"Toss me those carrots, Hugo."

"Incoming carrots!"

Rose caught the bag of carrots with one hand and immediately began unknotting the top of the bag. "These are for the salad?" she checked.

"Yes, just chop them for now," said Hermione as she threw a bag of celery sticks to Albus.

The large kitchen was crowded with various Weasley cousins, all of whom were busy with food preparation. Also in the mix were all three Potter children and the Scamander twins, who worked as two parts of one unit.

Scorpius stuck close to Rose, who explained what was going on in-between tasks.

"No, the other bowl," she said, taking one of the oven-glazed bowls from Scorpius, who was fumbling around with it. "Now, where was I?"

"Lunch," said Scorpius.

"Lunch. Well, in an hour or two, we'll all go back home to break for lunch." Rose began to dump chopped carrot bits into the bowl.

"We- well, you are home," Scorpius pointed out.

"They'll go home, then," corrected Rose. "Pass me the- yes, that one. Thanks. Where was I?"

"Going home," reminded Scorpius.

"Ah, yes. They'll go home, we'll have a quiet little lunch, and then it's back to work."

"And then?" Scorpius raised a brow. "Are we ever going to eat all of this food?"

"Tomorrow," said Rose as she finished with the carrots. "Tomorrow afternoon we all go out on the Grange-"

"In the snow?"

For it had been snowing all morning, and according to Witch Weekly, the snow would not cease for the rest of the week.

"We have massive tents," explained Rose tiredly. "Mum charms them each year. So we all go out and eat together."

"And rejoice that all of the cooking is over," said Albus, popping up from behind Rose. "Rose, I need the carrots."

Scorpius handed over the bowl with a heavy sigh. "We'd better keep working, then," he said.

It turned out that Scorpius knew absolutely nothing about cooking. Rose had to guide him through the simplest of steps, such as chopping peppers for the salad or measuring oils for dressing.

"Just hand me whatever I call for, okay?" snapped Rose when it became blindingly obvious that Scorpius had no talent in the kitchen. Scorpius just nodded and took a tiny step away from Rose's rapidly-expanding hair.

Lunch was a far from relaxing affair. Rose's father remained stony-faced for the duration of the meal, shooting occasional glares towards Scorpius. Hermione tried to ignore the tension by chatting at an unusually quick pace.

"I think you need to eat more, dear. Ron, don't you? He's a scrawny boy, isn't he? Rosie, why don't you make sure he eats when you get back to school?"

"Yes, Mum," said Rose obediently when Hermione paused to take a breath.

Scorpius looked comfortable throughout the meal. Afterwards, though, he collapsed onto his bed in Hugo's room.

"Does your mum usually talk that much?" he asked bluntly.

"No," said Rise with a sigh. "I think she was trying to make up for Dad. I had hoped that he would be a bit more... welcoming."

"Rosaline Miriam Weasley!" called Hermione from below. "We need more hands in the kitchen!"

With a groan, Scorpius popped up off the bed. "Back to the heart of the beast," he said with a crooked grin. "Can't wait."

At the end of the day, everyone was ready for bed. Rose nodded wearily at Scorpius and Hugo before heading to her room. Thoroughly exhausted, she fell onto her bed, no energy remaining to change her clothes. Almost instantly, she drifted off to sleep-

And then she jerked awake with a jolt. The remnants of a nightmare clung to her mind, but she couldn't reach out and grasp any of its details. Eventually, she fell back into an uneasy sleep, one hand wrapped around her locket.

"Rose, could you- no, Lorcan, don't! Oh, well, that was a backup tray anyway. Rose, just- no, I said- oh, never mind, just get it out there."

Hermione leaned against the wall, wilting with exhaustion. "Rose," she said quietly, "could you please carry out the potato salad?"

"Yes, Mum," said Rose obediently. "C'mon, Scorpius, grab that platter of rolls."

The appointed hour for dinner was rapidly approaching. All of the cousins were bustling around, carrying trays of food out to the center point of the Grange.

