A/N: Woot! Another chapter up quickly! This one is long, too. Not as much Rose/Scorpius as I intended, but Rose's character is just so…skittish. I don't imagine her to want to be around him much at first. Not to mention, I have two other important couples to write about!
I am really enjoying writing this story. I hope you're all enjoying reading it! The more I write, the more ideas I have about future chapters. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Short author's note at the end.
WARNING: Mentions of violence, language, and sexual references in this chapter.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.
….
Rose was chewing on the end of her quill as she gazed thoughtfully at the list before her. It was a list of all of her cousins, their fiances, and their wedding dates.
Victoire - Teddy Lupin - already married
James - Leila Scamander - July 14th
Molly - William Corner - July 15th
Rose - Scorpius Bloody Malfoy - July 21st
Fred - Heather Kinder - July 28th
Roxanne - Calvin Saunders - August 4th
Lucy - Lysander Scamander - August 11th
Louis - Verity Abbott - August 12th
Albus - Norah Zabini - August 26th
Dominique - Nathan Zabini - August 27th
Lily - Vincent Longbottom - to be determined. At least two years in the future.
Hugo - too young to be subjected to this stupid law
Rose nearly screamed in frustration. How was this fair on any level? She chided the trail of her thoughts. The world didn't revolve around her. This injustice had been inflicted upon the whole wizarding world.
Albus was still sleeping. He had been out late with Fred doing Merlin only knew what until all hours of the night. Probably drinking. Not content to just sit around her flat doing nothing, Rose decided that she would do something nice.
It was still very early, so she took her time getting ready. A long hot shower was always a good way to start the day. Then she spent a significant amount of time, hair products, and wand waving, to tame her hair. With a smirk she realized that Malfoy had never seen her when she straightened her hair. It gave her an entirely different look. Instead of a young silly schoolgirl she looked more like a mature adult.
At first she pulled out some nice witches robes but then changed her mind. It's not like she was trying to impress anyone. A simple green summer dress was perfect. It was strapless and just barely reached her knee. With a glance in the mirror her eyes widened. She looked rather pretty. The make-up on her face was something she rarely used and the effect of it combined with the hair and dress made her look like a lady.
That idea caused her to snort in amusement and go to the kitchen. With a swish of her wand, all of the sweets that her cousins had not eaten the day before were compiled into a basket on the counter. A basket that just so happened to have an Undetectable Extension Charm on it.
Scorpius had given her permission to floo directly into the mansion any time she wanted, so she decided today would be the first day to try it out. Rose stepped into the grate with a handful of floo powder. "Malfoy Manor!" she declared.
She tentatively emerged into what was obviously a bedroom and started dusting the soot off of her favorite summer dress. The bedroom was somewhat tidy, with a few items of clothing strewn about. There were large arched windows across from the fireplace, and Rose was delighted to see there was a large window seat and many bookshelves.
The bed in the room was enormous. It had hangings like the ones at Hogwarts, but these were all tied to the posts so the bed was completely open. The red blanket and sheets were crumpled as if someone had just crawled out of them. A wardrobe near the bed stood ajar with clothes peeking out.
The dresser was adorned with manly items such as cologne, a silver pocket watch, a little black ring box, a wand, and hair gel. Wait. Rose's attention snapped back to the jewelry box. It looked suspiciously like the type of box an engagement ring would be in.
She reached forward then pulled her hand back. Then she reached for it again but before her hand was even close to it a voice asked in amusement, "Snooping around my room while I'm in the shower?"
Rose spun around to see that Scorpius had just entered from an adjoining room. It must be the lavatory because the door that had previously been closed was now open and a light cloud of steam was rolling out of it.
Scorpius Malfoy stood staring at Rose with amusement sparkling in his eyes as she blushed red at his appearance. His body was glistening under a layer of water, his hair was mused and sticking up in every direction, and the only thing he was wearing was a towel around his waist.
"I'm sorry," she said, her face was positively crimson by this point. She moved to turn away from him, but Scorpius just chuckled.
"No problem. Hand me my wand." Rose groped blindly on the dresser, her eyes closed, until she gripped the thin piece of wood and she tossed it to him, still with her eyes shut. "Nice throw," he complimented.
Rose peeked out through slitted eyelids and saw that Scorpius had dressed himself magically, his wand in his hand as he appraised himself in the full length mirror. He was clad in muggle jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. His feet were still bare, but aside from that he looked ready for the day.
"I thought the floo would take me to a sitting room or something," she mumbled, "I didn't realize I would be deposited directly into your bedroom."
"It depends on several factors. Who you're coming to see, what your intentions are, what room we're in, for you the fact that we are engaged is also a factor. The floo network in the house recognizes bonds."
"I see," she was getting over her embarrassment now and became more confident.
"You look nice," he said suddenly, "I've never seen your hair like that." She was secretly very pleased that he noticed. "Although," he studied her closely before continuing with his thought, "I think I prefer when it's all over the place."
Rose laughed, surprising herself as the sound escaped her. She preferred her hair all over the place, too, but everyone else loved it straight. It made her respect Scorpius just a little bit more that he shared her opinion of her hair. "Thanks. I brought your family some sweets."
"You bought cakes to bring over?" he inquired as he pulled a pair of socks from a dresser drawer and pulled them onto his feet.
