A Fresh Start (HP)

[magstopia]

TITLE: A Fresh Start
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Temporarily rescued from self-imposed solitude after breaking up for good with her long-term boyfriend, Rose encounters someone from her past who offers her the opportunity for a fresh start at love.
NOTES: Written for j_a_lie for the smrw_ficafest. Special thanks to my betas katieay and birdseyeview for their sharp eyes and their words of encouragement.

DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe and everything it encompasses. This is a work of fan fiction, and thus derives no profit or material benefit therefrom.


"Remind me again why I agreed to this?" Rose gathered up the front of her dress robes to avoid tripping over the hem as she ascended the staircase leading to the ballroom.

"Because, dear cousin, I needed a date to help me fend off all the birds, and you needed something to get you out of your flat and take a holiday from brooding for a few hours."

"'Fend off all the birds'?" she hooted, quirking an amused grin at James. "Aren't we the strutting peacock tonight." Her expression grew solemn. "Anyway, I have not been brooding."

"Right. Have you forgotten which family you were born into? Even Louis has noticed that your joie de vivre has gone au revoir since you showed Philip the door."

"Has he really? Louis, who wouldn't notice a dragon was in front of him even after it set his hair on fire?" James nodded. "Have I truly been that bad?" Another nod. "Oh dear," she said sadly, pausing near the top of the staircase to blink back the tears that had just sprung to her eyes.

James, who'd been waiting on the landing, bouncing on the balls of his feet, hurried down to her level to throw an arm across her shoulders and give her a squeeze. "Aw, love, no one's blaming you for it. Who could? After all, you'd been moony-eyed over that knob since your Sorting, and then to break things off with him for good a month before your wedding? Of course you're going to be a bit of a Moaning Myrtle for a while! Anyone with half your heart would be!"

He grasped her shoulders and turned her towards him, looking deeply into her eyes. "But it's been three months now, and I really miss my favorite cousin. I miss her swearing like a goblin at Quidditch referees whenever they make bad calls, I miss the way she can out-argue nearly everyone in our family, I miss the way she never takes any cheek, not even from Uncle Charlie, and I miss hanging out with her at the Leaky Cauldron on weekends. If I have to spend one more Friday with no one to get pissed with but Fred or Lucy or my pinhead of a brother, I'll go spare." He leaned close. "Please, Myrtle, let me have Rose back."

"You poor dear," Rose said with a small smile, rolling her eyes. "To imagine the suffering you've endured on my account."

"Indeed," he said, his lips curving upwards. "I hope you appreciate what torment it's been."

"Thank goodness I have you to remind me."

His grin broadened. "Well, someone has to." He released Rose's shoulders and held out his arm, crooked at the elbow, for her to take. "So, whaddya say, cousin? Shall we go in there and show everyone that nothing, not even a broken heart, can extinguish the Weasley flame?"

Unable to help herself, Rose snorted with laughter. "James, you are too much, d'you know that? No wonder women are helpless to throw themselves at you." She let him lead her up the remaining steps to the ballroom entrance, where an elf in a garish waistcoat and spats stood sentry, checking invitations as the guests arrived.

He sighed with mock exaggeration as he handed the elf his invitation. "I'm a martyr to my own sex appeal, Rose. It's a curse, but someone has to bear the burden."

It felt good to laugh and to joke with James, Rose thought as they entered the ballroom. As much as it pained her, she had to admit he had a point: ever since she'd called off her wedding to Philip Manchester three months ago, she'd become almost hermit-like, tucking herself away in the sanctity and solitude of her flat and avoiding contact with others as much as possible. She'd even stopped attending family dinners because she just couldn't cope with the exuberance and energy that all her aunts and uncles and cousins brought to the table. Thankfully, while they'd expressed their concern about her absence, Mum and Dad had kept their distance. Dad and Uncle George had even allowed her to do the joke shop's bookkeeping from home, though she still had to come in twice a month so the three of them could review all the accounts. Apart from them, her only regular contact for the past several weeks had been with James and Grandmum Granger.

