Scorpius wanted to fix it. All of it. Yet he felt helpless to do anything to make it better.

"He's a prat and a hypocrite and an idiot, and I'm this close to cursing him," Rose ground out as she and Scorpius stepped away from the dancing to grab drinks and allow Rose to calm down a bit so she wouldn't do any harm to her brother.

"That wouldn't be the best way to end your time as Head Girl," said Scorpius, which earned him a pointed look from Rose as she grabbed a glass of butterbeer.

"I'll wait till we get home, then," she said, and Scorpius could tell she was reigning in a smile. Any levity she'd been able to find in the situation slipped away a moment later, and he knew she was thinking of the look on Lily's face as she left the common room. Lucy and Charlotte had stayed for only a few more minutes, exchanging some words with Molly and Jill before they followed after Lily. Scorpius was surprised that Caleb hadn't been seen. It was rare for him to not be by Lily's side.

"Hey, it's not your job to fix this," Scorpius reminded Rose, who'd heaved a frustrated sigh. "They're making their own choices, and they have to deal with the consequences. You said what you needed to the other night when this whole thing started, and it's their own bloody faults if they don't listen to your advice."

This seemed to placate her a bit, and she relaxed her tense posture as she chugged her butterbeer.

"You're right," she said, tossing her empty cup into the bin next to the table as Scorpius did the same. "Let's not let them ruin our last night at Hogwarts."

She grabbed his hand, smiling brightly at him as she led him back to the throng of dancers. Scorpius grinned back at her, pulling her to him as they began moving to the beat once again. A moment later, the music slowed, and the group of dancing students formed into couples and began to thin out a bit. Scorpius chuckled in appreciation as he pulled Rose close, one hand resting on her hip and his other grasping hers tightly.

"Finally," he said with a sigh. "I've been wanting a do over of this since the wedding," he explained when she looked at him curiously.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked with a small smile.

"No," said Scorpius, "but I didn't exactly get to say and do everything I wanted to. I had all these great plans for our Christmas holiday before I made a mess of things."

It was a relief to Scorpius when Rose raised her eyebrows in question and her smile didn't leave her face. They were finally to the point where they could talk about everything that had happened the previous term without having to cringe or apologize. He had a feeling that their conversation in the library about the timing of things had something to do with that.

"Care to tell me what these plans involved?" Rose asked with a delighted glint in her eyes.

"Well…" he began slowly, drawing her closer so his arm went around her waist and her cheek rested against his chest. "I would have held you a bit closer. More like this."

Rose gave an appreciative hum in response, her hand running soothingly along his upper back as they swayed slightly and he rested his chin on her head.

"I wouldn't have been afraid to tell you how beautiful you looked," he continued in a soft voice. "And it would've taken everything in me to keep from kissing you right there in the middle of the dance floor."

He felt Rose sigh contentedly against him before she pulled back, looking up at him with unrestrained warmth in her brown eyes.

"Remember what we said about making every moment count?" she asked. Scorpius nodded, unable to take his eyes off her as they continued to sway slightly from side to side.

"Well," she continued, trailing her hand up his neck until her fingers brushed into his hair at the base of it, "we're about to start out on a whole slew of new adventures, what with leaving school and starting jobs and living on our own. I'm looking forward to all of that, but while we still have one last day here, I think that now is as good a moment as any to make up for lost opportunities. And it would be nice to not miss out on any more of those moments."

Scorpius grinned at her challenging smirk, knowing he was only seconds away from giving in. He knew people could describe the lightness he felt and the fluttering in his stomach as a rush of affection, but that didn't seem big enough to describe what he felt for Rose. The feelings he had for her had been a slow, steady build that he'd been able to see coming for years. He'd assumed that those feelings would someday end up building to what they were now, but it had happened so gradually that he hadn't always noticed the changes. At times, he'd allowed himself to lose sight of just how much she meant to him, taking for granted that he had someone so special in his life. Continuing to do so now was not an option.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" he said in a soft tone, dropping her hand so he could stroke her cheek. She smiled brightly at him, her now free hand joining her other one at the base of his neck.

"I have my moments," she said with a chuckle.

"You're supposed to tell me that I'm brilliant too," Scorpius said with an attempt at a pout, but Rose merely let out another giggle, pulling him closer so her nose brushed up against him.

"I don't think there are enough words to do you justice."

