Disclaimer: None of this story is mine and I'm making no profit from it.
A/N: Sorry for the lack of Scorose in this story guys. But what can I say, it's a slow burner.
Chapter 9:
I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. Which was odd, because I was pretty sure you couldn't get a hangover from hot chocolate.
I opened my eyes, only to screw them tightly shut again. Sunlight was streaming into the room, which was ridiculous because the curtains should have been closed and it was far too early to be being woken up on a Saturday morning.
At that moment, the bathroom door opened and I opened my eyes to watch Dom appear, her hair wrapped in a towel and her eyes alight with excitement.
"Oh good, Rose, you're awake." She said, jumping on the bed. "I can't wait for today."
I frowned, giving her a blank stare. She rolled her eyes.
"Really Rose, you have the memory of a Cornish Dragon, how have you forgotten this?" She told me, letting her hair down and beginning to dry it with her wand. "We're going for dress fittings with Vic today!"
Oops. I had completely forgotten. Honestly, I would have much-preferred spending my day eating chocolates and feeling sorry for myself and my current life situation. But, seeing how excited Dom was, I decided not to be the one to put a damper on her mood.
"Oh yeah!" I beamed, dragging myself out of bed and heading into the bathroom. "I can't wait to see what Vic'll choose for us."
In the shower, my headache and sleeplessness slowly began to wash away and I saw the day before in a sudden clarity. I had gotten married. To Scorpius Malfoy.
What in Merlin's saggy left testicle was the ministry thinking? It was insane.
Oh Merlin, I pressed the heel of my hands against my eyes as if this were all a dream I could wake up from. But the hot shower water stayed on my back and my predicament remained a weight on my shoulders- I wasn't sleeping.
And, we all knew what the second step was... babies.
A wave of nausea hit me and I began to sway on my feet. How long had they given us again?
Three years?
Perhaps this whole stupid law would be overturned before the three years were up. Maybe we would never have to reach that point. I prayed we would never have to reach that point.
I turned off the shower, cast a drying spell over myself and dressed quickly. Suddenly thankful for Vic and her dress fitting. I definitely needed a distraction today.
The Great Hall was surprisingly busy for 9 O clock on a weekend. But I was grateful for it as I slid into the Gryffindor table between Lily and Alice.
Noone mentioned my recent... contract with a certain blonde haired Slytherin. I was grateful for that, too. Even Hugo kept quiet about it, and he usually had no tact. The chatter at the table was centred around what dresses Vic would have picked for us. So, naturally, I let myself zone out of the conversation.
I can't lie, of course. Usually, the prospect of being a bridesmaid and wearing a pretty dress and spending the day with my cousins would have excited me. But, well, current events had put a bit of a damper on my spirit.
Not to mention the stress of exams was getting to me. With all that was going on, I had less time for studying than I had hoped. That wasn't doing much for my state of mind.
Or my hair, actually. Which somehow seemed to get even frizzier when I was stressed.
"Rose," Hugo nudged my shoulder, dragging me out of my thoughts.
"What?" I replied, turning to look at him, only to see that his focus was trained on something past my shoulder. I frowned, spinning around where I sat to see Lorcan making his way over to us.
Shit, I thought. Oh Merlin, this was not going to be an easy conversation.
"Hi Rose," he greeted, I shot back the warmest smile I could possibly muster.
"Hi." The word tasted false in my mouth. I was pretending nothing was wrong. Like we weren't both married to different people. Not to mention I had been kind of neglecting him recently.
To be fair to myself, though, I had been neglecting everyone. Not just him.
"I was wondering if we could take a walk around the Lake today, we haven't been spending much time together recently."
"Yeah! That would be-" I cast a look behind me at Dom, silently cursing my quick mouth and slow memory. "Wait, no, sorry. I can't... we're going to try on our bridesmaids dresses for Vic's wedding."
For a moment I saw the crestfallen look in his eyes and a stab of guilt when through me.
"I'm really sorry Lorcan-"
"No, it's fine Rose," he forced a smile. "I'll see you soon, though?"
