The Wedding, part one.

"Excuse me, excuse me!"

Rose looked up from the elderly witch she was currently directing to her seat, to see a very flustered man standing before her, hopping from one foot to the other in his agitation.

She raised her eyebrows politely. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, something is," said the man, pushing his glasses further up his nose and giving her an annoyed look. "I came here with my mother, Madam Simone de Vasquez, who I'm sure you must have heard of."

He paused and looked at her expectantly. She opened her mouth and gave a non-committal huff of air, which seemed to satisfy him.

"Indeed. Well, for some reason she has not been included on the list of wedding guests. And now that girl over there is telling me that my mother and I cannot sit together. My mother is ninety-three, and a very well respected member of the Wizarding community, as I'm sure you're well aware. I won't have her treated like this by some teenager with an attitude problem!"

Rose followed the man's angry pointing to see Dom standing at the entrance of the marquee looking sullen. "I'm sorry," she said, raising her hands in what she hoped was a placatory manner. "I'm sure it's just an innocent mistake with the guest list, that's all. Of course there's a seat for your mother."

"There better bloody well be," grumbled the man.

It took less than a minute to rearrange the seating plan so as to put the man together with his mother, and after a few more complaints he wandered off, mollified by her copious apologies and assurances that it would never happen again. Rose gave Dom a pointed stare after he had left, but her cousin merely folded her arms and glared back. Rose grit her teeth and resisted the urge to snap at her.

"You could at least try to be helpful," she said in a low voice, as more people came forward to be directed to their seats.

"I'm here, aren't I?" answered Dom sourly.

"Yeah, and you're being about as uncooperative as possible."

Dom tossed her head. "She wasn't on the list. What was I supposed to do?"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to smile, for starters," said Rose, flashing her own painfully forced grin at an approaching family.

"Whatever."

Rose sighed. She didn't want to start a scene here in the middle of the garden, surrounded as they were by so many people. But she was finding it increasingly difficult to bite her tongue. Dom wasn't even pretending to be happy. Her sulkiness was almost infectious; Rose could feel it poisoning the air around them like a cloud of unhappiness.

"Look, I know you're mad at me," she said under her breath the moment they had a second to themselves. Dom merely sniffed. "But can't you give it a rest, just for today? It's your sister's wedding."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Dom said in a strange voice, and when Rose looked at her she saw that her cousin's eyes were very bright. "It's the happy day, isn't it? How could I forget? I mean, isn't this just wonderful – " she swept her hand around at the rows of seats, the enchanted bouquets of flowers, the pixies darting through the air – "Everything's happy and great, isn't that right Rose?"

There was something about the way she said all this that told Rose there was more to Dom's sulkiness than she was letting on. She eyed her cousin carefully. "Dom, what's this about?"

Dom didn't reply, but her eyes shifted of their own accord to somewhere over Rose's shoulder. She turned and scanned the crowd of people, unable at first to find anything out of the ordinary. Then she saw him. Calvin Davies, standing beside his father, his arm linked with a pretty brunette. He was smiling and moving his free arm back and forth as he spoke animatedly about something.

Her heart sank for her cousin and she found she was no longer angry at Dom at all. "Oh," was all she could think to say.

Dom seemed annoyed at having given herself away. She clenched her jaw and turned her face to the side so Rose couldn't read her expression. "Whatever. It's none of your business, anyway. You never tell me your secrets, so why should I tell you mine?"

"That's not – "

"Oh isn't it?" Dom practically snarled, spinning back round. "How long, huh? How long have you been sneaking around with Malfoy behind my back?"

Rose fidgeted, not quite willing to admit just how long it had been.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Rose?"

She shook her head. "No, I – "

"Remember me asking you about borrowing James' cloak?" Dom cut her off, her eyes fixed on Rose so that she felt somewhat like a rabbit caught in the spotlight. "It was for him, wasn't it? You borrowed it to sneak off and meet Malfoy."

