Chapter Seven

It was first year and everything was overwhelming.

Firstly, Rose was Sorted into Hufflepuff and her cousin Albus into Gryffindor. He was her closest friend for many years, and now it was like he lived on the opposite side of the planet. Not to mention, she was sure her dad would grumble about being in Hufflepuff.

Secondly, the books kept getting checked out. Every time an assignment required some research—which was pretty much always—Rose would have to rush to the library before anyone else to make sure she'd be able to use it before those pesky Ravenclaws. Sure, theoretically she could ask to borrow it from them, but she felt much too shy for that.

Thirdly, the elves always made dessert disappear too quickly.

But most importantly, Rose had a lot of studying to do. Her mum was deemed the best witch of her year—as a Muggleborn, at that! Although Rose loved to read, the thought of exams made her unbearably nervous. No one in Hufflepuff seemed to understand this, and their dormitory, the Common Room and practically everywhere else were impossible areas to study.

The summer before school began, her dad let her in on a secret. He told her about tickling a portrait that led to the kitchens, just in case she needed it. As he'd told her this over a sneaky slice of chocolate cake at midnight, she figured this information was legitimate.

Rose felt silly, tickling random portraits around the dungeons, but she was lucky that most of the portraits accepted her apology. It was one day in October, close to Halloween, that she tickled a pear and a doorknob appeared before her eyes. For a moment, she could only stare at it.

"What are you doing?"

Rose spun around, tightly clenching the book that she was holding. She found Scorpius Malfoy standing there, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Nothing," she spluttered. "Just. You know. Admiring the portrait."

"Why the hell is there a doorknob sticking out of it?" he asked, pointing to it. "Is that a secret passageway?"

"How would I know?"

He rolled his eyes and pushed past her, grabbing the doorknob and clambering through the portrait hole.

Rose followed him, immediately delighted to see the elves bustling about. It was nearly dinner, and they seemed far too busy to even stop to take notice of them. It smelled delicious, like butter, garlic and potatoes.

Scorpius seemed shocked at first, but quickly recovered and turned to her. "How did you know this was here?"

"I guessed," she half-lied. Her father had warned her of Scorpius just before she boarded the train, but he didn't seem as mean as her father had described.

He gaped at her. "You guessed?"

"Yep."

"That's mad." He shook his head. "Are you some sort of genius or something?"

"Definitely not," she said hastily. She definitely didn't need that rumour going around Hogwarts; she already felt the mounting pressure of her family's legacy. "I'm here to study."

"You're studying," he repeated dubiously, "in the kitchens."

Rose held up her book and offered a weak smile. "I like reading."

"You like reading?"

"Yes."

Scorpius took another look around the kitchens, observing the newly uncovered secrets, the elves that were still ignoring them and Rose's nervous shift from foot to foot. He zeroed in on a table in the corner and headed towards it. Without thinking, she followed him.

"Have you been here before?" he asked curiously as they sat down.

"No." She hesitated. "I've been looking for this place for a while. I thought no one would really be here, and I don't mind the elves."

"Why?"

"I can't focus when people talk," she admitted, and he had to lean in to hear her. "Everyone's just so loud."

And they were constantly whispering about her, comparing her to her parents. The entire situation was extremely stressful.

"I won't tell anyone about this," he said, looking at her carefully.

"Really?" Rose felt the tension leave her shoulders.

"Really." He paused, and insecurity flashed across his face. "I won't tell anyone, but I need help with my schoolwork. I'm behind."

She tried not to laugh. "We've only been here for two months."

"I know," he said, flushing red, "but not everyone is a genius."

"I'm not a genius."

"You're clearly too smart for your own good."

Rose snorted.

"So?" He watched as she took out her things, expectant; he obviously thought she would say yes, in the same way people did when they'd always been handed everything. As she would learn about his parents and the way they'd both spoiled him and expected the world, the juxtaposition would baffle her.

But for now, she didn't see the harm.

"You've got a deal," she told Scorpius.

"Brilliant," he said, sending her a smile. "We can study here."

"Great."

"And you won't tell anyone," he pressed, "right?"

She smiled back. "I won't."

When Rose woke Christmas morning, she thought she was dreaming.

