A/N: I know this chapter isn't as long as the usual ones, but it's necessary :) Here we go!
CHAPTER 4
"SUMMER!" cried Albus, as he tossed his papers in the air at the end of their Charms theory exam.
"Mr. Potter, that is quite inappropriate, students are still writing their exams – " however Professor Corner's words fell on deaf ears as Albus skipped from the Great Hall, followed by a laughing Scorpius, who had finished as well. Rose was still tediously scribbling away with her quill, checking over every single answer. There was no way she would let anyone beat her on this final.
Around twenty minutes later Rose joined Albus and Scorpius in the Common Room.
"We're done Rosie Posie!" Albus cried. "Second year complete, only five more to go!" Throwing his arms around her, he began to ridiculously dance around the laughing students.
"Think about it Al, we'll be able to pick electives next year! I could do Arithmancy, or Ancient Runes, just like mum!" Rose beamed.
Albus groaned however. "Rose, it's summer. No more school talk until the end of August when we get our letters that tell us to choose."
Scorpius laughed at the cousins. Sure deep down inside him he still had that inkling of a crush on Rose. But it had mostly passed. Almost all sets of friends go through it, his time just came too early, he thought.
Rose however just looked at her blonde friend. Albus had hinted to her once that he had a crush on her, but it had obviously passed. It made Rose a little happier to know she wasn't hurting her friend by not liking him that way.
Just then Sarah happened to come down the stairs from the girl's dormitories. Spotting Rose she crossed the room. Over the last few months, the two had grown really close. Rose basically considered Sarah her closest friend besides Scorpius and Albus. Rose could tell Sarah the things she couldn't tell the boys.
"Hey Rose!" Sarah called.
"Sarah! Can you believe it! We're practically third years now! I can taste the extra homework…" Albus groaned once again. "Oh shut it Al!"
"I know! What are you doing this summer?" Sarah asked.
"Well, probably spending a lot of it at the Burrow, but really I'm doing nothing. Why?" Rose asked, curious.
"We-ell…" Sarah began, "I was talking to my dad, and he said I can bring a friend when we spend a week in the Alps! How would you like to go with me?"
"REALLY?" Rose squealed so loud that the boys had to cover their ears. "I'd love to go Sarah! Let me owl my parents right now!" Grabbing Sarah's hand she dragged the girl from the room, and ran off to the Owlery to owl her mum.
"How about you Scorp, what are your plans?" Albus asked.
"Well, actually, I've been talking with my father. He says, if your parents are OK with it, and Rose, too, of course, that we can have a Weasley/Potter/Malfoy etcetera Quidditch scrimmage at my house over the summer! And this includes everyone even Teddy and Victoire if they want to come, and the Scamanders, and the Longbottoms! He actually agreed to it last year, but we ended up going to Albania."
Albus beamed, "That's great Scorp! I'll tell the others. If we all ask our parents and they say its OK, I'll owl you and we can come up with the details!"
Scorpius grinned. This was what he had been looking forward to. A chance to get his and Rose's father to bond. As much as he hated to say that. He knew Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley hated each other. But if they could just see past that, then maybe, just maybe, he'd have a chance with Rose. Oops, so much for no crush.
The train left for King's Cross in two days time, so tomorrow would be a free day where students could wander, or if they were older, they could go to Hogsmeade. James, Fred, Lucy and the other older students were all up to something. Especially Frank Longbottom, as he was graduating this year and it would be his last chance for a prank.
Of course Professor Longbottom was watching his son like a hawk, but Merlin knows what that boy could pull off, even under his father's surveillance. He had probably been the one to jinx their common room door back in January, as he had seemed the only one who could recite, in detail, what was wrong with the door.
…
The next morning found Rose frantically running back and forth across her room, finding her belongings haphazardly strewn everywhere. It was a good thing she had a checklist of everything she had brought, so she could make sure she still had it all.
Sure enough, once she'd gotten through her list, one thing was missing.
