Last time on Growing Up, Moving On, and Other Things Rose Sucks At: Rose Weasley recalls how she had applied to Cindy's Cinnamon Rolls and had received a call from Arnold Shine that she'd gotten the job.

Onto the story!

Chapter 2

2026

Two years. Two years since that conversation. Rose couldn't believe it. She turned to the door, half expecting Arnold to bound through it like he normally did, with a "Well hello, Rosie!"

But the door was firmly shut. Rose sighed. Peeking through her rucksack, she rooted around and felt a piece of crumpled paper. She remembered where it was from, and had a faint idea of what it said, but she opened it anyway. On it was a route map from the Warnot Applied Arithmancy building to the nearest Bean Machine and then to her Cindy's branch. Scorpius had drawn it for her on his first day at university, to explain that the Bean Machine was not that much closer than the Cindy's.

("And besides," he'd added, "The Machine doesn't have any cinnamon rolls.")

Somehow, as Rose's time at her first job was coming to an end, she remembered that Scorpius had been there, right from the start.

-x-

2024

Rose stood outside the dining room, with one hand over the doorknob. She rolled her shoulders back, ready to tell Hermione that she would be staying over at her Nan's, when she heard the kitchen fireplace roar to life.

Before she could wonder who it was, their voice told her immediately.

"Morning, Mrs. Granger-Weasley!" It was Scorpius. Rose's heart tensed.

"Morning, Scorpius. Here to meet Al?" Hermione asked.

When Al got his letter from the Curse Breakers' Institute, he and Rose sat cross-legged at her bed, a sheet draped over their heads – like old times – with a lumos-tipped wand between them. In a whisper – so as to not wake her sleeping parents – she had made Albus promise that they'd spend the entire summer together before he went off to Egypt.

"Yes, Mrs. G. Is he up?"

"I'm not sure. Toast?"

"Yes, please." A stool at the kitchen table shifted.

"I heard you got into Warnot, congratulations!" Rose heard Hermione say, amongst the clinking of cutlery.

"Thanks, Mrs. G! I'm joining the new London branch."

"Your parents must be so relieved you're in the same city as them. And proud too, of course." Rose strained her ears, almost expecting Hermione to mention something about her. Rose, on the other hand, isn't going anywhere.

"Well, not Dad, I think he was still holding out on me doing potioneering or something!"

"Oh well, arithmancy is an important field. There's so much demand for it, even at the Ministry. We're always looking for people with that background."

"Well, try telling that to my dad!" Scorpius chuckled.

"Are you staying on campus?"

"No, Mrs. G, too expensive. I'm staying at a hostel nearby,"

"Oh. Rosie is moving to one too," Hermione replied.

"I didn't know – "

Rose decided she'd had enough eavesdropping for a day. She pushed the door open.

"Rosie!" her mother exclaimed. It seemed that ever since she'd told her parents her plans (leaving out her diploma courses), things had been on edge with Hermione.

"Oh hey, Rose!" Scorpius said. Rose turned to him.

"Hey, Scorpius. Mum," she turned back to Hermione, "I'm going to Nan's place, we're baking a pie to celebrate my new job," she announced.

"You got a job?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes, at Cindy's, downtown."

"What about breakfast?" Hermione asked gently.

"I'm not hungry." Hermione's face fell and Rose felt the beginnings of guilt.

"Can I come?" Scorpius asked. He'd been helping in Nan's kitchen ever since he and Al became friends in their first year.

"Sure! We can get Al to come too!"

"I thought I was going to help you pack today." Hermione's voice was small, making Rose feel like an arsehole.

"I already packed last night," Rose said, guilt sinking to the pit of her stomach, even though Hermione had been making Rose feel awful for the past few days.

Scorpius sat awkwardly at the kitchen table, seemingly very interested in the edge of his place mat.

Rose said finally, "Let's go get Al," and Scorpius looked relieved instantly.

"Sure!"

-x-

The Burrow often felt more like home than home did to Rosie. There were days that she joined Arthur in the garage, and the two could spend hours opening up a Muggle gadget – sometimes even without a purpose, just to see what the inside was like. Other days, she would plan a day of baking with her grandmother, and morning to evening, Rose would do whatever Nana told her to – mix the dough, chop up the apples, clean the dishes – it felt good to do something with her hands and have the result be so tangible, so tasteable.

Today however, guilt laced the familiar smells of the Burrow. The look of hurt on Hermione's face, an uncomfortable change from her look of disappointment, seemed permanently etched into her mind. Nana Weasley bustled into view and pulled Rose out of her thoughts with a big hug. Then, Nana opened her arms for Al. Finally, she stood before Scorpius and inspected him carefully.

"They don't feed you enough," she said finally, before wrapping her arms around him too. Scorpius laughed and mumbled, "It's good to see you too, Nan."

Rose stepped aside and watched silently, out of the corner of her eye. When she saw Scorpius do things like this, she felt a silly, queasy warmth in her stomach that she couldn't put a name to.

Later that afternoon, after Rose had made a successful chocolate cake (for Nana's friend's birthday) and had made the dough for their pies, she was on cleaning duty while Scorpius prepared the pie fillings. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he lifted a spoon from the soft berry goop and flicked it at Rose's face. Rose flinched, before touching her face with disbelief.

"You little –" she muttered, taking a spoon of the same filling and firing back. When she saw the purple line, starting at his chin and going up into his platinum blonde hair, she couldn't help but laugh. The look of shock on Scorpius's face changed into a smirk. He dipped his fingers into a bag of confectioner's sugar and looked like he was going to streak it across her cheek.

"Don't even think about it," she said, wrapping her fingers around his wrist. His expression changed to what looked like a pout and then he laughed.

But every thought of Scorpius's devious attempts at kitchen warfare disappeared from Rose's mind. All she could think about was how very close they were, and a sudden, pressing curiosity about how the jam on Scorpius's lips might taste. She noticed his eyes flick down to hers, and she wondered for a second if he had similar thoughts.

Nana's voice came to the rescue.

"Are you okay back there, Scorpius?" she asked from somewhere inside the house. Rose dropped his wrist and stepped away, dusting her hands.

Rose's moment of fantasy had disappeared. There were probably a hundred girls Scorpius was interested in – girls who were maybe studying arithmancy, like him. Or maybe statistical wizardry. Or maybe even potioneering or something. Girls who were intelligent, and not celebrating an entry level job at a chain store.

A/N: A short update after a loooong time! I hope you liked this chapter :)

Love,
Blue Hedwig :)