AN: My friend told me to do a Rose/Scorpius fanfic. So this is for her. I wrote it while driving home from Billy Elliot and listening to Taylor Swift. Enjoy! :D
By the way, Speak Now, by Taylor Swift, is not mine, nor are any of the characters you recognize. Gwendolyn, though, is mine. :D
Rose sat at her kitchen table, reading over a letter. She had just moved into a new house in Bradford with her cousin Albus and his wife while she looked for a new flat. She had moved out of her old one after it foreclosed. Apparently, the landlord was involved in some Dark Arts trading. The building was closed after he was taken into custody.
While moving, Rose had come across a few boxes of old schoolwork and some letters. The letter she was reading was a letter that she had written to one of her best friends while she was in Hogwarts. Scorpius Malfoy. Rose had written him a letter after she had figured out why she felt the need to punch his girlfriend in the face whenever she saw her. Rose had never given him the letter confessing her feelings because she was too afraid of rejection. In fact, she had never told anyone how she felt. The only evidence of the fact was in her hands at that very moment.
She heard movement coming from the living room, which probably meant that her cousin had finally woken up. He never woke up earlier than ten on a Saturday. Sure enough, Rose turned around and saw Al stumbling his way into the kitchen.
"Well, the beauty wakes," Rose said jokingly.
"Shut it, you. I'm giving you shelter and food. Be grateful," Al said grumpily.
Rose smiled and turned back to the letter in her hands. She knew that if Al read it, he'd make a fuss, so she tried to stealthily shove it under a pile of papers on the table. But, as Rose had never been one for stealth, she wound up accidentally hitting the edge of the parchment into the stack instead of sliding it in. The papers flew all over the floor, and, naturally, Al saw what she was trying to do, even in his half-awake state.
"What are doing, Ro- Hey, what's that?"
She desperately tried to conceal the letter, but he grabbed it from her hands before she could.
"Hey! That's mine!"
Al skimmed the letter, and the farther he got, the wider his eyes became.
"Whoah. You have feelings for Scorp?"
"I used to. It's not a big deal," Rose said, bending down to pick up the papers and hide the blush that was quickly spreading across her face.
"Then why'd you try and hide it?" He asked the question jokingly, but she could hear the curiosity underneath.
Rose didn't respond. She didn't feel like trying to lie because she was shite at lying, especially to Al, and she didn't want to tell the truth. The truth being that she might possibly still have those same feelings. So, in lieu of answering, she just kept shoving papers into a pile.
"Rose? What's going on? Why won't you answer me?" Now it was just plain curiosity.
Rose gulped. She tried working out all the possible ways to answer him in her head. It was how she kept calm in situations like these. Not that she had ever been in this sort of situation before.
She could either lie, which he'd see through, not say anything, which would get her in more trouble, or tell him the truth, which he'd wind up finding out no matter what she said. The obvious choice would be to just tell him the truth. So, she lied.
"I just..." The only problem was, she couldn't think of anything to say.
"What? Why do you look so guilty?"
Rose then went for the second option. Even at 10:30, her cousin wasn't dumb.
"Wait a moment... You... Even... But... You little twit! You still fancy him!" Al looked like his birthday had come early.
"Al… I haven't even seen him since Hogwarts."
"That's codswallop. He visited you all the time the year after we graduated. He talked about you all the time." Al looked too smug for Rose's liking.
"Listen Al, it's way too late. He's getting married in two weeks."
Right. That's why she didn't want to tell Al. She didn't want it to interfere with Scorp's happily ever after. Even if it was with Gwendolyn Smith, the offspring of Zacharias Smith and Lavender Brown. The two most annoying people Rose's parents ever met. In fact, Rose's mum hated Lavender Smith. Rose had no idea as to why, but she knew that it was for a reason.
"Rose, Gwendolyn is a complete arsehole. She doesn't count as an excuse as to why you shouldn't tell Scorp. He'd want to know."
"C'mon Al, she's not that bad."
"Rose, she told Scor not to talk to you."
"What are you on about?" Rose was taken aback. This was news to her.
"You didn't know? I thought you knew... Shit. If you didn't know then he probably... Damnit."
