"I still think I like it the first way," Lily said, helping herself to another glass of champagne. She, Molly, Abigail, and Rose were at Lucy's dress fitting. Lucy had picked a gown a month ago, but it had still needed some alterations.
"I think so too," Lucy said, turning around to get a good look at the back in the mirror as she tried to decide how she wanted it bustled. The dress was stunning. It was white, but had a champagne tint to it. The bodice was a lace flower pattern with a delicate smattering of pearl beads. Two thin silk straps went over her shoulders and moved into an intricate criss-cross in the back. The skirt was a simple shiny satin that flowed out from the waist and gracefully touched the floor. The train wasn't overly long, but would still need to be fastened up for dancing purposes. Rose had never been the overly romantic type when it came to things like weddings, but she couldn't help looking at Lucy's dress and thinking how lovely it was, but that she would choose something simpler for her own wedding day.
"Who do you think will be next?" Abigail asked as Lucy finalized things with the seamstress before going back in the dressing room to change.
"The next what?" Rose asked, shaking herself from thoughts of herself in a white dress and popping a strawberry in her mouth. The bridal boutique in Muggle London had provided them with all sorts of fruits and sweets, as well as a platter of bread and cheese. They'd polished most of it off by this point.
"The next to get married," Abigail explained around a slice of bread.
"Well, Rose is the only one seeing someone," Molly pointed out.
"Actually," Rose began. "I broke up with Abel last week."
"What? Why didn't you tell us?" Lily asked.
"Well, there were quite a few other things to be discussed last time I saw all of you," Rose said pointedly. Lily blushed and took a swig of her champagne.
"Okay, so no one else is seeing someone?" asked Abigail.
"I'm not," Molly said, not seeming too phased by it. "I haven't had a lot of time for dating the past few years. I've gone out some, but nothing's really stuck. Besides, it's been nice to just focus on myself for a while."
"Well," Abigail said, "I think it's going to be one of you three."
"Really?" Rose asked in surprise. "Why's that?"
Abigail gave a shrug, lounging back in her seat and rocking the carrier Holly was sleeping in with her foot. "You three just seem the most grounded. Roxy's still young and unpredictable, James is too focused on Quidditch. I suppose it could be Lou or Hugo, but Hugo's priorities are a little out of whack with the amount of time he spends at work."
There was a lull in the conversation where Rose watched Lily closely. She hadn't heard how things had gone after Lily ran off to see Carter last weekend. If the way she'd been unable to stop smiling all day was any indication, it seemed like it had gone well.
Abigail suddenly sat forward, a crazy look in her eyes.
"You know what? We should set you all up."
Rose's eyes widened. "What?"
"Yeah!" Abigail said, growing excited. "Al and I know plenty of great blokes. It could be fun!"
Rose searched for something to say. Not only had she just gotten out of a relationship and didn't really want to start up another one so soon, but she was still so emotionally invested in Leo. It wouldn't be fair to try and see what could be possible with someone else. Before she could say anything, Lily spoke up.
"I'm going to have to pass."
All three of them looked at her; Molly and Abigail in question, and Rose with a knowing smirk.
"Why?" Abigail asked. "I can't even remember the last time you went out."
Lily didn't seem too pleased with this comment. "I went out yesterday, actually."
Abigail's jaw dropped as Rose let a full grin appear on her face.
"What? With who?" Molly asked in excitement as Lucy came out from the dressing room. Lily fidgeted in her seat under the scrutiny. She shot a questioning look at Rose, who nodded.
"It just so happens, I had a date with Carter Thomas."
There was a pause, then all eyes turned to Rose who, admittedly, should have been prepared for that.
"It's fine," she assured their dumb-founded expressions. "We already talked about it and it's fine. It's been years since we went out and he's a good bloke. Plus, have you noticed how happy she is?" Rose gestured to Lily, and all of the heads swiveled back to look at her. She couldn't help but beam as they all began to embrace the idea.