She hadn't felt lonely at the time, Rose mused, but despite her initial reluctance to accompany James to this party -- she couldn't even recall what the occasion was, but presumably it was a Ministry event -- she had to admit that it felt good to get out of her flat tonight. The dress robes that Aunt Ginny had ordered for her (no doubt in collusion with James to get Rose to agree to come) and her new haircut, which she'd got on a whim yesterday afternoon, helped boost her spirits.

Best of all, James had done some checking this afternoon and confirmed that Philip and his new girlfriend were in the States, and so there was no chance of an awkward reunion.

James had taken Rose's hand in his and was half-dragging her across the ballroom, to where her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and a few other Ministry officials were gathered, all of them dressed to the nines. "I thought it best to let Dad and Mum see you right off," he explained, "so they can spread the word that Myrtle's got free of her toilet, and then you can go home early if you wish." He looked back at her and squeezed her hand. "Any time you're ready to leave, just let me know."

"Thanks, James, but I think I'm okay for a while."

He smiled. "Good." Then, calling out to the group, he announced, "Look who I rescued from solitary confinement," pulling Rose beside him and wrapping his arm around her waist. "I had to slay a troll and kiss a frog to do it, but she's free now."

"I'll get you for that, you ponce," Rose muttered through clenched teeth as she smiled at her aunt and uncle.

"It's good to see you, Rose," Uncle Harry said, giving her a warm smile as Aunt Ginny hugged her.

"Well, your son parked himself on my sofa and refused to budge until I agreed to come. This seemed less costly than feeding him for the next eight decades." She bent down to give her aunt a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for the dress robes; I love the color."

"I thought that shade would look good on you. You look so lovely, Rose. Doesn't she, Harry?"

Rose felt her cheeks grow warm as her uncle eyed her appraisingly before giving a nod of approval. "Very beautiful."

"I daresay you'll attract the attention of a few admirers tonight," Aunt Ginny said, her brown eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Is that why James was so insistent on my coming, so you could play matchmaker?" Rose said with exasperation that was partly in jest, partly genuine. "Honestly, Aunt Ginny, you're as bad as Grandmum Weasley."

"Worse," James said hoarsely in her ear. Rose giggled.

Just then a tall, slender young man, his pale blond hair carefully swept back from his narrow face, came near and addressed himself to her uncle. As the two men exchanged words with an air that indicated an extended acquaintance, Rose turned to her cousin and murmured, "Who is that with Uncle Harry? He looks familiar. Do I know him?"

James looked in the direction she indicated. "Who, him? You ought to. It's Scorpius Malfoy."

She gasped. "It's been so long, I scarcely recognized him! What on earth is he doing here? He seems very familiar with Uncle Harry."

James gave her an amused look. "You have been out of touch, cousin."

"What d'you mean?"

To Rose's horror, James called out, "Oi, Malfoy! How long've you been Dad's assistant?"

"James!" she hissed as the person in question turned to look at them, then excused himself from her uncle to come over. "I swear..." She tried to hide her face, with its flaming cheeks, behind James' broad back.

"Nearly three years," was Scorpius' answer. "Since I completed Auror training. But you know that," he added, clearly puzzled.

James laughed. "Of course I do; we trained up together. My cousin, however--" He nimbly stepped aside, ruining Rose's sorry attempt at camouflage. "--fritters away her life with her nose in a ledger, and consequently tends not to notice the lives the rest of us lead." Rose squeaked with embarrassment when James slipped his arm around her waist and forced her to come forward. "You remember my cousin Rose Weasley, don't you, Scorpius?"

Scorpius regarded her impassively. "How could I forget? We were in the same year at Hogwarts. You used to trounce me in Transfiguration on a regular basis."

"I seem to recall you doing the same to me in Potions," she managed to get out. "With great enthusiasm, too."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "I suppose I did." He extended his hand to her. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Rose. It's been a long time."