"What, Al? What didn't he want me to know?"
He sighed. "I don't like emotional problems in the morning," he muttered. "Alright, you remember when Scorp started dating Gwendolyn? Well, apparently, he talked about you a lot. So, naturally, she got jealous. Jealousy does not suit her well, by the way. Anyway, she had him so wrapped around her little finger that when she said, 'Stop seeing Rose Weasley,' he did. I guess he didn't want you to know. Why do you think he hasn't spoken to you in over six months? Did you think he outgrew you or something?" Al asked incredulously.
"Well... yes. Actually, I thought I outgrew him."
"Oh, come on, Rose. You're smarter than that! How could you two outgrow each other? You were inseparable from second year on!"
"That doesn't matter now! All I've heard from him in these past six months was a bloody wedding invitation! He obviously wants nothing to do with me anymore! Why should I even go to this damn wedding?" She leaned back and sighed.
"Rose, you need to go. This is the only chance you'll ever get to tell him. He's going to marry the Slytherin in two bloody weeks! You'll never get a better chance to tell him and shove it in Gwendolyn's face when he picks you!" Al was getting more excited with every word.
"Al, he's not going to choose me. Don't be ridiculous," Rose sighed.
"Rose, you haven't seen him these past few months. Every day, he gets more and more emotionless. I wanted to snap him out of it, but I couldn't think of a damned thing. That is, until this little piece of information arose." At this, Al smiled in an almost evil way.
"Again, Al, what are you on about?" Rose couldn't really imagine that Scorp would lose that energy that Rose always admired him for. After all, if he gave up talking to his best friend for this girl, she should at least give him some passion.
"Rose, I've seen Scorp when he's upset, but never before had I seen him so... lost. No, that's not it. More like, resigned. I swear to Merlin, I think he proposed just because it seemed like the right thing to do at that point in his relationship. You can't possibly imagine how deadpanned he is. Sometimes, I just want to hit him with a Cheering Charm, or something. But, we promised each other that we wouldn't do that in fourth year." He seemed regretful.
"Al, are you telling me that he's... settling? When I..."
"Yes, Rose. That's what I've been trying to tell you! Merlin, you're thick." Al said, exasperatedly.
"So, you're saying that I should go to the wedding-"
"Yes…"
"Tell him how I feel-"
"Mhmm…"
"And laugh in her face if he picks me?"
"When he picks you, Rosie. When." He winked. "Start shopping for dresses!"
With that, he grabbed an apple and practically skipped out of he kitchen.
"Ugh! This is useless!"
Lily Potter sighed. "Rose, you've only tried on one dress. There are plenty more in the store."
"I know... But what if-"
"No 'but what if's! If we don't find a dress, I will make you one myself! You are going to this wedding!"
She said it so harshly that Rose figured Albus had threatened to jinx her if she didn't.
Frustrated at the lack of response, Lily huffed out of the dressing room to find Rose some more dresses to try on. Rose quickly changed out of the yellow and navy horror that Lily had shoved her in and changed back into her muggle clothes. She grabbed the bag that she had brought along with her, which contained her chapstick, tissues, pens, and the invitation.
She opened it again to make sure that this was happening. She pulled the parchment completely out of the envelope, which she had never done before. She had only opened it once, and she just pulled it out enough to read the names and the date. As she pulled the parchment out, though, a tiny piece of paper fell to the floor. She picked it up when she saw Scorp's handwriting.
R-
I hope you'll come.
-S
She checked inside the envelope again to make sure that nothing else was in there. This was, by far, the shortest note she had ever received from Scorpius. Even when they passed notes in class he wrote more than four words. She couldn't believe her eyes.
At that moment, Lily came back in with a handful of dresses in their hangers. She had to have about five or six.
Determination all over her face, Lily said, "Alright, invitation away. Miss Rose, let's find you a dress."
The day of the wedding had arrived. That morning, Rose donned her dress, put some blush on, tried on four different pairs of shoes before going with the first ones she tried on, and went down to the kitchen where Al was waiting. She nearly tripped twice on her way down the stairs, rethought the shoes, kept going anyway, and tried no to think about what she was about to do.