The sincerity and vulnerability in her words struck Scorpius, and he slowly closed the remaining space between them, savoring the feel of her lips on his. He broke the contact a moment later winding his arms around her waist as he held her tightly and basked in her presence, his eyes closing as he rested his forehead against hers.

He was going to do it. He was going to lay his heart on the line and tell her exactly how he felt. He felt sure that she felt the same, and even if she didn't, he knew he wanted to tell her anyway.

"Rose, I-"

"Scorpius, we have a problem."

He pulled away from Rose quickly at the sound of Molly's panicked words. She was standing next to them and wringing her hands nervously as her gaze frequently drifted in the direction of the entrance to the common room.

"What did they do this time?" Rose asked with a sigh, assuming her relatives were involved in the trouble. Scorpius, however, felt a pit growing in his stomach as dread began to fill him.

"It's not any of our lot," Molly said quickly. "Lucas Prince just showed up with Erin Nott, and they're not exactly empty handed."

Scorpius felt his arms slip from around Rose as he turned to face the direction Molly kept glancing in, his worst fears confirmed by the sight that met his eyes. Lucas Prince and Eric Nott were leading a group of a few other Slytherins in prying open crates of what was undoubtedly contraband beverages, and a slight cheer went up as others began to take note of the firewhiskey being passed around. The music had jumped to something more fast paced once again, and Scorpius let out a growl of frustration that was only heard by Rose and Molly.

"Fucking hell," he snarled, pulling his wand from his back pocket. "I should've known."

"Scorp, wait," said Rose, her hand gripping his wand arm so he looked down at her. "Think through what you're going to do for a moment before you just barge over there."

"Right," said Scorpius, taking a few deep breaths as he formed a plan. "Right. Molly? Go fetch Professor Simpson. He should be patrolling the third floor. Rose, grab Mandy, Eden, and Davies and start collecting bottles. We can at least try to control what we can."

Molly have a quick nod, her face set and determined as she turned and hurried out of the common room.

"You're sure about this?" Rose asked as Scorpius squared himself to approach Prince. He looked down at her, grateful that she was by his side.

"Yeah," he said with a reassuring smile, turning back to face her for a moment. He shoved his wand back in his pocket and took both of her hands in his, deciding that the mess he was about to fix could wait a moment longer. Especially for this.

"I'm sure of a lot of things, actually," he said with certainty, looking intently into her eyes as she focused entirely on him. "I'm sure of you," he continued strongly. "I'm sure I-"

A crash sounded from somewhere behind them, and Scorpius whipped his head around, realizing that things were escalating too quickly for him to put off intervening any longer.

With a groan of frustration, he turned back to face Rose. She was gaping at him, her hands clutching his tightly, and Scorpius wanted nothing more than to continue saying what he'd been prepared to tell her, but the commotion was growing louder behind him, so he planted a swift, searing kiss on her parted lips, pulling away quickly and dropping her hands.

"Go find Mandy and the rest, and help me clean up this mess," he said as he began to walk away, only waiting for Rose to nod in recognition of his words before he turned and stormed over towards the growing group of people around the crates of alcohol.

"Oi, Prince! Nott!" Scorpius hollered, pulling out his wand and waving it so the music abruptly shut off. There was a groan of disappointment and a few shouts of protests, but Scorpius ignored it as Prince and Nott both turned to face him, the group surrounding them clearing a path for Scorpius to get through.

"Pack up your shite and clear out," he said with finality, stopping in his tracks when he was a few meters away. Prince shoved his hands in his pockets, flicking his long, dark hair away from his face as he sneered at Scorpius.

"Not going to ruin the party again are you, Malfoy? You've been enough of a spoilsport this term, don't you think?"

Silence had begun to fall around the room as people took notice of what was happening. The only conversation that seemed to have continued was between Rose, the prefects, and the people they were trying to confiscate fire whiskey from.

"Anyone who's got a bottle of banned substance," Scorpius shouted, addressing the crowd rather than Prince, "I want it in this bin in the next sixty seconds."

With a flick of his wand, a decent sized bin appeared in front of Scorpius. Prince smirked at him as no one in the crowd moved, looking back and forth between the two Slytherins as they stared each other down.

"I told you to stay out of my way, didn't I?" Prince snarled. "No one's ever going to listen to you, Malfoy. They don't care what you say, and they sure as hell don't respect you."

