Seventh Year. December. Murder Hour. King's Cross

And so our story culminates in a very uncomfortable disembarking from the Hogwarts Express, Christmas holiday. Rose, Albus, and Scorpius tried to come up with a game plan. Once Draco and Ron had caught wind of their relationship, two howlers had arrived at the suite:

"Scorpius! How could you keep this from your father?! Do you have ANY idea what you have gotten yourself into? WEASLEY is IRREPARABLY INSANE! And I'm not even TALKING about Rose! Please TELL ME your using a contraceptive charm, those people breed like MONKEYS!" Draco's voice said with a calm kind of quiet that Scorpius found terrifying.

Ron was much worse. "MALFOY? REALLY? MALFOY?! I KNEW THAT BOY WAS UP TO SOMETHING! YOU TWO SHARE A SUITE TOGETHER! OH GOD! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THAT LITTLE SHIT, I AM GOING TO SQUEEZE THE GODDAMN MAGIC OUT OF HIM! What?…Hermione I'm not doing anything…no it's not, it's a ministry memo…"

Albus sat in their car staring smugly at the two, who looked terrified. They had refused to tell him about their relationship, that is, until he was in the Head's suite and witnessed the howler, they couldn't deny it now. Albus had to take covert action and he succeeded. He hadn't said a word about it for a week…until today.

"Uncle Ron is gonna kill you." Albus said, smirking amusedly.

"No, he's not." Scorpius said quietly, fiddling with the seat cushion.

"No…of course not." Albus said, staring out the window with a smile. "No, he'll torture you a little first."

"Shut up, Albus." Rose said, incessantly twirling a piece of her hair around her finger.

"Serves you right for not telling me. What did you think I would do?" Albus continued.

"Blab." Rose muttered.

Albus rolled his eyes and leaned forward in his chair. "Well no. I wouldn've blabbed. But, and this is just a suggestion, next time you two want to snog, maybe not do it in the greenhouses during class shift. I think I scarred Uncle Neville for life."

Scorpius quirked an eyebrow, "Wait...you said I-"

Albus interrupted. "-Look, I'll help you two…but you gotta answer me one thing Scorpius."

Scorpius looked at him curiously.

"You shaggin my cousin?"

Scorpius looked at him, then looked at Rose, who shrugged.

"Well…no. Rose wants to wait. So I'm waiting." Scorpius replied, completely weirded out by having to discuss the topic of shagging Albus's cousin with both Albus and Rose.

Albus arched an eyebrow. "You got a problem with that?"

Scorpius looked scandalized. "No! Of course not! What kind of bloke do you think I am?"

Albus laughed. "Well, for as long as I've known the sexually active Scorpius, you've been the kind of bloke who would shag a girl hanging upside down while the Whomping Willow tossed you about like a quaffle…"

Scorpius sneered and cocked his head to the side. "We're not shagging, so shut it."

Albus sighed as if he were resolved. "Alright then. Your best bet is to avoid being alone around Uncle Ron or Mr. Malfoy until Aunt Hermione and Mrs. Malfoy can run interference. So you had better pray ONE of them is at the station when we get there…"

"Mum is always there…" Rose squeaked out, as if she was just now considering the possibility that it may just be her, Scorpius and dad.

They sat quietly a little longer as the train pulled into the platform. Albus got up and stretched.

"Welp! Time to disembark! Nice relaxing holiday!" He said, flicking his wand causing his bag to pop off the rack above them and float in mid air. He opened the compartment door and turned around, eyeing Scorpius one more time. He smiled warmly. "Uncle Ron is really gonna murder you."

They walked onto the platform timidly, slightly holding hands. Rose found herself praying that her Dad was on assignment and she wouldn't have to see him. But alas, as the steam cleared she saw them. Ron and Draco, staring straight at them, almost like in a movie.

Scorpius swallowed hard and held Rose's hand even tighter. His mind kept reminding him of all the filthy little things he had done to Rose over the course of the last month. It was true that they hadn't shagged, but he'd finally just gone down on her for the first time two nights ago and the night finished with her jerking him off until he screamed her name. In her bed. On the sheets Ron Weasley's mother had made for her. Mr. Wealsey stared at him with murder in his eyes.

