Nothing changed in James's expression as her words sank into his mind. His thoughts, however, were running wild. "Please," Leila whispered as she reached out to stroke his face, "say something."
"Why didn't you tell me?" his tone was so neutral and casual that it made her flinch. Shouldn't he be showing some sort of emotion?
"I was afraid," she whispered. "I didn't know how you would take it. I was worried that you didn't really want me and you might have been happier with someone else. I thought that by choosing you I might have stopped you from being with someone you would have preferred." Her eyes were rapidly filling with tears.
"Sometimes, Leila," he pulled away from her touch as he spoke, "you drive me absolutely insane and make me want to pull my bloody hair out!"
"I'm sorry," she said sheepishly as she cast her gaze down to the floor.
"You…and Fred...Blimey, I've been an idiot! He's a pureblood! Is this what you two have been chatting about secretly? You two are supposed to be my best mates, why didn't you tell me about this?" James was pacing, not looking at her just as she wasn't looking at him.
"He wanted me to tell you, but it was my decision to make when I felt the time was right. I wanted you to know before we were bound together. I wanted you to know that while you didn't have any control over this, I did. I did." James could hear the sobs in her voice and he spun to face her.
"Do you regret it?" he asked harshly.
"Yes," she hissed in an agonized voice as she cried, "I regret taking your choices away from you. I regret forcing myself to be with you against your will. I regret being so damn selfish." She swiped a hand furiously at her cascading tears.
"If you could do it over, would you do the same thing again?"
"No," she sniffed, "I wouldn't."
"What would you change?"
"I would talk to you before writing your bloody name down. I would ask you if you would be okay with that. I would want you to know what I was doing so I didn't feel so fucking guilty for hiding it from you."
"Then I forgive you," he gave a jerk of his head. "Not that you really even need to be forgiven for anything, Lei. I would have chosen you if our roles were reversed. Don't you ever regret your actions, Leila, because you have made me the happiest man on the planet."
Not daring to believe his words, her head snapped up to stare at him in awe. "You're not mad at me? You don't hate me? There isn't anyone else you would have rather had?"
James laughed once without humor as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm the opposite of mad right now, Sweetheart. I am happy to know that you wanted me so badly that you chose me over any other bloke you could have had. I could never hate you. And you silly bird! I will never want anyone else but you."
They kissed for a few moments, both of them trying to put all of their emotions into that one kiss. For Leila she attempted to convey apologies, love, and promises of honesty in the future. James on the other hand was kissing her with forgiveness, acceptance, love, and…joy?
Before they could get too carried away, James pulled back, looking at her with new eyes. Instead of being unsure of her feelings for him, double-guessing himself, wondering in the dark depths of his mind if she actually preferred his best mate, he was nothing short of jubilant. "Love, if you chose me, then how exactly does that work? Does that mean that every muggle-born or half-blood was chosen by his or her fiancé? What happened if more than one person wanted the same person?"
"We were allowed to write down our top three options. That way, hopefully, we would at least get someone in our top three. You were my first, James. Heather was Fred's second choice, actually, but he seems happy enough with her. I don't know about anyone else."
"Who else did you write down after me?"
"It doesn't matter," she muttered shyly.
"I know it doesn't matter, just like it didn't matter to you how recently I'd slept with someone else. I'm just curious. It's probably going to hurt a bit, I'll admit that, but I'd rather know than sit around letting my imagination run wild," he twined his fingers into her blonde locks as he spoke.
"My second choice was Gage Perkins." Her eyes were shut tightly at this confession.
"What?" hissed James. "I hate him, Lei, and you know it! That bloody prick! Why the fucking hell would you want to marry that tosser?" Despite his harsh words, his arms stayed around her, holding her close to him.
"That's why I chose him second. I've never had a problem with him, personally, and I thought if I couldn't have you, I should pick someone you hated so hopefully you wouldn't come around me much. It would have hurt me too badly to see you and be friends with you if I knew there was no chance I could ever be with you. I knew if I married Gage you would hardly come around."
"As twisted as that kind of thinking is, I kind of admire it. You're sometimes a bit too smart for your own good. Now then, who was your third choice?"
