Chapter 37: Gifts

November faded into December before anyone knew it. This year was truly going by fast for Scorpius, Rose, and Albus. A great contributing factor to that there was no stress of O.W.L's this year. But, everyone knew what December meant. Christmas time again. Exactly a year ago, was when Scorpius gave Rose her jewelry set that she wore almost every day. A year ago, was when Scorpius had the biggest crush that ever had in his life. Now, he was with that crush. The girl of his dreams. Him and Rose were very happy together. He really couldn't ask for anything else. He had everything he wanted. A supporting best mate. A loving, beautiful, sweet, brilliant, gorgeous, girlfriend. And surprisingly, a supporting father. There was only one spot missing. But, there was nothing he could do about that.

To be honest, Scorpius was probably the happiest he had ever been in his life right now. He was distracted from thinking about his mum. But, if she still were there, that would make Scorpius probably the happiest person alive. Scorpius knew that Astoria would have loved Rose. Those two would have had a lot in common. Scorpius really wished that his mum could have met Rose. They would have gotten along really well.

But, again, there was nothing Scorpius could do about that. That was life. Sometimes it was great. Sometimes it wasn't. A great thing was, that Scorpius had a piece of his mum with him all the time. The necklace that Rose got him last Christmas. That was the best gift Scorpius ever received in his life. Whenever he was feeling stressed, excited, proud, or some other kind of emotion, he would flick open the shackle, and just stare at the beautiful misty portrait of his mum. It was like she was almost there. Whenever Scorpius did this, he felt a chilling draft. It was like Astoria was right in that moment. Like she was always looking down on him.

Anyways, it was soon to mark the one year anniversary of Scorpius receiving that necklace. This past year had been the best of his life. He had to make sure he did something special for Rose this year for Christmas. Considering that this would be their first official Christmas as boyfriend and girlfriend. He didn't know what he was going to get her yet, but for sure, it would be something great.

***

Rose was thinking very similarly to Scorpius. Christmas was approaching, and considering this was their first Christmas as boyfriend and girlfriend, she had to get him something really special. She didn't know what though. How was she supposed to top last years gift? She really had no idea on what she was going to get him. It really need to be special. She needed to show him this past year had been the best of her life. But, it wasn't like Christmas was approaching in a few days. It was still the beginning of December, so they both had time.

Unlike Scorpius and Rose, Al and Caroline already had some ideas on what they were going to get each other. They also wanted to get each other something special, considering this was their first Christmas as boyfriend and girlfriend together too. The past three months had moved pretty fast for Al and Caroline. Well, they really didn't need to question their relationship. They both fancied each other, and accepted it right away. Rose was a little jealous on how fast Caroline could pick out a gift for Albus.

Caroline, Rose, and Lily were down in Hogsmeade one day in mid December. Next week, all of the students would leave to go home for Holiday break. They were down there in the morning, while Slytherin had Quidditch practice. They all agreed to meet up with the boys later. They knew that Scorpius was at Quidditch practice, but Al, on the other hand, probably overslept yet once again. But, that was a good thing. It would give Caroline the perfect chance to pick out Albus's Christmas gift.

"So, what are you getting my dear brother for Christmas?" Lily asked as the three girls strolled through Hogsmeade that morning.

"Well, I've seen him looking at these boots in that shop this past month. I thought I would just get them for him." Caroline responded as the three girls approached a shop window. Caroline noticed that Albus had been looking at those boots lately. They would be prefect for him. And, they served a purpose too. They would be prefect motorbike boots. Caroline knew that Albus missed his motorbike while he was at school.

"That would be perfect for Al." Rose put in. Dang it. How was it so easy for Caroline to pick something. She still had no idea what she was going to get Scorpius. She needed to do something soon though. Next week, they had to leave for break. Even though last year, Rose got his gift after break started, she still was anxious to get his gift.

"What's his shoe size?" Caroline asked Lily. Caroline figured that Lily would know his shoe size.

"Eleven." Lily answered. (Okay, I don't know UK shoe sizes, just bare with me. Sorry if you don't know American shoe sizes.)

Then, the three girls walked into the store, and Caroline purchased the shoes. She was finally starting to get a handle on the English Magical Currency system.

***

Meanwhile, while Scorpius was supposed to be at Quidditch practice, him and Al were doing the same thing as the girls. Scorpius had made up a quick fib to Rose, so he could have the morning to try and do some Christmas shopping. Scorpius still needed a gift for Rose. He thought this morning would be the perfect opportunity to try and find something. Al tagged along with him, because he needed to get something for Caroline.

"What are you thinking about getting Caroline?" Scorpius asked Albus.

