Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter book series or movie adaptations.

Chapter Two: Letters

1 June 2025

Dear Miss Weasley,

This letter is to inform the recipient that Rose Perdita Weasley has been matched with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy in accordance with Ministry of Magic Bill #18463, the Marriage Act of 2015.

The two aforementioned should be married by 1 September 2025. In order to confirm matrimony, the Ministry has provided a wedding band which the recipient will find in the bottom of the envelope which accompanies this letter. The wedding band should be given to the recipient's betrothed on their wedding day. When the marriage ceremony has been completed, the bands will alert the Ministry.

Wishing you the best of luck with your impending nuptials,

Kingsley Shacklebolt
Minister for Magic

I felt my breath catch in my throat as I read through the letter. My eyes stuck on the name of the person I had been assigned to, and I reread it at least half a dozen times before I could bring myself to look up at him.

Scorpius Malfoy was already staring back at me when I looked up. My face began to feel hot, and I could tell that it was turning that disgusting shade of red that it always did when I was embarrassed or angry, while Scorpius' expression remained completely stoic and void of all emotion, as it had for most of the time that I'd known him. The rest of the Great Hall, however, was buzzing with laughter and murmurs. Most everyone had gotten matched with who they wanted to; the Ministry's system was very efficient, matching based on a variety of factors. Every once in a while, though, it had a tendency to screw up.

I couldn't help but think that this was one of those times.

I looked away from Scorpius and toward my cousin, Albus, who sat to his right and still hadn't looked up from his letter. As per usual, Albus' emotions were splayed across his face for anyone to see, a potent mixture of shock and optimism. When he finally did look up, he locked eyes with Alice Longbottom, who sat between the two of us, at the Hufflepuff table. I mentally cheered; those two had been dancing around each other since we were all children.

As breakfast ended and students began to go back to their dormitories, I found myself all but floating. I'd packed my bags the night before, of course, and I had nothing to do except load my kitten, Stitch, into his cage before heading to the carriages. I barely felt myself step into the carriage, I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts.

I should have paid more attention.

The carriage had already begun moving before I realized that there was a second person in it, and I inwardly cursed at every god I could think of as I looked into clear grey eyes for the second time in three hours.

"So we've got something to talk about apparently," Scorpius said in an emotionless tone.

"I'm going to petition the Ministry to rematch us," I said, looking anywhere but at him. "I'm not marrying you."

"You know that that's not an option," Scorpius answered. "They've already matched everyone else up. We're stuck with this."

"I don't want to marry you," I hissed, tears springing to my eyes. I inwardly cursed again at the childish show of emotion. I didn't want to let him see how much this whole thing was getting to me.

An unreadable emotion passed across Scorpius' face. "I'm well aware of that, Rose."

I flinched. "Don't call me that," I hissed. "It's Weasley, remember?"

"We've been matched," Scorpius said, obviously exasperated. "You're telling me that I'm supposed to marry you but I'm not allowed to say your name?"

I looked him dead in the eyes, feeling my face begin to flame again. "Let's get this straight," I seethed, "If I have to marry you, it will be by law only. We will do whatever it takes to satisfy the law, but that will be it. Am I clear?"

Scorpius' face hardened again. "Fine," he said. "We'll do it your way."

I nodded. "Fine."

The train ride home was about as uneventful as it could have been. Luckily for me, Albus was too busy talking with Alice to care much about what I had to say, and my younger cousins had all taken to riding in separate compartments with their friends. I was spared from too many questions until dinner that night.

I sat quietly in my seat at the table, trying to ignore the question hanging in the air as my mum and dad stared over at me, the former much more subtle about it than the latter. The whole room felt like a ticking time bomb, each second loaded with the weight of their curiosity.

It was, unsurprisingly, my father who broke the silence. "Well who the hell is it?"

"Ron," my mother admonished, shooting an apologetic glance toward me.

"Well," Dad continued, "We need to know. The dinner's next week and we've got to invite the poor chap."

I stifled a groan as I remembered the dinner. It had become tradition in the Weasley family, the week following the end of school, to gather together in the Burrow and introduce the family to their soon-to-be-in-laws. It was essentially a welcome-to-the-family ceremony done in the standard Weasley fashion. This time, however, I was sure that it would be quite a bit less festive.

"I don't want to talk about who I've been matched with," I said in a small voice. "As far as he and I are concerned, the marriage will be on paper only anyway."

"Rose," my mother said in the same voice that I would use on a five-year-old, "Are you sure? I know a match can be hard to deal with at first, but-"

"No, Mum," I said, louder this time.