"It really doesn't matter, can't we just go to bed? I want you so bad I can't stand it. Please let me wrap my lips around your cock, Love, I promise that you will-"
"Stop trying to change the subject!" he growled as he reached a hand into his pants to adjust the growing bulge in his trousers. "It can't possibly worse than Perkins for fuck's sake, so let's hear it!"
"I'd really rather not-"
"I swear to Godric, Lei, if you don't tell me I'll be even more angry than at whatever your answer is!"
"Albus! Merlin! Are you happy now, you obnoxious git? Albus was my third choice."
Staggered, James let go of her and took a step back, placing his hand over his heart as if she'd pierced him there. "My brother? What...why?"
"Because I know Al. I trust him and he's always treated me with the utmost of respect. I couldn't think of anyone else. Most of the blokes who I am close to aside from you and Al are either taken or purebloods. I couldn't have requested one of the Longbottoms or Fred. I thought of Louis, but he's been dating Verity for years now and I was afraid of taking him from her. Albus was the only logical choice. It doesn't matter anyway," she hurriedly tacked on at the end, "I'm with you and that's all that counts."
James said with wide eyes, "To think, Albus could be standing where I am now, shagging you, getting ready to marry you tomorrow. I knew that I could have lost you to some other wizard with this law, but to hear that it came close to being my brother…I'm not going to lie, it hurts."
Without saying anything, she went to him and kissed him. She was again trying to put her emotions into it and show him just how thankful she was that Albus wasn't standing in his place. James reacted to the kiss instinctively and knew that the wound to his pride was dismal in comparison to the pain he would be experiencing if he didn't have her. Cherishing what he had instead of worrying about what could have been seemed like the smart choice here.
"I think that I will take you up on that offer of having those lovely red lips wrapped around my hard dick now, Mrs. Potter."
With a watery smile, Leila took his hands and led him toward their bedroom.
…
Scorpius was woken up the morning of James and Leila's wedding to an angry voice growling close to his ear, "Get the fuck out!" He couldn't believe this. After last night, after everything she said and did, Rose was kicking him out?
No, scratch that, actually he could believe this. This was just so bloody perfect! Just when he thought they were making progress, she was pulling shite like this. But then, why was she clinging to him so tightly if she wanted him to leave? Her leg was still slung around his hips and she was cuddled onto his chest, clutching him.
He lazily opened one eye to look at her. Her head was lying on his chest, her amazingly soft deep red hair keeping his torso warm. The blanket was down low enough to reveal his bare chest but up high enough that it was touching her chin, covering her body completely. Waking up slowly he pried open his other eye and saw two figures standing ominously in the doorway of her bedroom.
Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he knew that this must have been who Rose was speaking to. Albus Potter and Louis Weasley were looking at the two of them in the bed as if they couldn't believe their eyes. Scorpius grinned widely as he realized how this must look to them. Feeling a surge of smugness he tugged purposefully at the blanket, as if making sure that it was covering her, because for all they knew, Scorpius and Rose could both be entirely naked.
"Morning, lads," said Scorpius jovially as he snuggled deeper into the mattress. "Fancy closing that door and giving us a bit of privacy?"
"You…and…but…" Albus mumbled.
"I said," repeated Rose threateningly, "get the fuck out." She wasn't looking at them. Her eyes were still closed and she snuggled against Scorpius.
"We just wanted to let you know that you might want to start getting ready for the wedding. It's in a few hours," Louis was backing away as he spoke, tugging Al by the arm along with him. After saying what he came to say, he closed the door with a light snick.
"That was embarrassing," she said with a soft laugh as she finally opened her eyes and smiled up at Scorpius. He chuckled, tucked his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up so he could kiss her.
The brief kiss stirred things in him that he didn't have time to think about right then. Love and lust being the main two. "Thanks for keeping me warm all night," he teased as he gestured to the way she was wrapped around him.
"Yes, well, it's a small bed," she defended as she untangled her limbs from his and got up to stretch. While facing away from him she said, "Thank you for last night. You were very sweet and patient. I appreciate that."
Not knowing how to reply to that, Scorpius slid out of the bed, snuck up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek. "How about you go start getting ready to be a bridesmaid in your cousin's wedding and I Apparate back to the manor so I can make myself presentable as well?"
Rose nodded and in the next moment Scorpius was gone. Not sure that she was ready to face what was waiting for her in the sitting room, she took her time getting her things together before exiting her bedroom.
