In the Previous Chapter…
"I mean it, Scorp, get some rest. I know you love her, but Rose can wait for an hour while you regenerate after the stress of today."
"Okay, mum. Just, could you wake me in exactly an hour, please? I don't want her gone too long" Scorpius smiled, yawning slightly as he crawled into his bed. It felt weird, going to sleep alone, after sharing his bed with a small child for the last 4 months. But nonetheless, Scorpius fell straight asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
Scorpius apparated to the Burrow under an hour later to find Rose sat silent on the sofa, her arms crossed.
"Scorp'us!" she screeched as she noticed her, standing up and charging towards him. She was very angry, and Scorpius was genuinely scared. "You said you wouldn't be long and you've been gone HOURS!" she screamed up to him, pummelling him with her fists. She didn't quite know that the area she was punching wasn't quite up for punching, so gasped as the blonde towering over her keeled over backwards, muttering under his breath in angry tones.
"Rosie, apologise!" Al scolded, kneeling down and helping Scorpius to his feet, who was staring at the floor with slight anger in his eyes.
"Sorry, Scorp'us. I didn't mean to hurt you that bad" Rose said, breaking into small sobs. Scorpius glanced up and felt his heart break at the little crying girl. He'd made her cry.
"No, Rosie, it's alright, I just….wasn't expecting you to be able to punch that high up" he said sheepishly, rubbing his balls. He scooped the little girl into his arms and said to her tear-stained face "I'm sorry I got cross, it's just that isn't really a place to hit anyone as it hurts a lot. Your cousin Al and your brother will know exactly what I'm talking about" he smirked at the a fore mentioned boys. "I'm sorry I didn't come very quickly, but I needed to have a little bit of time away from everyone so I could clear my head. But I'm here now, so stop worrying" he said, running his fingers gently through the little girl's red curls as she snuggled into his chest from his lap.
"Scorp, I take it you're alright now, then?" Hugo asked hesitantly.
"I'm good, Hugh, just needed some space and sleep" Scorpius smiled. "Now, we need to plan our little trip, don't we?" he grinned.
"What trip?" Rose asked eagerly. "It sounds like it's going to be fun!"
"It'll be wicked, Rosie, hun. Has mummy ever taken you to a proper witches dress shop?" Lily asked.
"Noooooo…what do you do?" Rose turned to Lily, who sat down on the floor by the fire. Rose crawled over and sat in her cousin's lap.
"Well, they take all your measurements and then POOF! About a million different party dresses appear in front of you! You get to try them all on and then when you've picked out your favourite, you get to look at all their sparkly shoes and all their pretty jewellery!" Lily beamed. Rose's eyes lit up at the word 'sparkly'.
"Are we going shopping tomorrow then?"
"Yeah, hun" Scrorpius said, sitting beside Lily on the floor. "We need to get you a pretty party dress for a big ball that you're going to on New Year's Eve."
"Is it a grown up party?"
"Yes, hun, so you need to have a pretty dress and you get to dance with me all night" Scorpius grinned. Rose beamed up at him.
"And you get to dance with me!" Hugo interrupted.
"And me" Al added.
"And me" came a new voice from the door. Scorpius, Al, Hugo, Lily and Rose turned to face Draco Malfoy, who stood leaning on the doorframe.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" Scorpius said, worried.
"I'm taking you for a walk so I can talk to you" he stated, turning around and indicating towards the front door.
"Nah-uh, Draco, Scorp'us isn't going anywhere" Rose said, sitting on Scorpius's lap, preventing him from easily getting up. "He only just got here and he's not going away again" she said defiantly.
"Rose, I have to speak to Scorpius. I will only go outside with him. We'll be five minutes, then you can have my son back" Draco smirked at how this small girl had managed to wrap his son around her little finger.
"I'll be five minutes, hun. You can watch us out of the window if you're worried" Scorpius said, lifting Rose into Lily's lap and standing up.
Scorpius followed his dad out of the Burrow door and into their vast yard. They kept walking until they were a fair distance from the house, but still within the view of Rose, who was staring at them out of the window.
"Are you alright, son?" Draco asked, studying his son, who was only shorter than him by a few inches.
"After this morning? Yeah, I guess I'm doing okay, Dad", Scorpius sighed, "It's just that it finally hit me that she might not remember a thing and I'll just have to erase her from my life! I just don't want her to be gone quite yet." Scorpius bowed his head, trying not to cry in front of his dad.
"I know it must be hard for you, Scorp, but you have to just hope in these situations that everything will be fine in the end. Anyway, I thought I'd bring you out here for another reason" Draco said, smirking. "You want Rose to remember a brilliant Malfoy Ball, yes?"
"Well, duh" Scorpius smirked back.
"Obviously. But I think we should leave it to be a surprise, so I think it would be an idea if you and Rose stayed out of the house from the day before the ball" Draco said.
"I can't expect her family to cater for me again" Scorpius frowned, "They've done so much for us."
"Then go to one of your friends. Take her to see Leo or something. And you could always take her to your grandparents' house" Draco suggested. "I have to be going, but before I forget, here's this" he said, handing Scorpius an envelope.
Scorpius opened it and stared at the contents. "And this is for…?"
"Rose's dress. Get a specially made one. And make sure you tell the retailer that you want it so it can be enlarged later on in the year. I'm away on a course tomorrow so I won't see you before you go shopping " Draco smiled as his son glanced down at the amount of money in his hands.
"Dad, I doubt Rose will want to use the dress again. By the time there's another party, she won't want to wear it again."
"Oh, but there is a party soon and yes she definitely will want to use it" Draco's eyes sparkled.
"Daaaaaad what aren't you telling me" Scorpius groaned as Draco walked away from him.
"Wait and see!" Draco yelled over his shoulder, waving his hand above his head before his apparated away.
Scorpius shook his head and trudged back into the Burrow, only to have Rose wrap her arms around his knees, bringing him to the ground.
"Rosie" Scorpius groaned as the girl sat on his stomach and glared down at him.
"Where did Draco go?" she asked straight away.
"Dunno, but he hasn't gone home. He's going on a trip son you won't see him for a day or two" Scorpius said, sitting up slowly. "But speaking of home, we had better go as we have some things to do!" he said, standing up and taking Rose's hand.
"What are we doing?" she asked curiously.
"You are going to learn how to dance" Scorpius grimaced. "See you tomorrow, Al, Hugo, Lily" he nodded to each before turning on the spot and apparating himself and Rose back to the manor.
"Scorp'us, I can't do this" Rose whined an hour later as she once again tripped over and crashed into Scorpius.
"Rosie, hun, you have to be able to dance at the ball. I always have to dance first as it's my ball, and I want to dance with you" Scorpius explained as best he could that the hosts always danced first.
"But I can't dance" Rose whined again.
Scorpius sighed. Rose really wasn't getting much better at this. But he suddenly had an idea. He picked up the small girl and positioned her so she was sat on his hip. He put one of her hands on his shoulder, and took her other small hand in his own. He slowly started to waltz around the room, spinning them round and round in graceful circles.
"This is much more fun!" Rose laughed, squealing as Scorpius spun her round and round.
"You can dance, Rosie" Scorpius grinned a little while later as he set Rose down on her feet. "I dunno about you, but I'm quite hungry after all that dancing! Let's go and get some dinner."