"Yeah definitely," I replied, squeezing his hand as he turned and left. As soon as he was out of the Great Hall, I turned back to the table and put my head in my hands. "Great," I complained aloud to my family. "Now my husband and my boyfriend hate me." It was supposed to be a little bit funny, but the reality of it hit me like a tonne of bricks.
Well, I thought, Wave goodbye to your love life Rose.
"Alright girls," Dom began, standing up. "Let's get going before Rose wallows in self-pity for so long she can't get out."
I rolled my eyes, but joined her anyway, rising to my feet. Together, me, Dom, Lily and Lucy left the great hall for Gryffindor tower. Where we used the floo network once more, honestly, I had been flooing in and out of Hogwarts so often recently that it hardly even made me dizzy anymore.
One moment, I was standing in the Gryffindor common room fireplace. Next, I was tumbling out into the leaky cauldron. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the dark, musty interior of the old pub. But eventually, my vision focused and I saw that Fleur and Vic had already arrived. When they saw me, they rushed over to help me brush the soot off myself.
"Rose, my dear," Fleur took me into a tight hug after apparently deciding I was cleaned off enough.
"Hi Aunt Fleur, it's good to see you," I replied, hearing my cousins floo into the room behind me.
"Eet is good to see you too, my dear." She returned my sentiment, but she was already rushing off, tutting over Dom and her sooty hair.
"Don't mind her," Vic told me, engulfing me in a lavender-scented hug. "She's just stressed at the moment, what with /both/ of her daughters getting married around the same time."
I nodded, watching as Dom brushed her mother off and rolled her eyes. "How about you," I asked Vic. "Are you stressed?"
"No," Vic replied, flicking her impossibly long strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulder and adopting a dreamy tone in her voice. "I'm just... happy. Me and Teddy are so happy."
She did look happy. Her baby bump wasn't yet visible, but there was definitely something different. Her skin was sort of... glowing. If that's possible? I'm not sure.
Just then, the door to the Leaky Cauldron opened and Molly and Roxy walked inside. Receiving a loud greeting from the Weasleys already here and a squeal and a hug from Lucy.
"My dears! Eet ees lovely to see you!" Fleur greeted the two new arrivals, hugging them briefly, before turning and heading in the direction of the entrance to Diagon Alley. "I am sorry, but we must hurry on. I 'ave so much to do today." She explained over her shoulder.
I shared a look with Dom, who only raised her eyebrows before catching up with her mother. The rest of us trailed behind, chatting and catching up as Fleur tapped her wand on the correct bricks and revealed Diagon alley to us.
No matter how many time I visited, I always got a little high of excitement out of coming here.
We walked down to near the end of the street where one of Vic's own clothes shop chains was placed. With this and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it seemed it wouldn't be long before my family had taken over the whole street.
The day went by in a whirlwind of frills and skirts and excitement. The dresses Vic had picked out for us were, naturally, gorgeous. Who would expect anything less from a fashion designer?
We even got to see her try on the wedding dress she was making for herself. Even half-finished it was pretty stunning.
So when me and my family finally bundled into the Great Hall again, we were all buzzing. Buzzing from the day out, but also buzzing for what awaited us the next day. A wedding of massive proportions, as Dom had been telling us all day.
She'd been describing it more like one big party, instead of a wedding. But I wasn't about to complain. With everything going on, Merlin knew I needed a distraction. I couldn't wait to just let loose.
Well, not too loose. My whole family would be there. I couldn't even get that drunk... not with my parents about.
I squeezed in between my brother and Lily on the Gryffindor table, before my eyes- against my better judgement- flicked over the Slytherin table, where they made contact with the last person I wanted to think about right now.
Okay... maybe I would have to get a bit drunk.
The next morning I was woken- once again- by an excited Dom. But this time I was pretty sure I knew why.
"It's my wedding day!" My cousin squealed as she sat on me and shook my shoulders.
"I know," I laughed, wriggling to get free from underneath her weight. She rolled off and bounced around the small dorm room.