She had finally gotten to the kitchen without tripping and killing herself. That would be just her luck. Trip, break her ankle and have to spend all day in St. Mungo's getting it healed.
"Wow, Rose. You look… amazing. Lily really wasn't joking when she said it was a knockout," Al said, looking surprised.
"Yes, well, I've been known to dress up every now and again," she said, blushing.
Al cleared his throat. "Well, Miss Weasley. Are you ready to go?"
Rose giggled at the tone he used. "Why of course, Mister Potter. Lead the way."
The wedding was being held at Malfoy Manor. The gardens had been set up in such a beautiful way that Rose was distracted in her search for the groom. Distracted until, that is, she heard a screech coming from behind her. Rose, who had been standing alone by a window inside of the Manor, turned to find the source of the noise that probably turned the heads of all the dogs and bats in England. Gwendolyn Smith. Smashing.
"WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?" That one probably reached Asia.
Some scared looking bridesmaid tried to calm her down. "Gwen, Gwen, don't worry. I'll take-"
"Oh, shut it, you little twit! You've never been useful in your life!" Gwendolyn shouted at the girl, who cowered and moved back.
"You! I didn't invite you! Why are you here?" Luckily for Rose, Gwendolyn had taken her voice down about ten notches and was speaking in such a hiss that Rose was surprised that she didn't turn into a snake. Rose backed up a bit as Gwendolyn had gotten uncomfortably close to her face.
"Well, I got an invitation," Rose said after a minute of tense silence.
"Oh, right. You expect me to believe that? 'I got an invitation,'" she mimicked in a high voice. Rose rolled her eyes. The bride continued, "If you did get an invitation, then let me see it."
Rose had figured that something like this would come up. Which is why she was able to pull the invite out of her bag and laugh in her head at the dumbstruck look on Gwendolyn's face.
"Give me that!" She grabbed the parchment form Rose. Her eyes scanned the words and she looked back up at Rose with a smirk. "Well, you may have been able to forge this invite, but you are not on the guest list. Therefore, you were not invited. Get. Out!" As she said all of this, she had gotten closer and closer. When she screeched the last part, she was about two inches from Rose's face. Rose blinked, once, twice, three times, and then said, "Fine."
Rose turned to leave when, from down the hall, she saw him. Scorpius. He had his back turned to her and he was talking to Albus, who was his best man.
So that's where the little prick went off to. Left me on my own to deal with the monster, Rose thought grumpily.
As she turned to head toward the front door, Al caught her eye. He gave her a look that clearly said, 'Where on earth do you think you're going?' Scorp noticed Al's strange behavior and turned around, spotting Rose. Rose gave Al an apologetic shrug and left before Scorpius could call out to her. She didn't want to get him into trouble with her.
She heard footsteps coming down the hall towards her. She turned around to see Al rushing towards her.
"Rose! Where do you think you're going?" he asked angrily. "We still have a plan to pull off here! Scorp is right around the corner! You can't give up now!"
"Al, she saw me. Gwendolyn. She didn't invite me. In fact, I'm not even on the guest list. It was all Scorp. He invited me and didn't tell her. I can't ruin someone's wedding day. Even if she is a complete prick! It doesn't matter! She is still having her dream wedding right now, and I can't take that from her. I have to go," she said and turned to leave. Before she could, however, Al grabbed onto her arm and spun her around to face him.
"Listen to me, Rose Weasley. I know him and I know you. If you don't do this, you'll be condemning him to a life of misery and settlement. And you, you'll never forgive yourself for not telling him." He saw the change in her expression. "Now, the ceremony is starting in two minutes. I have to go. Just hide behind a bush or something until you get your chance to tell him. You'll know when that is." He turned to leave, but then thought of something. "Oh, and Rose?"
She was so nervous that she jumped a bit at the sound of his voice. "Yes?"
"You can do this."
She pulled him into a hug. "Thanks."
She let go. He turned down the hall and left to find Scorpius.