It was a rather silly thought; obviously she knew reality from dreamland, but waking up in warm sheets, Scorpius sound asleep beside her, the twinkling lights in the distance, thick snowflakes falling outside her window…

It felt like a dream. She had certainly dreamed it before.

When she made to sit up, Scorpius slid his arm tight around her waist, curling her into the heat of his skin. "Don't," he whispered.

It struck her how familiar it sounded to when she would leave their "dates" to study. Back when she would hardly ever relent, hardly ever give him her time. "Don't get up?"

"Don't open the shop."

"I said I would on the sign."

"Don't." He kissed the back of her neck. "It's Christmas."

"You are a terrible influence."

"Or a great influence, depending on how you look at it."

She snorted. "I still need to change the sign, don't I?"

"Just wait."

She did so as he took a few breaths, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Maybe sleeping with Scorpius should've felt like a mistake, but it felt more like relief. Throughout the years, she'd suppressed her feelings more than she realized, hitting her like a nasty stunner as soon as he'd entered the shop the first time.

She didn't regret it. That, she was sure of.

Rose had almost settled back into sleep when he kissed her neck again. "You said… Last night, you said you told them. When?"

"When I said I would."

There was a long pause before he croaked, "At graduation? Really?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck," he groaned brokenly, and she felt his despair strike through her own chest. "You mean we… if I had known… we could've had years together, couldn't we?"

Rose didn't bother pointing out that she wasn't sure what they were doing right now. She smiled sadly. "No. Probably not."

"No?"

"We were a ticking time bomb," she pointed out. "Maybe you broke us up because you didn't feel like you were enough. Maybe you never talked about the shit you were dealing with. But I blew you off when you needed me, always in my own little world. I didn't include you in my plans when I went to Paris."

Scorpius was silent, but she sensed his assent.

"And neither of us ever reached out to each other all these years." She had felt the betrayal all these years—she wasn't exactly eager to experience that again—but she would've opened a letter from him. "I tried to move on, see other people. I'm sure you did, too."

"I tried," he relented, "but no could ever… no one even came close, you know?"

A lump rose in her throat.

"I wanted to write to you," he admitted quietly. "So many times, I wanted to owl and see how you were doing, but I didn't. I thought you hated me, for good reason."

"I couldn't." She'd tried and failed. Rose was never the vindictive type.

"I didn't know you were here this entire time." He thought for a moment. "This past year and a half… I was just focused on getting the job at the school. I've got this intuition for Potions, but you know I was never into academics."

"I didn't know what you were up to, either," she conceded. If she was honest, she avoided figuring it out, unable to take it if he was with someone else. They needed to figure themselves out, to be ready for this sort of love again. To be ready for something that was, frankly, beyond their years the first time around.

"Last month, when I found you here, I thought it was a sign," he said, chuckling. "A shot at a second chance. I wasn't going to pass it up."

Rose was quiet. Letting him back into her life was one thing. Trusting him was another.

She was nearly asleep again when he slid away from her, carefully and soundlessly. Rose peeked her eyes open anyway, as he was putting on his button-down and bouncing from foot-to-foot to get his trousers up his legs. When he noticed her looking at him, he sent her a smile.

"I'm coming back," he assured. "I'm going to change the sign for you. Then I'm going to do something. But I'll be right back, I promise."

Rose let him go. Maybe she didn't quite trust him, but she didn't see the harm. There was something about his demeanour that told her to believe him. Scorpius didn't seem anxious or defensive, like he might have been when he was seventeen.

He was excited. Hopeful.

It made her a little hopeful, too.

When Scorpius came back, just as she'd woken up from a little nap and finished up a shower, he had a tree.

Rose had to stop in her tracks, just watching Scorpius levitate a pine tree—Merlin, it must have been at least eight feet tall—into the tiny living room of her tiny flat. The top brushed the ceiling, and thankfully, he had a tree stand he tossed over before placing the tree down on it.

"What is this?" she asked, incredulous.

"It's a tree."

"Scorpius."

"A Christmas tree," he corrected, grinning cheekily at her. He put a large cardboard box he'd been carrying down onto the floor and let out a tired breath. "Also, I marked on your sign that Cake Witch is closed for Boxing Day and New Year's."

Rose groaned.

