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

Chapter Five: Liaisons

23 June 2025

Miss Weasley,

We've received your application and are incredibly impressed by it. We would be honored for you to come in for an interview on 1 July at nine o' clock in the morning. Please bring with you some samples of your work.

Padma Patil
Editor-in-Chief for the Daily Prophet

On the same day that I received my letter from the Daily Prophet, I was due to meet Dierdre, Alice, my mother, Astoria, and Narcissa at Madame Drimming's Bridal Shoppe to begin looking for dresses. Scorpius and I had decided to hold our wedding on August 24 on the Hogwarts grounds overlooking the Black Lake, and we'd gotten special permission from the Headmaster, my Uncle Neville, to do so. Now all that we needed was to finalize guests, seating, and outfits. The ladies had decided that the latter would be the easiest to tackle.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

We walked into the bridal shop at exactly ten o' clock in the morning, and I was instructed by my mother to sit down in one of the chairs therein. After that, she and the others began to collect dresses for me to try on. By one o' clock, I had tried on over three dozen dresses, but absolutely nothing felt right. My mother insisted that I wear pure white ("It will complement your skin tone!), and Narcissa insisted that it not be too tight or too low-cut ("You're a bride, not a whore, darling."). After a while, I tired of looking for my dress and instead turned my attention to dressing Dierdre and Alice.

The girls' dresses took considerably less time than mine. In the end, I decided on two knee-length seafoam-green dresses with matching halter-top necklines and peasant sleeves. Both dresses had pink flowers crocheted into the bottom of the sleeves and at the waist. The girls both looked lovely in them, thankfully, even though they looked about as different as night and day when stood next to each other.

Unfortunately, my reprieve from looking for my own dress was short-lived as finding the girls' dresses turned out to be so easy. I tried on at least two dozen more dresses before finally it was five o' clock and time to go home for dinner. By the time I was done, I was starving, cranky, and tired. Alice and Dierdre, seeing how much I needed a break, decided to make it an impromptu girls' night.

Before I knew it, I was sitting on the floor of one of my favorite rooms at the Leaky with almost all of my female cousins, Alice, Deirdre, Daya Jordan, and Abbey Bell, the latter of whom had shared a dorm with Deirdre and I at Hogwarts. Dominique had also brought along her wife, Cassidee Wood. Given that most of us were of age, my cousin Molly had taken the liberty of smuggling in a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey.

"You know I have to say Rosie," hiccoughed Roxanne, "I'll feel lucky if I get matched with someone half as attractive as Malfoy." The rest of the girls guffawed. "No," Roxanned said, "I mean it. That bloke is fit."

The girls dissolved into laughter. "Have you kissed him yet, Rosie?" Dominique squinted from her seat in Cassidee's lap.

More peals of laughter echoed. Yes. "No," I answered. I scrunched up my nose. "I don't see what you guys are on about anyway. He's not that good looking." Liar.

"Liar," Deirdre accused, "I caught you staring at him a few times in sixth year. You know damn well he's fit."

I giggled. "He is, a tiny bit," I admitted.

"It's the hair," Alice said. "It always looks just a tiny bit tussled. Not outright messy, like Albus' and James' hair, but just like he's run his fingers through it a moment before."

All of us nodded a bit reverently before realizing how ridiculous that was and dissolving into more laughter.

Lily looked at me mischievously. "Rosie," she said, "You should owl Scorpius."

I frowned in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

"Because," said Lily, "You haven't kissed him! You should kiss him at least once before the wedding. What if he's a horrible kisser?"

I giggled vaguely. If only she knew.

"No way," said Lucy. "Have you heard how many girls he's been with? No way he's a bad kisser. He'll have learned how to do it properly by now."

I scowled. "I don't want to talk about how many girls he's been with," I said.

The girls settled down a bit. "Do you think you could ever have feelings for him?" I couldn't tell who the question came from.

"Yes." My answer was immediate, the question barely registering before my mouth opened and I had answered. I slapped a hand over my mouth.

The girls ooh'd and aww'd for a moment before beginning to talk about something else. Their conversation was lost on me for what seemed like a long time before I finally stood up, the room spinning just a little bit. "I have something I need to do," I said, though the others didn't seem to be sober enough to pay attention anymore.

I left the room and walked down to the pub, which was still open but steadily emptying out. I went over to Hannah, the barmaid who owned the place. "Hannah," I slurred. She looked over at me. "Can I use your owl?"

Hannah nodded and handed me some parchment with a smile, murmuring something that I missed in my drunken stupor. I scribbled my message quickly and then folded it, handing it back to her to send. "For Scorpius Malfoy," I said.

Time to wait.

