Chapter Twelve: A Perfect Day

It was one year ago today. I can remember, quite vividly, the anxious feeling as the love of my life and I walked up to that door. Our hands were both slightly clammy. But that didn't stop us from holding each other's hands. Hugo was with us, which was helpful I guess. That was one more distraction from the attention we would undoubtedly be receiving. We watched as Hugo knocked on the door for us.

Rose squeezed my hand. "You look great. Very likeable. Not at all the kind of guy my family would ever even think of disapproving of," she winked at me.

He'd barely knocked twice when the door opened.

"Hey dad," Hugo greeted him first.

"Dad, you know Scorpius," Rose introduced us.

Ron Weasley looked me up and down and then grunted, "Yeah, come in," before walking back inside, leaving the door open for us.

Hugo and Rose exchanged glances, and then they both smiled. Hugo even laughed. "Well, at least he's letting you in the house," Hugo smiled at me encouragingly. That helped my nerves a little.

Since then, Rose has assured me, countless times, that's just the way her father is. According to her and her brother, the fact that he even sits down at the same table as me is an improvement of the way he's treated some of her past boyfriends. And the fact that he actually makes eye contact with me when we speak to each other? That amazes Rose even to this day.

At Christmas time, Rose invited my parents to her family's get-together. It had been pleasant enough. Our mothers had gotten along splendidly. They talked like old friends, traded old family recipes, and even made plans to have another dinner for New Year's Day. Our fathers sat with the other men (Ron's brothers and Harry Potter) and smoked cigars, drank brandy, and listened to music. I guess that means they bonded, in their own way. Meanwhile, I got to meet all five hundred of Rose's cousins. Okay, so that number is a slight exaggeration, but it did take a while for me to remember all those names.

It could have been worse, I suppose.

Yep, things with Rose have been going well. Very well, in fact. I can't even begin to describe how happy it made me when I had finally met her whole family. The significance of that, to me, was that she was more serious about our relationship. I love that we're past all the awkward stages that come with merging two different backgrounds, and yet we're still just as crazy about each other, if not more so.

And that's what has brought me here today, exactly one year since the first time I met Rose's parents.

It's raining this morning. That's never a good sign. Regardless of signs, I duck my head behind my umbrella and hurry inside. It's a Monday morning, and not too particularly busy at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I make my way through the store, saying 'good morning' to the few people that I do pass. I see George. He's helping a young wizard choose between a Headless Hat and a Basic Blaze Box.

"Good morning. Is Ron around?"

"Hey there Scorpius," he grins at me. "He should be in the office," he points toward the back of the store.

I stop when I'm standing outside of Ron's office and suddenly I'm not as confident as I was when I woke up this morning. I go through the words in my head again, hoping to make myself feel better. It seems to work. I make a fist and knock twice on the door.

"Come in," I hear his voice from inside. Oops. There went the confidence again. Okay. Come on, Scorpius. Now or never.

Or… later.

No, no. Now. It has to be now.

I open the door.

Ron is sitting at his desk, reading the Daily Prophet and drinking a cup of coffee. He looks up from the paper and his shocked expression makes me wonder why I'm standing here as well.

I clear my throat. "Good morning, Ron."

"Scorpius?" He straightens up in his chair and folds the paper before placing it on his desk. "Come in, take a seat," I close the door behind me. I wonder if maybe I should keep it open. Witnesses might come in handy at this point. But it's too late for that. I take a seat across from him. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, and you?"

"Excellent. It's 'back-to-school' time, so we're working slightly longer hours but the business is thriving."

I nod, muttering something about how I wish they would have had some of these new products when I was in school. Ron can see right through me. "What's on your mind Scorpius?"

I clear my throat again. It's feeling rather dry this morning. "I want to talk to you about something," I start. I'm pleased that my voice doesn't sound affected by my nerves. "I haven't talked to Rose about this yet because I wanted to talk to you first," I reach into my pocket and pull out a small jewelry box. "I want to ask Rose to marry me," I place the box on his desk.

I watch for any sudden movements. I wouldn't say that Ron hates me, exactly. I just don't know how thrilled he's going to be about my asking to be a part of his family. Even after this year full of family dinners and Rose and I dating without all the secrets, neither of us has made much of an effort to get to know each other.

He stares at the box for what seems like an eternity.

"I love her," I say, feeling the awkwardness of the silence begin to fray my nerves even more. "I feel as though we're in very good places in our lives right now. As far as work goes, I just got that promotion and it's working out really well for me. And, of course, Rose is getting settled into her new job. We're crazy about each other. We've talked about having a future together, but we've never made any official decisions together. But I feel ready for this now. And I think she would too. I just wanted to let you know first," my voice gets quieter toward the end.