There were a few more beats of silence as a few people glanced around uncomfortably, but then Rose was shoving her way through the crowd, Mandy Jordan, Eden Avery, and John Davies trailing behind her, each with at least one bottle of fire whiskey in their arms.

"Based on the size of the crates," said Rose, speaking nonchalantly as she placed three bottles unceremoniously into the bin, "this should be about half."

Scorpius watched, trying to keep any type of surprise off his face as Eden, Mandy, and John followed suit. He took a moment to meet Rose's gaze, and he couldn't help a half smile forming on his face when he took in her expression. It was full of determination, pride, and conviction, and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she had a tremendous amount of faith in him, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do his best to prove that he was deserving of it.

"Anyone else ready to cough it up?" he asked the room at large, scanning the terrified, conflicted, and defiant faces. "It might be the last night of term, but Professor Simpson is on his way here, and I doubt those of you returning in September would get off easy. As far as you seventh years go," Scorpius continued, turning to glare at Prince once again, "I wouldn't be too sure of your ability to get away unscathed."

A few more seconds of silence passed, and then people began to move. Those who hadn't taken part in the rule breaking made way for those who still had bottles to move forward. Scorpius did his best to school his features into a harsh glare, wanting desperately to smirk in triumph as Prince's face paled. Bottles began to clang into the bin, and a few people gave him either verbal apologies or remorseful looks. Some still seemed a bit put out, but followed his instructions.

"Are there any more in the crates?" asked Rose, her arms crossed as she watched Prince expectantly. His scowl immediately snapped to her, and Scorpius saw desperation and humiliation mixing in his eyes, which was a dangerous combination.

"Stay the hell out of this you fucking bitch," he snarled at Rose, drawing quite a few gasps from the crowd. "You and your whole self-righteous, blood traitor family can go to hell for all I-"

At that moment, two shouts echoed around the room. One from Scorpius, and one from the newly arrived Professor Simpson.

"Prince!" the professor shouted, drowning out the sound of Scorpius' exclamation of outrage. "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you."

Silence fell around the room as Professor Simpson took them all in, a scowl on his face as he surveyed the damage. Molly was standing just behind him with a relieved look on her face, breathing heavily as she'd obviously done her job very quickly.

"Never," continued Simpson, taking slow steps closer to his student, "in all my time as a professor, have I heard a student speak that way to anyone, let alone their Head student. That along with everything else you've gotten up to this year makes me ashamed to claim you as a Slytherin."

If possible, Prince's face grew even whiter as the entire world he'd built for himself inside the walls of the school started to crumble. No matter what else Simpson had in store for him, these words were punishment enough. Scorpius almost felt bad for him, but he couldn't quite find it in himself to pity Prince as Simpson continued.

"You're coming with me," Simpson snarled at him, waving his wand so the crates and the bin full of alcohol disappeared. "Wait for me in the corridor. You too, Nott. Now."

Nott moved quickly, walking past Prince and out of the joint common room. Prince hesitated long enough for the former Auror to grab him by the hood of his jacket and drag him a few steps towards the door. He flung Prince from his grasp, and the Slytherin tripped forward a couple steps, not even looking back as he hurried the last few feet out of the room.

"Consider this a warning," said Simpson, his eyes taking in the crowd of stunned students, "for those of you who succumbed to temptation tonight. I won't be so lenient next time. Get back to your party."

A collective sigh of relief filled the room as a few nervous chuckles were heard and people began to break into stilted conversation.

"Malfoy? Weasley?" Simpson said in a quieter tone, gesturing for Rose and Scorpius to join him by the entrance to the common room.

"Miss Weasley told me it was just Prince and Nott who brought in the alcohol, is that correct?"

Rose and Scorpius nodded.

"Right, and you managed to confiscate everything before I showed up?"

They nodded again, and Scorpius was surprised to see a small smile appear on the hardened professor's face. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I've broken up a few parties over the years that students with authority have failed to corral, and I've never known students to respond so well to their Heads before. Nice work."

"Actually," Rose cut in before Scorpius could respond, her face beaming with pride, "it was all Scorpius, Professor. He's really earned their respect this year. It didn't take much to get them to listen to reason."

Scorpius knew his face was close to turning pink as Rose turned her proud smile towards him. He quickly tore his eyes from hers to meet the impressed gaze of his Head of House.

"Really?" Simpson asked, a hint of pride in his voice. "Well, I can't say I'm all that surprised. I recommended you for the position after all. You're the type of student I actually want to claim as a Slytherin."

