Chapter 3
Rose had just closed up the boutique that she was working at and was waiting for Albus to pick her up. She looked up and down the road and then her watch. She had another 10 minutes to think before he picked her up.
All the Weasley grandchildren gathered once a month at their grand parents house for dinner. Well, all the Wealeys who weren't in Hogwarts. It gave the cousins time to catch up and give their grand parents a chance to spoil their grandkids.
Rose stomped her feet in the vain hope that it would warm her up a bit. It was the end of January and shops all around were getting geared up for Valentine's day.
"Ready to go?" Albus's voice invaded her thoughts.
"Yeah. Let's pick up some flowers for grandma." Rose said.
"Sure. Do you know another 6 more months and 4 more grandkids will be added to the monthly Weasley dinners?"
"Yeah. Can't wait for Lily to finish and come home again. I need some girl company."
The Weasley clan was still dominated by boys. Lily, Rose and Rachel, Uncle Charlie's daughter, were close. Unfortunately, Rachel went to Drumstrang, much to the dismay of the Grandma Weasley.
Albus was a best friend, brother and rival all rolled into one. Not rival in the bad sense but there was a bit of competition between them when it came to studies. But he was always there for her especially when it came to Scorpius.
Rose leaned over and took Albus's arm and looked at him. Albus looked like a taller, broader version of his father. He had a bit of an insecure streak in him but with the Great Harry Potter as your dad, it's hard to measure up.
"What?" Albus asked Rose.
"Nothing." Rose shook her head. " So, who's coming tonight?"
"Jean has to work late tonight. Teddy and Vicky will be there. They are leaving Dave and Marie with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur. Philip will be there a little later. He has to finish up things at the Ministry."
Jean was the eldest Weasley grandkid. He worked at a law office. Victorie was 2 years younger than him and been married to Teddy for 5 years. Philip was the youngest on Bill Wealey's household.
"Andrew?" Rose asked.
"I think he bailed out. Something about a club opening up in muggle London but his cover story is that he has a paper due." Andrew was the wild child of Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope. As an only child, he had a free rein.
Another single child in the clan was Jack but he was at a university in New York. Uncle George and Aunt Alicia had a rocky relationship. They married and divorced and married each other again.
"So, it's going to be Vicky, Teddy, Philip, James, you and me. Small crowd."
"Small and cozy. Now, tell me about what's happening between Scorp and you."
"I hate to admit it but there is some truth in what my mom said. I guess we're comfortable in our relationship and I'm scared to ask the big questions. Are we getting to that serious place towards marriage? Are we going to make it in the real world when we actually start our careers? I'm confused!"
"Hey! Come on. You're 19. You don't need to worry about marriage and babies. And you start as a Healer-in-training next year. Scorpius will be in the auror program. Tell people and see what happens. Let nature take its course. You might make it or you might not. But if you don't have an actually "out-of-Hogwarts" relationship, you might never know."
"Did Scorpius say anything?" Rose asked.
"No. But he wants you to tell your dad and the rest of the family." Albus said.
"I will. Next month. After Valentine's Day. It's not fair to Scorpius. I don't want him to be my secret."
"Let's pick up the pace or we'll miss the crab puffs." Albus said dragging Rose towards the floo station.
"Scorpius, stop it!" Rose giggled softly. "There are people watching."
"What? I warned you. I said no chick-flick." Scorpius was kissing Rose's neck.
Rose had dragged Scorpius to a muggle movie theater to see her favorite actor, Orlando Bloom.
The two of them usually spent Fridays in muggle London. They loved it. They usually went to a restaurant and did a lot of shopping. Muggle things were cheaper than Wizarding things and also more interesting.
"Hummm…" Rose moaned.
"Let's go to my place. I'll make it worth your while." Scorpius spoke seductively.
"Oh no, Mr. Malfoy! How can you suggest such a scandalious thing." Rose mockingly objected.
"Love, if you don't get up soon, I'm going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you back home."
"Promises! Promises!" Rose said. Scorpius made a move as if to carry out his threat.