"No, I baked them myself. Cakes, cookies, donuts, and muffins. There were pies, too, but James and Fred ate them all."
"Merlin. You must like to bake."
"Usually only when I'm upset or something's on my mind. It makes me feel better to be able to punch at something for a while, and punching dough is always productive." She set the basket gingerly on the floor.
"Is that the only reason you've come over? To deliver the entire inventory of a small bakery?"
"No, I also just wanted to visit. I was a bit cold to you the other day and I wanted you to know that I'm normally not like that," that was as close to an apology as Rose Weasley was capable of.
Scorpius seemed to realize this and was quick to assure her, "I didn't take any offense. I know we've never been friends or anything, but I've worked with you enough to know that you're not a bad person. That is, as long as someone is persistent enough to break through your tough outer shell."
Rose smiled, "Are you teasing me, Malfoy?"
"I do believe I am. Is that alright with you, Weasley?"
Rose nodded, "Yes. Getting teased is one thing I am very comfortable with. My family does it all the time."
"Speaking of your family, how are they and their new fiances doing?"
"Alright as far as I know. Dominique got the worst lot out of all of us. She's marrying Nathan Zabini."
Scorpius's face paled, "I'm sorry to hear that. I wouldn't have wished my idiot of a cousin on anybody."
"Nathan is your cousin?"
"Yes, his mum and my mum are sisters. Of course, his mum is a bitch and mine is awesome. I'm actually supposed to go over to Norah's new flat this evening. Norah is marrying your cousin Albus, right?"
"Yes, she is. They met up yesterday in Diagon Alley. I think he likes her well enough. Then again, I think Albus likes everyone. He's genuinely a really great bloke."
"I'm glad. Norah deserves someone who is going to treat her right. She's had a really hard life."
Rose thought about the quiet Hufflepuff girl Norah was in school and couldn't imagine anyone being mean to such a sweet little thing. "I hate that we're strangers." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. With obvious embarrassment Rose tried to explain herself, "I just, I mean, this would be so much easier if we knew each other better. If we had tried being friends at Hogwarts or something. Honestly, Scorpius, I know almost nothing about you."
"Take a look around," Scorpius spread his arms wide, motioning to all of his room, "my bedroom probably gives you a fairly good glance into my personality."
Rose went over to study the bookshelf. Muggle books as well as wizard ones adorned the shelves. Mostly they were of the mystery variety. All of his schoolbooks were there, too. There was a poster of the England Quidditch Team on one wall. Aside from the books and his clothes, there was nothing else muggle in the place.
Above the fireplace there was a tapestry of the Malfoy family crest and an enormous book on wizarding genealogy lay open on his bedside table. Along with a pair of rectangular black-rimmed glasses. "You have problems with your eyesight?"
"I just need them for reading."
Rose nodded at his answer, continuing her inspection of the area. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Barely peeking out from behind an arm chair was a black case. She walked to it and pulled it out. It was a violin case. "Do you play?"
"Yes. The piano, too. Mum said it was important for me to be a 'cultured young man.'"
"Smart woman. Do you have any other secret talents?"
"That depends. Is it too soon to flirt with my fiance?"
She scowled, "Yes, it is."
"Alright, then I'll just say that I do have other secret talents, but you'll just have to find out later what they are."
Starting to feel uncomfortable, Rose went back to the center of the room and wrapped her arms around herself. "Your house is huge."
"Would you like a tour? You'll need one eventually anyway if you're going to be living here in a month."
"Living...here?" she gulped.
"Is that alright with you? I mean, I'm not too keen on the idea of moving, but if you'd be unhappy here, we can consider other options."
Honestly, Rose didn't want to live with him at all. She refrained from saying this and decided that it didn't really matter to her. "No, here is fine. I was just surprised that you wanted us to live with your parents."
Scorpius laughed, "Sometimes I forget that they live here at all. We're on the fifth floor right now. My parents room is on the second floor, opposite side of the house. We could go weeks without bumping into each other. As a matter of fact, one summer I did go three days thinking that they were in France when really they were here the whole time."
"Then I think that tour is a good idea," Rose held out her hand to him. Scorpius took hold of her offered hand and together they left the bedroom, the basket of sweets sitting forgotten on the floor.
...
Two hours later, Scorpius and Rose found themselves outside sitting on a stone bench in the garden. Rose was throwing breadcrumbs to the peacocks from bread that Scorpius had summoned from the kitchen. To say that she was impressed by the tour was an understatement.
Her previous assumption that the mansion was probably swimming in ancient magic and mysterious spells was proved to be correct, but Scorpius told her about all of the ones he knew of himself. He told her of the invisible door that led to the private library and the charmed window that opened every morning at six o'clock to let in the owl who delivered the newspaper. He introduced her to the two other house-elves who lived in the mansion.
Finally they had ventured outside and Rose discovered that this was her favorite place of all of Malfoy Manor. Well, okay, maybe second favorite place in comparison to the library. "I'm afraid I really should be going," she sounded almost sad about this.
"Do you have work or something? I only just realized I never asked about what sort of job you have or what you want to do."
"I'm a writer," she said this with a shrug, "I do freelance work. A lot of different publications buy my articles. The Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, The Quibbler, to name a few."
"Not going to continue your schooling then?"
"No, I don't think so. I love writing too much to consider another profession. Maybe some day I'll open a bakery as a side job. Oh! The food I brought!"
