I meant to update a couple days ago but writing the end of this chapter took longer than I expected. Lots of Scorpius and Rose in this one so hope it makes up for his absence in the last one, and hopefully it explains a little bit about why they're on a slow burn too.
Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews too :)
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Rose debriefed her team quickly and efficiently, giving feedback on all their strong and weak traits that she'd picked up on as she watched them battle. She told Jackson and Tyler to tone it down a little and start trying to think ahead, she told the other aurors to be a bit more spontaneous and she praised Kevin and Piper for their ability to already do so. She said goodbye to all of them and told them she'd see them tomorrow when they could work more on their plan against the ministry. She found her office and stashed her folder full of top secret documents before heading to the floo and going home. She wrote eleven identical letters basically saying it was her who broke the vow before sending them to the clan who weren't part of her new ministry team. She set the time of the meeting to discuss her breech for tomorrow, since she was too tired to deal with it today. After that she showered quickly, changed into her comfy flannel pjs and bounced down the stairs. Both her parents worked much later than her and Hugo was currently pretending to stay at James' so he could spend some time with his secret girlfriend and her daughter. Rose scribbled a note on some paper telling her mum she'd gone out and she'd be back soon but not to worry or wait up. She also told her she'd had a good first day and she'd fill her in later, apologising for not doing it today. Rose sighed as she put the pen down and made sure the note was visible, she couldn't help but feel guilty for not sharing her first day at her first job with her parents but she was just too tired to be social right now. She held the daisy pendant Scorp had given her, never having taken it off, pressed the crystal at its centre and felt the pull of the portkey as it whisked her way and landed her in the middle of Malfoy Manor's library. She looked around and smiled as the fireplaces roared to life and she noticed the same book she'd been reading last time she left, resting on top a table next to a large cozy looking armchair. Rose curled up and began to read, snuggling in happily and getting lost in its pages. Scorpius found her hunched over the book after he got back from practice. He'd peeked his head through the door on his way through the Manor just in case she was there, ignoring how much he hoped she was.
"So...first day, how was it?" Scorpius asked as he walked into the room.
"Good..." Rose said without looking up.
"Good..." Scorpius sighed with a smirk. "I'll go take a shower and come back in a bit."
"Mmm..." Rose half nodded and Scorpius chuckled as he walked back out the door.
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Twenty minutes later, washed and clean, Scorpius wondered back into the library. Rose was still reading so he called quietly to his favourite house elf and asked her politely if she'd get them some dinner and a drink each.
"Hi," Scorpius said as he sat down next to Rose and squished himself into the chair with her.
"Hi..." Rose hummed.
"I take it that book is particularly interesting?" He grinned, wriggling a little as he slipped his arm around Rose's waist and tugged her gently onto his lap so she was sat with her legs across him and off the arm of the chair. She didn't even flinch, instead so engrossed in her book that she barely noticed. Scorpius sat patiently, his hand idly gliding up and down her leg as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. He relaxed into the chair and lent his head back, closing his eyes and unwinding from a particularly gruelling day of training.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked softly. Scorpius pried his sleepy eyes open and lolled his head sideways to look at her, if it wasn't for his groggy state of mind he'd probably have jumped at how close their faces now were.
"What d'you mean?" He frowned.
"I mean, why are you lazily smoothing your hand up and down my leg?" Rose asked again. Scorpius shrugged.
"Not sure, just felt natural..." He looked into her eyes and tried to banish his exhaustion enough to not make an idiot out of himself.
"Is there any reason why I'm practically sat on your lap?" She said, a blush crawling its way across her skin.
"You are sat on my lap, there's no 'practically' about it." He smirked.
"Fine," Rose bit out with a glare. "Is there any reason why I am sat on your lap?"
"How else was I supposed to get your attention?" Scorp raised an eyebrow, his smirk still stuck on his face.
Rose looked at him, her blue eyes boring into grey. It unnerved her how normal it felt to be in his arms and this close to his body. How safe she felt with him, how she hadn't even registered he'd moved her into quite so intimate a position until after the fact. How the feel of his fingers grazing over the skin on her ankle sent warm little shivers up her spine, but not in a sexual way just in a homely one. Scorpius dropped his smirk as Rose's eyes remained locked on his. He knew she was overthinking everything, he knew she was probably struggling a little bit with where to go from here and he knew they weren't going anywhere for now. He squeezed her ankle lightly before closing his eyes and leaning back into the chair again.