Scorpius felt himself welling up with pride at his Professor's words, but he knew it would continue to nag at him if he wasn't completely honest.

"Thanks, sir," he said sincerely, "but I feel that it's only right I tell you I was tipped off that Prince might pull something tonight, and I didn't exactly do anything to prevent it from happening."

Scorpius avoided glancing at Rose, afraid she'd be upset and disappointed that he'd kept this information from her. He kept his eyes on his Professor instead, and was blown away to see Simpson fully smile at him, a rare sight as far as Scorpius was concerned.

"You mean other than stopping things before they could go too far? Professors were patrolling the corridors and they failed to catch them, so you shouldn't be hard on yourself at all for this. You did a fine job."

Scorpius relaxed in relief, sighing and glancing at Rose, whose face he couldn't quite read.

"You have good instincts, Malfoy, so trust them," Simpson continued. "I know you're starting training soon, and speaking as a former Auror, I have a hunch you're going to make a fine one. If you ever need anything, I'm only an owl away, alright?"

Scorpius nodded, letting out a short laugh of disbelief as his professor stuck out his hand for him to shake.

"You two enjoy your evening," said Simpson, giving Rose a nod in acknowledgment before moving to walk away, pausing in his departure only to say, "and starting tomorrow, you can call me Jonah."

Scorpius' eyes widened in shock, and he only managed to get out a stilted, "Yes, sir," before their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor walked out the door.

"Blimey," Scorpius murmerd, still too stunned to say much of anything else. He snapped out of his daze when he heard Rose laughing in delight.

"I'm so beyond proud of you," she said when he looked at her, beaming so brightly that he was afraid her smile would split her face in two.

"Really?" he asked in relief. "I thought you'd be upset that I hadn't said anything to you."

She shook her head and shrugged. "Maybe partially, but Simpson is right. You handled it wonderfully anyway. And it would've just made me worried all evening if I'd known something like that was coming. Which, I assume, is the exact reason you didn't tell me."

Scorpius chuckled gratefully. "I guess we both know each other pretty well, then."

She smiled warmly at them, and Scorpius tried to shake himself out of the shock he still felt after hearing Simpson's words.

"This wasn't exactly how I expected the year to end, if I'm honest," Scorpius said disbelievingly. Rose shook her head, still smiling as she stepped up to him and wound her arms around his waist. Scorpius' hands immediately went to her face, brushing her hair behind her ears as the events of the evening played on repeat in his mind.

"You going to stop doubting yourself now?" Rose asked with an arched eyebrow. "It's all well and good to have a bit of humility, but I think enough people have shown faith in you now for you to have a bit more faith in yourself, don't you think?"

Scorpius smiled down at her, thankful once again that she'd stuck around through all the ups and downs the year had brought them.

"I think," he said slowly, leaning closer to her, "that I definitely don't deserve you."

Rose's eyes and nose scrunched up as she giggled. "Do I make you happy?"

"Thoroughly."

Rose's arms squeezed him just a bit tighter as she pushed herself onto her toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips, whispering quietly against them as she pulled away, "Then I beg to differ."

"Mate, you alright?" Al asked as he approached them, Erin right behind him. Scorpius gave a sigh of frustration at the interruption. Would he never get a moment with Rose that wasn't intruded upon?

He dropped his hands from Rose's face, placing them on her shoulders instead. "Does it look like I'm not alright?" Scorpius asked pointedly. Al rolled his eyes as Rose held in a chuckle.

"I was just checking."

Scorpius laughed as he pulled Rose into his side and turned to face their friends. "Thanks, mate," he said sincerely, glancing down at Rose one last time to see her beaming at him before he turned back to his best friend. "I'm perfect."

As she settled in next to the window in one of the familiar Hogwarts Express compartments, Rose couldn't help feeling wistful. It wasn't as if there was anything she regretted about her time at Hogwarts, and she knew she was ready to move on and head into the real world, but an ache had settled in her when she realized that they really wouldn't be coming back. Things would never be the same again.

Some things wouldn't change. She knew that. She'd still have her family and her friends. It wasn't like Hogwarts was actually going anywhere. It was her day-to-day life that was changing, and despite her sorrow at leaving wonderful things behind, she felt ready for that to happen.

Gratefulness was another very present emotion as she sat with her best friends on their last trip to Kings Cross. She was very aware of the fact that two members of her family in particular were keeping far away from each other, further deepening the divide that had grown between them. It made Rose realize how quickly your life could change, and how easy it was for the people you thought would always be there to suddenly be gone.