Rose took charge, directing Scorpius and Albus as the adults bustled around them. The tent's roof provided more than enough cover from the freshly-fallen snow, though there was still some slush to walk through.

Lysander slid under the cover of the tent, barely keeping his grip on the tray of potatoes he had been given. He placed it gently on the table before leaning on one of the chairs.

"I love that this thing is heated," he sighed, stretching his arms out into the warm air wafting around the tent. "Rose, your mum is brilliant."

"Feel free to remind her," said Rose. She knew that her mother was just like her- she would bask in the glow of a well-meant compliment.

As the sun began to drop out of the sky, people began to converge on the tent. Dominique broke away from her mother to come and greet Albus. Seeing Scorpius, she stopped just short of the group.

"Oh," she said curtly. Her eyes skimmed over Scorpius as she took in their group. "I- hello, then. Albus, I- well."

And without another word, Dominique walked away.

"Well," said Rose, "that went well."

"Not everyone will be like that," said Albus reassuringly. "I bet Louis will warm right up to you."

Rose had a sinking suspicion that it wouldn't be that easy.

Throughout the meal, she was proven right. The twins sat across from Rose, Albus, and Scorpius after the seats were left noticeably empty. They made conversation, ignoring the obvious stares and glares coming from the others.

"I still don't know why he's here," said Victoire loudly at one point. "I mean, he's that Malfoy's son, isn't he?"

"He's also just a boy," said Teddy Lupin, sitting by her side. "He needs time to make his own way in the world."

Victoire huffed but said nothing more about Scorpius. A few minutes later, Rose caught Teddy flashing Scorpius a quick wink. Well, progress was progress.

Rose found herself exhausted by the time her mother began to Summon all of the desserts. Hermione counted the dishes as they floated in, then frowned.

"Rose," she said, "didn't we make a dish of chocolate biscuits?"

Rose scanned the table. "Yes, we did," she said, confused. "Didn't you Summon them?"

Hermione sighed. "I must be getting too tired," she said wearily. Stripes of flour soiled her sweater. "Could you run in and get it, dear?"

"Yes, Mum," said Rose.

"We'll go help," said Albus, nudging Scorpius, who also stood. "It may be..."

"Heavy!" supplied Scorpius.

Hermione raised a brow. "Hurry along, then," she said, faint suspicion coloring her voice.

Rose, Albus, and Scorpius were silent until well out of hearing range. Rose gave Albus the same look her mother had, one brow raised in suspicion.

"I have a feeling I know where the biscuits are," explained Albus. "Follow me."

They passed through the kitchen, Albus in the lead. He gestured for Rose and Scorpius to be silent.

The stairs were a slightly more difficult affair. Albus and Rose scampered quickly up the steps, leaving Scorpius stuck at the bottom. He looked up at them, eyes narrowed into slits.

"Run," whispered Rose, gesturing for Scorpius to ascend the stairs. Scorpius took a deep breath, then leaned forward and scampered up the steps, making remarkably little noise.

Albus pressed his ear to the door of Hugo's room, but then a burst of laughter came from within. Rose instantly recognized it as Lily's.

"Mum's gonna be mad," echoed Hugo's voice from within. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"She'll be too busy to notice," replied Lily's high, reedy voice. "C'mon, have a biscuit."

Albus pulled the door open. Hugo and Lily froze, both holding a chocolate biscuit. Hugo looked incredibly guilty, but Lily only looked lightly surprised.

The silence was broken by Lily's laughter. She took a large bite of the biscuit, then smiled up at her brother innocently.

"Biscuit?" she offered.

Shrugging, Scorpius sat next to her and grabbed a biscuit from the tray. "I've been working all day," he said to Rose, who was glaring at him. "I deserve some sweets."

"Brilliant example," Rose began to say, but before she could finish the thought, Albus plopped down on the carpet and took a biscuit for himself.

