DISCLAIMER: I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Ron, Hermione, Mr and Mrs Malfoy, exams or yelling.

Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Rose and Scorpius share a hate/hate relationship. So everyone thought. Even Rose and Scorpius themselves. It just took them a while to get anything right. :Scorpius/Rose postDH NextGen:

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE: The Nervous One.

I was shaking.

Over the course of nearly five years at Hogwarts, I'd screwed up a lot of things. Only occasionally did I get something right; the proof of that was currently holding onto my quivering hand. But so far, they'd all been flukes! There was no possible way I could do this.

"Rosie, relax, please?" Scorpius told me, gripping my hand tighter. "You're going to pass this exam with flying colours, I know it."

"No, you don't!" I said shrilly, completely forgetting that I was supposed to be silent in order for the rest of our fifth-year Muggle Studies class to listen for the examiner's call. Even though most of them were also freaking out. "Scorpius, I don't know a thing about Muggles! There are four papers and I'm going to fail all of them!"

Scorpius sighed. "Look, we've been over this. You know the answers, especially Muggle Literature. What's our case study?"

"Twelfth Night," I said, automatically.

"Main themes?" Scorpius asked, getting a slight smile.

"Appearance versus reality, excess, love, madness, confusion and pain." I listed off.

Scorpius smiled at me. "See. You know this!"

I waved that off. "That's Twelfth Bloody Night! Of course I know that! But Muggle Transport? Muggle Culture? Muggle Recreation? Aw, crap, I'm definitely failing recreation–!"

"Rose, listen to me," Scorpius cut in. "You are not going to spend the next five minutes standing here, freaking out because you 'don't know' what Muggles do for fun," He raised an eyebrow at me, as if daring me to defy him. "There's no need to be nervous. You are Rose Weasley and you are one of the smartest in our year! If you have the guts to kiss me in front of the entire school, surely you aren't so nervous you can't even do an exam?"

I took a deep breath. His words made sense, of course, but my brain was still having trouble receiving them.

"Yes," I said, mainly to myself. "I … I can do this. I can," I looked up at Scorpius' face. "Nervous?" I asked him.

He grinned. "Thankfully, I've been more worried about keeping you from having a mental breakdown."

"I'm sorry."

"That's quite all right." Scorpius said, pulling me to his side. I leaned into him, thankful for the support (because quite frankly, I think if I tried to stand by myself right now, I'd probably fall over. Not to mention that Scorpius smells rather good and my heart beats at a hundred miles a minute when I'm this close to him).

"Craaap!" I heard a frantic voice say. I glanced up from Scorpius' chest reluctantly, to see Bea bobbing up and down next to a perplexed-looking Geraldine and an anxious Libby. "The exam's going to start soon! I have to pass! We have to all pass! Crap! I'm not going to pass, I'm going to fail Professor Hanson, the entire class, the entire school, we'll no longer be able to do Muggle Studies and it'll be my entire bloody fault!"

"Bea, for Merlin's sake, shut up!" Libby said, hysterically. "I'm nervous enough here without you rambling!"

"I think she needs me." I muttered to Scorpius. He took one glance at my best friend and nodded hesitantly.

"Be careful," he warned. "She looks like she could snap any second …"

"To be honest, I think she snapped a while ago." I told him.

"Bea," I said, walking over to place an arm around my friend. "I know you're nervous. But I swear, if you don't shut up, I will hex you within an inch of your life."

Bea shot me a look, but didn't argue. "Right, and you freaking out over there with ol' Scorpius was nothing, was it?"

I sighed as Bea folded her arms stubbornly. "Yes, Bea, I happen to be a little nervous too," I said. She only looked at me. "Oh, all right, I'm about to piss myself, but we both know this! We can pass, I know we can! And that goes for you two as well," I added to Libby and Geraldine, who stopped their complaining and looked a little sheepish. "And for you two as well, Toby White and Trevor Moyle!" Toby and Trevor glanced over, both hastily putting away the textbook they'd been trying to discreetly read.

"But Rosie, that last test on Culture I got a P–" Geraldine began.

"Look," I cut over her. "We're all Ravenclaws here! All six of us," I glanced around my classmates. "We were put in this house for a reason and now is our chance to prove it! We can do this, for Professor Hanson, as well as Muggle Studies!"

"Damn, Rosie, you should be a motivational speaker." Toby told me.

"Hell yeah," Libby said, nodding. "I'm actually agreeing with Sir Toby here, so that's obviously saying something."

I grinned as Libby quickly stole the textbook from Trevor's bag and she, Geraldine and the boys quickly started flicking through the pages. Bea flung her arms around me.

"Erm–?"

"Thank you, Rosie," she said. "I'm still nervous as hell, but I think I can do it now."

I gave a nervous laugh. "You're welcome," I told her. "We're giving Al hell for not doing Muggle Studies, aren't we?"

She nodded. "Until Malfoy shows compassion."

"Oi," same Scorpius' voice from behind me and I felt him place his arms around me as Bea let go, rolling her eyes. "How is that fair?"

"It's a saying I came up with when I was twelve," she answered. "It's worked brilliantly up until now."

I snorted with laughter, but I cut myself off with a squeak of terror when a frail old wizard stepped out of the Great Hall. I recognised him as one of the examiners and he called in a clear voice, "Your Ordinary Wizarding Level in Muggle Studies will begin now. Everyone into the hall in alphabetical order, please."

