The Plan (PG-13)
Title: The Plan
Author: mollywheezy
Prompt : 054. A Malfoy family heirloom - Goblin made gold ring with a large emerald
Summary: Scorpius and Rose want to be together always, and they have a plan so that their parents will at least pretend to be happy about it.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~3900
A/N: Thank you to my beta who had the fastest turnaround ever!
Scorpius wandered through the Butterflies of the World Museum in San Miguel near Buenos Aires. So desperate for time alone, he had decided to visit a Muggle museum devoted to dead bugs. He had just survived (again) the "what career will you pursue" conversation his dad had instigated in every country they had visited. And Scorpius still didn't know. He had good marks, he was a Prefect, he enjoyed his classes, but he wasn't sure what he wanted for a career. The only thing he knew he wanted was Rose Weasley, but that wasn't what his dad wanted to hear.
Scorpius had been friends with Rose since first year, fancied her since third, fallen in love with her in fifth, and finally asked her to go out with him in sixth. Now he knew he wanted to marry her. He couldn't imagine not having Rose in his life. He would do anything for a job if he could have Rose to come home to.
The problem was he couldn't ask his dad for advice like he always had before. Scorpius overheard a conversation between his parents in which his mum said, "Don't worry, Draco. Let Scorpius have fun with Rose. They can't possibly be serious. After all, who marries the first person they go out with? We didn't." Asking either of his parents for help was out of the question.
Asking Mr Weasley for Rose's hand in marriage was absolutely out of the question. Scorpius had been raised to do everything in the proper way, and he had always known when he fell in love, he would ask the girl's father for her hand in marriage. That was the way things were supposed to be. However, Mr Ronald Weasley did not like Scorpius. He had been very cool towards him when he and Rose first became friends. He warmed up significantly when he learned Scorpius shared his passion for the Chudley Cannons, something very few people shared. All camaraderie gained from jointly following the Chudley Cannons was lost when Mr Weasley caught Scorpius snogging Rose. Ever since then, Scorpius was the frequent recipient of the "I-Helped-Kill-Voldemort-and-I-Will-Squash-You-Like-a-Bug" Stare. Maybe if Scorpius played Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons, Mr Weasley would like him again? Or at least not want to kill him? Scorpius doubted it, and sighed.
~*~
Rose reclined on her towel under the beach umbrella, pretending to be asleep. She'd prefer to get a tan, but knew if she pretended to be asleep in the sun, her mum would immediately wake her up so she wouldn't burn. Then she'd start the "what do you want to do with your life" conversation they'd already had a plethora of times. Since she couldn't deal with more of her mum's fussing, Rose chose solitude over sun. Pretending to be asleep wouldn't actually fool her parents, particularly her dad who could always tell when she was feigning sleep, but it should at least scare away Hugo and her cousins. Her parents had the bloody brilliant idea of "the last family holiday before she finished school" and had invited everyone. At least everyone in the family. Scorpius had not been invited in spite of Rose's begging. He was what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to become Mrs Scorpius Malfoy. Of course, that would give her dad an apoplexy, which she didn't want. He'd almost had an apoplexy anyway when he'd found her parchment where she was practicing her new (hopefully) signature. She was pretty sure her dad's almost-apoplexy had caused this bloody holiday. Every one of her relatives had been there for at least some of the time and all had discussed career options with her. Uncle George was the only one who seemed to be on her side. And on Scorpius' side, too, surprisingly. Or maybe it wasn't a surprise. Uncle George always had liked doing whatever would most stir the cauldron. That wasn't really fair to say Uncle George was the only one. Molly had always been on her side, too. She and her live-in boyfriend (That drove Uncle Percy up the wall!) had come for a long weekend which was pretty much the only fun weekend of her extremely long summer without Scorpius. She wrote him every day, and he wrote her, but it wasn't the same.
~*~
Scorpius leaned against his bedroom door, thankful to finally be back in his own room, at least for one night. Two months alone with his parents was two months too many. And he hadn't seen Rose since his seventeenth birthday the day before they left for "the last family holiday before he finished school." Of course, Rose had been on holiday with her parents for the entire summer, too. It was almost as if their parents had plotted to keep them apart, except that Scorpius couldn't imagine his dad and Mr Weasley agreeing on anything. They managed to be civil to each other. Barely. After several shots of Ogden's and threatening glares from his mum and Mrs Weasley. But plotting together? Maybe they just had more similar ways of thinking than either of them wanted to admit. It didn't matter. Scorpius had a plan-he would propose to Rose, and both sets of parents would have no choice other than being thrilled.
The next morning, Scorpius awoke at dawn, washed and dressed and finished the last of his packing. He would just have time to grab a sandwich to take with him for breakfast on the way to implement Phase I of The Plan.