Resigned, Rose also took a seat on the plush carpeting. "You two are taking the fall when Mum finds out," she warned.

Lily and Hugo acted as if they had not heard Rose's warning. Lily went to pick up another biscuit, then stopped.

"I've heard all about you from James," she said, her large eyes locked onto Scorpius. "I told him you seemed nice when I met you on the train. He told me I was wrong."

"James and I don't exactly get along," said Scorpius gently.

"I'm not surprised," said Lily lightly. "Is it true that you cheat at Quidditch?"

"Lily!" exclaimed Rose.

"No," said Scorpius at the same time as Albus. They looked at each other and grinned.

"No, I don't cheat," said Scorpius. "I don't even know why he'd say that- we lost to Gryffindor!"

"You still would've lost if you had cheated," said Albus playfully. Scorpius jabbed at him with his elbow as Rose rolled her eyes.

"So did Mum notice we were gone?" asked Hugo quickly, looking a bit nervous.

"She sent us to check on the platter of biscuits," said Rose. "She'll definitely notice if we don't return soon."

They all jumped when the bedroom door slammed open.

"Interesting group you have here," observed Lysander. "Somehow, though, I knew I'd find you all here."

Lorcan followed his twin into the room. "I made those biscuits, you know," he said, landing between Lysander and Albus. "You had better be enjoying them."

"They're lovely," said Lily dismissively. "Where's James?"

"Oh, he'll be up in a minute or so," said Lorcan. "We lost him somewhere in the kitchen."

Sure enough, moments later, James appeared in the doorway. His eyes narrowed instantly, locking in on Scorpius.

"Get away from my sister," he hissed angrily. "Now."

"James—" began Albus.

"Oh, piss off," said Lily sourly. "You're the one being a prat."

And she appeared to be dreadfully serious about it. Her cinnamon eyes were mere slits on her face, and her small mouth was twisted in a scowl. Albus looked like he wanted to reprimand her for her language, but then decided against it.

Instead of storming from the room, James took another step in. With the air of great determination about him, he wedged himself between Lily and Scorpius.

"Well," said Lorcan, breaking the tension, "who wants to see what I drew this morning?"

"So that's where you were," said Lysander. "I was looking for you to cook with Aunt Hermione and the rest of us."

"Mum let me stay home and draw," said Lorcan, a bit smug. "It's one of my better ones. Sibyl will be impressed."

Rose nearly choked on the biscuit she was eating. "You call Professor Trelawney Sibyl?" she said, amazed at the audacity of such a move. She would never imagine calling a professor by their first name, not even Professor Evariste.

"Sibyl says that there is to be no formalities among those gifted with the Sight," replied Lorcan, now definitely smug. "There is Us, and then there is the Beyond."

Albus looked like he was doing a poor job at resisting the urge to laugh. Hugo was clearly confused, and James' face was still surly.

When it was clear no one had anything to say to follow Lorcan's remark, Scorpius nudged the tray closer to the twins. "Have another biscuit," he said. "They're really great."

There was a nervous moment where it appeared that James was going to explode. Seconds passed, and finally, James leaned back against the bed.

The room relaxed as the minutes rolled by. Everyone forgot about Hermione waiting for them to return, including Rose.

Lily ignored James' presence easily, looking right past him when she wanted to address Scorpius, which was quite often.

"What's it like in the Slytherin common room?" she asked at one point, flipping a pigtail over her shoulder. If anyone noticed James' teeth clenching, they said nothing.

Scorpius thought for a moment, then said, "Dark," and grinned. "Dark and very green. The light is all artificial, so it has a bit of a tinge to it."

"Because it's down in the dungeons, correct?"

This seemed to throw Scorpius. He looked to Albus, who bit his lip, repressing laughter.

Rose saved him. "Mum, Dad, and Uncle Harry were given a full tour of the castle when McGonagall became official Headmistress," she explained slowly. "They're sort of honorary governors. The tour included all of the common rooms."

