Okay, so this entire chapter was literally meant to be a total of maybe two paragraphs of a much larger chapter, but I kept writing and writing because I loved the conversation the characters were having so much. That happens sometimes.
I feel like every chapter I do something new to smear the good name of the Weasley's and Potter's, but I can't help it. I think if you've been reading fanfic long enough, you see a lot of the same tropes happen over and over with the same characters, so there's a conniving little thing in me that says, "How about we ruin that?". I promise everything is for good reason, and everyone will be redeemed at the end of it (… or will they?).
This chapter is dialogue heavy but I think it's very telling. I hope you guys like it!
I've included, at the bottom of the chapter, some new songs and a Spotify playlist that includes all the songs from previous chapters made by like the coolest reader:
youveforgotten
xoxoxo
—-
"At a glance…
You had me in a trance
Baby, they're selling you romance
I just need one chance
Could you be..?
Muh-muh-muh My Amortenia
Muh-muh-muh My Amortenia
Muh-muh-m-"
"Al…why on earth do you have that playing right now?" Rose cracked her eyes open. The small beam of light from an unfortunate crack in the curtains was blinding her. Her head pounded. She definitely had too much to drink the night before.
"Iss not me Rosie, I'm not even out of bed yet." croaked Al, she could barely make out his form across the room.
"..Mart?" called out Rose, hoarsely
There was small "mfph?" from the bathroom. The song still carried on, loudly.
"I'll take that as a no… Malfoy?" she croaked again, sitting upright. Her words spun slightly. Was she still drunk?
"I'm…honestly offended you are even asking me, Weasley…" came an equally hoarse voice fully cemented beneath a mountain of pillows
"I think it's coming from the neighbors…" said Al, turning over in bed, pulling the covers over his head. He was right. As she woke, she could feel her body adjusting to the surrounding environment. The song was definitely coming from the street below.
"So…loud…" Marty said weakly from the bathroom. She scanned the small apartment, realizing with a sigh, that it was going to be up to her to find the true source of the nuisance, and put an end to it.
She hobbled out of bed, using the crack of light in the curtains to guide her towards the window. She thrust them open, to a truly satisfying chorus of protests from her present company, and wiggled the window open.
To her equal horror and amusement, standing in the streets below was an exquisitely dressed, part-veela imp, holding what looked liked her grandfathers old WW set. It was currently blasting a sound that had plagued Rose for the past two years, and probably would for many more years to come. My Amortenia.
"Jesus christ, Louis! Are you mad?" she shouted down at the street below.
"Your song is on the radio! Did you know?" he said smiling brightly, raising the set above his head.
"Of course it's on the radio! Where have you been? Can you please turn it down?! Actually- can you shut it off completely?" she yelled, "And where did you find that thing?"
"I went for a quick antique this morning!" he shouted, "Wait- this is my favorite part!" and turned the volume knob up, the song playing louder still.
"Muh-muh-muh My Amortenia!
Muh-muh-muh My Amortenia!
Muh-muh-"
"You're a twat, Lou!" shouted Rose over the booming tune.
"Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you!" he cackled.
Rose was not proud of the slew of expletives that came forth from her mouth in the following moments. She should have known this would only egg Louis on further. He set the box down and danced a precocious little jig round it. Much to the delight of a group of madams sitting at the cafe next door.
She knew she had to wait it out-till he had his fill of fun. She rested her still pounding head on the sill of the window. Finally, mercifully the song came to an end and he turned the wireless set off.
"I've come to have breakfast with you" he called up, after kissing the cheeks of his aforementioned audience and grabbing the coin off the street someone had tossed his way during the performance. He smiled with glee.
"Lou, it's too early" Rose sighed, lifting her head off the sill and glaring down at him.
"It's almost noon, dearie", he countered. Rose peeked her head back into the darkened room in search of a clock. 11:48. Damn. They had had too much to drink last night.
"We are in no state to receive guests right now, Lou" she called back down, weakly.
Louis then sprouted a large white bag from his person, holding it up as one would a fresh kill. A local shop, probably being the closest thing he would ever come to a hunting range.
"Pâtisseries?" he cooed, wiggling the bag teasingly. Rose thought for a moment about turning him away. Her mirth still very much directed towards him in light of her hangover and her rather inconvenient wake-up call.
But then she considered the lack of delicious french pastries she currently had in their tiny apartment and she thought better of it.
