I'd like to thank sgundy34, blaiseredfern, weasley-potter-05, luxa (FASTER?! Hahaha... Aren't 3-5 updates a day ENOUGH?! Lol.. Sorry! I'll try! :D), kirin. shadowknife (for both!), Words of A Feather, Lois and Hannah(is there going to be a DISCUSSION?! :D) for reviewing! You guys are FANTASTIC! I'd also like to thank my beta, rokslite.
Now, I'm trying to update as much today as possible.. Because from tomorrow, I have A JOB! I know.. Didn't wanna jinx it. But I do! I am now officially a Mechanical Engineer! YESSS! :) So, I'm going to update when I'm able, but I can't make any promises. Sorry! Good news is, I only have about 5 more chapters to go before I'm done. I hope I can finish it. :D Please forgive me if I don't right away, but I AM going to finish this story. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! I LOVE ALL OF YOU! :) THANKKK UUUU!
Rose stumbled out of the floo into Vic and Teddy's flat, dusting herself off quickly before greeting her waiting cousin.
"Welcome to our home, Rosie," Vic said, grinning. "This is the first time you've been here, right?"
Rose nodded as she heard Scorp appear behind her in the fireplace. When Vic made her way over to him, Rose glanced around. The flat was lovely. Vic had painted it a calming shade of green and it was decorated in white tones. The comfortable looking sofa that was facing them was covered in throw pillows that Rose knew from experience Vic made herself. She had a throw pillow on her own bed that had been a gift from her cousin.
Teddy made his way out of the door leading to the right and grinned at her.
"Thank Merlin. If I had to be left alone with those four," he said, rolling his eyes and jabbing his thumb towards the door he had just come from, "I'd have offed myself."
"I was there," Vic said, making her way over to press a kiss to his lips.
"It's not the same," he said, "they could distract them so I could sneak away with you," Teddy added with a smirk, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Vic rolled her eyes and glanced over at Rose and Scorp. Rose was smiling rather wistfully at them while Scorp looked thoroughly disgusted.
"Alright, we've traumatized them enough. Let's go," Vic said, pulling away from a disgruntled Teddy to drag him back through the door, gesturing to Rose and Scorp to follow.
When Rose stepped through the kitchen door, it was to find Dom, Gerald, Molly and Michael sitting at the table, with their tea cups in front of them. Gerald and Michael were obviously in the middle of a rather heated debate on Quidditch tactics while Molly, who sat on the other side of Dom, as far from Michael as she could, was glaring daggers at Gerald's back.
"What's got your knickers in a twist, then?" Rose asked, taking a seat next to her.
"Our Dear Gerald, thought it would be lovely to invite Michael to join us," Molly replied, turning to face Rose instead.
Her scowling face turned into a grin as she hugged Rose and then Scorpius.
"I haven't seen you both in so long," she said and Rose noticed the subtle changes in her.
Her hair was much shorter and cut in a way that it fell rather haphazardly, but still stylishly. Her clothes as well, were a bit more revealing than they would usually be. Her blouse was lower and her skirt just an inch or two higher.
"How have you been?" she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
Rose watched with amusement as Michael's gaze snagged on her at the movement.
"I've been great," Rose said and leaned around to see Vic, who was now perched on her husband's lap, "Al and Alice should be here soon."
Vic nodded at her and went back to listening to Teddy, Gerald and Michael argue about the skills of the new Seeker that had been drafted into the Appleby Arrows.
"I heard you want to be Aurors," Dom said, leaning forward in her chair but unable to move very far since Gerald's arm was wrapped around her waist.
"We do," Rose said, smiling.
"Why don't you join me in Gringotts?" she asked, excited. "It's incredibly fun."
"We don't think it's for us, Dom. We discussed it with each other and we're really very interested in the Auror Office," Rose said, sadly.
"Well don't settle for just that. Ollie was telling me that there's also going to be a couple of openings in Puddlemere next year if a few of the players retire," she said, leaning back against her boyfriend's side.
Hearing his nickname, Gerald turned to face them.
"You'd all do really well in any team. There's going to be a few openings in Puddlemere, sure, but there's also going to be a few in the Harpies, Kites and Canons. I know how you feel about the Canons, Rose."
"Don't tempt me," she said with a laugh. "You might be able to talk Scorp into it. That's his favourite team as well."