"Oh," said Scorpius. "Yeah, we're down in the dungeons. We've got a few windows that look into the lake, which is nice when it's sunny. Sometimes you see the Giant Squid go by."

Lily continued to rattle off questions as the tray held fewer and fewer biscuits. Lorcan closed his eyes and began to take deep, even breaths; Rose remembered him mentioning something about meditative breathing being part of his lessons.

Eventually, Hugo began to nod off, his head continually lolling against the wall. Lily's questions came at less frequent intervals. It was clearly time to head off for bed.

"This to break up this happy little family," said a voice from the door. Rose jumped, but it was only Louis, looking as tired as the rest of them. His eyelids drooped heavily, making Rose's do the same.

"Scorpius," continued Louis, "congratulations. You have, if it is at all possible, made Dominique and Victoire even more uptight than before. Congratulations, m'boy."

Rose didn't like the way the conversation was heading. Standing, she took Louis' hand and led him back out to the hallway. He stumbled along behind her. Up close, Rose could see that his eyes were not only drooped, but glazed over.

"Louis, are you drunk?" she said bluntly.

Louis' face broke into a loopy grin. "Nah, little Rosie," he said, "I'm just mellow. I'm calm."

"You should get to bed," said Rose firmly. "We're all splitting up, too. Go get some rest."

Louis staggered away, muttering something about "splitting up". Lorcan and Lysander followed, bidding Rose a good night.

"We'll meet up for some Quidditch tomorrow," said Albus absently as he passed, keeping a guiding arm on James, who was back to looking livid. "Lily, come on. You should be asleep by now."

Rose offered Hugo and Scorpius a weak wave before heading back to her room. She was exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

Rose woke far too early the next morning. She had fallen asleep without removing her Christmas sweater, and the material had made her very itchy. It was useless to try and return to sleep at that point. Bright light was already beginning to filter in through the window. Rose got out of bed and headed downstairs to make herself a cup of tea.

Someone else had obviously been struck by the same urge. Uncle Charlie was on one of the kitchen stools, sipping from a mug and reading the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning, Rose," he greeted cheerfully. "Why're you up so early, morning after Christmas?"

"Habit, I suppose," said Rose, plopping the kitten on the stool beside her. "What's new in the world?"

Charlie shook his head. "Not too much, actually. Besides," he admitted, "I was checking to see if there was anything in the Prophet about Hogwarts and these Riders."

"What about them?" asked Rose. "We've only been doing lessons so far."

There was a long piece of parchment beside Charlie that Rose had not previously noticed. Now he tapped it and sighed.

"I've been asked to go to Hogwarts and act as a sort of Ministry advisor to the Riders," said Charlie, rubbing his forehead. "There have been a few problems, and the Ministry wants to have someone on site to keep them updated."

"Can't they just get reports from Professor McGonagall?" asked Rose. "And what kinds of problems?"

"Professor McGonagall excels at many things," said Charlie with a rueful grin, "but she's actually pretty bad when it comes to magical creatures. It wasn't offered when she was in school, and she never had time to study them on her own. They need someone who knows dragons well. Like me."

"And the problems?" pressed Rose.

Charlie looked back at the long letter. "The dragons have been flying without their riders, which they're trained not to do. The Riders say they just need to be allowed to exercise them more, but there was also an incident where one of them was injured trying to get the dragon back to its pen. Nothing serious, but the Ministry is concerned."

"Are you going to say yes?"

"I don't have much of a choice," said Charlie with a sigh. "I knew this was a possibility over the summer. They brought me in when they were finalizing plans, but I could tell that the people they had in charge of this project had never actually been around a dragon in their lives. It's a bunch of ambitious politicians trying to make their mark and ending up in over their heads."

"Well, it'll be nice having you around," said Rose, trying to cheer him up. "And you'll be able to come see the Quidditch games, and see all of the professors."

Charlie smiled. "It's going to be great," he said, but the smile did not erase the concern in his eyes.