Summary:
Rose didn't appreciate his demeanor. She didn't appreciate the way he was looking down at her either. All this time imagining what it'd be like to have him look at her again, this was never how she pictured it; he looked at her like a stranger.
London, England - Present
There wasn't anything wrong with London. Rose used to love living in the city. But now, instead of excitement and wonder, she stood in the center of her floo full of anxiety. It took ten minutes of stepping in and out of the fireplace and spilling enough floo powder to have made the trip three times for her to finally take a deep breath and throw the handful of powder at the ground.
"Number 7 Finsbury Park."
Within a blink, Rose was looking into the brightly lit London flat she had once called home.
"Oi, who the-" Albus was waving dust out of his face when he finally recognized the person across him, "Rosie?"
She looked down to see she was covered in ash from head to toe.
"Did you light an actual fire here Albus? Do you know how dangerous that is? I could have been incinerated!"
"It is you!" He exclaimed before pulling his wand out and gently swirling it around the soot covered ground, sending the mess back into the confines of the fireplace.
"Ya know, if you came round more you'd know I lifted the apparition charm years ago."
He pulled off his Ministry robe and held out his hand, offering to take Rose's as well. She handed it to him with a grateful smile. Albus rolled the robes up and gave them a shake before sitting them - now clean - on the back of the couch.
"So are you dying or do you need money? No, no, you need a character witness, someone's got you on the run is it?"
He was clearly having a grand time. Rose, however, knew this was just the first course of taking the piss she'd have to endure before this excruciating process was over.
"I get it. I'm a terrible disappointment of a cousin."
She tapped her wand on the top of her head and her hair not only went from ashen back to auburn, but also pulled itself back into a tight bun.
"Lighten up." Albus nudged her shoulder before taking a seat on the couch.
Instead of sitting, Rose simply flattened the bottom of her blouse and looked around the flat again. There were various potted plants filling the space as well as ivy growing along the brick interior. It was easy to forget you were in a busy city looking around the flat; a far cry from the dimly lit and sparsely furnished apartment she was accustomed to.
"Well whatever it is, you'll want to spit it out soon. We've a stag do later, Scorpius will be here any minute."
Rose tensed at the sound of his name as if surprised to hear it. She slowly exhaled out of her nose in an attempt to relax and looked down at the floor before responding.
"Brilliant. That's actually why I came." She looked back up, determined to present herself as unaffected, "I was going to ask you where to find him."
"Now you're taking the piss." Albus leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Has he done something? Did his dad-"
"It's nothing like that Albus." Rose answered, leaving the word 'obviously' in her tone.
"Well forgive me, but you haven't been in the same room as the man in what - four years? I mean bloody hell, youd've missed James' wedding if Scorp insisted on going."
"I know Albus, okay." Rose audibly exhaled and sank into the couch next to her cousin, letting her pretense finally fall as well. "Believe me I know. I just...I just need to talk to him okay?"
She hoped the sincere look in her eyes was enough to let Albus know that she meant his friend no harm. That all she wanted was to talk and leave town for another two years, never to intrude on their merriment again.
And after a moment of their unspoken conversation, she thought Albus believed her. He was about to respond when they both turned towards the loud crack across the room.
"I know I'm late." Scorpius had apparated in and walked straight to the backroom, tossing what Rose assumed was his Quidditch kit onto the floor in a loud series of bangs.
"Scorp!"
Albus shouted from his place on the couch. Rose quickly stood and flattened the bottom of her blouse, replacing her honest eyes with the ones that were once again on a mission.
"What?!"
The blonde shouted from the back of the flat and Rose felt her shoulders tense again. Had Scorpius Malfoy just shouted down a hallway? She heard some sort of splash she remembered as a shower charm Scorpius fancied as a quick fix for after practices and she ran a hand over her hair, making sure it had all been pulled back as intended.
"I'm not going to continue shouting down the bloody hallway. Get in here!"
Suddenly it occurred to Rose that her ex had wandered into a bedroom, left his belongings and was now changing for an evening out, "Is he living here?" Rose heard herself ask before she was able to control her curiosity, "What happened to the cottage?"
"That sounds like a great topic to start the two of you off." Albus countered as Scorpius made his way back to the main living room.
"We've ten minutes before we are to leave and you want to have some civilized conversa-"
Scorpius was clearly irritated that his mate had interrupted him getting ready. His wet hair was hanging in his face while his dress shirt hung on his shoulders not yet buttoned. Rose did all she could to look up from the floor and meet his gaze.
"Bollocks."
Were the first words he said to her after four years apart.
Rose felt her fingers tighten into a fist at her side before Albus broke the new silence between them, "He's right, I should be getting ready."
Scorpius wiped the wet hair from his eyes and squinted at where Rose was standing. He looked as if he were trying to decipher runes, which in a way Rose supposed he was.
"Has my father-"
"I just need to talk to you."
Scorpius's rigid posture relaxed and he finished threading his belt, "Well love, you've certainly gotten my attention."
The more his posture eased, the more Rose could feel her own posture tensing up again at the foreign behavior.