She wound up, ironically, behind a rose bush. The bush was near the end of the chairs on the groom's side of the aisles. She could see Al and Scorpius standing at the altar from where she was standing. The processional had already started. At that moment, the bridesmaids were coming down the aisle. They were dressed in a pale mustard yellow, which clashed horribly with most of the girls' hair, seeing as they were bleached blonde. Rose could see the bride's mother sitting up near the front, wearing pale blue and silver dress robes. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were on the other side, with Mrs. Malfoy looking slightly nauseous at the dresses the bridesmaids wore. Rose felt almost out of place in her bright purple dress. It stood out compare to the dresses of gwendolyn's family members, who were all dressed in pale pinks and yellows. Finally, there was a change in music, and Gwendolyn herself walked out, fully dressed in a dress that would even scare a princess.
Rose could only imagine what must have been running through the dressmaker's head when told to make such a huge dress. It took up the entire isle. There must have been about twenty layers of netting underneath to make it so big.
The bride had finally arrived to the altar where the officiator was waiting. Her father handed her to Scorpius and the officiator began.
"We're gathered today to celebrate the love that has brought these two together..."
Rose snuck a glance at Scorpius. He looked like Al said - resigned. He didn't look like he was about to marry the love of his life. He looked like he was signing a contract. The officiator said something then that shook her out of her daze.
"If anyone has any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Her heart began to race in her chest. She saw Al look back towards the gardens. She figured that he must have told the wizard to say that. Her hands were shaking. This was the moment. She had to do it now.
She stood up and walked towards the aisle. She felt dozens of heads turn to look at her, but she fixed her gaze on Scorpius who was looking at the officiator curiously.
"I do."
Scorp's head flipped around so fast that Rose would have laughed had she not been so nervous. Gwendolyn looked ready to kill.
"Go on, Rose!" Al shouted from where he was standing. She looked at him quickly and he winked.
"Well, I guess all I can say is..." Al nodded at her. "I love you, Scorp. Please don't marry her. I know this is really late and you probably don't care at this point, but I felt you should know that you had another option. So..." As she said this, Scorp's face went from confused to astonished. Rose couldn't take the stress anymore. "That's all I had to say." With that, she turned and ran.
She had gotten to the front parlor when she couldn't take it anymore. She sat down and just stared out the window. She couldn't think of anything but how embarrassing that had been. She had been right. He didn't pick her. He was probably outside right now, exchanging vows with the "love of his life" who happened to hate Rose's guts. Which meant that as soon as they were bonded for life, she would never speak to him again.
Suddenly, there were footsteps running down the hall. Rose thought it would be Al, who would probably come to comfort her. She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there, so for all she knew, the ceremony had just ended.
But it wasn't Al. It was Scorpius. Without a ring on his left hand.
"Rose?" He hadn't seen her sitting on the ground by the wall yet, so she stood up.
"Scorpius?"
"Rose! I wasn't sure if you'd left yet." He looked relieved and nervous at the same time. She wasn't quite sure how that was possible.
"Nope. I stayed here to wallow in self-pity. I figured that you'd stay out there," she confessed.
"Rose, I need to know if you meant it." He moved suddenly, making Rose jump. He moved quickly towards her, blocking her way of escape by trapping her against the wall. She didn't really want to move, though. His suddenly close proximity made her forget the question.
"Sorry, what?" she asked dazedly.
"Did you mean it? When you said that you loved me? Al didn't put you up to it?" he asked, looking right into her eyes.
Rose lifted her gaze to look into his eyes. She wanted to do this properly. "Of course I meant it. I've loved you since sixth year."
He flashed her a grin and, without giving her time to smile back, leaned in and kissed her.
A year later, Rose stood in front of a mirror, dressed in white. It was two weeks before her wedding, and she was doing a final fitting for her dress. She was in her new flat that she shared with Scorpius, her fiancée of six months. Lily had gone out into the hall while Rose changed. Scorpius was out with Al, spending some time down at the Burrow while Rose tried on her dress.
Suddenly, Rose heard voices down the hall. A pair of feet was coming quickly towards the door. Lily poked her head inside.
"Er, Rose? We've got a bit of a problem. There's someone-" She was cut short by a growl and a shout of "Let me in there!"
Rose went slightly pale and glanced around the room for her wand. It was on the table next to her. If it came down t it, she'd be able to use it. Sure enough, as soon as Rose spotted her wand, Lily was shoved out of the doorway and Gwendolyn burst through the door.