"Crap!" I hissed while Bea tried to control her breathing, clutching her quill very tightly in her hand.

"Don't be nervous," Scorpius muttered in my ear as our classmates started to reluctantly move forward. "You'll be fine. I love you, Rosie."

"Yeah, yeah. Love you, too," I muttered back, hesitantly moving forward. "But thank you. You'll do fine as well."

Scorpius gave me a nervous grin as I walked forward.

Professor Hanson, you'd better be bloody grateful.

I was shaking.

I don't actually ever remember being this nervous before. Not even before I performed Twelfth Night. Or when I was going to tell Scorpius I loved him. Or just before I went into my Muggle Studies exam.

No, actually, I don't ever remember being this scared. It was one thing to be apprehensive, but to be afraid; that was a whole new level.

"Don't be a coward, Rosie," I told myself desperately. "You've handled worse! Telling your parents that you're going out with Scorpius Malfoy should be easy!"

Aw, Merlin, this wasn't going to be pretty.

Compared to the nervousness before my Muggle Studies exam, the others seemed to be a piece of cake. Once I had gotten into the Great Hall and glanced at the first question for Muggle Literature, however, I inwardly thanked whoever made up the paper. I had read the question over and over, slowly smiling bigger and bigger:

One: In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, explain the theme of right versus wrong in relation to appearance versus reality.

After that, the other questions had come easily. Before I knew it, the exam was over and soon, the entire year was over. I was no longer an OWL student and somehow, I had survived fifth-year. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the summer holidays.

I had always planned on telling Mum and Dad about Scorpius when I got back. Mainly just to give me some time to stall, considering a letter would've undoubtedly been safer for both of us. I had hoped that Scorpius could be there when I told them, just to have a hand to hold onto, but he had said that he ought to stay away for his life. I wouldn't put it past Dad not to use that gun he thinks Mum has no idea he's hidden in the attic. He found it while on an Auror mission and thought it was the most fascinating thing in the world. He hasn't got a clue how to use it, but knowing him, he'd probably bash Scorpius around the head with it.

When I'd actually gotten off the train at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, my mum and dad had been in a very smothering mood, due to their babies finally being home once again. They would've had an over-protective moment, so I sort of put off telling them until the morning.

But in the morning, Dad had burnt his toast and as such, was in a very bad mood. Needless to say, it would've been much safer to wait.

So I did. For a whole week.

And then another.

As a result, it was two weeks before I actually got the nerve to tell them. Or at least attempt telling them.

"Mum?" I called hesitantly from the stairs of our house. "Dad?"

"In the lounge, Rosie!"

I caught Dad's happy mood and was instantly relieved for roughly three seconds. At least Dad in a good mood was way better than his normal 'I hate mornings' mood. That didn't stop me from shaking, though. Maybe I should've brought Hugo's broom down with me; I could use it to ward Dad off when he comes after me.

"Er, good morning," I muttered, sitting down on the coffee table in front of my parents, who were sitting on the sofa.

"Morning, Rose," my mum said. She was the only person in the world who called me just 'Rose'. "What do you have planned for today?"

"Oh … er, not much," I said. I glanced up at Dad, who was smiling at me. Not for long. "Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you …"

"Oh?" Mum and Dad exchanged a look. "Well, of course, you can tell us anything, Rosie."

"Uh …" This was the part where I scarpered. "It's just … well …"

"Rosie, you're shaking," Dad said, concerned. "Are you cold?"

"Are you all right?" Mum asked, rubbing my arm.

"Yes, I'm fine!" I managed to squeak, inwardly cringing at the awful voice. "It's just … I have to tell you two something. I'm sure you'd both want to know, but you definitely won't be happy with it."

"If James and Fred broke something again, your uncles Harry and George will pay for it, Rose." Mum told me, rolling her eyes.

"I swear George encourages them!" Dad said. Mum laughed, squeezing my shoulder before leaning back and into my dad's side.

"Of course he does, Ron," she told him. "And that's the reason they set your robes on fire at Harry's birthday of 2012."

"What?! They told me Ginny did it!"

"Honestly, why would your sister want to burn your clothes? It's not like there's anything she would want to see."

"I'll have you know that I've been working out since then and–"

I was tempted to just sneak off while they bickered; they tended to do that a lot and I was pretty sure that they wouldn't miss me, especially when it got to the snogging part (the thought of which made me shudder). But I shook it off. I had to get over my nervousness and tell them. Merlin knows it won't be any easier later on.

"Mum, Dad," I cut over them. "I really do need to tell you something, and no, the Idiot Twins did not break anything."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rose," Mum said. "But it's an easy mistake, those cousins of yours …"

"Anyway, what were you saying?" Dad asked, nudging Mum in the side when she started rambling under her breath about badly misbehaved children running amok.

Oh, crap. "Erm … well it's just … okay, I know I'm your only daughter and you love me and such and want to protect me, but you have to know I can take care of myself, I proved that basically all of last year and no matter how much you think you're losing your baby girl, you have to know I've really grown up a lot and–!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Mum calmed me, and I realised I'd been talking about a hundred miles a second. "What're you going on about? Something about growing up?"

I gulped. "Er … yes," I said. "It's just I'm trying to say … well, I've kind of gotten a new boyfriend."

They didn't say anything for a moment. Then Dad raised his eyebrow. "'Kind of'?" he asked.

"Er, all right, I do have a new boyfriend."

