This is the last chapter, so enjoy it!
Chapter 7: Roses Fade
"Chocolate spoils and roses fade, but true love last forever."
-Joanna Marie O'Neil
"Violet, don't bother your brother Leo," Rose scolds. "He needs to finish packing so he can go to school today."
"Mommy, I want to go to school, too!" four-year-old Violet begs.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Rose ushers her out of the room, leaving Leo to pack, "in a few years."
Violet sits down stubbornly in the middle of the hallway. "I want to go now!"
"Merlin, help me," Rose mutters under her breath before kneeling down next to her. "You'll be at school before you know it."
"Now!"
"What's wrong, flower?" Scorpius appears in the hallway, yawning, his blonde hair sticking in every direction.
Violet points at Rose accusingly. "Mommy won't let me go to school!"
"What? I didn't say that!"
Scorpius smirks. The same smirk as the time they wrote the word 'loser' in permanent ink on the back of their Potions teacher, Professor Parkinson. Rose doesn't know how he can keep the exact same expression all these years.
"Fine, try and talk to her," Rose asks imploringly, straightening up.
"Mum?" Leo calls. "Where's my Hogsmeade permission form?"
Rose sighs. "It's on your desk!"
"What about-"
"Your allowance money is right beside it," Rose answers without waiting for him to finish. "Try not to waste all of it on candy this year, will you?"
Scorpius has pulled Violet, who is considerably calmer, onto his lap and is watching Rose amusedly.
"Oh, that's right," Rose says exasperatedly, noticing his grin. "Laugh all you want. We promised to meet Al and Julie at King's Cross in" -she checks her watch- "half an hour."
His eyes widen and he covers Violet's ears before saying something he probably wouldn't repeat in front of his mother.
"Lovely," Rose deadpans, hurrying downstairs to find her middle child, Hannah, sitting quietly at the kitchen table in a fitted tee and jeans.
Rose sits down next to her. "Ready for your big day?"
Hannah shakes her head, which merely makes her unruly brown hair even messier. "What if the train crashes? What if nobody will let me sit in their compartment on the train? What if I get there and they decide I'm not magical enough? What if-"
"Don't worry about it," Rose says. "That's my job."
Hannah smiles reluctantly, and her smile grows wider when they reach Platform 9 ¾.
Leo allows his mother to hug him and ruffle his blond hair only once before dashing off to meet his friends.
"Boys." Julie shakes her head as her own son does the same.
Hannah is already chatting away with another girl as they load their trunk onto the train.
Violet runs the length of the platform, waving to her older sibling until they disappear into the distance.
"They grow up fast, don't they?" Albus says, breaking the silence.
Violet sighs dramatically, returning to her mother's side. "Not me."
"Oh, flower," Rose says, "you'll grow up soon enough. Too soon."
"Or you may be doomed to be that short forever," James teases, joining them.
"James!" Rose admonishes. "Don't put that idea in her head or-"
Violet is pouting again.
"Great job, mate," Scorpius says, glaring. "Now she's going to be upset all day."
"Hey, Vi, do you want to go see the Chudley Cannons play next week?"
Her large gray eyes widen. "Okay!"
"Your Uncle James is nice, isn't he? What do you say?"
"Thank you!" Violet chirps.
"Good girl," Rose praises her, but Scorpius is no longer listening.
It strikes him how pretty she looks, in her baggy green sweater and white jeans.
Gorgeous, in fact.
Having three children hasn't done much for her.
Her waistline isn't as slim as it used to be.
Her skin isn't as smooth as it once was.
Her hair isn't the bright brownish red anymore.
But her eyes have the same comforting warmth.
Her smile is just as heart-stopping.
Her personality is still bubbly.
No matter what anyone says, he thinks, a rose's beauty never fades. At least in his eyes.
I lied. I actually wrote one more chapter, an epilogue of sorts, but I'm thinking about publishing it separately. Thoughts?