"That's fantastic, Lily," Lucy said, bending down to hug her cousin. "Louis said something about you taking a fancy to someone. Didn't exactly see this coming, though."
Lily let out a laugh. "Neither did I, honestly. But it's been great so far, even if it's only really been a week and one date."
They continued to ask her questions as they made their way out into the street. It was snowing again, and the shop was thankfully not far from The Leaky Cauldron.
"Alright, Al has to run to the Ministry to do a bit of paperwork that popped up, but I told him we had plans to grab dinner and he doesn't know how long he'll take. He was supposed to ask someone to watch Holly until he gets home," Abigail explained as they made their way through the pub.
"Is she old enough to be without you yet?" Lily asked, looking down at her niece as she held her in her carrier.
"She's over a month and she does well with bottles," Abigail said, sounding a little nervous. "We haven't actually left her with anyone yet so I hope he got his mum or one of your mums. Knowing Al, I can see him asking James."
The had a good chuckle at that as they took turns to floo from the Leaky to Al and Abigail's flat, save Lucy, who flooed home with a promise to meet them for dinner. Al was surprisingly still there when they arrived, and Abigail promptly planted her hands on her hips when she saw her husband had fallen asleep on the couch with a copy of Quidditch Weekly lying on his chest. He didn't so much as stir when they showed up, and the other girls watched as Abigail quietly moved towards him, bending down as if to whisper in his ear. Rose couldn't quite see what she was doing, but Al gave a pleasant moan, before he gasped and jerked awake, letting out a shrill yell as he quickly sat up and gave his now smirking wife a groggy glare.
"You didn't have to bite so hard," he grumbled, rubbing his ear and causing Molly, Lily, and Rose to dissolve into laughter.
"You're supposed to be at work," Abigail countered. "Just because you get a break from your parental duties doesn't mean you can shirk all your other responsibilities as well."
"Alright, alright," Al said, standing up and stretching. "I'll go," he said with a yawn.
"And?" Abigail said with an innocent smile. Al rolled his eyes.
"And I'll make it up to you. Fine?"
She grinned up at him. "Fine."
He gave her an amused smile and a peck on the lips before heading to their bedroom to change. Lily had taken Holly out of her carrier and was now sitting with her on the couch her brother had just vacated, while Molly automatically started to tidy up. Rose collapsed on one of the arm chairs, already feeling exhausted from the day's events, but cherishing the small amount of time she knew she had with Molly before she had to be back in France. They still had roughly an hour until their dinner reservation, so she let herself take a moment to relax.
"Anyone want tea?" Abigail asked from the kitchen, and Rose gave a grunt in affirmation. By the time Abigail was passing a cup to Rose, Al had returned, looking much more put together in his Auror robes.
"I just flooed Scorp and he should be here within the hour," said Al as he tried and failed to get his hair to lie flat. Rose immediately felt herself panic as he shot a look at her.
"What? Why?" Abigail asked.
"You said you needed someone to watch Holly, right?" Al asked in confusion.
"I expected you to ask your mum or an aunt or something," Abigail said with wide eyes. "This is the first time leaving her with someone. Does Scorpius even know what he's doing?"
Seeing that his wife was starting to panic, Al gave her a placating look, gripping her shoulders.
"He's going to be fine. I made a list earlier of everything he's going to need to know to make sure he keeps her alive. He's her godfather, love. We trust him, yeah?"
Abigail searched her husband's eyes for a moment, seeking reassurance. Then she relaxed and nodded.
"You're right. It's just harder to do this than I thought it would be." She looked wistfully over her shoulder to where her sister-in-law was making faces at the month old baby.
"I know," Al said, pulling Abigail into a comforting hug and kissing the top of her head. He released her and moved towards his sister so he could plant a kiss on his daughter's head as well, before flooing away. Abigail collapsed next to Lily with a sigh, taking her now fussing daughter to feed her, and asking Lily for the full backstory on her and Carter.
