(APRIL 2021)

She'd been watching him all day. Not in a creepy way, of course, merely observing the way the blonde boy made his way in and around the family as they spent their day together. It was the Easter Bank Holiday Monday, and as had become tradition, the land behind The Burrow became the location for their annual Easter picnic. The Potters and Weasleys were all there, of course, but it also was the day in which all of the Weasley siblings, and their offspring, were welcomed to invite their friends. She smiled as she saw George sharing genuine hearty laughter with Angelina and Lee Jordan; as she saw Dean and Seamus whispering something in Ron's ear that made his eyes widen and him chug his drink; as she saw Luna rubbing suncream on the faces of her reluctant boys. But Hermione's eyes kept drifting back to the young Malfoy. He'd shot up since her last encounter with their daughter's friend, and was steadily growing into a handsome young man; Astoria's genes softening the harshness of those prominent Malfoy features. His hair was a warmer, sandier blonde than his father's platinum, always messily tousled. His jawline was sharp, but the dimples when he smiled made him seem much more approachable. And most fascinating to Hermione on this day was his silvery grey-blue eyes, which seemed to gravitate towards her daughter Rose, no matter where she was in the crowd.

After her husband's seemingly out of the blue comment two years ago, she had been looking for the signs that Ron had seen, trying to work out whether there was something valid in the claim that Scorpius liked their daughter as more than a friend. Today, based on her observations, she could see that Ron was absolutely right – Scorpius Malfoy was utterly besotted. Rose's presence made his entire demeanour light up, and every time Rose would flirt with her boyfriend Ryan Thomas, she could see the subtle clench of his jealous jaw. As for Rose's part, she clearly held a deep affection for the boy; the gentle way her hand would brush his arm when she had a spontaneous thought, the internal language of the theirs spoken only through their eyes (much to the annoyance of their other friends), the way they would stand just too close for comfort. However, Rose Weasley was utterly oblivious to her friend's steadily growing attraction to her. From what Hermione knew of her daughter though, she imagined that Malfoy's eventual confession would come as an unexpected but deeply welcome surprise, rather than a horrific one, or so she hoped. She had a feeling they would find out sooner rather than later…

Hermione told her husband as much as they sat beside each other reading in bed that night (her, some book on Werewolf rights, him, the biography of the Chudley Canons Keeper).

His surprise at her remark was tangible, noted by the way in which his book fell into his lap and his eyes widened.

"What? What do you mean you think 'it' will be soon?"

Hermione shrugged, as she too put her book down, pausing to put a bookmark in. "I just have a feeling that he's going to cave soon, and it'll all come out."

"How soon we talking?"

"Well… as soon as Ryan is out of the picture I imagine, if the way he's been acting over the holidays is any indication."

Ron paused for a moment, before letting out a deep sigh. "Well, shit. I had my money on sixth year."

He let it hang in the air for a moment before seemingly coming to a resolution. "Well, if Malfoy knows what's good for him, he's either got to do it before September or after Christmas."

Hermione's eyebrows creased before turning to look at Ron, a questioning look in her eye.

"Who's money is on early fifth year?"

Ron crossed his arms as he grumbled his response. "George… and if he wins I'm never living it down; it's bad enough having to cough up galleons on my daughter snogging a Malfoy, but if I have to cough it up to bloody George, I'll be fuming."

"Well who's got Spring term?"

"Ginny…"

"Well that's only marginally better than George… what about late fourth year?"

"Jamie's got that one – I know what you're thinking, he's Harry and Gin's kid, he's also not much better, but at least he has to have a marginal level of respect for me as my nephew!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, before swatting Ron with her book.

"You're ridiculous, Ronald, none of you should be making bets on our daughter's love life in the first place. Rose has full agency, and all of you should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Come now, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes right back at his wife. "If you got over your pride you could have had in on this bet, and you would be feeling probably the same smug satisfaction you did when you punched Draco right in his stupid face."

Hermione fought it but couldn't resist the smile that twitched from her lips. "Ron, we can't say things like that anymore, not now that Scorpius and Rose might actually happen."

Ron returned to his book, shaking away the reminder that his prediction was closer to coming true. He then found himself laughing at a completely unrelated thought.

"Hey, 'Mione, do you reckon Harry has given Scorpius the talk on how to deal with the love of your life dating a Thomas boy?"

"Well… you do know how much he loves to give a speech."

"Also," he sat up as the memory flooded back to him, "Do you remember when we thought that Harry fancied Malfoy? In sixth year? That was a time."

Hermione blushed at the reminder of her and Ron's few civil conversations that year, worriedly discussing their friend's obsession with Malfoy, and whether they needed to start slipping in subtle hints that they would be okay with him exploring his sexuality, as long as it wasn't with Draco.

"Well I think that Rose and Scorpius will be a much more compatible pairing than Harry and Draco," she laughed, Ron cracking up beside her.

"I swear, if George wins that money..." Ron whispered to nobody in particular as he fell asleep that night."


This is the last chapter set before Rose and Scorpius are together so I hope you enjoyed these two in the build-up! I love late night Romione conversations a lot, it turns out.

Also, this chapter takes places just a couple of weeks before Chapter 10 of my one-shot series 'When The Apple Falls Far From the Tree', if you want to know what happens next from Scorpius' perspective... (and also see whether James, George, or Ginny is gonna win that money!) -bg.97 xo