A/N: Betcha thought this day would never come, huh? Well here we are folks, the last chapter. Drum roll please...

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These words are my own,

from my heart flow,

I love you I love you I love you I love you

~Natasha Bedingfield

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Stop fidgeting."

"I'm not."

"You're practically wriggling."

"I am not."

"No, really, do you have ants in your pants?"

"For the love of Merlin I do not - " Rose yelped as Scorpius tugged her towards him, her strangled cry transforming to a gasp as his fingers slipped beneath the hem of her shirt.

"We'd better check, just to be sure." He patted her up and down theatrically, then straightened with a puzzled look. "Well what do you know, you appear to be ant free, Miss."

"Oh my goodness – "

"Then again," he cut her off, his hands sliding lower to rest on the swell of her hips and his eyes sparking. "Perhaps a more thorough examination – "

"Can you be serious for one single minute?" she huffed, all the poise and composure she'd been trying to gather vanishing like morning dew.

Scorpius gave her a look of mingled horror and disbelief. "You think ants aren't serious, Weasley? Clearly you've never left a donut unguarded on a picnic mat before."

"I - that's - "

He drew her closer, cutting off her feeble arguments. Rose felt the familiar stirring of heat as their bodies touched. "Relax," he said soothingly.

"I am rela - " she winced at the high pitch of her own voice and broke off, sagging against him with a groan of defeat. "Okay, I'm completely and unequivocally not relaxed."

He patted the top of her head. "You know, acknowledging your problem is the first step to recovery."

She huffed, then tilted her head to regard him. His grey-blue eyes were twinkling with mirth, and he was smiling down at her, not a shred of the tension she was feeling evident in his face.

"How are you so calm right now?"

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just got a good poker face."

"All those times I've thrashed you at Texas hold'em beg to differ."

He smirked and leaned closer. "That's cause I let you win."

"Oh my goodness." She tried to pull away, only to find that he had a firm hold of her waist. "You are unbelievable, you arrogant, narcissistic - "

"Ant!" he shouted, reaching for her ribs.

And that was how she found herself, five minutes after they were supposed to leave for her family's Christmas dinner, wrapped around Scorpius Malfoy in their New York living room. Rose wasn't sure at what point the innocent tickling had transformed into something deeper, only that at some stage Scorpius' lips found hers, and her fingernails dug into the ridge of his shoulders, and all at once the light hearted atmosphere was gone and she found herself backed up against the bookshelf.

"We're going to be so late," she managed to get out between kisses, her back arching, aching with the need to touch.

Scorpius lifted his head just long enough to shoot her a wicked grin. "Fashionably late."

"There's – " she gasped as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her backside – "no such thing."

"We'll make a grand entrance."

"Oh, M-merlin…"

Scorpius ducked his head to kiss the hollow of her neck, then drew back. "Alas, you're right," he said, trailing a finger lightly along her jaw, smirking when she shivered in response. "We mustn't be the last of your alarmingly extensive family to arrive, or Salazar only knows what scandalous things your many aunts might say about us."

"Ha bloody ha." She attempted a glare, though her body ached with the loss of his touch. "Now, have you got all that patented Malfoy charm out of your system yet? Because I really want us to survive today." She bit her lip, glancing up at him. "Actually, I want us to do more than survive."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Drawing him closer, she placed a hand over his heart, feeling its steady beat beneath her palm. "I want my family to love you as much as I do."

His eyes darkened, but when he answered his voice was light. "Not much chance of that, unless your feelings towards me are wildly less substantial than I imagined."

She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. "They're not."

It took a moment for her strangely fierce reply to register. When it did, Scorpius' gaze sharpened, and he opened his mouth to reply. But Rose cut him off, unable to stand the distance between them any longer. Her lips pressed to his, and she sank into him, desperate to be closer, to fold into his body until he realised just how deeply she meant it.

She felt him stumble backwards, and the thud of his back hitting the mantelpiece, followed by another thud as something fell and hit the floor. She didn't bother to check what it was, too wrapped in the sensation of his touch, of the way his hands sank into her hair and his lips moved hungrily over hers and their bodies pressed together so that she could feel every inch of him against her.

"Fuck," Scorpius broke the kiss with a curse, grinding the back of his head against the brick wall behind him and regarding her with a hooded gaze. "If you keep kissing me like that, Rose, we're going to be very, very late."

She smirked. "Actually, I've changed my mind. Let's make an entrance."

And she drew him back to her.

The truth was, Rose hadn't been at all sure about going to the Burrow for Christmas, even though the invitation had sat pinned to their fridge for over a month, her mother's neat, business-like handwriting seeming to follow her around their tiny kitchen, operating on her subconscious with a kind of strange, residual magic.

