The day Rose and Scorpius came back from Greece was the day they decided to hold a welcome-home-party. As soon as Hermione and Ron touched ground, the brunette looked around. She was a bit confused, as they were in the middle of some forest, on a small clearance. Everything was covered in snow, except the clearance itself.
"Cool, isn't it?" Rose beamed at her mum, "I learned the spell in Russia. We cleared away the snow to build our camp, because otherwise we would have frozen to death!" The red-head smiled and hugged her parents. "The others will be here soon."
"Who is invited then? The whole lot?" Ron inquired and waved at Scorpius, as he saw the young man standing next to a chocolate fountain.
"Yes, everyone! Everyone Potter, every Weasley, every Longbottom, every Malfoy, every Scamander. The whole lot!"
A few moments later, everyone had arrived at the party. Hermione was very proud of her daughter. Constructing such a strong spell was quite hard. But then again, Rose was the daughter of the brightest witch of her age. Of course she was a strong and powerful witch. As her son was a strong and powerful wizard.
The scene was really beautiful, like a painting. The snow-covered trees and hills were magical, marvellous. Hermione thought that Rose and Scorpius had decorated the green spot in the middle really nicely. There were floating candles and lanterns everywhere and the setting sun coloured everything beautifully. It shone so red that Scorpius had nearly the same hair-colour as Rose and even Rose's white summer dress was painted in a bright orange. Her baby girl had actually grown up into a woman. And Scorpius didn't look that bad, either. What was the word again? A hipster? Hermione thought that would be correct. Black shorts, a white shirt with a bow-tie. That was a hipster, wasn't it? He looked a bit like James, clothing-wise. Only plain, never plaid or striped and no glasses.
"So, now that you are all gathered, we would like to tell you something. This isn't just a welcome-home-Rose-and-Scorpius party..."
"Oh, don't tell me you're off again" sighed Albus, "we have hardly seen you in the least four years."
"Al is right" James joined his brother, "we would love to see more of you, Rosie."
Hermione sighed, too. Yes, she would also love to have her daughter around some more, to spend time with her. But it was Rose and Rose was an adventurer, with which Hermione was fine, of course. She needed to find herself, to find her place in life. Hermione did, too. After the war, after the grieving, the time she and Ron had spent in Australia has been some of the most important in their life. They weren't under the constant pressure to be part of the Golden Trio anymore. They were allowed to be normal seventeen year olds.
"No, I am not heading off again, don't worry" Rose smiled, "well, actually Scorpius and me will be off again but only two weeks. Actually, I am going to stay in Hogsmeade. Because I have decided that I want to work with Hippogriffs and the best country for that is England. That is what I am going to do."
"Really?" Hugo smiled at her, "that is great! So you'll be around and we can meet up and meet with Al and James and everyone!"
"Yes, we can do that. No problem at all!" she beamed back at her brother, "and I think that living in Hogsmeade will be awesome."
"Oh yes. Because Rose and me, we will rent a flat together. As Rose said, this isn't only a welcoming-party" Scorpius smiled at the round, "This is also our wedding."
Hermione could feel her husband tensing. This was not the way he would have liked to get such information. Neither did Hermione. Her daughter was marrying? Now? Well, that she was going to marry Scorpius was the best thing that could happen to her, but still. Why didn't she tell her about it? Hermione searched for Astoria, who was equally shocked, excited and also happy for their kids.
"Please don't let her be pregnant. Please don't be pregnant, please don't" Hermione could hear her husband mumble, "please don't. And if, please let it be Scorpius' kid, please..."
"No, Dad, I am not pregnant" Rose smirked. Damn, she had the hearing of a bat, Ron thought, his eyes turning pink from embarrassment. "We just want to marry each other. That is about it. Took us a while to figure that out, though. Didn't it?"
"Took you a while to figure that out" Scorpius grinned and kissed her forehead, "I was way ahead of you this time."
"Yeah, once in your life", the red-head teased him lovingly.
Hermione tried hard to contain her emotions. They acted so similar to Ron and herself and yet so different. Their teasing was teasing, not bickering. It was pure bliss to look at her daughter's face whenever her eyes wandered over to Scorpius.
"We would like to ask James and Al to be our best men. Because well... you're family, my best friends, Rose' cousins, you're basically everything to us. Would you do us the favour?"
"Oh yes, of course!" James jumped up and quickly hugged his best friends, smiling very brightly from one ear to another. "I'd never thought this day would ever come! Merlin, I am so damn happy for you two! And for me, because I won a bet, but anyway, let's get you two married!"
"Hold on, James. Which bet? With whom?" Rose lightly poked her cousin in his chest. "With whom about what and what's the price?"
"Well, you see... sort of with everyone?" James smiled to the ground, a bit embarrassed. "Your cousins and your brother, all of us, we each threw in a tenner. The bet was about you two getting married. And I was the one to say that you would get married unexpectedly. Which you do. Hugo said you'd get married after being a proper couple for at least five years; Lily even said at least ten years! And Dom reckoned it would be after the birth of your first child. But hey, I get all the money now, which is quite a lot. We started the bet right after your Graduation Ball. And every time something was proved wrong – like Louis' idea that you would get married within the first year after graduation – the person to get it wrong had to add another fifty pounds. So I am gonna be rather rich now and I'm gonna give you some of the money. But not much. Maybe I sponsor a dinner for the pair of you."
