Chapter 16

The wedding was everything they wanted. It was beautiful, it was an amazing day and all the guests were there. All, that is, except one. Scorpius, to Al's intense disappointment, was nowhere to be seen. This didn't come as a shock to Rose, but as the days wore on, the absence of letters became unbearable. She sent out maybe five, but there must've been a hundred crumpled up drafts lying on the floor of her room. One day in late July, Athena returned after almost a week of absence. Rose wasn't sure why or how, but her feathers were ruffled and her wing looked hurt. For the first time, the letter seemed to have been taken off her leg and read. Apparently the reader had been unhappy with the contents of the letter. After that, Rose gave up, knowing that it would just happen again if she tried again, and was likely to get Athena killed. She had an enjoyable summer, but there was always the lack of contact with her best friend hanging over her like a storm could.

Scorpius had the worst summer ever, and spent the second half of it in St. Mungo's with injuries that he had obtained "falling off his broom." He went to visit his mother's grave but other than that, was confined to his room.

When September came everyone was happy. They were reunited at last.

When they were in their third year, Rose made a decision: Something had to be done about Scorpius' father. She told the two most famous aurors alive; her dad and her uncle. Scorpius didn't speak to her for months, but eventually forgave her when he couldn't stand not talking to her anymore. His dad was in prison, and that summer he stayed with Al's family. The next winter his father was released, but the ministry would be keeping an eye on him, especially when his son was home.

Towards the end of their third year, Al and Annabeth, who had broken up the previous spring, got together again, to everyone's surprise. Their relationship was cut short again when it was revealed that Al was a parceltoung when he accidentally opened the chamber of secrets and was suspended for using it as a storehouse for the marauders.

In their fifth year Lorcan and Lysander came to school, and, being both weird and unpopular, started following Hugo and Lily, both third years, around like ducklings. It got bothersome eventually. That summer Scorpius stayed with Rose, not really being on speaking terms with his dad, and they got their OWL scores together. Hermione cried when she saw that her daughter had beaten her by getting Os in every subject. Ron almost cried when he saw that Rose hadn't beaten Scorpius, who he still had grudges against, but now more because he was very overprotective of Rose and said that he and her brother were the only men she would ever need in her life.

Sixth year was amazing, because Scorpius was the first of them to really lose hope and start dating. He felt like he was cheating on Rose, but also didn't understand why he should spend his whole life waiting for someone who was out of his league. At this point, Rose was starting to do the same thing. Al had been entrusted with their secrets, and as they were the strongest and smartest in their year, he was stuck in the awkward position of knowing that his best friends loved each other, and not being able to do anything about it except wait. Rose cried for weeks when Scorpius started dating Lucinda, and Al was the one to comfort her.

In the beginning of their seventh year Victoire had a baby boy, who they named Romulus. They all liked the name at first, but it was hard to find a nickname for… Rom? RomRom? Rommy? There just isn't one. Everyone visited them during winter break, but Scorpius had to return home after Christmas. Nearing the end of the year, there were some problems. A strange sort of love-hexagon thing appeared out of nowhere, making life much more complicated. By April, Rose, Al and Scorpius weren't talking, which was especially awkward with Rose and Al being cousins, and all of them had brocken up with their girl/boyfriends.

In June, the three were forced to work on a division project together, which was now Rose's best subject, to her mother's disgust. During that time, they tried their best to make amends, and found that it was harder not being friends than getting back together. Everyone who surrounded them was happy, as it got kind of gloomy with all the drama going on. This brings us to the end of their Hogwarts years, just after graduation. They all made it. Albus, Rose and Scorpius had passed the NEWTs with flying colors, and now, as they wandered the grounds for the last time as students there, they could only wonder, what next?

"Hehe, look Rosie," said Scorpius, pointing. "They still haven't bothered to fix that crack in the greenhouse window from when we had that fight in our first year." Rose laughed along with him.

"I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I'm sure you were asking for it!" said Rose, smiling fondly at the greenhouse in question.