"I thought you liked the Kites?" Gerald asked, frowning and Rose turned to face him, confused.
His face was now bright red.
"I-I like both teams," he stuttered out and earned himself a smack across the arm from Rose.
"You liar!"
"I never lied!" Scorp insisted, trying to placate her. "I really do like the Canons, but-"
"Are they your favourite team or not?" she asked, irritated.
"I never said they were! You assumed!" he said, hands lifted in front of him in a pacifying manner.
"When I asked you which team was your favourite, Puddlemere or Canons, you said-"
"Canons, because it was a choice between the two!" Scorp said.
That seemed to stump Rose for a second before she continued,
"But that's the only real teams there are anyway!"
"The Kites are a real team!" Scorp said, offended.
"They don't play like it," Rose scoffed, her eyes narrowing.
"Yes, of course, it's better to be like the Canons, who happened to lose the past twelve championship trophies."
"You like them more than Puddlemere!" she retorted and that gained some insulted sounds from across the table.
"That was before you both joined," Scorp assured Michael and Gerald.
"What are you two on about this time?" Al asked from the doorway of the kitchen.
"Wonderful! Everyone's here!" Vic called, getting up to get the tea, biscuits and sandwiches she had prepared.
Al and Alice took their seats next to Scorp while Rose sat glaring at him.
"I can't believe you," she muttered and Scorp opened his mouth to respond but she turned to face Molly, effectively dismissing him.
Scorp turned to Al with wide eyes, gesturing towards Rose as if to beseech his assistance with his irate cousin.
"What did you do?" Al asked with a smirk.
"I just told her that the Canons weren't my real favourite team. She just-"
"There's your problem," Al said, smirking. "Just like her dad, that one. Don't speak ill of the Canons or court their wrath."
"That's ridiculous," he said, softly, making sure Rose couldn't hear him.
"That's Rose, mate. She's grown up being fed all that rubbish about the Canons from Uncle Ron. Hugo's a fan as well, sure, but Rose was his first born," Al said, winking at Scorp. "She got the brunt of it. He dragged her to all the games, made her wear the colours and eventually, it stuck."
"That's bollocks," Scorp said, frowning into his tea. "They're not even that good."
Rose turned with a glare.
"What did you say?"
Rose had eventually forgiven Scorp after a rather large amount of grovelling on his part. They had come to the agreement that he would do any of his non-Canons supporting where she couldn't see or hear him.
That was how he ended up chatting with Teddy, Michael and Gerald about Puddlemere in the sitting room.
"We only have two more games for the season and then we're off," Gerald was saying with a grin. "I'll be able to spend some proper time with Dom," he added, turning to watch where she, her sister, Molly and Rose sat chatting on the sofa. Al and Alice had left to go meet her parents a little while ago.
"Aren't you lucky?" Michael asked, grumpily and Teddy slapped him across his back, supportively.
"Don't worry, mate, Molly'll come around soon."
"She's still seeing that berk from her department," he muttered, eyeing her longingly.
"I reckon she's only still seeing him because she know it'll piss you off," Teddy said, chuckling. "I've taken her over to St. Mungo's to have lunch with Vic lots of times and she usually jumped at the chance of being away from him. Too clingy," he added.
"Dom keeps telling me that you need to be more sincere," Gerald said, nodding knowledgably.
"How can I be more sincere? I've only asked her out five bloody times!" Michael said, shaking his head.
"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Scorp asked, sipping the firewhiskey Teddy had poured for him.
"I can't just tell her," Michael said, eyes wide.
"Why not?" Teddy asked, eyebrow quirked.
"Then she'd know," he said, eyes wide, obviously expecting them to understand.
"You're an idiot," Gerald said, helpfully, smacking him across his head.
"Why don't they just snog?" Rose asked, closing one eye and then the other in a sort of game as she watched Michael and Molly chat awkwardly with each other.
They were at the annual New Year's Party that was being held at the Burrow. Once again, Michael had been invited over and to everyone's relief, Molly had announced that she had left her boyfriend Terrence Fitzpatrick after he accused her of cheating on him with Louis, who had popped in for a visit.
"You'd think that they would, but it seems they're more interested in being oblivious to their attraction," Scorp said from his spot next to her on the sofa, his arm around her shoulders.