Rose eventually lost track of the conversation and her mind drifted. The walking, the talking about relationships, and the champagne, had done nothing to boost her recently low spirits. Her work life had been so successful recently, and it was aggravating that the personal one couldn't catch up. There were so many things that she hadn't let herself want yet, but those desires were starting to creep up on her. Seeing so many of her family members find happiness through new relationships and marriages and having families left her with a twinge of jealousy. She wished she could be like Molly; content in focusing on herself without some boy driving her head round the twist.
Leo hadn't written back yet. It had been a week since she'd decided to rally her courage and actually write to him like normal. Not only that, but she'd tried to make it even more clear that she wanted to see where their friendship - a definition that was continuing to grow more convoluted - could actually go. None of it made sense. If she looked at everything leading up to the night they were finally supposed to come face to face, there was no reason to suspect that he would not only fail to show up, but that he would then fail to communicate with her. Based on precedent, he should have written last weekend after receiving her letter. It was now Sunday of the following weekend, and still, nothing.
It was starting to make her feel rather pathetic, how much not hearing from him was affecting her. It also made her feel even more certain that there was truly something in this relationship. And she wanted to pursue it.
A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts a while later. Taking a quick scan of the room and down the hall told her Abigail was now in Holly's room, trying to get the baby to go to sleep, and Lily was in the bathroom. Molly was sitting in the other armchair and folding laundry. They'd both paused at the knock and looked at each other.
"I really don't want to answer that," Rose whispered to Molly, who gave her an impatient look.
"Do you and Scorpius still hate each other?"
Rose cringed and nodded, leading Molly to sigh. "Well I don't much feel like seeing him either. Too many memories and all that."
"But you two always got along, if I remember correctly." Rose flinched as a knock sounded once again, and Abigail tiptoed down the hall with her daughter in her arms.
"Will one of you please get that?" she practically hissed at them, before making her way back down the hall. Rose gave Molly one last pleading look, and Molly rolled her eyes before reluctantly standing and making her way towards the door. She took a deep breath before plastering a pleasant smile on her face and pulling it open.
Rose actually had to stifle an amused chuckle at the ridiculous double take Scorpius did when he saw Molly. His eyes bugged out and his mouth opened and closed a few times as he nervously glanced over his shoulder and back down the hall. Finally he cleared his throat and smiled at an amused Molly.
"Hi, sorry. Didn't expect to see you."
Molly chuckled as Scorpius awkwardly moved forward to hug her. "It's nice to see you too."
Scorpius gave a nervous chuckle before moving past her and into the flat. Rose braced herself for him to notice her, but his full attention was on Molly as she went to close the door. It was made obvious why when Molly let out a gasp and paused in her efforts, staring wide eyed into the hall. Concerned, Rose stood to move towards Molly, and felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw a very pale faced Archie Davies standing just outside the door.
A lot of thoughts went through Scorpius' brain when he saw Molly Weasley. Most of which were various versions of "bloody hell" and "how could he have been so stupid as to not even consider the possibility that Molly would be there."
Al had said Abigail was going out to dinner with some of his cousins, and Rose had mentioned in her last letter that Molly was in town. Molly and Abigail were best friends. He never would have suggested Archie join him in his venture into baby sitting if he'd considered the possibility that they'd run into Molly.
Scorpius watched as his friend slowly walked into the flat, his eyes never leaving Molly, who was breathing heavily as she watched him in return.
"Hi," Archie finally said, which Molly returned with a stilted greeting of her own.
"You look well," Archie commented, and Scorpius was impressed with how well he was actually holding himself together. The shake that was in his voice at his first greeting was now almost nonexistent.
"So do you," Molly managed to get out. She took a deep breath and quickly closed the door as Archie fully made his way inside. "I'll just go check on Abigail."
She hurried out of the room and down the hall, leaving Scorpius and Archie to follow her with their eyes, which was when they noticed there was someone else in the room. Scorpius' gut immediately clenched and he groaned.
"Bloody hell, you're here too?" he said, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing a hand over his face.
"So nice to see you both," Rose drawled. "What made you think this was a good idea?" she snapped at Scorpius, pointing at Archie forcefully.