"What time is the ceremony again?" I asked her, dragging myself up into a sitting position.
"It starts at two at the Burrow, but we're all going at 10 to help get it ready and all." She responded, a dreamy look in her eyes as she played with the ends of her strawberry-blonde hair.
I frowned and checked my watch, "It's nearly 10 now," I told her.
"Really?" She asked, "oh well... we better get going then."
I got up and changed quickly, eager to see all of my family again and to start doing something. I knew my mind wandered when it wasn't busy, and a wandering mind wasn't something I needed right now.
Dom dragged me through the castle at a pace I wouldn't have thought was humanly possible. We arrived at the Gryffindor common room in no time. And, before I knew what was happening, I was stumbling out into the burrow of the kitchen and Dom was stumbling in behind me.
Usually, I would be greeted by my family. Or... at least my mum and dad would stop what they were doing and come to talk to me.
Today, though, it seemed there was something more important on everyone else's minds. Molly was bustling- well, it was more like charging- around the kitchen, brandishing a wooden spoon at anyone who vaguely got in her way.
Meanwhile, I could hear my dad yelling upstairs. Which I figured was probably something to do with the ghoul in the attic.
My mum was also in the kitchen, putting up decorations with her wand at an almost alarming speed. Though, it seemed like everyone else was in the garden.
"Hi mum," I said, as I walked past her and towards the door.
"Oh, hi Rosie," she returned, not even taking her eyes from her decorating.
"Hi Aunt Hermione," Dom greeted too.
"Oh, hello Dom dear," was the offhand response, whilst Nanna Weasley appeared to have not heard either of us.
I smiled, this was the kind of chaos I loved.
Just as we went for the door, it burst open- and there Fred and James stood. Each carrying about five dresses under plastic covers and sweating visibly.
"Aunt Fleur!" James called, despite his heavy panting.
In reply, Fleur came running down the stairs. "There you are!" She scolded, hurriedly taking the dresses from them. "I sent you boys to get ze dresses hours ago." Fred opened his mouth as if to argue, but Fleur had already disappeared up the stairs again, dragging Dom with her.
I snorted at the dumbfounded look on my cousins' faces and followed them as they left the building. They rolled their eyes in exasperation. "She only sent us about 30 minutes ago," Fred told me, only making me grin wider.
Most of the rest of my family- and Byron- were using magic to put up a white marquee in front of the house- a task led by Ginny. They didn't break their concentration as we walked up.
"Mum," James greeted.
"Yes, what is it James?" came the redhead's strained response.
"What can we do to help?"
"Well," Ginny responded, casting a quick look over her shoulder as she thought. "You could go get the tables out of the barn."
And off we went to the barn, wands at the ready.
The next few hours were a blur of faces and yelling and chores. Somewhere around 12 O Clock, I was dragged off by Fleur to a room near the top of the house. Dom and Alice- her only other bridesmaid- were there. Vic was there too, but she was just helping with styling Alice's hair.
Dom wasn't even dressed. So Merlin knows what she had been doing for the last two hours. I mean, her hair and makeup were done. And I suppose she'd had a shower. But that can't have taken two hours, right?
Fleur plonked me down on the bed and busied herself with my untameable mass of hair. I sort of felt sorry for her. She kept tutting to herself and muttering words in French, which of course, Dom and Vic understood, but I didn't.
I think she was probably swearing though, judging by the look on her face.
My hair was tugged this way and that by Aunt Fleur's wand. And when- twenty minutes later- she stepped back to admire her handiwork and smiled triumphantly, my eyes were watering from the pain.
Seriously, no hair, however nice, was worth the torment.
Fleur lifted up a mirror and held it up in front of my face and I couldn't help the way my eyebrows shot up into my hairline in surprise.
I looked different- so- different. My hair was half up, half down, but all smooth. Smooth?! That was not a word I had ever used to describe my hair before. But it was.
Not completely straight, it was still kind of curly, but there was no frizz in sight.
I allowed myself to grin up at my aunt. "Thank you," I told her.