"Oh god…he knows." Scorpius muttered to himself.

"Knows what!" Rose whispered back desperately.

"He knows what I've been doing to you!" Scorpius replied.

"There's NO WAY he could know that." Rose replied.

"Is he a legitimens? Gods! My occulmancey is SHITE!" Scorpius muttered, actively trying to close his mind though he had no idea how.

Just then Ron started walking towards him, Draco following.

With the last scrap of manly courage Scorpius had left, he put his arm around Rose's shoulder and stood to his tallest height.

Ron stood in front of him and looked straight at Scorpius's hand sitting rigidly on his daughter's shoulder. His mouth trembled in anger.

Scorpius braced himself.

"Ron, what are you doing?" A voice said behind him. He turned to see Ginny standing with Albus right behind her. Albus winked at Scorpius as if to say 'You owe me big time'.

"Stay out of this." Ron replied, turning back to Scorpius.

"Don't look at my son like that." Draco said, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Excuse me?" Ron said turning to Draco.

Ginny cleared her throat. "Now what would Hermione say if she heard you distinctly ignored her wishes. She said you were not to greet Rose until she was here with you. She goes to help Lily with her bag for five seconds and you're already plotting."

"I'm not doing anything!" Ron said, his voice raising an octave nervously.

Draco chuckled. "I see Granger wears the pants in this family…" Ron turned to him suddenly turning blood red.

"Oh please Malfoy. Astoria would throttle you if she knew you were starting trouble." Ginny said with a smirk.

Scorpius snorted, an act he immediately regretted when his father gave him a look that made his insides go cold.

"And what do we have hear?" Hermione Weasley mused as she came up beside her husband. "I thought we agreed."

"Yes Draco." Astoria Malfoy chimed in, sidling up to her husband as well. "You're not being a naughty boy, are you?" Draco blushed.

"Not doing anything dear!" Ron replied nervously. "I haven't even said anything yet!"

"Mum!" Rose said, launching herself at her mother who she had never been so happy in her life to see.

"Rose dear." Hermione said, wrapping her arms around her daughter, she kissed her on the forehead before looking at her watch. "Oh dear, we should get going!"

"Right! Are we going home or straight to the Burrow?" Rose replied, looking around for her grandparents.

Hermione smirked. "Slight change of plans, love."

Rose arched an eyebrow.

Hermione crossed her arms. "Well, since you didn't feel like you could come to your own parents to tell them about your new relationship…we thought you must feel more comfortable talking to EACHOTHER'S parents."

"What?" Scorpius said, his voice cracking.

"Yes. Rose, you'll be having lunch with Draco and Astoria. Scorpius…you'll be having lunch with Ron." Hermione said.

"By himself?!" Rose said looking at her father, who looked at Scorpius with a large smile on his face. "That's not fair!"

"I'm looking forward to it…" Ron muttered menacingly.

"No not by himself." Hermione said, and Ron's face fell a bit. "Harry will be there as well. I'm afraid I will be a bit late, ministry business."

Scorpius was torn. On the one hand, he didn't want to be anywhere near two very powerful males of the Potter/Weasley clan. ESPECIALLY two aurors who had accomplished things by the time they were 17 that Scorpius couldn't even fathom. On the other hand, Mr. Potter had always been pretty decent to him and could probably take Mr. Weasley in a duel if Mr. Weasley decided to just go ahead and murder him.

"Has Ron had a heart attack yet?" Harry said, striding up behind Albus and tossling his hair, as if it could get any messier.

"Why would I have a heart attack?" Ron said.

"Perhaps because your daughter might become a Malfoy?" Draco said, bristling at the idea of the Weasley gene pool being associated with his but beaming at the fact that Ron was, once again, blood red.

Harry winked at Scorpius. "I knew it."

"You knew what?" Ron said, rounding on him. "Did you know about this?! Rose told her UNCLE before she told her own father?!"

"Indeed Potter, what exactly did you know?" Draco said, stepping forward mutinously.