"How thick are they?" Rose asked, shaking her head and Scorp shrugged in return.
Scorp watched with amusement as Rose yelled out the count down with the rest of her family. She was clapping along with each passing number, her eyes sparkling with mirth. They had had quite a bit of firewhiskey to drink and were at that drunken stage where they found everything to be entertaining.
"ONE!" she screamed and turned to hug him tight.
They laughed together for a moment and she pulled away to look at him before leaning in to kiss his cheek. He didn't know what possessed him, but instead of letting her pull away, he held her closer and turned his face to press a lingering kiss on her jaw.
"Scorp?" she asked, her voice breathy.
"Happy New Year," he murmured against her skin and he felt her fingers clench in his shirt.
"Yeah," she whispered, her hands flattening to glide up his back before clutching his shoulders tight. "Happy New Year."
He had just been turning to press another kiss against her skin when he was dragged away from her and pulled into a hug by Al.
"Happy New Year, mate!" Al yelled, slapping him on his back before turning to hug Rose as well.
Her shocked gaze met his over Al's shoulder and he smiled at her, rather queasily.
Scorp sat next to Rose, rather uncomfortable, after the little debacle the night before. They were at breakfast in the Burrow and Grandma Weasley had just finished making breakfast.
"Alright, you six eat up," she announced, laying the plates in front of them, already piled high with food. "Where's Albus?"
"Still sleeping, I suspect," Rose said, smiling at her.
"I should go wake him up. Imagine that. Sleeping this late on New Year's day..." as her voice trailed off, still muttering as she exited the room, Ly and Lily all but lunged for each other.
Rose and Scorp rolled their eyes while Hugo pretended to gag. They hadn't been allowed to snog for the entire party, under the strict eyes of Harry and her other uncles, who were under the impression that she was far too young to be dating.
"Just when I was finally having a good time," Hugo said, shaking his head, amused.
"Shut it," Ly pulled away for a second to say before he started snogging Lily again, a tad too enthusiastically for Scorp's tastes.
He turned to give Rose a disgusted look and she laughed. Glad that the awkwardness was gone, having berated himself profusely for his little slip at the party, he hugged her. She grinned up at him before pulling away and looking at Lorcan who seemed entranced by the ceiling.
"Do you think there are Guntlebirds in this house?" he asked Hugo, who rolled his eyes, smiling.
Rose glared at Scorp over her cards.
"I'm going to win this."
"Of course you are," Scorp said with a smug smirk. Rose wanted to smack it off of his face.
"There," she said, dropping a card, "Beat that."
Scorp stared down at it for a moment before he dropped one of his own, grinning.
"Just did."
Rose gaped at the cad, searching quickly through her hand, watching as the cards started to smoke.
"Don't have a five, Rosie?" he asked, laughing and she scrambled away from the cards.
Scorp shook his head and picked it up, casually tossing it onto Al's foot. He was currently snogging Alice on the sofa. As there was a loud explosion and an even louder yelp, Rose and Scorp fell to the floor laughing.
"Just look, Lorc, there's this animal in South America-" Lily was saying as she shoved a book she had found in the library in front of Lorcan, taking a seat next to him.
At once intrigued, they both buried their heads in the book, rather close together. Scorp looked on as Lysander watched them an impassive look on his face.
"Still jealous?" Scorp asked quietly, gaining Lysander's attention.
He turned with a smile and shook his head.
"If I was, I'd have clocked him a good one a long time ago," Ly said with a wink. "I'm just glad that my two favourite people in the world get along so well," he added, turning back to grin at Lorc and Lily who were still avidly discussing the implications of what they had read.
Rose was making her way towards the Potions classroom, having told Scorp, Al and Alice to go ahead without her, when someone slammed into her and her books fell.
Immediately, she dropped to pick them up.
"Like getting on your knees for purebloods, don't you, Rosie?" a voice asked above her and she tensed, knowing who it was.
Without looking at him, she quickly picked up her books and moved to continue along the corridor. She was stopped by his arms coming around her from behind. As disgust filled her, he whispered in her ear,
"Whenever you're ready."
As he moved off, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push back the rising bile in her throat.
Thank you soo much for reading! You guys are AWESOME! I think I might update a couple more times today. Please review with feedback, questions and comments! :D