When Scorpius arrived in the kitchen, he was shocked to find both of his parents at the table drinking tea. His mum, especially, was never up this early.
"Scorpius!" His mum enthused, getting up to kiss him on the cheek. Scorpius perfunctorily returned her kiss and greeted his dad.
"I thought I would just take some toast with me and get to the station early."
"Nonsense! You have plenty of time for a proper breakfast with us before you go."
"The letter from our Head Girl and Head Boy asked all of the Prefects to be early to set a good example."
Draco gave his son an astute look. "The letter asked Prefects to arrive at ten, not seven, Scorpius."
Resigned, Scorpius sat down with his parents to eat. He would be cutting it very fine to pull off The Plan and still make it to King's Cross on time.
~*~
Rose flopped onto her bed, so thankful to have at least one night in her own room. She pulled out Scorpius' last letter to her, unfolding the creased parchment to read the words for the umpteenth time.
Rosie,
I have . . . [there were several scratched out things that Rose could not read] . . . errands to run tomorrow before going to King's Cross. I will probably arrive just when the Heads want all of the Prefects to be there. Please save a compartment for us. I am looking forward to spending time alone with you. I've missed you.
Love,
Scorpius
The letter had arrived the previous day and Rose had reread it so many times that the writing was starting to fade in the places where the parchment had been folded and refolded. Scorpius wanted to be alone with her. Maybe he finally wanted to move their physical relationship to the next level . . . Maybe not. They hadn't seen each other in two months. Scorpius had always kept their physical relationship to just snogging, so saying he wanted them to be alone, probably meant he wanted to make up for lost snogging time. Rose wanted more, but so many people had already caught them "just snogging" that the concept of "more" was looking like it would never happen. At least she would be in the same country, and even room, with Scorpius again.
The next morning, Rose nagged and badgered and cajoled to get her family to hurry up and get to the station. Hugo was particularly slow. With much effort, Rose did actually manage to arrive at King's Cross at quarter to ten. She ran to the absolute last compartment on the train, stowed her trunk, and spread a book, a sweater, a satchel, a lunch box, a stray shoe, and a hat to cover all of the seats, making them look like they were taken. Then she left the compartment and began to "nonchalantly" wander around looking for Scorpius.
Rose watched as all the other Prefects showed up, and greeted them. She talked to the new and very excited Head Girl, Augusta Longbottom. Rose was determined to call her friend "Augusta" as she insisted on being known now she was Head Girl. She helped several first years get their trunks stowed properly and find compartments. Scorpius had yet to make an appearance. Even when all of the Prefects were called together for their meeting and the Hogwarts Express began to leave the station, Rose had not seen Scorpius. The Head Boy, Brian Fraser, was calling the roll for all of the Prefects beginning with Gryffindor, then Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and finally Slytherin. As Scorpius' name was called, he hurried through the door, pale faced and sweaty, to wheeze, "Present!" Rose examined Scorpius with concern as he struggled to collect his breath. She supposed she would hear soon enough what he had been doing that made him so uncharacteristically tardy.
~*~
As quickly as she could manage it after the meeting, Rose dragged Scorpius into the compartment she had saved. She asked, "Scorpius, what were you d-" but was cut off when he kissed her.
Rose had come home. She felt warm and safe with Scorpius' arms around her and his mouth against hers. She responded with enthusiasm to his kiss, and settled in for a lovely, very-overdue snog.
At least it was lovely until the compartment door against which she was leaning slid open. If not for Scorpius' tight hold on her, Rose would have landed on her arse in the corridor.
"Hey, Scorpius! I haven't seen you all summer, mate!" Al Potter barged his way into the compartment.
Rose responded angrily, "I saw you yesterday, Al! Go away!"
Keeping one arm around Rose, Scorpius shook Al's hand with the other. "Good to see you, Al. Now why don't you go find your girlfriend?"
"She's too busy Head-Girling."
"Then listen to your cousin. Rose and I would like to be alone."
Al was pulled up short, but nodded and left, without another word. Rose felt flutters of happiness in her stomach at Scorpius' words. He had never kicked out any of their friends before, and especially not Al.
Scorpius sat down, pulling Rose onto his lap and they continued where they had left off. After barely a minute, though, the compartment door opened again.
Hugo exclaimed, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you two!" He flopped onto the seat across from Rose and Scorpius, seemingly unbothered by sitting on Rose's carefully placed random shoe.
Rose glared at her brother, but he just grinned back.
Scorpius said, "Whatever your dad is paying you to interrupt us, I'll double it. Triple if you keep everyone else out of here."
Hugo pondered for a moment and held out his hand as if to receive money. "OK."
Scorpius glanced at Hugo's extended hand. "You will receive payment after we arrive at Hogwarts."