"No. They didn't tell me. " Harry said calmly. "But I've got eyes don't I? Honestly Ron, how thick can you get?"

Ron made a sort of gurgling noise.

Harry rolled his eyes. "They argued constantly, yet they never avoided being around each other. They've been giving each other the old googly eyes before even THEY knew they were doing it."

"No, we weren't!" Rose said, before shrinking back into Scorpius at the blazing look of her father.

"This is your fault Albus…" Ron grumbled.

"Hey! I didn't even know until Uncle Ron and Mr. Malfoy sent those howlers. Honestly, I thought you and Mr. Malfoy must have planned it, the way they came right on top of each other!" Albus said indignantly.

"WHAT!" Hermione and Astoria yelled. Ron and Draco looked away from them quickly, then to each other, then at anything but their wives.

"I'm going to make you burn for that Ronald." Hermione muttered quietly. Astoria didn't say a word, just giving Draco a look that bled retribution.

"ANYWAY-" Harry interjected, glaring at his son. "These two ding dongs have fancied each other for ages. I just wanted to be here when Ron lost his mind." Harry laughed, putting his hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron shook it off. Harry continued, "How'd you tell her Scorpius, I bet it was really dramatic."

Scorpius turned blood red. He certainly wasn't going to announce that he told her right before dry humping the hell out of her. "I just kind of… blurted it out sir?"

"Teenagers…" Harry said laughing. "When we go to lunch I'll tell you all about how Ron here told Hermione he fancied her, or more like how Hermione told him…"

"Harry Potter, I will hex you into the ground." Hermione said, smirking.

"Don't care." Harry replied.

"I'm sorry…when will we be going to lunch?" Rose asked timidly.

"We're about 5 minutes late actually." Harry said, draping his arm around Scorpius. Scorpius flinched.

"I'm going too!" Albus announced. "I deserve some answers Malfoy!" Albus snickered.

"So what…I get interrogated by two Potters and Mr. Weasley?" Scorpius blurted out in desperation.

"Oh believe me Malfoy, you don't want me to interrogate you." Ron said, crossing his arms.

"You touch one hair on that boy's head and I'll have you in front of the Wizengamot so fast it will make your freckly, ginger head spin." Draco muttered.

Ron was about to retort when Harry grabbed him and dragged him through the platform wall. Albus doing the same to Scorpius. Scorpius turned around and gave Rose one last fleeting look.

If he survived, he would marry her.

They sat in a secluded corner of a little pub a bit outside of King's Cross. Harry signaled the waiter.

"How may I take your order sir?" The gangly teen announced.

Harry looked around at the others. Ron sat staring daggers into Scorpius. Scorpius sat staring at his tightly interlocked hands, and Albus sat smiling like a lunatic. "I think 4 pints will do."

The waiter looked at Scorpius and Albus, not sure if he should ask for identification. Harry flicked his wand in his pocket and the waiter's eyes unfocused. Harry slid his ID out of his wallet.

As the waiter came to, he saw Harry sliding his ID back into his wallet. The waiter scrunched his face before coming to the conclusion that they must have just shown him their identification. "Four pints, coming up." He said, rubbing his eyes as he walked off.

"I think we four men should have a drink of two." Harry said, stretching himself out in his chair.

"You think it's wise to get Uncle Ron drunk?" Albus whispered, smirking grandly.

"Not drunk son. Just…warm." Harry replied.

Ron didn't say a word. He just stared at Scorpius.

Harry sighed. "Let's get down to business." Harry started, Scorpius looked at Harry hopefully. Harry continued, "Scorpius, Mr. Weasley and I are very powerful men."

Scorpius slumped down in his chair. "Yes sir-"

Ron slammed his fist onto the table. "ARE YOU SHAGGING MY DAUGHTER?!"

"NO SIR! NO!" Scorpius yelled to the curious stares of other patrons.

Suddenly the waiter appeared. He was ghost white, his shaking hands holding a tray of beers. "You…your pints." The boy said in a high pitched voice.

"Ah, thank you." Harry said, passing the pints around. He turned to look at a customer about his age smirking at them. "Sorry about that mate. We'll keep it down."