Her charm bracelet. The one she had gotten for her birthday.
Rose looked everywhere, even tried Accio Charm Bracelet but nothing worked.
Beginning to cry, she slumped on her bed, just as Felicity walked in.
"Aw is something wrong little bookworm?" she spat. Rose didn't reply. "Scorpius call you ugly? Fat? Well he wouldn't be lying."
Rose's breath hitched. Usually her insults didn't hurt. But that one did. Ever since Rose's birthday, Felicity acted as if she was the most disgusting thing on earth, and this made Rose uneasy.
"No Clearwater, I lost my charm bracelet."
"Oh that ugly little trinket? Oh I think I saw that somewhere…Oh no wait, I would remember seeing something that ugly."
Sniffing, Rose stood up, meaning to leave the room.
"Yes little weasel, leave before you get your feelings hurt. Run back to your over-grown family."
Rose couldn't take it anymore. It was one thing to insult her. It was a whole other thing to insult her family.
Turning around, Rose was glad she wasn't one of those girls to go and get manicures, because she reached her hand out and slashed her nails down the side of the other girl's face.
Felicity seemed to be in shock, so Rose took this opportunity to grab onto the black hair on her head and give it a good yank, hoping to send her face first into the floor.
Rose would have left it at this, but Felicity had other ideas in mind. Before she could fall to the floor, she had grabbed Rose's wrist, sending her head first down onto the cement floor.
With a loud crack, Rose landed head first, hard.
Next thing Felicity knew there was blood everywhere, and she began screaming.
Luckily Sarah and Connie had only been down in the Common Room, and upon hearing their roommate screams, they raced upstairs. Scorpius and Albus stood frozen, not understanding what was going on, and not being able to follow up the girl's stairs, they simply waited.
"Felicity! What did you do!" cried Sarah, upon seeing Rose on the floor and a pool of blood.
Felicity was at a loss for words, but finally she found them. "It…it was a-an accident. We were fighting a-and…" she began sobbing into Connie's arms. Connie only rolled her eyes before giving her a pat on the back as if she cared.
"Guys get a Professor immediately. We need to get Rose to the hospital wing!"
This is what Albus and Scorpius heard from the Common Room, and they began to panic.
"Go Al! Get Duke! You're faster than me! He's just down the hall," cried Connie as she entered the Common Room.
Scorpius was so in shock he could barely speak. "What's happened Connie?"
"Rose has hit her head; she's lost a lot of blood. Sarah's managed to stop it, and I tried to clean up the mess, but with Felicity bawling like a fog horn, it's kind of hard to not get annoyed." Just as Connie said this, Professor Duke entered with a loud "I CAN'T ANSWER THAT RIGHT NOW, JUST LET ME IN THERE'S A STUDENT WHO IS HURT! I AM HEAD OF RAVENCLAW AND I DEMAND ENTRANCE!"
Luckily for him the Eagle on the door seemed to listen, and swung open permitting them entrance.
Entering the Common Room Professor Duke and Albus rushed in.
"Where's Rose?" he asked, and Connie pointed up the stairs. "OK Miss Marks, you will have to levitate her down to here, OK? I cannot go up the stairs. Be very careful."
Moments later Connie and Sarah appeared, levitating Rose in front of them. Felicity followed, sniffling, behind.
Scorpius and Albus followed diligently behind them, glaring at Felicity, as they made their way to the Hospital Wing. Finally they made it, where they laid Rose on a bed, and Madam Pomfrey came rushing out.
"Oh dear. A bit of Skele-gro will patch that crack up nicely, but she needs a blood-replenishing potion straight away." Bustling away, she returned moments later with two bottles. Tilting Rose's head back carefully, she tipped them in. Rose spluttered for a moment, but the Potions went down.
"She'll be fine in a few hours, but I'm going to have to keep her until at least supper time," said the Healer.
Scorpius let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Aw man! Rose will miss out on the great prank! Maybe we can convince Frank to – "
Suddenly loud bangs could be heard from the ground.
