Dance Lessons - Scorose

"I do"

The door began to open. "Rose, it's time to -"

But Lily didn't finish her sentence, because she had seen Charlie.

"Hello, Lily," Charlie said, giving her a small smile.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Charlie glanced at Rose and back again, indicating that the reason was obvious.

"Lily, I was wrong - " he began.

"Rose your fiance is waiting for you at the end of the aisle," Lily cut in. She opened the door and Rose walked out reluctantly fearing her cousin might throw a few punches.

"Lily - " Charlie said again but she cut across him for the second time.

"We'll talk later, okay? I want to witness something that will restore my faith in love before you tear it down again," and with that she left the room in pursuit of her cousin.

*          *          *          

Ron walked his daughter down the aisle towards his future son-in-law. Scorpius was stood under the tree next to the lake; Albus, the best man, at his side.

Scorpius turned around when he heard Rose approaching and smiled a broad grin at his bride. She looked beautiful. When they reached Scorpius, Rose stopped but, to her surprise, her father kept walking. She glanced at Scorpius who looked back at her with a boyish grin. Ron stood in front of them and turned to face the wedding party. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Rose and Scorpius. Now, when Scorpius first approached me about marrying him and my daughter, he said there was only one rule. Not to be embarrassing, so I promise not to be. Not until the reception anyway," Ron said, giving his daughter a wink.

The ceremony began and soon, they were asked for their vows. Scorpius spoke first. "I'll keep this short or we'll never get married. Rosie, you are my best friend and the love of my life. You are not only stunningly beautiful but smart, selfless and compassionate. I want to dance all of my dances with you, for the rest of my life. I love you more than I can say,"

"Scorpius, you stole everything I was going to say," Rose replied and everybody chuckled, "well, you are my everything. You are the strongest person I know and have stood up to the animosity against you with so much grace. I hold copious amounts of admiration and respect for you that go beyond words. You are everything I have ever dreamed of having - and I love you,"

"Scorpius Malfoy, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do you part?" Ron asked.

"I do," he replied, placing a thin silver wedding ring on Rose's left hand.

"Rose Weasley, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do you part?" 

"I do," Rose said, pushing a silver ring, thicker than her own, onto Scorpius' left ring finger.

"Then it gives me great pleasure to pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," 

They both smiled. Rose stepped forwards and put her arms around her husband's neck, planting a kiss on his lips. Scorpius put his arm around her back and dipped her, only pulling her back up when they broke apart. The guests applauded and threw confetti as they walked back down the aisle.

They all headed back into the castle and into the Hall where there were not long house tables but small circular ones dotted about the room, leaving a large space in the middle for a dance floor. The candles that floated above them had small navy bows tied around them which matched the larger ones around every single chair. Large flower displays made of blue and orange snapdragons sat on each of the tables, in large glass bowls that had been enchanted so that they looked like they held the ocean's floor. The teacher's table at the top was reserved for Scorpius and Rose, their parents and Lily and Albus, the maid of honour and the best man. 

After they had all eaten, Scorpius pulled Rose into the adjoining trophy room. "I have a surprise for you,"

"You're pretty full of them today! You got my Dad to marry us," Rose laughed.

"The necklace I gave you. It's a key. Here," he said, handing her a wooden box with a keyhole. She looked at him and smiled, taking the necklace off and enlarging it. 

"I knew it wasn't something dorky like a key to your heart," she said as she turned the key in the lock. She lifted the lid to find a brand new copy of Around the World in Eighty Days.  "Aw, thats sweet,"

"Look inside it,"

Rose picked up the book and opened it. The first page only had one sentence - a chapter title. Instead of the one that should be there, it read: Chapter One: IN WHICH SCORPIUS MALFOY AND ROSE WEASLEY ACCEPT EACH OTHER, ONE AS HUSBAND, THE OTHER AS WIFE.

"Wait, what is this?" she asked asked absent-mindedly, flicking through the blank pages until she reached another title which was, again, very similar to, but not the title she expected. Chapter Two: IN WHICH SCORPIUS MALFOY IS CERTAIN HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL. She flicked through some more. Chapter Twenty Four: IN WHICH SCORPIUS AND ROSE MALFOY CROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN. Chapter Twenty Six: IN WHICH SCORPIUS AND ROSE MALFOY TRAVEL BY THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.

"I told you I'd handle the honeymoon," Scorpius said quietly, a large grin forming on his face.

"Are we going around the world in eighty days?" Rose asked, looking up from the book. Scorpius nodded and she squealed, hugging him in the process. "Wait, eighty days? I don't think I can get that much time off of work,"

"No, I've sorted it all out, you're good to go. We leave the day after tomorrow,"

*          *          *

Lots of couples practice their first dance hundreds of times before their wedding day. Scorpius and Rose didn't. Nowadays, they danced so often that all they had to do before they got on the dance floor was decide what type of dance they wanted to perform. They agreed on a foxtrot. It is the mark of a good dancing partnership to be able to perform flawlessly together without a routine. They were taken by the moment and Scorpius' leading was so strong that there was not a single moment where anyone thought it was even a little bad.

After the first song, Albus and Alice, Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Ron and Draco and Astoria joined the couple on the dance floor. Lily was at a table talking to her Uncle George when Charlie approached her. She made her excuses and led him outside so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Lily, I'm sorry for leaving. I was wrong, okay? I left because I didn't think I'd be able to deal with all of this," he said, gesturing to the castle. Lily opened her mouth to talk but Charlie spoke before she had a chance, "but I've realised that I can't live without you. I know that you deserve so much better than me and I wouldn't blame you if you slapped me right now but I needed you to know that I regret leaving and regret not coming back sooner. I needed you to know that I love you,"

Lily slapped him. Charlie held his hand to his cheek. "Okay, I deserved that,"

"I guess we're even then," Lily said with a smile. She covered the hand that was on his cheek with hers and kissed him.