"So, good first day? Good book?" He asked again, his eyes still closed and his smirk reappearing.
"Yes," Rose said, still trying to slow her million-miles-an-hour brain.
"Which one d'you want to talk about?" Scorpius hummed in his again half asleep state, his hand idly grazing Rose's leg again.
"Uh..." Rose cleared her throat, trying to think of anything but the idea that she could stay like this forever.
"Oh for merlin's sake Weasley..." Scorpius mumbled. He sighed and pulled Rose into him, chuckling at the small squeal she gave as he forced to her relax. "Just chill out will you..."
"Scorp..." Rose said, a hint of anxiousness to her tone.
"Come on, please?" Scorpius said, his eyes still shut peacefully and his hand now lazily tracing patterns on Rose's arm where he'd cuddled her into him.
"What does this mean?" Rose gulped.
"Nothing and everything."
"What does that mean?" Rose huffed and couldn't help the grin that began to spread across her lips as his own made its way onto his face. She lent back up and he reluctantly opened his eyes to look at her again.
"It means, our current position is in no way an indication of a change or something that will be more or less frequent. It also means that this is not meaningless, and when you're ready for it to mean something other than a hug, it will do..." Scorpius said softly.
"I don't know how long that's going to be..." Rose murmured, barely above a whisper, her eyes still locked on Scorpius'.
"I know..." Scorpius said, looking down at his hand resting on Rose's leg.
"You can't wait for me, that's not fair..." She whispered and Scorpius wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself.
"I'm not," he said almost as quietly. Rose felt her heart drop and her eyes fill instantly with tears. "To wait for you implies that there's a time limit, an end game..." Scorpius felt his heart rate increase exponentially, he brought his gaze back up to hers and mustered every ounce of courage he could before speaking again. "Rose...I'm already yours..." Rose's eyes widened and she shook her head slightly in protest. "I mean it Rose..." Scorpius said in a whisper, bringing his forehead to rest on her own. "If we stay like this forever, I'd be happy...this undefinable thing we've got going on isn't just me waiting for you to give me more, I'm not expecting it, I don't need it...I just need you. I don't have an end game, and I'm not waiting on you, but if that's the way you want to look at it, I'll be waiting forever..."
"You can't promise me that..." Rose closed her eyes as two single tears fell down her cheeks.
"I can't not promise you that," he chuckled as he wiped them away with his thumb. "It's how I feel..."
"But...you might not feel like that forever," Rose said, her eyes still closed and her forehead still resting on his.
"There's just something inside of me that tells me I will, I won't let go of you Rose, I can't...trust me when I promise you there's no time limit and no pressure, don't force yourself to be ready for something you're not because you're afraid to lose me, because you won't. You can't and you never will..."
Rose flung her arms around Scorpius' neck and buried her face in his chest as she sobbed. Scorp held her tight and rubbed his hand in soothing circles up and down her back. He couldn't believe he'd told her any of that, it was most definitely not his intention when he saw her sat in here on his way back from work. Rose breathed in his scent as her body sobbed against his. She was completely and totally in love with him and she knew it, she just couldn't say it. She wasn't ready to say it. She couldn't help but believe his words either, her mind was telling her it was too good to be true but her heart knew he meant everything he said because she felt the same and she just couldn't explain it. Rose loved him and hated that she couldn't bring herself to do anything about it. She sniffed as she calmed down and paused, feeling Scorp's hand running gently up and down her back. She let go of his neck and went to lean back and look at him but found she couldn't quite bring her eyes to find his again. Scorpius chuckled and pulled her back into the hug, she put her arms around his stomach and lent her head back on his chest. She felt Scorp smooth her hair and kiss her head sweetly, her heart swooping as he did. He rested his head back against the chair like before and closed his eyes.
"You feel like home..." Rose whispered and Scorpius' eyes snapped open as he looked down at her in shock and surprise. He felt his heart soar at hearing her words, he had tears in his eyes knowing he didn't love her in vain.