"Aw man, now we're missing it! Remind me to thank Rose later…" Albus said.
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Look man, you go get in on the action, I'll stay and make sure Rose is OK when she wakes up."
Albus looked at him funny, but left nonetheless. And he was followed shortly by Professor Duke, who was dragging off Felicity, muttering something about a month's worth of detention when she got back in the fall, an essay over the summer, and an apology letter to Rose. At least he never docked points. And finally Sarah and Connie left to go get some food.
Scorpius sighed in the silence. Madam Pomfrey had returned to her office, and Rose was sound asleep.
Rose's chest was rising and falling softly and Scorpius couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked, even after what had happened to her. Her auburn curls flooded around her shoulders, and her hands lay at her sides.
Yeah, he definitely hadn't gotten over that 'silly little crush' of his.
…
Rose awoke the next morning with a splitting headache, and surprise etched on her face as she realized she was in the Hospital Wing. Scorpius was asleep in the chair next to her and she could see it was dark outside through the windows. How long had she been here? What had happened?
"Scorp?" she asked lightly, and Scorpius stirred from his sleep.
"Oh, Rose, you're awake! Good, I'll let Madam Pomfrey know," he moved to get up, but Rose stopped him.
"How long have I been here?" she asked
"Since this afternoon. You and Felicity were fighting and you fell and hit your head off the floor."
"Thanks..." she said softly.
"For what?" he asked
"Staying here. For being such a good friend," Rose smiled.
"No problem Rose," he smiled, "Really."
And with that, he went to go find Madam Pomfrey.
...
Rose pulled the woollen hat off of her head. She had just arrived back from the Alps safe and sound in her living room fireplace. The green flames settled around her, and she could hear her mother bustling forward.
"Welcome home Rose! There have been a few owls for you, so I left the letters in your room!" she said, giving Rose a tight hug.
"Mum! Geroff! I've only been gone a week, and you're hugging me harder than you did after first year!" Rose shooed at her mother. She could hear her father chuckling in the kitchen. "Where's Hugo?"
"At the Potter's of course. He and Lily are obsessed with the fact that they are going to Hogwarts. So naturally they have to spend every waking moment together plotting..." Hermione replied.
Rose laughed, "Typical."
Dragging her duffle bag to her room, she pulled her parka off and threw it into her closet, followed by the boots on her feet and winter pants.
Looking on her desk, she was surprised to see nearly fifteen letters there. I was only gone a week! Sheesh!
There were two from Albus, one from Connie, one from Victoire, one from Ms. Luna Scamander, and the rest were from, you guessed it, Scorpius. Ten whole letters he sent Rose.
Reading Ms. Scamander's first, she was pleased to hear she had been invited over this weekend to babysit the twins while her and her husband needed to travel to Austria to 'check on something'.
Albus' were the usual, checking on her and asking how summer was going. As was Connie's.
Victoire's was an unexpected note however.
Dear Rose,
Hey girl! I haven't heard from you since the beginning of summer! How are you?
Let me know, because I've got some exciting news! Remember my friend Elsie Lochrin? Well she was in Diagon Alley yesterday, and guess what she saw?
Teddy. MY Teddy. Going in to a store. And not just any store. Bewitching Baubles.
As in THE place to buy jewellery. Any jewellery. Necklaces. Pins. Earrings. Rings…
He's been hinting lately how he really wishes he was actually part of the family.
What if he plans to propose? What do I do? What do I say?
…Well I say yes of course!
Oh Rose! I wanted you to be the first to know. But do not tell anyone especially Uncle Harry. It would break his heart if someone knew before him!
I am beside myself with excitement! But really why I am writing to you though is…
If Teddy does propose, will you be my Maid of Honor?
I know it's a big job, but if anyone can do it, it's you! Please say yes! I wouldn't know who else to ask!
Your lovely cousin,
Victoire
Rose gaped at the letter. Was Victoire serious? Her? The Maid of Honor? Of course she'd say yes!