He watches my eyes during my little speech but he doesn't react. At least not right away. After a few moments of studying my face, he reaches for the box. He opens it and then the strangest thing happens.

He smiles.

"This is really happening," he says, more to himself than to me. "Someone is actually asking my permission to marry my daughter. He marched straight up to my office, looked me in the face, and asked. I used to worry about this day happening," he closes the jewelry box and closes his eyes. "And now Scorpius Malfoy is here. I always figured I would hate the guy who stood in front of me and said those words to me," he stands up and walks to his window. I stand up too, not sure what to do. When Ron turns back to me, I can't believe what I'm seeing. His face is red, but not red with anger. It's a different emotion that I'm not used to seeing.

"But you're a good man, Scorpius. And I don't hate you. And I know that you love Rosie, and you'll take care of her," he extends one of his hands toward me. "And I would be honored to have you as a son-in-law," he says with sincerity.

I grasp his hand and begin to shake but he pulls me into an embrace. It's over before I can even realize that it's happening but that's okay with me. We're both rather awkward when it comes to showing emotions.

"Thank you, Ron," is all I can think to say. "I don't know when I'll ask Rose, but I wanted to make sure that you would approve first. I know how much Rose cares about her family."

Ron nods. "Thank you, Scorpius. Have you talked to your parents about this yet?"

"I did. My mother actually helped me pick out the ring," I said, slightly embarrassed.

Ron laughs. "My sister had to help me pick out Hermione's ring. It's safer that way, I suppose," he says approvingly. "I think I should talk to your father then. And I'll tell Hermione. I'm sure she and your mother will want to start planning an engagement party for you two. So, you know, tell Rosie sooner rather than later."

"I guess I'll have to," I smile as my heart feels like it's flying in chest. Ron's approval means the world to me and his words of encouragement make me want to run to Rose right away and ask her.

"I'll tell her to let you know when we've made it official. Have a good day, Ron."

He smiles and shakes my hand. "You too, Scorpius. I'll be waiting to hear from her."

The rain has slowed by the time I leave. I can even see the sun breaking through the clouds. Off in the distance.

XXXX

Rose is drinking a cup of coffee at our table at Nathaniel's when I get there at lunchtime. She waves at me and stands up to kiss me.

"Hi sweetheart," I kiss her back. "How has your day been so far?"

"Great!" She exclaims sitting down. "I'm rather busy though, so I ordered already. We've been in standstill in this trade agreement for weeks but we're finally making some headway! I'm going to have to eat and run. I hope that's okay."

We sit down. "Of course, do what you have to."

"Thanks. How has your day been?"

I look away from her and stare out the window. The rain had cleared and it was beginning to look like a beautiful day outside. "Also great," she can read me so well and I don't want to give anything away in my facial expressions. "I got to have a meeting with someone I've been looking forward to talking to. Before you ask, you'll be able to read about it in the paper soon."

She pouts. "You always make me wait! I'm your girlfriend. Doesn't that give me some privileges as far as being the first to read a story?"

"Oh, look. More coffee," I say as the waitress, Vivian, brings the pot over to refill Rose's cup.

"Hey handsome, have a good weekend?"

"I did. Did you and Matthew end up going to that amusement park?"

"We did!" She exclaims. "He loved it. It was good for us to get out together like that. I worry that he's going to be getting too old for that soon. He's not always going to want to hang out with mum on the weekends, you know."

"I don't know, Viv," I shrug. "I think you'll be surprised how much he'll want your advice on things when he gets older. I used to go to my mom for everything."

Her face softens. "Thanks for that. You're so sweet," she turns to Rose. "Hold onto this one for as long as you can, love."

"Oh, I plan to."

"Your food will be out in a minute," Vivian leaves to take care of other customers.

"She told me I should wait to order our food in case I didn't know what you wanted," she giggles.

"I get one of three things every day. I order something different every once in a great while. As long as you stuck to one of the regular things I think we'll be good."

"So you're saying that today wasn't the day to go and order the liver and onions," she winks at me.

I shake my head. "I love you, Rose Weasley."

"I love you too, Scorpius Malfoy," her face lights up in a way that made my heart skip a beat. "Hey, what are you doing this weekend?"

"I don't have any plans set in stone yet," I tell her. Well, nothing besides figuring out how to propose to you. "What are you thinking?"

"Okay. How would you like to have dinner with my family? Mum got a hold of me at the office this morning and invited us. She sounded so excited about having you and I over that I didn't dare tell her 'no.' Do you want to go? It's on Sunday. If you want to back out, that's fine. I'll completely understand."

I laugh. Apparently Hermione has set a timeline for me. "I want to go, Rose. Just keep me updated on the details," Vivian returns, setting our food down in front of us.

"Oh, you were out of the liver and onions? Shame," I say, picking up my sandwich.