"I'll always be home if you'll let me..." he squeezed a little tighter and planted another kiss on her head before resting his own atop hers.
"I promise I'll always let you..." She mumbled.
"So...which was better? Your first day or the book?" Scorpius smiled at her small, light laugh.
"Both on a par with the other," she said through a sniff.
"Really? So was the book that good or your day that bad?" He teased.
"The book was that good!" Rose smacked his chest playfully and couldn't help but register how hard his chest was underneath her hand. She was glad her head was resting on it or he'd have seen her bright red blush as it climbed up her cheeks for the millionth time that evening.
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"Master Scorpius..." Freya, the house elf Scorp had spoken to earlier appeared with a crack in the room. "I have your dinner, where did you want it?"
"In here please Frey..." Scorpius smiled. "At the little table there is fine, thank you."
"No trouble at all," Freya said and clicked her fingers. Two plates of food and two glasses of water appeared on the table.
"What's all that?" Rose asked Scorpius with a fold of her arms and frown.
"Dinner," He said. "This is Freya by the way, Freya this is Rose."
"Hello Freya, it's nice to meet you," Rose dipped her head in greeting.
"And you Miss Rose," Freya bowed before disappearing with another crack.
"Why do we have dinner?" Rose asked him.
"Because I'm hungry and I'm almost certain you haven't eaten." Scorpius grinned as Rose's stomach rumbled. She scowled at her stomach before scowling up at him. "Come on..." He gestured to the table and Rose stood up with a huff, shuffling over to the table and plonking herself down in a chair opposite Scorp.
"So how was training?" She asked, refusing to acknowledge how grateful she was for the food.
"It was exhausting, I could have fallen asleep in that chair with you..." Scorpius said, grinning at her flaming cheeks.
"Scorp..." Rose started, clearing her throat.
"Rose," Scorpius interrupted her with a sigh. "I know you aren't ready for anything yet, I understand that you're still healing and getting over what happened...stop panicking and over analysing everything..."
"How exactly am I supposed to over analyse what you said?" Rose scoffed. "You practically told me you were in love with me!"
"If it wouldn't freak you out, I'd actually tell you that..." Scorpius mumbled.
"If it wouldn't freak me out, I'd tell you I felt the same too..." Rose smirked and felt relief as Scorpius chuckled at her. "Merlin I hate this!" She dropped her cutlery with a clang and put her head in her hands. "Why can't I be okay already?!"
"Because it's not really how it works...?" Scorpius said with a soft laugh. "It takes as long as it takes..."
"But...I don't want to have to wait! I don't want to feel...like this!" Rose let out an anguished cry of frustration.
"What do you mean? Like this?" Scorpius frowned.
"Like...like I'm completely unsure of myself, like can't trust myself and how I feel...like I'm really not ready for anything else or anyone else yet but I don't know why, I just know I'm not!" Rose raised her eyes up to Scorpius' to see his soft grey gaze on her. "I don't understand why I can't just jump in with you when everything with you feels so right...?" Scorpius was torn, he completely understood why she couldn't. Because once they started they wouldn't ever stop, and what she'd been through was not something she could fix by jumping straight into another relationship, no matter how right it felt. "You can't wait for me Scorp, it's not fair on you...it's not..." Rose shook her head as a few tears escaped again and slid down her cheeks.
"I'm not waiting for you, I told you that." Scorpius gave her a friendly glare. "Rose, I can't help how I feel and telling me not to feel it isn't going to change that. So...you're going to shut up and get on with it, we're going to be perfectly normal, well, normal for us, and we'll get to where we're meant to be. We stopped hating each other three weeks ago...what happened with Simon was five weeks ago...it hasn't even been months yet, let alone years..."
"I don't want to wait years, I don't want it to be years before...before we, I..." Rose froze up, unable to articulate what she was trying to say.