Hugo nodded and left. Rose began to giggle. "How did you know? I've suspected Dad was paying off Hugo, but . . ."
"I didn't know. I guessed, and fortunately I was right. Now where were we?"
~*~
A significant amount of time later found Rose and Scorpius curled up together on the bench of their private compartment, still fully dressed but pleasantly rumpled and sharing one of the butterbeers that Rose smuggled on board. There had been no further interruptions, so apparently Hugo was doing his job.
Rose took a large swig of butterbeer and handed the bottle to Scorpius for his turn. "So where were you this morning?"
Scorpius swallowed heavily and stared at Rose with his mouth open for a moment. He took another large gulp of butterbeer, swallowed, took a deep breath, and said, "I needed to go to Gringotts."
"I thought your parents had the money and everything else you would need for school owled to you?"
"They did. I needed a trip to Gringotts my parents didn't know about. They wanted me to eat breakfast with them this morning which is why I was running late." Scorpius took another deep breath, and rummaged through his satchel for a moment, pulling out a small black box. He opened the box, displaying it for Rose.
Rose gasped at the beautiful emerald ring on its bed of black satin. The band was a mass of delicate curlicues and spirals that made the emerald appear to be resting on solidified wind. Rose wasn't sure of the type of metal. Silver? Platinum? She looked into Scorpius' eyes again.
"Rose, I love you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" Rose shrieked, and kissed Scorpius.
Scorpius pulled away shortly with a huge grin on his face as he slipped the ring onto Rose's finger.
"How did you know the size . . ."
"The Goblins charmed the ring to fit whoever wears it. On my seventeenth birthday my dad took me to Gringotts to add me to the Malfoy family vault in addition to my own. He showed me the various family heirlooms, and when I saw this ring, the white gold swirls of the band reminded me of the highlights on the curls in your hair, but if you want something different, there are others . . . There's a nice platinum setting with a diamond, but this one made me think of you."
"I don't want anything different. I love it. I love you. So your parents don't know you were going to propose?"
"Nobody knew I was going to propose. I haven't talked to any friends. I, er, also didn't ask for your father's permission . . ."
Rose snorted. "He's paying Hugo to keep us from being alone together. I'm pretty sure he would have said no."
"That's what I thought, too, but I was always raised that I was supposed to ask, and I want your dad to like me."
"I want your parents to like me, too, but if our parents won't be happy for us we'll still be happy together. If nothing else, Uncle George likes you." Scorpius laughed. "We'll think of something. Let's worry about our families later."
"Good idea. Right now, we'll just enjoy our day together. I'll run it by you later, but I think I already have a plan anyway . . ."
~*~
Rose knew The Plan, but she was still nervous. She and Scorpius had been secretly plotting for months, and tonight was the night. The Plan would come to fruition at the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Defeat of Voldemort Ball.
As a symbol of the new enlightenment of Wizardkind, the Ball would be held at a fancy Muggle Hotel-very few people knew which one, just in case. Everyone who responded that they would attend had been sent a portkey. Rose's entire family, all aunts, uncles, both sets of grandparents, had reserved suites and were spending the weekend for a family celebration following the main event. Of course, nobody other than Uncle George knew they would have Rose and Scorpius' engagement to celebrate. At least she hoped they would celebrate.
Rose had kept her ring charmed so that only she and Scorpius could see it. She wanted very badly to tell all of her friends and family Scorpius had proposed, and she thought a few might suspect something was afoot, but given the circumstances, she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings that she hadn't told them. If she couldn't tell her parents first, then nobody else should know either. Uncle George was an exception. As one of the evening's Masters (and Mistresses, Rose was pleased to add) of Ceremony, Uncle George played an integral part in the implementation of The Plan. She glanced in the mirror one last time, took a deep breath, and left her room to join her family.
~*~
Scorpius knew The Plan, but he was still nervous. How had he ever thought of such a hare-brained scheme? It must be Rose's influence on him over the years. Devising hare-brained schemes was her strength. The thought of Rose made Scorpius smile. The Plan would succeed, Rose would be his, and their families would have no choice but to at least pretend they were happy. As long as Rose's dad didn't figure out a way to kill him without leaving any evidence. At least Uncle George was helping them. With one last look in the mirror, and a minor adjustment to the lapels of his tuxedo, Scorpius took a deep breath and left his room to go meet Rose in the hotel's lobby.
~*~
They had mingled with all of their family and friends over cocktails, had eaten dinner, which was delicious, and listened to several speeches which were thankfully brief. Uncle Harry was speaking now, and the moment for The Plan had almost arrived. Rose squeezed Scorpius' knee under the table. He replied by putting his hand over hers and squeezing back. Carefully, so the movement would not be noticed, especially by both sets of parents who were at the table with them, Rose slid off her ring and placed it in Scorpius' hand. He fumbled for a moment with the box in his pocket, but managed to get the ring back into it. Rose's finger felt naked without her engagement ring, and she hadn't heard a word Uncle Harry said. She knew he wouldn't be talking for long, and she was becoming more nervous by the second.