Again, they didn't say anything for a while. Eventually they exchanged looks, Mum looking exasperated and Dad looking stern. Brilliant.

"All right, Rosie," Dad said firmly. "Seeing as this is the first time you've had a boyfriend since that Moyle person, I'll humour you and say that's wonderful."

"It is, Ron," Mum said, giving him a hard look before leaning forward to hug me tightly. As much as I appreciated it, Mum's hands really were too close to my neck for my liking. "I'm glad, Rose! Is he nice?"

"He'd better be." Dad grumbled. I ignored him.

"He is," I told Mum as she smiled and leaned back. Damn, I was very willing to take the risk of strangulation if that meant I could use her as a guard between Dad and I. "But Mum, Dad … you aren't going to like who it is, but I want you to know that I love him. A lot. And you can disown me and kick me out of the house, but that won't stop me from loving him–"

"Wait, wait!" Dad said, loudly. He pointed an accusing finger at me. "You 'love' this boy?"

"Yes, I do," I said firmly. That I at least was sure of. My safety on the other hand …

"Hermione, are you hearing this?!" Dad said to Mum. "She thinks she's gone and fallen in love when she's only sixteen years old!"

"I don't think anything!" I said, grumpily.

"Ron, how old were we when we fell in love?" Mum pointed out. Dad seemed to glare at her for a moment before speaking,

"I don't know about you, but I was about seventeen–"

"That's a load of bollocks!" Mum said, and I didn't even contemplate that she'd just said a rather rude word. "You were sixteen at the most and you know it!"

Dad seemed to gape for a moment while I watched them both helplessly. If this was their reaction to just knowing I love someone, what will they do when they realise I've gone and fallen in love with Scorpius Malfoy?

Why couldn't I have just stuck with Trevor? Yes, it would have been extremely weird, but everything would've probably been a whole simpler!

"Mum! Dad!" I shouted before they could start bickering again. "You don't even know who he is yet! Stop jumping to conclusions!"

"Exactly, we don't know who," Mum said. She turned away from Dad to smile at me. "Care to tell us who the lucky boy is?"

Crap. It's now or never.

"Erm … Scorpius Malfoy?"

I shut my eyes and braced myself for the yelling. But it didn't come. I glanced back up, only to see my Mum and Dad staring at me, looking… well, completely shocked. I wasn't expecting this …

"Er, Dad?" I asked, tentatively. His face was going a slight purple colour and I was pretty sure that that wasn't good.

"Sorry, did you just say Scorpius Malfoy?" he asked me, sounding like he was having trouble talking. My mum still didn't say anything.

"Yes …"

"Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes, Dad." I said, raising an eyebrow. Dad looked confused as he gripped his red hair and turned to look at Mum.

"But – but … Malfoy?" he insisted again. "Scorpius Malfoy? Son of Draco Malfoy?"

"I wouldn't say 'Malfoy' is a common name, so yes." I told him. He just turned steadily purpler.

And that was when the yelling started.

"You've got to be bloody kidding me!" Dad said loudly, and I cringed. "Hermione! Did you hear her?! She thinks she's gone and fallen in love with bloody Malfoy!"

Mum seemed to come round at the sound of Dad's voice. She was looking at me incredulously. "Rose, you're … in love with Scorpius Malfoy?" she asked me.

"Yes!" I yelled, throwing my hands into the air, exasperatedly.

"But she can't be in love with him!" Dad yelled. "Not him! No! I've spent all my life, teaching my kids to stay the hell away from that family! Then the bloody git just has to have a child the same year as mine, doesn't he? I thought I'd taught you well, Rosie, when you sent a letter home saying you couldn't stand the boy! What, now you're telling me that that was all a lie and you're bloody well in love with him?!"

"Dad, Scorpius is nothing like the other Malfoys you knew!" I said, hotly, "But no, at first I thought I hated him! And you know what? It took me five bloody years to get it right! There's no way I'm giving up now!"

"Do you honestly have to talk like your father?" Mum asked wearily, but I ignored her. So did Dad.

"Rosie, you have no idea what effect that family had on us!" Dad yelled, throwing his arms up wildly, his ears bright red with anger. "They have been against us from the very beginning! They've betrayed us and hurt us and you're willing to give your heart to someone like that?!"

"He's nothing like that!" I yelled back at him. I saw Hugo come down the stairs from the corner of my eye, his face sticking out from round the door, a huge grin on his face. Git. He was so enjoying this. "Draco Malfoy may have been a git to you and Mum, but Scorpius has never been like that at all! Well, except for that time in first-year when he set Bea's shoes on fire, but we were eleven, we're all idiots back then!"

Dad seemed to take a deep breath; whether to calm himself, or to gear up for another tirade, I didn't know. But I was on a roll here and I wasn't stopping.

"And d'you know what I had to go through to get him, Dad?" I asked, angrily. "Five years of yelling, taunting, hexing, newts, ex-girlfriends, Pointless Balls, love, snogging, Shakeswotzit, feeling like an idiot, Firewhisky and, erm, well, snogging again! I've been trying to get it right for five years and I've finally done it, so …" I felt tempted to just poke my tongue out at him, but I had a feeling that that wouldn't go down well, considering my dad was now so red that I wouldn't be surprised if he passed out. "… so, yeah!"

Brilliant ending, Rose. Brilliant.

My dad seemed slightly stunned while my mum took the opportunity to throw herself forward and hug me.

"Er, Mum?"