"…I'll buzz you in."
—
Rose opened the remainder of the windows and flicked her wand, the lights in the space moving from a pitch black, to a dim warmth.
"Mart…you okay in there?" she called to the bathroom. A resounding silence signaled to her that he had most likely fallen back asleep.
"Louis is on his way up." she said to the two sleeping forms. Two muffled grunts were all she got in response.
When the boy finally made his way up to their room, Rose had the coffee brewing and was attending to the messages of the day, marking their schedules in a planner she had charmed to transcribe her voice and be able to read it back to her.
"I'm here and I love you!" sang Louis, spinning with pastry bags in hand as he made his way through the door. Rose shushed him.
"You're going to wake up the boys.." she chastised.
"Oh my goodness, Mum.." teased Louis, setting his bag on the table. A mussy, dark head popped up from the bed.
"Do I smell sweets?" Al called out.
"See? You've disturbed the children." said Rose, dryly. grabbing a glistening chocolate looking tart and practically devouring it. It was heavenly.
"I've got a petit four with your name on it" hummed Louis. Al made his way gingerly out of bed, taking his blanket with him round his shoulders like a cape.
"Is there coffee?" he said, sitting down, using his free hand to grab a sugar-dusted palmier.
Without looking up from her planner, Rose flicked her wand again and a steaming mug floated towards Al.
"You're an angel" he said, taking a large gulp and wincing slightly, "Shit-hot. Got any pepper-up on you, Rose? I feel like I've been run over by a train."
"No," she quipped, "You've used-up my stock. I'll have to find an apotho and pick up some more."
Al sighed, and shook open the paper Louis had grabbed on his way up.
"Can you read that? It's in French!" laughed Rose.
He lightly lifted his wand and tapped the page, the words translating momentarily. He sent a smug smile her way. She rolled her eyes.
Louis leaned over and yanked on Rose's hair lightly, "What's with the plaits? You look like a school girl."
"Ow, geez" she smarted, smacking his hand away, "Why are you being such a pest? Did mummy not tell you you were special enough when you were younger? Let me be- I'm working."
"Mmm- what's that like?" he baited, batting his eye lashes at her and resting his head in his palms.
She stared at him deadpan, "It fills me with a deep, deep sense of pride. Something you wouldn't understand."
"No need to be facetious, darling.", a quirk of an eyebrow. "Some of us just aren't cut out for…jobs!"
"He's right, you know?" interjected Al after a moment, his mouth full of pastry, "You do look like a school-girl."
"Don't you two have better things to talk about?" sighed Rose, scribbling another task down in a time slot.
"Ooh! Let's discuss last night. Where did you all head after we parted ways? Philipe's? Chambre Des Secrets?
"We went home." said Rose, incredulously.
"Probably to scrub off all that glitter, oui? You and Sco-"
"-Al will you please share the paper and shut him up?" said Rose, quickly. She had foggy recollections of the previous night. One of them being an eery implication due in part to the nature of said glitter.
Al wordlessly handed a group of papers to Louis.
"The Calendar section! You do know me…" he grabbed, and thankfully became completely engrossed in the gossip and glitterati of the day.
Mart finally made his way out of the bathroom, looking truly haggard. He grumbled a hello, grabbed one of Louis' offerings and flopped back down in a bed. After a moment his light snores could be heard from across the room.
Rose chuckled lightly, and spoke lowly to her planner, "Robe fitting, 3:30pm - Bijoux & Bisset…finalize wardrobe for summer shoot…confirm set list with Andre for tomorrow's show…"
She paused, double checking details "6pm…dinner with Tom, Ouef Du Dragon." another pause, "And mystery guest…"
"Why're you going to dinner with Tom?" asked Albus, suddenly. A slight edge in his voice.
"Keep your hair on. He just wants me to meet with someone…and I'm going to talk about getting you boys to America. To perform." she paused, "You're welcome, by the way."
"Sorry, I've just got such a splitting head ache right now.." he said pinching his brows. "America would be brill. Thank-you."
"If the rest of the tour goes well, we could be state side in less than a month." she said, excitedly. "Also, just confirmed you're booked to go on with with Bugsy & Sauterelle tomorrow AM for WWN France."
"Wow, that's massive" said Louis, looking up from his paper.
"…said the actress to the bishop…" said Rose, with a wink, but then proudly said. "I know. They're going to be great."