"Okay, how's this..." Scorpius took one of her hands from across the table and wrapped his own around it. "I won't let you bury yourself in a hole..." Rose frowned at him. "Right now, your mind is still trying to make sense of what happened, it's still healing and if we started up something right now, chances are it would overload and take you that much longer to really get better. But I won't let you keep putting it off either. Right now is not the right time, but if you ever start dodging the right time I promise I'll be there to stop you and there'll be no more waiting and no more reasons not to jump..."
"Really? You really promise?" Rose said.
"I really promise..." Scorpius nodded, a small smile on his face. "I meant what I said, I'm yours..."
"I'm yours too..." Rose said, forcing the words out but barely above a whisper.
"Rose, you don't have to..."
"I mean it, I am yours, I'll always be yours..." She sighed, a tear slipping down her face. "Even if, one day, you really have waited too long and you find someone else...I won't hate you for it, I won't blame you for it and I won't even count it as a broken promise..."
"Will you stop telling me I'm going to find someone else!" Scorpius part laughed and part growled. "You can stop bloody convincing yourself too!"
"But Scorp..."
"No! No buts!" Scorpius said. "Eat your dinner and quit trying to get rid of me, because you won't do it!"
"D'you wanna bet?" Rose sniggered.
"I'll bet you anything you want that I won't end up with anyone but you," Scorpius said.
"How about access to this library permanently for all eternity?" Rose said. "You end up with someone else and I get to keep the library?"
"Deal," Scorpius said and shook Rose's hand. "But you do realise that should I win and we end up together, you'd still get permanent access to this library for all eternity...in fact you'd eventually own it..."
"Own it?" Rose frowned.
"Uh, yeah..." Scorpius nodded, shifting in his seat uncomfortably as he waited for Rose to catch up with his train of thought so they could glide right over the top of it and never mention it again whilst they were friends.
"How would I own...oh!" Rose's features went from scrunched up in thought to shock and surprise. The fact that Scorpius figured it was a given that they'd eventually get married should they end up together made her want to cry some more, although this time it was happy tears that threatened to escape.
"So..." Scorpius continued on as if nothing, ignoring the furious blush on his cheeks and the insatiable smirk on Rose's face. "Should you feel like making a point of trying to get rid of me so you can have the library, remember you win the library either way."
"Dually noted." She grinned. Scorpius snorted and laughed, shaking his head at her and letting go of her hand so he could start eating again. The two of them fell back into easy chatter and banter after that, talking about their day and what they'd been up to.
.
After they'd eaten, Scorpius went to sit on one of the sofas around a fire and Rose came to join him. In a surprising feat of courage and boldness Rose dropped her legs into his lap and snuggled up with another book. She handed him a book too so he could amuse himself while she read and he chuckled at her as he took it from her. The pair had been sat reading for a little over an hour when Rose couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and her head dropped to her chest. Scorpius shifted her into a more comfortable position before going back to the book she gave him as Draco walked in and spotted them. He smiled at their closeness and contentedness before clearing his throat and walking over to them.
"It's nice to see Rose again, I didn't hear her come in..." Draco raised a questioning eyebrow at his son.
"She has a portkey..." Scorpius said. "I made her one, my end of a deal we made, she gets instant access whenever she likes to this library..."
"Why didn't you just key her in to the floo system?" Draco asked in astonishment.
"Because she'd have to find a fireplace and floo powder for that to work." Scorpius shrugged.
"Right, so making her a one of kind, sapphire encrusted daisy and then turning it into a portkey for her use only was the obvious thing to do?" Draco snorted.
"Shut up dad!" Scorpius huffed with a grin.
"You've got it bad..." Draco pointed at his son and chuckled as he took a seat opposite the pair.
"Don't know what you're talking about." Scorpius pretended to continue reading but to no avail. His dad was so good at appearing whenever he needed some advice and a fatherly chat, it was like he knew Scorp wanted to talk to him.
"Sure you do," Draco grinned. "Have you told her you love her yet?"
Scorpius' eyes snapped straight to his dad's and Draco smirked.
"I'll take that as a no," he said.
"Try more along the lines of 'sort of'," Scorpius corrected him and Draco raised his eyebrows, an impressed look appearing on his face.
"Please continue..." Draco gestured to his son and Scorpius smirked.
"I...it's complicated..." Scorpius deflated as he let out a sigh. "It's so bloody fucking complicated!"