"I'm proud of you, Rosie!" she muttered into my ear. "If you didn't love him, you never would've defended him like you did," I knew there was a reason I loved my mother! "Oh, but Rosie," she added, leaning back to look at me. "You're telling me everything."

Oh, crap.

"Ron?" Mum turned to my still purple-faced father, apparently at a loss for words. She helped him up from the sofa that he'd sort of collapsed on. "Let's … let's get you to Harry's, all right? You can vent all you like there, ok?"

"Er … yeah …" Dad seemed to come around enough to stumble into the fireplace, yelling 'Harry's place!' before Mum turned back to me.

Sorry, Scorpius, my mother's going to kill me.

"All right, so what the hell happened that caused this?" she asked, sitting me down again.

"Er, well, I guess it started when I had this really crappy first day of Hogwarts. Though if you wanted to get really technical, it started the day we met …"

I was shaking.

An hour and a half later, my throat was sore from talking. As it turns out, whatever my mum was expecting was definitely not what she got. I was so nervous that I had I ended up telling her everything that'd happened over the last five years. Of course, the huge chunk of it had been from fifth-year and that had been when Hugo joined us to point out his observations. By the time I had finished, Dad still wasn't back from Uncle Harry's and Mum looked like she couldn't believe her ears.

"So …" She shook her head slightly. "This Lucy Harley kissed Malfoy, am I right?"

I nodded. "Yes, and I got a little bit mad, so I … well, I ended up punching her," I admitted, avoiding Mum's face. Hugo laughed. "Before I ran away. Scorpius went after me and we got into an argument in the middle of the Entrance Hall–"

"–and then after yelling at each other for a million years, Rosie ever so gracefully screamed she loved him and practically snogged him on the spot." Hugo interrupted, cheerfully.

Mum's mouth fell open. Yes, thank you, Hugo.

"Y'know, Mum," I said, still glaring. "Hugo never did tell you about the time at the Quidditch Celebrations, when he aided in stealing about 50 cases of Firewhisky from the kitchens and drank nearly two all by himself?"

"Rosie was drinking it as well!" Hugo said, pointing an accusing finger at me, but Mum seemed to have had enough bombshells for one day. She waved this off, sitting up straighter.

"Well, Rose," she said. "It seems you have been through a lot … we'll have to have the Malfoys round for dinner sometimes, won't we?" She thought for a moment. "Oh, Merlin's pants, that'll be a fiasco …"

"Hell yeah, it will!" Hugo said, grinning again. "In fact, Teddy now owes me ten Galleons!"

"Pardon?" Mum asked. Hugo shrugged.

"Well," he said. "Teddy thought that Rosie wouldn't tell you and Dad about Malfoy – sorry, Scorpius – until the 14th. I thought she'd crack within the first three weeks." He grinned at me.

"You knew about this?" Mum asked, indignantly. "And you bet on it?"

"Ask LL, I'm used to it," I said, dropping my head into my hands.

Scorpius was shaking.

We had him and his parents over for dinner the next night. So obviously, it was going to be a complete disaster. As soon as Uncle Harry found out from my Dad (who still wasn't quite looking me in the eye), Lily had seemed to think that that was her cue to tell everyone within a fifty mile radius. As a result, Uncle Harry, Auntie Ginny, James, Al and Lily were all coming too.

Thankfully, it was now Scorpius' turn to be a nervous wreck.

We had made a deal that we'd tell our parents on the same day. I'd sent him an owl after explaining to my mum, telling him he had to do it, only to receive an owl back, saying he was practically under house arrest. While my dad had been bad, Mr Malfoy had apparently blown up in a loud rant that lasted nearly an hour. When finally he'd screamed himself out, he'd locked Scorpius in his room and said he wasn't seeing daylight until September.

After hearing that, I found I was a bit more grateful towards Ron Weasley. So Scorpius was still shaking and now we had to survive dinner together! I overheard Hugo and Lily coming up with excuses on how to leave the table when things got ugly. Not 'if', 'when'.

The Malfoys had arrived at my house over half an hour before, yet they still weren't inside. Mr and Mrs Malfoy seemed to be composing themselves before they went in, while Scorpius had a mini mental meltdown. It was almost funny at how nervous he was, but I took it as my job to calm him.

"Scorpius, my dad won't kill you," I told him. Mum, Auntie Ginny, James, Al, Lily and Hugo were all watching the two of us from the kitchen window, but I ignored them. "I think he has a gun in the attic somewhere, but seriously, he doesn't know how to use it, you'll be fine!"

"A gun?!" Scorpius said, wrapping his arms around me. I wasn't sure if it was to hold himself together, or whether to protect me from the threat of a gun, but I wasn't complaining. "Isn't that one of those things that Muggle nutters use to kill people with?"

"Well, yes, but the worst my dad could do with it is bash you round the head," I said. "I know that's not exactly comforting … okay, so it's not comforting at all, but the thing's not loaded anyway. Mum won't let him do anything to hurt you, you'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about me," Scorpius told me. He glanced over at my family gathered around the window and they all leapt out of sight. Very subtle. "I am worried about my parents! And yours. They haven't been forced into the same room as each other for years! Who's to say that they won't start hexing each other?"

"Don't be stupid, they'll behave themselves," I said, glancing over at the Malfoys. Mr Malfoy was gripping his wand in his hand very tightly and was glaring at the house. "… or, well, I hope they'll behave themselves …"

Scorpius gave a nervous laugh.