The rest of the party the following evening had gone smoothly, as far as rule breaking went. It wasn't long after Simpson left before things were in full swing again, and Rose was disgusted to see that Anastasia Bennett was still hanging all over her younger brother. It did give her a bit of satisfaction that Hugo seemed a bit less inclined to be spending time around the girl that morning. It had been hard to ignore his annoyed expression with her sitting close to his side at the Gryffindor table, and even harder to not notice her looking up and down the train for him just moments ago.

"Serves him right, behaving like a prat," Al grumbled.

"You snogged me when we weren't going out," Erin pointed out from her stretched out position, her feet propped up in Al's lap as she leaned with her back against the window.

"I'm not talking about that part," said Al with a roll of his eyes as he absentmindedly gripped Erin's socked feet with one hand, his other resting on her shins. "I'm talking about going out of his way to be a git to Lily, and using an innocent girl - no matter how obnoxious she is - to do it."

"I'm not sure how innocent she is," Scorpius said from his place next to Rose. "She never liked Lily. I bet she knew exactly what she was doing."

"Still," said Al, "she seems a bit more invested now, even if she wasn't before."

No matter how annoyed Rose was by Anastasia's role in everything, she saw Al's point. The girl probably knew full well how much Lily would hate her cousin and best friend snogging the one person she couldn't stand, but that didn't mean she was incapable of being hurt by Hugo. True, it probably gave Anastasia great pleasure to know she was getting to Lily, as she'd so often failed to do so in the past, but it still didn't excuse his role in the mess.

"You going to tell your parents?" Erin asked, reading Rose's pinched expression accurately.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "It's going to be obvious something's wrong when Lily and Hugo don't spend time together this summer. I can't imagine what any of our family get togethers are going to be like."

"We've been at odds sometimes during family gatherings," Al pointed out, most likely remembering the family Quidditch match the summer before.

"Yes, but never like this," said Rose. "I doubt they'll even look at each other except to glare. It's a good thing they're underage and won't have their wands all summer."

"Speaking of telling your parents things," said Erin, a curious lilt to her voice, "do they know you two are together?"

Rose froze in shock. With the timing of everything, she hadn't even written to either of her parents since she and Scorpius had gotten together. It was the same every year. She'd be so caught up in end of year exams that they never even expected to hear from her through all of May and into June. And with N.E.W.T.s this year, she'd gone even longer without writing. Rose wasn't sure she'd even written to them since Easter, and things were still so up in the air then that she wouldn't have said anything yet. How had she managed to completely forget to fill her parents in on such a very important development in her life?

"I sort of eluded to it," said Scorpius, glancing nervously at Rose before looking back at Erin. "It felt a bit odd to just say 'by the way, Rose and I are dating now,' so I just sort of made a passing comment about it."

"You're planning on telling them in person?" Al asked incredulously.

"Like you can talk," Erin chuckled. "You were practically forced to tell both of our dads that we're together. And I have to admit, I'm a bit excited to see your mother fuss over you a bit."

Her smirk quickly left her face as Al pulled on one of her toes. She let out a yelp and pulled her foot from his grasp, kicking him in the arm as he chuckled. Erin gave him a warning look before placing her foot in his lap once again.

"Your parents know, right?" Scorpius asked Rose, so unassumingly that she felt guilty. His calm look turned to one of concern as he took in her terrified expression.

"I actually don't think I've even written to them since Easter," she said slowly, the reality of the situation sinking in.

"You're kidding," said Erin, grinning in unsuppressed amusement at their predicament.

"Wait, so, they have no idea?" Scorpius asked in shock, turning in his seat a bit to look at Rose with wide eyes.

"Well, I talked to Mum over Christmas about everything," said Rose, resting what she hoped was a reassuring hand on his knee, "and it sort of came up that there was a bit more to our friendship. I doubt she'll be expecting this, though. I was rather pessimistic about the whole thing then."

Scorpius heaved a sigh and slouched back in his seat. "Well, I doubt it will go horribly."

"Of course it won't," said Erin confidently, and Rose was thankful for her friend's positive outlook. "Awkward as hell, maybe, but nothing much else."

This comment relieved some of the tension as they all shared a laugh, and the rest of the train ride passed quicker than Rose would have liked. They focused their conversation on lighthearted things, laughing and reminiscing about the wonderful moments they'd all shared at Hogwarts, as well as discussing some of the dreams and wishes they had for the future.

