She looked down to his outstretched hand. Hesitantly, she shook it. "Let's do this."
Malfoy smirked and Rose looked over to the lake. James and Fred were throwing something over Al's head- who was desperately trying to get it. Lily and Hugo were wrestling in the water, something that slightly struck her with concern. That can't end well. Dom was trying to swim away from her little brother, Louis, who was purposefully splashing at her hair. Victoire and her boyfriend, Teddy, were hanging out in the corner of the lake. And Jacob was waving her, just before jumping in.
Malfoy took off his shirt, revealing his bare chest. Oh- and his six pack.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer."
"Huh?" Rose felt her face heat up. "Just shut up and do what you do best."
"Attract girls? Clearly that's working."
Rose smacked his head. "Antagonize him, you imbecile."
He looked over to the lake where Jacob was treading in the same place he just jumped into. Malfoy shot her a wink before running and jumping into the water, exactly where Jacob was.
"HEY-" Jacob yelled and tried to swim away as fast as he could.
Malfoy came up from the water, laughing at the fuming boy across him. "You should have moved."
"Are you trying to kill me!? I was right there!"
"Oh calm down, you big baby."
Rose tried to hide the smile forming on her lips in satisfaction.
"You coming in or what?" Malfoy yelled from the lake.
She took off her shorts and t-shirt, revealing the bathing suit she had underneath. Without a second thought, she ran and jumped into the lake.
The cool water engulfed her body as she swam deeper. In need of air, she pushed herself up, gasping when she broke the surface.
"Geez did you drown down there for a second?" Malfoy laughed, watching her emerge from the water.
"The opposite." She said breathily with a grin plastered to her face. It had been forever since she felt this feeling.
A soft smile curved his lips as he watched her face light up.
"What?" Rose asked, catching his change in expressions.
"Nothing." He brushed it off.
"Scorp, come here and help me! My foot is stuck!"
Malfoy turned around and Rose looked over his shoulder. Unsurprisingly, Albus had managed to get himself stuck between two rocks.
He swam over to Al and Rose watched as the two boys struggled to pull him out.
"Hold still!"
"No, dude just get under me and push-"
"I'm going to stop you right there."
"Seriously? You're going to be a wuss about this?"
"Just-"
"No, here-"
"Stop-"
"You stop it- OW! Watch it-"
"Shut up-"
"Are you trying to rip my foot out?"
"I- just stop struggling-"
"OW!"
Rose chucked and shook her head. Boys.
"They really are something."
Rose turned around and saw Dom.
"So Louis finally stopped trying to get your hair wet?"
"Yep. It just took a little bit of...persuading."
"Abuse?"
"Same thing Rosie."
"Dom, I don't think you persuaded him enough..." Rose trailed off, wearily glancing at the boy creeping up behind with a water gun.
"Wh- HEY! OH YOU ARE SO DEAD!"
"Swim Louis!" Rose yelled as Dom chased down her little brother. Messing with Dom's hair was not a pretty sight.
Rose swam over to the edge of the lake, grabbing her half empty glass of ice cold lemonade. She gulped it down as the sun baked them. Even inside the cool water she felt her body heat up.
She put down her lemonade and was about to swim farther out when she felt something tug her leg and pull her down.
"Ahh!" Her scream was muffled by the water beneath her. She shot back up, flailing her arms. A familiar laugh brought her to realization.
"Very funny Malfoy."
"I thought so."
"And I thought that we agreed on messing with Jacob." She glared over at him as he pulled himself out of the water, shaking his wet hair like a dog.
"True. But I never said I was done with you." He smirked, kicking water into her face.
"How mature." She muttered, sitting down next to him.
"Hey, is he talking to Lily?" Malfoy squinted his eyes at Jacob, who was hanging out with some redhead. "Sometimes it's so hard to distinguish you people. Everyone's a ging- ow."
Rose elbowed his side. "We're not identical."
"Oh well not you. Your hair is like a humongous, frizzy, ball of fire. I mean, I don't know where you went wrong in the default settings but- OW! Can you quit that?"
"My hair is just fine the way it is, thank you very much." Rose glanced over to where Malfoy was previously looking. He was right. Jacob was talking to Lily. She tightly gripped the grass, glaring over at him. Whether he was just talking to her or flirting, Rose felt the urge to get her little cousin away from him. He was bad news from the start...
Before either of them could do anything, Molly called everyone over for lunch. Like a bunch of raccoons, they devoured the food hungrily. Rose savored the last bite of her sandwich, chewing slowly.
"It's heavenly." Albus moaned with his mouth full.
"You gonna finish that?" Rose reached over to Al's sandwich.
"Hey- get your own." Al said, swatting her hands away.
"But I finished mine." She whined.
"Do you want mine?" Malfoy held his sub out.
"Really?" Rose reached over but was unable to grasp it when he swiped it away.
"Nah."
"Hey, Rose. Whatcha doing?" Jacob took a seat right in between Rose and Malfoy.
"Eating."
"Oh, yes I can see. Well, I was wondering if-"
"What's up Mclacking."
"Malfoy. As I was say-"
"What were you doing with Lily?" Malfoy cut him off, glaring. Albus's head snapped towards them.
"None of your business, Malfoy. Why don't you just go back into the hole you slithered out of?"
"You were with my sister?" Albus joined in.
"I- we were just-"
"I don't wanna hear it, Mclacking. Look, I don't know why you're here in the first place, but you better stay away from my little sister. You got that?"
He nodded without a word. The rest of the picnic consisted of Al and Malfoy exploring the woods nearby, James and Fred trying to prank their parents, Lily and Hugo chasing each other, and Dom gossiping to Rose about the latest news.
When it had started to get dark, they went back to the Burrow, surprisingly in one piece.
Malfoy told Al about their plans to drive Jacob out of the house. Needless to say, Al was more than happy to join them. A week filled with sneaking insects into his food, tripping him, and setting up a 'haunted room' had passed and they finally got Jacob to leave the Burrow. If she remembered correctly, he said it was 'the last time I would ever set foot into this hell hole'. After that, a clear explanation was needed and the three went clean. Rose told them about the breakup, and Albus and Malfoy confessed their schemes to drive him out. And of course, they were all rewarded with having to do everyone's chores for two weeks. Well, it wouldn't be a summer at the Burrow if Rose, Albus, and Malfoy didn't manage to stir up trouble.
♥️♥️♥️
I didn't like this chapter as much as I though I would but it is what it is 😐 Well, I'm just happy that we finally made it past the prologue! I can't wait to start writing 6th and 7th year because of the plot I have planned out for you guys. Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to comment what you think, vote, share, and follow =)