2 October 2023

Malfoy,

I don't want to wait forever to get started on this project. Meet me in the Room of Requirement after dinner. If you don't show up I'll do it myself and tell Professor Hargreaves that I was forced to do so.

R. Weasley

That damned Ancient Runes project. Our continued failure to get the runes to work properly. Our twice-weekly after hours liaisons in the Room of Requirement to get them to work. That's what started this whole mess.

Whispered secrets in dark corners where we couldn't be seen or heard. Fears and insecurities laid bare for the other to see. Promises made in the quiet of the night. Secret smiles shared when no one else was watching.

Secrets shared when I wasn't near enough to stop them. Fears and insecurities exploited for entertainment. Promises broken during the daylight. Darkness hiding behind the sparkle in his eyes.

Kisses on my lips, my cheek, my neck, my forehead, my shoulders. Soft hands holding me firmly and comfortably. Arms wrapped around my waist. My name whispered like an oath.

Hour-long showers for weeks on end to clean him off of me, only for the smell of his cologne to linger on some shirt I forgot to wash or in one of my favorite scrunchies.

"I slept with someone else." A stab in my chest as I saw the truth in his eyes. It was a cruel joke, but there was no laughter. Only the cold feeling that replaced the blood in my veins. "Do you think you can ever forgive me?"

I covered my eyes as I watched the confrontation, my other self still reeling from the revelation. Trying to find the strength to believe that he was lying to me. The alternative was too much to bear.

"No." My voice came out as icy as my veins. "You're a monster, Scorpius. You should have thought about how sorry you were when you were screwing someone else. I hate you." I turned and walked away, willing away my tears.

I watched him now, my other self long gone. He hit the ground, falling on his knees. His face wasn't expressionless like normal; now there was pain and anguish like I had never seen before. It looked just like mine had moments before.

"I'm sorry, Rose."

I woke with a start, my heart hammering in my chest and my eyes filled with tears. I hadn't thought about that night in so long; I'd wanted to put it behind me. I thought I had.

It took me a moment to take in my surroundings. I wasn't in my bed, nor was I in the bed at the Leaky Cauldron. My head pounded as I tried to remember the night before. I remembered talking to the girls, getting drunk, talking about Scorpius. Then I remembered drinking more and going downstairs to do something. I couldn't remember what I had gone to do, but it was important.

I looked around. I was covered by a thick, grey blanket. I checked underneath; all of my clothes from the night before remained on.

The room that I was in didn't have much in it. There were a few Quidditch posters, some diagrams of things that I couldn't quite understand, a dresser, and an armchair. The armchair sat back, like someone had just gotten out of it, and there was a curled up blanket there. The sky outside the window was still pitch black, and I was sure it was still the wee hours of the night.

Before I could get up to check, the water abruptly stopped and a door opened. Steam rushed into the room, and I quickly laid back down and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. I needed to assess my surroundings before I could figure out the best way to proceed.

I could hear the person come into the room, mumbling to themselves too lowly for me to understand what they were saying. My heart shot to my throat as I recognized the voice.

I'm in Scorpius Malfoy's bed.

Why am I in Scorpius Malfoy's bed?

I heard Scorpius sigh and I turned toward him. "What happened last night?" I asked. "Did we-?"

"No," Scorpius interrupted. "I slept in the chair."

"Thank you," I mumbled.

"Rose, we need to talk about this."

I sighed. "I don't remember how I ended up here. Or anything really. I remember being at the Leaky. I remember walking downstairs. I don't even remember what happened once I made it to the bottom of the steps."

"You owled me, Rose." I nodded. "Your writing was barely legible, and what I could make out seemed like utter nonsense. Thank Merlin that Hannah had the sense to write where you were on the back of the parchment, or I would have been worried sick. I came and got you instead. By then your friends were all passed out upstairs and you didn't want to disturb them, so you asked to come home with me."

I froze. I asked to come home with him?

Scorpius looked down at his hands, playing with his fingers instead of looking up at her. "You tried to kiss me, Rose. And then when I said no you started going on about sixth year, asking if I thought you were fit, asking why-" He stopped. "Look, I just want to know if you're alright."

I bunched the comforter up in my hands, fisting it and then letting it go every couple of seconds. I looked up at him. "What did you tell me?"

Scorpius' eyes snapped up to meet mine incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

"You said that I asked why. What did you tell me?"

Scorpius looked guilty for a moment. "I told you that I did it because I was stupid and jealous and I wasn't thinking," he said. "The same as I told you back then."

I nodded, feeling hollow on the inside, before standing. "Thank you for taking me here and letting me sleep in your bed. Now, if you could be so kind, please take me home so my parents don't wake up to find me missing."