"Scorp...that's when you know you've probably got it right!" Draco said with a grin. "Everything about your mother was easy, right up until the day she left me...because I didn't really give a shit because I knew she didn't really give a shit..." Draco shrugged and sighed. "So, tell me what's so complicated?"
"She's not ready for a relationship yet," Scorpius said.
"Because of what happened a few weeks ago? To do with the state she ended up in at the memorial ball?" Draco asked, his joking nature put aside as he looked at his son seriously.
"Yeah," Scorpius said. He nodded at his Dad and looked across at Rose, Draco smiled softly at the expression on his son's face.
"What happened?" Draco asked quietly.
"I can't tell you, I promised her..." Scorpius looked at him, his eyes glazed over with unshed tears.
"Scorp, I appreciate you keeping a secret but I can't help if you don't give me something," Draco said.
Scorpius looked at his dad and back to Rose. He sighed and shifted nervously. After everything he'd told her that he shouldn't have, he didn't think she'd begrudge him one confidante, especially considering it was the one person he didn't keep secrets from.
"It was her ex-boyfriend," Scorpius said, barely above a whisper. "Simon Smith...cornered her in an empty classroom after graduation and was about ten seconds away from turning attempted rape into actual rape..." Draco watched as Scorpius' silent fury grew the more he spoke.
"When?" Draco asked, his tone dark and dangerous.
"Two weeks before we left school, after the graduation party," Scorpius said.
"How the fuck did that happen under the professors' noses?" Draco growled.
"Seriously?" Scorpius scoffed. "You went to school there, you should know! How did a sixteen year old sneak in a bunch of death eaters without the professors knowing?!"
"Fair point..." Draco grumbled and began to slouch slightly, something only his son had ever seen him do.
"Anyway, its only been five weeks since she managed to get away from Smith, its only been three weeks since we've been friends...but merlin it feels like so much longer!" Scorpius sighed and dropped his head back on the chair.
"It usually does when you're waiting for something to happen, or willing it to." Draco chuckled.
"But that's just it, I'm not waiting. I don't feel like I'm waiting. I know she's not there yet, I know she needs to heal before anything starts up between us, but the thing is...I'd be happy as we are if it's what makes her happy..." Scorpius looked at his dad with a frown on his face. Draco mirrored his expression.
"So, basically, you're telling me, that you'd be happy dancing around each other for the rest of your lives if that's what made her happy?" Draco reiterated.
"Yes," Scorpius said.
"Would you be happy watching her marry and make a life with another man, if it's what made her happy?" Draco asked cautiously.
"Yes," Scorpius nodded, looking back at the sleeping Rose. "But there's just something...I can't explain it...I know, I just know that she's mine and I'm hers and that's how it'll be from now until forever..." he shrugged and looked at his dad who was still frowning at him.
"Maybe I'm not the best person to talk to about this?" Draco said. "It's not like I've got the best experiences in actual love, of any kind actually..."
"I don't know, I think you've done well so far. On the advice front I mean, not the love one..." Scorpius chuckled at Draco's playful glare.
"So how much did you tell her? About how you felt?" Draco asked.
"Pretty much everything right up until the 'I'm in love with you' part, practically said that too but she's not really ready to hear it yet..." Scorpius said.
"Scorp, you seem to have this whole thing figured out...?" Draco looked amusedly at his son.
"I just, I suppose I wanted to know that I'm doing the right thing. You know, by not pushing, by not setting expectations, by assuming it will all work out in the end? I don't want to be the fool, the idiot who fell in love with a girl who waited too long before watching her fall out of love with him..." Scorp looked at Rose lovingly and with a small amount of fear in his eyes, fear of losing her, of never climbing to their true potential, of never feeling her kiss or her touch beyond the strange friends they were now.
"Scorpius, you are right in your choice of actions. She's been through a lot and beginning a relationship, no matter who that is with, leaves little time for her brain to process what happened and then heal from it." Draco spoke softly to his son. "I understand your fears, that people will see it odd that neither of you are together but you are, in essence, together. Don't doubt your patience, because in the end, it'll be one of the many reasons she loves you. You're a good man, and you know Rose. You'll know when the time is right and if 'not being ready' turns into 'too scared to jump', you'll know what to do then."