"Accio Rose's basket!" Scorpius didn't have to say the words out loud. He actually preferred nonverbal spells, but he wanted Rose to know that she didn't have to panic; with a sharp flick of his wand, the food was zooming toward them. "Would you like to take the basket home with you and I'll just keep the goodies inside?"
"No, keep the basket. I put an undetectable extension charm on it so it's much bigger on the inside." Rose smirked at her own silly reference to a silly muggle television show about a raggedy doctor and his adventures.
"If you only write freelance, what's the rush to leave?"
"I promised my cousin Freddy that I would meet him in Diagon Alley to help him look at engagement rings. James was supposed to help him, but Leila surprised him and bought a house so they're decorating it today."
"It must be nice to have such a big family."
"Not always. Anyway, Scorpius, here's my address. You're welcome to stop by any time you want."
In silence, he walked her around the grounds until they reached the gates. "Once we're married and your last name is Malfoy you'll be able to Apparate in and out of the place."
Rose just nodded and said, "Thanks for not being a total prat." She spun on the spot and disappeared.
Scorpius was somewhat frustrated with his fiance. She wasn't opening up to him. Not really. They were getting married in less than one month and he had to pry information out of her about the simplest things. Throughout the day, even though it had been a good day, she never volunteered information on her own.
After giving it some thought, he decided to visit her flat. If she was in Diagon Alley ring shopping she would probably be a while. Being somewhat familiar the area of muggle London written on the parchment in his hand, he Apparated as close as he could to the apartment building.
The fact that she lived in a muggle apartment building amused him greatly. He didn't see Hogwart's brightest witch living amongst muggles. But then again, he didn't know much about her, did he?
Opting not to take the lift, he skipped up the stairs to the fourth floor and knocked three times on the door. To his shock, Albus Potter opened the door. It wasn't the fact that Al answered the door that shocked Scorpius as much as the fact that Albus was wearing nothing except a pair of boxers sporting a pattern of racing brooms. His glasses were askew, his hair was messier than usual, and he was holding a bowl of cereal.
"Malfoy?"
"I'm sorry, I must have the wrong flat. I thought this was Rose's place."
"It is, come on in." Albus stepped back and Scorpius entered the apartment. To Scorpius, it was small but cozy. "Rose isn't here right now. I don't know where she is or when she will be back."
As he spoke, he disappeared down the hall and came back a minute later wearing a loose pair of jeans. "That's alright, I actually came to talk to Rose's roommate."
"That would be me," Al said with a smile as he continued to eat his cereal, "What did you want with me?"
"Perhaps I should talk to her best friend instead."
Al laughed, "That's still me, Malfoy. Rose and I are roommates, best friends, cousins..." he ticked them off on his fingers as he recounted all of the things that Rose was to him.
"Doesn't she have any close girlfriends?"
"Actually...no. Rose's closest friend who is a girl is our cousin Roxanne Weasley. You see, Rose normally doesn't get along well with other girls."
"Why not?"
Al looked unsure of himself, but with a quick exhale of breath he said, "I probably shouldn't say anything, but you really have your work cut out for you marrying a bird like Rose."
"What do you mean?"
"Rose Weasley is the best and the worst. She can be the meanest, coldest, most annoying bird on the planet. Or she can be the sweetest, most caring, loving girl in the world."
Scorpius considered this, "I see what you mean, I think. We've gotten together twice since our engagement and no matter what I do, I can't get her to really open up. She's not herself around me. She sort of clams up and acts all awkward. I was shocked when she showed up at my place this morning with a basket full of sweets."
"She's nervous," said Al, "is that what you wanted to ask about? How to get her to open up?"
"Well...don't think I'm a creeper or anything, but I was hoping to just sort of take a look around her room, see what sort of stuff she's into? Maybe I could think of some nice gesture or something to do for her."
"Why are you trying so hard, Malfoy?"
"What?"
"I mean, what's in this for you? What does it matter to you if Rose is happy or if she opens up to you? No matter what she has to marry you." Albus's sudden defensiveness caught Scorpius off guard.
"That's the point," Scorpius's eyes blazed just a bit and Al knew he should back off. This was the side of Scorpius that the Sorting Hat used to justify placing him in Slytherin. "We are being forced to get married. If I'm going to be stuck with your cousin every day for the rest of my life I sure as hell don't want either of us to be miserable. Why are you so fucking defensive?"
Al's eyes narrowed just a bit, "Listen, Malfoy, I'm going to be honest with you. Not because I like you or because I trust you, but because you're marrying Rose and you have to know. Consider this a warning. Everyone knows that you're not exactly a novice with dating," Scorpius snorted at this, realizing that he had rarely ever been without a girlfriend, "but Rose is different. She's only had one boyfriend before and that lasted about a month. It's not because she's not pretty, obviously Rose is beautiful, it's because she has a hard time with showing affection and acting the part of a girlfriend. She's got this...tough outer shell," Scorpius grinned as Albus used the same term he had used a few hours before, "and most blokes don't stick around long enough to break through it. That's why she doesn't have very many close girlfriends, either. Most girls share secrets and gossip, but Rose isn't good with sharing things about herself and doesn't have any patience for gossip."
"So what you're saying is that I need to be patient?"
