A/N: Standard written for The Houses Competition Year 10 practice round.

Summary: ONE-SHOT. Rose and Scorpius are cooking a meal for Albus and his date in Scorpius' kitchen. This leads to them arguing a lot as Rose wants to add leftover food to the lasagne and Scorpius is begging her not to. An Italian-flavoured Scorose fic. Warning: might be offensive to Italian kitchen.

House: Gryffindor

Class: Charms

Category: Standard

Word Count: 2694

Prompt(s):

[Dialogue] "It is clear that you have no clue what is going on."

[Dialogue] "Please. Please don't. Please don't do this. Please."

Suzanne's prompt jar: Person A and Person B are cooking together.

Warnings: None.

Disclaimers: I do not own the Harry Potter universe.

PS. The word 'fiasco' has Italian origin.

The Cooking Fiasco

Scorpius took the whisk from Rose's hand to get her attention and said, "Alright, let's set some ground rules if we are going to fix this," he pointed the whisk at her and the egg whites, "for Albus."

Rose's eyes started to burn. "Excuse you?!" She took the whisk back from his hands before continuing angrily, "This was my idea! You think you can just come in here, hijacking my plan?"

Scorpius, who was not at all surprised by Rose's reaction, raised his eyebrows unimpressed and said, "I only offered to help because you were doing it wrong and may I remind you that we are standing in my kitchen?"

Being the bigger person, Rose let that insult slide, but she did look around and realized that it was in fact Scorpius' kitchen. Still, she wasn't going to give in so easily.

"So?"

"Listen, you came to me, saying that Albus needs to impress this girl that is perfect for him, correct?"

"Yes, but…-" Rose started.

"And it was your idea to cook for him because someone told his date that Albus is a great cook, correct?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes. He is a great cook, only he didn't have enough time to cook for her because he is only getting home about 5 minutes before his date is supposed to arrive. And apparently, Lucy told his date that Albus would be making his scandalously delicious dinner. So, I offered to cook for him," Rose explained.

Scorpius nodded, "And how do you think that is helping him? Because there is no way you are as good as a cook as Albus is and it will be clear that he either lied about how good a chef he is, or his date will know someone else made this because the meal will not be up to his standards."

Rose rolled her eyes and tried to continue whisking the egg whites when Scorpius took the whisk from her hands again.

"Listen, I want to help make this date a success. Albus has done more for me than I can ever repay him for, so I want to help. That is why I agreed to let you cook in my kitchen and you obviously cannot use his kitchen because he doesn't allow anyone else to cook in it even if it is for himself. But I think that if he would just be honest with her, it would be a lot easier for all of us. Nevertheless, I am willing to help! So why don't we just divide who is going to make what?"

Rose stared at him, looked at the clock and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Alright, I want to do the lasagne."

"Great, then I'll do the tir-" Scorpius began whilst stretching out his hand for the whisk.

"-And the tiramisu. You can do the starter!" Rose added quickly.

Scorpius opened his mouth to disagree, but Rose shook her head at him before he could say anything, "No. You can help but you cannot interfere, promise?"

Scorpius looked at her for a minute before slowly nodding in agreement.

"Very well. Let's get started; we only have a few hours left. Tick tock," she pointed at the clock on the wall.

It worked well. They left each other to their own work and did not comment on each other's actions. Once, they even exchanged a friendly smile when Rose and Scorpius both needed the same herb: basil. She allowed him to use it first for the soup base she'd already prepared and he handed it to her for the mixture of vegetables and tomato sauce that were slowly cooking. This friendly atmosphere lasted for about eight minutes.

Scorpius was gently stirring his soup with the experience of an ultimate potioneer and just observed Rose and her preparations. He did not comment on the fact that she used too much essence of garlic. Nor did he comment on the amount of onion powder he saw her fling in the pan with gusto. But the moment she took the broccoli leftovers from the cooling cupboard (a cupboard with a permanent cooling charm on it like a muggle fridge), rinsed them and got ready to add them to the vegetable/sauce mixture, he spoke up before he could stop himself.

"What are you going to do with that broccoli?" he asked, shocked with his hand on the bowl of broccoli Rose held above the pan.

She raised her right eyebrow as the seconds ticked away while they were just standing there, battling in the silence what would happen to the mixture. Scorpius still held the bowl and gently tried to move it away whilst Rose raised both her eyebrows and began to push the bowl back to the mixture with increasing force.

