Chapter Six-Victoire and Grandma Molly
By some miracle, by the time Rose had rounded her brother up and apparated the two of them home, their father had already gone to bed. Hermione was still sitting up, waiting for her two children to return and, after sending Hugo to bed with nothing more than a stern look to stop his protests about it being too early for bed during summer vacation, she had some advice for her daughter.
"Just let him cool down," Hermione said, "You know your dad; he gets worked up over the little things. Don't even get me started on when I went to the Yule Ball Hogwarts held our fourth year with Viktor Krum."
That had sidetracked Rose momentarily. "Viktor Krum? That old Quidditch Star?"
"He's hardly old," Hermione protested, "He's only a few years older than me."
"But…seriously? Viktor Krum?" Rose shook her head when her mother gave an affirmative nod. "Wow…this is a lot to take in, in one day. First I find out Aunt Ginny used to date a guy who's now a muggle football legend, and thus find out that he's actually a wizard. And now I find out that my mum used to date a professional Quidditch player. You know, mum, I can't really see you as the type to go for the Quidditch players."
"You can hardly call what we did 'dating,'" Hermione informed her daughter. "Really, we just went to the Yule Ball together…and studied together, occasionally."
"Yeah…hardly dating at all," Rose replied sarcastically. "A good portion of mine and Scorpius' relationship involves the two of us studying together in the library."
"Oh yes, back to Scorpius," Hermione said, "Rosie, your dad will come around eventually, don't worry."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rose replied, frowning slightly. "You know, now that I think about it, dad does tend to get all shuddery and stuff whenever anyone calls Victoire 'Vicky.'"
"Oh, just go to bed," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly, teenagers…"
"Teenagers who are of age and don't need their mother to tell them when to go to bed," Rose amended.
"Teenagers who listen to their mother if they know what's good for them and want remain living with a roof over their head," Hermione shot back.
"You know," Rose said, standing up quickly, "I'm suddenly feeling very sleepy. I think I'll be going to bed now."
"Good night, Rose," Hermione said, overly sweet. "Oh, and Victoire sent you an owl while you were gone; I put the letter on your bed."
"Thanks, mum! 'Night!" Rose said, giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek before dashing upstairs.
Rose headed straight for her bed once she got up to her room and practically tore open the letter resting on her pillow. No matter how close she and Albus were, Victoire would always be her favorite cousin, just because they were so alike. Rose hadn't heard from Victoire lately, though, because she always seemed to be too busy between working and planning her upcoming wedding to correspond with anyone who wasn't a florist or robe-maker.
With her eyes scanning the parchment frantically, Rose got to the bottom of the foot-long parchment crammed with Victoire's neat writing in less than a minute. As the words she had read sank in, a slow smile spread across Rose's face. She now had the perfect excuse to avoid her dad…
The next morning, Rose woke up shortly after seven, still used to her school sleep schedule. She rolled over and was about to close her eyes and attempt to fall back asleep when she caught sight of the owl perched on her desk chair. She threw back her covers and practically jumped out of her bed when she realized that it was Scorpius' owl.
"Hey girl," Rose said as she untied the letter from the leg presented to her with one hand while the other groped around in her desk drawer for the bag of owl treats she remembered putting there the last time she had come home. Successfully finding it at the same time as she freed the small scroll of parchment, she dropped the letter onto her desk and pulled out an owl treat, which she was quickly relieved of.
Rose then grabbed the parchment eagerly and plopped back down onto her bed before unrolling it.
Dear Rosie, the letter began in Scorpius too-neat-for-a-boy handwriting
I've told my parents about us. I'm afraid that my father has gone a bit mad. I'll write you again soon with all of the details once everything gets all sorted out.
See you soon, hopefully.
All my Love,
Scorpius
Rose frowned slightly as she re-read the short letter. It didn't make any sense. What did Scorpius mean when he said that his father had 'gone' mad? Was he angry, then…or had the insanity that Scorpius always claimed ran in his family finally overcome his father?