"I honestly don't know. I was hoping you had some kind of general idea what girls like.?" Albus said back. He figured that Scorpius had an idea of what he was going to get Rose, and he could base his gift for Line after that.

"Well, I really couldn't tell you. Every girl is different." Scorpius responded.

"What about jewelry? Isn't that what you got Rose last year?" Al went on to ask.

"Yea. If you want, I guess we could go into the jewelry shop and see if we could find something." Scorpius answered.

With that, Albus agreed, and him and Scorpius went into the jewelry shop in Hogsmeade. When they walked in, the cashier at the counter greeted them.

"Hello. What can I do for you boys today? Christmas shopping?" The cashier said. Al answered her.

"Yes. I am shopping for my girlfriend." Albus said to the cashier. They went on to talk about different gift possibilities for Caroline. While they were doing this, Scorpius walked around the shop. He didn't know if he wanted to do jewelry again for Rose. But then, something caught his eye.

Scorpius walked over to the something shiny that he saw. That something was a jewelry display with bracelets in it. Not just any bracelets, they were golden bracelets, with constellation shapes on them. The stars were represented with diamonds, and they were connected with tiny gold wire. Then, Scorpius looked over them all, and his eyes landed on the Scorpius one.

It was perfect. Even though he got jewelry for Rose last year, he thought she would love this. He had to get it for her. Scorpius picked it up off of the display, and walked over to the counter where Al and the cashier were still having a conversation.

Scorpius waited a few minutes, and finally the cashier and Albus were done.

"Would you like to purchase that?" The cashier asked.

"Yes." Scorpius said as he laid the Scorpius constellation bracelet down on the counter.

"Wait. You found something?" Albus asked. Al didn't have any luck. Nothing in the shop really looked like Caroline's taste.

"Yup." Scorpius said, as he took his wallet out of his pocket to pay.

"That will be 60 galleons." The cashier said when was pulling out his wallet.

60 galleons. That was kind of a lot. But, they were real diamonds, so of course it would be expensive. Scorpius didn't mind at all though. If it was for Rose, he would pay any price. He figured Rose would love it, no matter the price. With that, he flicked open his wallet, and started counting his money.

Al just stood there and observed. He knew that Scorpius had a lot of money. He wasn't that oblivious. But, it fought him off guard sometimes. Scorpius really didn't act like he had a lot of money. He acted and dressed pretty normal, sometimes, it just slipped Al's memory. He also knew that Scorpius would pay any price for Rose.

The cashier wrapped the bracelet and put it in a bag for Scorpius. Scorpius took the bag from her, and him and Al walked out of the shop.

"I can't believe you just did that." Albus said, once they were all out of the shop.

"What? I needed to get Rose a gift." Scorpius responded like nothing happened.

"I know that, but you just bought her a diamond bracelet. Wasn't that kind of expensive?" Al questioned.

"Yea, a little bit. But, I would pay any price for Rose. I really hope she likes it." Scorpius said back.

Then, Albus and Scorpius decided to go to a few more shops to see if they could find a gift for Caroline. After about a half hour of browsing, Al decided to get her a bottle of perfume. He claimed that it smelled like her. The bottle was pretty. It had strawberries and sunflowers printed on the outside of it. The cashier wrapped it up all nice for Albus, and then, him ands Scorpius walked out of the shop, having token care of their Christmas shopping. But, Scorpius spotted some people, and pulled Albus behind the shop, so they wouldn't be spotted.

"Blimey! What was that for!" Albus said as Scorpius let go of him.

"Well, did you want to be spotted? Look!" Scorpius said as he pointed towards Caroline, Rose, and Lily.

"Oh, I suppose not." Albus responded as he saw his girlfriend, cousin, and sister.

Albus and Scorpius stayed in the spot until the coast was clear. But, unlike they thought, they were spotted. Lily had noticed her brother and Scorpius with bags, walking behind one of the shops. Okay, it really wasn't hard to spot them because of Scorpius's hair color. Lily just smiled, and decided to keep it to herself. She figured that Caroline and Rose's gifts were in those bags, and she didn't want to spoil it.

***

A week later, everyone had their gifts except for Rose. The day in Hogsmeade had been unsuccessful. She just couldn't find anything special enough for Scorpius. Nothing could top last year. Later that day in Hogsmeade, she and the girls had met up with Scorpius and Albus in The Three Broomsticks. She wondered if it was that hard for Scorpius to find her a gift. She sure hoped not. Christmas was approaching, and she really needed something.