~*~
Mr Potter finished his speech to thunderous applause. Scorpius wondered if everyone applauded because it was short or because it was good. He hadn't heard a word. Rose held his hand tightly under the table. Scorpius took a deep breath as Mr-er, Uncle George, stepped to the podium.
"This concludes the official program, but before we start dancing, there's a bit of an unofficial program." The audience tittered appreciatively. "Don't glare at me, Angie. You knew I couldn't possibly let the evening pass without improvising a bit." The audience laughed harder. Even Scorpius managed a chuckle. "We have a young man with a couple of very important questions to ask. I present to you, Mr Scorpius Malfoy!" The audience clapped politely, many sending curious looks in Scorpius' direction. His dad had a resigned expression on his face, and Mr Weasley was glaring at him menacingly. At least Mrs Weasley and Mrs Potter looked encouraging.
Scorpius passed Mr Potter, who squeezed his shoulder briefly. Good, maybe he had another ally? Scorpius didn't have far to get to the podium and arrived quickly. Uncle George patted him on the back as he stepped to the side.
"Good evening." There were a few muttered "good evenings" in response. Scorpius took another deep breath. "You may be wondering what I'm doing up here." Scorpius' voice cracked on the last word and he blushed. Uncle George handed him a glass of water, which he guzzled. Scorpius really wished it was Firewhisky, or anything alcoholic, but he was thankful for Uncle George's support. "Hopefully, in a few minutes, I will be the happiest wizard in the world, and I wanted to share that with all of you. Mr Weasley-" at least six people said, "Yes?"
Uncle George chuckled and said, "You'll have to be more specific, mate."
Scorpius chuckled weakly, and looked at Rose's dad, who was still glaring at him. "Mr Ronald Weasley, Sir. I would like to request the honor of your daughter's hand in marriage."
There was a very long pause while Mr Weasley continued to glare. After what felt like forever, Scorpius was starting to sweat, and he could hear the beginning of uncomfortable rustling in the crowd. Finally, Mr Weasley jumped in his seat, glared at his wife, looked sullenly at Scorpius and reluctantly nodded once. Scorpius was certain Mrs Weasley had kicked him under the table. Scorpius took the microphone from the podium, with Uncle George's help to detach it properly, and walked back to the table where he knelt in front of Rose. "Rose, I love you. I've probably loved you since I met you, but it took me a bit to realize. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"
Rose yelled, "Yes!" and hugged Scorpius tightly. As the audience erupted into cheers and applause, Scorpius removed the ring box and again put Rose's engagement ring onto her finger. This time, she was able to show her mum, who exclaimed over it and hugged both of them, offering her congratulations.
Cameras began flashing all over the audience. Mr Weasley hugged both of them at once, his head between theirs and hissed, "I know perfectly well you were in on this stunt, Rose, and we will talk about it later. Scorpius, I won't kill you because I can't bear the thought of one less Cannons' fan in the world, but I am most definitely not happy with you." Keeping Scorpius in what felt more like a neck-lock than a hug, he kissed Rose on the head, and released them, giving what Rose called his "Auror face" to the reporters who had popped up from out of nowhere
Scorpius' parents took turns hugging him and Rose. His dad shook Mr Weasley's hand, and their mothers hugged. Scorpius saw Mr Potter and Uncle George leaning on each other laughing. Mr Weasley muttered to Mrs Weasley under his breath, "Forget killing the kid. I'll just kill my brother and my best mate." Mrs Weasley slapped his arm.
Before anyone other than their parents could congratulate them, Mr Potter had the microphone in his hand. "If I may have your attention for just another minute . . ." Everyone became quiet. It was such a rare occurrence for Harry Potter to actually want to say something publicly. "If I had been in on this earlier," Mr Potter glared at Uncle George, who shrugged causing everyone to snigger," I could have saved everyone from hearing my boring speech." The audience laughed. "A quarter of a century ago, the Weasley and Malfoy families were initially on different sides of the war. They have since built bridges and become friends. Today, thanks to Rose and Scorpius, the Weasleys and the Malfoys are united in love. This is what we fought for. This is why Voldemort lost. Let us raise our glasses to my niece, Rose, and my soon-to-be-nephew, Scorpius. To Rose and Scorpius!"
The audience echoed, "To Rose and Scorpius!"
Rose whispered in Scorpius' ear, "With Uncle Harry on our side, Dad will come around soon. The Plan worked. Don't worry."
Scorpius whispered back, "I'm too happy to worry." And he kissed her, hearing the cheers of the audience and the catcalls of their cousins in the background.