Pulling out a piece of parchment, she scribbled her reply.
Dear Victoire,
Of course I will be your Maid of Honor! How could I possibly say no! The moment he proposes I am going into full-fledged MOH mode on you. I'm talking who, what, when, where, decorations, bridal shower, booking a minister, EVERYTHING YOU NEED I WILL DO IT!
Oh congrats Victoire! I'm sooo happy for you! Send me a picture of the rock when you get it! I need something to be jealous over!
Love,
Rose
Next she flicked through Scorpius' letters. However she was so excited about Victoire, she couldn't concentrate. The first few kept asking how her summer was going, if she had gone to the Alps yet, so on and so forth. The last three however, mentioned something different.
Reading it she cocked an eyebrow. Was he serious? A Weasley/Potter/Malfoy plus more scrimmage at his house? Was he in his right state of mind? Her father would never agree…
… "Sure Rose. As long as parents are allowed. I don't want you near Draco Malfoy without me."
Rose gaped at her father. The only thing that could explain this was if he already knew about it, and mother had calmed him down. Sure enough, when she glanced at her mother, Hermione was smiling wide.
"You guys are weird…" Rose said, narrowing her eyes, "But I'll tell Scorpius you said yes."
Running up, she grabbed another bit of parchment and wrote a simple reply of Yes, we'll be there. Parentals and all.
Tying both her replies to her owls legs, she let the bird loose, sending it first to Victoire and then to Scorpius.
…
"Are you sure you're OK with this dad?" Rose asked tentatively, her day sack slung over her shoulder, and her broom in her hand. It wasn't a new fancy broom, just something simple that she used with the family. She was ready to floo to the Malfoy's. Hugo was right behind her, his broom in hand as well.
"Yes Rose. I am. I've already been talking with Scorpius' father, and we've agreed to either get along or ignore each other. Whatever one works. And your mother promised if it gets ugly, she's going to drag me out of there. Right Hermione?"
"Right," Hermione replied with a curt nod.
"Well then what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Rose cried.
Hopping into the fireplace, she grabbed a fair amount of Floo Powder, and flung it into the flames, crying out "Malfoy Residence, Humberdale Road, Kingsbrith."
Hurtling through the flames, Rose tumbled out into a room with an arched ceiling, and hardly any furniture.
"Hullo Rose!" came a familiar voice.
Turning she saw Scorpius and grinned. "Hey! What's with the empty room?"
"We only use it to Floo. No need to decorate or nothing. Anyways, I can take your bag to where everyone else's is if you want?"
Rose smiled. "No, that's OK. I'm just waiting for – "
"OOF!"
"That," Rose grinned and turned to find her father on his face on the floor, with Hugo laughing at him.
"Oh Rose! It was priceless! Tripped over the grate he did!" Hugo continued to guffaw as their mother stepped gracefully out of the fireplace.
Rose smiled.
As Ron stood up, Hermione crossed over to him and grasped his arm.
"Where's your father Scorpius. I'd very much like to say our thanks…" Hermione said politely.
"Everyone else is outside; you're the last to arrive."
Rose heard her mother groan out low, As always…
Walking down the hall, they made their way to a beautiful foyer. There were several doors off the side. Scorpius pointed to the one on the furthest left.
"You can put your things in there if you want."
Rose crossed over and laid her bag beside the few others that were there, before heading back out with her broom.
Opening the doors, Scorpius led them to the vast back yard area. Rose spied all of her cousins zooming around on their brooms while their parents and Draco and Astoria Malfoy stood below them chuckling.
"Here they are father," he said, catching Draco's attention. Draco turned, a slight smile on his face.
"Welcome," was all he said before turning to his wife and whispering something.
Astoria Malfoy was a beautiful young woman, and when she approached them Hugo blushed. Rose giggled at her silly brother and smacked him playfully on the arm.
"Hello Mr and Ms Weasley. Welcome to our home. My husband has asked me to show you around, as I'm sure you are curious."