"Let go!" she said dangerously, her eyes spitting fire.

Scorpius looked pained but did not let go. "Broccoli in lasagne? I've never heard of such a thing! What if Albus' date doesn't like it?"

Rose sighed. "Listen. My grandparents did not have a lot of money, they never binned scraps because they did not have the luxury of throwing away food. And nine out of ten times it tasted really good with differences in each meal because it wasn't the same basic meal over and over again. Also, you are going to eat at your parent's house tonight and I will eat at my parent's house. If we do not use this, we would have to throw this out because we won't have an opportunity to eat it tomorrow, either! And even with a fresh-holding spell, it will not last until Saturday, so…-"

"Why aren't we able to eat this tomorrow?" Scorpius dared ask.

Rose glared at Scorpius until he realized that she was not going to tell him, so he thought about it and nodded. "Oh yeah, the Smith family. I remember."

"So," Rose continued determinedly as if she wasn't interrupted, "it is going in the lasagne."

Scorpius realized he had three options.

One, he could let her put the broccoli in the vegetable/tomato sauce mixture without saying anything but understanding and respectful words to her choice.

Two, he could let her put it in but add that he hoped Albus' date liked broccoli and wouldn't judge Albus for it, him being such a good cook and all.

Three, vanish the broccoli with a vanishing spell and start world war 3 by disrespecting something so important to her and lose her friendship and respect forever.

Scorpius gripped the bowl tighter and nodded understandingly, "You are absolutely right, allow me."

Rose trusted him instantly and let go of the bowl of broccoli. He let the broccoli fall in the mixture and started stirring it in.

He had been stirring for a few minutes while in thought as Rose had watched him with a loving smile on her face. She elbowed him in a sweet, soft way to get his attention and whispered, "Thanks."

He smiled back broadly and nodded, offering her the spatula back.

"That's quite alright. If you want to, you can keep stirring. I have other stuff I need to prepare."

"Are you sure I can handle that?" he joked.

"Yeah, I trust you," she replied.

Scorpius smiled and watched her walk to the cooling cupboard. She took out a pineapple and started cutting it in a chef-like manner. Scorpius was about to say he was impressed with her cooking skills when she raised the cutting board with freshly cut pineapple above the pan Scorpius was stirring and he stopped her instantly.

"Please tell me you are joking?" Scorpius asked hopefully, but anxiously.

"Scorpius…" Rose warned.

"Rose, you cannot be serious! You can't add pineapple to lasagne; that is ridiculous! What would the Italians say?"

"I couldn't care less what the Italians say, or what you say for that matter. It's going in."

"But it is a fruit!" Scorpius interjected.

"So is tomato and lasagne is full of tomato," she deadpanned.

"What…-" Scorpius started.

"Don't try me, Scorpius."

Scorpius had put down the spatula, stepped in front of the pan and begged, "Please. Please don't. Please don't do this. Please."

The last 'please' had genuinely sounded as if she was about to torture him, but she was unforgiving.

"No. Now step aside."

"I can't do that, I owe it to Albus," Scorpius said bravely.

"Then you leave me no choice," Rose said and she drew her wand quicker than a lightning strike.

"Step aside," she ordered, pointing her wand at his torso.

"I can't do that," Scorpius' voice sounded a bit higher than usual.

"I'm not going to ask again," she threatened, pointing her wand at his head now.

They eyed each other and the tension was palpable, so high. Rose's eyes sparked and from the tip of her wand flew one spark in his direction.

"Fine! But let the record show that I tried to stop you."

Scorpius stepped away from the pan and exited the kitchen.

Rose did not see Scorpius again that afternoon. It was late in the evening when Scorpius returned to his house and saw Rose sit in the dark living room that was only lighted by the candles she had bought him a few months ago. She sat there in his favourite fauteuil, reading a book on transfiguration spells, whilst enjoying a cup of tea.

Rose, like her mother, had the ability to be so engrossed in a book that she did not sense a change in her surroundings. The funny thing was that it didn't even need to be a novel; it could just be a theoretical book.

Scorpius enjoyed this image for a second before clearing his throat and Rose nearly jumped from her seat in shock when her book fell to the floor. After the initial jump-scare had faded, she placed her book on the coffee table and accioed the cup of tea she'd prepared earlier for him. She casted a reheating charm and gestured to the chair opposite her.

"So, you've come home then?" she murmured when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I figured it was time."

"How was dinner with your parents?" she asked.