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Author: mollywheezy
Prompt : 054. A Malfoy family heirloom - Goblin made gold ring with a large emerald
Summary: Scorpius and Rose want to be together always, and they have a plan so that their parents will at least pretend to be happy about it.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~3900
A/N: Thank you to my beta who had the fastest turnaround ever!
Scorpius wandered through the Butterflies of the World Museum in San Miguel near Buenos Aires. So desperate for time alone, he had decided to visit a Muggle museum devoted to dead bugs. He had just survived (again) the "what career will you pursue" conversation his dad had instigated in every country they had visited. And Scorpius still didn't know. He had good marks, he was a Prefect, he enjoyed his classes, but he wasn't sure what he wanted for a career. The only thing he knew he wanted was Rose Weasley, but that wasn't what his dad wanted to hear.
Scorpius had been friends with Rose since first year, fancied her since third, fallen in love with her in fifth, and finally asked her to go out with him in sixth. Now he knew he wanted to marry her. He couldn't imagine not having Rose in his life. He would do anything for a job if he could have Rose to come home to.
The problem was he couldn't ask his dad for advice like he always had before. Scorpius overheard a conversation between his parents in which his mum said, "Don't worry, Draco. Let Scorpius have fun with Rose. They can't possibly be serious. After all, who marries the first person they go out with? We didn't." Asking either of his parents for help was out of the question.
Asking Mr Weasley for Rose's hand in marriage was absolutely out of the question. Scorpius had been raised to do everything in the proper way, and he had always known when he fell in love, he would ask the girl's father for her hand in marriage. That was the way things were supposed to be. However, Mr Ronald Weasley did not like Scorpius. He had been very cool towards him when he and Rose first became friends. He warmed up significantly when he learned Scorpius shared his passion for the Chudley Cannons, something very few people shared. All camaraderie gained from jointly following the Chudley Cannons was lost when Mr Weasley caught Scorpius snogging Rose. Ever since then, Scorpius was the frequent recipient of the "I-Helped-Kill-Voldemort-and-I-Will-Squash-You-Like-a-Bug" Stare. Maybe if Scorpius played Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons, Mr Weasley would like him again? Or at least not want to kill him? Scorpius doubted it, and sighed.
~*~
Rose reclined on her towel under the beach umbrella, pretending to be asleep. She'd prefer to get a tan, but knew if she pretended to be asleep in the sun, her mum would immediately wake her up so she wouldn't burn. Then she'd start the "what do you want to do with your life" conversation they'd already had a plethora of times. Since she couldn't deal with more of her mum's fussing, Rose chose solitude over sun. Pretending to be asleep wouldn't actually fool her parents, particularly her dad who could always tell when she was feigning sleep, but it should at least scare away Hugo and her cousins. Her parents had the bloody brilliant idea of "the last family holiday before she finished school" and had invited everyone. At least everyone in the family. Scorpius had not been invited in spite of Rose's begging. He was what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to become Mrs Scorpius Malfoy. Of course, that would give her dad an apoplexy, which she didn't want. He'd almost had an apoplexy anyway when he'd found her parchment where she was practicing her new (hopefully) signature. She was pretty sure her dad's almost-apoplexy had caused this bloody holiday. Every one of her relatives had been there for at least some of the time and all had discussed career options with her. Uncle George was the only one who seemed to be on her side. And on Scorpius' side, too, surprisingly. Or maybe it wasn't a surprise. Uncle George always had liked doing whatever would most stir the cauldron. That wasn't really fair to say Uncle George was the only one. Molly had always been on her side, too. She and her live-in boyfriend (That drove Uncle Percy up the wall!) had come for a long weekend which was pretty much the only fun weekend of her extremely long summer without Scorpius. She wrote him every day, and he wrote her, but it wasn't the same.
~*~
Scorpius leaned against his bedroom door, thankful to finally be back in his own room, at least for one night. Two months alone with his parents was two months too many. And he hadn't seen Rose since his seventeenth birthday the day before they left for "the last family holiday before he finished school." Of course, Rose had been on holiday with her parents for the entire summer, too. It was almost as if their parents had plotted to keep them apart, except that Scorpius couldn't imagine his dad and Mr Weasley agreeing on anything. They managed to be civil to each other. Barely. After several shots of Ogden's and threatening glares from his mum and Mrs Weasley. But plotting together? Maybe they just had more similar ways of thinking than either of them wanted to admit. It didn't matter. Scorpius had a plan-he would propose to Rose, and both sets of parents would have no choice other than being thrilled.
The next morning, Scorpius awoke at dawn, washed and dressed and finished the last of his packing. He would just have time to grab a sandwich to take with him for breakfast on the way to implement Phase I of The Plan.