This time it was Hermione's turn to blush, and she responded with a nod.
"Shall we?" asked Astoria, before leading Rose's parents inside.
"Want to play?" asked Scorpius, while pointing to her cousins.
Everyone was there. James, Albus, and Lily. Molly and Lucy, Fred and Roxanne, Dominique and Louis, Teddy and Victoire, and even Lorcan, Lysander, Frank, Alice and Thomas were here. What surprised Rose the most was the sight of Sarah among them.
Rose grinned. Even all the Aunts and Uncles had come. Percy and Audrey, George and Angelina, Bill and Fleur, Harry and Ginny, Luna and Rolf, Neville and a very pregnant Hannah, and Uncle Charlie. Even Sarah's parents were here, Terry and Marietta Boot. They were chatting with Harry and Ginny, probably about the old days.
"Sure!" Rose finally replied to an awaiting Scorpius. Motioning to Hugo, she pulled on her never worn Keeper gloves that she had gotten from Albus and took off on her broom.
She still had no interest in playing Quidditch, but knew she would be forced to try out this year. So she may as well get some practise in.
Since there were twenty people there, some decided to sit out. So one team was made of Rose, James, Molly, Fred, Dominique, Lorcan and Sarah. The other team was Albus, Lily, Roxanne, Hugo, Teddy, Lysander, and Scorpius. Sitting out were Lucy, Victoire, Frank, Alice, Thomas and Louis.
Making a group huddle, teams decided on positions. Keeper would be Rose, Seeker was James, and Beaters would be Dominique and Fred, leaving Chasers as Molly, Lorcan and Sarah.
The other team had their make-up made as well, Keeper being Teddy, Seeker was Albus, Beaters were Roxanne and Hugo and the Chasers were Lily, Lysander and Scorpius.
This was going to be interesting.
…
Two hours later, fourteen beat players flung themselves down on chairs around the long table laid out for dinner. Everyone else had already been seated.
The game had ended with Rose's team winning, 230 points to 80. It had been tied at 80, until James snuck right past his younger brother and caught the snitch.
Rose was bragging about the amazing saves she had made.
"Did you see – "
"Yes."
"And then I – "
"Yes, we saw Rose."
"Followed by – "
"Saw that, too, Rose."
"Would you shut up sis?" yelled Hugo as everyone laughed except for Rose.
"Well I never – "
"SHH!" Hugo interrupted.
"OK kids, that's enough," Hermione interjected, shutting the two up.
Draco stood up then. "I would like to thank everyone for coming today. My wife and I agree that it's about time our families had some civility between them, and today has been a perfect example. I think we should do this every year, until our kids have moved out and gone on, and they can continue the tradition, inviting us for a change."
Laughter went down the table as the older copy of Scorpius grinned lightly.
"To unity!" He said, lifting his glass.
"To unity!" everyone repeated, Ron winced as he did so, but participated in clinking glasses of lemonade.
…
After dinner, Scorpius gave all the cousins and friends a tour of his home. It was wonderful! All the designs and furniture were breathtaking.
"This is so much better than our house!" Rose said in awe. Hugo nodded in agreement.
Scorpius laughed. "My father said you guys are free to come here any time you want. He really is all for this unity stuff he keeps talking about. I think it's weird, but hey, if it means we can visit each other any time, I'm not complaining!"
Lily was taken back by the large walk in closets in the home. Promptly announcing she would get her father to transfigure hers into one. Everyone laughed, but she meant business.
Rose turned to her cousins. "So, Lucy…Frank…did you like the birthday gifts I sent you?" she asked.
Lucy beamed. "I loved mine Rose! You know the Quibbler is my favourite! And getting me a year's subscription, it's like you read my mind!"
"Yeah!" cried Frank, "I'm definitely going to love these books on Quidditch Manoeuvres that will help me get through training!" Frank was currently in training for Professional Quidditch as he had just graduated. His goal was to make the Wasps team, but he didn't care; any team would do.