"More than that. You need to be overly considerate of her. Like I said, she's never really dated much and this is new to her on every level. Just showing up at your house this morning is a huge thing for her. To her, she probably feels like she really put herself out there."
"By just stopping by to see me?" Scorpius questioned.
"Yes. I'm telling you, I know Rose. Also, it probably goes without saying, but don't you fucking hurt her. If she starts having real feelings for you, and you screw it up, I will kill you," Al's tone and expression did not even hint that his words were an empty threat.
"So if she has such a little amount of experience with men, does that mean that she...is she a..." Scorpius was having a very difficult time discussing these things with Albus Potter and wasn't sure how to best phrase his question.
"Yeah," Al looked almost amused at Scorpius's awkwardness, "Rose is a virgin."
"Bloody hell what did I get myself into," Scorpius mumbled as he ran a hand through his blonde hair. Since starting this conversation he was beginning to regret his hasty decision at demanding to have Rose Weasley as his wife.
"Don't be upset, mate, it's not what you got yourself into. It's the stupid Ministry."
Scorpius nodded his head gravely in agreement. "So does that mean you'll help me? I don't fancy Rose. I barely even know her. But I would like to. I don't want to marry someone I don't love."
Albus considered Scorpius's strange request. His original purpose for coming over had been to find out more about Rose and, hopefully, snoop around her bedroom to see what he could learn. If Albus had the opportunity to do the same things about Norah, he knew he would jump at the chance. He really knew where Scorpius was coming from because he felt the same way about his betrothed. Albus wasn't in love with Norah, but he hoped that he would be.
"Alright. But if I catch you doing anything perverted like sniffing her dirty laundry, I'm throwing your arse out."
Scorpius laughed and followed Albus down the short hallway, "I wouldn't blame you, mate."
"Well, here you go. Rose's room. If you have any questions about anything, let me know, I'll be finishing my breakfast in the kitchen," Albus pushed the bedroom door open for Scorpius and then left him alone.
The first thing he noticed was the scent. Rose's roomed smelled great. If he were being honest with himself, it smelled like her. It was an intoxicating blend of jasmine and something else floral.
It was a bright cozy little space with a small bed shoved into one corner. The bed was made neatly, with a yellow comforter. Like his own room, hers had a giant bookshelf that was overflowing with books. Most of the titles made him chuckle as they were obviously some type of muggle romance. There were movies, too, and Scorpius was unashamed to admit that he was fascinated by these. Growing up in Malfoy Manor, anything electronic did not work in his home, but he still occasionally went to the cinema.
He pulled a few of the movies from the shelf, reading the titles then the summaries on the back. Perhaps he could ask Rose if she wanted to spend an evening on her couch with him watching one of these muggle things? He heard that watching movies was an acceptable date in the muggle world.
After putting them back, he turned to her dresser. Merlin, it looked like a boutique blew up in there. Hair clips of all sizes, shapes, and colours were scattered around. There was all sorts of make-up, hair products, lotions, body sprays, and odd metal contraptions that he assumed were also some sort of beauty products.
Jewelry. There was so much of it. Obviously Rose favored necklaces. She had a beautiful wooden jewelry box that stood open and necklaces were what took up the majority of the space. Also a lot of earrings. It seemed she liked the dangly ones. This baffled Scorpius; after all, wouldn't dangly earrings just get tangled in all of that hair? There were a few rings and only one bracelet.
This, of course, made him think of the ring he had for her back in his room. Sitting on his own dresser. She had almost found it. It was a good thing he finished his shower when he had. After she had left his manor two days previously, his parents approached him and gave him the family ring. The same ring that had been in his family for generations. It was meant to be given to Rose, but Scorpius just couldn't picture it yet. He couldn't imagine himself putting the Malfoy ring on Rose Weasley's finger.
Moving his attention back to her bedroom, he looked over the pictures in the frames. They were all moving, wizarding, pictures except for one. That was the one that caught his attention. It remained quite stationary no matter how many times he poked at the occupants in the frame. One of them was obviously Rose and the other two were probably her muggle grandparents; they looked older, gray-haired, and they were smiling at the camera with their arms around Rose.
The wizarding ones were amusing to Scorpius as well. One of them was Hugo Weasley playing Quidditch on the Gryffindor team. He was flying back and forth in front of the goal hoops. Another was of Rose with her parents, on what was obviously her birthday because the Rose in the picture kept brushing her hair back and blowing out candles on a cake while her parents stood beside her smiling.
The third wizarding photograph was of Rose and Albus. Albus had his arm around her shoulders but every once in a while he would remove it, give her a playful shove, and she would tackle him, the two of them toppling out of sight laughing.
Finally, the last photograph was of the entire Weasley family. Scorpius swallowed hard at seeing all of her burly cousins and uncles. Merlin, he hoped he would be able to fit in well with her family. He walked across the green rug and opened her closet. SO MANY CLOTHES. Merlin's saggy balls! For the past seven years the girl went to a boarding school where a uniform was required. Had she really needed this many outfits for the holidays? Mostly they were dresses. More specially, summer dresses. Several pairs of muggle jeans and tops, then pushed to the very back, only four sets of witches robes. One nice heavy winter cloak that was an emerald green colour. The floor of the closet was littered with shoes; such a variety of shoes that Scorpius closed the closet before he could even try to identify what kinds they were.