Louis and Albus were on the couch, both of them in casual trousers and t-shirts. Obviously they hadn't gotten ready for the wedding yet. Hoping fiercely that they wouldn't bring up the incident this morning, she said casually, "I can't believe I slept in so late! We're supposed to be at the Burrow in two hours!"
"It's to be expected when you spend your night participating in rigorous exercise," Louis said this with a straight face but Albus, who was in the middle of sipping some coffee, spluttered and almost choked before he managed to clear his throat.
Flushing crimson, Rose ignored Louis as she strode into the lavatory with her head held high. As she showered her mind raced. Honestly she hadn't felt this good in ages. So refreshed and bubbly. But had they moved too quickly? Should she have told him to take a step back? They didn't exactly have a lot of time to go slowly, but surely there were steps between snogging and…and what they did the previous night!
Rose Weasley was in unfamiliar territory and she hated it. Everything she was experiencing with Scorpius was new to her for the most part. Normally she was so confident. But how could she possibly exhibit confidence when she felt so self-conscious and unsure of herself all the time?
…
Scorpius Malfoy was whistling as he skipped down the stairs from his bedroom. His parents were waiting for him in the foyer as they had also been invited to the Potter/Scamander wedding and not only via The Daily Prophet but they had also received an actual formal invitation.
"Did you have a nice night, Son?" asked Draco with raised eyebrows as Scorpius smirked.
"Yes, actually, I did. I'm assuming by that knowing look you have that you know I didn't sleep here last night," Scorpius made a 'tsk' sound as he spoke. "In answer to your unspoken question; yes, I stayed with Rose last night."
"I don't blame you. You should get it while you can, because I assure you, as soon as you're married they suddenly have headaches every night and no amount of pepper-up potions will cure it – ow!" Astoria elbowed Draco in the ribs as he finished giving his fatherly advice.
"Nothing like that happened, Dad. Rose shares a flat with her cousin, Albus Potter, and Albus has been spending his nights with Norah at her flat. Rose dislikes sleeping in an empty flat so I stayed to keep her company."
"I'm sure your intentions were nothing but noble," Draco drawled sarcastically.
Astoria's fingers were fixing her husband's tie, "That's enough, you two. Let's not be late. Scorpius? Do you know if we're supposed to floo or Apparate there? Did the invitation specify how they wanted guests to arrive?"
"I'm not flooing, my robes will be coated in ashes," Draco protested.
"We'll Apparate then. Draco, Scorpius, take hold of me and I'll do it. Now Scorpius, don't let go of my arm or you could be splin-"
"I know, Mum."
"Right then, let's be off!"
…
The Potter/Scamander wedding was crawling with the press. As the Malfoy family made their way through the queue at the edges of the Burrow's protective enchantments they were bombarded with questions. Why were you invited? Did you pay to be here? Are you crashing the wedding? Who is Scorpius marrying?
It was Harry Potter who came to their rescue which had Draco gritting his teeth. "Excuse me," Harry said with a broad smile. Years in the spotlight had taught him exactly how to give the press what they wanted; him. "The Malfoys are very good friends of the family. Scorpius is marrying one of my niece's and his cousin, Teddy Lupin, is my godson. Let them through."
The press immediately stepped back and cameras flashed wildly as they entered. The invitations they carried allowed them to pass through the enchantments while the press was held at bay. "Thanks, Potter," Draco whispered with just a slight edge.
Harry smiled and clapped him on the back, "Happy to be of service, Malfoy. Although now they're going to be dying to discover who Scorpius is betrothed to."
"They've been sneaking around the manor for months," commented Astoria scathingly.
"Here we are, my nephew Hugo will show you to your seats," Harry gestured and Hugo came running up. Opposite of his sister, Hugo had acquired their mother's quiet and shy demeanor. His hair was dark red, like Rose's, but straight. His eyes were brown like his mother's and his facial features favored those of the Weasley family. Even his build was tall and thin like his father's.
"Scorpius," Hugo held out his hand and Scorpius took it firmly. Hugo pulled Scorpius in closer so he could whisper with menace, "Al told me about what he walked in on this morning. If you hurt her, I'll kill you."
When he leaned back and released Scorpius's hand he was smiling kindly. Scorpius barely suppressed a laugh at this. With a firm nod at his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Scorpius hurriedly followed Hugo to their seats.