It was Scorpius who had slapped the invitation up there, using their largest, most ridiculous fridge magnet to hold it in place, the one he had won in some Luna Park sideshow a few weeks after they'd arrived in New York.

"So we don't forget," he'd said, winking at her, and that was that. Rose knew there would be no backing out.

It wasn't that she had any reluctance about introducing Scorpius to her family. Everyone and their dog knew about her sudden transatlantic relocation, after all, and Rose hadn't bothered to disguise the reasons behind it. But between the whirlwind of packing and visas and applying for healing school, then finding an apartment and starting a brand new life together in a foreign country, there had been little to no time to dwell on anyone's reaction to the news. And apart from a smattering of letters and a brief visit to her parents before she left, Rose had not yet come face to face with her family over her decision.

But there could be no putting it off any longer. It was, as her new American friends would say, time to bite the bullet.

And so here she was, coughing the smoke of floo powder out of her lungs as she stepped on wobbly legs into the Burrow's living room. She'd never been a great floo traveller, and international travel was a test on her stomach and balance. She spared a moment to cast a sour glance at Scorpius, who still somehow looked impeccable, before a droll, sardonic voice distracted her.

"You're late, lovebirds."

She glanced up to find Aunt Ginny propped against the doorframe, wearing an apron and looking like she had just finished doing battle with a renegade flour boggart.

Rose felt herself flush, and wished there was a mirror handy so she could confirm she wasn't as covered in hickeys as she felt. Ginny's gaze might as well have been x-ray powered.

"Um, hi Aunt Ginny," she stammered eventually, sending a quiet thanks to Dumbledore that her parents and the rest of the Weasleys were clearly preoccupied somewhere else in the house. "Sorry about that. Time zones, you know, it's just…"

"Dinner smells good," Scorpius piped up, and Ginny's slightly cynical stare transformed into a fond smile as she switched her gaze to him.

"Thanks." She stepped closer and gave each of them a one armed hug. "We were starting to worry you would miss it. Most everyone's in the garden - " as if on cue a loud bang followed by what sounded like Dom shrieking wildly echoed through the house. Ginny sighed wearily. "I'll be out in two secs."

"Do you need a ha - " But Ginny was already waving them off and turning back to the kitchen.

"So nice to see you, Scorpius! Oh, and Rose," her aunt shot her a positively wicked smirk over her left shoulder, "Watch that left collarbone."

Rose glanced down and saw that one of the very marks she had been worried about was peeking out from the top of her dress. She flushed and readjusted the strap.

"Shall we?" asked Scorpius, holding out his hand for her.

Not trusting herself to speak, she simply nodded and let him guide her outside.

Her heartbeat grew louder in her ears as they approached the garden. From the sounds of laugher and merriment filtering towards them, she could tell the festivities were well underway, and the thought of what might be said by the tipsier members of her family filled her with a sudden dread.

"W-wait." She found her tongue as they reached the back door that would lead them out into the garden, tugging rather frantically on Scorpius' hand. He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised.

"What is it?"

"Just…" she swallowed thickly and shook her head. "Just don't kill him, all right?"

Scorpius started to laugh, before registering her expression. "Wait, you're actually serious."

Rose bit her lip, not sure how to put words to the anxiety that was gnawing in the pit of her stomach. "I mean, I'm not but I am, if that makes sense?"

"Not really."

"It's just…" she let out her breath in a heavy sigh. "Scorpius, the last time you saw my dad he had you pinned against the wall in that very room." She gestured behind them, hating to take them back to that day but fearful of the repercussions of not doing so. From the shadow that fell across Scorpius' face, he felt similar.

"That was years ago, Rose."

"I know, but – "

"And it's not the last time I saw your dad, either."

She blinked. "It's…not?"

"No." His jaw tensed, and he looked away, staring at a spot on the wall for a long moment before dragging his gaze back to hers. "When you… when Lestrange took you – while everyone was frantically searching for you, me and your dad – we talked."

Rose gaped at him, trying to process what he was saying. "Why haven't you told me this before?"

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "It's never really come up."

Her brain was racing. Rose glanced behind them, conscious that they didn't have a lot of time. "And what? It was civil?"

"More or less," said Scorpius evasively. At her stubborn expression he sighed, and shook his head. "Look, I'll give you the finer details later, but suffice to say your dad knows where I stand on you, all right?"

She took a moment to process this, trying to read between the lines to what Scorpius wasn't telling her. But their time was up, and there was no more opportunity to dawdle; she could hear her cousins' raised voices and the sound of their names growing louder.