"Hey, I didn't know she'd be here. I didn't even know you'd be here." he replied in irritation. "Think I would have come if I did?"
Rose gave a humorless chuckle. "Always so charming, Malfoy. I don't think I'll ever understand how you managed to worm your way into my family's good graces."
"At least they chose me. They got stuck with you."
It looked like she was on the verge of pulling out her wand and cursing him, when Lily stepped out of the bathroom and hurried towards them. She grabbed Rose's arm and began pulling her down the hall. "Wonderful to see you both!" Lily called back as they disappeared.
The deafening sound of a door snapping shut jerked Scorpius back to reality. He watched nervously as Archie moved to sit on the couch, his hand gripping his shaggy brown hair as he rested his elbows on his knees.
"You alright?" Scorpius asked, barely above a murmur. Archie didn't even look up as he responded in a strangled voice.
"Do I look alright?"
Scorpius let out a deep breath, unsure if there was anything else he could really say. "I wasn't bloody prepared for that," Archie said, his head still down and sounding like he was almost in a daze. "Did you know she was in town?"
Scorpius wasn't sure how to answer this question. Rose had said in her last letter that a cousin was in town and that she'd been gone for a few years. The only person who fit that criteria was Molly, so he'd put two and two together. So yes, he did know. But Archie didn't know that Rose was his pen pal, and getting into that didn't seem like a good idea at the moment.
"I might have heard she'd be here for Christmas," he decided to say. Archie nodded before releasing his hair that he'd still had a death grip on. He reclined on the couch and rested his head on the back, taking a few deep breaths as he tried to tame his now unkempt hair.
"She looks like she's doing well, yeah?" Archie asked, a tender lilt in his voice.
"Yeah," Scorpius said with a sympathetic smile. "She looks like she's doing really well."
Archie nodded, looking down at his hands as he anxiously flexed his fingers. The girls emerged from the back room, and Abigail greeted Scorpius with a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks so much for watching her," she said. "Al left a list on the counter of everything you need to know, and if you have any questions, just floo him at the ministry. We're eating at a muggle restaurant so you can't send a patronus, but we should be home by eight. She's sleeping right now and with any luck, she won't need to wake up to eat until close to nine. If she does there are bottles in the ice box but they need to be warmed. I'm assuming Al left you instructions for all of that but I want to make sure you're comfortable with all of this and you're not unprepared."
Scorpius chuckled at her rambling. He knew they trusted him, but it was obvious that Abigail was nervous. He was a little nervous himself, but he tried his best not to let that show as he assured her he had everything under control.
"Also, no drinking," Abigail said with a glance at Archie. Scorpius gave a nod of acknowledgement and the girls made their way out the door, Rose avoiding Scorpius' gaze and Molly avoiding Archie's. The minute the door shut behind them, Scorpius collapsed onto an armchair.
"Well Merry Fucking Christmas," Archie grumbled. Scorpius let out a burst of laughter, and was happy to see Archie crack an amused smile. "I'm going to kill Al."
Molly was pouring over all of the photo albums that Lucy had in her flat. It was the day after the fitting, and Rose had gone over to see if Molly wanted to join her for lunch. She'd grown anxious just spending time alone at home. With no burn paste to work on and no Leo writing her, she'd been forced to think about other things, like the last few interactions she'd had with Scorpius Malfoy and how bloody difficult he was making it to apologize. She'd planned on being civil when he showed up at Al and Abigail's, but that plan had gone out the window when she'd laid eyes on Archie.
Molly had seemed lost in her thoughts through most of their dinner the night before, and understandably so, so Rose had decided to take it upon herself to make sure she was okay. Not only was she concerned for her cousin, but focusing on someone else's troubles would be a welcome distraction from her own.
Rose had knocked on the door before letting herself in after Molly hollered that it was open. She was sitting on the couch and had a few stacks of albums on the coffee table, some lying open, as she flipped through one that was on her lap. Her feet were tucked under her and she was dressed casually in jeans and an old jumper, sipping a cup of tea. She offered Rose a pleasant smile when she entered.
