Christmas Eve was the restless of all her sleeps in a long while. He loved her? He loved her. She'd been thinking about it all week. Just. Oh Merlin she could kill Lily. Was he even ready to admit that to her? They'd only been together since the start of the year. Okay so there was all that time last year, which made her feel… something. What if he didn't want Rose to know? She wondered how he was, he felt like he was on the other side of the world. Knowing his family he probably could be halfway around the world over the holidays.
The article about last year and 'the Cult of Rebirth' came out the very day they got back from Hogwarts and as a result the Weasley troupe hadn't stepped a single foot outside. She wondered how Scorpius was taking the exposure. It wouldn't feel good to be the reason to bring his family name back in the limelight for sure. She hoped he was okay. He hadn't written much, but that might have just been after the shock declaration from the train ride home.
Was it really a shock though? She felt like a part of her knew, knew as soon as he'd kissed her that he was committing himself to whatever feelings he had possessed for her. Merlin she missed those kisses. She missed holding his hand, she missed venting her problems at him, she missed watching him smile. What she wouldn't do for a muggle-type phone call, if only the Malfoy's had a telephone. She wondered if she could persuade Scorpius to get a cell.
Christmas morning was like all other, the Potters came, this year even Uncle George's lot came round. Still no Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur though, still in France with the Delacours' it seems.
Her cousin's winked at her throughout the day, as if they were all apart of a great conspiracy against their parents. Rose just wanted to claw her own eyes out, of course it was their fault for bringing this up. What if Scorpius resented her for not declaring her own love? Should she have? It didn't really feel like a declaration from him, oh no, what if it was?
"Hey Rosie," Lily leaned across the sofa chairs arm.
"How's it going traitor?" Rose asked, feeling a little too melodramatic. I should reel it in. It may not be that bad!
"Attention, people, usually we do presents after lunch but ugh, I have one small gift to give out first before lunch starts!" Rose's mother announced, glancing at both her muggle watch and the grandfather clock mounted to the wall just above the fireplace (the one Grandma Molly had given them).
Suddenly the Floo roared into life and her mother's featured eased a little. Out jumped:
"Scorpius?!" She'd risen from her chair suddenly as her pale haired boyfriend came tumbling out covered in soot.
"I heard the Malfoys were planning to be away this Christmas and decided to invite Scorpius to stay so that they could keep to their arrangements." Her mother explained as Scorpius offered everyone an awkward hand wave.
He was wearing black jeans and a white button down underneath his dark blue robes.
"I don't get it, you said that there was a present for something, what this got to do with anything?"
Everyone, absolutely everyone in the room looked at her then. "It was for you Rose." Her mother smiled softly in the offering, and Rose in the face of all her family drained of all colour, panicked and ran upstairs to her room.
They knew, they all knew! If they didn't know, they knew now. Oh Merlin's beard her Dad was going to kill him! Didn't their father's hate each other or something back in the day? What if they did something? Oh Merlin's balls, what if he interrogated him like Albus did? What if he accused them of having sex!? Rose would really die! Die? "Oh my gods Scorpius!" She breathed in all her panic and instead of settling down and crying into her pillow like her anxious panic insisted she should, she opened her door to run down there and rescue him.
"Rose?" Scorpius stood behind her door with outstretched 'knock'. "Your mother sent me up here to get you. Are you okay?"
"Oh Scorpius?" She pulled him into her hugged him before throwing him into her room and slamming the door shut. "You're okay right?" She didn't know why but she checked him over a little as if to find him brutally beaten or scratched to death. "What are you doing here?"
"You're Mum invited me," he looked puzzled but Rose didn't care. She threw herself against him, kissing his mouth frantically. He gave in a little, his arms wrapping around her before withdrawing to whisper in her ear, "Are you okay Rose?"
Ugh she loved it when he whispered. "Did you know you're devastatingly sexy when you whisper in my ear. My whole body buzzes from the neck down when you do." Rose kissed his mouth again, trailing kisses down to his neck.
"Rose," He gave a throaty growl. "What are you doing?"
"I missed you, I'm pathetic I know but what you said in the train and then I realized that I didn't say anything back and that you might hate me or be mad. What if you didn't talk to me again? What if you decided you couldn't be with me, when I'm pretty sure that I am falling in love with you. I just-"
"Rose, ssh!" Scorpius laughed, patting down her hair trying to calm her manic state back down. "It's okay. I'm not leaving you and I missed you too. As much as I love you, I think we should head down before your parents come looking for you and find you clawing my clothes off."
Rose laughed into his robes, tears she hadn't realized were there weld in her eyes. "I love you Scorpius. I do. These past few months, have been the best ones I think I've ever had." She talked into his robes but he understood, squeezing her tighter and allowing them to stand there for a moment longer.
"Not that I wouldn't love you to claw my clothes off, just saying.." Scorpius teased, but Rose swatted his shoulder and melted back into the hug.