"Rosie," my father tried instead, "You know how important matches can be for the family, and even if you don't like him now-"

I couldn't stand it anymore. My head was pounding and I could feel my heart in my throat. "It's Scorpius Malfoy," I said. My parents both fell silent.

Hugo spoke up for the first time since dinner started. "Well would you look at that," he said, an edge in his tone, "Lily wanted me over tonight. Do you guys mind if I floo over now?"

Neither of my parents' eyes left mine. "Have a good night, Hugo," Mum said after a moment. "We need you home tomorrow in time for lunch, though."

The room was silent for a long time after that, the only sound being the fireplace roaring as Hugo departed. My father looked uncertain what to say, but my mother's eyes searched mine as though looking for answers. Suddenly all of the anxiety I had felt before was gone, however, replaced by a grey blanket of non-emotion that seemed to overwhelm my senses.

"Rose," Mum tried, "I understand how you feel, but maybe you should reconsider inviting him to dinner. It isn't like you can ignore your future husband, and the rest of the family should meet him."

"You don't understand how I feel, Mum," I said. "You were married before the law was passed. You never had to have a marriage arranged by the Ministry. And you certainly weren't forced to marry a man who tortured you for years."

Dad sighed. "I wish I could help, Rosie," he said, "But you're right, we don't understand. But that doesn't mean that we don't feel for you or want the best for you in your marriage. Wouldn't it be better if you could at least try? For all you know, Scorpius will change." He frowned deeply. "As much as I hate to admit it, his father did."

I sighed. Of course my parents didn't understand. They couldn't. After all, they didn't know as much about Scorpius as I did.

I forced a small smile onto my face. "I'll invite him to dinner if it makes you guys feel better," I said.

My mother grinned, and my dad returned my small smile. "Thank you, Rosie," Mum said.

2 June 2025

Malfoy,

My family hosts an annual "welcome to the family" dinner after the matching every year at the Burrow. I've been asked to invite you. It will be at six o' clock this Friday. Come by floo and don't be late.

R. Weasley

At five o' clock on Friday, I was cursing at my reflection. I was trying to find an outfit that would be pretty, but not enough so to give Scorpius the impression that I cared what he thought of my appearance. Unfortunately, every time that I found an outfit to my satisfaction, a piece of my brain reminded me that by picking my outfit so carefully, I was caring what he thought. I had gotten out of the shower at four in order to be ready in time and yet I was still as far from ready as I could get.

I looked in the mirror as I felt a lump in my throat. I wasn't the prettiest Weasley cousin; I didn't have a twenty-three-inch waist like Victoire or long, athletic legs like Molly. My hair was frizzy and fell in kinky curls instead of a silken curtain like Lily's. There had been a moment, in sixth year, when I had thought that maybe I was beautiful like them.

That moment was over now.

I huffed and threw on some black jeans that had rips over the knees and thighs, some black boots, and a tight white tee shirt. I put my hair up in a high ponytail, the short tendrils from where I used to have bangs laying against my cheek. If I was going to get through this dinner, I was going to do it dressed comfortably, in clothes that made me feel like myself instead of some doll.

I met my family downstairs at five fifteen. My mother threw a disappointed look at my choice of outfit but didn't say anything; she knew I was in no mood. My brother, on the other hand, had no such reservations.

"Going through an emo phase, Perdy?" he teased.

"You know I hate it when you call me that, Benny," I said pointedly. Our mother had insisted on Shakespearean names for our middle names, Perdita for the daughter of Hermione, and Benvolio as her favorite character from Romeo and Juliet. Of course, each name was absolutely pretentious-sounding and, thusly, a point of contention for us.

"Both of you behave," Dad said. "Rose, you look fine."

My mother looked like she wanted to object, but instead she grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace, shaking her head. "The Burrow," she said clearly. Hugo and my father were next, and then it was my turn.

I stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow into chaos. While most people would have disliked the amount of noise there, I liked it. I lived for family reunions in the Burrow, when we could all be together and mess around. Before I was born, my grandparents lived here, but my Gran died the year that Molly was born and Gramps died pretty soon after. Now the house belonged to my Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey.

"Rose!" I turned at the sound of my name to see Albus running toward me. "Wait till you see who I got matched with!"

I grinned. "I know it's Alice," I said. "You're still terrible at hiding what you're thinking, and I saw you look at her after you read your letter."

Albus pouted. "No fair! Who did you get matched with?"