"Oh, c'mon," I said. "The worst that can happen is that wands come out."

"If it comes to that, I'm getting you out of there, no matter what anyone thinks."

I smiled at him as he placed a hand on the side of my face. "Still nervous?" I asked him.

"Hell yes."

I was still laughing when he kissed me. I gripped my arms tighter around him, only to hear Mr and Mrs Malfoy gasp in shock.

I could've sworn I heard James say, "Now that's just not natural."

Mr and Mr Malfoy were shaking.

When they eventually deemed themselves civil enough to go inside, they were so nervous that they had to hold onto Scorpius' shoulder to stay upright. My mad family acted as if they hadn't been watching us for the past half hour, plastering smiles on their faces and talking loudly.

Yes, they were definitely going for the subtle approach.

I thought it would be a relief when dinner started since we could concentrate on the food, but if anything, it was more awkward than just making forced conversation. To my chagrin, things were so bloody uncomfortable that I couldn't even look at Scorpius without getting shrewd stares.

Mum and Auntie Ginny kept exchanging exasperated looks, Dad was fuming silently at his dinner and Lily was giggling every now and then, while Uncle Harry and Mr Malfoy kept glaring at each other. We may be sitting in silence, but if everyone had the sense to just shut up and grin and bear it, then we might just make it through this.

Fat chance.

"So, er …" Uncle Harry cleared his throat as we all picked at our mashed potatoes. "Mal – sorry, Scorpius," He seemed to flinch slightly at the first name. "What is it you … like … about Rosie?"

I saw Auntie Ginny discreetly whack her forehead with her hand as Lily and Hugo exchanged looks. He just couldn't stick to small talk, could he?

"Erm …" Scorpius glanced at me and I shrugged. I was pretty sure that anything he said was going to anger my dad somehow. "I like … the way she freaks out so much about her work."

"Pardon?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Lily let out a snort of laughter while Mum suddenly struck up a conversation with Mrs Malfoy about knitting. Thankfully, Astoria seemed to be a little bit more understanding than her husband, something I was incredibly grateful for. I needed at least one parent on my side!

Scorpius just winked at me and I felt my neck go red. Thank Merlin my hair was long. "Yeah," he said. "You kind of flap your arms about and you look hilarious!" He seemed to flap his own arms to show what I apparently looked like. "But it's all good, normally I'm the one to calm you down and that generally means I get to hold y–"

He suddenly cut himself off with a panicked look. I felt like kicking him under the table; an implied reference to any physical contact, along with a compliment of any kind would definitely not go down well.

Dad and Uncle Harry exchanged looks. Mum spoke slightly louder while Al rolled his eyes, Lily muttered under her breath, "Weasleys: 1, Malfoys: 0." and Mr Malfoy stared at Scorpius, who had gone slightly red.

Uncle Harry soon realised that, as he asked the question, he should probably reply to the answer. "Er, right," he finally said. "I guess that's … erm, good to know …"

I let out a sigh of relief too soon, since there was a clang as Mr Malfoy flung his fork down and openly glared at Uncle Harry. Dad was looking furious. "You know what? I don't think it is," he said, roughly.

"Draco–"

"No!" Mr Malfoy ignored his wife's comforting hand on his shoulder. "This is complete madness! This is revenge isn't it? You've put her up to this!" He pointed an accusing finger at me and it took me a moment to realise what he was saying.

"What the hell–? NO!" I practically yelled, dropping my own fork. "No, I swear Mr Malfoy; my dad, my mum nor any of my aunties or uncles ever put me up to this! Falling in love with your son was, to be honest, a complete accident. I never planned it."

"For Merlin's sake, it's now love?" Mr Malfoy said, throwing his arms into the air. "I'm supposed to believe that my son is in love with your daughter?" He shot a look at Mum, who was the closest.

"Draco, I think you're being slightly unreasonable …" Mrs Malfoy said tentatively, as Mr Malfoy was fuming.

"Slightly?" Scorpius muttered under his breath.

"Astoria, I think I have the bloody right to be unreasonable!"

"But Scorpius seems perfectly happy with Ro–"

"I don't bloody care!" Mr Malfoy cut in, on his feet now. He threw an accusing hand in the direction of Mum, Dad, Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny. "You have no idea what these people were like to me back at Hogwarts!"

"Told you they wouldn't make it through dinner." Hugo whispered to Al.

"Weasleys: 1, Malfoys: 1 …" Lily muttered, scribbling down on some paper she'd nicked from the bench of the kitchen.

"Oi!" Dad had yelled. "You weren't exactly our best mate!"

"All right, so we didn't like each other," Mr Malfoy said, belligerently. "That still didn't give you the right to practically discriminate against my family! You know my father nearly had you expelled when you slapped me?" He was glaring at Mum, who was staring just as coldly back.

"Wait, Mum, you slapped someone?" Hugo put in, almost laughing.

"Weasleys: 2, Malfoys: 1 …"

"You deserved that and you bloody well know it." Mum said, her voice icy. Merlin, she was on a roll tonight; a past of violence revealed and now minor swearing! This day just keeps getting better and better.

"Sure, and no one else was wondering why someone that big was crying–"

"Hagrid is our friend and you were mocking him!" Mum yelled. "You think we're fine with our daughter being with the son of someone like that?!"

"You think we're fine with our son being with your brat?!"