Rose's eyes twinkle with a smile. We eat and chat until it's time to go. She's been working at the Ministry of Magic for the past few months. Her uncle Percy helped her get an entry-level position in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and she loved every moment of it.

"See you after work at the coffee shop?" She asks, standing up and kissing my cheek.

"I'll be the one with the man purse," I tell her. I'd given up a long time ago trying to convince her to call it a 'satchel'. "I've got lunch today," I grab my wallet and we say goodbye. She waves to Vivian before rushing out.

XXXX

I walk into the coffee shop and Emily greets me happily. "Hey you. Lily and Chris are here, but Rose hasn't gotten here yet. By the way," she lowers her voice to a whisper and leans across the counter to talk to me. "Lily invited me to go wedding dress shopping with her and Rose."

"Lily and Chris are getting married?"

Emily rolls her eyes. "A wedding dress for Rose."

"Oh. What? I haven't even proposed yet."

"I know. But you're going to, right? That's what you told Lily right?"

"No. I told my parents, and then I just went to go talk to Rose's father to ask his permission this morning."

"You went to her father! Oh, that's so romantic and so old-fashioned!" She gushes.

"Emily, I haven't talked to Rose about this yet. I'd really appreciate your discretion on this matter."

"My lips are sealed," she runs her fingers across her lips. "But do it soon! I don't know how long I can wait to start talking about it."

"Scorpius!" Lily rushes up and jumps into my arms for a hug. "I'm so excited for you! My mum called me this morning to tell me the news and ask me to help out with the party on Sunday. It's going to be an engagement party for the two of you, so make sure you pop the question before then!"

"Oh, oh!" Emily chimes in. "You should do it tonight! Ask her tonight! Please, I don't want to wait another day!"

I shake my head. I'm not going to be able to win this one. "Please don't say anything to her about this until you see a diamond ring on her finger. I want it to be a surprise, if at all possible."

That sends them both into a fit of high-pitched squeals.

"Do you have the ring with you right now?"

"Oh, of course he does!" Lily jumps up and down and tries to pull my satchel away from me.

I let her open it and she finds the jewelry box. She squeaks and hops around me to set it on the counter so she and Emily can inspect it. "Careful," Emily whispers as Lily pops the box open.

They both gasp and I'm not sure if they're actually being quiet for once or if their squeals have hit that pitch that only dogs can hear.

"Scorpius," Lily starts. "It's beautiful."

"Gorgeous," Emily agrees.

"You think she'll like it?"

"She's going to love it. Scorpius! You have exquisite taste! I'm impressed."

I laugh. "Don't be too impressed. Mum helped steer me in the right direction. She's the one with the good taste in jewelry, but she did let me choose between this and two other rings we thought would be appropriate. She helped me pick out the necklace I got Rose for our anniversary too."

"Oh, I love that necklace too! Hey, her necklace is going to go great with this ring."

"Your mum probably planned that too!"

I look at the ring. "Huh, I think you're right. Wow, I have a lot to learn about this stuff."

They laugh and Emily gets my drink for me. I put the box back into my bag. After a second thought, I put the ring in my pocket. You never know. I'm surprised by how pleased their reactions have made me.

Rose shows up and we sit down with Chris and Lily. Chris looks slightly uncomfortable and I'm willing to bet that he's gotten an earful about weddings and such things since he met up with Lily here.

Fortunately for all of us, Lily keeps the conversation full of things having nothing to do with the engagement. She does, however, invite Rose to go shopping the following weekend. Rose agrees, having no idea that it would be her wedding dress they would be shopping for.

Lily and Chris leave a few minutes before we do. I put my arm around Rose and pull her close to me as we walk down the sidewalk.

"Do you want to come over tonight?" She asks.

I kiss her forehead. "I can come over for a bit."

"Great," she wraps an arm around my waist.

Gregory meows loudly as we walk through the door. He saunters toward me and weaves around my legs. Apparently even the cat knows my plans and is excited about it.

"You're happy today," Rose picks up the roly-poly cat and takes him into the kitchen with her. I sit down on the couch and notice a familiar notebook sitting on the coffee table.

"How do you like this one so far?" I pick up the book and flip through the pages, staring at my own handwriting.

I hear kibble being poured into a bowl. "I think that one is fantastic! It was a little sad at the beginning, though. Did you know Vivian's husband before he passed away?" Rose returns and plops down on the couch beside me.

"No. I only know what she's told me about him."

"You know, I think this one might be my favorite so far. I didn't know Vivian back then, but I can absolutely picture her being like this woman. Things would have been very tough for her at first, she probably wouldn't have been able to even get herself out of bed. But she had a great family and of course her son to look after. Well, Vivian has a son. Veronica," she points to the notebook, "has a daughter."

"Vivian's experience was my inspiration for this story. It's not completely mirrored after her life. Just like Emily's experience was the inspiration for the last one you read."