After her own father's reaction, Rose was willing to bet that Mr. Malfoy had been more than a bit angry about his only son dating the daughter of his old enemies, and a half-blooded Weasley nonetheless. But Scorpius had said he would see her soon…hopefully. Had he been forbidden from seeing her, then? The writing didn't look sloppy and hurried, though. It was Scorpius' normal, overly-neat handwriting. It didn't look at all like it had been written as quickly as possibly at two in the morning before being smuggled out of Malfoy Manor by owl.
Rather than mull over what could possibly have happened the previous day whilst she was dreading a conversation she had never wanted to have with her father, Rose decided the send a reply back to Scorpius demanding more in depth explanation as soon as possible. She got up and took the few steps over to her desk, pulling out a spare sheaf of parchment, plus a quill and ink, once she got there.
Rose tapped the quill against her chin thoughtfully for a moment before she quickly wrote out a short but detailed explanation of everything that had gone on in her life since they had last seen each other. She ended her note with a request for more information, which she really hoped Scorpius would be quick to send back.
As soon as the ink dried, Rose rolled the parchment up and Scorpius' owl was quickly on her way back home. Nodding satisfactorily to herself, Rose contemplated going downstairs for an early breakfast, before she realized that her dad would most likely still be down there, as he usually left for work around eight. With her two options being to either face her father while still not fully-conscious or going back to her very inviting-looking bed, Rose chose the second options.
Two hours later, Rose got up again before getting dressed for the day. Crossing her fingers that her dad hadn't chosen to stay home from work today, she exited her bedroom and made her way down into the kitchen, which was deserted, save for her mother.
"Good morning, dear," Hermione said, glancing up from the morning Prophet.
"Hey mum," Rose replied, grabbing an apple off of the counter. "Um…so, did you have any big plans for today? Shouldn't you be at work?"
Hermione placed her paper back on the table and gave her daughter and expectant look. "Not really. I just thought I'd spend some time with my lovely children before they get caught up in their summer vacations. Why?"
"Er…well, I kind of promised Victoire I'd help her with some plans for the wedding," Rose replied. "That's what she owled me about last night. I'm supposed to meet her at the Burrow at ten…er, in five minutes."
"Alright," Hermione said, picking up her paper once more. "I'll just harass Hugo about his study habits today, then. You two have fun, dear."
"You too, mum," Rose said with a slight smile, before leaving the kitchen and walking into the living room and approaching the fireplace. Several moments and a swirl of emerald green flames later, Rose was stepping out into her grandparents' house where she was promptly attacked by a reddish-blonde blur.
"Rosie!" Victoire exclaimed, practically squeezing the life out of her younger cousin. "I'm so glad you could come; it'll be great to spend some time with you."
"Hey Vic," Rose replied, returning the hug. "How many times have I told you not to call me 'Rosie'?"
"Probably as many times as I've told you that my name isn't 'Vic'," Victoire replied sweetly, breaking the hug, but grabbing one of Rose's hands and pulling her towards the kitchen.
"So, what are we doing today?" Rose asked, following obediently, more to upright and not trip than out of longing to help with wedding plans.
"Just going through all of the responses for who's coming," Victoire said. "Then we'll do the seating chart for the reception."
Rose nodded, thinking Dominique had been exaggerating at Christmas when she had said that planning a wedding was the most mind-numbing job in the world. Then she saw the large stack of as-yet unopened envelopes covering a majority of the kitchen table.
For the next hour and a half Rose and Victoire sorted through all of the responses, making quick work of it as they talked about what they had each been up to since they had last seen each other. Victoire, always the prepared for everything Ravenclaw, then pulled out a completed seating chart and began comparing it to the guest list she and Rose had drawn up. It was as Victoire began checking names off and the two cousins seemingly ran out of things to talk about, that realization dawned on Rose.