"'Brat' my arse." I grumbled. Scorpius rolled his eyes, squeezing my shoulder as if bracing himself for an attack, y'know, should one of our parents suddenly lose control and leap at us or something.

"Draco, stop it right now." Mrs Malfoy said, urgently. Mr Malfoy completely ignored her.

"You punched me during that last battle!" he yelled, pointing at Dad. What was with my family and the sudden upsurge in violence?

"And called you a bastard; you deserved both!" Dad yelled back. Auntie Ginny was looking torn between being perplexed and absolutely furious while Mum and Uncle Harry just looked like they were going to rip Mr Malfoy's head off. "And still do! Our daughter should not have to put up with someone who simply jumps any person he meets!"

"Excuse me? What the hell?!" Scorpius yelled, standing up. I hastily pulled him back down before my Dad decided to go grab that gun.

"Seriously?" Dad asked, acting mockingly surprised. "He doesn't know how you met dear Astoria here?"

Dad seemed to have touched a nerve as Mrs Malfoy shot him the most hideous looking glare ever. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?" she snarled.

"Because!" Dad threw an accusing finger at Mr Malfoy. "If you are going to be setting bad examples, then I can assume your son will be just as bad!"

"Just because I met Astoria at a bar, doesn't mean th–"

"You're forgetting the part where you slept with her!"

"Ron!" Mum yelled, standing up herself and slapping Dad on the arm. "Don't talk about something like that when there are two fourteen year olds sitting at the table!"

"Weasleys: 2, Malfoys: 2…" Lily scribbled furiously. I was pretty sure my entire face was red.

Mr Malfoy snorted. "And you say I have bad habits."

"I do and will when your son screws things up and leaves my Rosie heartbroken!" Dad shouted, pointing at Scorpius, whose face grew hard.

"And who says I'll screw things up?" he asked, giving Dad a hard look (which was rather brave, considering the state my dad was in).

"Because," Dad yelled at him. "Your father–" He pointed at Mr Malfoy. "–used to just bed any woman he met! That's how he bloody well met your mother! I want my daughter to still be a virgin when she marries!"

"DAD!" I practically screamed, nearly sending the table flying as I leapt to my feet. There was no way I was going to let my virginity come into this argument. We were all silent for a long moment until I was sure that my face could not go any redder.

Oh, the awkward. It is so awkward.

"OUCH!" Lily suddenly yelled, clapping a hand to her arm. "My elbow! It hurts! I must've burnt it on … er, the mashed potato! I have to run it under some water!"

"I'll turn the tap on!" Hugo yelled and the two of them scarpered, Lily still clutching her list of points.

Good Merlin.

"Mr Weasley …" Scorpius finally said, still standing and talking directly to my dad. "I swear, I would never do anything that could potentially hurt your daughter! And, er, I'm barely out of fifth-year and well, I mean … erm," He glanced hopelessly at me. Geez, mate, you're on your own here. "Look, there's no way I'd go along those lines, I'm only sixteen–"

"And Merlin knows what sixteen-year-old wizard doesn't think about that!"

"Can we please leave my virginity out of this?!" I asked loudly. Everyone ignored me, as per usual.

"It's been a long time since I was that kind of Malfoy," Mr Malfoy snarled at Dad. "It was straight after the war and drinking and sleeping around seemed my only way to forget what had happened. You of all people should know what that's like."

Dad, Mum, Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny all flinched. When my Auntie Ginny glanced up at the picture of Dead-Uncle-Fred (so named by the Idiot Twins) on the wall, I figured out what Mr Malfoy was talking about.

"That has nothing to do with–"

"So if you're suggesting my son would take advantage of his girlfriend, then you are a long way off." Mr Malfoy said, coldly.

"Because our Scorpius would never do something like that!" Mrs Malfoy agreed with a hard look. "We raised him better than that!"

"Ron, think about what you're saying," Mum agreed, trying to calm Dad down. "We were young once. You know what Rosie and M – sorry, Scorpius, must feel."

"Damn it, Weasleys: 2, Malfoys: 3!" came Lily's muffled voice from behind the shut door to the lounge.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Hermione! Who's side are you on?" Dad cried. Mum opened her mouth, probably to scold him and claim that there weren't any sides, but he just ploughed on. "Malfoy, you were full of bad habits back then! Who's to say you haven't passed them onto your son?" Dad shot a look at Scorpius and he cringed slightly into my side.

"Speaking of 'bad habits'," Mr Malfoy sneered. "I only need to point out the time at the Ministry! You know, when I walked in on you and Granger–"

"–it's Weasley." Mum practically snarled.

"–fine, Weasley, whatever," Mr Malfoy said snapped. "–you cannot be telling me that I set bad habits!"

"We were bloody married at the time!" Dad yelled, his face slightly pink.

"And that … position will probably haunt me for the rest of my life!"

Mum flushed a bright red while Dad bordered on maroon. Auntie Ginny looked completely disgusted while Uncle Harry looked like he was trying not to laugh. I heard Lily say, "Holy crap, Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione: ten million …" I caught Al's eye, exchanging slightly disturbed looks at the thought of my mother and father… oh, god no! I actually think I want to vomit. James and Al were very quick to sneak off out of the kitchen, muttering that they were going to go check on Lily's 'burn'. Oh, how I wished we could do the same.

"Oh, come on!" Dad tried to push the attention off him. "Do you have to play yourself up in every situation?"

"Last time I tried to send my trainee Aurors through your department, they came back crying." Uncle Harry agreed, clearly trying to help my dad out.