She gripped his hand firmly, noting how the skin of his palm felt warm and dry against hers. As the pad of his thumb brushed across the delicate webbing connecting her thumb to her index finger, however, Rose felt a jolt through her arm and drew her hand back quickly.

"Oh, bugger," James muttered.

"What?"

"Priscilla Montgomery just walked in."

Rose gave him a puzzled frown. "So?"

He ducked down behind her, tugging Scorpius' arm until he was standing beside her. "So? So if she sees me, I'm lost. She'll sink her claws in me and never let go." Unimpressed with her cousin's childish antics, Rose rolled her eyes and let out a "tuh" of disapproval. When she looked over her shoulder to give him a piece of her mind, he cried out, "Don't let her see me back here!"

At that she turned to face him. "James Sirius Potter, what is wrong with you?"

"Bloody hell, Rose, you've done it now - she's headed this way!" He gave Scorpius a panicked look. "Keep my cousin company, will you? Make sure she dances at least once tonight!"

"Don't you dare abandon me, you miserable git!" Before she could stop him, though, James had fled, leaving Rose staring at Scorpius with utter bewilderment. "Do you have any idea what that was all about?" she asked him.

He nodded slightly, clearly exasperated. "I'll explain later - here she comes."

A shapely young woman with blonde hair teased to within an inch of its life, her dress robes straining across her ample bosom, sashayed -- Rose could think of no other word to describe her movement -- up to them. "Scorpius, doll," she purred, her voice gratingly coy and kittenish, "I could have sworn I saw Jamie standing here just a moment ago."

Her eyes wide with amusement, Rose mouthed "'Jamie'?" as Scorpius cleared his throat. "Erm, he was, but he got called away on business. Urgent business. Auror, er, stuff, y'know." Rose hid a laugh behind her hand.

"Oh, dear." If her lower lip had poked out any further, she could have used it as a drinks tray. "He won't be gone long, will he? I had such hopes of spending the night with him. I wore these robes just for him." She gave a coquettish little shimmying giggle then that brought on a coughing fit in Scorpius and probably violated decency laws in a dozen countries.

"He said he might be gone the rest of the evening," Rose dissembled smoothly, slapping Scorpius on the back. "If I see him, though, I promise to let him know you were anxious to find him."

Ignoring Rose, she simpered at Scorpius. "Ta, baby," she said to him, wiggling her fingers in farewell before wiggling the rest of herself away.

Once she was out of earshot, Rose turned to Scorpius, one eyebrow cocked, her hands on her hips, laughter bubbling just beneath the surface. "For an Auror, you're a dreadful liar, baby."

He retorted wryly, "For a bookkeeper, you're an accomplished one."

"That's got nothing to do - Wait." She squinted at him. "How did you know I was a bookkeeper?"

"Potter said you've always got your nose in a ledger when he introduced us." He adjusted his cuffs as he added, "And, I might add, I am your uncle's assistant. I pick up things."

Feeling strangely violated, Rose folded her arms over her chest. "You 'pick up things'? What sort of 'things'?"

He opened his mouth as if to reply, then closed it, pursing his lips and staring off into the distance. After a couple of moments he turned to her and asked, "Can I get you something to drink?"

Rose looked in the direction he indicated, towards what appeared to be a fully-stocked bar, then back at him. "I'll come with you," she said decisively. "After you've bought me a drink, you can tell me what other sort of 'things' about me you've picked up from working with my uncle."

"You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"Not on your life."

He sighed. "All right, c'mon."

A tingling sensation ran up and down Rose's spine when Scorpius pressed his hand at the small of her back to guide her across the ballroom, and she shivered involuntarily. "Are you cold?" he asked, looking at her with concern. "I can fetch my cloak--"

"No, I'm fine. Someone must've walked across my grave."

"What a morbid thought."

"You've never heard that expression before?"

"I can't say that I've had the privilege." He turned to the waiting bartender then and said, "Single Firewhisky for me, and... What will you have?" he asked Rose.