Victoire didn't know about Scorpius. Rose had pretty much already invited him to the wedding, but she knew for a fact that his name wasn't on the guest list. She was going to have to rectify this situation. And quickly.
"Vic?" Rose began tentatively.
"Hmm?" Victoire replied, only half-paying attention by this point, part of the reason why the conversation topics had run dry.
"I've got a boyfriend," Rose blurted out suddenly.
Victoire's head shot up abruptly, her eyes wide; the seating chart lay apparently forgotten on the table in between them.
"Who? When? For how long?" Victoire rattled off her questions rapidly, her eyes widening eagerly. "And why is this the first that I'm hearing about it?"
"Erm…" Rose squirmed uncomfortably in her chair underneath Victoire's intense gaze, "Scorpius Malfoy. May of fifth year. So we've been dating for more than a year now. We've been keeping it a secret, because it definitely isn't a secret that his dad and mine weren't overly fond of each other while they were at school, to put it nicely."
"A year?" Victoire repeated, and Rose couldn't exactly read the emotions flitting across the older girl's face, but they definitely didn't look good to the younger redhead. "Rose Weasley! I can't believe you! You've been dating this boy for an entire year and you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell me? I'm getting married in two weeks! And now I've got to rearrange the entire seating chart so that I can fit your boyfriend in!"
And with that final word, Victoire began scribbling fiercely on her piece of parchment once more.
"What's going on in here?" A voice asked suddenly. Rose spun around in her chair to see that her grandmother had just stepped into the room.
"Gran!" Rose cried, standing up and rushing over to hug her grandmother.
"Hello, Rosie," Molly replied, smiling at her granddaughter. "How was school?"
"It was good," Rose replied, breaking free from her grandmother's hold and leading the older woman over to the kitchen table. The pair sat down, but Victoire was still absorbed in her seating chart and didn't appear to notice them. "I got O's on all of my exams."
Molly smiled. "And I see you've been helping Victoire, here, with her plans."
"Well, I was trying to…" Rose replied. "But you know Vic."
"I thought I heard raised voices in here," Molly said, "What was all that about?"
"Ah…I..er…" Rose stumbled over her words, "Was just telling Victoire a-about my, erm, my b-boyfriend, Gran."
"Your boyfriend?" Molly repeated. "Do you have a new one then?"
"A new one?" Rose repeated, more than a little confused.
"Yes, a new one," Molly confirmed, standing back up and going over to look through the cupboards, beginning to prepare lunch. "Last summer there was that charming Malfoy boy, and once I saw you two together at Christmas I thought for sure you'd be bringing him to the wedding."
"Saw us…together?" Was all Rose appeared able to say. "But Gran, we only just told everyone that we're dating yesterday."
Molly raised an eyebrow dubiously at her granddaughter. "If you say so, dear," She said, giving her wand a flick and causing the potatoes to begin peeling themselves. "Oh, and your grandfather agreed with me."
"Gran," Rose moaned, bringing her hands to cover her face.
"Don't worry, dear," Molly consoled her granddaughter as she pulled more cooking utensils out of the cupboard. "The two of you weren't as bad as your parents were at your age. I swear everyone knew those two were going to end up together except them. Now, are you staying for lunch?"
Several hours later, after a filling lunch and more berating from Victoire and disbelief from their Gran, Rose begged off staying for dinner, too, saying that her mum would be worried about where she had gotten to.
"Come back soon, dear," Molly told her granddaughter as she gave her a tight hug.
"I can always use more help with wedding plans," Victoire informed Rose with an eager grin, having eventually forgiven Rose for her…oversight over the course of the afternoon.
"I'll see what I can manage," Rose replied, more for Victoire's sake than her grandmother's.
"Bye, Rosie," Was the last thing Rose heard from Victoire before she stepped into the roaring green flames once more.
Rose took one step into her living room before stopping dead at the sight directly in her line of vision.
"Rose," Ron said in a serious voice from his seat on the couch opposite the fireplace, "I think we need to talk."