"Alright, well, just promise me you'll – " she broke off, staring at his face, and gave up words in place of a firm kiss to his mouth. "Actually, you know what, let's just go."

He smiled, and held out his hand. "Ready when you are."

With him by her side, Rose thought, she could have faced anything. "Ready," she said.

And they stepped out into the light of the garden.

And, somehow, it was all fine. The tension was definitely real, and there was more than one moment when Rose had to squeeze her hands together and send up a silent prayer to Dumbledore, but all in all the greetings were relatively painless.

Her mother rushed forward to embrace her first, so fiercely Rose almost stumbled backwards.

"Oh, Rose," she squeezed her tight then drew back to drink in the sight of her. After a moment, a happy smile broke out on Hermione's face. "Oh, look at you, my daughter."

"I can't," Rose quipped feebly, but Hermione barely appeared to hear her. She was too busy smoothing down Rose's hair, her eyes suspiciously bright.

"You look… happy."

Rose couldn't help glancing at Scorpius. He was standing next to her, regarding her fondly. When their eyes met he winked, and a laugh bubbled up her chest.

"I am, Mum."

"Are you going to let anyone else in, Hermione?" said Ron, and then the free for all of hugs and chatter began. Rose gave her dad a long embrace, then shifted nervously, wanting to say something but not sure how to do so without creating a scene. Ron must have seen something in her face, because his own lips thinned and he shook his head sadly. "Relax, Rose. You look like you're about to have a stroke."

"She's looked like that most of the morning," said Scorpius. He sounded remarkably relaxed, but Rose wasn't buying it. She was sure there was an edge of tension to the line of his shoulders. He really did have a good poker face.

"She gets it from her mother," Ron said, and Scorpius nodded sagely, as if this made perfect sense. Rose choked, and Hermione whacked her husband on the arm.

"Well, Merry bloody Christmas, I guess." Ron stuck his hand out and Scorpius grabbed it instantly, giving it a firm shake.

"You too, Mr Weasley."

"Call him Dad!" shouted a voice from the garden, and Ron's face turned puce before he span around.

"Oi, who said that!"

Rose winced, but relaxed slightly when she saw Scorpius laughing silently. There were hearty chuckles around the table, helped by the liberal amount of her grandpa's famous eggnog that had been consumed prior to their arrival, no doubt.

And then they were being hustled towards the table, and Dom had her by the arm and was leading her over to introduce her new boyfriend, and next to them sat Victoire with her belly swollen and her face glowing, and Teddy with an arm slung easily around his wife's shoulders. And Roxy, and Louis, and Lily arguing with Hugo over something, and –

"Hey, where's my hug, stranger?"

She span around at the voice, her heart soaring at the sight of the man behind her. "Albus! You made it!"

"Well of course I did," he said, grinning easily as he pulled her in for a bear hug. "You didn't really think I'd miss Nan's Christmas turkey, did you?"

Beside her, Scorpius laughed. "Surprised you could tear yourself away from the surf at Bondi, to be honest," he said, and Albus shifted his gaze from Rose to his old best friend.

The hubbub seemed to fade around them as they stood there. A sense of déjà vu swept over Rose, and it was as if the three of them were back at Hogwarts once more, she and her cousin and her once mortal enemy, orbiting one another like strangely disjointed satellites, touching and releasing and drawing back as they found their places in the universe.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Albus smiled broadly. He threw his arms wide, and in a flash he and Scorpius were embracing like brothers. Something warm and good and right clicked into place, and Rose knew it would be okay, all okay now.

"Damn it's good to see you," said Albus, pulling back and shaking Scorpius' shoulder vigorously. "You're looking great, man."

"So are you." Scorpius slung his free arm around Rose's shoulders, drawing her into the moment, the three of them forming their own private bubble away from the rest of the family. "Look at your tan, Al, it's outrageous."

"It really is," Rose agreed, smacking Albus' forearm, which was a deep bronze.

"Hey, it's summer in Australia," laughed Albus. His green eyes darted back and forth between them, warm and assessing. "So New York huh? You liking it?"

"Loving it," she said confidently, and felt Scorpius' arms tighten around her.

"That's great," said Albus, with a broad smile. "I'm happy for you guys."

Something twisted in Rose's chest. Her cousin's words were light, but she knew the hidden weight that rested in them. Knew the effort it had taken for them to get to this point.

Before any of them could say anything further there was a commotion at the back door, as Ginny emerged through it with a giant turkey held aloft in front of her. There was a chorus of appreciation as with a flick of her wand she sent it soaring gracefully through the air towards the table, landing it smoothly in the very centre of the carving plate set before Grandpa Weasley.