I looked at the ground. "You'll figure that out soon, I'm sure."

Nobody near me had uttered a spell, but the next second the fireplace roared to life as though through magic and out stepped Scorpius, dressed in a pair of black slacks and a blue tee shirt. The room went silent.

My mother was the first to step up and greet him. "Hello Scorpius," she said, a mothering smile on her face. "My name is Hermione. I think we've met before."

"We have, Mrs. Weasley," Scorpius said. He gave her a diplomatic smile. "It's nice to see you again."

Mum scoffed. "Now come on Scorpius," she said, "You can call me Hermione. My mother-in-law had six boys; if we all went by last names then this would get very confusing very quickly."

Scorpius smiled. "Yes ma'am."

I wanted to curl up into the couch and die. Albus put his hand on my shoulder to bring my attention back to him, concern written plain across his face. Are you okay?

I shrugged and turned back to Scorpius, walking forward. "Hello, Malfoy," I said in a voice that I hoped was neutral.

Scorpius nodded back. "Ro- Weasley," he corrected. I had to fight a glare off of my face.

The room was still uncomfortably quiet, the air thick, when the fireplace roared to life again and Alice stepped out. Her platinum blonde hair shone, as always, and she froze as she took in the atmosphere. A slow smile spread across her face as she saw Scorpius. "Geez, guys," she said, "It's like someone died in here."

The room burst into life again as some people laughed and others guffawed, and like magic things were back to normal. I resolved to thank Alice later. For now, though, I had bigger issues.

At exactly six o' clock, Aunt Audrey came out of the kitchen to announce that it was time for dinner, and the party headed outside, where tents were set up. The tents were magically set to not allow any kind of bad weather in, and they worked year-around since every family dinner now involved too many people to comfortably sit inside. I absently wondered what would happen in a few generations; perhaps the tents would have to span the same amount of space as the Great Hall.

Scorpius caught my arm on the way outside, grabbing me by the crook of my elbow. "Weasley," he said, "We need to talk."

"Right now we're having dinner with my family, Malfoy," I said. "Don't make this harder than it has to be. Nothing has changed. This marriage will still be nothing more than a piece of paper."

"That's what we need to talk about, Rose-"

I turned around and glared daggers at him. "My name is Weasley," I said quietly, through clenched teeth. "It's worked for you just fine for seven years, you can stick to it now. If you really must speak to me about anything regarding this marriage, you can do it through owl tomorrow. For tonight, my family wants to know that I'll be happy in my marriage, so we're both going to suck it up and make them believe that."

Scorpius' eyes hardened. "Fine," he said. "If that's what you want."

I nodded. "It is."

Scorpius and I made our way to the dinner table, where dinner was served, and sat down next to each other, as all of the other couples did. Dinner was as raucous as the time before had been, up until my Uncle Percy addressed Scorpius.

"So," he said, "Scorpius, we've been lucky enough to know little Alice all her life, but we've not had the same luck with you. Tell us about yourself."

"What would you like to know?" Scorpius looked around the table like a visiting dignitary would look at his hosts, like he was on a mission.

"What would you like to do for a living?" Aunt Ginny was the first to volunteer a question.

"I'm looking into a job as a metal charmer," Scorpius answered. "Specifically, magical jewelry."

"What kind of marriage are you expecting to have with my niece?" It was Uncle George that said it, but all of my uncles were nodding along.

Scorpius swallowed and looked over at me. "Rose and I haven't talked about this yet," he said. "Though obviously I'm fine with whatever she wants. She and I didn't exactly go into this on purpose, and I would never expect her to give up what she wants for my ideals." My uncles seemed pleased with this answer.

The rest of the dinner went on in kind, with my family firing questions at Scorpius about his upbringing, his expectations, et cetera, and him answering diplomatically. Afterward, as people began to file back inside and toward the fireplace, Scorpius grabbed my arm once more and motioned for me to stay outside with him. It wasn't long until we were alone.

"Listen, Weasley," he said hurriedly, "Just come to my house for dinner tomorrow. Please. Your family isn't the only one that's curious, and there really are some things that we need to discuss."

I frowned. "What time?"

He seemed relieved. "You can't floo or apparate onto the property," he responded, "So I can come and pick you up at your house at five thirty."

"Alright," I said with an annoyed huff. "Is there anything that I should know?"

Scorpius looked me up and down and then smirked. "As much as I think you look fit in that outfit," he said, "You might want to wear something a bit dressier tomorrow."

I would've hit him if he hadn't run off and floo'd away.