By the time they stepped off the train with trunks in tow, Rose fully let her anxiety about coming face-to-face with her parents and the Malfoys take hold. It was unsettling enough for Rose to reach out and tightly grip Scorpius' arm to steady herself. When he saw the slightly terrified look on her face, he stopped them in their tracks, allowing the crowds to continue moving around them.

"What if they aren't all okay with this?" she couldn't help blurting out. "I think my mum is, because we sort of talked about it, and your mum probably will be too, but what about our dads? I know they've basically put their differences aside, but what if this is different? What if they can't handle it?"

She'd rattled it all off quickly, worried that her concerns would upset him. Thankfully, he gave her a smile in understanding, gripping her hand in his as he looked down at her.

"As far as I'm concerned, whatever they might have to say about us isn't going to change anything," he said confidently. Rose felt a bit of her nerves melt away at his determination, but grew slightly concerned a moment later when a nervous expression crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, stepping closer to him and speaking in a hushed and slightly panicked whisper. Scorpius seemed to realize he'd made her nervous and relaxed, his hand gripping hers tightly for a moment as he seemed to gather his determination once again.

"Nothing's wrong," he assured her. "I've just been trying to tell you something, and I've failed miserably at it for the past week, but now seems as good a time as any."

Rose looked at him in confusion for a moment, and then he was speaking again, and she could hardly process the fact that he was actually saying the words that were issuing beautifully from his mouth.

"No matter how our parents react, it's not going to change the fact that I'm falling in love with you," he said, his tone quiet yet confident. "So no, I'm not worried about what's going to happen today, because I'm not giving up on you. And at the risk of sounding arrogant, I have a feeling you feel the same way about me. You haven't exactly given up on me yet, so I don't see that happening anytime soon either."

His gaze was locked on hers, that same confidence there even though he waited anxiously for her to respond. Rose didn't even pause to take in their surroundings before stepping into him and pulling his face towards hers so she could kiss him. She did her best to pour her gratitude, her delight, and her love into it before pulling away, but only slightly, staying close enough to him so all she had to do was whisper.

"I'm falling in love with you too."

His smile was bright enough to blind her, and Rose laughed in delight as he wound his arms around her and pulled her close, his face buried in her exuberant curls.

"This is new."

Rose's laughter stopped with a sharp intake of breath at the sound of her father's voice. She couldn't quite make out the attitude behind the words, and she braced herself for the worst as she pulled away from her boyfriend.

"Hi, Daddy," she said cheerfully, smiling brightly at her father. He was standing next to her mother, who seemed to be trying very hard not to beam at Rose. There were other family members scattered around, a few of them paying attention to what was happening between Rose and her parents, but she hardly noticed them. Her attention was solely focused on the stern gaze of her father.

"Mind telling me what's going on here?" he asked gruffly, his arms crossed as he kept his eyes on Scorpius.

"Ron, for goodness sake," said his wife with an amused chuckle, looking at her husband in exasperation. "You already know what's going on. There's no need to scare the poor boy."

"Yes there is, Hermione," he said with conviction, turning his gaze to his wife momentarily. "I told you I was fine with it and I am, but that doesn't mean I like seeing him snogging my daughter in public."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she lay a hand on Ron's still tightly crossed arms. "I understand, darling, but don't forget what we said about trusting our daughter. And Scorpius too."

"Wait, you already knew?" Rose asked, surprised out of her momentary fear by this news.

"Of course we did, dear," said her mother, smiling at Rose. "Did you think news like this wouldn't get back to us? With a family that doesn't know the meaning of privacy?"

"What I'd like to know," said Ron, his tone not quite as stern as it had been, but still challenging, "is why we heard about it from your uncle and not from the two of you?"

Rose gulped nervously, both of her parents now watching them expectantly.

"Which uncle?"

Neither of her parents responded, both of them hardening their gazes a bit instead at her attempt to put off answering their question.

"Well," she began nervously, "I've been so busy with N.E.W.T.s and everything, and it's not like I normally write to you during the last few weeks of school. It's only been going on since just after Easter. I honestly hadn't realized I hadn't written to you since then."

She glanced nervously at Scorpius, who smirked at her before looking at her parents.

"To be fair, I did mention it to my parents. I wasn't aware we were keeping things quiet."

