Scorpius's Guide to Getting the Girl

Chapter 5 - The Wedding

SCORPIUS

The moment he saw her, the first thought Scorpius had was, Not again.

Last christmas had been the first time Rose had dressed up, done her hair and looked straight at him while looking even more beautiful than usual, and in that moment he had been rendered completely useless and had made a fool of himself. He was certain he was going to do the same thing now.

He should have expected this, given that it was the day of Ron and Hermione's marriage renewal and she ought to be dressed up. However, he definitely did not expect for her to run up to him and throw her arms around him. He hugged her back as soon as he recovered from his shock, and prayed that his face didn't show how surprised and happy he was when she pulled away.

"How are you, Scorpius?" She asked, smiling at him.

"I'm great. You look beautiful, by the way." To his surprise, he sounded far more confident than he felt. Maybe because he knew that whatever he did, there was no way he could mess up and embarrass himself more than he already had in the past.

"Thanks." Rose said sheepishly, biting her bottom lip. Was it just his imagination, or did she seem more flustered than he was? And was that blush on her cheeks, or was her face actually reddening? "Would you like to sit with me?" Rose asked, cutting through his thoughts as she pulled out a seat at the table next to her.

***

"Hermione Granger-Weasley." Ron began. Him and Hermione were about to say their wedding vows to each other, and the whole crowd of guests had turned in their seats to watch them, including Scorpius and Rose.

"Dad was up all night last night practicing these vows. Let's see what gets him to screw up first, his nervousness or the lack of sleep." Rose leaned over and whispered in Scorpius's ear.

"I'm betting it'll be the nervousness. You can tell he's already sweating more than usual." Scorpius whispered back with a smirk, before turning his attention back to the happy couple at the front of the banquet hall.

"I have never met a witch as smart, as great a mum, and as brave as you." Ron continued. "You're so brilliant it's a bit scary sometimes, to be honest." The audience laughed, and Scorpius couldn't help but glance sideways at Rose. Ron's speech seemed to describe how he felt about Rose perfectly. "You never cease to amaze me, and though this is the second time I'm marrying you, I'll never get tired of it. I'd do it every day if I could, though I think you'd probably collapse from working so hard to make everything run perfectly." Yup, definitely Rose.

Without thinking, Scorpius shifted his hand to brush his fingers against hers, and then slowly, for fear that she would pull away, intertwined their hands and gave hers a little squeeze. Rose, who hadn't moved an inch up until this point, squeezed his hand back just as Ron said "I love you," to Hermione. It took all of Scorpius's willpower not to sag with relief and happiness.

ROSE

Rose had heard of getting butterflies in one's stomach, but that was nothing like the feeling she was getting now. This was like someone had unleashed a whole zoo of rampaging animals inside of her. And the weird thing was, it wasn't even a bad feeling. In fact, she kind of liked it. It made her insides feel warm and fuzzy.

Weirder still, Scorpius Malfoy was holding her hand. And she hadn't pulled away, because somehow it was comforting knowing he was there next to her. So she gripped his hand back as her Mum started her vows.

"Dear Ron," Hermione began. "I could give a whole 16 page speech about why and how much I love you. I almost did, actually-" she said, to which Ron gave her a wide-eyed look which clearly said, 'Please don't. We'll be standing up here forever!'  Hermione simply laughed, and continued, "- but then I realized that you'd probably die of boredom, and also that...." she sighed, "all that really matters is that I do love you, and that you know it. So please, please never forget that I will always and forever love you."

Out of the corner of her vision, Rose couldn't help but notice Scorpius glance at her, and couldn't help but blush at the way he looked at her like she was the only other girl in the room. And she couldn't help but blush even more as they made eye contact right when Ron and Hermione kissed.

SCORPIUS

They both looked away instantly, but even as he did, Scorpius's mind kept wondering whether that happy couple loving each other so deeply and openly could ever resemble him and Rose.

Maybe someday, but right now that day seemed a long way off.