Rubies & Emeralds (Scorose Fanfic)

XXIII: One Down

It was the night of the last day before the Christmas vacation started. Scorpius and Rose were sitting by the fire after having stripped their dorm rooms of everything except posters and parchment. Now they were sitting by the fire, in the common room, just talking. Without any other lighting, Scorpius's usually-pale face had a warm yellow glow on it and Rose's red hair was the colour of flames. They did this a lot: Sitting in the common room and talking. It was actually one of their favourite pass-times (although they would never admit to it). But today, with the Christmas break coming up tomorrow, they both knew what the elephant in the room was--- the big question: When will they tell their families. But neither particularly wanted to initiate that conversation. Not when they were finally going strong with no... interruptions. Finally Scorpius initiated the conversation:

"So... Christmas break is coming up."

"Yes... it is." Rose said, sensing where this was going. 

"So... I was just thinking... do you want to... you know... tell people." 

"Do you want to tell our parents?" 

"Oh okay good. Nice to know we're on the same page." Scorpius said, sounding half relieved and half scared. 

"I don't mind. But I just don't want you to die, Scor." 

"Why would I die?"

"Trust me when I say both of us don't want to find out. So you might want to use a protective spell before you come into the house." 

"Isn't your mother better at magic than your father?" 

"Yes but there's no guarantee she'll actually step in and I don't want to take that risk." 

"Isn't your father a Auror?" 

"Yes. Okay so maybe he fights for morals but still!" Rose took his hands and said, "I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"You're genuinely afraid your father may hurt me, aren't you?"

"Even if he doesn't with magic, he may with words. I just want you to be prepared." Rose said, softly. Scorpius smiled slightly and kissed her forehead before saying, "I'll be ready. You should be ready for my family too. I honestly don't know how they're going to react to you." 

"That is reassuring, thanks." Rose said, rolling her eyes. Scorpius laughed and said, "What can I say? My family's unpredictable! Anyway, I think we'll be okay as long as we have each other, don't you?" 

"Yeah, I do." Rose said, leaning up and kissing Scorpius gently before entwining their hands and going back to staring into the fire. 

Only, now that they were standing before the main door of her house, she wasn't so sure anymore. In the moment, she had been sure that she could handle anything life gave her. But the more she thought about it, she knew that she wasn't ready. And that she was genuinely scared of their reaction. Christmas break had started only three days ago and she had slipped out of the house today, for the first time, to spend some time with Scorpius. And, after having a heated argument about meeting her family, they finally agreed on it.

"Rose, I don't know about you, but back home I had to actually open a door to go into my house." Scorpius attempted at a joke but his strained smile gave away his nervousness. 

"Shush. Maybe I should go in first, alone. You know, prepare them for what's to come."

"You sure?"