The customer laughed. "Don't worry about it. My daughter is sixteen. I can't tell you how many sods I've had to shake down." The customer looked at Scorpius with menace. "Carry on."

Scorpius groaned. Great. Not only was he being interrogated by his girlfriend's family, now he had a pub full of muggle fathers cheering them on. He looked to his right and saw a large blond man glaring at him, who too, probably had a daughter.

The waiter walked off, giving Scorpius a small smile of solidarity. Another teenage boy having to deal with fathers.

"Anywho." Harry continued, "We love Rose very much. We're a very close family. We don't take kindly to people who would try to hurt our family."

"No, we don't." Albus continued, sipping his beer.

"No sir." Scorpius replied, not even so much as looking at his beer.

"So, if you hurt Rose-" Albus continued.

" I-" Scorpius started.

"If you so much a BREATHE wrong. There will be no place where I can't find you." Ron said quietly, staring straight at Scorpius, who held his gaze in a kind of brave terror. "No CREVICE where I can't excise you. I will find you and I will obliterate your very existence. I will rip your bloody body off the face of the Earth. I will chase you through the afterlife, wave hello to my brother Fred, then drag you back to the mortal world and rip your soul apart piece by piece and send you to wherever the bloody hell Voldemort is rotting. I will watch you writhe in eternal agony. I. Will. Make. You. Nothing."

Harry smiled. "And then you will answer to me."

Scorpius's eyes were the size of planets. He gulped hard but found his mouth was so dry that he no longer had saliva.

"Drink your beer Scorpius." Albus said causually. "While you still can."

"I will murder you." Ron whispered.

Harry grabbed his beer. "Enough with the threats, gentlemen."

"Not a threat, a promise." Ron murmured, grabbing his pint and taking a deep swig.

Scorpius couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. But he knew he had to do something. Ronald Weasley would never respect him enough to be with his daughter if he didn't say something.

He took a deep breath and looked Ron right in the eye. "Sir. I love her. I love your daughter, and if I ever screw that up…I hope you do come after me. I hope you make me wish I was never born. Take my life, bring me back, and then take it again…because I just don't think I can go through life without Rose by my side. Not anymore. I will make her Rose Malfoy if it is the very last thing I do."

Ron looked livid.

"Rose Weasley-Malfoy?" Scorpius chirped out.

"Whoa!" Albus said. "Have you told her all this yet?"

"Not yet." Scorpius said, sneaking glances at Ron. "But I have a plan!"

"Which is? And so help me if any part of this plan involves getting my daughter pregnant before she is married…I will murder you." Ron continued.

"No sir!" Scorpius said, though he wasn't sure if there would be shagging or not. He shut down the thought immediately, still worried that Mr. Weasley might be a legitemens. "I have to wait for a thunderstorm!"

"What?" Ron said cautiously.

"When I first told Rose that I…had feelings for her…it was during a thunderstorm. When I tell her I love her, I want it to be during a thunderstorm. If I propose…"

"WHEN you propose." Albus interjected.

Scorpius looked over at Ron who still looked very irritated. "Well, I also want it to be during a thunderstorm."

"You've really thought about this kid." Harry said, smiling despite himself.

"Yes, sir. I have." Scorpius said, smiling a bit.

"You have a reputation Malfoy." Ron said, swirling his drink around in his glass.

"Sir?" Scorpius eeked out.

"Yes. Your, apparently, very experienced." Ron said, in a deceptively calm tone.

"Experienced?" Scorpius said.

"In pre-marital sex." Ron said, slamming his pint down on the table. "How many contraceptive charms do you know Malfoy? How many men's daughters have you shagged?"

Albus laughed, abruptly stopping when Ron glared at him.

"Not fair Ron." Harry said.

"Oh really? And if it was Lily? Would you want to know? God only knows what this boy is carrying in his blood stream!" Ron said.

"AWNSER HIM BOY!" The blond man yelled from his table, and suddenly Scorpius noticed several men were watching this whole conversation.

"Yea, answer him!" Albus said, laughing.

"Eh…" Scorpius said. He sighed, glaring at Albus. "Fine! Yes, I've had sex before!"

