Hello hello! This short story is one that I wrote for a next generation fest on livejournal. Reveals just went up the other day which means that I can post it other places now. Hope you like it!

xoxoBeccaxoxo

Title: With the Storm
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Scorpius/Rose
Genre: Romance, Fluff
When: Next Generation
Word Count: 1,895
Warnings: n/a
For: The HP Next Gen Fest at hp_nextgen_fest on lj
Prompt: A quote from a Jeaniene Frost book "I'm saying that I'm a moody, insecure, narrow-minded, jealous, borderline homicidal bitch, and I want you to promise me that you're okay with that, because it's who I am, and you're what I need."
Summary: It was during a storm in their seventh year that Rose walked away. Now, five years later, a storm brings her back.

With The Storm

A storm was raging outside as Scorpius Malfoy carried a steaming cup of tea into his sitting room. Just as he was getting ready to sit down on the sofa, he heard a knock on his front door. Curious as to who was crazy enough to brave the horrible weather, he walked over and opened the front door.

His blood ran cold and he was taken back five years at the sight of a rain-drenched Rose Weasley wearing what he was sure had been a beautiful wedding dress.

"Can I come in?" She asked, her teeth chattering.

He wanted to say no; he should say no. But no words came out as he stepped aside to let her in.

"What are you doing here?" He finally spoke, once the door was closed.

The last time he had been alone with her had been a stormy night during their seventh year. She had accused him of cheating on her; her "proof" coming in a letter from the woman he was supposedly having an affair with.

"Why didn't you fight for us?" Her words were like a knife to his heart.

"I did fight for us," he stated.

"I don't mean that night in the Astronomy tower," she replied. "I mean when you found out that your grandfather sent the letter."

He didn't say anything as that night rushed back to him. He had been home for Easter holidays and his father had told him they needed to talk. It had been in the study of the Malfoy Manor that he had learned that his grandfather had sent the letter purposely to Rose in order to break them up.

"You told your father it was too late," she said. "Why was it too late?"

"You were already dating someone else," he stated. "I thought you had moved on."

"You thought I moved on?" She repeated then paused for a few seconds. "Have you moved on?"

He didn't respond, because they both knew he hadn't.

"Go take a shower, Rose," he said after several silent minutes.

"What?" She asked.

"If we're going to have this talk, we need a few minutes alone to gather our thoughts," he said. "Plus, you need to get out of that wet dress before you catch cold."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but didn't.

"Down the hall to your right," he instructed. "You can get something from my closet."

While she went to his bedroom, he grabbed his cup of tea then went into the kitchen to heat up a kettle of water.

As he waited for the water to boil, he replayed the conversation they had just had, but the only thing that stuck out in his mind was the fact that she had been wearing a wedding dress. A dress that had fit her like a wet glove and showed off her every womanly curve.

They had already confirmed that he still had feelings for her and because of that he had to protect his heart. Before the next conversation, he had to find out why she was in the wedding dress and then respond accordingly.

Wearing a pair of his pajamas, she arrived in the small kitchen just as the kettle began to whistle and took a seat at the table. He fixed them each a cup of tea—his black, hers with cream and sugar—then joined her.

"Why were you wearing a wedding dress?" He asked.

"I got engaged tonight," she replied, picking her cup up and softly blowing on the hot liquid.

That was one of last things he wanted to hear. He rose to his feet and attempted a strong voice, but it failed as he said, "I think you should go."

"Sit down, Scorpius," she responded. "I was only engaged for about ten minutes."

Confused, he sat back down and stared across the table at her.

"He proposed to me and it took me a few minutes to realize that I didn't want to marry him," she explained. "The whole family was around when Lily got engaged last year and she was jumping up and down and crying. But after I got proposed to, all I felt like doing was locking myself in my room and crying."

"Then why did you show up here wearing a wedding dress?" He asked.

"He asked my parents if he could marry me," she replied. "He and dad don't know each other too well, with him being a Muggle, but I think dad gave him permission because he thought it would make me happy."

"But you weren't happy?"

"How could I be happy when he didn't know the real me?" She asked. "He knows that my family believes in witchcraft, but he doesn't know that I am actually a witch.

"As for the wedding dress. It's my mum's. She brought it over to my flat while I was off getting engaged and left a 'congrats' note attached to it. By the time I got home, I was unengaged and single and in a moment of weakness I decided to put it on to see what it would feel like.