All of a sudden, a half growl, half yell could be heard from across the room from underneath a mountain of pillows.
"Fucking christ, Mart- Could you snore any louder?!" shouted Scorpius. A pillow could be seen launched from one bed, nailing the perpetrator square in the face. The soft snore ceased momentarily, but returned seconds later. Marty was out.
Another half growl/half yell came across the room as Scorpius flung himself out of bed, stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door.
The party sitting at the table widened their eyes in amusement. Scorpius was decidedly not a morning person.
"What a man.." sighed Louis, dreamily.
This caused Albus to snort his coffee though his nose and send Rose into a fit of giggles. The shower water could abruptly be heard running from behind the recently slammed door.
The trio resumed their morning proceedings with relative calm until Louis made a rather inappropriate comment about soap suds, shower heads and Scorpius, that sent the other two into gales of laughter punctuated by "Louis!" and "Stop!". This pattern continued.
When Scorpius finally made his way out of the bathroom, in a tolerably better mood, the three were wiping tears from their eyes.
"I'm glad you can all have a good laugh at my expense," he said sardonically, ripping a croissant in two and waving his wand to bring himself a mug of coffee to the table.
"I'm sorry…" said Rose, still trying to recover from the laughing fit she had just experienced. "You're just such a horrid, little beast in the mornings. You deserve it."
"I'll remember that…" he said tightly, but he was smiling, "Anyone have the Quidditch pages?"
Al wordlessly handed him the requested papers. The room was momentarily enveloped in a quiet calmness, punctuated by the turning of pages, crunches of pastry and Rose softly placing reminders into her planner.
A sharp gasp from Louis cut the calm, "C'est pas vrai! Scandalous…" he said mischievously, referring to something on the page in front of him.
"What is it?" questioned Rose, wryly. After a lifetime in the limelight, she found herself frequently unbothered by the machinations of the press.
He dramatically turned around the paper, showing the table what appeared to be a dripping cascade of pink and red hearts around a title that read UNE AFFAIRE DE FAMILLE and a handful of candid shots. The majority of which seemed to be heavily featuring Lily…
Oh. And Rose and Scorpius.
There was a sharp crash, suddenly. Scorpius, who had waved another cup of coffee over to the table, had seemingly lost focus upon seeing the spread. The beverage and it's ceramic holder had not survived.
"Shit-" he said softly, waving his wand and cleaning up the mess.
"What does it say?!" she asked, her amused tone masking the slight anxious tremor in her voice. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt nervous…
"It says…" Louis started theatrically, "A Family Affair…The twisted love triangle of the Wizarding Worlds 'Golden Family'…Spotted in the Marias Thursday morning… An inebriated Rose Weasley (daughter of the Head of Internal Magical Affairs; Hermione Thomas nee Weasley, and the late Ronald Weasley) sleeps in the arms of her long-time beau- Their words, not mine- Scorpius Malfoy (Son of Draco Malfoy, a Senior Partner at the International Magical Office of Law)…"
The picture beneath the statement was a slow moving black and white image, from the morning they had spent locked out of their hotel room. In the image, Rose's head was resting serenely on Scorpius's shoulder. There wasn't much to go off of in terms of romance, it clearly was a very platonic exchange. When all of a sudden, the image shifted. Scorpius moved his arm and placed it around her shoulder. To her utmost horror, the sleeping Rose in the image smiled and snuggled into the crook of his neck. She could have vomited. Thankfully, Scorpius's face was masked by the darkness of the photo, so no one could see his, most likely, extremely embarrassed expression. The motion capture continued to repeat itself.
She could feel her cheeks starting to turn red, "I was not inebriated…And it's Hermione Granger-Thomas. She's the bloody Head of Internal Affairs…they could at least get her name right.."
"It continues!" shouted Louis, unfazed, "But it seems as if there may be trouble in paradise…Mr. Malfoy is pictured here with girlfriend, Rose Weasley and her cousin; the illustrious Lily Potter (Daughter of Head Auror and war hero, Harry Potter) at La Magie, yesterday evening…As soon as Miss Weasley leaves for the night, Malfoy can be seen chatting and dancing the evening away with the coquettish cousin…Here they are pictured leaving the club together.
"So ridiculous…" said Scorpius chuckling, "I was helping her into a car. Weasley was right behind me…It's-..Just-" he seemed almost flustered.