"Aunt Andromeda," Draco said happily to the woman on his left. "How are you?"
"Doing quite well, Draco. Will your parents be here?" the older woman favored his late Aunt Bellatrix so much that it made his gut twist to look at her. But there was something in her eyes that assured Draco Andromeda was nothing like either or her sisters.
"No, they weren't invited."
"I didn't think they would be but I wasn't sure…" Scorpius stopped listening to the conversation at that. Instead he looked around. Most of the guests in attendance were people he knew.
Looking highly uncomfortable and not entirely sure how they got there was a family of what were obviously muggles. The men wore suits and they were glancing around in awe at the tent above them which was suspended by magic and the floating candles. Not to mention the instruments that were playing themselves off to the side.
The candles all flickered at once and everyone quickly sat down as the wedding was about to begin. It seemed that Astoria had been correct in her assumption that they were almost late for the ceremony. At the Ministry official's signal they all stood and faced toward the end of the aisle. Traditional wedding music began to play and James Potter stood beside the Ministry official practically bouncing in excitement.
Roxanne was the first Bridesmaid to appear. She strutted up the aisle with her hand tucked into the crook of her brother's elbow. Smiling grandly at the guests as they walked in time with the slow music and looked at perfect ease to be in front of so many people.
They took their places up front and Scorpius turned his attention to the next couple. Rose. For several seconds he didn't breathe. She looked stunning. Her hair was all up piled on top of her head elegantly and she had obviously straightened it again. The dress, as she guessed, was short on her. It almost reached her mid-thigh but not quite.
She had been partnered with Teddy Lupin. He looked striking in his black dress robes. His hair was spikey, short, and the exact same shade as Rose's yellow dress. He was not blood related to Rose and Scorpius felt an odd surge of jealousy at seeing how comfortable Rose obviously was with him.
Rose gave the people watching a small smile while Teddy beamed at everyone, even sending a wink to his grandmother. When Rose saw Scorpius the lightest touch of red lit up her cheeks and it only made her look even prettier.
As Teddy and Rose passed where he was standing, Scorpius couldn't help but stare at her arse. The frilly loose bottom of her dress drew the eye to her perfect backside. Without purposefully bringing the memory to mind, he found himself remembering how it felt to hold that arse tightly while grinding his erection into her.
Those heels! The shoes on her feet were tall stilettos that made her already long legs look even longer. Bloody hell! She looked like she just stepped off the pages of some modeling magazine! If she hadn't been wearing a dress she could have been from the pages of a dirty magazine.
"Witches prefer when your eyes are on their faces, not their other lovely assets," whispered Draco with a chuckle. Scorpius cleared his throat and slid his eyes up to her face as she turned to face her friends and family.
Albus and Lily Potter were the maid of honor and best man. They owned the room in a way the other couples hadn't. There were only a few select members of the press off to the sides taking pictures of the wedding for the papers and they were going wild.
Lily blew them a kiss while Al gave them a shy wave. Lily had a girlish presence that made everyone love her. Al was humble and shy, like a miniature Harry. The press ate them up.
Finally, Leila appeared. She was a vision. If Scorpius hadn't been so biased, he would have admitted that Leila was the most gorgeous girl in the place. But he couldn't think anyone was beautiful with Rose around. Leila's long thick blonde hair was pulled back and fell down her back in tight ringlets. Her veil was longer, trailing down to the ground, fanning out behind her as she walked. Normally girls wore a small tiara or hair clips with pearls or diamonds, but Leila's headpiece was a halo of white flowers.
Her father, who Scorpius had never seen before, was walking with her, escorting her up to her waiting groom. James looked like the happiest man alive as Leila's father placed her hand into James's and took his seat beside Luna.
Scorpius wasn't listening to the rest of the ceremony. His eyes kept wandering to Rose; watching her watch the wedding. He jolted in his seat when Leila and James kissed; there was a sound like a canon blast, sparkles and confetti rained down on everyone, and the instruments struck up a lively tune.
James spun Leila around and dipped her for their kiss. Leila threw her arms around her husband, her bouquet of flowers obviously not her main concern when she crushed them against James's back. When he pulled her back upright, she was smiling and her lipstick was slightly smeared.
….
