Chapter 12 – Underneath the Tree

I was lost before you
Christmas was cold and grey
Another holiday alone to celebrate

But then, one day, everything changed
You're all I need
Underneath the tree

Similarly to Professor Bobbin, Scorpius was not expecting anything for his birthday. He'd had great birthdays with raucous parties in the Slytherin Common Room, and he'd had lonely, quiet affairs, where he'd shut himself away from everyone up in his room. And he'd detested both kinds.

But this year was different. As he'd realised with Christmas, he had never spent his birthday with Rose as his girlfriend. And there seemed no better way to turn eighteen than with her by his side. That's all he truly wanted. That's all he ever truly wanted.

Scorpius' birthday fell on a Sunday—the last one of the school year—and with their Quidditch friendly coming up the following Friday, he'd arranged a Quidditch practice. Why not? Scorpius loved Quidditch, and what better way to warm them all up on a dreary winter's day.

The team had not exactly shared this viewpoint, however. And he rather suspected, had it not been his birthday, they'd have refused to participate.

"Good job, guys!" Scorpius praised as they all touched down. They had been good—far better than they'd played last season—and he was rather optimistic about the upcoming friendly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jinx said angrily. "Can we get out of the bloody cold now?"

It hadn't snowed since they'd all gone to Hogsmeade last weekend, so instead the Quidditch pitch was covered in a rather grim-looking grey slush.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself but I actually think we have a shot next week," Scorpius went on, ignoring Jinx.

"I feel good about it," Ebony agreed, looking happy.

She'd been looking happy a lot lately, and it made Scorpius feel relieved. He'd have pinned it, naturally, to her having reconnected with James in Hogsmeade, but he suspected it was actually deeper than even that. But, whatever it was, Ebony kept her cards close to her chest. He was just grateful that she had really thrown herself into the Quidditch practice.

"I can't believe you made us come out here on this gross, freezing morning on a Sunday," Jinx grumbled.

"Hey," Scorpius said with a grin, "it's my birthday."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Well, for my birthday I'm going to insist we all do something equally as unpleasant and see how you like it."

Scorpius had no doubt that was true.

"Perhaps eating slugs?" Jinx said sarcastically. "Or skinny dipping in the Black Lake?"

"Let's go and warm up," Ebony said brightly. She looked at Scorpius excitedly. "And then we can get ready for the evening."

"The evening?" Scorpius asked uncertainly.

Jinx and Ebony shared a knowing look. "We're throwing you a party!" they seemed to squeal in unison, Jinx immediately perking up from her earlier disdain.

Scorpius resisted rolling his eyes. "I, uh, I thought I told you I didn't want to do anything for my birthday? Just some good old Quidditch practice."

Albireo caught his eye and seemed to offer an apologetic smile. Scorpius didn't blame him—nothing either of them could have said or done would have dissuaded the girls once they'd decided to do something. He only hoped it would be less about him and more of an end-of-term knees-up. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd thrown him a birthday party as a cover to just, generally, get rowdy in the common room.

"Alright," Scorpius conceded, knowing there would be no point in protesting. "Where's this party happening then? The Slytherin Common Room?" Hopefully, he could show his face and then quickly disappear to see Rose once the alcohol had inevitably started flowing.

"Oh, no," Ebony said, surprised. "The Room of Requirement—we've invited students from all the houses."

"Oh." Scorpius was pleasantly surprised himself. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad then. "Is Rose coming?"

Jinx broke out into a smirk, eyeing something over Scorpius' shoulder. "Ask her yourself."

Scorpius turned, eyes immediately lighting up as he noticed the familiar redheaded figure making their way to the centre of the pitch. Her hair, like waves of fire, brightened even the greyest of mornings. Or maybe it was just her, Scorpius considered. And the way she always made him feel.

"We'll leave you to it," Ebony said politely. "See you tonight!"

"Alright," Scorpius agreed. "But I don't want the whole school singing to me like you made us do for Bobbin's birthday!"

Ebony's smile immediately dropped. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said offhandedly. "I had nothing to do with that."

She had hurried away, along with the rest of the team, before Scorpius could probe her even further. But it didn't matter, because he was immediately distracted, like he often was, by Rose Weasley.

"I'm surprised you're not in the library," he remarked playfully as she eventually came to stand in front of him. "It's only—what? Six months until our NEWTs?"

"Oh, shut up," she said, coming to throw her arms around his neck before he could stop her.

As Scorpius instinctively pressed his lips to hers and smelt the familiar scent of vanilla, a thought struck him. "Merlin, I must smell like a dead rat."

He couldn't be sure whether the drenched nature of his Quidditch kit was due to sweat or from the earlier sleet they'd gotten caught in—or perhaps a nasty combination of both. Either way, Rose was certainly brave to have gotten so close to him.