"I brought decorations." He knelt down to open the box, and she could see the multi-coloured baubles, golden tinsel and string lights. "They're a few years old, but they work just fine. I don't exactly have a tree in my office over at Hogwarts."

"Where did you get this?" she asked, undoing the towel around her head. "The trees have been sold out for weeks. That's why I only have a dinky little one in the shop."

He swallowed, eyes on her hair as it fell around her shoulders. "I have my ways."

"Meaning…"

"I bought this weeks ago and convinced Rosmerta to keep it safe for me."

Rose laughed. "You've been charming her since third-year Hogsmeade visits, haven't you?"

Scorpius stood, but kept his distance. "You look really nice."

"Thanks, it's for dinner tonight." She looked down at her simple red dress with a sequin trim. "Well, this afternoon. I usually go and help with the cooking. Mostly the baking."

"Naturally." He swallowed and ran a hand through his blond strands. "Anyway, I originally thought I'd bring this over on Christmas, decorate it together because no one goes to the shops on Christmas—"

"Oi, I resent that!"

"—but then I noticed you don't have a tree up here, which is just a crime."

She shrugged. "I didn't have time."

And she didn't have anything better to do, so she picked up one end of the string lights and began wrapping them around the tree as Scorpius worked on unknotting the other one. She felt odd, but couldn't really describe it or muster up the courage to kick him out of her flat. "I still don't understand why you're doing this."

"You always hated going home for the holidays," he explained, "and now you never take them, so I'm making it a holiday you'll love."

"I never hated them," she corrected immediately, feeling warm all over. He'd planned that all for her? "My family just drives me crazy sometimes. Loud people want you to be loud with them."

"Well, I guess it was me who hated it."

Rose finished her end of the lights and took the next set from Scorpius. "Why?"

He took a decisive breath, and she could see the struggle in his expression. "Holidays are just a thinly veiled time for your family to criticize you harshly but politely. Then they tell you to keep up appearances when you lose your shit."

"I didn't realize that," she said quietly.

"That's how it is in my family." He reached for the tinsel, which was also knotted. "My father in particular can be a little… demanding, I suppose."

"Really?"

"Nothing I did was ever enough for him. Nothing." He paused. "At graduation? After the Outstanding in Potions, passing everything else, the Quidditch cup and getting into the law program? He still said I hadn't done enough because I hadn't been made Head Boy."

Rose began hanging up baubles on the tree. "You hardly ever talked about it. Back then."

"It was confusing when in school," he confessed. "I always had everything I wanted—my father bought me that broom as soon as it came out, remember? How could someone who provided everything for me also hurt me?"

"That's not necessarily true," Rose began, frowning. "You did all right when you put the work in. Sometimes the pressure he put on you was the reason you blanked in exams."

He nodded, still concentrated on the tinsel in his hands. "I know that now."

"That must have been difficult."

"He's had some difficulty after the war. He wanted me to come out on top, I suppose." He cleared his throat. "My grandparents in particular always advocate marrying other purebloods."

Rose dropped a bauble. "Seriously?"

"It's why I hate going home for Christmas." He laughed weakly. "Call me spoiled, but marrying one of my distant cousins sounds like a nightmare."

Rose took the tinsel from him and tugged it out his hands before wrapping her arms around him. He still smelled like he did when he was younger, sweet and warm and very Scorpius, and he still tucked her head into his shoulder and squeezed her tightly the way he did back then.

"Thank you for telling me," she mumbled into his shirt.

"I should've told you back then."

"Maybe you couldn't make sense of it."

"Understatement of the year," he said, chuckling. "The New Year is soon, so maybe we can try again. We could start—well, continue—with the tree."

"Yes," she agreed, "but first, I need breakfast. And coffee."

"Right." He looked nervous all of a sudden. "Please don't be angry with me."

"What?"

"I used your kitchen." He stuffed his hands in his pockets as her eyes went wide. "I know. I'm sorry. But I don't have the materials to make peppermint brownies."

She stared at him. "You what?"

As it turned out, Scorpius had indeed used the Cake Witch kitchen. It wasn't a big deal, it really wasn't, but Rose could feel the twisting in her chest that Elizabeth had her recognize as her control freak tendency. She took deep breaths and tried to tame the eye twitch.

