thoughts reminded me of Emily tracking Al down on the night Scorpius and I first displayed our intentions to him. I could only hope Mum had the same effect on Dad as Emily appeared to on Al.

"So that wasn't too bad," Scorpius told me as we paused outside the door to the Potters'. "At least your Dad didn't jinx me."

I smiled, "That's because we didn't give him a chance to. I fully maintain that he would have had we given him a few extra minutes."

"You worry too much," he told me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer.

I laughed, my breath coming out in puffs of air in the cold, mingling with his. "I'm just invested in keeping your face unmarred. I find I rather like it."

He raised an eyebrow at me, grinning. "You don't think I'd look a little more rebellious with a few scars?"

I pretended to contemplate it before shaking my head.

"I guess it would be ruining perfection," he mused.

I smacked him lightly on the arm, laughing lightly. "You are so full of yourself."

He half-shrugged, tightening his grip on my waist and pulling me flush against him. "One of my best qualities."

I tilted my head back laughing at him, bringing it back into position to find his head invading my personal space. I leaned forward on impulse and pressed my lips to his. He immediately responded.

"Oh, Merlin! My eyes!" Al's voice broke us out of our little bubble.

We separated sheepishly to find my cousin covering his eyes on the other side of the door. Leave it to Al.

"Is it safe to look?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Al."

He looked relieved as he slowly removed his hand from his eyes. "You know I love you guys, but that's something I never want to see again. Ever."

We conceded that point to him, since the sight of his best friend and cousin making out on his doorstep was probably not a pleasant sight. Following him inside, we tried to focus solely on the floor, but failed as we stole glances at each other simultaneously, grinning slightly.

"So, tell me what happened," Al demanded, turning and dropping onto the couch. Scorpius sat beside him and I took a seat in the chair left over, pulling my legs underneath me. "I see Scor's face isn't damaged so I'm assuming you dropped the dungbomb and apparated straight after."

I rolled my eyes again, grinning. "Not quite. Mum seemed ok with it. Dad thought it was a joke at first, but we left before he could really catch up with reality."

"So we'll have to have this conversation again after you get his full reaction, then?" He prodded.

"I suppose so. It's going to be fun at home tonight," I sighed, "Though the one thing I can't figure out is why Hugo didn't tell them before, like he did when I ended things with Adrian. Come to think of it, he told them when I'd gotten together with him, too. My threats to his safety never actually work."

Al's face gave it away immediately. "I may have helped you out there."

"What do you have on him?!" I exclaimed, leaning forward. "That's the only way you'd succeed in keeping him quiet! I ran out of material the year before last."

"I may have told him I'd drop a word about Laurie McLaggen."

I nodded at first, and then his words caught up with me. "Wait, what? Who's Laurie McLaggen?"

"Some Gryffindor girl in his year he's got a thing for," my cousin told me, waving his hand in dismissal. "Your dad told me once that he hated some bloke called McLaggen so I figure that'll start quite the drama at your house. Maybe I should have just told Uncle Ron both at once. That would have been a sight to see…"

"Since when has he had a thing for Laurie McLaggen?" I asked, choosing to ignore the last part.

"Wow, you need to keep better tabs on your brother," Al told me, shaking his head. "He's liked her since December. He just can't pluck up the courage to ask her out. I told him it had to be done before we left. Mostly because I want to see your reaction to them holding hands in the hallway."

I gave him a dirty look as I digested this information. I suppose it wasn't a surprise that my brother was on the verge of dating, it just took me by surprise. I still saw him as the little kid we tried to look after, not the young man he was quickly becoming. Another thing that was changing. I sighed to myself, tuning back into the conversation in time to hear the words 'Quaffle' and 'broomstick'. Great, we were now talking about Quidditch. Scorpius caught my eye out of the corner of his, the silent question of if I was OK reflected in his glance. I nodded slightly and he turned his attention back to Al, who had paused in mid-sentence.

"Can I just say that the whole silent communication thing you guys do is creepy? Like it's kind of scary."

I laughed despite my sudden melancholy, and Scorpius cracked a grin.

"Anyways, if we can beat Ravenclaw then somehow the two worst teams will end up in the Quidditch finals," Al continued as though he hadn't deviated from the original topic. "It's obviously a credit to our excellent Captaincies that we're in contention for this at all. We clearly carried our teams to victory with our excellent seeking leadership."