Rose dropped her gaze, unable to stand how furious Dom looked. "Yes," she muttered miserably.

"And all that stuff with Charlie," Dom rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I didn't see it. I guess I just didn't expect you to be so stupid."

There was a painful silence. Rose didn't bother trying to argue. Instead she simply returned to what she was doing and let Dom do the same.

After a while, a bright flash of colour in her peripheral vision distracted her. Turning, she saw someone in eye-wateringly yellow robes pushing through the crowd towards them. A second later and she realised it was Lorcan.

"Great," muttered Dom under her breath. "Here comes the freak show."

Rose only had time to shoot her cousin an annoyed look before Lorcan was by her side. His dirty blonde hair paled in comparison to the sunflower yellow of his clothing; around his neck he wore a heavy silver chain ending with a spoke wheel.

"Hiya Rose," he gave her a quick hug before stepping back. "You look nice."

"Thanks. Er… so do you." That was only a slight embellishment on the truth.

Lorcan grinned. "Sunshine, for good luck. Mum says it's a Lovegood tradition."

"Tradition?" said a scornful voice, and Lysander Scamander appeared behind his brother. Unlike Lorcan he was wearing ordinary dress robes, and an annoyed expression. "It's about as traditional as Uncle Trelos and his nude acrobatics outside the Ministry. Why is my family so embarrassing?"

Lorcan didn't reply, just shrugged and stared at his feet. Rose was just about to open her mouth and tell Lysander where to go when another voice cut in before her.

"Well, I like it."

It was Dom. She had sidled up to them and now stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Lysander.

Lysander stared at her suspiciously. So did Rose. "You do?"

"Sure," she said, tossing her head. "I think it's sexy." As though to emphasise her point, she leaned up and pecked Lorcan on the cheek; his face went bright red. "Much more than boring old black, anyway."

Lysander was scowling. The muscles in his jaw worked as though he wanted to speak, before he turned and stalked off without another word. After a brief moment Dom did the same, returning to the line of guests. Rose stared at her, trying to understand her sudden change in attitude, before giving it up as hopeless.

"Well…" she said at last, shaking her head. "That was weird."

"Yeah," mumbled Lorcan, who was still beet red. The colour contrast between his face and his yellow robes was almost painful to behold.

"Erm, you haven't seen my brother, have you?" she asked, to break the tension.

"No."

"He's supposed to be here helping," she gave an exaggerated shrug. "But I guess he's found something better to do."

"Perhaps he's talking to the Gernumbli," Lorcan suggested, sounding a little more like himself. "There's a marvellous infestation here at the Burrow, after all."

Rose blinked. "Uh… yeah, maybe."

"Listen," he said, sounding suddenly serious. "I've been meaning to ask you…" he trailed off, chewing on his bottom lip.

"What?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

His eyes flicked to something behind her before returning to her face. "Mmm… nothing."

She narrowed her eyes at his sudden change in tone. "Lorcan," she began. "What – "

"Just a question about Strumplings, that's all. It can wait."

"But – "

"I'd better let you attend to your guests," he interrupted, giving her a tight-lipped smile. "See you soon." He gave an odd little bow before ambling off in the direction his brother had gone, like a shining halo in the sea of duller colours. She stared after him for a bit, shaking her head at his queerness, before turning back to the crowd of guests.

Immediately she felt her stomach drop to her toes as she saw who was next in line. Scorpius and his parents were standing at the entrance to the tent, grouped together and standing out almost as badly as Lorcan. Mostly it was because the other guests were giving them a wide berth, some even going so far as to mutter and whisper behind their hands in a show of unabashed animosity. Scorpius didn't appear particularly concerned; he was looking directly at her, ignoring the stares and attention of the rest of the crowd, and something about his expression made her heart rate pick up of its own accord. Mr and Mrs Malfoy stood behind him, their arms linked and matching haughty expressions on both their faces; they moved forward with their heads held high, like a pair of nobles surrounded by peasants.