"What's with all the albums?" Rose asked, removing her coat and hanging it on a rack by the door. Molly ran her hand over the picture she was currently looking at.
"Just doing some catching up," she said in a far off sounding voice. "I've missed quite a bit."
Rose moved closer, sitting in the rocking chair closest to the couch Molly sat on. She had a good view of the album now, and saw the picture was actually an old one from when they were in Hogwarts. It was graduation, and Rose and Molly stood with other students from their year, arms around each other as they cheered and embraced one another. Al had his arm around Abigail, who was shyly smiling up at him. They'd probably been together for six months at that point. Scorpius was on Al's otherside, one arm thrown around his friend's shoulders as he laughed, the other arm around Archie. Rose stood on the end opposite of the group as Abigail, one arm around Molly as she rolled her eyes at having been pulled into the photograph. Carter stood at her other side, and it filled her with relief that the image didn't trigger any emotional response. And finally, Molly stood next to Archie, their arms around each other as Molly laughed while Archie grinned down at her, occasionally planting a kiss on her cheek.
They looked incandescently happy. It was only a few months into their relationship, but it had been obvious that they fancied each other for the majority of seventh year. Molly was rather practical, and had told him right before Christmas that, since they'd be leaving Hogwarts soon, it didn't make sense to her to start a relationship so close to graduation. He'd understood, but was obviously disappointed. They began spending time around each other even more once Al and Abigail got together after the new year, making it even harder for both of them to move on. Molly had eventually struck up enough courage to admit that not only had she been wrong, but that she actually wanted to give it a try.
Rose and Scorpius had been left as the fifth and sixth wheels of their little group whenever Carter wasn't around, which might have been where some of her animosity towards him came from. It wasn't his fault that two of her best friends decided to date his. It had actually been the season of life when'd she'd started to grow closer to Jane. She was still close with Abigail, but it changed when she married Al. And then Molly left the country when things went south with Archie. Molly's absence had probably assisted in the distance that had grown between herself and Abigail as well.
It had felt like coming home in a sense to have Molly back in town. The three of them had even fallen into a familiar pattern of reminiscing yesterday, to the point of Lucy and Lily growing annoyed at being excluded, especially when they only partially told stories, too busy laughing to finish their sentences.
"That looks more like reminiscing than catching up on what you missed," said Rose, watching as Molly continued to stare at the picture. At her words, Molly sighed and turned to the next page. There were pictures of the weekend Abigail and Molly moved into their very own flat. They seemed so young. It was hard to believe that was only five years ago. There were photos of everyone who'd been in the group picture from graduation, along with members of Molly's family. She paused again on a picture of herself and Archie, sitting on the couch together after a full day of moving in, her smile lazy as she rested her head on his shoulder. Archie looked perfectly content.
"Molly, are you sure you're okay?" asked Rose. Molly nodded, closing the book but keeping her place marked with her finger. She looked at Rose with a smile that, while not exactly content, was at least peaceful.
"Just a lot of memories," she said. "I figured I'd have to face some things when I came back. Just didn't think I'd have to literally face them when I was so unprepared."
Molly opened the book once again and flipped to the next page. It showed a picture of her and Archie, dressed up for what looked like a special occasion, his arms around her waist as she grinned up at him and they kissed in a rather adoring fashion. She snapped the book shut and placed it with a thud on the coffee table.
"Molly, what happened?" asked Rose in a soft voice. She didn't have to clarify that she was referring to her cousins failed relationship. Molly kept her gaze focused on the stack of photo albums, but the tension that was evident in her shoulders proved she'd heard and understood the question. She shook her head.
"I don't know. One day, I just realized it had all gone pear shaped and I wasn't sure how we got there."
She paused, a look of concentration on her face. "I think he was under pressure at work. Just the way he would talk about it as well as his dad. They didn't get along well on a good day, but I think it was more complicated than that."
"How so?"