She showed absolutely no signs of displeasure, however, quite content to wrap herself around him.

"I've smelt more pleasant aromas in the Hippogriff stables," she confirmed.

Scorpius grinned down at her. "Do you often frequent the Hippogriff stables?" he teased.

"Only in detention," she said, eyebrows raised.

Scorpius wasn't sure Rose Weasley had ever gotten a detention before she'd met him, and no doubt never would have had he not led her astray. "Sorry I'm such a bad influence," he apologised, pressing his lips to her forehead, reluctant to release her even after the confirmation that he was in urgent need of a shower.

"Well," Rose sighed. "I can't say I regret a thing."

Scorpius was glad to hear it. She looked even more beautiful up close, endearingly bundled up in her winter robes. Something unexpected caught his eye, initially surprising him, but then, if possible, endearing him even more to her.

"You're supporting Slytherin today then?" he asked, teasingly pulling at the end of the knitted green and silver scarf she had wound around her neck.

"One day only," Rose confirmed, thrilled that he had noticed.

"And why's that?" Scorpius urged, longing to kiss her again but realising he probably shouldn't when he was still so sweaty.

"Because it's your birthday!" Rose squealed in delight, and then she had flung her arms around him again, taking Scorpius by pleasant surprise. "Happy birthday, Scorpius," she said in a much lower, meaningful voice once she had released him once more, staring intently into his eyes.

Scorpius rested a gloved hand against her cheek, temporarily distracted by how frayed and shoddy they were looking. Refocusing on the far more important thing in his line of vision, he allowed his thumb to gently run over the freckles on Rose's soft skin. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "But don't think that it being my birthday is a justifiable reason for you to be spying on the Slytherin Quidditch Team's practices!"

Rose just laughed. "I wasn't spying!" she insisted. "And it doesn't matter anyway because you're for sure going to destroy us—our new Seeker is awful."

Scorpius was intrigued. "You have a new Seeker?" He would have assumed Gwen and Janey would put their differences aside and reconcile before the friendly, but they both seemed to be holding firm. Merlin, Gryffindors were stubborn.

"Yes," Rose confirmed. "She's in Sixth Year—her name is Maisie—but she's so inexperienced. She's not bad," Rose corrected, as though it were against her nature to speak down of anybody. "But she's obviously not used to our team. She's nowhere near as good as Janey," she sighed.

This didn't reassure Scorpius much. As much as he wanted to win, he wanted it to be a fair fight. He had never, as of yet, beaten Janey to the Snitch, and he wanted to prove that he could. Beating an inexperienced sixth-year wouldn't be as much of a victory. But still, his team could do with another win, so who was he to complain?

"So," Scorpius announced, thinking back to what Jinx had said before Rose had arrived. "Apparently I'm having a party tonight?"

Rose's face lit up. "It was Jinx and Ebony's idea—I had nothing to do with it."

"I've no doubt," Scorpius said kindly. She knew he didn't like to be the centre of attention. "I'll go if you do?"

"Of course I'm going," Rose said, surprised. "It's my boyfriend's birthday!"

Well, Scorpius rather liked the way that sounded. He took hold of both of her hands in his, feeling flirtatious. "Just so long as you promise me we can sneak off and find some mistletoe?"

"Yeah?" Rose asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," Scorpius said, unable to contain his eager grin. "And you can give me my birthday present."

He had only meant to be playful, but Rose looked deeply surprised, almost a little offended. Had he really been going too far, Scorpius suddenly panicked. He'd only meant for a snog—nothing they hadn't engaged in plenty of times since they'd reconnected in the summer.

"I've got you a birthday present," Rose insisted, definitely looking affronted.

"Oh," Scorpius said. "Really?"

"Of course—it's your birthday! What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?" she laughed.

Scorpius felt immediately bashful. He had certainly not expected Rose to buy him a gift. He hadn't expected any proper acknowledgement of his birthday at all, really—they'd not even openly spoken about it coming up. In truth, he thought she might have forgotten when it was. But who was he kidding? This was Rose freaking Weasley. She retained every scrap of information she ever ingested—something he should probably be wary of but greatly admired.

Looking slighted, Rose withdrew a package from within her pocket and handed it to Scorpius with an air of triumph.

Scorpius was speechless as he took it from her. Merlin, she never missed a thing. He was in awe.

"It's not much," Rose apologised, looking suddenly disheartened. "I don't really know what to buy for boys—and I already thought so much about Christmas, and—"

"Rose, it's perfect," Scorpius interrupted. "Whatever it is—it's perfect."

Rose seemed to relax at his reassurances. "Okay," she said. Then, looking excited, "Well, open it then!"

Scorpius' cold fingers struggled with the neatly-packaged present, but his eyes lit up when he eventually tore the paper away and saw what was within. She really knew him better than himself.