"Scorpius," she couldn't help the excitement in her voice at seeing him again. He looked wonderful, dressed in a set of immaculate dress robes, his blonde hair swept casually to one side. When he caught her eye he grinned crookedly, and she felt her heart flutter in response. "Mr and Mrs Malfoy. It's lovely to meet you both."

Draco Malfoy gave her an ironic stare, his eyes sweeping past her and surveying the inside of the marquee. Although he appeared as indifferent as ever, up close Rose could see how on edge he was; there was a muscle in his jaw twitching rhythmically and she could feel the tension radiating from him. Mrs Malfoy was a little friendlier; she gave her a warm smile and took her hand briefly in her own.

"You must be Rose Weasley," she said, her blue eyes looking her up and down. She was very pretty, and Rose felt suddenly quite self-conscious. She remembered what Scorpius had said about his mother working as a fashion designer in London, and hoped her dress held up to professional scrutiny. "Albus' cousin."

"That's right," she said with a smile. Being introduced as Albus' cousin seemed best at the moment. Rose resisted the urge to look back at Scorpius. "Would you like me to show you to your seats?"

"Where's your father?" asked Draco suddenly, fixing her with an icy gaze. "I can't see his painfully ginger head anywhere."

Next to her, Scorpius shifted restlessly, and Astoria gave her husband a disapproving frown. Rose took a deep breath, determined not to rise to the bait. She would be the better person. "He's probably still up at the house with Teddy," she explained patiently. "Most of the family are still getting ready. They should be down soon."

Draco merely grunted, and swept past her into the tent. After a moment, Astoria followed him. Scorpius paused briefly beside her.

"You look beautiful," he said under his breath, and she felt herself warm at his words. She looked up and held his gaze, fighting back the urge to kiss him.

"Thanks."

"Save me a dance, won't you?" he whispered, and followed his family inside, leaving Rose all but trembling in his wake. She smoothed her hair and suppressed a beaming smile, then turned and found herself staring straight into Dom's hostile blue eyes.

"So," her cousin bit out harshly, and Rose winced at the venom in Dom's voice. "You haven't come to your senses yet."

"Dom – "

"Leave it, Rose." Dom turned away, her expression hard and unforgiving. "I don't want to talk about it."

Her elation at seeing Scorpius vanished as quickly as it had come. Rose sighed and went back to directing guests, wondering why real life always had to be so complicated.

The wedding itself was a magnificent success. It could hardly have been otherwise, with such a beautiful couple and the full force of the Weasley-Potter machine behind them. Victoire looked radiant, and Teddy had outdone himself for the occasion; he wore his characteristic sandy brown hair, but there was something different about him, as though he had grown imperceptibly taller in stature, his shoulders just a fraction broader, and his hazel eyes sparkling with happiness.

Afterwards, there was dancing, the tables and chairs pushed to the edge of the tent to create a large space in the centre. Teddy and Victoire had the first dance, swaying in each other's arms as though oblivious to the rest of the world. Soon others were joining in. Rose danced with Albus, and for a while she amused herself by deliberately stepping on his toes. After one song though he was claimed by a stunning Veela girl, and judging by the envious looks of some of the other girls, Rose doubted she would be seeing her cousin again anytime soon.

She could see Scorpius on the other side of the room, sitting at a table with his parents. He smirked when he saw her looking, and raised his glass in mock cheer. She rolled her eyes and was about to step out of the dance floor when someone else appeared at her elbow. A boy she didn't recognise.

"Hello," he said, giving her a somewhat arrogant smile. "My name is Jean."

She looked at him, trying to work out if she knew him or not. She couldn't remember ever seeing him at any family gatherings before. His accent was vaguely French, though not strong. She supposed he must be a distant relative of her Aunt Fleur. "I'm Rose."

"Yes, I know," he smirked. "Would you care to dance?"

She shrugged and gave him her hand. "Sure, why not?"

