Rose's body froze on the spot while her brain tried to process what she was seeing. Scorpius Malfoy, who was supposed to be in his apartment in Boston, was standing in her living room while one of her discarded heels dangling from his finger.
"What, what are you doing here?" Rose stammered.
The corner of Scorpius's mouth lifted into his trademark smirk and he shrugged, "Well I was planning on surprising you, but perhaps I should leave if you are going to assault me with your ridiculous footwear."
Rose snorted out a laugh and launched herself across the room. He caught her in a strong embrace with ease. Rose noted that Scorpius had changed in the four years since she had seen him last. Gone was the boy with gangly limbs and a baby smooth face. Now, Rose was wrapped in the arms of a man who had grown into features. Rose breathed a sigh of relief that her friend was finally here and gagged.
She pushed Scorpius away and wrinkled her nose, "You reek!"
Scorpius chuckled, "I just spent the last 6 hours on a muggle plane. Forgive me if I don't smell fresh."
Rose was puzzled. "Why didn't you take an international portkey? I know you hate having to deal with muggle methods of international travel. Security lines, customs, baggage claim, and airplane bathrooms," She shuddered.
"I requested a portkey for tonight nearly a month ago but I couldn't get a response for the Department of Magical Transportation," Scorpius sighed. Rose silently cursed Gwen for shirking her duties in favor of shagging her boss. "It doesn't matter though. I'm here and I'm staying in England."
"Really?" Rose exclaimed. "I thought you weren't returning until June. I was planning on traveling over to the states for your graduation. You are still planning on graduating aren't you? Because you've put in so much work and it would be a waste to drop out. Maybe I can help you if you…"
Scorpius cut Rose off by pressing his hand over her mouth. "Breathe love, breathe. You're rambling again." Rose's cheeks colored with the Weasley blush. "I still intend to graduate but I needed to return to England to finish out my studies. The information I need is here. I'll be completing my research at St. Mungo's and submitting my thesis to my professors at Ilvermorny. Now, why don't we celebrate my return? I brought presents back."
Rose's face light up. Scorpius was finally home and she got presents too? Rose could never have predicted this turn from her previously dull evening at the Ministry Gala. With a start, Rose remembered that she was stilled dressed in her cobalt dress robes. Her elegant attire was in stark contrast to Scorpius who looked so comfortable in his jeans and grey button down with the sleeves rolled up.
"Can we hold off on the celebrations for about ten minutes? I need to take off these robes. I'll be quick," Rose promised.
Scorpius's smirk graced his face once more. "I certainly don't mind if you strip them off."
Rose smacked him lightly on the chest. "Don't be a pervert. You're better than that," Rose laughed and hustled to her bedroom. She could hear Scorpius chuckling behind her.
Once she was safely behind her bedroom door, Rose shook her head to clear the cobwebs. She still couldn't believe he was here. Scorpius was finally home where he belonged. Rose couldn't wait to tell him about all the new things the he had missed in his absence.
Rose pulled off her beautiful robes and carefully hung the up. She rifled through her dresser and selected a pair of yoga pants and a tee shirt that made her smile. The well-worn garment was a Falmouth Falcons shirt that Rose had won off Scorpius when beat him at a game of Wizard's Chess one night in the head's common room. Rose smiled fondly at the memory; Scorpius had bragged about his skill but Rose had been trained by her father after all. She had him at checkmate in five minutes flat.
As Rose slid the shirt over her head, she pondered that the tee would no longer fit Scorpius. The hug minutes before had revealed that Scorpius's chest was considerably more broad than it had been. She had noticed that his once lanky arms had filled out and his forearms were nicely toned. The golden scruff along is angular jaw was a nice addition. Rose blinked. What the hell? Had she just been checking Scorpius out? No, Rose concluded, she was just merely observing the changes her best friend had undergone during their long separation.
Rose opened the door and gasped. There was Scorpius, facing the opposite wall and bent over his carry-on bag. Rose's Weasley blush extended down to her toes when she realized that she was in fact admiring his jeans covered ass. Rose cleared her throat.
"Took you long enough, love," Scorpius teased. "What do you say we crack into a couple bottles of this cranberry ale I told you about and catch up?"
Rose gratefully accepted one of the bottles, pointed her wand at it and performed a cooling charm. She took a long swig and grinned. "This is delicious. But explain to me again what the fascination with all this cranberry is."