The walls were bare, aside from two posters. One was of the Holyhead Harpies; the only professional all-witch Quidditch team in England. The other was a muggle band that he didn't recognize.
There was a desk in the corner opposite of the bed. The muggle computer looked out of place next to the rolls of parchment, quills, and inkwells. Having just a bit of knowledge about computers, Scorpius meandered over and hit a random key. Unsurprisingly, the computer had been left on and the background she had was a picture of herself, Albus, James, Lily, and Hugo in front of the Eiffel Tower. Lily was on Hugo's back and James was holding Rose bridal style while Albus stood in the center of the picture smiling at the camera. All of the inhabitants of the photograph were grinning so broadly that Scorpius knew they had probably been laughing when the picture was taken. However, his insignificant amount of muggle technology stopped him from snooping in her computer any further than the screen before him.
With another glance around, he didn't think he could glean anymore information from her living space. Albus was waiting for him in the kitchen, just as he said he would be. "I forgot to tell you that all of her music is next to the radio," Albus gestured vaguely toward the sitting room.
Scorpius went to inspect the large collection of music. "What is this?" Scorpius mumbled as he pulled CDs from a shelf and glanced them over.
"CDs," said Al, "muggle devices that play music when you put them into this slot here," he motioned to the stereo, "Rose is really into muggle music. Music in general, really."
"Ah, that explains why she seemed particularly interested in my violin."
"Probably. She plays the violin, too."
"She didn't tell me."
"Of course not," Albus grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "She plays several instruments. Not just classical ones, though. She's good with the bass guitar."
"Anything else I should know?" Scorpius's tone was just a little biting. He hated having to find all of this out from his fiance's cousin instead of from Rose herself.
"Yes," Albus's tone implied that this was important. Scorpius tore his gaze away from the CD in his hands to look at Albus. "Rose is never, ever, honest with anyone about her feelings. Except for me, and that's only because I can tell when she's lying."
"Got it," Scorpius said this lightly, but knew the implications were profound. "Mind if I make a copy?" he held the CD up and Albus shrugged indifferently. Scorpius pulled his wand from his pocket and made a copy of a few different CDs.
"Did you get everything you wanted?"
"There was just one more thing. I wanted to ask you, please, Albus, to try to talk to Rose about me. Get her to see that I'm not a bad guy. I want her to be happy with me and I want to be happy with her."
"I will," promised Albus and he meant it. So far, he was almost angry to admit that he kind of liked Scorpius. A little. Of course, no one would ever be good enough for Rose just like no one, not even Vincent Longbottom, would be good enough for Lily.
"I'll be out of your hair now, Potter. See you around."
"Bye, Malfoy."
Scorpius Apparated from the flat.
...
Scorpius Malfoy had three best friends. One was a Slytherin dorm mate in his year, Liam Jackson. He had remained silent while Nott, Zabini, Goyle, and Selwyn had discussed Rose on their last night at Hogwarts. As he thought of Liam now he felt a stab of guilt as he realized they hadn't spoken since graduation. Normally they contacted each other every couple of days. Then again, Liam was starting his Healer training and Scorpius was sure that kept him very busy. He was a half-blood wizard; the only half-blood in their dormitory at Hogwarts.
Adara Garrison was a pureblood witch who was also a Slytherin who had been in Scorpius's year. She had a very obvious crush on Liam for their last two years of Hogwarts, but Liam had never noticed. Nor had Adara ever told him. Scorpius hoped that she had the courage to put Liam as her first choice and that she got him.
Norah Zabini, his cousin on his mother's side, was a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts but she and Scorpius had always been very close. She was the only person, aside from his mother, who he ever confided in that he had almost been put into Gryffindor. Now he almost wished he would have let that happen. At least then he probably would have been on better terms with the Potters and Weasleys.
It was his love for his cousin that brought Scorpius to this. He knew how her family was. He knew that leaving home had probably been a nightmare and was so proud of her for standing up for herself after so many years of constant abuse. Now he found himself knocking on the door of her new flat, with a box under his arm. Norah asked from the other side of the door, "Who is it?"
"Scorpius Malfoy," he replied with a chuckle in his voice.
"Prove it," her voice was slightly muffled by the door.
Scorpius would have been laughing heartily, but in truth, her concern wasn't unwarranted. He wouldn't put it past her family to try to trick her into letting them in. "You've had a crush on Albus Potter since third year."
"I have not!" she flung the door open to glare at him and point a finger in his face, "I just always thought he was a nice bloke! I didn't fancy him!"
"Keep telling yourself that, Shortie," he swept past her into the room and looked around, "Nice place." He dropped the box onto the floor with a loud thump and the contents came soaring magically out. All across the flat items were appearing; a toothbrush holder in the bathroom, pots and pans in the kitchen, a sofa in the sitting room, and so much more.
"Oh Scorpius," Norah breathed, her face showed absolute delight. "You shouldn't have done all of this!"
"Consider it an engagement present," he replied with an innocent shrug. "Norah," he breathed, rushing to her and taking her face very gingerly in his hands, "What happened to you?" her cheek and jaw were a very deep purple and blue hue where her father had hit her the day before.
"My dad," she said dryly, "right before I left."
"I'm so sorry," said Scorpius, "Why didn't you heal it?"