Molly shrugged. "All of the sudden he didn't want me attending foundation functions and he was making excuses not to see my family. I assumed he was cheating at first."
"You don't think he was?" asked Rose. She didn't think it sounded like the Archie she'd known, but people could always surprise you. Molly was shaking her head.
"I asked him if he was the night we broke up. It was the night after Abigail had moved in with Al, remember? He'd promised to come over and bring dinner, but he didn't show up until after ten o'clock. It wasn't the first time something like that had happened. As soon as I started asking where he'd been, he got all defensive and it just exploded in a bunch of regretful words after that. He seemed so hurt that I would even think about him cheating, but I was just too exhausted to handle it anymore, and he said just the right things to push me away. I was hating my job and I felt like the person I loved didn't love me back anymore, and you saw what happened next."
Molly had talked about it all in a rather calm demeanor. It was only her eyes that gave away the pain that she still carried with her. Rose had the feeling that there was only one thing that would make that go away.
"Have you been okay with all of that?" she asked cryptically. Molly looked at her shrewdly.
"You mean have I had anymore emotional breakdowns? No. It was just the once."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief at this. Molly had seemed much healthier than she had when she left, but Rose had to be sure before she made her next suggestion.
"You should talk to him."
Eyes widening to a comical size, Molly stared at Rose for a rather absurd amount of time. Then she laughed.
"Right. Because I want to open that wound up again," said Molly, leaning back on the couch and sipping her tea with an amused shake of her head.
"Did the wound ever even heal up?" Rose persisted. Molly continued to drink her tea, obviously avoiding the question.
"I'm honestly a little too afraid to find out." she eventually said.
"Maybe it'll actually help," suggested Rose. "Maybe it'll bring you some clarity and you can move on."
Molly sighed, leaning forward to set her tea on the table in front of her. She sat back and pulled her feet up in front of her, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees.
"How's he been?"
She said it in such a small voice, Rose barely heard her.
"I don't know," said Rose with a sigh. "I don't see him a whole lot. He's come to some parties and I see him around with Al every once in awhile. I don't think he's ever seriously been with anyone since you left, even though he's dated around."
Molly glanced at Rose, before turning her head back to stare blankly in front of her.
"I probably shouldn't even care anyway."
"You loved him, Molly," said Rose in understanding. "Of course you care."
Molly simply chewed on her lip and gave a jerk of her head that Rose interpreted as a nod.
"Scorpius looked rather well."
She was smirking now, as Rose tried very hard not to scowl. "I was hoping you wouldn't bring this up again."
"Oh please, like Abigail hasn't told me about every time you two have had a tension filled spat. Rumor has it part of the reason he broke up with his girlfriend was because of you."
Rose felt like her jaw had dropped completely to the floor at this. That was news to her.
"What?"
Molly looked at her in confusion. "Yeah. Abigail said they showed up at Lily's party after a row and it had been about you. Although," said Molly, turning thoughtful. "She did write again and said there was some other girl he'd been talking to and that maybe she had something to do with it as well."
Rose nodded. "Yeah his ex said something to me about her. That was a strange encounter, by the way."
She proceeded to fill Molly in on her visit from Melinda, and how incredibly confusing that had been.
"She did say he complained about me a lot. I just never assumed that had anything to do with them breaking up."
Molly studied her for a moment. "Nothing ever happened between you two? Not even when we were in school? You didn't seem to always hate each other nearly as much then."
"Define happened," Rose asked. "Plenty has happened."
"Romantically."
Rose rolled her eyes at the question. Molly and Abigail had insisted there was something between Rose and Scorpius for years, although she hadn't had to endure their prodding for awhile since she and Scorpius had both been seeing people and Molly wasn't even around. They thought it would be brilliant if they were all able to be close friends who dated close friends. Of course, Scorpius had never shown any type of interest in Rose in that way, so it had never even been a possibility.
"No, Molly. Nothing ever happened. Besides, I was dating Carter the last two years of school. I know you think differently, but Malfoy never saw me that way. I don't see why you all think otherwise."