"Well then, it's just your bloody fault that they can't handle it, isn't it–?"

"Like hell it's my f–!"

"Y'know," Scorpius cut in loudly over top of Uncle Harry's retort. "This argument doesn't really have much to do with Rose and me anymore."

Our parents' faces all seemed to fall slightly.

"Scorpius is right," I pointed out. Of course he was right. "You're all just venting your feelings because you've hated each other for so long! And now that you've suddenly got a right to be angry, you're taking the opportunity to yell yourselves hoarse!"

"Mr Weasley," Scorpius said tentatively, as if the mere sound of his voice could set Dad off again. "Do you have an honest to Merlin reason why you don't want Rose and me together?"

Dad open and closed his mouth a few times. He seemed lost for words. "I … well, er, not … not particularly …"

"Exactly!" I said. I turned to look at Mr and Mrs Malfoy. "Mr Malfoy, do you have an actual reason against Scorpius and me?"

Mr Malfoy glared furiously, before saying, "I guess not."

"Ha!" came Lily's voice. "That's got to be, what? Ten for Rosie?"

"So none of you actually have a specific problem with us being together," I confirmed thankfully. "It's just the fact that you might have to consider being somewhat civil with someone you've hated since Hogwarts and it's freaking you out!"

"Hermione, you have a smart daughter," Auntie Ginny put in, placing a hand on her friends arm. "Listen to her. She knows what she's talking about. And you listen, too, my idiot brother." She shot a look at Dad.

Uncle Harry gave a sigh. "I guess I've gotten used to the reconciliation thing over the years. Welcome to the family, Scorpius Malfoy." He held out his hand for Scorpius to shake, which he took tentatively.

"Also Dad, I think you need to apologise for insulting Rose's family." Scorpius said to his father.

"Fine, whatever. I'm sorry for insulting you.," Mr Malfoy said, though I noticed that it was practically just directed at me.

"And you, Dad, need to apologise for questioning Scorpius's … erm, honesty." I said, my neck still red from that point of the argument.

Dad sighed. "Yes, I'm sorry, Mal – Scorpius," He thought. "And I promise, I will get your name right someday."

Scorpius grinned. "Don't worry, Rosie had trouble with that at first, too."

And Dad actually laughed as he sat down. "But if you ever hurt my daughter in any way," he added, seriously. "I have a gum upstairs and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"It's a 'gun', Ron." Mum muttered in her ear. Scorpius just grinned.

"Fair enough." he said.

You know, I think we just hit a breakthrough.

"Well, if it came down to it, the Malfoys would've won that argument," Lily suddenly said, purposefully strolling back into the room with Hugo, James and Al trailing behind, her 'burn' suddenly all better. "But thanks to Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione's escapades at the Ministry, the Weasleys won by a couple of millions!"

I slapped her a high-five as she walked past me.

(Professor Alice Hanson)

(Hogwarts, July, 2022)

She was shaking.

She had never been this nervous before. She'd been teaching at Hogwarts for nearly six years and never once did she count on exam results like this. In fact, her job had never counted on exams like this!

"Alice, stop fidgeting," Professor Ackerly muttered under his breath. Professor Hanson tried to stop moving, but she couldn't help it. She always fidgeted when she was nervous.

Professor Ackerly sighed and placed a hand over her knee to stop it from jiggling up and down. "You're a great teacher. I'm sure all your students passed!"

"But what if they don't?" Professor Hanson said, fearfully. "I mean, what are the odds that they ALL passed?!"

"There were only fifteen of them–"

"–like that Danny Parker, from Slytherin, he was never really interested in Muggle Studies! What if he fails? What if he costs me my job? I don't want to lose my job–!"

"Alice!" Professor Ackerly said. "You're panicking again! Stop. Worrying. Pretty soon, Charlie'll come back with the results of the fifth-year exam and he will tell you that everyone passed! You will continue to teach here, I'm sure of it."

Professor Hanson sighed. Sometimes, she really wished that she had Professor Ackerly's optimism. She loved him so much, but for Merlin's sake, couldn't he just tell the truth every once in a while?! Professor Hanson had very nearly believed him; his voice was so smooth and calming. But it had always been in her nature to expect the worst possible outcome. Today, it got the better of her.

"But we spent so much time working on Twelfth Night!" she said, her mind spinning wildly out of control as she imagined all the possibilities. "What if we didn't do enough study after all? What if they fail Muggle Literature?! That was the main course of this year!"

"Look, if they fail, they fail," Professor Ackerly tried again to make her relax somewhat. "All you can do is teach your students. It's up to them to look over their notes and make the effort to learn."

"But what if they didn't?"

"Your students loved Muggle Studies," Professor Ackerly said, softly. "I saw their performance and they were spectacular. They worked extremely hard this year. Geraldine Pewter fell asleep in my Defence class because she'd been up half the night studying for your exam! They love the subject and they love you, Alice. Not exactly in the same way I do, but they do love you. You have nothing to fear."

Her students loved her … they did, didn't they? They had humoured her all year, agreed to do the performance to help her keep her job, studied almost non-stop … Professor Hanson didn't think she would ever owe a person something on this scale, but if her students pulled through for her, she swore she would have to donate a kidney or something to all of them. Or maybe buy them chocolate at the very least.