When Scorpius arrived in the kitchen, he was shocked to find both of his parents at the table drinking tea. His mum, especially, was never up this early.
"Scorpius!" His mum enthused, getting up to kiss him on the cheek. Scorpius perfunctorily returned her kiss and greeted his dad.
"I thought I would just take some toast with me and get to the station early."
"Nonsense! You have plenty of time for a proper breakfast with us before you go."
"The letter from our Head Girl and Head Boy asked all of the Prefects to be early to set a good example."
Draco gave his son an astute look. "The letter asked Prefects to arrive at ten, not seven, Scorpius."
Resigned, Scorpius sat down with his parents to eat. He would be cutting it very fine to pull off The Plan and still make it to King's Cross on time.
~*~
Rose flopped onto her bed, so thankful to have at least one night in her own room. She pulled out Scorpius' last letter to her, unfolding the creased parchment to read the words for the umpteenth time.
Rosie,
I have . . . [there were several scratched out things that Rose could not read] . . . errands to run tomorrow before going to King's Cross. I will probably arrive just when the Heads want all of the Prefects to be there. Please save a compartment for us. I am looking forward to spending time alone with you. I've missed you.
Love,
Scorpius
The letter had arrived the previous day and Rose had reread it so many times that the writing was starting to fade in the places where the parchment had been folded and refolded. Scorpius wanted to be alone with her. Maybe he finally wanted to move their physical relationship to the next level . . . Maybe not. They hadn't seen each other in two months. Scorpius had always kept their physical relationship to just snogging, so saying he wanted them to be alone, probably meant he wanted to make up for lost snogging time. Rose wanted more, but so many people had already caught them "just snogging" that the concept of "more" was looking like it would never happen. At least she would be in the same country, and even room, with Scorpius again.
The next morning, Rose nagged and badgered and cajoled to get her family to hurry up and get to the station. Hugo was particularly slow. With much effort, Rose did actually manage to arrive at King's Cross at quarter to ten. She ran to the absolute last compartment on the train, stowed her trunk, and spread a book, a sweater, a satchel, a lunch box, a stray shoe, and a hat to cover all of the seats, making them look like they were taken. Then she left the compartment and began to "nonchalantly" wander around looking for Scorpius.
Rose watched as all the other Prefects showed up, and greeted them. She talked to the new and very excited Head Girl, Augusta Longbottom. Rose was determined to call her friend "Augusta" as she insisted on being known now she was Head Girl. She helped several first years get their trunks stowed properly and find compartments. Scorpius had yet to make an appearance. Even when all of the Prefects were called together for their meeting and the Hogwarts Express began to leave the station, Rose had not seen Scorpius. The Head Boy, Brian Fraser, was calling the roll for all of the Prefects beginning with Gryffindor, then Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and finally Slytherin. As Scorpius' name was called, he hurried through the door, pale faced and sweaty, to wheeze, "Present!" Rose examined Scorpius with concern as he struggled to collect his breath. She supposed she would hear soon enough what he had been doing that made him so uncharacteristically tardy.
~*~
As quickly as she could manage it after the meeting, Rose dragged Scorpius into the compartment she had saved. She asked, "Scorpius, what were you d-" but was cut off when he kissed her.
Rose had come home. She felt warm and safe with Scorpius' arms around her and his mouth against hers. She responded with enthusiasm to his kiss, and settled in for a lovely, very-overdue snog.
At least it was lovely until the compartment door against which she was leaning slid open. If not for Scorpius' tight hold on her, Rose would have landed on her arse in the corridor.
"Hey, Scorpius! I haven't seen you all summer, mate!" Al Potter barged his way into the compartment.
Rose responded angrily, "I saw you yesterday, Al! Go away!"
Keeping one arm around Rose, Scorpius shook Al's hand with the other. "Good to see you, Al. Now why don't you go find your girlfriend?"
"She's too busy Head-Girling."
"Then listen to your cousin. Rose and I would like to be alone."
Al was pulled up short, but nodded and left, without another word. Rose felt flutters of happiness in her stomach at Scorpius' words. He had never kicked out any of their friends before, and especially not Al.
Scorpius sat down, pulling Rose onto his lap and they continued where they had left off. After barely a minute, though, the compartment door opened again.
Hugo exclaimed, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you two!" He flopped onto the seat across from Rose and Scorpius, seemingly unbothered by sitting on Rose's carefully placed random shoe.
Rose glared at her brother, but he just grinned back.
Scorpius said, "Whatever your dad is paying you to interrupt us, I'll double it. Triple if you keep everyone else out of here."
Hugo pondered for a moment and held out his hand as if to receive money. "OK."
Scorpius glanced at Hugo's extended hand. "You will receive payment after we arrive at Hogwarts."
Hugo nodded and left. Rose began to giggle. "How did you know? I've suspected Dad was paying off Hugo, but . . ."
