Epilogue

A/N: It finally snowed! I was so excited that I went outside to build a snowman, but it wasn't nice packing snow, so all I ended up with was a piled of snow with a giant carrot stuck in it. Most people seem to be taking it as a dirty joke...

Anyway, thanks to all the wonderful people who have reviewed! You guys really made this story fun to write. Also thanks to thestarlitrose and Irianaceleste for all their hard work betaing!

~Frosty

Albus' face split into a Cheshire grin as his two best mates walked into the courtyard hand in hand. He congratulated himself once again for a job well done. Not only had he managed to get them together with minimal help from Lily, but they were happily together. No more of those long, frosty silences stretching between the two while he tried to reconcile them. Unfortunately, they had a different way of making him uncomfortable now...

His grin turned into a wince when Scorpius suddenly swerved into a dark, shady area behind a tree, tugging Rose behind him. In a matter of moments, they were tangled together in a passionate embrace with no thought towards the people who may be able to see them. It would be almost sweet if it wasn't so disgusting.

Subtly, Albus sent a jelly-legs jinx towards his cousin, hoping she'd collapse and the disturbing scene he was watching would end. Instead of the desired effect, Rose merely clung closer to her blond lover, who responded by lifting her up and turning to press her against the tree. Their clothes were the only thing keeping them from being completely indecent.

Well that just wouldn't do. Albus wanted them happy, but he didn't want to see their displays of affection everywhere he went. He thought about intervening further, but Lily sidled up to him, wearing the very same Cheshire grin he'd been sporting only moments before. He didn't understand why Lily wasn't as disturbed by the snogging couple as he was.

"If you try to stop them again, he may end up ripping her clothes off right there against the tree," she said, obviously trying to fight off laughter. Apparently she'd seen his failed attempt to make the snogging end.

At his scowl, Lily's laughter echoed around the courtyard, making the snogging couple stop their activities and glance around for the source of the sound.

When Rose saw her audience, she squeaked as her cheeks flooded with redness. Slapping Scorpius on the chest, she wiggled until he let her down. The redhead pushed past the blond and stomped out from the little shelter from prying eyes the tree had provided.

Lily skipped away, still laughing at her older cousins. While she would love to watch the scene unfold further, she had much more important things vying for her attention.

"As Head Boy, I have to deduct points for inappropriate display of hormones," Albus said as his friends approached him, Rose stomping ahead of Scorpius. She was obviously displeased with the blond for literally dragging her into her current embarrassed state.

Rose nodded, still refusing to look at Scorpius. "As Head Girl, I completely agree with that punishment. However, as your cousin, it is well within my rights to exact my revenge."

With that said, she turned sharply, her hair swirling out and brushing against Scorpius' chest before she flounced away.

Wearing a thoroughly besotted expression, Scorpius watched her retreat. "I'm going to marry her one day," he said, more to himself than his companion.

Albus rolled his eyes. "You said the same thing when we were twelve."

"But I'm so much closer now."

Rose grinned as she touched down on the Quidditch pitch. They'd just had a very successful practice. The entire team was happier when Scorpius wasn't uptight and yelling because he was miserable. She liked to think his mood had lightened considerably since they had started dating.

Scorpius wasn't the only one in an unusually good mood; Rose was in high spirits as well. Not even the obnoxious Goldstein twins could bring her down, which was really something considering they'd become even more unpleasant since Rose's relationship with Scorpius had become common knowledge.

Landing beside her, Scorpius wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her on top of her slightly sweaty hair.

She couldn't let on that his casual little gestures of affection - like the kiss he'd just given - melted her on the inside. Otherwise, he'd exploit them shamelessly to get his way. He may not be Slytherin, but he had some decidedly Slytherin characteristics.

"Good practice everyone. Gryffindor isn't going to know what hit them when we crush them this Friday," he said, smiling when the whole team cheered enthusiastically despite their exhaustion.

The team started to filter towards the locker rooms for showers, leaving Rose and Scorpius alone in the middle of the field.

"I have a surprise for you," the blond said.

Rose smiled up at him. "What is this mysterious surprise?"

He shook his head. "Go have a shower and then meet me back here."

Excited, Rose rushed off to the showers. It was unusual for Scorpius to surprise her with something. She spent her entire shower trying to figure out what it was that Scorpius could have for her as a surprise. Since he'd really never done anything of the sort before, she had no idea what to expect.

The blond was waiting for her in the middle of the pitch when she came back out of the showers.

"What's this surprise you had for me?" she asked, smiling.

He shook his head, his lips tilting up into a secret smile. Wrapping his large hand around her smaller one, he pulled her towards the castle.

The students of Hogwarts had long since gotten used to seeing Rose and Scorpius hand in hand in the halls, so they didn't warrant a second glance as the blond dragged her through the stone corridors.