Norah blushed, averted her eyes, and begrudgingly told him, "I was so upset last night that I was afraid I would mess up the spell and hex my jaw off or something. Then, this morning, I just forgot about it."
"May I?" he brought his wand up. She nodded and with a quick flick it was healed and the bruising was gone. A smile was her way of thanking him.
Norah went to the kitchen and put on a pot of tea before bustling back into the sitting room where Scorpius had started a fire in the fireplace and was now sitting on the sofa. "You never did say who..."
"Rose Weasley," he replied with a sigh.
"Was she your first choice?"
"My only choice," he grinned at his cousin, "I put her name down as all three options."
Norah's grin was identical to his, "Only you, Scorpius Malfoy, only you." Norah paused before asking, "What's she like?"
"Insane," said Scorpius, "Impossible. She has this wall up and I'm having a hard time getting her to take it down."
"I'm not surprised. Rose Weasley has always struck me as the guarded type. Be patient with her, Scor."
"What do you think I'm going to do? Curse her until she spills all of her secrets to me? Of course I'm going to be bloody patient!"
Norah was trying very hard to not laugh at how impatient he sounded. "Good. Now, tell me when you started to fancy her."
"I don't fancy her."
"Then why in the name of Merlin did you put her name down three times?"
"Zach, Rider, Travis, and Nathan were talking about her. I think Zach and Nathan both wanted her, but only because she's pretty. How could I let her be with one of them?"
Norah looked at him with her eyebrows drawn together in confusion, "Scor, I know that any girl with any of those idiots would be mistreated, but if whichever of them didn't get Rose, then they still got another witch. Nathan's with Dominique Weasley."
"I know, but I wasn't thinking about that at the time. I kind of know Rose a bit from our Prefect duties, and when they talked about raping her and beating her, it made me sick. Choosing her was the only thing I could think of."
"That was very noble of you," said Norah, but her eyes were saying something else. Something that she wasn't saying out loud.
"What is it?" Scorpius asked with a sigh, knowing there was more on her mind.
"Nothing," Norah had always been rubbish at lying and this was no exception. She made her escape by rushing to the kitchen when the tea kettle started to whistle. When she returned, she had a cup of tea for each of them.
"Come on, Norah, what are you not saying?"
"I just...I think that somewhere, deep down, you might have just a little tiny bit of feelings for Rose."
"What? No. I don't even really know her."
"I'm just saying. I don't think you picked her out of pity."
...
Albus Potter knocked on the door of his fiance's flat. Norah had agreed to go on a date with him that evening and he had a lot of plans. He was going to take her to his favorite restaurant in Paris, then for a walk through the park, and then a romantic boat ride. Maybe, just maybe, he would give her a kiss goodnight.
"Come in!" her soft voice called.
Albus entered the flat and was shocked to see that Norah was in the arms of another man. Not just any other man, but Scorpius fucking Malfoy. He had his arms around her waist and had lifted her feet off the ground. That was when a horrible thought struck Albus; they were both purebloods. What if they had been dating or fancied each other when this law took effect? What if they were still seeing each other?
Albus wanted to turn and leave. But Scorpius stopped him, "Don't just stand there Potter, come in and let me talk with you about your intentions with my cousin." Scorpius set Norah down and Albus couldn't help but smile at her. She was wearing a very pretty black dress. It had wide straps but the front dipped very low indeed. It reached just below her knee. Her feet were clad in strappy heels and her hair had been swept up into a simple but elegant up-do.
"Your cousin?" he asked.
"Yes. Norah is my favorite cousin. Just like Rose is yours. You'd better treat her right, Albus. She deserves the best and you're certainly not it, but it's not like I can do anything about that," he teased.
Albus smiled at him and when their eyes locked they realized that they had reached a silent understanding. They were going to marry each other's cousins. Cousins they both loved very much. Perhaps they could be friends after all. "I'll have her home by midnight, Sir," Albus was joking right back with him.
Scorpius laughed, "Have a great night. I'll see you later, Nor."
"Night, Scorp."
Scorpius waved to them as they left her flat. "I didn't know he was your cousin."
"Not many people do. My mum and his mum are sisters. He likes you, by the way."
"How can you tell?"
"For one thing, he didn't kill you the moment you came in. For another, we talked about it a little before you arrived. I hope you two can become mates."
"I hope so, too," Albus reached to take hold of her hand. For a moment Albus thought she was going to pull away, "If you'll let me, I need to Apparate us somewhere."
"Yes, that's fine," her words were sure but her hand shook just slightly. Albus gave it what he hoped was a comforting squeeze and spun on the spot.
...
Rose was dancing and singing in her flat. Albus was on a date with Norah, Fred had the engagement ring picked out for Heather, and now she had the flat to herself. Wanting to be comfortable, she had already put on her pajamas; short red shorts and a black tank top.
Her long red hair was in two braids and she was currently standing on the couch, playing an air guitar, and singing as loudly as she could, "I NEVER WANT TO HEAR YOU SAYYYYYY 'I WANT IT THAT WAY'!"
"Merlin," Albus had entered at some point. Rose, however, wasn't embarrassed of anything in front of her best friend. She waved at him and continued with her performance, ignoring his objections. "Turn off that rubbish! It's bad enough that you have to listen to such out-of-date music, but it's out-of-date, muggle, American, boy band music," he said in disgust.