Ron leaned forward in his seat.

"We all have!" Scorpius said desperately. Then smirked. "Just ask Albus!"

Harry stared at his son in disbelief. Then, also, smirked.

"You little git!" Albus said. "They caught him snogging Rose in a broomcloset!"

Ron slammed his hand on the table.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Harry yelled. "Let's all just calm down."

Ron was so red, it was starting to become a medical problem. "These kids nowadays! Just shagging, never thinking about the consequences!"

"Oh Reel it in Ron, I know EXACTLY when your V-card was punched and it sure WASN'T after you were married." Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

"It wasn't with Aunt Hermione?" Albus muttered, then immediately cringed.

"Oh it was with Hermione." Harry replied.

"Oh? Really? You saying you weren't a virgin when you married my SISTER?" Ron said, glaring at Harry.

"OH GOD WHY?!" Albus yelled. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS! LAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Im SAYING that even if Scorpius has had sex before, it wasn't with YOUR daughter, so it's not any of YOUR business!" Harry replied. "Just like your sister and my sex life is none of your business!"

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Albus continued. "THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE! LAAAAAAAAAA!"

"What's a contraceptive charm?" A brown haired man at the bar murmured in the background. "Is that what the kids are calling condoms now-a-days? Walt, call your son and see if they're calling them contraceptive charms. I swear if I find any contraceptive charms in Sarah's room, I'm gonna lose my shit."

Suddenly, every father in that bar was paying attention, thinking about their daughters.

"We're gonna have to obliviate this whole damn bar." Harry muttered.

"Hermione and I waited seven years! I don't see how we are in ANY way relatable to the current situation." Ron said, lowering his voice. How had this become about them?

"No, you and Hermione were to chicken to tell each other how you felt. And so were Scorpius and Rose, really your situations are almost EXACTLY the same." Harry replied. "Really, it sort of creepy how similar it is."

"Last time I checked, when I kissed Hermione, we were about to be murdered in a siege, killing horcruxes… How is this the same?!" Ron said, whispering the part about the war.

"It's the mechanics of it. You bickered with each other for seven years, then seventh year, HERMIONE kissed YOU." Harry laughed.

"Really?" Albus said.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Fine, she kissed me."

"I definitely kissed her." Scorpius murmured amusedly.

"Oh is that so?" Ron snapped, rounding on him. Scorpius stared, terrified, at the table.

"Look. The kid says he loves her. I believe him." Harry said, draining the last of his beer. "Look at the body language. Honestly Ron, you've been an Auror for some twenty odd years. This is textbook. You'd say so yourself if it wasn't your daughter and Malfoy's son."

"But it IS!" Ron replied. "You wouldn't be so smug if it was happening with Lily."

"Maybe, but it's not." Harry replied laughing. "It's not our generation anymore, Ron. And you would be a right hypocritical git if you passed judgment on the kid based on who his parents are and not on who HE is. Have you asked him anything about himself all night? Do you know he wants to be a healer?"

Ron turned red, he opened his mouth then closed it. He turned to Scorpius. "Is that right?" He said sternly.

"Yes sir."

Ron nodded. "That's a respectable profession. Stable."

"Yes sir."

"And you're a cannon's man?"

"Since the day I could get on a broom."

Ron nodded again. "You like chess?"

Scorpius nodded. "Some say I'm pretty good."

"Oh, is that so?" Ron said, smirking.

"Beat my dad all the time."

Ron stared at him then, surprisingly, burst out laughing. "Brilliant."

"I DON'T KNOW HALF THE WORDS YOU PEOPLE JUST SAID, BUT THE KID SEEMS ALRIGHT!" Someone yelled in the background. There was a general rumble of agreement.

Harry groaned. "Ron, can you help me with this one?"

Ron nodded and stood.

Harry stood. "Attention patrons!" Harry yelled as the bar all turned and looked at him.

Harry pulled out his wand. "You see this right here? This is called a wand."

"What the bloody hell's that supposed to be?" The blond man yelled from his chair.

"You will never know." Harry replied.

And with that, he flicked his wand.