When they arrived at the spiralling staircase that led to the Divination room, Rose shot a suspicious look at Scorpius. There was really only one place they could be heading if they were taking that particular hallway. Rose didn't care for the Divination room when they were forced to go, she didn't see why Scorpius thought she'd want to go there when she didn't even have to be. It was an unpleasant place with too much incense, and there was always a chance that Trelawney would be lurking there, waiting to tell Rose that she didn't have a future in Divination.

"Don't make that face, you haven't even seen what your surprise is yet," Scorpius said, catching a glimpse of her expression.

Her answer was delayed as they arrived at the ladder that led up to the small tower room in which their Divination classes took place.

Scorpius climbed the ladder first, knowing better than to make Rose go first when she was wearing a skirt. The one time he'd tried to allow her to go before him – out of politeness, with almost no thoughts of looking up her skirt – she'd whacked him and made such a fuss that he'd never tried something similar again, or at least not in a situation that allowed her to catch him.

With a slight sense of dread, Rose climbed the ladder after Scorpius. Few good things ever came from the Divination room, something she had long ago learned.

Without the oppressive incense filling the room and the shades drawn over the window to keep out most of the light, the tower was actually a pleasant place. Sunlight was streaming through the windows, catching on the crystal balls and making strange, sparkling shapes on the stone walls. The light revealed that some of the cushions were more worn than they'd appeared in low light, but the threadbare velvets lent the room character instead of making the place look worn and tired. Altogether, the setting presented a surprisingly inviting atmosphere.

When her head finally poked through the hole in the floor, Rose saw that Scorpius was already sitting on a cushion at one of the small tables, a teapot in front of him along with a pair of delicate porcelain teacups. Rose raised an eyebrow in an expression she'd learned from him.

"My surprise is tea?" she asked dryly, taking a seat on a cushion on the other side of the table from the blond.

He shrugged. "You like tea, we're having tea. Look, I even made the vile raspberry stuff because it's your favourite."

Rose narrowed her eyes as she studied him. He was hiding something; he hated raspberry tea, so the only way he'd willing drink it was if there were ulterior motives involved. Her eyes widened and a sigh escaped her as she realized what it was he'd planned. "We're here because you want to know how we're going to do in the upcoming Quidditch game, aren't we?"

Scorpius choked on the tea he'd been sipping. Apparently she'd hit the nail right on the head. The boy would have made a terrible Slytherin if he was going to react so violently every time someone figured out his plans. The hat had chosen well when it put him in Ravenclaw.

Folding her hands on the table, Rose waited smugly for him to explain himself, amusement glittering in her eyes. He was so adorable when he was flustered and grasping for answers.

"I was just thinking we should harness this talent of yours for Quidditch," he said when he'd recovered his breathing. He didn't see Rose roll her eyes. "You can tell us what we need to work on and if our team is going to win the Quidditch cup."

Grimacing at the taste, Scorpius finished his entire cup in one gulp. He pushed it over to Rose while she sipped at her own tea. His eyes were so expectant and excited that she couldn't find it in her heart to crush him by flat out refusing to even try.

With a sigh, Rose finished off her own tea before looking at the dregs of his. How could Scorpius be so confident in her abilities when she felt like she was looking at lumps of wet leaves? It didn't make sense.

The future was supposed to be something left entirely up to individuals, not something predetermined and set in stone without any room for free will. Despite her strange ability to know the future, Rose liked to believe that she and Scorpius would have ended up together without the intervention of a vision. They had something special and she refused to accept that she would have let it pass unnoticed if she hadn't seen for herself what they could be. It may have taken her a little longer, but she would have eventually noticed Scorpius was something more than a friend to her.

Unsurprisingly, Scorpius just happened to have a textbook on hand that he brought out from under the table and slid over to her. He'd put quite a bit of thought into their little outing.

Rose shook her head and sent him a glare without any real heat in it. She didn't like that he'd pretended this was a surprise for her when really he'd just wanted her to do him a favour. However, she couldn't really be mad at him; there had been no malice in his actions, just a little misguided enthusiasm. He was a little Quidditch brained at the moment.

After consulting the textbook a few times she had a passable answer accumulated. They were going to win the Quidditch cup, but she wasn't going to tell Scorpius that. If he got too confident in winning, then he wouldn't coach them as hard and they would probably lose. She had a feeling she was going to regret that decision in the future, he could turn into a bear when the pressure started to get to him. The entire team would just have to deal with it.

"Are you done yet?" he demanded after a while.

Rose lifted the book close to her face to hide the smile on her lips.

"You," she started, grinning at his rapt attention and eager posture. "Have an amazing girlfriend who isn't going to predict the outcome of events for you like some kind of magic eight ball."

His face fell. "Come on, Rose. No little tidbits of the future?"