"You bet on our marriage?" Rose stared at her cousin, before beginning to smile. "You are incredible, you are, unbelievable!" She laughed and hugged him tightly. "So come on then boys, let's get married."
"Do we have to say anything? Because I didn't prepare a speech. How could I? I didn't even know you would marry! You two will be my death one day, I swear to Merlin, you will be."
"Oh stop being such a drama queen, James. Just stand next to Scorpius and listen and smile and be proud."
"I am always proud of the two of you", James smiled, pecking his cousin's cheek, "go on then. Who is marrying you? Did you bring a priest or whatever?"
"We brought your uncle." Scorpius smiled as everyone stared at them blankly. Well, the kids did, but Hermione and the other adults knew what they meant. Charlie was going to wed them. In Romania, he once got a license after losing a drunk bet and every now and then, Charlie still married couples. It had been Rose's wish to be married by him, because she has always been very close to him, closer than to any other uncle.
It was really a nice idea, Hermione thought. With her hand still on Ron's leg, she watched as Rose and Scorpius stood in front of a pumpkin juice fountain, holding each other's hands. The looks on their faces were priceless. Hermione knew that her husband thought the same. They were so in love. So young and so in love. How did that happen? When did it happen? A few months ago, they were nothing but the best of friends and now they were attending their wedding. Their baby girl's wedding.
"Dearly beloved, today we are here because of something that took us by surprise as it should take everyone by surprise: love. We are here to celebrate young love and the true meaning of overcoming old prejudices. I reckon you have prepared some vows for each other?" Charlie asked the couple.
"Sort of... we said we would but I forgot..." Rose admitted.
Scorpius chuckled and kissed her forehead before he started talking: "So I just start and improvise a bit, because I, too, forgot. Which isn't that bad, because that's what we do. We improvise, we take risks. You more than me, but with marrying me you take the biggest risk ever: the risk to get lost in love. Just like I got lost in everything we have. Yes, at the beginning you couldn't figure out that it was actually love, that I am meant to be with you, that you are meant to complete me, to save me, to shield me. You can be a bit oblivious to the obvious and I love that about you. What counts is that right here and right now, I know I love you from the depths of my heart, with every cell of my body, with every thought I have ever had and will ever have. Together we are flawless. And our life will be flawless. It might have its ups and downs, but the perks of being you and me is that whatever we touch becomes the most flawless, most perfect thing I ever had in my entire life. It might just be a badly painted wall, burned Chinese food or an awkward conversation about something. As long as I share all those things with you, they become flawless and perfect, as I become flawless with you and helpless without you. You are my little adventurer, the one who keeps me going, the one who dares me to try things I have never even dreamed of thinking about. You not only complete me, no. You form me, you make me who I am today, you accept me for who I was and will be. You bring life into my existence. I promise to be there for you whenever you need me. This might be a really cliché-thing to say at a wedding but like hell I mean it. The really important thing I have to say is: good thing you didn't listen to your dad and stayed away from me. I would have missed everything what makes my life liveable and I wouldn't even have known what I was missing out on."
Rose looked at Scorpius, a look of awe plastered on her face. "Do you even know how much I love you?" she whispered softly, on the verge of crying, before kissing him lovingly. "So so much." Tears streamed down her face and for once Scorpius wasn't uncomfortable or hurt seeing her cry. He was proud as he kissed her back, proud to be the only one for her.
"Well, you are not supposed to kiss each other just yet, but to hell with it", Charlie grinned, "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, do you promise to be true to Rose in good times and in bad, in health and in sickness, in times when she is more busy being a baby-Hippogriff's foster mum than being your lawfully wedded wife, for richer, for worse, for poorer until death does part you?"
"I promise", Scorpius smiled and chuckled a little, as Rose tried to get the ring on his finger. Her hands were shaking from nervousness and she looked as if she was about to faint.
"Rose Nymphadora Weasley, do you promise to be true to Scorpius in good times and in bad, in health and in sickness, in times when he is loaded with work and busy healing people rather than being your lawfully wedded husband, for richer, for worse, for poorer until death does part you?"
"I promise", Rose sobbed as Scorpius put the wedding ring on her finger, "oh, I do promise."
"I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. And now you are allowed to kiss each other. Guys, let us give a big round of applause for Mr and Mrs Malfoy."
Without losing another second, Rose grabbed her husband by his collar, practically smashing her lips onto his. Their families started cheering and whistling and applauding. After what seemed to be ages, Rose finally let go of a rather breathless Scorpius just to be hugged by Albus and James at the same time. A second later, Rose was completely covered in Potters and Weasleys and Malfoys to congratulate her, to hug and kiss her. It took her a while to get adjust to everything and to stop crying.
"Well, now that I am married, I can get fat. I'd say let's eat."