The others began discussing the other gifts that Lucy and Frank had received, while Rose turned to the last door in the hall.
"What's in there Scorp?" she asked.
Scorpius blushed, "Er – that's my room."
"Oh really?" she grinned evilly, "and how about that door over there?" she asked, pointing in the opposite direction.
Scorpius turned, "What door?" he asked.
But Rose had slipped past him and was running to the door leading to Scorpius' bedroom. By the time Scorpius noticed, she had a hand on the doorknob and had wrenched it open.
Inside was quite a spacious room that left Rose in shock. The walls were covered in posters, including the Tornadoes one she had given him last year, and there were pictures everywhere of different people. Looking closely she saw a few of herself that made her smile.
Scorpius had caught up with Rose now and was standing in his doorway. "You little sneak," he said angrily, but there was a grin on his face so Rose knew he was playing with her.
Rose smiled. His room really displayed his Ravenclaw pride, his walls a deep blue, and his bed being a four-poster with curtains and sheets like the ones in their dormitories. Wide open windows with a small balcony outside overlooked the backyard where they had spent the afternoon, and a bookshelf took up nearly one whole wall of the room.
"Wow Scorpius! This is so much better than my room!" Rose said in awe.
"Er – thanks…" Scorpius replied, blushing slightly.
Everyone else had wandered into the room now, and Scorpius felt like his privacy was being invaded.
"Alright, alright. Enough gawking at my bedroom. Let's go!" he said, grasping Rose by the arm lightly and leading the way out. Everyone followed behind slowly until they were back in the yard once more.
Laughing, the young ones all exited the Malfoy home. Rose stopped where she was standing however, as did Scorpius.
Yells were coming across the garden and Rose made a dash for it, knowing full well who one of the voices belonged to.
Approaching the scene, Rose's hands immediately went to her hips.
On the ground, fighting like young children were Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy themselves. Punches were flailing and hair was being pulled. Mr. Malfoy's tie was pulled off and lay a foot away on the ground.
"Daddy!" Rose cried. Immediately they stopped their rolling.
"Rose? Er, this isn't what it looks like…"
"Dad, you promised! You said you would either try to be civil or ignore your need to punch my friend's father in the face. And yet here you are, bickering as if you were still in Hogwarts! This day was almost perfect dad. Almost! But you had to ruin it, I hope you're happy." Turning to Scorpius, she let her eyes sink to the ground, "I'm sorry for my idiot of a father. I can assure you this will not happen again." Turning on her heels, she approached her mother before Scorpius even had the chance to say anything. "Can we leave mum? Please? Before father here embarrasses us any more?" Mrs. Weasley nodded, and led Rose back inside, grasping Hugo's arm as she went, completely ignoring her husband.
Rose's tears had begun to fall as she retrieved her bag and broom from the side room off the entrance way on their way back to the Floo room.
Just as she reached for the powder, she heard a voice call her name.
"Rose! Wait!" came the voice of Scorpius behind her.
Turning Rose sighed. "Scorpius I'm sorry for my oaf of a father – "
"Rose, my father was just at fault as yours. So I apologize as well."
Rose smiled slightly. "See you in two weeks?"
"Definitely. I'll save the compartment! God knows you will all be late again this year!" Scorpius laughed, and Rose joined him. Turning back to the fireplace, she grabbed some powder and followed her mother and brother who had left whilst she spoke with Scorpius.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one. I wanted to see what would happen if I threw everyone together. It could have been better I guess, I really want to try and get more Draco in the story, as I love him!
On another note, did anyone see AVPS? I think it made my life complete. I had been counting down the days, but it was all worth it! Two things: Scarf of Sexual Preferences, I KNEW that would be there. I remember some of the cast talking about it. And anyone else have 'Hermione can't draw' stuck in their heads? Yeah, I definitely have for the past four days.
Anywho, I'd like to thank all my reviewers and people who add me as favorites or alerts :) You all make me feel special!