James couldn't believe how wonderful he felt. Was this how everyone felt when they married the person they loved? The reception followed flawlessly. Leila stayed in her exuberant gown and the chairs were transfigured into tables with dragon centerpieces.
It was beautiful, showy, and magical. Just like they wanted it to be. So he didn't have a hippogriff to ride off on and there was no way his mother was going to let him get away with a few of his more outrageous plans, that was okay. Leila was by his side and that was all that mattered to him.
"Merlin, Circe, and Morgana! You're muggles!" Leila screeched as she greeted all of her guests and finally came to James's great-aunt Petunia, great-uncle Vernon, cousin Dudley, Dudley's wife Nancy, and their two children, Norman and Diana.
"Erm, yes," said Dudley in an almost embarrassed way.
"James said you would be here, but I'm so excited to finally meet you! I simply must get a picture with you. James, find a camera! Muggles! At my wedding! Can you believe it?" her excitement was amusing and baffling to her husband as he went to locate a camera.
"Congratulations," said Petunia stiffly.
Leila pulled the older woman to her hard, hugging her like they were best friends, "Thank you! Thank you for being here supporting James today. So you really can't do any magic at all? That's so fascinating! I've never actually met any muggles before. I mean, I've seen them of course, but I've never been introduced to them. My whole family are wizards, you see."
"Lovely," said Vernon, sounding as if this was anything but lovely.
"Here," Leila shoved her wand into Dudley's hand. "Go on, give it a wave. Yes, just like that, don't be afraid now, just give it a purposeful flick…" she illustrated the movement and Dudley copied it.
"Nothing happened," he said bluntly.
"Nothing at all!" Leila agreed, sounding delighted, "that's extraordinary! No magic at all. I am so honored to have you here."
The Dursley's looked to Harry with pleading eyes and with a hearty laugh he intervened. "Excuse them, Leila, they're not exactly comfortable around magic."
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize. Please, help yourselves to some champagne and food while I find where James has disappeared to." She took her wand back from Dudley, shoving it down her cleavage into the bodice of her wedding dress before leaving them with Harry.
"May I have this dance?"
Leila spun around to find Scorpius Malfoy with his hand extended, bowing slightly, waiting for her reply. "Of course," she slid her gloved hand into his and let him guide her out onto the dance floor. "So you and Rose next."
He chuckled, "Molly and William are next, actually. Their wedding is tomorrow. Or have you been so busy shagging James that you barely remembered your own wedding let alone his cousin's?"
Leila smirked, "Cheeky, aren't you? No wonder Rose likes you so much."
He was so shocked by her words that for a moment he forgot to keep dancing until Leila gave him a gentle shove and he started moving his feet again. "Did she say something to you?"
"No, but she didn't have to. I can tell. Rose and I might not be very close, but Roxanne and I are the closest thing she has to girlfriends. It's written all over her face when she talks about you. We got the invitation to your wedding this morning by the way."
"Yes, Rose got those out right away," he jumped onto this topic change. He didn't want to discuss Rose and any possible feelings she might have with a girl who was practically a stranger to him.
"I'm in her wedding, too, you know. She asked all of us today. Norah, Lily, Roxanne, Dominique, Lucy, and me. We're going shopping for dresses on Monday. Don't worry, I'll make sure we get her some appropriate wedding night attire as well. Where do you plan on taking her for your honeymoon?"
His head spinning with all of this, he somehow managed to reply, "It's, um, actually a surprise. Her parents said they were taking care of it and wouldn't tell me a thing."
"Oh that sounds so lovely. James and I aren't actually going on a honeymoon. We just bought a house and we know that most of the next month will be spent between the sheets if you know what I mean, so why waste money going somewhere when we'll barely get out of the hotel room?" She was very blunt about their sexual life and a part of Scorpius envied this. He wondered if Rose would ever, could ever, be this blasé about their sex life. Somehow he just couldn't see it. Would she always be so shy in bed?
The song ended and Scorpius politely kissed the back of her clothed knuckles as he stepped away from her. "Thank you for the lovely dance, Mrs. Potter."
"Thanks for coming here today, Scorpius. Go find Rose and take her for a spin on the dance floor. After all, isn't she your date tonight?"
….