"You look wonderful, Rose," she told me, causing a blush to spread across my cheeks. Because, well, I did feel sort of wonderful. "Now, Victoire, do her Makeup whilst I help your sister with her dress."
Dom perked up at this and jumped up from where she'd been sitting as Victoire turned her concentration on me and my face.
Roughly an hour and a half later, it was 2 O clock and I was standing outside the marquee with my cousins, waiting to greet the guests and show them to their seats. Dom was still upstairs, since she was the bride, obviously.
Hugo stood next to me, fidgeting with his tie and shifting from foot to foot. I tutted and slapped his hand away, tucking his tie back into his dress robes where it was supposed to be.
"What's up?" I asked, brushing off some grass which had somehow found its way onto his shoulder. "Why are you so fidgety?"
"I'm not," he scowled at me. "Nothing's up."
I raised my eyebrows to show that I didn't believe him, but I decided not to push it.
Just then, Alice's family appeared. Hannah, Neville and Frank walked up to the tent. They greeted their daughter as I grinned and waved and Hugo showed them to their seats and talked animatedly with Frank. In Hugo's absence, Al came and stood next to me.
"You look nice," I told him, only half paying attention.
"So do you," he replied, yawning.
I reached up to try and flatten a particularly rebellious part of his hair, but it just sprung back into place as soon as I took my hand away. I laughed, "No change there then." I had been trying to flatten his hair for big occasions since we were little. Our Hogwarts sorting, his first date. It had never worked.
"Mum's been fussing over it all day," he rolled his eyes, subconsciously reaching up to ruffle his jet-black hair.
Then, it seemed as if someone had opened the floodgates, guests started pouring in. Al was busied with showing Andromeda to her seat and soon enough I was whisked away by guests too.
I was walking back from showing Aunt Fleurs sister to her seat when I saw them, The Mafloy's, looming at the entrance of the tent. Well, Draco wasn't there, just Astoria and Scorpius.
My heart dropped and I turned away in a desperate attempt to hide my face. But all of my other cousins were busy and I was the only one not showing anyone else-
Alice walked past me, giving me a knowing wink. Behind me, I heard her greet the two, "Hello Mrs Malfoy, Scorpius, can I show you to your seats."
Not for the first time, I thanked Merlin that Alice Longbottom was my friend.
Why was I avoiding him? I wasn't quite sure myself. But after us getting married on Friday, I would have rather fought a dragon than face him.
Perhaps it was childish, but then again, I was only 17. I had never planned on getting married at 17.
Why was he here anyway? I had planned on a fun, Malfoy-free day. Why would he come to Dom and Byron's wedding? As far as I knew, he and Byron didn't have any sort of relationship and Dom hated Mafloy almost as much as I did.
"What's he doing here," Fred asked, coming up and standing next to me, his eyes were trained on the same platinum blond head that was causing me a frightening level of distress.
"I don't know," I replied, rolling my eyes at my own predicament. Couldn't the universe give me a break?
"Oh well Rose," Fred replied, clapping me on the shoulder in what I'm sure he thought was a comforting manner. "Look on the bright side, at least his dad isn't here."
He made a good point.
Lorcan and his family came into the tent then. I breathed out in relief, glad for the distraction as I made my way over to the Scamanders.
"Hi Rose," Lorcan said, kissing me on the cheek. "You look nice." I grinned up at him, feeling a blush crawl across my cheeks, despite the fact that he was my boyfriend and it was totally normal for him to say stuff like that.
"So do you," I replied, gesturing to his dress robes. He hadn't opted to completely follow the Lovegood tradition of wearing yellow to weddings, but his tie was still an almost blinding sunshine colour.
Luna, however, had not held back. I showed the family to their seats, fully aware of all the eyes following the brightly-adorned family through the room.
It was about 15 minutes later when I was waiting outside the tent with Dom and Alice.
"Okay," Bill told us, emerging from the tent, "they're ready."