"I'm not done!" interrupted Louis, "Readers…What do you think? Will this Broken Trio cause a irreparable rift in the Potter Weasley families? Is ScorRose meant to be or is it time for the White Knight to move on to something a little more exciting? Cast your votes down below… And below here is a little poll! How clever…"
Rose yanked the paper away from him, so she could have a look at it herself. True to Louis' word, at the bottom of the page was a pink fluctuating chart. Two bars were periodically rising and falling in live time. At the top of each bar was a picture; one of Lily, flipping her hair and smiling at the camera, the other of Rose grimacing at the camera flashing in her face.
The chart was hilariously in favor of Lily. Something Rose may have been offended by, if she wasn't supremely accustomed to it.
Scorpius moved to bring his previously fractured cup to the sink. As he passed behind her, he leaned and looked at the paper over her shoulder.
"Well…should we add it to our collection?" he teased. Their eyes met briefly. She knew this was as awkward for him as it was for her. It always was. There was an immense sense of comfort in that. She reached up and pinched his cheek lightly.
"How could they think-a this of-a my BEAUTIFUL boy-a?" she exclaimed, releasing his cheek and patting it lightly.
He laughed, throwing his hands in the air and moving to the kitchen, "But Ma-aaa!"
"I've never got that joke…" said Al, moodily. He had been uncharacteristically quiet during the reading.
"You wouldn't.." they both said, quietly.
"Oh, by the way," said Scorpius, coming back from kitchen and moving behind her, "We can't let Lily get a fat head" he took his wand out and tapped Rose's picture on the paper. Her bar jumped up marginally. "Well…a fatter head than she already has."
Rose laughed, "Thank-you, White Knight."
He sat across from her at the table and raised his other half of croissant in solidarity. Rose was thankful for the presence of the other two at the table. She imagined their mutual mortification would have been amplified if there was no one there to bounce an offhanded comment or clever joke off of. They seemed to always work much better with an audience.
The paper was snatched suddenly from her.
"It's just gross, you know?" said Al, in an agitated voice. He was seemingly not handling his hangover very well, "You guys are like brother and sister…" He tossed the paper back to Louis, who was currently disengaged in the present conversation completely, and pouring over the next salacious story.
"It just pisses me off…they can just say whatever they want and get away with it. Like, what if your mum saw this Rose?"
"I think she'd be fine, Al. I think she'd mostly be impressed I was able to keep a full-on relationship secret for this long.."
"Still- It just really pisses me off…fuck-my fucking head is pounding." he said, getting up suddenly and pulling a dark amber bottle from his trunk. He sat back down and poured a hefty helping of it into his coffee.
"Al- it's barely past noon," she said, her voice heavy with disapproval. She could smell the contents of the bottle from where she was seated. It was medical-grade.
"Rose, my head is literally pounding. I can barely open my eyes." he said glaring at her, "Plus, you don't have any pepper-up, so what else am I going to do?" his voice turned dark.
That was the thing with Al…He'd be bright and burgeoning one moment, and then without any warning he'd turn on you, or whoever else was his desired target. Thankfully, by this point, she knew how to deal with him.
"Do whatever you want, Al. I'm just here to make sure you can do your job." She challenged, icily.
"I'm fine, love" he said in an equally icy tone, "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself." he gestured to the abandoned leaflet. The dripping hearts, aiding in the effect of his mockery.
Louis, sensing the tension, said loftily, "The most delicious thing of all…is that I know where Lily rest her pretty, little head that night"
"Everyone knows, Lou." said Rose, "She's been touting her relationship with Monsieur Leo for months now."
Louis smiled, cockily. "Leo's more of a…play thing for her. No, this man is the most secret of secrets…"
Rose quirked an eyebrow up, "Then tell us."
Louis' smile widened, "Oh-it's just so delicious. I shouldn't even tell you.."
"Do you want us to beg? Is that what you want?" said Rose, playing into his game.
"So-oooo juicy…" he cried, clasping his hands together.
"You know what, we have to get to a fitting-" she started.
"Okay fine. You're no fun. I'll tell you." he sighed, "Let's just say…baby Potter has been spending a lot of time at…Château du Lupin."
He leaned back in his chair as he waited for the bomb to drop. For a moment, there was only silence. Rose's mouth had dropped all the way open. Albus sighed and took the opportunity to pour another large helping of the amber liquid in his coffee. Scorpius was the first to speak.