She was about to tell him 'no' when the present faded out, giving her an image of herself in a white dress, walking down the aisle beside her dad. At the end of that aisle was Scorpius, looking just as happy as he'd been when she told him she loved him – possibly more. The Scorpius and Rose in her vision didn't look much older than the ones Rose was used to seeing.

When she came back to the present, Scorpius was almost nose-to-nose with her and his hands were on her shoulders. "Your eyes went all unfocused, are you all right?"

Rose made a quick decision to keep what she'd just seen from him. She leaned back slightly so she didn't have to sit there practically cross-eyed just to see his face.

"You just saw something and aren't going to tell me what it was," he said flatly, pulling back to a reasonable distance.

Sometimes it was scary how easy he could read her. She nodded.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Was it at least something good?"

"Yes, very good." She leaned over and kissed him.

"I can't wait to find out what I did to earn that," he said. His eyes had darkened slightly and he was looking at Rose as if he'd like nothing more than to pounce on her.

"Get to work on reading my tea leaves." She waved her hand in the general direction of her teacup. Pouncing was all well and good, but she was going to make him read her leaves first; it was only fair.

With a tiny pout he only ever allowed her to see, he started doing as she'd asked. Rose idly wondered how her father could ever have thought that Scorpius was evil. Misunderstood, maybe, but there was nothing bad about him or his father.

"Have you told your mum about your talent yet?" Scorpius asked with a slightly evil grin as he glanced back and forth between her cup and the textbook. He knew Rose had been dreading breaking it to her logical mum that she caught glimpses of the future.

Rose glared; maybe her father's initial assessment hadn't been so far off the mark. Scorpius took too much enjoyment in her mother's disbelief in seers. "I sent a letter. She responded back asking if I'd been eating or drinking anything Uncle George gave me."

A laugh was startled out of him. "What'd she say after you reassured her it was the truth?"

Subtly, Rose sent a stinging hex his way. When he jumped and glared, the redhead laughed loudly.

"It's that attitude that's going to get you a failing grade in Divination," he said, mocking Professor Trelawney's voice. "You don't take Divination seriously."

"I don't try hard enough to access the beyond," Rose muttered, quoting what their owlish professor was almost constantly telling her. Rose was in danger of failing Divination, something Scorpius found hilarious. It was made even more hilarious to him by the fact that he was receiving top marks in the class.

"Maybe if you tell your mum you're failing Divination despite the fact that you're an actual seer, she'll believe you," Scorpius suggested, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

When he saw her reaching for her wand under the table again, he quickly changed the subject. "Did you tell your mum about us being together?"

"Yes. She wasn't exactly surprised, but she did tell me to wait and tell dad about us in person. She thinks it'll go better if he doesn't have time to seethe before he sees me."

Scorpius snorted. "The only one who's going to be surprised is probably your dad."

"Do your parents know?" Rose was a little worried about what his parents would think of their Pureblooded son dating a Half-Blood. Mr. Malfoy had seemed willing enough to support her relationship with his son, but what if he had some sort of change of heart? It wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

Scorpius tilted his head at her tea leaves and glanced back and forth between the cup and textbook a few times before answering.

"They know. All Father said was 'you're an idiot for taking so long and your mother hasn't stopped squealing like a schoolgirl since she heard'."

They shared a laugh at Mr. Malfoy's straightforward humour.

What Scorpius didn't say was that Draco had also added "And, for the sake of my sanity, wait a while before you marry the girl. It would just set off your mother again and I have a feeling she won't stop for months".

"What do the tea leaves say?" Rose asked, getting impatient. He'd been looking at them forever and didn't seem any closer to coming up with an answer.

Smirking, Scorpius reached into her teacup and pulled out a shiny silver key.

"They say that you have an astoundingly attractive, intelligent, charming-" when she cleared her throat, he cut the list of adjectives he'd thought up to describe himself and continued his sentence "-boyfriend who has a flat bought for when he graduates and takes that job at Malfoy Incorporated that's waiting for him. And this flat just wouldn't be complete without you in it."

Rose's eyebrows drew together. "Are you asking me to move in with you when we graduate?"

"You wouldn't have to live with your parents while you study to be an Unspeakable, and I certainly don't want to stay at the Manor. Apparently George Weasley has camped himself outside, occasionally prodding the wards and bombarding both my parents with questions about them." His hand stretched towards her, offering up the key. "Plus we wouldn't have to be secretive about our snogging," he added as an afterthought.

She didn't need the help of a vision to see a picture of her and Scorpius living happily together. Rose wasn't so naive to think that they wouldn't have problems occasionally, but they would be happy.

Instead of taking the key, Rose took his hand, pressing the metal between their palms. She tugged until he crawled on his knees over to her cushion.

Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

It was all the answer he needed. He slipped the key into her pocket before pressing her back into the cushions and kissing her properly.

"I'm taking this as a yes," he said, kissing her again before she could say anything else.

Rose was fine with that; she'd been getting around to saying yes anyway.

The End