"There was a mistake with our papers." She tried to power through. The less time she spent here the better. "We have to re-file so I need your signature."
She held the papers out for him to inspect, but instead of taking them he began to button his shirt.
"Re-file? You mean our divorce?"
He said the word so casually that Rose thought a bludger had come from his room to hit her in the chest. Even more insistent they move this along, she moved closer to him so the papers were an arm's length away, but still he didn't take them.
"Yes." She could feel the resentment burning through her in a way that shook the file in her hand, "There was a mistake and without your signature on these we remain married."
Finally, he took the folder from her hand and glanced at them, flipping a couple pages and reading maybe three lines. Then he tossed the folder on the end table and began tucking in his shirt.
"Those are going to take some time to read through and like I mentioned, I've somewhere to be."
He shrugged and turned to go back towards the bedroom, but Rose stomped her foot, "Just sign the damn paper Scorpius! You understand we're still married until you do."
Scorpius rolled one of his sleeves up as he turned around. "And that's supposed to suddenly affect my life?" He spoke with an even tone and yet Rose could feel the anger in his words. He began rolling up his other sleeve and met her by the couch. "How long've you known? Has it changed yours?"
Rose didn't appreciate his demeanor. She didn't appreciate the way he was looking down at her either. All this time imagining what it'd be like to have him look at her again, this was never how she pictured it; he looked at her like a stranger. Then again, the more she thought about it the more she felt like one. She'd not spent five minutes with the man and he'd already sworn and shouted down a corridor - a far cry from the posh formalities she remembered. And now that his hair had dried a bit she realized how short he'd cut it, on the sides at least. He still had a good bit hanging in front of his eyes that he was looking at her through while waiting for an answer, but Rose didn't have one. She had known about this for months without so much as an owl his way. Her silence was enough for Scorpius to see he'd made his point. He used his hand to flatten the papers against the table, glancing over them again.
"It'll be soon then? Mrs. Creevey by the spring?"
Rose didn't mean to let her sudden concern show through her eyes, but it must have. Scorpius' looked back down at the table with a shrug.
"I get that Quidditch isn't an intellectual endeavor, Rose, but I'm not thick."
"He proposed a couple days ago..." Rose started, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She suddenly felt like a child again. Unsure of herself, unsure of her motives, unsure of what she even wanted, "But I've not answered him."
She opened her mouth to defend herself further, but realized Scorpius was deep in a thought and wouldn't have heard her if she did bother to speak. Instead she stood in silence again, wrapping her arms around her chest to help hold herself together.
Then, finally, he tapped the papers a couple of times and clicked his tongue. "You always did love a secret..."
Hogwarts - Spring Year 6
"Between The Prophet and Albus's big gob, it's rare to have a secret. It's nice having something that's just mine you know?"
Rose was standing at the corner of the courtyard, playing with one of her auburn curls as the blonde sixth year leaned against the wall next to her. He lifted her chin so her eyes met his then he shot a 100-watt smile and teased, "I'm yours now am I?"
The boy leaned down to kiss her, but she swooped under his arm before he could. Scorpius laughed before turning back around, "Not even a kiss goodbye?"
"Most of us just settle for a handshake, Malfoy."
Anders had poked his head over Rose's shoulder to shoo the boy off. Rose couldn't hide her smile watching him keep his smooth composure. She felt her heart starting to race at the subtle look of jealousy in Scorpius' eyes as he sized up the other man standing next to her.
"I suggest you take the summer to think on this new philosophy of yours."
He left after a mischievous smirk and Rose swore both men could hear her heart beating. She collected herself before turning towards her fellow Ravenclaw and starting their way to the Astronomy Tower.
Anders was a year ahead of her, but NEWT level courses had pushed them together more often over the last term. He was one of the easiest people to talk to and a great study partner - unlike her cousins who had different hobbies (i.e. shrinking all of the objects in the Great Hall to 1/10 their normal size right as dinner began).
"I hope I wasn't stepping on toes or anything back there. I've heard one too many of Malfoy's chat up lines."
"Is that so? And here I thought I was special."
Rose pushed a curl that had escaped back behind her ear with a small laugh. She knew Scorpius's reputation, but more than that she knew Scorpius. She turned back for a moment and was chuffed to see that Scorpius had turned back to catch a glimpse of her as well. She new there wasn't any hiding the giddy smile pulling at the corners of her mouth so she tried to change the subject,
"So...I'll have to look you up if I'm ever in Egypt."
"Ta." Anders answered with a big smile. "Or perhaps Peru. Actually, I hear they're doing a dig out in Fuxian Lake this winter so if you ever happen to be in China..."
Both friends laughed at the absurdity of his suggestion. Most of the friends she was saying goodbye to she'd see again at the end of the summer holiday. Anders, however, was headed to the ministry. If all went well he'd be on special assignment with Gringotts in a few years; breaking curses, traveling the world.
"And you know where I'll be when one of those mummies scares you back to London."
Anders impersonated the monotone voice of the ministry lift, "Level Nine. Department of Mysteries."