"Well would you look at that," Arthur said mildly, with an appreciative glance at his daughter. He spread his arms wide, regarding the long table of his family members with eyes that weren't quite dry. "Looks like everything's finally ready. Let's eat, shall we?"

Albus' gaze broke from Rose's, and he groaned heartily. "Thank Godric, I'm famished."

"When are you not?" laughed Rose, and Albus shot her a grin before turning away to pile food onto his plate. Her eyes drifted to Scorpius, and she realised with a jolt that he was watching her closely.

"What?" she asked in an undertone, as the noise of the meal rose around them.

He shook his head, smiling crookedly. "It's… nothing. You just look happy, is all."

The warmth of his voice sent shivers down her spine. "I am," she said, squeezing his hand, and his smile stretched. "I really am."

High above, a bird flew across the bright blue sky. Rose turned her face to the cold winter sun, and smiled.

Much later, as they lay in one of the Burrow's guest bedrooms in a too small bed that creaked with every movement, Rose propped herself on her elbows to smile contentedly down at Scorpius. There was a beam of moonlight slanting across his face from between the curtains, making his hair glint like white fire.

"I'm so glad we came today," she whispered, reaching a hand to adjust a lock of his hair. "Being together with everyone like that, it meant a lot to me. So… thank you."

He clicked his tongue, his eyes warm and bright as they regarded her. "It was nothing, Rose. Your family is my family, after all."

She swallowed the lump that his words conjured in her throat. "Let's just hope tomorrow goes as smoothly."

"Hey, after your dad, my dad has to be a walk in the park, right?"

"Exactly." She ducked her head to kiss him, lightly, but his hand shot out to hold her to him. Scorpius deepened the kiss with a sigh, his fingers slipping beneath the hem of the oversized t-shirt she had worn to bed. Rose moaned as his hands traced the lines of her body, her hips pressing against him, desperate to ease the growing ache between her thighs.

When they broke for air their heavy breaths mingled together in the small, quiet space. Rose felt Scorpius' heartbeat against her palm, hard and thriving. "Careful," she whispered, tracing his jaw with her spare hand and trying to resist the urge to sink into him. "Keep kissing me like that, and we'll end up making love in my grandparents' squeaky spare bed."

Scorpius gave her a lop-sided grin. "I can think of worse ends to a day."

She laughed, and his smile stretched, but he made no move to reach for her again. His stare was strangely intense, his eyes so bright in the moonlight it was almost overwhelming.

"What is it?" Rose asked, tilting her head as she studied him. When he didn't answer she kissed him again, then said a little unsteadily, "I mean, Merlin knows I want to. It's just that I'm pretty sure it breaks some kind of unwritten code of conduct, and…" she trailed off, because the way he was looking at her was threatening to steal her breath away. "Seriously Scorpius, what is it? Why are you – "

"Marry me."

The words she had been about to say catapulted to a halt halfway up her throat. "Wh-what?"

Scorpius' pushed himself upright, his eyes so intense they almost burned. "Marry me," he said again.

She gaped at him, barely able to comprehend what he was saying.

"I'm serious," he said, reaching for her hands. "I know it's only been six months, but I swear I've never been surer of anything in my entire life. I'm crazy about you, Rose, and I – shit, wait, I'm supposed to be on one knee." He tried to shift into a kneel, tangling their legs together in the bedsheets and sending them both toppling sideways. "Damn it," he huffed, righting himself and shaking the hair out of his eyes while Rose simply blinked at him, stunned to muteness. "I had this all planned out. Let me start again." He pulled her up so they were nose to nose, then inhaled deeply, squeezing her hands with his own. "I bloody love you, Rose Weasley. I have done, for as long as I can remember. And I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife. I want – I just want everything with you." He swallowed audibly, and his hands tightened around hers. "If – if that's what you want too."

Her mouth was hanging open. Rose tried to get her vocal chords to work, but his declaration had stolen the air from her lungs so completely she could not have formed a sentence to save her own life.

There was a long silence. Scorpius searched her face like he was hunting for the secrets of the universe. "Rose?" he spoke at last, softly. "Are you okay?"

The room seemed to have shrunk around them. Rose found herself wondering vaguely if she had drifted into some kind of dream. Had she heard him right? Had he really just asked her to marry him? She stared at Scorpius, wishing the light was on so she could read his expression better. In the moonlight he looked otherworldly, stunningly beautiful and earnest and –

"I'm sorry if that came out of the blue," Scorpius said, his voice low and hushed now. Anxiety tightened his features, and he squeezed her hands, his fingers rubbing circles across her knuckles. "You just – you looked so damn beautiful, and I've thought about it so much - I can't stop thinking about it - and I know we're young, but I don't have any doubts about spending the rest of my life with you."