"Once I had the dress on, everything became so real to me. I felt a real sense of loss and not over the relationship that had just ended, but over our relationship. I realized that every guy that I've dated since we broke up has had an element of your personality or appearance, but none of them was the whole package."

An awkward silence fell over the kitchen as she took a sip of her tea and he tried to think of something to say in response.

"How did you find out about the letter?" He asked. He had been under the impression that only himself, his father and his grandfather had known the truth.

"Right after your grandfather died, I received a parcel," she explained. "It was a piece of parchment with the words 'I'm Sorry' written on it and was wrapped around a memory bottle. I ignored it for a few days before my curiosity got the better of me and I borrowed my uncle's pensive to find out what the memory contained. It was you, your father -"

"You don't have to explain it," he said. "I was there. I remember."

"Fine," she replied. "I spent the first three weeks mad at your grandfather for doing such an awful thing and the last five months being mad at myself. At first I was mad at myself for believing that you would do such a horrible thing. Then because I hadn't given you a chance to defend yourself or talk things out rationally."

"And now?"

"And now I'm pissed again," she stated. "But not at myself or your grandfather, Scorpius. I'm mad at you."

She stood up and began to pace the small kitchen.

"We broke up exactly five years ago yesterday," she reminded him. "You found the truth out six weeks later and if you would have come to me and explained everything -"

"You would have believed me if I'd come to you and told you that my grandfather had written the letter?" He asked disbelief present in his voice.

"Well no, at least not without proof," she replied. "Which your father said he'd force your grandfather to give."

"It wasn't that easy, Rose," he sighed. "We started dating when we were in fourth year and then the letter thing happened, we broke up and you were dating Nathan within a week. I thought you wanted a way out."

"I was a seventeen year old girl wanting to make you jealous," she replied, sitting back down. "I feel so stupid, Scorpius."

"Don't, we're both to blame," he replied.

"When we were in school, I always pictured us married with at least one kid by now," she replied and looked down at her half empty cup. "I actually imagined myself getting ready to marry you when I put the dress on this evening. That's what stirred everything up."

"Rose -"

"No listen, Scorpius," she cut him off. "The last five years have been the worst years of my life because you haven't been part of them. I'd like to believe that we could have had a perfect life and marriage if we had never broken up, but I don't think that would have been the case. I think that as horrible as these five years have been, we needed them to grow up and discover who we are without each other."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'm a moody, insecure, narrow-minded, jealous, borderline homicidal bitch, and I want you to promise me that you're okay with that, because it's who I am, and you're what I need."

"Rose, you're none of those things," he said.

"You've called me moody and the other guys I've been with described me as the rest," she replied.

"Moody isn't that horrible," he said, defensively. "And if the other guys you were with thought you were any of those other things then they didn't know you very well."

"Well I don't need or want any of them," she stated. "I need and want you, Scorpius."

"You're not looking for a second proposal in one night are you?" He asked.

"No," she replied. "We have five years to make up for."

"Then let me reintroduce myself to you," he said, standing up and walking over to her side of the table. "My name is Scorpius Malfoy. I work in the Department of Mysteries and spend a lot of time alone in my home reading books because I let the best thing that ever happened to me go when I was seventeen."

Smiling, Rose stood up and said, "Nice to meet you, Scorpius. I'm Rose Weasley and I work as a liaison between the Magic and Muggle world. When I'm not working, I spend time with my family and I love to have fun. I would love to go on a date with you, but you should know, I don't kiss on the first date."

"Does this count as a date?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"What are your rules about kissing on non-dates?"

She cocked her head to the side and gave the appearance of thinking for a minute, before finally responding. "Normally, I would slap you for even asking, but I'm feeling generous tonight."

He smirked and took another step towards her. His grey eyes met her blue ones before he flicked his eyes down to her full lips. Heart racing, he leaned in and ever so gently, brushed his lips against hers.

It was Rose who changed his chaste kiss into a full blown snogfest as she threw her arms over his shoulders and pulled him flush against her. He felt her suck on his lower lip and wrapped his arms around her waist as he opened his mouth and let their tongues mingle for the first time in five years.

Several minutes ticked by before they separated completely, both breathing heavily.

"What's your stance on no first date kissing now?" He asked her.

"That it's a stupid rule," she replied.

He smiled and pulled her to him again, but this time just for an embrace with her head resting on his chest. For the first time in five years, everything felt right in his world.