Dom took a deep breath, her hands shaking slightly as they held her bouquet. I squeezed her in a quick hug before me and Alice entered the tent together and began down the aisle to the traditional wizarding wedding music.
Hugo snickered at me as I went past, but I heard mum hit him lightly with one of the wedding programmes and smirked to myself.
Eventually, after the most self-conscious walk of my life, me and Alice found ourselves at the front of the room with Byron and his groomsmen. We took our places slightly to the side of the main podium, and then Dom and Bill walked in.
The room collectively held it's breath, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Byron start grinning.
Dom did look stunning. The effect she was having on the room didn't have anything to do with her veela blood. This time- it was all her.
Uncle Bill was staring Byron down. And by the time they finally reached the podium, I was surprised Byron hadn't just turned and ran. I probably would have if I'd been in his place. Bill was terrifying- and his scar only made him more formidable.
But Byron stayed where he was, so Dom joined him on the podium, Bill went and sat down, and the ceremony began.
Wizard marriage ceremonies seemed to be something I was now well versed in, but I still remained in rapt attention until the officiator said, "You may now kiss the bride," and the room started cheering.
I couldn't deny- I was glad when it was over. My feet were killing me, I wasn't used to heels this high. When it was done, Arthur waved his wand and immediately the seating was flying out of the tent as tables and chairs replaced them around the edges of the space. The lighting dimmed and- seemingly out of nowhere- music started up.
Byron and Dom were dancing alone for the first song, but after that, everyone swarmed the dance floor. Well... not everyone. I stayed at a table, sipping champagne and laughing at my cousins as they made fools of themselves dancing.
My gaze slid to the side then, to another table, where Scorpius Malfoy was sitting alone. He caught my eye and, as I watched, got up and made as though he was going to come over.
I panicked, looking around frantically for any way out when, as if by magic, Lorcan appeared in front of me.
"Come on Rose," he said, offering me his hand, "let's go dance." I grinned in relief and put my hand in his, getting to my feet. Offer Lorcan's shoulder, I watched Malfoy frown and return to his seat.
Lorcan dragged me off into the mass of bodies in the centre of the room. With the deafening music and constant twirling, it was hard to think about anything except the boy in front of me. A boy I had missed for the past few weeks.
It was during a slow dance, when he leant in and closed his eyes, snaking his hands around my waist. I was about to lose myself in the moment, but then I caught a glimpse of Astoria in the corner and I snapped out of it.
"Not here," I whispered in Lorcan's ear, before taking his hand and beginning to lead him out of the tent. Luckily, Astoria had been facing away from us, but what if she decided to turn around? I felt like being with Lorcan was betraying her in some way.
Which was ridiculous. Me and her son had been forced together, neither of us wanted this. But still, she had been so welcoming to me. So I led Lorcan away from everyone, somewhere around the back of the Burrow where no one would see us.
I felt safe in his arms and in the darkening landscape of the English countryside. So this time, when he leaned in, I reached up to meet him, winding my arms around his neck as our lips met.
He tasted like champagne, which made me subconsciously smile into his lips. He pulled back in response and grinned at me. "What?"
"Nothing," I replied, pulling him back down so his lips covered my own. As we moved against each other, for the first time in a long time, I felt like everything was going to be okay.
There was a noise from inside the house and we instinctively sprung apart from each other, panting and blushed. Seconds later, Hugo poked his head out of the back door. "Oh, Rose." He began, evidently a bit surprised to find me there. "Mum sent me to look for you, foods out." And with one last look between me and Lorcan, my little brother disappeared back inside the house.
As if on cue, my stomach rumbled, filling the silence. Lorcan laughed- a genuine sound that had me grinning too.
"We better go back then," Lorcan suggested, putting an arm around my shoulder as we headed back to the marquee. "Or I'm gonna have a hungry Rose Weasley on my hands."
When I laughed in response, it was real. And I suddenly realised that closing Lorcan out these past few weeks must have only made me more miserable, I wouldn't do that again.
We entered the tent and his arm slipped off of my shoulder as we went our separate ways. I headed over to a table mostly populated by my cousins, praying that my blush wouldn't betray what I had just been doing.