"Who else thinks so?" asked Molly. "Other than me and Abs."
"Jane," Rose said with a roll of her eyes. "She insists he paid more attention to me than any of the other girls in school."
Molly chuckled. "I miss Jane. I'm glad you two have gotten closer. It made me feel better when I left so abruptly. And she's right, by the way."
"Look," said Rose with an exasperated sigh. "If Scorpius Malfoy had been interested in me when we were in school, I would have known it. And if he were interested in me recently, he sure as hell isn't anymore."
"We'll come back to that first part in a bit," Molly said slowly. "But what's the second part mean?"
Rose cringed at the memory, wondering exactly how much she should tell Molly.
"So, I sort of said some really uncalled for things a few weeks ago. And I wouldn't blame him if he never forgave me for it."
Molly's looked at her with wide eyes. "But you're always having a go at each other."
"I know," Rose said with a sigh. "But I took it too far."
She looked at Rose questioningly for a few seconds, then she seemed to have a moment of clarity.
"You didn't have a go at his family, did you?"
Rose's face scrunched up in a grimace. "Maybe?"
Molly looked simply appalled that Rose would ever do such a thing.
"I'm sorry," Rose said, and was ashamed to hear it come out as a pitiful whine. "I was already upset and frustrated and he was just there and it all came spilling out."
"Why? What happened?" Molly asked, suddenly concerned. Well, if Rose wanted her to understand, she would have to tell her the whole story.
So she did. She started with the article and the first letter she'd received from Leo, how their correspondence had continued, and how the relationship had shifted. She only paused when she got to the point where they agreed to meet.
"So what happened?" Molly asked, fully invested in Rose's tale. "How'd it go?"
"He never showed up," Rose said, and Molly frowned in disappointment. "But Scorpius Malfoy did."
Molly was a fantastic audience, and responded appropriately with a gasp and a, "No!"
"Yep," Rose said, nodding her head at the unfortunate circumstances. "And he wouldn't leave me alone and I let all of his antagonizing comments get to me and I lashed out and said something along the lines of him being a sorry attempt at redemption."
Molly seemed scandalized. "Rose! You didn't!"
"I know," Rose said with a groan. "It was horrible and I didn't mean it. Al already chewed me out a bit and insists I apologize. Yesterday was the first time I saw him since then."
Molly nodded. "You should."
There was a stretch of silence as Rose relieved the moment she'd seen her words hit Scorpius vividly in her mind. Part of her doubted whether an apology would really do much good.
"Do you know why?"
She looked at Molly, who seemed genuinely curious, but Rose wasn't entirely sure what she was asking.
"There's always been animosity between you," Molly clarified. "But I was wondering if you even fully know why."
That was a question Rose had been trying to shove to the back of her mind for as long as she could remember. Even when Jane and Al and Lily and anyone else brought up the dynamics of their relationship, she'd just roll her eyes and tell them they were mad or it was no use trying to reason with either of them, and brush off the comments. There had been some recent moments when she'd considered the fact that she could be wrong about him, like when they'd actually gotten along at The Leaky Cauldron, but she'd never let her mind stray to why she held the opinion of him that she did in the first place, and why she treated him with such a lack of respect.
And now someone was asking that question, and Molly was one of the few people that could actually get Rose to pull down her walls and really exam her flaws and her motives.
She tried to think back to the first moment she ever felt animosity towards Scorpius Malfoy, and it all came rushing back to her in unexpected clarity. Rose was in her first year at Hogwarts, and she'd approached Al on the first weekend of term. She and her cousin hadn't been able to spend any time together after being sorted into separate houses. She missed Al. They'd been the best of friends before coming to Hogwarts and she'd been disappointed that they wouldn't be able to spend as much time together as she'd hoped. Rose had approached the Slytherin table at breakfast, and Al was sitting with Scorpius. At first, she didn't pay the blond boy any mind, solely focused on finally spending time with her cousin outside of class, but when she asked him if he wanted to go play Gobstones somewhere on the grounds, he'd informed her he already had plans with Scorpius instead. Her previous excitement at the prospect of spending time with her cousin instantly vanished, making way for something else to come crashing in. And when she turned to face Scorpius Malfoy, every negative emotion an eleven year old could feel, suddenly became associated with the boy who'd stolen her best friend.