"One of the Ilvermorny founders had a borderline unhealthy obsession with the fruit. They put cranberry in everything. This ale is their answer to butterbeer and I developed quite a taste for it," Scorpius replied and pulled Rose down onto the couch beside him. "By the way, here's the key to your flat back."
"What?" Rose cried. "How did you get my key? I should have wondered earlier how it was possible that you were waiting in my living room."
"Al helped me out. I told him a while back that I planned on surprising you and he filled me in on where you hide your spare key. Under the welcome mat? Really Rose? You need to improve your security measures!"
Rose was indignant, "I have wards in place that prevent anyone not on the list from entering. It came in handy a few months ago when I wanted to block an unsavory character from returning."
Scorpius scowled for a moment but then rolled his eyes. "Speaking of unsavory characters, how is old Danny Boy?"
"Daniel," Rose emphasized, "is just fine I assume. I kicked him out of my life when he wouldn't stop nagging me about the amount of time I spent on work. He accused me of cheating on him when I wouldn't tell him about what I was doing during all the extra hours I've been putting in. He knew going into it that I'm not allowed to tell anyone the details of what I do. I called it quits when he gave me an ultimatum: either come home every night by 5pm and give him my full attention or we were through. It was the easiest decision I ever made."
"That's complete bullshit Rose. Anyone who has ever met you knows that you are as loyal as a Hufflepuff. You'd never cheat. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I'm not sorry he's gone. I never liked the sound of him from your emails. It always seemed like he was using you to get close to your mother and worm his way up the ranks of the Ministry."
"Enough about my pathetic relationship. Tell me, Scorp, any lucky ladies in your life?"
"You know I don't date," Scorpius snapped. Rose's eyes widened and he rushed "Sorry. It's just a sensitive subject."
Rose was completely aware that Scorpius had never been in a relationship. Sure, he had his fair share of witches for one night flings and casual affairs, but as far as Rose knew he was never serious about anyone. Back in seventh year, Rose has asked why he continually turned down offers from some of the prettiest witches in Hogwarts. Scorpius had told her that he just wasn't interested in any of them and Rose let the subject drop. Rose might have wondered if he were interested in wizards if he hadn't garnered a reputation for utilizing the Room of Requirement. Thankfully, he never as active as Albus, who bordered on being a man-whore for the last six years before he finally got with Alice.
"I shouldn't have even brought it up," Rose admitted. "I know you don't like talking about it." She took a long pull from her bottle. "Have you seen your father yet?"
"No. He's spending Christmas morning with my grandparents and I couldn't muster the mental fortitude to deal with them yet. I'll see him tomorrow afternoon."
"Oh, you both should come to the Burrow. I'm sure Grandma Molly would love to have you. You know she thrives when she is stuffing people full of food," Rose grinned. "Besides, with the two of you we will have enough people to field two quidditch teams."
"I should have known quidditch was your ulterior motive. I'll see what Dad had to say and if he's game we'll floo over around 2pm," Scorpius said. "It's been so long since I've flown. I didn't get much time for it over in Boston. My thesis work kept me so busy."
"How is it that you were able to return to England early? You said that the information you needed was here," Rose prompted.
Scorpius's face took on a serious appearance. "You know that I'm trying to uncover the origins of the curse that killed my mother, yeah? Well, so far I've figured out that it is blood borne and hereditary. My Aunt Daphne agreed to let me test her cells to determine where the curse is located. I'm hoping I'll find out why she wasn't affected by the curse and why my birth ultimately killed my mother."
"Oh, Scorp," Rose sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, "you can't keep blaming yourself for that. It's not your fault."
"If it wasn't for me, my mother might still be alive. And I have to find out why it happened so that it will never happen again. I just have to!" Scorpius quieted. "I'm pretty tired, Rose. It was a long day. Do you mind if we put the rest of our conversation on hold?"
Rose knew when to let a topic drop, "Sure. Do you want to sleep on the couch? Or you can have my bed? I'm sure you need a good night's sleep."
"It's OK, Rose. I need to head home. I'll just see you tomorrow." And with that, Scorpius stood and disappeared with a pop.
Rose was left alone in her living room with two bottles of cranberry ale. She took one last sip and found that it didn't taste as delicious as before. With a sigh, she pulled the throw off the back of the couch and laid down. Her last thought before drifting off was of the despondent look on Scorpius's face when he apparated away.