To his credit, Scorpius cleaned everything, even what was left over from the night before when they were otherwise preoccupied (ahem). As they sat aside the new tree, lit the Christmas lights, down on the rug next to her coffee table, nibbling on peppermint bark brownies—Rose's favourite, he actually remembered—and sipping their coffee, Scorpius was peering at her mug.

"You take your coffee black," he recounted to himself, a stark difference to his own in which he'd dumped at least three spoons of sugar. "I'm going to remember that."

Rose was staring at him, admittedly in awe. "When did you do all this?"

"Last night, mostly." Scorpius grinned, nervous just underneath the surface. "I mean, I couldn't sleep, you were snoring up a storm—"

"Excuse you, I do not snore." Rose sniffed haughtily, jokingly, making him laugh. "You planned this. The tree and the brownies. You're really laying it on thick, aren't you?"

"I'm just doing everything I wish I could have done back then. I'm making our first Christmas count." His newfound boldness made her heart jolt. Somehow, Rose hadn't imagined their first holiday together to be so nerve-wracking. And then it hit her.

Their first Christmas together. The implication of more to come.

"Besides," he added after a moment of her reserve, "the best gifts aren't bought, right?"

"Right," she said, clearing her throat before nodding towards the brownies, baked in her kitchen with her ingredients. "They're not bought, they're stolen."

Scorpius burst into laughter again.

Rose tossed a chunk of her brownie in her mouth before taking a long sip of her coffee—the perfect bite. "Tell me something."

"What do you want to know?"

"I dunno." She felt hungry for it, the way only someone who'd been waiting ten years could be. "Anything."

Scorpius dusted off the brownie crumbs from his hand and gulped down his coffee. She was pretty sure he'd put a load of cream and sugar in there, which made her smile. "Anything, are you sure?"

"Yes." Anything that would make her trust him again. That would make her feel like it would be different this time.

He looked at her closely. "Gingerbread isn't my favourite Christmas sweet."

There was a long pause.

"What?" she all but shrieked. "Are you joking?"

"No," he confessed, trying not to smirk. "It's mince pies."

"I am going to murder you."

"But," he added loudly, "my all-time favourite dessert is gingerbread cookies. Specifically, your gingerbread cookies."

Rose wasn't sure to laugh or groan in exasperation. "You've had so much of it this season."

"I had to make up for lost time." He stretched out his long legs alongside hers, and she could feel his heat through her stockings. "I want to take you out."

"Nothing's open," she reminded him. "It's Christmas."

"I meant tomorrow. Or this weekend." He nudged her purposefully this time, his socked foot against hers. "I never took you out on a real date, and I always regretted that. It could be a proper Hogsmeade visit."

Rose tried not to laugh. "You can't redo all your regrets, Scorpius."

"I can try." He looked hopeful, certainly more hopeful than she felt.

"Do you remember our first date?" she asked, smiling when Scorpius instantly brightened. "You brought that blanket up to the North Tower and we went stargazing at midnight?"

"You were so sure we were going to get caught."

"We almost did. Albus wouldn't stop asking me why I needed the invisibility cloak." Rose nudged his foot this time. "We had a lot of happy memories back then, tucked away in different corners at Hogwarts."

And all of a sudden, it overwhelmed her with how much she wanted that again.

"If we're going to do this again," she said decisively, carefully locking her gaze with his, "I'm going to tell my family. My entire family, including my dad, who witnessed me post-breakup."

Scorpius was beside her in an instant.

"We could tell them today." He seemed almost excited by the prospect, which tore her in opposite emotional directions. "Or whenever you'd like. I want to meet them, even if it's going to take a while before they warm up to me. And maybe I can finally explain why you're such a brilliant baker."

"Scorpius." Rose tried to laugh down the tears in her eyes. There was no scaring him away, was there? "I want to meet your family first."

"Oh, right," he said, deflating considerably.

"If you don't want to—"

"No, I do," he reassured immediately. "It's only fair, right? You held up your end of the deal."

"Telling my family wasn't as difficult, evidently." Rose wanted to be understanding, she did. But even though there was a large, lovely-smelling Christmas tree in her living room, peppermint bark brownies in her belly and the overwhelming feeling of he still loves her he still loves her, it didn't solve anything.