"Are we not going to address the elephant in the room?" Scorpius asked softly.

"So you've talked to Albus, too?" Rose asked without waiting for his answer.

She continued, "You were right. But how could I have guessed she was allergic to pineapple? I mean, have you ever heard of someone who is allergic to pi… Never mind, she is fine and luckily, Uncle Harry had forgotten that Albus had a date and spontaneously came to visit him when she had the allergic reaction. They went to St. Mungo's just to be sure, but fortunately she was fine."

Scorpius stared at her with wide eyes and Rose did not even look at him as she assumed he knew all of this when she sipped her tea. She made a dirty face and reheated her own cup of tea too, before demanding, "But I was right, too, and you need to admit to it!"

"I beg your pardon?" Scorpius answered.

"You need to say that I am right, too! That is why you are moping, but you cannot deprive me from hearing that I was right, too. Even though I nearly killed his date," she stated impatiently.

Scorpius blinked a few times, inhaled deeply and shook his head.

"I am sorry to say this, but…-" he paused one second to debate whether or not he was going to say it. Scorpius decided that he needed to say it. It had gone on long enough like this.

"It is clear that you have no clue what is going on."

"Excuse me?"

"I thought we were going to break up. I was not even thinking about what you are saying."

"Breaking up?" Rose's voice sounded so full of utter amazement that Scorpius felt like he was the one who was oblivious.

"Scorp, I hate to say this, but we are not in a relationship," Rose said softly when he did not reply.

"We are," Scorpius replied soft. He was committed to this line of action, and he was going to finish it, regardless of the outcome.

"No, we are not," Rose's voice became louder and more irritated this time.

"Rose, I'd like to say something, and I would like it if you did not interrupt me."

Rose who was looking at him hard, nodded in agreement and gestured him to speak.

"Let's talk facts. The fact is that you have your own drawer here. That we eat together most nights of the week. That you know the scraps in the cooling cupboard. That you know my engagements better than I do. The fact that you did not realize you were in my kitchen instead of your own in your apartment. The fact that you trust me like no one else, your own family excluded. The fact that you saved me from my grandfather in Gringotts that time. The fact that you put a banana in my bag for work, because otherwise I would forget and then you nag that I don't eat healthy enough otherwise."

"I don't nag! You just…-" Rose interjected.

"Rose, I'm just saying that even though we never talked about it, that doesn't mean that it isn't there."

Rose looked at him. She was genuinely listening to the words he said and thinking it over.

They sat in silence for a minute or two when Rose opened her mouth and then shut it a few seconds later.

Scorpius sent her an awkward smile and felt the need to say, to explain, to let her know the truth.

"Rose, I love how you are just you. The nagging, the annoying habits you have, they are all done for my sake, trying to keep me healthy, trying to improve my life. And I love you. I love that you arranged a meeting with the Smith family so that they can tell me how Michael is doing with the potion I designed even though I am forbidden to contact them per hospital instructions, you figured out a way to do it on a personal level. I love how considerate you are when I am tired, and you have cooked in my kitchen again. I love that you use the broccoli scraps in the lasagne, so we don't have to throw it out. I just love you. And I wish that you would just live with me as my girlfriend. Just bring the last stuff from your tiny apartment here to my house and live with me. For real. Because I love you."

Rose took about fifteen seconds before she replied, "I love you too. I just didn't know."

"I know. So will you?" Scorpius asked hopeful.

Rose's lips slowly curled into a smile that went wider and broader and she flung her arms around him.

"Of course I will," and she pressed her lips hard against his.

Startled by her reaction, he followed suit and they shared a loving sweet kiss for the first time in their home.

After a few minutes they broke apart and Rose said smirking, "I was right though. She loved the broccoli in the lasagne."

"Did she really?" Scorpius asked.

"She did."

"In that case let me congratulate you and say: you were right, Rose."

"Thanks. Now, it's late, let's get to bed." Rose said.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Do you mean…"

"Of course, it appears that we are in a relationship and living together. It hardly seems like that would be odd now, would it? Besides, now that you are my boyfriend, I can tell you that you are quite good looking."

Scorpius started grinning and lifted her off her feet.

"You know what?" he asked.

"What?"

"I have a very hot girlfriend, too."

"Aren't you lucky?" Rose teased.

He pressed a kiss against her cheek and threw her on the bed. She screamed with laughter and threw a pillow at his head. It was definitely going to be a tumultuous relationship. But Scorpius was there for every second of it.