Rose sighed to herself, as she was packing her things to go home. Maybe her mum could help her again. As Rose was packing, she found a few things at the bottom of her trunk. She took them into her hands and looked at them. They were moving photographs of her and Scorpius. Caroline was a pretty good photographer, and over the past few months, she asked if she could take pictures of her and Scorpius together. Rose said sure of course. Once Caroline developed them, she gave them to Rose to keep. Rose smiled as she looked down at the pictures of her and Scorpius either cuddling, smiling, or snogging one another. Then, a good idea popped into her head.

That idea was to enchant all of these photos into a frame. And, then, the photos would magically change, so every time Scorpius would look at it, a new picture of them together would appear. Rose just smiled to herself when she thought this up. This would be prefect for Scorpius. It was special. Maybe not as special as last years gift, but it would be a pretty close runner up. She also knew that her mum would be willing to help her with it.

Rose then put the pictures back into her trunk for later. Yes! She finally had a gift for Scorpius! She finished packing, ate breakfast, and made her way down to Hogsmeade station with the rest of the students to go home for holiday.

***

Hours later, Rose and Scorpius got done with their Prefect duties they had to do every train ride. They walked hand in hand down to the compartment that they shared with Albus and Caroline. When they got there, Caroline and Albus were sitting next to each other, talking about something, with their hands interlocked.

"Hey." Scorpius said as him and Rose came in and sat across from them. When Scorpius and Rose sat down, their hands were still together, and Rose instantly leaned on Scorpius's chest.

"Hey. How was your guy's rounds?" Albus asked.

"Same as usual." Rose responded dully.

The three sixteen and one fourteen year old talked for a while, before Albus and Caroline fell asleep. Rose and Scorpius were actually grateful for this, because Rose wanted to discuss something.

"Hey Scorp." Rose said as she looked up at Scorpius with her ocean blue eyes.

"Yea." Scorpius responded.

"Well. I've been thinking about something for a while." Rose said in a different tone. Scorpius's facial expression immediately dropped into something that looked like worry.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not breaking up with you! It's definitely not that!" Rose reassured. Scorpius's facial features automatically relaxed when she said this.

"Good. You had me scared there for a second. What do you want to talk about?" Scorpius asked, as he continued to drape his arm around Rose, and hold her close to him.

"Well, it's just that,... Your dad is so supportive of our relationship." Rose started.

"Yea. It's pretty surprising, but he is." Scorpius said back. What was Rose talking about?

"I feel like if your dad is supportive, than maybe mine will be too. I mean, your dad is Draco Malfoy. Oh, shoot! That's not what I meant! I'm sorry!" Rose said in a very concerned and worried tone. Scorpius immediately tightened his grip around her.

"Hey. It's fine. It's not like we can change the past. But, anyways, continue." Scorpius said.

"It's just that, I haven't told my dad yet about our relationship. I'm very worried on how he will react. I mean my mum knows, and she's fine with it, but I can't hide this forever from him. He needs to know eventually, you know?" Rose went to say.

"Oh, Rosie. Well, unfortunately I can't change your dad's opinion about me, but I would suggest that you tell him sooner or later. I feel like he would be more mad if he knew that you were hiding it from him for a while." Scorpius said. Scorpius's words were what Rose needed to hear.

"That's what I needed to hear. That's it. I'm going to tell him tonight. He's just going to have to except it. Oh, Scorp, I love you so much." Rose said in a very relieved tone, and gave Scorpius a nice kiss.

After this, they lightly chatted, and eventually fell asleep on each other. With Rose snuggling into Scorpius's chest, inhaling his scent, and listened to his heart beat.

*** Hours later, the train came to a halt at Kings Cross Station. Scorpius, Rose, Albus, and Caroline woke up when the train stopped. Everyone started to gather up their stuff, and Caroline and Al said goodbye to Scorpius, as they walked hand in hand out of the compartment together.

Once they were gone, Rose quickly conjured up some mistletoe, and Scorpius a nice snogg on the lips.

"What was that for may I ask. I mean, I don't mind. But, that caught me off guard.?" Scorpius said once him and Rose broke apart.

"Mistletoe." Rose simply responded with a grin on her face, as she pointed up to the mistletoe hanging above them.

"Miss Weasley, you don't fool anyone." Scorpius said as he leaned, and they were then kissing again.

After another long goodbye kiss, Scorpius and Rose hugged, and promised each other that they would write on Christmas. They both suspected that they were going to get a gift along with a letter on Christmas Day. They then reluctantly collected their stuff and left the compartment. But, they didn't separate until they left the train.

While Scorpius and Rose were making their way slowly off the train, Hermione and Ginny both had their eyes peeled for Rose. They were both being so observant for the same reason. They wanted to see if Rose and Scorpius were getting off the train together. Ginny wanted to, so she could prove her suspicions, while Hermione just wanted to see the young couple together.