Rose's jaw dropped in shock as he threw her under the bus, and she smacked him on the arm before she could stop herself.

"What?" he chuckled down at her. "You want me on their good side, right?"

"Oh, and you think they'll appreciate you not having my back?"

Scorpius grimaced. "You might have a point. Sorry, I was thinking honesty was a good fit for the current situation."

Rose let out an annoyed huff, turning to look back at her parents when she heard a chuckle, her eyes widening when she realized it had come from her father.

"Don't worry, Malfoy," said Ron with a slight smile. "Just treat her right and you won't have to worry about my bad side."

Even though he was smiling, there was a challenge in her father's eyes. And Rose felt a mixture of pride and exasperation at the exchange when Scorpius gave a nod, his gaze severe to convey how serious he took her father's warning.

"There you are!" said Astoria Malfoy in greeting as she appeared from the crowd and approached her son. "We found Al and he said you were with Rose."

She embraced her son before turning to Rose, a giddy smile on her face as she pulled her son's girlfriend into a tight hug.

"I've been waiting for this day for forever, and I'm so happy it's you," she said as she gripped Rose.

"Mum," Scorpius said with a groan as she released Rose, who laughed as both women ignored him.

"I'm happy it's me too," Rose said with a conspiratorial smirk, and Astoria let out a laugh of delight before hugging her again. By the time she released her and turned to greet Hermione, Draco was shaking his son's hand before pulling him into an embrace. Rose took the opportunity to approached her father, who was watching the pair appraisingly.

"Don't I get a hello?" she asked, her arms open as she stopped in front of him. His still tense stance relaxed as his eyes turned to his daughter, quickly pulling her into a tight hug and kissing the top of her head.

"You're not too upset, are you?" she couldn't help asking. She felt him take a deep breath and release a heavy sigh, still holding her tightly.

"No, I suppose not," he said, pulling back to look down at her, his hands on her shoulders. "It's just not easy to see you so grown up. You're still my little girl, you know?"

Rose gave him a warm smile, going up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "I know. And I definitely appreciate the fact that I can count on you to look after me, but I'm planning on counting on Scorpius to do that too. Is that alright?"

He gave her a slight smile and nodded. "Can't say it'll always be easy for me, but I do trust you, and he's a good bloke. Even if he is a Malfoy,"

"Dad," Rose said with a warning tone, but he was already apologizing.

"Sorry, force of habit," he said apologetically. "I'll work on breaking that one."

She smiled gratefully at him before moving over to greet her mother, who held her tightly and whispered how happy she was for her. Rose pulled away from her mother just in time to see her father shaking hands with her boyfriend, whose own father was standing close by and watching the exchange with satisfaction. Rose couldn't keep from beaming in delight.

Everything they'd been through that year, it had all been worth it. To be where they were now - together and happy and accepted by their families - she'd go through hell and back with him again to know they'd end up here. It might only be the start of something, but Rose had more faith than ever that it was the start of something that would last.

She greeted the rest of her family and friends before it was agreed upon that they'd all head to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, as Ethan had shown up at the platform to meet his sister and assured them that his mother was making sure a feast was prepared for such an occasion.

They headed out from Kings Cross, Rose with her hand clasped in Scorpius' as they walked with Al and Erin, thankful that, even though they were the same people who'd boarded the train ten months ago, the year had changed them all for the better. And they were more than ready to take on whatever the next year might bring together.

A/N: Well, that's all for now! Thank you so much for all your feedback over the past year! Is has been a joy to write this story and share it with you. These kids have actually taught me a lot. My favorite thing about stories is the ability to see things through other people's eyes and to learn from them. Writing does the same. I appreciate you for going through all of that with me.

I have begun basic plot outlining for the sequel, but nothing is written yet. One review asked me if there would be a time jump or if it would pick up where this left off. I have thought about doing a prologue of sorts set in the future, and then working up towards that with the story. Potentially past it as well. I think that will be the only reason for a time jump, otherwise it'll probably pick up within a few weeks of the end of this story.

If there is anything specific you'd like to see in the sequel, let me know! I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration. Even if it's something as simple as a conversation between two specific people or someone getting a pet.

I have more snapshots coming your way in the meantime! I posted a Molly and Ethan one last week and I have two more written. I'm very excited to dive into post-Hogwarts world, and I also want to write a story about those who will remain at Hogwarts.

Thanks again, and happy reading and reviewing :)