Hello all! This is, unfortunately, a little later than I wanted it to be, but it's here now, so hopefully you aren't too mad at me! :) In this chapter there's a little more of Rose and Scorpius developing feelings for each other, so I hope you enjoy that part of it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed last time, you all put a huge smile on my face!

Disclaimer: I do not own nor make money off this fic. All characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 18: The Village Again

Friday arrived with the chilly weather typical of early December, in which one only wants to curl up in front of a hot fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate, a warm blanket, and a good book. Sadly, most people who find themselves impregnated with this desire are far too busy to indulge such desires, and Rose, Dominique, and Molly Weasley, along with Scorpius Malfoy, are not exempt to such wishes.

"Rose, can we please just stay home today?" Molly begged for the third time as Rose emerged from the bathroom. "We can go Christmas shopping...um..."

"No, Molly," Rose replied firmly, ignoring the voice in her head that agreed with Molly. "We have to buy Christmas presents today or not at all."

"I think the family would survive without presents," Molly grumbled, but crawled out of bed all the same. The two cousins spent another five minutes gathering up their various warm winter items, including (but not limited to) a scarf, hat, coat, gloves, and furry boots for each of them, along with sweaters they were already wearing.

"You two are going to look like snowmen," Fred declared when Rose and Molly met up with the rest of their cousins in the common room.

"Maybe, but at least we'll stay warm," Rose replied. "Unlike you, who thinks cold doesn't affect him."

"It doesn't!" Fred insisted, and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Tell that to me again when you have a cold."

"I'm not going to catch a cold, Rose, don't be such a worrywart."

"Would you two shut up?" Lily asked, chucking her hat at them. "You sound like Rose and Scorpius used to before they finally became friends."

Rose rolled her eyes again, but left Fred alone, and the cousins made their way down to breakfast, all of them chattering excitedly about the upcoming holidays. The excitement continued all the way through breakfast and only ceased once they had left Hogwarts and were heading down the path to Hogsmeade.

The wind was whipping in their faces, icy cold and brutal. Rose pulled her scarf over her mouth and nose, narrowed her eyes, and kept trudging along the path, thoughts of a nice warm butterbeer after a day of Christmas shopping the only thing keeping her from turning around and returning to Hogwarts.

"Meet you at the Three Broomsticks around four?" James yelled over the wind when they reached the village, and everyone nodded. Molly grabbed Rose's arm and they battled their way over to Zonko's, the nearest shop.

The two cousins spent nearly a half hour in the place, packed with excited Hogwarts students, before they finally left. They stopped at Honeydukes, Gladrags Wizardwear, and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop before they finally made it to Tomes and Scrolls, the local bookshop.

It was warm from the crackling fire, and the wooden floors creaked gently under their feet. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and more stood in the middle of the room, creating a sort of crazy pattern. At the far end of the room was a door, and Rose could see people curled in armchairs, mugs in hand, reading various books from the store.

"I could get lost in here," Molly muttered, looking dreamily around at all the books. Rose nodded and breathed in the smell of paper and leather.

"I could, too, if it weren't for the fact that I've put off my Christmas shopping for so long."

"Don't remind me," Molly groaned. "Come on, let's get our stuff, then."

They went their separate ways, each with a different shopping list. Rose had just picked up a new book for her mother on the history of magical law when she turned and found herself facing the Herbology section. She wandered over to look at the new selections, and to her surprise, she recognized one of the titles.

Newly Discovered Magical Fungi of Our Time. Scorpius had mentioned that book to her earlier in the week, when they were in the library. Rose lost herself in the memories for a moment, remembering the riddle she'd given Scorpius from The Hobbit and how she'd showed him the answer. The way he looked at her in the moonlight. The way she'd been more than a little tempted to move closer to him.

She stopped the thought cold and peered at the book. It was relatively cheap, and it was Christmastime...if Molly found out, though, she'd never let Rose hear the end of it...

Rose glanced around and spotted her cousin in the back reading room. If she went up to the register now...Molly would never know. But did she want to get Scorpius a Christmas present? Friends did that for each other, right? It wouldn't be seen as something more if she got him a book, right? Rose had no idea. She didn't have too many friends outside of her cousins, and she never had to worry about romance with any of them. Finally, she decided just to treat Scorpius as one of her cousins and buy him the book.

After the cashier had rung it up, she shoved it to the very bottom of the bag, trying to hide it. She didn't want to think about it, or about the possible attachments that a Christmas present could mean. And she wanted to stop thinking about that stupid book - and the stupid person she bought it for - more than anything.

So instead, she went back and found Molly curled up in one of the armchairs in the second room, halfway through a 500 page volume she'd bought "on a whim".

"Come on, Molly, we've got to go meet up with James and the rest! It's already four fifteen, we're late!"

"Right, right," Molly muttered, and she slowly shut the book and followed Rose out of the store. Out on the street, the wind had dulled to a breeze, fainter but still colder than ice, and the faint smell of pine needles and nutmeg wafted throughout the village. Rose and Molly, laden down with shopping bags, made their way slowly to the Three Broomsticks.

The bell over the door jingled as they entered, but hardly anyone heard it, for the inn was packed with people seeking shelter from the cold outside. Rose was packed so tightly she felt like a sardine, and she and Molly managed to force their way farther into the pub mostly due to the amount of large, heavy shopping bags they were carrying.

"Do you think they even came in here, if it was this crowded?" Molly asked in Rose's ear. Rose was just about to respond when she heard Hugo's voice.

"Yeah, I got everything...I bet you five Galleons Rose and Molly'll have more..."

"You're on," James' voice replied, and Rose stood on her tiptoes and looked around. It was times like this that she really hated being only five-foot-four. In the end, it was Molly who found them and lead Rose over to the table.

"Dump 'em in the corner," Roxanne said, waving a hand at the corner behind the Potter-Weasley table, which was filled with shopping bags of all different colors. "We'll sort 'em all out later."

Rose and Molly did as she requested, with one exception. Rose insisted on keeping the bag with the book she'd bought for Scorpius at her feet, saying there was "an especially important present I don't want to lose" in there.

"Oooh, who's it for?" James asked excitedly, peering in like a kid. Before Rose could hit him upside the head, however, he'd slumped back into his seat in disappointment. "Aw, Rosie, those are just books."

"Books are one of the greatest treasures known to man," Rose said sternly. "And it's a nice copy of said book, and I'd like it to remain that way."

"Whatever," James said. Just then, the waiter appeared with the cousins butterbeers, and both Rose and James were distracted.

It was just as well, for neither of them noticed the blond fifth year who was sitting at a table nearby, watching them.

Scorpius Malfoy had finally managed to slip away from his friends and get a moment to himself in the Three Broomsticks. He hadn't picked a table next to the Weasley-Potters on purpose, but he wasn't at all bothered by the fact. As a matter of fact, he was using his position to observe one of the cousins at the table.

He had often considered Rose Weasley pretty before (perhaps against his will), but now, looking at her with her curly red hair slightly windblown and falling across her shoulders, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement, her smile as she laughed at the jokes her cousins told, and her cheeks rosy pink from the cold, he had no way of denying it: she was seriously beautiful.

Which was exactly the kind of thought he shouldn't be having.

Which is going to put them in quite a pickle the next time they hang out together, isn't it?

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Lovelovelove -D-