Scorpius was trying, though. He'd told her about his family. She could appreciate how he'd set her free from his debilitating, all-encumbering decimation of his sense of self. He let her go because he loved her enough to come back.

She understood why it had been ten years. Because sometimes, that's what it took.

"Maybe we're ready to face it, now," she suggested, standing and fiddling with a bauble on the tree until it hung straight. "You weren't ready back then. Maybe I wasn't, either. But I can't have a secret relationship."

"I think I'm ready." He shook his head. "I know I'm ready. My family's a pain, but if that's what you want, I'll do it. Today."

"That's the dealbreaker." She felt guilty for saying it, but she pushed it away. That's what happened the last time; she'd feel guilty for bringing up the uncomfortable necessary bits, and he'd get away with it.

This time, it was going to be different, not just because he said it would, but because she would hold him accountable.

"What would you say," he began apprehensively as he stood to join her at the tree, "to a second first date? At my family's Christmas dinner?"

Rose was caught off guard by her own, rather watery laugh.

"As long as you don't call it a first date," she replied. "Maybe it's a starter date. Before all the other dates to come."

"That's called a first date, Rose."

"All right, all right."

"And you'll make time for our dates," he said quietly, anxiously. He was suddenly in front of her, tugging on her hands, pulling her closer until he was wiping the welling in her eyes with his thumbs. "You'll make time for us. Won't you?"

"Yes." The guilt snagged under her skin with how much she'd neglected him back then. Despite the fact that she'd let him confront the details, she was suddenly overwhelmed by her own. "Yes. I will."

"And we'll try?" He was whispering now. "We could be together again?"

Rose couldn't help but hesitate, but when she nodded, she meant it.

"For what it's worth," she said softly, pressing her forehead onto his, "I've missed you. You knew I would. And I did."

His expression broke and he kissed her. It tasted like yesterday, but also tomorrow.

After sending a note to her family that Rose would be late for Christmas dinner—Scorpius made sure she included that he would be joining—and bundled up for the cold, Scorpius apparated them both to outside the gates of Malfoy Manor.

Rose, who almost always took the Floo to see her family, was immediately struck with the formality of it all. There was something about standing at the gates, watching Scorpius mutter some incantation, hearing the squeak and groans as the tall, menacing gates opened for them, urging them forwards along a windy path towards the Manor.

It was intimidating.

Rose had always struggled with her own family legacy, but this was on a whole other level.

"Are you sure about this?" Rose whispered as they approached the front door. Everything felt a lot more real now, and even though she'd been waiting so long for this, she was suddenly panicking. "Maybe this isn't a good idea just now."

"Yes it is," he responded immediately.

"They might not like me."

"I like you. Love you, in fact."

"That's not the same thing."

He looked at her sharply. "You're the only one who's ever accepted me as I am. You're not negotiable."

She bit her lip, still unsure.

"Listen," he said more quietly this time, arms sliding around her waist and tugging her closer. "I would lie in my dormitory in Hogwarts and imagine this. I planned out and rehearsed it in my head a thousand times. I knew this was going to happen someday. I wasn't ready then, but…" He smiled sheepishly. "I made sure to remember the speech."

Rose laughed, and in that moment, she believed him.

"It doesn't matter what they say, anyway," he assured warmly, kissing her at her hairline. "We're not kids anymore."

When they approached the large doors and used the heavy brass knocker to thud loud echoes into the Manor, her heart was beating out of her chest. Even if she imagined this scenario a thousand times, even after they'd broken up, she never imagined the anticipation that was bubbling up alongside the nerves. Because this was the beginning to (probably?) forever. This was it.

Finally.

When Mr. Malfoy opened the door, Scorpius clasped his hand with hers.

"Father, this is Rose," he said confidently. "My girlfriend."

A/N: The end :) Thank you so much for reading this, all. It honestly makes me so glad that you enjoyed this story I rampage-wrote over the holidays (and then finished up between piles of work from the new year, lol). I'm not doing an epilogue for this but I can imagine Scorpius has grown up enough to handle what's to come for the two of them.

Hopefully you liked the ending and will want to follow my author profile so you can find out when the next story will be up! The next one is a soulmate au. Thanks again for reading :)