"Ok. Ok. You really are in a hurry."
Scorpius and Rose walk out of the theather and move quickly towards the closest floo station. They stumble out of the fireplace, kissing. Hands all over and practically ripping each other's clothes. They walk slowly towards the sofa and Rose pushes Scorpius on it.
Rose jumps on top of Scorpius, her hands running through his hair. "I love you. I love you so damn much." Rose doesn't wait for his response and crushes her lips on his.
"Let's continue in the bedroom. I don't want the roommates to interrupt."
Scorpius lifts Rose up. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as he carried her into his room.
--
Rose opened her eyes and looked at the time. It was 10:56pm. Rose slowly, so s to not wake Scorpius, slid out of bed and picked up her clothes before heading to the bathroom.
Rose had 1 more hour before she curfew. Not that she should be having one at her age but she went along with it just to please her dad as well as to avoid the "as-long-as you-live-under-my-roof" speech.
Well, next year she'll be on her own. She had gotten accepted at St. Mungo's Healer program but differed it to the next year. Scorpius had also gotten accepted to the Auror Program but he wanted to work with his dad for a year before training.
Auror training was gruesome and the trainers were tough. There would be weeks, sometimes months of not seeing or hearing about the aurors and their trainees. Even though the threat of Voldemont was over, there are still dangers and problems in the wizarding world.
Knock. Knock.
"Need to pee. Had a barrelful of firewiskey." Drake's voice came through the door.
The master bedroom in the apartment had it's own bath but Albus won the coin toss while Drake and Scorpius had to share one. Luckily, both bedrooms had direct access to the bathroom.
"Hello, Drake." Rose swung the door open, fully dressed with a smile. "I hope Lily know what you do on Friday night."
Drake looked startled but quickly gathered up his bearings."
"Pee now. Talk later."
Rose walked out of the bathroom into Drake's bedroom. She looked around. It was surprisingly tidy. Even the bed was made which surprised Rose. She sat down on it. She was neat but why make the bed when it would get messy 12 hours later?
Rose heard the bathroom door open. "Should I tell Lily what you've been up to?"
"Tell her. I don't think she'll care. She just broke up with me." Drake said angrily. His mouth was clenched.
"What? When? I just got an owl from her. She didn't say anything." Rose said concerned.
"Why don't you ask her?" Drake kicked a chair over. He stood with his face lowered and his eyes closed. He was trying to get a grip of himself.
Rose didn't know what to say to him. She had never seen Drake show much emotion. He was so guarded. Not that he didn't joke around. He did but he never really spoke about himself. Never went anywhere during the holidays except for the few times he spent with either Albus or Scorpius.
"Is everything alright here?" Scorpius had entered the bedroom looking dishelmed.
"Lily broke up with Drake." Rose said.
"Did you guys have a fight at Hogsmeade today?" Scorpius asked sitting down next to Rose on the bed.
Rose had forgotten that the third Friday of every month was Hogsmeade night. "What happened?"
"I don't know. I was a little late and she was upset. I shrugged it off but she was giving me the silent treatment. I should have let it go but I asked. I opened my big mouth and asked her what was wrong. She said that I didn't care about her. I don't care! Why would she think that? I'm with her. I've been with her for almost 2 years. Why would I be with her if I didn't care." Drake sat on the floor with his head in his hands.
Rose and Scorpius shared a look. Scorpius went over to Drake. "You're drunk, man. I'll put you in bed and we'll talk in the morning." He looked over to Rose. "Three more minutes to curfew."
"Forget it. I'm too old to have a curfew. I'll stay here to see if Drake is ok." Rose was concerned. Drake was usually levelheaded and this fight must have thrown him off.
Rose went to the kitchen to start making Drake a potion to prevent his waking up to a hangover the next morning. It would take 2 hours to brew. She mixed all the ingredients and placed it in the cauldron.
Rose then sent an owl to her dad saying that she would not be coming home tonight and she was staying with a friend.
Scorpius walked up to Rose just as she sent the owl. "I'll stay up. You can go and get some rest. Tomorrow all hell will break loose at your place."