"Quidditch gloves," he said in awe.

"They're really good quality ones," Rose said, looking somewhat anxious. "Not that I paid a lot for them," she added hurriedly. "But I didn't know what to get for you, and Sam suggested something Quidditch-related, and I noticed that the ones you had were looking a bit shabby, but I wasn't sure what size would fit, or what colour you'd like, so I can return them if you like, or get something better, or—"

Scorpius kissed her. It had been a habit he'd struggled to break—interrupting her anxious ramblings with a calming kiss. But he couldn't tell whether he had been driven to it for that reason, or because he was just so hopelessly awed by her. Irregardless, she melted into it with ease, both of them deeply content.

"I love them," he murmured into her lips.

"Well," Rose whispered back, her blue eyes settling on him with a look of tender affection, "I love you."

Scorpius kissed her once more, nothing more needing to be said. "I really should get out of these robes," he said eventually. "But I'll see you later?"

Rose was beaming. "Of course."

"Good."

As Scorpius returned to the changing rooms, he was rather glad, indeed, that it was his birthday. It felt like everything had been building up to this. Every disappointment of the past years forgotten so that he could enjoy something truly important to him. And not just with regards to his birthday—but his whole relationship with Rose.

Merlin, life was good.

Well, everybody had gotten drunk with remarkable efficiency, Scorpius thought with amusement. And with Ebony seeming to be the one encouraging it the most, he wondered how important her reputation as respectful Head Girl really was to her. Geez, she was turning more and more into James Potter with every passing day. He was just glad she was having a good time.

And Scorpius certainly was.

He had opted not to indulge in as much alcohol as his friends seemed to have, intent on preserving his memories of his favourite birthday to date, but he was still feeling that same buzz of elation.

They had decorated the Room of Requirement in Slytherin colours, their usual fireplace roaring away in the centre of the main wall. He'd have to keep an eye on it, he thought with seriousness. Flames and alcohol didn't seem like a good combination.

But as Scorpius stared into the dancing flames, he was struck with sudden sadness, recalling a much larger, more terrifying fire. It had been the only thing that had saddened him on the otherwise perfect day.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked by Scorpius' side, noticing his sudden dissonance.

"I—yeah," Scorpius said warily. "Could we maybe go somewhere?" he asked, and by the look on her face, he knew Rose understood it wasn't for the reasons he'd implied earlier.

"Of course," she said tenderly, and hand-in-hand they slipped through the crowds, escaping to the tranquil silence of the corridor beyond.

They walked together in silence for a while whilst Scorpius gathered his thoughts and Rose allowed him the freedom to do so. "I miss her," he confessed after a while, and Rose didn't need to ask what he was talking about, or why he was feeling the way he did.

She didn't say anything straight away.

"I know it's stupid," Scorpius went on. "She was… not a great person."

"She was your mother," Rose said sincerely.

"But she wasn't," Scorpius said, his heart feeling heavy. "Not… not at the end. That person—that woman—she wasn't my mother. She wasn't the Astoria Malfoy she used to be."

Scorpius knew his mother had never been perfect. She had retained a lot of the dark ways of thinking and been tainted by it, but she had still loved him. She had still taught him magic, and how to tie a bow tie. And she had held him when he'd cried when he'd fallen over as a child, read him bedtime stories, fed him, clothed him, loved him.

And now Scoprius was eighteen and he had received his usual birthday letter from home and it had been signed from his dad only. Astoria's favourite quill had not been tenderly pressed to the parchment as she signed her name, and it never would again. It was silly, really, Scorpius thought—to be getting so worked up over something as simple and insignificant as his mother's signature.

Rose brought him back to the present, as she always did, by offering a reassuring squeeze of his hand. "She loved you Scorpius," Rose reassured him. "You and Serephina—she loved you more than anything. And it's your first birthday without her. Of course it's going to be hard. You're allowed to grieve—even if she wasn't perfect."

Rose was so wise, Scorpius thought with deep appreciation. He only wished his mum had shared the view. He wished she had been proud that Scorpius had fallen in love with her—but Astoria's prejudices had ensured she viewed the entire Potter-Weasley clan, and especially Rose, with deep disgust.

That was partially why he felt guilty for openly admitting how much he missed her around his girlfriend. Astoria had been truly awful to Rose, and a part of Scorpius could never forgive her for that. But, even so, it was hard not to feel that desperate sense of loss.

"Thank you for understanding," Scorpius said in no more than a whisper.

"Of course," Rose said in surprise. "Always," she vowed.

Scorpius felt the weight of that word and hoped she knew how much he loved and appreciated her. "Anyway," he breathed, trying to perk up. "I suppose the party wasn't so horrible, was it?"

