"No you're not. Lily told me that Scott Malloy was writing this article."
"He is," was Scorpius' reply.
"Are you his assistant or something? Because I know Scott Malloy and you're definitely not hi-" Rose was cut off by Lily who had just waltzed into the room with Roger in tow.
"Scorpius?" The couple asked in unison. "What are you doing here, mate?" Roger questioned. Scorpius grinned at his friend.
"Didn't your wife tell you that I'm writing your wedding column?" Lily still looked confused. The look on her face mirrored Rose's exact feelings.
"Lily, am I correct in saying that you hired Scott Malloy to write an article about your wedding? Well, I'm Scott Malloy. You know, Scott, Scorpius and Malfoy and Malloy sound similar. I just use the pen name of Scott Malloy so I don't get stalked by the crazy brides." At that joke, both Lily and Roger chuckled in amusement. However, Rose looked outraged.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Scorpius looked at her, his amusement fading.
"You never asked. Besides, it's not like I have to tell you every detail of my life."
"But- you should've, ugh never mind." Lily smirked at her flustered cousin.
"Don't mind Rose, Scorpius. She's just a little awestruck. Did you know that she saves your articles and keeps them in-"
"That's enough, Lily. I do not save them. I was just waiting to recycle them."
"You like my work?" Scorpius questioned, the smile returning to his handsome face.
"I never said that!" Rose said, feeling the familiar blush spreading all the way from her neck to the tips of her ears. "Scorpius, perhaps we can begin the interview while Lily and Roger go back to the cake testing." Scorpius agreed and the two went into an adjacent room.
"So, you really that upset about me not telling you about my alter ego?"
"Not that you didn't tell me. But, you Scorpius Malfoy are one of the least romantic people I know. You told me that you hate weddings. And you write the most beautiful things. Do you actually believe what you write, or are you just spinning romantic crap for girls like me?"
"Uh, I think the second one you said, the one about spinning crap." Rose looked at him in near exasperation.
"I feel like I just found out that my favorite love song was written about a sandwich."
"Okay…so, Rose, tell me about Lily and Roger." Rose looked at him almost with disdain.
"You know what; I can't do this right now. I've got stuff to do at home. Can we just finish this up later?" Before Scorpius could reply in the affirmative, Rose was practically out the door.
…
The next day, Rose's peace and quiet was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Rose groaned and heaved herself off the couch that she had been reading on. Her brown eye peeped through the hole in the door. Rose felt her stomach churn with dread when she saw Scorpius Malfoy at the door, after yesterday's fiasco, she had been hoping that he'd leave her alone for at least a week.
"What do you want? Lily's not here now."
"Actually, Miss Overreaction, I'm here to see you." Rose looked away from the peep hole and leaned against the door. "Come one, it'll just take a second," Scorpius still got no answer. "For Lily and Roger?" Rose rolled her eyes, but eventually decided to let him in.
"Thanks," he murmured drily. Rose just nodded. Scorpius, seeing that she was not going to make this easy for him, plopped down on the sofa.
"So, tell me about yourself."
"Why do you want to hear about me? Isn't this supposed to be about Lily and Roger?"
"That doesn't mean I can't get input from the maid of honor. You're a pretty important person in the wedding, in case you weren't aware."
"I don't appreciate the sarcasm, Malfoy. And of course I know that the maid of honor is crucial, I've been a maid of honor eight times."
"Eight times? That's crazy, how do you stand it?" Scorpius blurted, looking horrified at the prospect. Rose rolled her eyes and walked into the other room. Scorpius followed her, but an open closet door caught his attention.
"Oh my God," Scorpius said, staring at the door in shock.
"What?" Rose asked. When she saw what he was staring at, she bolted to the door. Scorpius however was faster and he beat her to it. The two of them grappled with the door for a second before Scorpius successfully wrenched it open. The door swung open to reveal a closet filled to the breaking point with at least twenty ridiculous dresses.
"What in the name of Merlin is this?" Scorpius asked in amazement.
"None of your business," Rose mumbled almost incoherently.
"Are those…wedding dresses? Have you actually worn some of those terrifying creations in public?" Rose glowered at him, but it soon faded away at what could be called – if you squinted very hard- a smile.
"Yes, I've worn them in public. They're bridesmaid dresses and not all of them are that bad. I'll show you." And without further ado, Rose grabbed a shiny green dress off its hanger and walked into the nearby bathroom. Minutes later, Rose emerged from the bathroom in a form fitting dress that would have looked gorgeous if it wasn't, as Scorpius pointed out, vomit green.
"Was it really that bad?" Rose asked Scorpius.
"Umm, yes. Show me the next one that's 'not that bad'." Rose grinned and instead grabbed a dress that looked like it belonged in the 1800s.
"What happened?" Scorpius asked, looking grave.
"Theme wedding!" Rose told him happily.
"What was the theme? Humiliation?" Rose told him that the theme was Gone With the Wind and she couldn't contain her laughter when she saw the look on his face.
"No. People do not have Gone With the Wind weddings."
"On the contrary, I have been to three." Rose smiled at his disbelieving expression and Scorpius picked up his camera and snapped a picture, just like he had with the vomit colored one.
After about an hour and a half, Rose had showed Scorpius every hideous dress that she had in that closet, the two of them laughing hysterically the entire time. When Rose was finally done, Scorpius looked through each shot on his digital camera, which was one of the few muggle devices that he owned.
"Twenty seven dresses. Does it bother you that you live in the center of London, yet you're eating up space the way some people gobble down Honeydukes. Rose giggled as she brought over two glasses of ice water from the kitchen.
"I'm not keeping them so I can wear them again, if that was the reason, I'd probably donate them all. But I had some really great times in those dresses, surprisingly, and that's why I keep them. And you know what? One day, all of those people will be there on my wedding day, wearing whatever dress I pick out for them…" Rose was snapped out of her reverie by the flash of a camera and a smiling Scorpius Malfoy. Rose frowned inwardly, of course he wouldn't get it.
"You know, maybe we should finish this some other time. I've got things to do." Rose said morosely. Scorpius looked a little confused, but he swiftly gathered his things and left without a word. Rose closed the door behind her and leaned against the wall. She let herself slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by all of her dresses and unfulfilled dreams.
Eh, I'm not stoked about this chapter, but I wanted to get something up, so I hope the (somewhat) speedy update compensates for the not great chapter.