From then on, anytime Al chose to spend time with her over Scorpius was a victory, and when he chose Scorpius, it was just one more reason for her to hate him. For some reason, she'd never felt the same way about Archie. Probably because he wasn't the one who'd initially stolen Al's attention. As the years went on, the rivalry took on a bit of a more playful tone, and she'd even gotten to know Scorpius a bit, even if she'd done so grudgingly. Rose knew she usually instigated their fights. At least in the beginning . Scorpius had even tried to be nice to her at first, but she always assumed it had been for Al's sake. She didn't wanted his pity, so she'd simply turn her nose up at his attempts, say something condescending, and he'd have no trouble responding in kind.
And then seventh year had happened. They were in a rhythm of torturing each other by this point, but before Rose could realize it was happening, she was starting to enjoy herself. She could even say there was a flirtatious element to the way they bickered back and forth. This was something Rose had firmly ignored so as not to feel guilty while seeing Carter. But then Al had started dating Abigail.
She'd been truly happy for her cousin and her friend. Their relationship also meant that Rose spent even more time with Al, and by extension, Scorpius and Archie. And then Archie had started dating Molly. That was when her two friends had started dropping hints to Rose that maybe something would happen between her and Scorpius. She hadn't wanted to indulge in such ideas; not at first. She'd actually grown angry at the insinuations since she was with Carter. Looking back on it now, she saw what they probably did at the time. She and Carter had always behaved more like friends than lovers. It got to the point where she couldn't exactly deny that there was a fanciable quality to Scorpius Malfoy. But the banter and the bickering continued, and then he'd stolen one of her essays right before exam week and she'd blown up at him unnecessarily due to every single frustration that was piling up, including the growth of her slightly more than platonic feelings for him, and the guilt she felt along with them.
He spent the rest of the term keeping his distance. She blamed herself for that, but she also saw it as proof of how blind she'd been to the fact that even if she'd allowed herself to take a bit of a fancy to Scorpius, that didn't mean he'd ever see her that way. Rose had felt so embarrassed that she'd ever let herself think that the handsome, smart, talented Slytherin would ever be interested in her, especially after the way she'd always treated him, that she'd grown cold towards him. Which, looking back, seemed like a rather poor way to handle her rejection. Especially when he hadn't even rejected her in the first place. She poured herself into her relationship with Carter instead, which was probably one of the reasons they'd actually lasted as long as they did.
It had been ages since Rose had let herself think about any of this, and she'd never once spoken a word on the subject. Even when they were in school, she'd always denied any partiality she had towards Scorpius to her friends. Strong dislike for him had eventually become second nature, and it terrified her to think that she had been wrong about him all these years. It had been her own selfish pride that had first driven the wedge between them, and it was also what had continued to keep them at odds all these years later.
She looked at Molly, and the concern on her cousin's face informed Rose that a million emotions had probably been contorting her features as she took her rather unpleasant trip down memory lane.
"I know the reason why," said Rose in an uncharacteristically helpless voice. "But not only have I never let myself fully realize it before now, it's also so bloody petty that I can hardly bare to think about it."
Molly just watched her, unsure what to say. Rose assumed she was so used to the constant denial and insistence that he was just a horrible person, that her response had rendered Molly speechless. Rose sighed, leaning her head on the back of the chair, closing her eyes as she rocked and let all of the truth she'd just opened her eyes to wash over her.
"I probably need to apologize for a lot more than having a go at his family."
A/N: My longest chapter so far and I'm kind of nervous about it so I'd love to hear what you think! Your reviews have been spectacular! Seriously, I can't thank you enough for your kind words. Next week, we get even more interaction between our lovely leads, so this was just a nice teaser for you :)
Happy Reading!