"Hey, the devil snare was just uncalled for!" said Scorpius, indicating a long scar on his neck. "It permanently blemished my perfect skin!" he whined, sounding like Al.

Rose continued to laugh. "Oh what a tragedy!" she said.

"So you're really serious? Your going to Romania to search for that new unknown breed of dragon?" asked Scorpius, his arm on Rose's shoulder.

"Of course! Uncle Bill says it's beautiful there! And the new breed aside, it's the most densely dragon populated place in the world! And I'll be working with a real professional1 think of all the thing's I can learn as his assistant. I've known Professor Scamander since I was a kid, but this will be a whole different story! I was shocked when I heard that he was leaving Luna for a year, but it will be such an amazing experience for both of us! He says he hasn't been in years! Of coarse the "Quibbler" will be getting all the latest news on our research, so you should consider subscribing! I'll send you postcards and visit for the holidays! You and Al should try to come out and visit at some point too! I'm sure it'll be loads of fun!" she said, so enthusiastically that Scorpius felt very bad when her face fell at his expression of loneliness.

"You're even making auror training sound dull now, Rosie," he said, forcing a smile.

"Of coarse not! Dad said it was really fun and he learned a lot even though it was very hard… but that was my dad. You'll be head of the class. And think how cool it'll be when you and Al move into that apartment you've been looking at! I heard Beth was really disappointed. Something about how they've been dating for seven years and they should be moving in together instead of Al getting a roommate. Well, honestly they were only actively dating for five years if you do the math, but I'm not sure either of them are capable of that math… Do you think Al will be able to take care of his share of the rent on his part time job? I know he's writing for the profit and the quibbler but do those pay enough? I mean he will be devoting a lot of time to practicing, but I fully expect him to have joined James on the Chudley Cannons by next year! I wonder when he'll try out… But remember to tell me if he doesn't help pay, though. I'll come right over from Romania and hex him for you! Oh, by the way, the tent me and Professor Scamander are traveling in has a built in fireplace so we can use the flu network to talk! We should talk at least once a week, promise?" she asked, finally taking a pause to breathe.

"Of course, Rose. Did you always talk this much?" asked Scorpius, smiling for real this time, but still with a hint of loneliness in his eyes.

"Oh, am I? I'm just soooo excited!" squealed Rose.

"It's ok. I love hearing you speak, but it always seemed like Andy or Lily's thing." He smiled and she returned it cheerfully.

"Oi! Rose! Scorp!" shouted Teddy from where he was sitting by the lake with the others. They were setting up a picnic and were all going to eat and celebrate together.

"Coming!" shouted Rose, waving. She grabbed Scorpius' arm, but he stayed still. "Come on, I'm starving!" she said, tugging more persistently.

"Hold on a sec," he said, feeling very nervous. He knew what he wanted to say, but he just really didn't know how. "I… You know, Rose… I…" He looked around, trying to think what to say, eventually deciding to stick with a very straightforward approach. "I… I love you, Rosie…" He waited for a response, but none came for a moment. "Well I guess that means-" but then he was cut off. Rose flung her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. "Well I guess that means you do too?" he asked, once she had released him. She just nodded, grinning. "Well that was certainly better than last time," said Scorpius winking, his arms around Rose's waist. Rose blushed, remembering the new years kiss that had remained unmentioned for so long.

"W-we said w-we would for-forget about th-that!" she stammered, still blushing bright pink, but this time it was Scorpius' turn to cut her off. He pulled her closer and gave her another kiss, this time for longer. The cheers were clearly audible from where the Weasley and Potters were sitting by the lake, and passers by were wolf-whistling, but Rose and Scorpius didn't care. For now all that mattered was that everyone was happy, and the future held great things for all of them.

The End

(A/N And thus ends the first fic I have ever posted on ! Sorry for the poorly written, cliché ending, but I want to write some pokemon and furuba fics next and I just cant wait. I also have school applications so I needed to finish up. Thanks for reading and an extra thanks to those who reviewed! U all rock! Bye!)