"I know," she sighs. "Aren't I ever going to inspire a story for you? I mean, you're working on one about Lily now aren't you?"

"It's not a story about Lily's love life. Her personality, however, just screams to be a character. I suppose the story is just growing around her," he shrugs. "I don't know how my muse works."

She sighs again. "You have such a way with words, Scorpius. Your characters always make my heart melt. I'm so glad you're finally letting me read these!"

It wasn't easy, but I did eventually agree to let Rose read my own personal writing. I feel a little self-conscious, I suppose, because I tend to write love stories if I write anything in my free time.

"Which one is your favorite?" She asks.

I don't even have to think about it. "The one that my mother inspired is my favorite. It's the first story that I ever finished, and I really liked finding out some things about my mother's past life and then just making up the part about what I assumed she was like when she was younger. I let her read it after I started letting you read some of my stories. She cried and hugged me for such a long time after she finished it. I even printed a copy of it for her. I'm going to give it to her for her birthday."

"Scorpius, that's wonderful!"

"Speaking of birthday presents, your day is coming up soon," I stand up. "Let's go back to your room now so I can snoop around and see what you might need."

Rose laughs but follows me back to her bedroom.

"Well, you could use a new pair of shoes," I say when I look in her closet.

"Yeah, twenty-three pairs just aren't enough."

I smile. "Maybe a sweater," I say. "I think a nice, thick, old-lady-looking sweater would look adorable on you."

Rose sits down on her bed and watches me walk around her room.

I move to her dresser. "This jewelry box is nice. Where did you get this from?"

"My grandmother gave it to me years ago. Grandma Granger, that is," she says.

I bring it over to her on the bed. "She gave you most of this too, didn't she?"

Rose smiles and picks up a broach. "She did. Mum's an only child so she only has the two of us to pass her old jewelry to. This one was a gift from her father just a year before he passed away," setting the broach aside she chooses a bracelet. "These were originally my grandmother's. They were a gift from her mother for her sixteenth birthday, and then she gave them to my mum for her sixteenth birthday, and they've belonged to me since I turned sixteen."

She looks at the next piece with such adoration. "My dad actually bought these for me after I finished school," she sets the sapphire earrings back in their place.

There's a whistling from the kitchen.

"Oh! I forgot. I started boiling water for tea!"

She rushes out of the room.

Do it now, a voice in my head urges. I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring. I look at it for a couple seconds before placing it carefully into the jewelry box.

Rose has two mugs when she comes back to the room. "Chamomile sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," I assure her.

She sits back down with me and I hand her another pair of silver earrings. "What's the story behind these?"

"Those are from my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry. Eighteenth birthday," she hands them back to me.

"And what about this one?" I point to the ring and watch her face carefully. Her eyebrow arches as she looks at it. "I don't recognize it," she slowly reaches for it. I realize I'm holding my breath as she pulls it out and holds it up. "Scorpius," she starts. Apparently, it's her turn to stop breathing.

I grasp her left hand and pull the ring away from her.

"Rose Weasley," I slide off the bed and kneel on the ground before her. "You are the inspiration for the greatest love story I could ever know; our life together. And that story isn't over yet. If you want it to be, it's just beginning for us. Rose, will you be part of the most beautiful love story," I clear my throat and slip the ring onto her finger. "Will you marry me?"

Her right hand is clasped over her mouth by this point and I wait for her answer. She doesn't make me wait long, though, as she starts nodding excitedly. I stand up and scoop her up into my arms. "Yes!" She finally exclaims. "Yes, Scorpius! I will marry you!" I hug her close and she clutches to me as she begins to sniffle.

"Are you crying?" I ask.

"It's a good thing!" She assures me. "I love you," she kisses me eagerly. I can hear my heart thudding crazily and then I realize that it's reacting to the rhythm of her heart. I return her kisses with so much passion.

"I'm really glad you said yes," I say between kisses. "That 'dinner' on Sunday is actually an engagement party for us."

XXXX

That's it for this chapter! So, yeah… I switched to Scorpius' POV because, quite honestly, I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere writing as Rose anymore. I needed something new. I hope you all found it as refreshing as I did.

Oh, this isn't the end of the story by the way! I started writing a quick epilogue as well, so I'll post that in a few days after I finish and edit it a bit more. It'll only be a couple of pages, super short, but it was making this chapter too long and I didn't want to end the story at this point so… There you have it. There will be one more post and I promise it won't take another year or whatever to update it! (Oh, it would have been done today as well, I think, but I randomly felt like I wanted to buy new sheets, a new comforter, etc. and I got very distracted with online window shopping. Ugh.)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and thanks especially to those of you who have been with me for several stories and several (late, take-forever) updates! You're all awesome!