"I didn't know. I guessed, and fortunately I was right. Now where were we?"
~*~
A significant amount of time later found Rose and Scorpius curled up together on the bench of their private compartment, still fully dressed but pleasantly rumpled and sharing one of the butterbeers that Rose smuggled on board. There had been no further interruptions, so apparently Hugo was doing his job.
Rose took a large swig of butterbeer and handed the bottle to Scorpius for his turn. "So where were you this morning?"
Scorpius swallowed heavily and stared at Rose with his mouth open for a moment. He took another large gulp of butterbeer, swallowed, took a deep breath, and said, "I needed to go to Gringotts."
"I thought your parents had the money and everything else you would need for school owled to you?"
"They did. I needed a trip to Gringotts my parents didn't know about. They wanted me to eat breakfast with them this morning which is why I was running late." Scorpius took another deep breath, and rummaged through his satchel for a moment, pulling out a small black box. He opened the box, displaying it for Rose.
Rose gasped at the beautiful emerald ring on its bed of black satin. The band was a mass of delicate curlicues and spirals that made the emerald appear to be resting on solidified wind. Rose wasn't sure of the type of metal. Silver? Platinum? She looked into Scorpius' eyes again.
"Rose, I love you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" Rose shrieked, and kissed Scorpius.
Scorpius pulled away shortly with a huge grin on his face as he slipped the ring onto Rose's finger.
"How did you know the size . . ."
"The Goblins charmed the ring to fit whoever wears it. On my seventeenth birthday my dad took me to Gringotts to add me to the Malfoy family vault in addition to my own. He showed me the various family heirlooms, and when I saw this ring, the white gold swirls of the band reminded me of the highlights on the curls in your hair, but if you want something different, there are others . . . There's a nice platinum setting with a diamond, but this one made me think of you."
"I don't want anything different. I love it. I love you. So your parents don't know you were going to propose?"
"Nobody knew I was going to propose. I haven't talked to any friends. I, er, also didn't ask for your father's permission . . ."
Rose snorted. "He's paying Hugo to keep us from being alone together. I'm pretty sure he would have said no."
"That's what I thought, too, but I was always raised that I was supposed to ask, and I want your dad to like me."
"I want your parents to like me, too, but if our parents won't be happy for us we'll still be happy together. If nothing else, Uncle George likes you." Scorpius laughed. "We'll think of something. Let's worry about our families later."
"Good idea. Right now, we'll just enjoy our day together. I'll run it by you later, but I think I already have a plan anyway . . ."
~*~
Rose knew The Plan, but she was still nervous. She and Scorpius had been secretly plotting for months, and tonight was the night. The Plan would come to fruition at the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Defeat of Voldemort Ball.
As a symbol of the new enlightenment of Wizardkind, the Ball would be held at a fancy Muggle Hotel-very few people knew which one, just in case. Everyone who responded that they would attend had been sent a portkey. Rose's entire family, all aunts, uncles, both sets of grandparents, had reserved suites and were spending the weekend for a family celebration following the main event. Of course, nobody other than Uncle George knew they would have Rose and Scorpius' engagement to celebrate. At least she hoped they would celebrate.
Rose had kept her ring charmed so that only she and Scorpius could see it. She wanted very badly to tell all of her friends and family Scorpius had proposed, and she thought a few might suspect something was afoot, but given the circumstances, she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings that she hadn't told them. If she couldn't tell her parents first, then nobody else should know either. Uncle George was an exception. As one of the evening's Masters (and Mistresses, Rose was pleased to add) of Ceremony, Uncle George played an integral part in the implementation of The Plan. She glanced in the mirror one last time, took a deep breath, and left her room to join her family.
~*~
Scorpius knew The Plan, but he was still nervous. How had he ever thought of such a hare-brained scheme? It must be Rose's influence on him over the years. Devising hare-brained schemes was her strength. The thought of Rose made Scorpius smile. The Plan would succeed, Rose would be his, and their families would have no choice but to at least pretend they were happy. As long as Rose's dad didn't figure out a way to kill him without leaving any evidence. At least Uncle George was helping them. With one last look in the mirror, and a minor adjustment to the lapels of his tuxedo, Scorpius took a deep breath and left his room to go meet Rose in the hotel's lobby.
~*~
They had mingled with all of their family and friends over cocktails, had eaten dinner, which was delicious, and listened to several speeches which were thankfully brief. Uncle Harry was speaking now, and the moment for The Plan had almost arrived. Rose squeezed Scorpius' knee under the table. He replied by putting his hand over hers and squeezing back. Carefully, so the movement would not be noticed, especially by both sets of parents who were at the table with them, Rose slid off her ring and placed it in Scorpius' hand. He fumbled for a moment with the box in his pocket, but managed to get the ring back into it. Rose's finger felt naked without her engagement ring, and she hadn't heard a word Uncle Harry said. She knew he wouldn't be talking for long, and she was becoming more nervous by the second.