"Or maybe your incredible modesty," I chimed in sarcastically, "You two are almost the same person sometimes."

Al looked horrified. "I don't know how I feel about that, Rosie, considering I'm related to you."

Catching onto his implication, I shook my head in exasperation.

"Though I'd wager my leadership is a bit better than yours considering we won the match against you," Al continued, once again going on as though the side conversation had never happened. Sometimes talking to him was downright confusing. He jumped from topic to topic and back again with little to no warning, kind of like his letters.

"You're forgetting I had to sit that game out, Al, so there's no indication of anything," Scorpius pointed out. His hand still hadn't been at full capacity, much to his dismay, but he expected it to be ready to go for the final. I didn't fully believe he was fine, but I wasn't going to protest. It was the last Quidditch game he'd play at Hogwarts.

"Well I'll just have to crush Ravenclaw and then we'll find out once and for all. It'll be easy now that Davies is out. Ravenclaw's replacement Beater is awful, and he was one of the only good things about that team, as much as I hate to say it."

Scorpius grudgingly agreed while I sat awkwardly by, listening to them discuss my ex-boyfriend.

"So, if we end up in the final match together, who are you going to cheer for?" Al asked, drawing me out of my silence.

I nearly groaned as Scorpius turned to me, eyes glinting with amusement. "Yeah, Rose, which of us will you support?"

"Can't I abstain?" I asked meekly. They both shook their heads, and I sighed. "Well, no offence, but if I cheer for Slytherin I'll probably be disowned by everyone I know except for you, Scor, so I'm going to have to go with Gryffindor."

Al pumped his fist triumphantly in the air while Scorpius put on a face of mock disappointment and groaned, "Whatever will I do without my girlfriend to support me?"

"Proof that I'm more important to her," Al boasted, puffing out his chest. His way of coping with me dating his best friend sometimes devolved into his making it a competition for my affections.

I rolled my eyes. "Hardly. It just means I'd rather not incite the rage of hundreds of students and put up with your whining. You're insufferable, did you know that?"

Scorpius let out a bark of laughter as Al tried to look offended and failed. He eventually joined in the laughter, and I took a moment to appreciate the difference a year made. At this time last year, it was just me and Al, with Scorpius and I definitely not on speaking terms. Yet now, here we were laughing together as though the past six years hadn't happened, with Scorpius and I returned from informing my parents that we were dating. What a difference a year made, indeed.

I returned home by myself a couple of hours later, almost dreading facing my parents again. Scorpius and I had decided to put off telling the Malfoys for a couple of days while I dealt with Dad's digestion of the news. I almost wished we'd elected to stay at the school for the holidays as usual, but I knew this needed to happen eventually. We couldn't hide our relationship from our families forever.

"Rose, is that you?" Dad's voice sounded from the kitchen as I closed the door behind me.

Grimacing, I called back, "Yeah, Dad."

Knowing I couldn't hide from him, I headed reluctantly toward the kitchen. I slid onto a stool, watching him carefully for any indication of what he was thinking as he methodically turned another page of the Daily Prophet.

"So…" I started tentatively, tapping my fingers on the counter. "Do you want to, er, talk about, er, anything?"

He studied the paper for a moment before looking up at me. "Like what?"

I gave him a look.

"Oh, you mean about you and Malfoy?" He closed the paper and eyed me appraisingly. "There is one thing I'd like to ask you, actually."

"Ok…" I said slowly.

"What did he say to you?"

I blinked, utterly confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well he had to say something to you to get you to think… dating…" He shuddered at the word, "Him would be a good idea. It had to be pretty good, to get you to ditch that Davies kid and agree."

My mouth fell open and I felt my eyebrows drawing together in indignation. "He didn't say anything! Why would you think that? And you didn't even like Adrian!"

"Well I would have if I'd known the alternative was… him! What else am I supposed to think, Rosie? You leave at the beginning of the year, barely having spoken a word to that prat, and then suddenly you're smiling at him next time we see each other, and now you're dating? The kid must be good if he can talk his way into that. I just didn't expect you'd fall for it."