Once Rose and Scorpius stepped out onto the platform, they hugged and snogged one more time very quickly, before any of Rose's family saw. The only ones who saw this time were Hermione, Ginny, and Draco. Actually, while Scorpius and Rose were still in each other's embrace, Draco snuck up behind Scorpius.

"Oh, hello Mr. Malfoy." Rose said as she saw Draco come up behind Scorpius. Scorpius quickly turned around to see what she was talking about.

"Hello Rose. How are you?" Draco said to his son's red-headed girlfriend.

"I'm doing good. Well, Scorpius, I guess I will see you when we get back to school. Love you. I should probably go find my family before they get suspicious." Rose smiled and responded, before walking away.

Ginny stood there and watched the whole interaction, as Al, Caroline, and Lily came up to her and Harry. She just saw her niece talking to Draco Malfoy. She may have had her mouth slightly open to. She then nudged Hermione.

"Did you see that?" Ginny asked.

"Yep." Hermione simply responded.

"Your okay with that? Is Ron okay with that?" Ginny continued to ask, shocked.

"Well, I am. They've actually been together for a while now. I don't think Ron knows yet, so don't tell him." Hermione answered.

"Huh, I guess new things happen everyday." Ginny responded, still shocked, but then turned to her family. Luckily, again, Ron hadn't seen anything. He was busy talking to Harry about different things about work.

Rose then approached her mum, dad, and brother. She hugged her mum and dad, and they proceeded to go home.

***

It was now 7:30 that evening. Rose just couldn't pull the courage together to tell her dad about Scorpius. She will. But, not just quite yet. Rose was in her room, unpacking, as she took the photographs out of her trunk, and set them on her desk. Hermione walked in as she did this.

"Hey." Hermione said, as she took a seat on Rose's bed.

"Oh, hey." Rose responded, as she took the last of her things out of her trunk. Hermione noticed the pictures laying on her desk.

"What are those?" Hermione asked in a playful tone.

"Oh, yea, those. I was actually going to ask for your help, again. They are Scorpius's Christmas present. I thought that we could enchant them, and put them all in a frame, so when every time he looks at the frame, it changes to a new picture of us." Rose explained to her mother.

"Rosie! That's a wonderful idea! I will definitely help you." Hermione said. She loved that she could help Rose with things like this.

"Thanks. Then, I suppose we should get started. I still need a frame." Rose said back. At that comment, Hermione left the room. When she came back, she had an empty, spare photo frame in her hands.

"Will this work?" Hermione asked, as she placed the frame down on Rose's desk.

"Yea. That will be perfect!" Rose beamed.

With that, Rose and Hermione enchanted the frame with all the photos, and tested it out. Every time Rose looked at it, a new picture of her and Scorpius popped up. It was like a beautiful slideshow of the two of them. Rose was very satisfied. It was perfect. She thought that Scorpius would love it.

"Oh, Rosie! It's perfect! He's going to love it." Hermione said, as her and Rose went through all of the pictures.

"I know. I can't wait for Pig to deliver it to him." Rose said back.

After that, Hermione wrapped the frame for Rose, and asked Rose one more question.

"You know, a year ago at this time, I was helping you with something pretty similar. That was a year ago. I've known for a year. What I'm trying to ask is, does your father know yet?" Hermione asked.

"Yea, that... Well, you see, I've been meaning to tell him, but, it has to be the right moment, you know." Rose fibbed. Truth was, she was still really nervous to tell Ron. But, she knew eventually, that she had too.

"In my opinion, I think you should tell him soon. I feel like the longer you hide it from him, the worse his reaction is going to be. But, you definitely have to do it when your ready." Hermione stated.

"Yea, I'm going to tell him before Christmas comes." Rose said in a determined. Hermione just smiled to her daughter, and walked out of the room.

So, now, Rose and Scorpius had their gifts for each other. They both couldn't wait for the other to receive them on Christmas.

Author's Notes:Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's weird, I feel like I finished writing one of the Christmas chapters not to long ago. But, as I said before, this story goes from the end of fourth year, all the way to the end of seventh year. It's going to be a long journey, but I hope that you stick around for it. I really enjoy writing it. I truly wanted to follow Scorpius and Rose's story all the way through their years at Hogwarts, so I guess that means 4th-7th. I'm sure this probably won't be the last Christmas chapter. Actually, I know that because the next one is going to take place on Christmas Day. Just look out for that when I post it. Now, before I go, I would like to thank @megsmalfoy4life for the follow, votes, and nice comments. I love seeing that my readers are enjoying the story. I thank you guys for everything, the reads, votes, kind comments, etc. As always, stay safe and healthy friends.

-christinahpfan12