When Scorpius found Rose he almost wished he hadn't. She was sitting at a table with Vincent and Austin Longbottom. Scorpius came up behind her stiffly and placed a hand on her shoulder possessively. "Longbottoms," he drawled.
"Malfoy," Austin said with strained politeness.
"Scorpius," said Vincent as he stood to shake his hand. "How have you been? I can't believe you are marrying Rose! We're going to be cousins-in-law someday, isn't that crazy?"
"Er, I'm sorry, what?" Scorpius had been too busy glaring at the way Austin was looking at Rose.
"I'm with Lily, but you knew that of course."
"Oh, right, yeah, Rose told me about the Ministry giving you guys a break. That's excellent, mate," his reply was sincere but his eyes were still glued to the other Longbottom as Austin reached over to stroke the back of Rose's hand.
Rose looked up at Austin with wide eyes. Didn't he realize what it looked like to people when he did that? Was he purposefully trying to make a move on her with her fiancé standing right there? When their eyes met something in her memory stirred.
Austin. Moonlight. Walking through muggle London. Lips. Snogging. Rose jerked her hand out from under his and reached up to rub her right temple. Had she really cheated on Scorpius? Did he know about this?
By the look on his face he did. Scorpius looked like he was about to lunge across the table at Austin and throttle him. "Rose, honey, are you feeling okay, you look a bit flushed?" Austin's concern was real and she knew it but at the same time she didn't appreciate it.
Even if she had been pissed Austin hadn't been. Had he really kissed her, being sober, knowing they were both going to marry other people? Words came back to her. "…come home with me…"
She was on her feet in an instant, leaning her back into Scorpius's chest as he ran his hands up and down her bare arms. "Cold, love?" he asked affectionately as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. Clearly he was sending Austin a warning.
"Yes, I am. Will you accompany me inside to get a sweater?" she asked as her eyes flickered from Austin to the man whose arms she was in.
"Of course," Scorpius gently hooked his fingers around her elbow and led her toward the Burrow.
"Please, Scorpius, be honest with me," she pleaded when they were out of earshot of everyone else. "The night that I showed up at your house drunk…did I say anything…did Austin…um?"
Scorpius sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You told me that he kissed you," his voice was low and pained, "and that he offered to take you home with him for a shag."
"Did I…go?"
"No! Bloody hell! What, did you think he took you back to his flat, shagged you, and then brought you to me? No, Rose, you told him no and made him bring you home." It didn't go unnoticed by either of them that Scorpius had referred to Malfoy Manor as Rose's home.
"Thank God," she exhaled shakily. "While we were talking, a few things came back to me. I remembered him saying to me that he wanted me to go home with him. I was worried. Merlin, I'm so sorry, Scorpius. Shit, how do you still want me around you?"
"I love you."
She started when he said this and led him upstairs to a bedroom where she had obviously gotten ready that afternoon. She had a green sweater on a bed that she pulled on. "I don't understand how you can still want me after I cheated on you."
"I don't blame you, Rose. At one point in your life you loved Austin. He came onto you, you went with it, but in the end you didn't go home with him."
"Did I happen to tell you why I didn't?"
"You said that you didn't go home with him because I tasted better. I imagine that to mean that Longbottom doesn't live up to his reputation in the snogging department."
"Honestly I don't remember enough to confirm that, but I doubt there's a bloke alive who can snog better than you."
Scorpius and Rose were equally shocked to hear those words come from her mouth. "Exactly how many glasses of champagne have you had tonight? If this is what alcohol does to you then please remind me to only serve Ogden's at our wedding."
Rose playfully punched his shoulder before wrapping her arms around his middle and burying her face into his chest. "I'm so sorry I did that to you, Scorpius. You've no idea how bad I feel."
He heard a soft hiccup and reached down to stroke her cheek. "Are you crying? Oh, Rose, it's not that big of a deal. So you snogged a bloke. I'll live. You're marrying me in one week. Let Longbottom suck on that!"
Rose clucked her tongue as she pulled back out of his embrace and wiped at her wet eyes. "You're such a tosser."
"Aw, come on, let's go make Longbottom green with envy."
Giving him an evil grin that looked out of place on Rose's angelic face she silently agreed. Austin had no right to take advantage of her intoxicated state. He had no right to request that she cheat on Scorpius and she was definitely going to make him regret it.