I stood now, not believing a word I was hearing. I knew he wouldn't accept this easily, but I'd at least expected some restraint, or maybe some faith that I knew what I was doing. "You've got to be kidding me! You don't even know him! I didn't know him, either, but once I dropped my prejudices I started to. He's not who I assumed, and I can guarantee he isn't who you assume, either."

"I assume he's the son of Draco Malfoy. Are you going to tell me the bloke's wife cheated on him, then?" He asked, face slowly turning red. Only someone who knew Dad like I did could see the faint traces of amusement around the edges. I ground my teeth together to control my anger. It wouldn't do to snap at him.

"You know there are assumptions tied to his father which are completely inaccurate, Dad."

"I don't see how. The kid was raised by a Malfoy, so it's very reasonable to assume he's become the very embodiment of one. I don't want my daughter caught up in that."

"There's nothing to be caught up in! Scorpius isn't his father! Do you think we'd be having this conversation if he was?" I demanded, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "Scorpius isn't who you think he is, and if you'd just give him a chance, you'd see that!"

"Have you lost your mind?" He demanded, and my mouth dropped open.

"I'm sorry, what?" I snapped.

"That's the only explanation I can come up with as to why you would possibly be acting this way. Is the pressure of exams getting to you? Or is this some kind of rebellious thing? Are you having a late teenage rebellion?" His anger turned to concern toward the end. Was he actually saying this?

I stood staring at him for a long minute. "I can't believe you. I knew it would take some getting used to, me dating Scorpius. Merlin, I even decided to cut you some slack while you adjusted to the idea! But I can't even try to justify this. I would never use someone in some misguided teenage rebellion, and I'd like to think you raised me not to be so gullible as to buy into charm alone. I'm dating Scorpius because we connected this year. We realized we have things in common. We understand each other, Dad."

Now his face was full-on red again. "I did not raise my daughter to connect with a Malfoy."

"No, you raised me to think for myself! You raised me to form my own opinions, and that's what I'm doing! He's a better person than anyone's ever given him credit for," I snapped.

He finally looked up, his eyes both hard and desperate. I'd never seen him look so lost and confused. "What's going on with you, Rosie? This isn't like you."

"No, this isn't like the idea of me you have in your head," I snapped, before softening my voice and taking a step closer. I placed my hand on the counter as I tried to catch my father's gaze. I failed, but spoke anyways. "Look, I know it doesn't make sense to you right now, but maybe it will with time. Just give him a chance, Dad. Do you really think so little of my judgement?"

"What judgement?" He ground out, harshly.

I jerked back, pulling my hand back to my side as tears filled my eyes. I couldn't believe he'd just said that to me. Judging from the look on his face, he couldn't either.

"Rosie… Rose, I didn't-" He started, eyes reflecting his regret.

I backed toward the kitchen door, trying my best not to cry. I wouldn't cry in front of him. I wouldn't cry in front of anyone. Rose Weasley didn't cry.

"I didn't mean that," he says again, standing up and making to follow me.

"Yes, Dad," I whispered, sure my face was contorting into some ugly expression as I did, "Yes, you did."

I turned on my heel without a second thought, not entirely sure where I was going, but entirely unsurprised when I ended up on Al's doorstep. He was the closest thing I could get to who I really wanted right now, since I'd never been to Malfoy Manor and wasn't really in the mood for my first visit right now. I tried to compose myself with a few deep breaths and had myself under control as I knocked. At least I thought I did. I kept it together when Al opened the door, managing a watery smile, but he knew something was up as soon as he saw my face.

"C'mon. Scor's still here," he told me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me up to his room. I let him, feeling a bit like I was in a dream, not reality. This hadn't really happened, had it?

The second Scorpius saw my face he rushed over to pull me away from Al's arm and into his own. Unable to fight it anymore, I collapsed against his chest, my head tucked under his chin. I drew in a shuddering breath as he gently stroked my hair, feeling warmth on my cheeks. I reached up a hand to touch the offending feeling and realized that I was crying without realizing it. A small voice in the back of my mind told me I should stop, that I shouldn't cry, but I found I couldn't stem the flow of tears now cascading from my eyes. So I decided to just give in and let myself cry as he held me tightly against him, stroking my hair and whispering apologies in my ear.

A/N: I originally planned on more happening, but this just felt right to me. Hopefully I did Ron justice.