She pursed her lips as she considered her options. Normally, under the circumstances, she'd get gillywater, but until three months ago, "normally" had meant she'd be with Philip. Come to think of it, Philip had always ordered for her, without asking what she wanted. She actually thought gillywater tasted rather like fish entrails. "I'll have the same," she finally said.

Scorpius nodded. "Two single Firewhiskys, then." He leaned against the bar, facing her, while Rose hoisted herself up on a nearby stool. "So."

"So?"

"What have you been up to since Hogwarts?"

Her elbow propped on the bar, Rose rested her chin in her hand. "Why do I get the feeling you already know the answer to that question and are testing me to find out what I'll say?"

"I might know a few of the highlights," he said with studied nonchalance.

"Indeed? Why don't you enlighten me, then. What have I been up to since Hogwarts?"

Their drinks had arrived, so he took a moment to sip at his before answering. "Perhaps I should tell you what I've been up to instead."

"Wait," Rose said, "let me guess." She closed her eyes and pretended to be in deep thought, fingertips pressed to her temples. "You underwent three years of Auror training, after which you were assigned to be my uncle's assistant, which is where you've been for nearly three years." She opened her eyes. "How close was I?"

His mouth twitched. "Full marks. You've got great potential as a Seer, if you ever decide to give up bookkeeping."

"Or maybe," she said mischievously, deliberately teasing him, "I 'pick up things' too."

He seemed pleased by this. "Maybe so." He beckoned the bartender over for a refill. "Actually, I wasn't assigned to your uncle. He requested me."

"Really?" He nodded. "Why?" At the look on Scorpius' face she hurriedly added, "I don't mean to imply anything. I'm just curious why Uncle Harry chose you in particular to be his assistant."

He shrugged. "Maybe I was the most qualified."

"Oh, I doubt that." Realizing what she'd just said must have sounded like, Rose hid her embarrassment by taking a drink. "I mean," she gasped as the Firewhisky left scorch marks all the way down her esophagus, "I'm quite sure you're more than qualified. You wouldn't have lasted this long in the position if you weren't. Uncle Harry doesn't suffer fools gladly."

She paused to fan herself and collect her thoughts. "It's simply that he doesn't take such a personal interest on a whim. He chose you to be his assistant for a reason. He can't help himself; it's the crusader in him." She leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile and said in a stage whisper, "My mum's twice as bad."

"Sounds as though you know the species well," he said dryly.

"You could say that," Rose said with a laugh, then sobered. "I hope he doesn't work you too hard. I know how obsessive these crusading types can get at times."

He shrugged. "It's not too bad. It's challenging, which I'm glad of - no two days are ever the same."

"Long hours, I imagine."

He'd turned to face the bar now, showing her his profile as he ran the tip of his finger around the rim of his glass. "There aren't many opportunities for a life outside work," he admitted. "You could say I'm married to my job."

"I can sympathize with that." When he gave her a questioning look she explained, "Dad and Uncle George's business is so successful, you could say I'm carrying on quite the torrid love affair with my job."

"Better a love affair than the alternative."

Rose lifted her glass in a toast. "Better a solid marriage than a divorce, eh?"

His response blindsided her. "I was sorry to learn about what happened between you and that Manchester bloke. What he did was unconscionable."

Her stomach twisting as though she'd just been stabbed, Rose fought to keep her voice firm and even. "Something else you 'picked up' about me?" He had the decency to look ashamed, but she wasn't taken in by it. She slid off her stool. "What a pleasure it is to find out that the most painfully intimate details of my life are a favored topic of water cooler gossip," she threw over her shoulder as she walked away. "Your lot must've found it most entertaining."

"Rose, wait!" He caught up with her right outside the ballroom, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her around to face him. "Don't go."

She struggled to break free, but he held fast. "Let go of me!"

"Just let me explain. And apologize. Please?"

Rose found her anger diminishing as she looked into Scorpius' dark blue eyes, seeing regret and concern and something else there that made her catch her breath. Slowly she relaxed her combative stance, then nodded to indicate he should proceed.