The tables at the side of the clearing were suddenly full of every food her family loved. Everything they could have desired.
While Scorpius was talking to James at the buffet, Hermione and Ron took the chance to talk to their daughter in private.
"So... how did all of this happen then?" Ron asked carefully.
"You mean how we fell in love?" Rose smiled and kissed her dad's cheek. "I am not sure. It started before I went to Scotland. I visited Scorp in his flat and he said we should get married. I was a bit baffled, to be honest. It came out of the blue but he said that I should just think about it. Because whenever he was with someone else, he always compared her to me, always thought about me. I did the same. When I was with a guy, he could never ever live up to Scorpius. But was it love? Scorp said we were meant to be but by then I wasn't sure about it. I didn't feel like you all told me love feels like and neither did Scorpius. But there has always been something. Something special. Something more than friendship but less than love. We talked about it. Talked about how we feel about the significant other, talked about how we would love to spend our time with each other as we grow old. And then I told him that I would love trying to have a relationship and that I would love to marry him. Since I was in Scotland, I saw him nearly every weekend, sometimes even on weekdays. We kissed like a couple but it wasn't until we had spent half of our time in Greece that it suddenly hit me. We shared a flat with separated bedrooms. I slept in his bed nearly every night, especially when I came home from a long and hard day late at night. One morning after such a night, I woke up next to him and I knew it. Out of the blue, I felt it. I felt what you always told me. I looked at Scorpius and I just knew. He had those feelings long before, I knew. He had told me the second it had hit him, while I was eating a strawberry yoghurt on the roof of his flat one evening. I woke him up and just beamed at him. And he knew. He looked me in the eyes, for a split-second, and he knew. We actually decided to marry about three weeks ago. And I know it will last forever."
Hermione smiled at her and hugged her daughter. "I am so happy for you. It really was a surprise, but the best we have ever had."
"Well... I get myself something to eat then. Congrats again, Rosie." Ron awkwardly kissed the top of Rose's head and made his way to the buffet, where Scorpius was just about to leave. "A word with you, please, Scorpius", he smiled at the young man.
"Oh, okay, of course." To be honest, Scorpius was really nervous. He knew Ron liked him but he had just married his daughter and that was something completely different than being her best friend. Her platonic best friend.
"So, I have two questions. First: Why Malfoy and not Weasley?"
"Because I am the only male Malfoy but the Weasleys have lots of people to carry on the name. We actually thought about becoming the Weasleys, but Rose said that she would love to be a Malfoy, to be as loving as my mum, as much of a fighter as my dad and as forgiving as my grandma. She wanted to be a Malfoy to show everyone that a name does not define who you are and who you are going to be. She wanted to be Rose Nymphadora Malfoy to have two heroines and one hero in one person: herself, who lived her life as desired, Nymphadora Tonks, who died for love and for a greater good, who was fun and clumsy and free of any stereotype, free of fear, and my dad, who loves his family very much and is the perfect example of a lost child which found his way home, no matter how dangerous and huge the obstacles were."
Ron nodded and was quiet for a second. "Okay, I can totally accept that. And she is the first auburn Malfoy, whereas there are already blond, part-Veela Weasleys. And what is the plan now?"
"The plan is that we move together. We have our eye on a small flat at the border of Hogsmeade. It is right on the top floor of an old Victorian house, with a huge round window in the living room. Chances are good that we get the flat. I work as a healer at St. Mungo's, Rose works with Hippogriffs in the UK. Once we have some more money, we will be travelling the world for maybe be a year or two, depending on how much money we have. It will be more like Work&Travel, we decided. And after that, we are going to buy ourselves a cute little cottage with a porch and a winter garden, with an alley of orange and lemon trees through which our two or three or four kids have to go to reach the Quidditch field. The plan is to have a small shed in the backyard to store the Muggle gardening tools and the Quidditch brooms. The plan is for her to stay home until the second child comes and for me to stay home until the third one comes. The plan is that we both work, because we love our work. Rose said that her plan in particular is to actually be a foster mum for Hippogriff cubs, so that she can raise them at home and still be with the kids, although it would be no problem for me to become a stay-at-home-dad later on. I plan on taking the first year after our first baby off, so that we can adjust to the new situation together. She will probably work half-time that year. We also plan on buying a dog and naming it Fluffy and a cat, which will be named Errol. When the kids are all in school, we want to travel to where we haven't been before. That is the plan so far."
Ron nodded, slowly, trying to comprehend everything Scorpius had just told him. He was just about to say something as Rose approached the pair of them.
"Dad, may I kidnap my husband, please?"
"Of course you may, Rosie." Ron kissed her forehead and hugged his daughter before making his way back to his wife. He stood still next to Hermione, watching the newly-weds, watching how they looked at each other.
"You do trust him, don't you?"
"Of course I do", Ron said softly. He smiled as Rose wiped off a bit of cream on Scorpius' chin, smiled at the look she threw him because she looked so much like Ron himself when he first realized how much he loved Hermione. "Of course I trust Scorpius. I always trust family."