Rose laughed, flicked her wand at the radio to silence it, and said, "It's still good and it's definitely not out-of-date. I mean, holy hippogriffs, Gran still listens to Celestina Warbeck! You have no room to make fun of music from the 2000's."
Not bothering to argue, Albus pulled off his jacket and threw it on the sofa. "Aren't you going to ask about my date?"
"After my defense of my taste in music. Now, dear cousin, how was your date?" Rose simply jumped up, folded her feet, and let her slender bottom drop down onto the bouncy sofa cushion that she had previously been standing on.
"Really great," Albus was grinning like an idiot. "I don't know why, but she seemed really nervous at first. Not like normal first date nervous, but like she was actually afraid or something. But by the time we finished dinner, she was much more relaxed. Of course, that could have been because of the small glass of wine she had. Anyway, We went for a walk through the park and for that boat ride you suggested. We had an excellent time. I think that I'm actually starting to fancy her. Which is a good thing seeing as how we're going to get married."
Rose had a silly grin on her face, "Did you kiss her?"
Al's ears turned slightly red as he confessed, "Yeah, I kissed her."
"Oh!" squealed Rose, who was now bouncing up and down in her seat and hitting Albus repeatedly in her excitement, "How was it? Did you see fireworks? Did she kiss you back?"
"Godric, Rose, it was just a kiss. The night had gone absolutely perfectly, so when we got back to her flat, I took her face in my hands," Al mimed this in midair, as if he had hold of an invisible face, "then I just leaned in and kissed her very lightly," again, he mimed this in midair, and Rose was watching intently, "I started to pull back, but then," he said dramatically, "out of bloody nowhere, she wrapped her arms around my neck and started snogging the pants off me!"
She squealed again, "No way! Al, she must like you! Was it good?"
"No," said Al, "it wasn't good. It was excellent. She was a very good kisser and she tasted like cinnamon."
"I'm so happy for you! When will you see each other again?"
"Well, seeing as how we only really have two months before we're going to be married, we're trying to see each other as often as possible. We're going to have lunch tomorrow, but that's not really a date. Our next actual date is two nights from now."
"Go get your pajamas on and we can watch a movie," said Rose, "we only have one month before I'll be a married woman and I want to spend as much time with my favorite cousin as I possibly can. While you're getting changed I'll make the popcorn!"
He disappeared down the hall to his bedroom and Rose went to make popcorn. Now that Albus had kissed Norah, Rose's mind was buzzing with new thoughts that she hadn't considered before. She had been so preoccupied with the idea of marriage that the other things had been pushed aside. Like kissing...and sex. She cringed. Tomorrow, she decided, she would worry about that. Tomorrow she would talk to Albus, and James, and Fred, her three best friends in the whole world, and they would tell her that it would be okay. They would tell her that it wasn't something to be afraid of and it wouldn't hurt too badly.
But for tonight, she wasn't going to worry about anything. She was going to kick back with her best mate and watch silly muggle comedies and eat all the popcorn her stomach would let her eat.
...
James Potter and Leila Scamander had spent the entire day moving into their new home. Now, as they lay side by side, catching their breath on the king sized bed in the master bedroom, James finally felt like his life was headed in the right direction. Maybe this Ministry law hadn't been so terrible after all.
"That was...we haven't..." Leila's words were punctuated with deep breaths. They were both void of any clothing and were cuddling under the duvet. She didn't have to finish her thoughts for her lover to know what she was thinking. Her unfinished sentences ran through James's mind, That was amazing, we haven't had sex in five years.
"You're wonderful," he told her as he kissed the top of her head.
"Do you think our parents will know what we've been up to if we don't go home tonight? Perhaps we should get dressed and leave."
"Can I ask you something, Lei?" James had ignored her suggestion completely. He had much more pressing thoughts on his mind.
"Anything," she replied.
"How many blokes have you been with...since me?"
"Since you? Two."
"That's all?"
Leila laughed, "Yes, that's bloody all! I'm not a slut, James. Why? How many birds have you bedded in the last five years?"
James took a moment to answer and that felt like the longest moment of her life, "Four. Aside from you, I've been with four girls."
"How long has it been since you last shagged?"
James glanced at the clock on the wall, "Oh, about three minutes."
Leila slapped his chest, "You know what I mean."
This times, James cringed and looked up at the ceiling, "It doesn't really matter. Because no matter how many girls I've been with or how often, you're the I'm marrying."
Leila sighed. Of course. She was the one he was marrying. But what was this reluctance he had to answer her question? Again she feared that James wanted to be with other girls aside from her. Maybe he'd been with someone else the day he got the letter. At that thought, Leila felt the urge to get dressed and leave.
Angry more at her own thoughts than him, she snapped, "What the hell does it matter if I'm the one you're marrying? It doesn't mean you fucking love me! It doesn't mean you're going to be faithful to me!"
Shocked by this sudden outburst, James cried indignantly, "Of course I fucking love you!"
"Fucking love me or love fucking me?" Leila was climbing out of the bed now and was searching for her clothes.
"Both!" James climbed out of bed after her and pulled on his trousers.
"Oh really? Then why have you been with someone else so recently? What, were you fucking someone else last night, and had a sudden epiphany this morning that you were in love with your fiance?"