He released her to comb his fingers nervously through his hair, wrecking the careful, conservative style so that several thick strands came loose to hang in his eyes. "First, I'm sorry. It was appallingly gauche of me to blurt out what I did without any warning."

"You always were rather blunt at school, as I recall. Blunt almost to the point of cruelty."

He winced. "I wasn't trying to be cruel, Rose. A lapse in judgment, that's all. I truly am sorry."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Right. That was your apology. Now you owe me an explanation: what do you think you know about what happened between me and Philip? And why do you even care?"

Scorpius wouldn't look directly at her, choosing instead to find something of great interest near his feet. "I know more than you'd like for me to know," he finally said. When she gestured for him to continue, he added, "I know he was chronically unfaithful." He glanced at her, then redirected his gaze to the floor. "And that the final straw was when you came home to find him with someone."

Hot tears of shame blurred her vision. "How - How d'you--? Oh, God!" she moaned with sickening realization, pressing the heels of her hands against her brow. "How long have you been spying on me?"

"No!" As though he feared she'd run away again, he reached out to grasp her shoulder, but she slapped his hand away. "It's not like that at all."

"Then what is it like?" Distress had made her voice shrill. "How else did you find out something I never told a soul, not even my own mother?"

"Look, I admit I stuck my nose where it probably didn't belong--" She gave a derisive scoff. "--but it's not as though you've been under long-term surveillance or anything of the sort. After you broke off your engagement and became such a recluse, your father grew concerned. He came to your uncle and asked him to try to find out if Manchester had done anything to hurt you. I had a hunch, so I volunteered to look into it - on my own time, of course."

"How chivalrous of you," Rose said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He made a noise of exasperation. "Would you quit finding bad intentions where there are none? I did it off the clock so I wouldn't have to file a report on what I found!" Rose gaped at him. "Even now, I'm the only person who knows the truth about what happened. Well, except for you and that toss--"

"But what about my dad and Uncle Harry? What did you tell them?"

"Simply that I'd found nothing to indicate Manchester'd done you any harm, and that you just needed time to get over a broken heart. I didn't think it would do anyone any good if they knew the whole story - you least of all."

"You did that for me?" she whispered, confused beyond all imagining. He dared to lift his gaze to her face and nodded. "But why? Why should it matter to you?"

Scorpius shoved his hands in his pockets. "I knew what a bastard he'd been at Hogwarts, and suspected that he'd got worse with time, rather than better." After licking his lips he continued, "You were always too besotted to see him for what he really was, Rose. I - well, it doesn't matter now. You're well shot of him, and that's what matters."

"No."

"No?"

"You've violated my privacy in the most painful way imaginable, Scorpius. You don't get to decide what does and doesn't matter."

His eyebrows drew together in puzzlement. "I don't understand. Aren't you relieved to be free of him?"

"No, you're right about that. I am relieved. What concerns me now is what you were about to say after you said I was too besotted to see the truth about Philip. You said, 'I...' then left off. I want to hear the rest of that sentence."

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose, his gaze far away. "You deserved so much better than him, Rose."

For some reason, his answer made her feel more bitter than anything else. "Really? Better than Philip? Like who? Surely not you."

Color flooded his face. "Well, as a matter of fact - yes. Why not me?"

"You?" She laughed. "Are you joking? At school you had your nose so high in the air it was a miracle you didn't get nosebleeds on a daily basis! Even if I had fancied you, you wouldn't have given me the time of day!"

Scorpius drew himself up to his full height. "Look who's talking, Madam my-family-is-better-than-everyone-else's! You swanned around that castle like you were Queen bloody Mab!"

"I did not!" Teeth clenched, jaw jutting forward, she shot back, "At least I don't go around stalking unsuspecting people, prying into their private lives for my own amusement."

"I--" he began, before stopping to swipe his hand over his face, its high color fading rapidly. "There was nothing amusing about what I did, Rose. Nothing would have made me happier than to discover my hunch about Manchester had been wrong and that he'd done nothing to hurt you. I've never hated being right more than I did then."