She turned and gave Professor Ackerly a grateful look. She had her students to thank for him as well, didn't she? Professor Hanson had no idea what she would do with him. He was such a calming presence that she thought if he hadn't been with her right then, she would be currently spiralling down into a pit of despair.

… that wasn't too dramatic, was it?

"Remember, you'll be fine." he muttered in her ear, just as Professor Charlie Finch bustled back into his office. He held a very official looking parchment envelope and had an unreadable expression on his face as he sat down behind his desk.

"Well, Alice, I have the results here." he said. He handed her the parchment of utter doom.

Professor Hanson could barely control her shaking hands as she took it. She glanced hopelessly at Professor Ackerly and he gave her a look that clearly said, 'do not panic'.

Who said she was panicking?! It really was too bad her insides were already halfway to a complete meltdown.

"You ought to be proud of your students, Alice," Professor Finch told her. "They did exceedingly well."

But was that well enough to pass?

"Stuart, you do it!" Professor Hanson thrust the parchment into Professor Ackerly's hands. She couldn't even open the end because her hands were shaking so badly. He sighed and split open the envelope for her.

Professor Hanson only looked weakly at the folded results. "D'you think you could read them for me as well?"

He smiled and shook his head. "You've got to do this. It'll be fine," he said, squeezing her shoulder.

Still shaking, Professor Hanson unfolded the parchment and read,

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS RESULTS

SUBJECT: Muggle Studies

TEACHER: Professor Alice Ophelia Hanson

THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS HAVE ACHEIEVED:

Bletchley, Tessa… E

Bowmen, Beatrice… O

Carter, Nancy… O

Davis, Amy… A

Ellis, Tom… E

Fletcher, Liberty… O

Gemmal, Oliver… E

Harley, Lucy… E

Kite, Leanne… A

Malfoy, Scorpius… E

Moyle, Trevor… E

Parker, Danny… A

Pewter, Geraldine… E

Weasley, Rose… O

White, Toby… E

"A one hundred per cent pass rate, Alice," Professor Finch said, cheerfully. "You can keep Muggle Studies as a subject. But I do happen to have just one condition."

Professor Hanson couldn't stop staring at the results. She would've agreed to anything. She only registered that the headmaster was talking when Professor Ackerly nudged her in the side. She glanced up hastily and said,

"Y-yes, Professor Finch?"

He grinned at her. "I expect your next fifth-year class to also put on a performance! Twelfth Night was too brilliant for it to be a one-shot deal."

"I – of course!" Professor Hanson said, still too shocked at how well her students had done to comprehend much. Well, good Merlin, even Danny Parker had passed!

But nearly all had passed with E or higher! Tom Ellis's singing may not have been great (all right, so it was the worst sound in history), but his essay about the History of Muggle Literature had gotten an E! Nancy Carter took a while to learn to work with the rest of backstage during Twelfth Night, yet she got an O! Even Libby Fletcher got an O and that girl would never stop talking.

Bea Bowmen had been so apprehensive at performing in Twelfth Night and had panicked at the thought of having to pass the exam; yet she still got an O. And Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley both got E or higher! Professor Hanson couldn't help but feel a bit smug about those two. Yes, she was a little bit sure that it had been her play that ultimately got them together in the end (not that she, as a teacher, cared about the love-lives of her students … much).

Professor Hanson felt so proud of all her students. In fact, she could have kissed them all.

"Congratulations, Alice," Professor Finch said as Professor Ackerly squeezed her hand, reading the results over shoulder. "I'm sure you're proud of your students. To be honest, I am amazed at how well they did! You've got an amazing bunch of witches and wizards there."

"See? You're a brilliant teacher!" Professor Ackerly muttered in her ear after Professor Finch waved them off and they left the Headmaster's office. "But I have to be honest, I'm surprised. I didn't believe they had it in them!"

"I did." Professor Hanson muttered to herself, reading over the names of her class again.

Scorpius Malfoy… E, Trevor Moyle… E, Danny Parker… A, Geraldine Pewter… E, Rose Weasley… O …

Conclusion to Fifth-year Exams, Boyfriends and Rowing Families:

-As long as Dad never finds out how to use that gun and he never catches Scorpius and me snogging, I think we'll be okay.

-Like hell we'll be okay. There's never any privacy in my house.

-As it turns out, I didn't need to worry about my Muggle Studies exam after all! When the results came through, I got an O! Bea did, too, and Scorpius got an E, which he wasn't too impressed with, since I teased the hell out of him for it. But in the end, it didn't matter, because Professor Hanson was so damn happy, that when we went into our first Muggle Studies class of sixth-year, she just started crying and hugged us all.

-This year's fifth-year Muggle Studies class are performing Macbeth at the Headmaster's request.

-Finally, there's nothing left for Scorpius and me to tackle. We finally got it all right.

-I wonder how long that'll last?

Rose and Scorpius: 86, Weasleys: 2, Malfoys: 3, Mum and Dad: Ten Million.

(And now my Mum and Dad are winning …?).

A/N: Updated, 23/10/12: Sorry for the insane length, but Muggle Studies and the family reactions were the only loose ends that needed tying.

I can't believe this is the second to last chapter! The next chapter is the epilogue and I swear, I nearly started crying while writing it. This story practically made me famous; apparently, someone created a HP wikia page about my story! I mean, seriously. The things you have said about GIR have just been incredible. Mostly, you guys seemed to like the characters of Rose and Scorpius. Thank you so, so much!

Thank you so much! I hope you liked it!

Until next time -

- Moon. : D