"I really hope so..." Scorpius sighed.
"You will..." Draco said firmly. "Because you love her, and it's an entirely selfless love, I can see that already..." He chose not to mention the fact that that kind of love usually went hand in hand with true love and fairytales. They'd figure it out, he was sure of it.
"I'd better get her home..." Scorpius said, smiling gratefully at his dad. "Thanks..."
"I'm not sure what for, I don't believe I did anything..." Draco shrugged.
"You listened and you understood, which is more than most," Scorpius said. "Al and Lily and James and Teddy, they all keep trying to sort of push us together..."
"Because they see how happy you make her," Draco said with a knowing smile. "They know something happened and they've worked out that you dampen the effects of it. But they aren't you and they aren't Rose and they don't know what's right for you."
"I just, I don't want to remind her of her ex in any capacity. I want to be with her, but after what happened, it has to be entirely of her own free will no matter how much I know she wants to be with me too," Scorpius said. "They don't get that. They don't see how much damage I could do by trying to push her into it..."
"That might have something to do with the fact that you keep pushing her into doing things she doesn't want to anyway, it's just your relationship status you aren't changing." Draco looked at Scorpius as his son nodded.
"I know, but I do that for her, not because I want something or I'll get something out of it and that's the difference. Making her come out of hiding, practically dragging her to the ball last weekend...I was on her team, on her side. I got nothing out of it other than seeing her start to get better, seeing her fight the damage Smith did and attempting not to get hexed in the process. Turning that round and attempting to start a relationship with her because of how I feel, that could destroy all the progress she's made because suddenly it becomes a question of whether I did all those things for her own good or for mine, so she'd date me..." Scorpius shrugged.
"Exactly," Draco said. "Which is why you should ignore them all and listen to your heart..."
"You sound like a bloody sap..." Scorpius snorted.
"I'm well aware of that, thank you!" Draco mock growled. "But since you have an ice pick for a mother, and frost queen for a grandmother, I don't have much choice but to let the sap leak out once in a while."
"I have to let her come to me," Scorpius shrugged. "It's the only way she'll know she wasn't manipulated into it like she was manipulated into that classroom and her relationship with Smith."
"Well, its good to know I make a decent sound board," Draco smiled at his son's once again confident tone. "Just blackmail the Weasley-Potters, or bribe them, to shut them up." He shrugged.
"Already done," Scorp smirked. "Bottle of Ogden's finest if they keep their traps shut until something happens...and a bottle of muggle whiskey for Al."
"That's a lot of firewhiskey," Draco said.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure James isn't going to keep his mouth shut so I'm one down already," Scorp laughed. "And it's not a bad thing sometimes, it makes me feel like we're still on the same team..."
"Right, well I'll let you get your teammate home and I'm going to get to bed," Draco said. "I'd tell you to stick a silencing charm on my room as you walk by but that argument feel on deaf years too many years ago..." he grumbled.
"Glad to know you were listening to that then," Scorpius smirked. "Night dad."
"Night Scorp." Draco lifted himself up out of the chair and walked quietly from the room.
.
Scorpius put his book down and gently removed himself from under Rose's legs. He bent down and scooped her up off the sofa, carrying her bridal style towards the floo. She subconsciously nestled her head into his chest and breathed out a contented sigh. Scorpius called out her home address and stepped in quickly, being careful not to bump any part of Rose on the way through. As he stepped out of the fireplace on the Weasley end, he started slightly as Ron rose abruptly out of an armchair.
"Malfoy? What's wrong with her?" Ron frowned at his daughter, wrapped in the arms of the boy he found himself loathing less and less. Ron surprised himself with how quickly his initial panicked reaction subsided when he registered his daughter in Scorpius' arms and Scorpius' relaxed demeanour. It was as if he was beginning to subconsciously trust the boy, he sighed to himself. He was never going to live this down, both his wife and his daughter would hold it over him for a long time.
"Nothing Mr Weasley, she just fell asleep and I didn't want to wake her..." Scorpius said quietly. "She's getting pretty heavy actually, did you want to...?" He nearly dropped Rose when he moved to pass her over but Ron stepped out the way and pointed to the door.