The intensity in his voice and the look on his face dispelled the bitterness she'd been feeling, leaving in its wake a jumble of emotions she couldn't identify. This time, when he laid his hands on her shoulders, Rose didn't try to break contact. "You've never hated being right in your life," she said, her voice tremulous. "You revel in it."

"Rose, I cannot take pleasure in anything that hurts you. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

As she searched deeply into Scorpius' eyes, looking for answers to questions she dared not voice, Rose felt as if she were floating and drowning at the same time, uncertain if she should call out for help or surrender herself to whatever had her in its grasp and hope for the best. Did she understand what Scorpius was saying? She thought she did, and if so - when she'd agreed to accompany James tonight, she'd not been expecting this. How could she have done?

She couldn't remember a time when she'd looked at another man the way she'd always looked at Philip. Until three months ago, she'd never imagined loving any man but him, never thought she'd grow old with anyone else. He'd betrayed her, however, over and over and over. Now, with all that behind her and confronted with the possibility of starting afresh with someone new -- someone wholly unexpected -- Rose felt as if she was thirteen all over again, her heart pounding in her chest, her cheeks burning with bashfulness, uncertain whether the wiser choice would be to take the risk or take flight.

Choosing the latter, for better or for worse, Rose gathered up her robes as she had on her way in and ran down the steps as quickly as she could. Behind her she could hear Scorpius' footsteps and his voice calling her name. Ignoring their startled looks, she pushed her way through a crowd of people gathered around the entrance and escaped into the refreshing night air, hoping it would clear her head so she could think things through, make sense of the chaos of feelings that threatened to overwhelm her.

Of course, as her rotten luck would have it, the clouds that had hung heavy over London all day had decided to unburden themselves, and she found herself caught in a late fall shower with her cloak inside and Scorpius at the door, blocking her re-entry, his expression fearsome in its intensity. Confused and distraught, torn between desire and fear, on the verge of tears, she turned on him and stamped her foot. "This is your fault!" she cried as the rain plastered her hair to her cheeks and soaked her dress robes.

He stared at her for what seemed to be the longest moment in history. Then, without breaking eye contact, he took his wand out and came toward her, his long legs covering the distance between them in a few strides. Rose, despite her instinct to flee once again, remained rooted to the spot.

As soon as he was standing before her, he gave his wand a flourish and charmed an umbrella to appear. "Hold this," he said thickly, thrusting it at her.

Unable or unwilling to refuse, Rose did as she was told, holding the umbrella so it covered both of them. Meanwhile, he removed his outer robe, leaving him in his shirt and trousers, and reached around her to drape it over her shoulders.

Her chin was trembling -- whether from cold or anticipation, she couldn't say -- as she raised it to meet his smoldering gaze. "Thank you," she whispered.

His hands were so warm and soft and strong as they cupped her face, but they were nothing compared to the feeling of his lips against hers, firm yet pliant, his breath escaping his nose to caress her cheek, his heart beating rapidly beneath the hand she'd pressed against his chest, her fingers clutching at his shirt to draw him closer, her arm sliding up to wrap around his neck as she stood on her toes for better access...

Scorpius was the first to break the kiss, lowering his hands to her waist and pulling back. Rose opened her eyes to see him looking down at her with an unfathomable expression. "You're shivering," he said.

"I'm soaked through."

He smiled gently. "That too." His hand reached up and smoothed her wet hair from her face, then he leaned down to place a kiss in the middle of her forehead. "Let's get you home and into some dry clothes before you catch a chill."

Rose rested her head against his chest, drawing warmth and comfort from him. "And then?"

"And then?" She felt his muscles tenses and bunch as he prepared for Disapparition and tightened her grip. "And then... we'll talk."

I also want to point you to the awesome fic that OMG!attilatehbunYAY! wrote for me, Regarding Trains. Please be sure to leave her a review!