"No…bloody…way" he said, shaking his head slowly.
"Teddy?!" shouted Rose, finally finding her voice.
"Isn't that the most delectable piece of information you've heard all day?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.
"She's so mental. I can't fucking believe it…" said Al, but there was almost a hint of a smile on his face. Rose could relate. The shock and scandal of it was almost too good.
"How long has he been in Paris?" she asked, still completely bewildered.
"Since the divorce. He came here to hide from the family…but instead" he said, grinning wickedly, "He decided to hide in family."
Rose screeched, "Oh my god, LOU!" she said covering her eyes and cackling.
Al decided then to ditch the chaser and go straight for the bottle.
"Yeah, speaking of-", said Scorpius, turning to Al, "How are you okay with this, but you're scandalized by the thought of Weasley and I sharing more than a friendly handshake?"
"I don't have to see my sister every day, now do I?" he countered, "Also, Teddy's not family. He and Lily barely spent any time together growing up. Maybe a camping trip or two. He was out of Hogwarts before she even got there, if you recall."
"I gather, Lou's spent more 'brotherly' time with Ted, than Lil has.." mused Rose.
"And that too!" accused Scorpius, now turning on Louis "This is your sisters ex-husband…who's now banging your cousin… Have you no family loyalty?"
"Can I just say…I love it when you get aggressive with me…" he purred, flicking Scorpius on the nose, "But no, my loyalty lies with the juiciest gossip, the hottest tea, the most beautiful man. If it's not exciting, I don't care for it. It's just how I was born…" he flipped an invisible mane of hair behind him.
Scorpius shook his head, but he was fighting off a smile. Louis was too charming for his own good.
"I cannot wait for someone to find out about this," sighed Albus, "This will be the thing that finally makes everyone in the family forget I even exist. That will be a family dinner that will go down in history…I hope she gets knocked up."
"Albus Potter, you're awful!" said Rose, swatting him with the remaining newspaper.
"I'm joking…sort of-" he laughed…The desired effect of his pepper-up 'substitute' was happening. Rose noticed this, with a bit of a sinking feeling, but brushed it off. "But can you imagine! 'Mummy…Daddy…I'm carrying your godson's child.' It would be too good."
"Wow…" said Scorpius, looking up at the ceiling momentarily and rubbing his face. "Lily and Teddy…So mental…"
"Honestly, you guys…" said Rose, sheepishly, recalling a time, many summers ago, where she herself had an… awakening, in a sense, after seeing Teddy come in from playing a family Quidditch game; sweaty and ruddy cheeked…she hadn't been able to look him in the eye for months after that…, "I would…"
"Would what?!" asked Scorpius, as Louis burst into laughter.
"Like" she said, biting her lip and widening her eyes pointedly, "I would."
"Ted is a whole meal" said Louis, wistfully, "I would too"
"Now that's Une Affaire De Famille!" shouted Al, and the apartment rang with their hysterics.
—-
Soon it was time for Louis to leave. They woke up Marty and made moves to get ready for their fitting across town. It was back to the insanity of their lives. Of meetings, and scheduling, and managing and all the other simple nonsenses, that made this lifestyle operate.
She felt a twinge in her heart. She knew they would only be in Paris for another week. She had loved being able to see Louis, and even Lily. She could feel herself already starting to miss them. A feeling she really hated.
She contented herself to thinking of her thankfulness for the three boys she had been put in charge of. At least she had them to go on this crazy adventure with her. She didn't know what she would do without them, or what she would do if anything happened to them…
She felt a safe sense of knowing where they all stood. The role that each of them played…But as the boys got dressed and Rose cleaned up their mess from breakfast, she was acutely aware that the page containing the alleged evidence of her and Scorpius's romantic entanglements was no where to be found…
—-
Lily and Teddy? Don't you kind of see it? Don't hate me! If you're a die-hard TeddyxVic fan pretty, please don't come for me! I love them too.
Sorry if this chapter felt a little stagnant in terms of plot. Next chapter, a huge device gets revealed.
Chapter 4 Playlist
Fais Pas Ci Fais Pas Ca - Jaques Dutronc
Sisi La Fami - L'Eclair
Imagination - Rosentwig
Short chapter, short playlist! Here is the link to the Spotify! playlist/4S729QzMNbw2a5hWPoUE4s
Thank you again to youveforgotten you are so, so cool!
xoxoxoxo