"That's low, Lei," James snarled, "I wasn't with anyone last night and you know it! I would never cheat on you."
"Then why wouldn't you answer my question?"
"Because I didn't want to tell you the truth!"
"Oh, that's excellent!" Leila didn't care that she was being a hypocrite. She didn't care that she was keeping secrets from James but was mad at him for keeping secrets from her. "My soon-to-be husband doesn't want to be honest with me!"
"You want the truth? Fine! Here it is! When this law became a reality, I thought any chance I had of being with you was gone! I've been trying to work up the nerve for the past eight fucking months to ask you to be my girlfriend! But when I got that damned letter telling me that the Ministry was going to pair with me with someone, I knew I had to get over you fast. I went to a bar, a muggle bar, and I got pissed. I went home with some bird I met there. I don't even remember her name. That was two nights before I got the letter saying you were the girl I was going to marry, and you know what? I was so damn happy that I completely forgot about any other girl I'd ever been with except for you."
Leila studied James for a long few moments. She was partially dressed, with her bra and panties on, and James only had his trousers on. Without warning, Leila jumped at him. She locked her legs around his waist and tangled her hands into his already messy black hair and they fell back onto the bed kissing heatedly. "Does this mean you forgive me?" he mumbled against her jaw as his hands went to her arse.
"Yes. You've forgotten about them, now make me forget about them. Damn it, James, shag me until I've forgotten my own name," she begged.
James's response was a deep groan followed by a growl as he spun them around so she was pinned beneath him against the mattress. If it was a night of the best sex of her life that she wanted, then that was exactly what he was going to give her.
...
Norah Zabini had never felt happier. At some point during their intense snogging session, Albus had pulled her hair out of the up-do she had it in. As her own fingers ran through her mused locks, she realized that they just couldn't compare to Al's gentle touch.
Merlin, she had it bad for that boy. One date and she was head over heels. Then again, she supposed sometimes you just knew. Scorpius had been the only boy in her life who she trusted for so long. Now she trusted Albus, too. Trusted him so bloody much.
Humming, she went to her bedroom and stripped out of her dress, leaving her in just the slip. That was when there was a knock on the door. Norah hastily pulled a robe over her scantily clad body and rushed to the door. "Who is it?"
"Dominique Weasley," the feminine voice was shaking and Norah could tell without even seeing her that she'd been crying. Normally she would ask the person on the other side of the door to prove that they were in fact whoever they claimed to be, but it was the sadness in her voice that caused Norah to wrench the door open without question.
"What's wrong?" Norah honestly didn't know Dominique Weasley very well. Being best friends with Lucy, she occasionally ran into all of the members of the Weasley family, but that didn't mean she was close to any of them.
Dominique's knees gave out at that moment and Norah caught her. Dominique was a very slim girl so she didn't weigh much, but Norah wasn't exactly strong. She half-carried and half-dragged the girl to the sofa. After a few flicks of her wand over Dom's body, Norah knew exactly what was going on here. Dominique was in shock.
After casting a few quick spells and summoning a mug of hot chocolate from the kitchen and tipping a few sips into her mouth, she started to blink and then seemed to come into focus. "You're Nathan's sister, right?"
"Yes."
"Has he always been so..."
"Violent?" Dom's big crystal blue eyes widened in confirmation but she said nothing. "Yes," Norah answered, "Did he hit you?"
"Not...really..." Dominique breathed the words and stood on shaky legs. She pulled her sweater up to reveal two large bruises shaped like hand prints, on either side of her torso. "He just grabbed me very hard. He...scared me. I panicked and came here."
"How did you know where to find me?" Norah was panicking now, too. If Dom knew where she was, then did Nathan as well?
"I ran into Albus when he was on his way to pick you up for his date. I was already in Diagon Alley, waiting to meet your brother, and Al mentioned you lived above Ollivanders."
"Did you tell my brother?"
"No."
"Oh, thank Merlin. Dominique, please, please don't tell him. I finally got away from him and my parents."
These words must have scared Dom even further because she started crying, "He's horrible," she sobbed, "Why did this happen to me?"
Norah wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl and whispered, "I used to ask myself that all the time. Eventually I realized that it wasn't because of me. It wasn't my fault or anything I had done. He's the monster, Dom, and you have to remember that. Do you want to stay here tonight?"
Dominique nodded and Norah kept her arms around her as she led her into the bedroom. After lending her a pair of pajamas to change into, the two girls climbed into the bed. "Thank you," Dom said softly.
"Any time, Dominique, any time."
….
A/N: What do you think Scorpius is going to do with all of the information he learned about Rose? How long do you think it will take her to open up to him? Before or after they're married?
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:
"I'm not going to lie," James shook his head, "I've no idea what it's like for a girl. I've been with a virgin or two, and they said it hurt, but then again, I'm pretty well-endowed."
Fred and Albus laughed but Rose's face drained of colour, "Oh Merlin. What if it hurts really bad? What if I'm rubbish at it? What if he's rubbish at it? Godric, I think I'm going to have a panic attack."
"Calm down," Albus encouraged as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's not like you're being forced to shag him right away. Tell him you're not comfortable and want to wait until you're ready."
"Actually," Fred cringed as he revealed this information, "Rose will have just over a week after getting married to shag him. Then the Ministry gets involved."
Albus scowled as this fact registered with him, "Explain," he growled.