…
"Looks like Rose might actually fancy Scorpius now," Norah was being swept around the dance floor in Al's arms when she glanced over to see Scorpius and Rose doing a few raunchy dance moves.
Albus tensed. "Louis and I kind of caught them in bed together this morning."
"What? You mean like, in bed like how we are in bed, or in bed like how James and Leila are in bed?"
"Nice analogy," said Albus sarcastically, "but I'm not sure. It looked like how James and Leila are but I really don't know."
"It's a good thing, Al," Norah rested her head on his chest and inhaled his scent. Any couples that the press had previously not known about were certainly public now. They had already taken what seemed like thousands or pictures of Norah as she had been in Al's arms the entire night.
Rose and Scorpius, however, were now the stars of the show. If James and Leila were upset by this they didn't show it but it was apparent that the press were salivating to get closer to the racy couple as they grinded together to the music.
Albus purposefully led Norah over in that direction. When he was close enough to speak with them, he said quietly, "This is supposed to be a classy event. Stop shagging on the dance floor."
"I'll dance however I want," Rose spun around so her back was to Scorpius's chest and slid down the length of his body, almost showing off her knickers.
"Bloody hell, Rose, that guy with the camera almost caught a glimpse of your underwear!" Albus growled.
"No he didn't," she argued lightly.
"Yes, he did," Albus insisted.
"No, he didn't, because I'm not wearing any. What he almost got a picture of was my arse."
"What's gotten into her?" Norah asked Scorpius, wondering if perhaps Rose was really this drunk.
"Revenge," Scorpius was trying, and failing, not to laugh. "She just remembered about the kiss she shared with Austin Longbottom and she wants to shove in his face what he's missing."
"One night of sex and my cousin turns into a slag," Al gasped in disbelief, "What did you do to her, Malfoy?"
"We didn't shag!" Rose hissed, spinning around and pressing her front firmly against Scorpius's front.
"What? I thought for sure with the way you two were wrapped around each other under the covers…"
"Well you're wrong. My virginity remains intact, Al, no worries."
"If you're not careful you're going to lose it on the dance floor," Fred suddenly appeared with Heather. "Every bloke here who isn't related to you is panting and waiting for you to be away from Scorpius so they can have the chance to steal you away."
"Let them try," said Rose unconcernedly.
"Seriously, Rose? This is all it took? You would barely touch Scorpy-boy before and now that you're angry at Austin Longbottom you're willing to go to extremes to get back at him?" Fred looked torn between being impressed and terrified.
"He deserves to be taught a harsh lesson in reality, Fred. I am marrying Scorpius and if he thinks he can just waltz up to me, snog me, and take me home with him, he has another thing coming!"
"Just don't let James see this wanton display of sexuality. Or Uncle Ron for that matter. They would both have heart attacks."
"Nah, James would probably be proud of me and Dad would-"
"-Pull out his wand and Avada your fiancé?" Ron Weasley came from nowhere and was pushing his way between the grinding couple.
"Dad!" she squeaked.
"Mr. Weasley," Scorpius acknowledged respectfully.
"Shove it up your arse, Malfoy! What the hell do you think you are doing? We are at a wedding, not a brothel! For Merlin's sake, Rosie, go put some trousers on! And you had better keep your slimy Slytherin hands off of my little girl!"
"Dad! I am seventeen! We're getting married in a week!"
"That doesn't mean he can fondle you in the middle of a wedding reception in front of hundreds of guests! Have you no decency?"
"I'm afraid that I really must agree with the Weasel on this one."
"Dad," groaned Scorpius.
"Keep it in your pants for another week, Son," Draco scolded.
Ron's ears burned red. "Keep it in your pants forever, Malfoy, or I'll remove it permanently!"
"They're getting married, Weasley! Do you expect them to never have sex?" Draco asked coolly.
"Not if he wants to live past next weekend!"
"Come on," whispered Scorpius, "Let's get out of here." Rose eagerly agreed.
…..
A/N: Well, how was James's reaction to Leila? I like how James and Leila almost always end up shagging at the end of their scenes. It fits them so well I think. How was Rose's reaction to her night with Scorpius? Granted she hasn't really had a chance to fully process it yet as her day was filled with family things. Just one week until Rose and Scorpius's wedding! As always, let me know what you think of this chapter!
Yours,
MofDA