Her mother washed the dishes and Rose dried them feeling strangely guilty, everyone was gathered in the dining room still, listening to her fathers animated stories about work.
"How did you know?" She asked in a low tone.
"Hhm?" Her mother prefered to wash dishes by hand, it was strange but Rose grew up to like it. Drying them the muggle way at her side.
"How did you know?" Rose repeated.
Her mother chuckled, laugh lines staining her face. "Oh Rose, I'm not blind. It was obvious, on both of you, even last year. I'm just glad I noticed that something to developed between you."
"Mum," Rose cried voice breaking. She dropped her wash towel and her mother put down the scourer. "He loves me. (Tears burning their way through her eyes) On the train home, Lily tricked him to letting it slip that he loved me."
Her mother thought on this, "And do you love him?"
Rose nodded letting a tear trickle down her face.
"And did you tell him?"
"Yeah, just before dinner upstairs," Rose wiped the tear away.
"Oh that makes a lot more sense, you were kinda off this week." Her mother pulled her into a hug pensively.
"Mum I feel like such an idiot." Rose laughed. "Crying like this. Freaking out like this!"
"Love makes fools of us all," Her mother laughed underneath her embrace. "Trust me honey, trust me!"
"Am I interrupting?" Scorpius stopped short at the island bench. His robe long removed exposing the shirt underneath. "It's getting a bit noisy in there was wondering if I could help out. Maybe take over the washing?"
Her mother gave in and gave way for Scorpius, who rolled up his sleeves and set to work with the remaining dishes.
"I didn't know you could clean!" Rose teased, hoping he wouldn't notice the redness around her eyes.
"Rose! My family were apart of the House Elf Abolishment Petitions, which you should know fed through the Abolishment Laws. There hasn't been a House Elf in my parents house since before the second Wizarding War." He blurted out triumphantly, "How else do you think my house gets cleaned?"
"I don't know? Maids?" She shot back.
He chuckled turning back to the dishes.
"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry about the meltdown earlier, I wasn't expecting… well this. Or anything. If you'd told me a year ago, you'd be standing in my kitchen doing dishes with me, I would have laughed you off but, here you are."
"You're mother is a very perceptive woman you know," Scorpius handed her a plate. "Said she knew how I felt about you last year before we were even kidnapped. I don't think even I had myself figured out by that stage."
"Hey, they don't call her the brightest witch of her age for nothing!" Rose exclaimed.
"That sounds like a lot of pressure to live up to don't it?" Scorpius sighed, staring out the kitchen window.
They played charades, exploding snap and wizards chess, everyone laughed and talked and played. The adults cracked open some of her father's Firewiskey, James Potter boldly demanding a serve. Which his mother promptly denied him, saying that if he wanted to drink he could do it on his own terms, in his own flat on his Quidditch off season.
"It's not that you're not old enough to drink, it's just as a retired player I understand how strick our dietary requirements are!" Ginny Weasley explained.
"Hey Gin, remember that time before the kids, in Yorkshire-"
"Harry!" Ginny growled, raising her wand.
"Bat Boogey Hex," Rose's father whispered into her Uncle Harry's ear.
"Hey Lil," Rose pulled her cousin away by the sleeve of her Weasley jumper, a golden 'L' plastered across it, and into her mother's study, "Hey, can I ask you what his answer was to that question, back on the train? The one he whispered to you"
"Gee Rose, nosy!" Lily grumbled, her stomach overfull from treacle tart. "Okay fine, I get it but don't tell him I told you okay! I'm serious, stays between us!"
Rose eyed her with raised brows.
"Ugh, okay. So after asking him, when he first realized he wanted to kiss you he said, although he was too young to kiss anyone, the day he saw you in Diagon Alley, he very much wanted to go over and talk to you and maybe hold your hand." Lily replied monotonously, "Now isn't that the sweetest shit ever?"
"That sounds like bull!" Rose exclaimed.
"Eh! It sounded like a nice story to me! Regardless, it was what he said." Lily shrugged before running off and joining Hugo on the couch.
"If you really wanted the answer to that question you could have just asked me," Rose jumped a mile at Scorpius's voice behind her.
"Merlin Scorpius! You scared me!" Rose stilled her heart with the pressure of her hand. "I didn't see you there!"
"The night we fell asleep together, I actually meant to kiss you. We were in close proximity I thought maybe… I dunno. We were so tired from the nightmares that point that I doubt I could have scratched my own arse." Scorpius folded his hands behind him, leaning against the grain of the doorway he'd come to stand in opposite her. "Was so tired I just passed right ou-"
She pressed a chaste kiss against his lips, her eyes closing peacefully into it. They held the kiss for a moment, until a few 'whoops' and wolf-whistles reached them from the loungeroom. They broke apart bashfully.