She blinked, dimly aware that she should probably try and say something. But what could she say? That there was only one possible answer floating to the surface of her mind? That it wasn't even really a question? That she hadn't expected – that she hadn't even begun to hope that –

"Rose?" Scorpius' expression was tortured. "You're killing me here."

Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.

She swallowed around the lump in her throat and tried to get her vocal chords to work.

"Is it too much? It's too much." Scorpius filled the silence, oblivious to the thoughts careening through her brain. His fingers traced comforting circles on her arms, but she could feel the tension in them against her skin. "It's late, you're tired, I didn't mean to spring it on you like this. I didn't even bring the ring with me. It's still in the sock drawer back home."

I bloody love you, Rose Weasley.

Euphoria ran like an electric current down Rose's spine. "Yes," she whispered, in a voice so dry and brittle it sounded like she hadn't spoken in a century.

Scorpius barely appeared to hear her. "I swear I had it all planned out," he went on, meeting her eyes a little desperately. "With - with candles and everything. It would've been – it was supposed to be perfect. Damn, I really messed this up. Let's just – let's just forget I ever – "

"Yes," she interrupted him again. Scorpius broke off as abruptly as if she'd taken a swing at him.

"Yes what?" he asked hoarsely.

She threw herself at him, pushing him back onto the mattress and burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her body wrapped around him. "Yes," she whispered, her heart beating so loud in her chest she was amazed half the household hadn't woken up from the sound of it. "Merlin, Scorpius. Yes."

He sat up, taking her with him so that she was straddling his lap, his hands pressed to the small of her back. "Yes?" he echoed, looking up at her in wide-eyed wonder. "You really mean that? You're not just saying it because I - "

She kissed him, cutting him off, trying to press her certainty and her sureness into his mouth, using her lips and her tongue to say the things she couldn't seem to find the words for. Scorpius groaned, and his kiss became desperate, hard and hungry as his fingers dug into the flesh of her hips, dragging her closer.

"Yes," she whispered against his mouth, as their bodies shifted and adjusted, the spark between them catching fire and infusing the moment with so much heat her skin burned. With one hand she pulled the shirt she was wearing over her head, tossing it somewhere behind her into the darkness, shivering against the chill of the night on her bare chest. Scorpius kicked himself free of his pants, then wrestled desperately with her underwear. There was a brief struggle, a ripping sound as he tore them free, and then she was sinking down onto him with a gasp.

"Fuck, Rose." He kissed her, swallowing her moans in his mouth, and Rose clung to his shoulders as he rocked inside her, relishing the sensation of being full of him, wholly and completely. He dipped his head to groan into her neck, her breasts flattened against the hard planes of his chest, and his arms wrapped around her, supporting her as they found the rhythm they both knew so well. "You mean it?"

"Yes, Scorpius." She kissed the words onto his lips. "Yes, I mean it."

He looked up at her, his breathing haggard but his eyes shining with so much light. "You'll marry me."

"I'll marry you."

He groaned again, his hips bucking against her.

"I'll marry you, Scorpius," she repeated, tangling her hands into his hair as she moved above him. "I'll marry you. I'll – " She gasped, arching her back, letting him carry her past the tide of coherent speech. Her litany became a prayer between them, breathed into the air by their frantic kisses, coiling in her toes as she felt the familiar pressure build between her thighs. And when it came, that blissful release, and she threw her head back to gasp Scorpius' name to the moonlit sky, and felt him cry his own pleasure into her neck, she knew, with more certainty than she had known anything else in her life, that her answer had been the right one.

The only answer she could ever give him.

Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.

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Fin.

A/N: Phew, and that's a wrap! What an emotional rollercoaster this story has been! It's been a part of my life for so long, that it's quite surreal for it to be finally coming to an end. I feel like I grew so much as a writer in the writing of it, and I will never have words enough to thank those who have followed and cheered me on, some of you from the very beginning. I have been touched and humbled by the messages I've received over the years, and consider it the greatest blessing to have had the chance to share my vision with you all. I hope this ending did the wait justice.

If anyone still has a Harry Potter itch they want to scratch, I've finally started posting my Ted and Andromeda story (that one's already complete, so fear not, it won't be a 13 year slog to the end).

Other than that, it's farewell for now, and thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, to those who have helped me cross this finish line. Peace and love, ~A