She sneered at Rose and her dress. "Well, look at this. The little boyfriend stealer in an elegant wedding dress. The girl who ruined my wedding is about to have her own. How sweet. I've come to inform you that I want Scorpius back. He was in love with me, not you. So, for his own good, I've come to get him back."
Rose stared blankly at Gwendolyn. She wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. Based on how serious she looked, Rose guessed not.
"Listen, Gwendolyn-" Rose began.
"NO. You listen. He's going to be mine, again. Just you see. You!" She poked her head around the door. Rose could hear Lily say, "Me?"
"Yes, you. Go and fetch Scorpius. He's needed."
Footsteps and grumbling about slavery could be heard from the hallway. There was a loud crack, and a few moments later a second one. Lily walked into the room, Scorpius close behind.
"Wait! Scorpius, you can't see the bride in her dress! It's bad luck!" Lily said as she pulled out her wand. She muttered a charm and Scorpius was blindfolded before he could look at Rose.
"Lily, what's this all about? You grabbed me and said that Gwendolyn, of all people, told you to bring me here. Please clue me in as to what's happening." He sounded very confused. Rose could see the crease between his eyebrows deepening.
"Sweetheart? I'm back!" Gwendolyn said, with a voice that dripped of sugar.
Scorpius jumped. "Gah! Lily, you weren't kidding!"
"Unfortunately." Lily drawled, crinkling her nose as she looked at the girl who was practically shoving herself against Scorpius.
"What is she trying to do?" Rose whispered to Lily.
"Molest him?" Lily shrugged
"What on earth are you doing here, Gwendolyn?" Scorpius asked, trying to shove her away from him.
"Well, I've come to put you back into your senses! You made a mad dash from that altar a year ago, and you never came back. I figured that this thing with Weasley would fail miserably because you would realise that you really wanted to be with me! But, since she still has you fooled, I figured that I should come and save you before it was too late. But don't worry, darling. I've forgiven you for running out on me," she said, while stroking his arm.
"Oh, this is ridiculous," Scorpius muttered. He used his free hand to remove the blindfold from his face, ignoring Lily's protests of "No! It's bad luck!" and looked Gwendolyn in the eye. "Listen. Listen very carefully. I. Don't. Love. You." Gwendolyn tried to protest, but Scorpius interrupted her. "I may have once, for a very, very short period of time. But when I saw Rose at that wedding, I realised just how bloody annoying you were. Sorry, are." Gwendolyn dropped her arms in surprise. "I don't understand how I ever liked you. Now, if you would kindly leave, then-"
"NO! You love ME! Not some half-blooded twat that you knew in school!" She was back to the shouting. Rose figured that she had some sort of commitment issues.
"Alright, that's it! Get out, now or I'll get my Uncle Ron to come in and escort you out personally with my father! You know, Harry Potter?" Lily shouted.
"You little-!" Gwendolyn started.
"NOW!"
Gwendolyn gave Rose one more scornful look, glared at Lily, and left in a huff.
"Now, Scorpius. You know I love you, but you need to leave so Rose can finish up. You weren't even supposed to be here. So, out!" Looking slightly afraid of the redhead, Scorpius quickly left. There was no crack of disapparition, so Rose figured he stayed to wait for her.
Once Rose had finished with the final fitting, she went into the living room. She sat down on the arm of the chair that her fiancée had sat himself down in. He gave her a look and pulled her into his lap.
"What do you think that was about, before?" she asked Scorpius.
"Well, she's always had attachment issues. And I suppose I never really did end it with her. I just thought it was fairly obvious when I ran off with you." With a smile, he leaned down and pecked her on the lips. "And besides, she's always been frightfully jealous of you. I guess I never realised how attached she was, though."
"Well, I suppose it's all over now," Rose said with a smile. "And now all we need to do is get through this wedding," she said with a wink.
There was a glint in Scorpius's eyes as he leaned in and said, "Now there's something to be excited for." With that, he leaned in and kissed her. She had never been happier in her life.
AN: Yay! Reviews are totally awesome!