"Very good." He led her back onto the dance floor, his head held high in a slightly ridiculous manner. Unable to resist shooting another glance at Scorpius, she saw with a little squirm of satisfaction that he was no longer smiling. Instead he was frowning at her. Well, she thought smugly as she and Jean began to dance, it served him right.

"You dance very well," commented Jean, twirling her. "For an English girl."

She raised an eyebrow, not quite sure how to take this. He merely smirked and dipped her quite suddenly. Her heart thudded as she felt the ground rush toward her, and she clutched at his arm. His face was quite close to hers, and she felt a surge of discomfort.

"You look very beautiful tonight Rose," he said, lifting her slowly back to her feet.

She could feel the blood rush to her face, both from the abrupt movement and her embarrassment. "Thanks," she said a little shortly. His cocky smile was really beginning to get on her nerves.

"I mean it," he said, his brown eyes locking with hers. "You're breath-taking."

His flattery didn't feel half as good as Scorpius'. Rose shifted a little; she knew without looking that Scorpius was watching her. She could practically feel his scowl. "Thanks," she said again, automatically. "You look nice too."

The hand on her waist tightened slightly, pulling her a fraction closer. She coughed uncomfortably.

"Perhaps we could go outside for some fresh air?" he asked, and she felt herself tense.

"I don't think so."

He was far too close to her now, invading her personal space. "Just a little walk," he breathed. "You won't regret it."

She turned her head to the side in annoyance, trying to create a little distance between them. Her gaze snagged on Scorpius, and she resisted the urge to make a face. He must have read it in her expression, though, because he stood up abruptly and began pushing his way toward them.

By the time he reached them Rose was all but leaning backwards in an attempt to extricate herself from the situation. Scorpius came to a stop at her side and immediately took one of her hands, removing it from Jean's shoulders. Jean's eyes narrowed, and he didn't immediately release her. Instead he looked Scorpius up and down suspiciously.

"Can I help you?" he asked stiffly.

"I believe I'm owed the next dance," Scorpius intoned, gently pulling her in his direction. Beneath the politeness of his voice his eyes were ice cold.

"Our dance is not over yet," protested Jean. He frowned, looking first at Rose and then back at Scorpius. "I know you," he said at last in a slow voice. "You're the Malfoy boy."

"Oh well done," drawled Scorpius. "Your mother must be so proud."

"I – " Jean began, but Scorpius gave him his back.

"Dance, Rose?" he asked in monotone, putting one hand on her waist and dragging her toward him.

She went willingly, her gratefulness at being saved overriding her annoyance at his arrogance. "Thanks," she said when they were out of earshot. "There was no need to be rude about it, though."

He widened his eyes in mock innocence. "You think that was rude?"

She rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue from replying. In truth that Jean character had more than creeped her out, and she didn't care if she never saw him again. He was lost from sight at this point, and all thoughts of him vanished from her mind as the song started and they began to dance. It felt infinitely better, to be dancing with Scorpius. He was the perfect height for her to put her head on his shoulder, and for her arms to go around his neck. He smelt familiar and his chest just seemed to be inviting her to rest against it. Despite herself she leant into him, relishing the warmth and hardness of his body. He chuckled, and she felt the vibrations in his chest.

"What?"

"If looks could kill," he said in a tone half-serious, half-amused, "I'd be stone cold dead on the floor right now."

She raised her head, and saw that he was looking at something over her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw her father watching her, his eyes wide with shock and fury. He had his mouth open, as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"Uh-oh," she said, automatically creating distance between herself and Scorpius, as much as was possible in a dance at any rate. "That's probably not the best way to introduce him to our relationship."

"At least your father and my father will agree on one thing," Scorpius said, twirling her easily.

"And what's that?"

"Their disapproval," he said darkly.

She looked up at him. "They'll just have to get used to it. They all will."

This time his smile was genuine. "That's more like it." And he pulled her back against him, his head tilted towards her so she could feel the warmth of his breath. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the moment.