Roxy passed me a full plate as I sat down, and I wasted no time in tucking into the meal. It was only when, 10 minutes later, I finished every last morsel on my plate and finally looked around, that I noticed Daisy was on the table.
Once again, being pointedly ignored by James. With no one to talk to, she was staring at her plate in silence, a downcast look on her face.
"Hi Daisy," I began. Making conversation with people I didn't know very well had never been my strong suit, but I knew I had to at least try.
"Oh hi..." She trailed off.
"Rose," I supplied.
"Oh, of course. Sorry, Rose."
"It's fine," I waved off her apologies. "So anyway... um.." I racked my brains for something to say. "What- what do you work as?" I asked eventually, wishing- not for the first time- that I had been blessed with the same charisma that most of my cousins seemed to possess.
"Oh, I work at Flourish and Blotts." She replied, "But it's hopefully just temporary. I want to do something with animals in the future."
"Oh yeah, what kind of animals?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm thinking I could be a magical creature negotiator for the ministry. You know, those people that go in and make peace agreements with centaurs or mermaids."
"Wow," I grinned, Daisy hadn't previously stricken me as the adventurous type. "That sounds kind of dangerous."
She blushed, grinning sheepishly back at me. "Yeah.. well."
At that moment, Dom swirled past in her mass of white dress. "Dance with me, Rosie!" She said in a sing-song voice before grabbing my hand and dragging me to the middle of the room. I cast an apologetic glance at Daisy, but she only smiled and waved me away.
Grandpa restarted the music and soon the floor was full of people again. Dom twirled me around a few times, but I was having a hard time avoiding stepping on her dress- and my heels were killing me, so as soon as I could I made an excuse and slipped away.
I had intended to restart up my conversation with Daisy, but she was gone by the time I had returned to the table. So I sat heavily down in one of the chairs and basked in loneliness for a moment.
My eyes were closed, but I sensed someone sitting at the table across from me. I groaned internally, knowing without even looking who it would be.
"Avoiding me, are you Weasley?" He said, and I reluctantly opened my eyes. His own focus was trained straight ahead, at the crowd in the middle of the room.
"No," I replied, fixing a frown and aiming it at the side of his head.
He let out a snort of laughter, but it lacked humour. "You're a terrible liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Yes, you are."
"Well, what do want from me?" I leant in across the table, practically hissing at him. Usually, I may have been abashed at being caught in a lie, but the small buzz of champagne ran in my veins and gave me courage.
He didn't reply at first, just dragged his eyes away from the crowd to stare hard at me. "Nothing," he said, eventually. Before getting up and walking away without another word.
Ughh. I let my head fall into my hands heavy. Was this really my future? A life with him?
"Here," Roxy sat down beside me and I lifted my head to see her place a full glass of firewhiskey onto the table. "You look like you need this."
She was right, I did, so I grabbed the glass and took a big gulp, ignoring the burning sensation it made as it slid down my throat.
"Yes, Rose!"
"That's our girl," James and Fred both sat down across from me, voicing their approval and grinning. I picked up the glass again.
The rest of the evening was a little hazy because, as you may have guessed, I don't handle my alcohol very well. And by the time I decided I'd had enough, I'm pretty sure Roxy had fed me at least two and a half glasses of firewhiskey.
When I stumbled back into Hogwarts in the early hours of the morning, I was having to really focus on staying upright. Not only because of the alcohol though, my heels weren't helping. Halfway back from the Gryffindor common rooms, I decided to carry them.
I couldn't go back to Dom's room tonight, since, well, it was her wedding night and all. So I had resigned myself to another night on the sofa. Earlier, I had contemplated facing up to Malfoy and deciding to just share the bed. But after the conversation at the table, that was out of the question.
Besides, I only just managed to make it to our little common room- where I dropped my coat and bag on the floor and collapsed onto one of the sofas.
A/N: Hey guys, hope you liked the chapter! Please leave a little review, it means a lot.