"Up the stairs and third door on the left," Ron said.
"...uh...right...yeah...got it..." Scorpius stuttered as he made to pass Ron and head towards the stairs.
"If you're a gentleman, it shouldn't take you anymore that about three minutes, so if you're not back down here in five, we're going to fall out," Ron said.
"Got it," Scorpius couldn't help the small chuckle that slipped past his lips as he ascended the stairs. A little over three weeks ago, most of Rose's family including Rose, hated his guts. Now her dad was letting him into her bedroom to put her to bed. Merlin, it was as though the world had gone mad.
Scorpius placed Rose gently down on her bed, pulling her covers over her as she snuggled in further.
"Scorp...?" She mumbled as she sighed into her pillow.
"Yes Rose?" Scorpius whispered, brushing a few locks of hair out of her face.
"I wish you could stay with me," she mumbled. "You smell safe..."
"I wish I could too, but your dad promised me we'd fall out if I wasn't back downstairs in five minutes and I'm not sure I'm ready to see what falling out with your dad looks like," he chuckled softly.
"Thanks for bringing me home..." Rose blew out a final breath before letting sleep take over her again.
"Any time Rose..." He lent forward and placed a long kiss on her forehead, smoothing his thumb across her cheek for a few seconds as he did. He pulled back gently and walked out the room and back downstairs.
"Four minutes and fifty five seconds..." Ron sucked in a breath. "Cutting it close there Malfoy."
"What can I say? I like living on the edge," Scorpius said with a shrug, not entirely sure what was happening right now.
"Here..." Ron held out a glass to Scorpius, two fingers worth of some amber looking liquid. Scorpius took it gingerly and sniffed the stuff before looking warily at Ron.
"I haven't drugged it or poisoned it," Ron chuckled.
"Sorry..." Scorpius smiled sheepishly.
"It's muggle whiskey," Ron explained. "Mione's dad used to give it to me when I first started dating her." He motioned to Scorpius to drink up and Scorp lifted the glass to his lips and sipped, the intense burn that followed the liquid down his throat made him cough and sputter.
"I presume it was for that reason, that was very satisfying to watch." Ron grinned happily at his little triumph. He gestured to one of the seats in the lounge and sat back down in his armchair, Scorpius taking the hint and sitting down too.
"So, Malfoy..." Ron looked at Scorpius over the top of his glass as he took another sip. "What's the deal with you and Rose?"
"There isn't one," Scorp shrugged.
"Look, I know you're not out to hurt her, I know you want to make her happy. You made that perfectly clear when I asked you that while you were under veritiserum," Ron said.
"So what exactly are you asking?" Scorpius frowned.
"How long have I got before you stop dancing around each other, I suppose?" Ron shrugged.
"I don't know," Scorpius said. "That's up to Rose."
"How long are you likely to wait?" Ron asked softly, not quite being able to meet Scorpius' gaze.
"As long as it takes," Scorp said.
"I'm being serious, even I can't expect you to wait forever..." Ron looked up to see such a sincere expression on Scorpius' face that he was pretty sure any grievances he had left just vanished.
"I am being serious," Scorpius said, a small sigh escaping his lips. "I'll wait forever if it takes forever..."
"That's a hell of promise to make," Ron frowned.
"It's really hard to explain, but, I can't not promise it." Scorpius shook his head and took another sip of the muggle whiskey, smiling slightly at Ron's broad grin as he watched him cough it down again. "I'm all hers, I always will be, no one else is her and no one else ever will be."
"You make it really hard to hate you," Ron grumbled.
"Sorry, I'll try harder next time," Scorpius smirked.
"See that you do," Ron grinned.
Scorpius took another mouthful of the whiskey and this time it didn't burn quite so much, but enough to make him clench his teeth and wince.
"Why the hell would Al want a bottle of this over a bottle of the finest firewhiskey you can find?" Scorpius mused to himself.