"No," Rose agreed, smiling too. "Though I'm surprised Ebony was enjoying it quite as much as she was."

"I'm telling you, her and James are morphing into one."

Rose considered it. They had always jokingly referred to the couple as one entity—not as James and Ebony but rather 'Jebony'. "That's a terrifying thought—though at least she seems happier this week."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. He paused before a sly smile broke out."Do you think we're morphing into each other?"

Rose rather intensely studied his face before brushing a strand of hair away from his forehead. "I think I can see a bit of ginger," she teased.

The laughter escaped Scorpius' mouth before he could stop it. He hoped it never ceased to be this easy to be himself around Rose. She truly meant everything to him. "Well, it's just a shame none of my expert Quidditch-playing ability has rubbed off on you, isn't it?"

"Hey!" Rose protested. "I saved almost all the goals in our match against Ravenclaw." Like her dad before her, she was a Keeper.

"Ah, but not all," Scorpius continued with a smirk. "Hence why you lost."

"We were up before their Seeker caught the Snitch," Rose insisted, and then almost guiltily looked around as though Janey might hear her throwing her under the bus. But last Scorpius had seen of the blonde girl, she had been very firmly attached to Sam's mouth.

"If you'd saved enough of those shots then it wouldn't have mattered," Scorpius contradicted, knowing his teasing arrogance would provoke her.

Rose scowled. "Well, you're the one who taught me how to play—so really I'm only a reflection of your teaching."

"Nah," Scorpius dismissed, "I only taught you how to fly. James was your captain—that's on him."

"Alright, Malfoy, you've gotten a lot cockier since you became Quidditch Captain."

"No, no," Scorpius denied, catching Rose around the waist and pulling her towards him. "Only since the hottest girl in the school agreed to be my girlfriend again."

Rose bit her lip.

Scorpius rather thought, as he brought his mouth to Rose's and she met him with such hungry passion that he was certain if Bobbin happened upon them he'd be put in detention for sullying the reputation of the Hogwarts prefects, that this was his favourite birthday by far.

"I don't know how Christmas is going to top this," he said in a low voice, still holding her body tenderly against him.

"Well, I've got you something far more meaningful than just some new Quidditch gloves," Rose replied, bringing her hands up to hang off his neck.

Scorpius was intrigued, hoping his own gift for her wouldn't be a bitter disappointment in comparison.

"You didn't have to get me anything at all," Scorpius pointed out. "Because I already have anything I could possibly want right here. For my birthday, for Christmas. For"—he gulped, feeling suddenly nervous—"for forever."

Rose looked at him with so much awe, Scorpius thought she might melt. He hoped he never failed to elicit that look in her eyes.

He beamed at her again, clearing his throat. "But anyway, I wasn't talking about the present—although I am incredibly grateful," he assured her. "If I catch the Snitch next week then I'll pin it all on the new gloves." He winked at her, which made her laugh in that endearingly twinkling way that she did. "But, no," Scorpius went on, serious once more, "I meant being with you."

"I'll still be with you on Christmas," Rose said in confusion.

"Mhmm," Scorpius agreed, smiling at the thought. But something suddenly struck him with guilt and sorrow. "I just wish I hadn't wasted those other years. We could have spent countless birthdays and Christmases together if I hadn't been so selfish."

"No," Rose said firmly. "No, we're not doing that."

"What?" Scorpius asked, worried he had genuinely upset her.

"Dwelling on the past," Rose said. "We both know that we needed to go on the journey we did to get to where we are now. I don't care about the past," she insisted. "I only care about the future now."

"And the present," Scorpius said stupidly.

Rose rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "Yes, obviously the present," she agreed. "But I said I forgive you for everything that happened when we were younger—and I firmly stand by that."

Scorpius was truly relieved to hear it. He wasn't sure that he would ever forgive himself for the things he'd done to hurt her in the past, but he'd be a fool not to enjoy where they currently were, and where he strongly hoped they would continue to go.

"I don't deserve you," Scorpius murmured, catching Rose in another kiss before she could protest.

This time, she moved her hands from around his neck up into his hair, and even when they broke away after some time, she left her hands in place. If the enchanted mistletoe spattered around the castle did indeed flourish and grow wherever there was love, Scorpius was surprised they weren't standing in a forest of it.

But there wasn't any mistletoe in sight—likely because there wasn't really supposed to be anything of importance in the seventh-floor corridor for students to be loitering near. Few knew of the Room of Requirement. Scorpius wondered if Bobbin even knew.

But as he looked down into Rose's sapphire blue eyes, he was thinking of nothing but her and how breathless she rendered him.

"Happy birthday, Scorpius," she said tenderly.

And it certainly was.

Author's Note: Title and epigraph inspired by Kelly Clarkson's 'Underneath the Tree'