~*~
Mr Potter finished his speech to thunderous applause. Scorpius wondered if everyone applauded because it was short or because it was good. He hadn't heard a word. Rose held his hand tightly under the table. Scorpius took a deep breath as Mr-er, Uncle George, stepped to the podium.
"This concludes the official program, but before we start dancing, there's a bit of an unofficial program." The audience tittered appreciatively. "Don't glare at me, Angie. You knew I couldn't possibly let the evening pass without improvising a bit." The audience laughed harder. Even Scorpius managed a chuckle. "We have a young man with a couple of very important questions to ask. I present to you, Mr Scorpius Malfoy!" The audience clapped politely, many sending curious looks in Scorpius' direction. His dad had a resigned expression on his face, and Mr Weasley was glaring at him menacingly. At least Mrs Weasley and Mrs Potter looked encouraging.
Scorpius passed Mr Potter, who squeezed his shoulder briefly. Good, maybe he had another ally? Scorpius didn't have far to get to the podium and arrived quickly. Uncle George patted him on the back as he stepped to the side.
"Good evening." There were a few muttered "good evenings" in response. Scorpius took another deep breath. "You may be wondering what I'm doing up here." Scorpius' voice cracked on the last word and he blushed. Uncle George handed him a glass of water, which he guzzled. Scorpius really wished it was Firewhisky, or anything alcoholic, but he was thankful for Uncle George's support. "Hopefully, in a few minutes, I will be the happiest wizard in the world, and I wanted to share that with all of you. Mr Weasley-" at least six people said, "Yes?"
Uncle George chuckled and said, "You'll have to be more specific, mate."
Scorpius chuckled weakly, and looked at Rose's dad, who was still glaring at him. "Mr Ronald Weasley, Sir. I would like to request the honor of your daughter's hand in marriage."
There was a very long pause while Mr Weasley continued to glare. After what felt like forever, Scorpius was starting to sweat, and he could hear the beginning of uncomfortable rustling in the crowd. Finally, Mr Weasley jumped in his seat, glared at his wife, looked sullenly at Scorpius and reluctantly nodded once. Scorpius was certain Mrs Weasley had kicked him under the table. Scorpius took the microphone from the podium, with Uncle George's help to detach it properly, and walked back to the table where he knelt in front of Rose. "Rose, I love you. I've probably loved you since I met you, but it took me a bit to realize. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"
Rose yelled, "Yes!" and hugged Scorpius tightly. As the audience erupted into cheers and applause, Scorpius removed the ring box and again put Rose's engagement ring onto her finger. This time, she was able to show her mum, who exclaimed over it and hugged both of them, offering her congratulations.
Cameras began flashing all over the audience. Mr Weasley hugged both of them at once, his head between theirs and hissed, "I know perfectly well you were in on this stunt, Rose, and we will talk about it later. Scorpius, I won't kill you because I can't bear the thought of one less Cannons' fan in the world, but I am most definitely not happy with you." Keeping Scorpius in what felt more like a neck-lock than a hug, he kissed Rose on the head, and released them, giving what Rose called his "Auror face" to the reporters who had popped up from out of nowhere
Scorpius' parents took turns hugging him and Rose. His dad shook Mr Weasley's hand, and their mothers hugged. Scorpius saw Mr Potter and Uncle George leaning on each other laughing. Mr Weasley muttered to Mrs Weasley under his breath, "Forget killing the kid. I'll just kill my brother and my best mate." Mrs Weasley slapped his arm.
Before anyone other than their parents could congratulate them, Mr Potter had the microphone in his hand. "If I may have your attention for just another minute . . ." Everyone became quiet. It was such a rare occurrence for Harry Potter to actually want to say something publicly. "If I had been in on this earlier," Mr Potter glared at Uncle George, who shrugged causing everyone to snigger," I could have saved everyone from hearing my boring speech." The audience laughed. "A quarter of a century ago, the Weasley and Malfoy families were initially on different sides of the war. They have since built bridges and become friends. Today, thanks to Rose and Scorpius, the Weasleys and the Malfoys are united in love. This is what we fought for. This is why Voldemort lost. Let us raise our glasses to my niece, Rose, and my soon-to-be-nephew, Scorpius. To Rose and Scorpius!"
The audience echoed, "To Rose and Scorpius!"
Rose whispered in Scorpius' ear, "With Uncle Harry on our side, Dad will come around soon. The Plan worked. Don't worry."
Scorpius whispered back, "I'm too happy to worry." And he kissed her, hearing the cheers of the audience and the catcalls of their cousins in the background.
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