"Some muggle alcohol has more of a kick to it than firewhiskey, and us wizarding folk weren't inventive enough to branch out much further from there really..." Ron chuckled. "I started to quite enjoy the taste of it after a while, made me smile too because it always reminded me of the somewhat intimidating chats I ended up having with Mione's dad..." He shook his head, a small smile on his face as he reminisced many a night.
"It's certainly got its own unique taste," Scorp grinned. "I just don't understand why he'd choose it over Ogden's finest? I mean, I'm going to be paying for it!"
"Why are you buying Al a bottle of whiskey?" Ron asked.
"It's part of deal I made, with him and the rest of your nieces and nephews..." Scorpius shifted a little uncomfortably. "They have a tendency to insinuate something is or should be going on between me and Rose, so I told them that if they shut up about it and when or if something does happen, I'd by each of them a bottle of firewhiskey. Al asked for muggle whiskey."
"Why would you make them a deal to shut up about it?" Ron frowned. "Surely their teasing works in your favour?"
"Because Rose isn't ready for a relationship yet Mr Weasley, I know and she knows it too," Scorpius sighed, downed the rest of his glass and rubbed his hands down his face. "She has to give herself time to heal and if we jump into something right now...it's not fair, her head is likely to go into overdrive with all this information and all the change. It'll skip straight over what happened to her and then she'll never really heal, not properly, it'd be like putting a plaster on pretty serious deep cut...it might have stopped bleeding but it won't mend." Scorpius shook his head and looked up at Ron, his gaze meeting the older man's. "If we start this thing before she's ready, no matter how right we are for each other and no matter how much we love each other, there will always be a small part of her that will question whether the relationship was really her choice or was it me, or other people nudging us somewhere we might not have wanted to be. After everything she's been through, she deserves that peace of mind, knowing that being with me was entirely of her own volition..."
Ron sat quietly for a long time just looking at the man sat across from him. Scorpius had his arms folded and wore a determined look on his face, but not the kind of determination that made Ron believe he was after his daughter. The kind of determination that made him believe he was already in love with her, and profoundly so.
"When you're thinking of marrying Rosie..." Ron kept his gaze serious and sincere as Scorpius' eyes snapped up to his. "...and you start thinking about asking me if I'm okay with that, or if you can have my blessing. Don't bother. You already have it."
Scorpius didn't know what to say at that. He felt like he might be dreaming, but it was like he was waiting for the penny to drop.
"I thought you'd die before you saw the day she became a Malfoy?" Scorpius part whispered, still in shock. It was Ron's turn to shift uncomfortably.
"Yes, well..." He sighed and shook his head. "I think it's pretty clear that I got that very wrong, amongst a few other things. I'm sorry Scorpius, I shouldn't have said all that. And, I most definitely shouldn't have presumed it was ever my choice. I don't think I'd ever be able to find a more devoted or respectful bloke if I tried, and I seriously mean it when I say I hate that!" Ron huffed before the pair of them broke out into quiet laughter and finished with small smiles. "Thanks, for not giving up on her, and for not letting me scare you away."
"She's something else, I'll tell you that." Scorpius sighed. "We haven't even kissed yet and she's already blown my mind."
Ron snorted. "You really know all the right things to say, I'll give you that!"
"I don't do it on purpose," Scorpius said.
"I know," Ron smiled. "It's what makes it even more believable."
"Thanks for the drink Mr Weasley," Scorpius set his empty glass down on a side table. "I best be going though. Training was a bitch today and it's only going to get worse."
"So long as my Rosie remains a loyal Canons fan..." Ron smirked.
"Uh, well, about that..." Scorp grimaced and then shrunk under Ron's glare. "It was part of a wager, if you will. I challenged her to ditch the Canon's and support me and my team this year and in return she challenged me something I thought was going to be equally as impossible but turns out wasn't quite so difficult..."
"What was your challenge then?" Ron said.
"To get you to like me," Scorpius shrugged with a smirk.
"I'll never admit it out loud," Ron grumbled, a smirk of his own across his lips.
"Thank Merlin, because I was beginning to wonder what dimension I was in," Scorpius grinned.
"Night Malfoy," Ron grinned back.
"Night Mr Weasley." Scorpius nodded and made his way back to the fireplace, flooing home before dropping into his own bed and falling fast asleep.