Chapter 61: Graduation & Surprises

The morning after the Graduation Ball, Rose woke up to the sight of Scorpius's arm draped around her waist, with him holding her close and snuggling her. Rose then realized what day it was today. Today was the day that she would be graduating from Hogwarts. She had attended the Graduation Ceremony before for her cousins, but this would be the first time that she would actually be in it. At this point she was wide awake and excited. She glanced over at Scorpius's watch that he had taken off the night before, and placed on his nightstand, and it read 7:30. As she read the time, Rose almost sprinted out of bed. She had to get ready. It usually took her a while to get ready. But, as she tried to get up, Scorpius's grip around her got stronger, continuing to pull her even closer into him. On a normal day, Rose would be fine with this, but today was not a normal day.

"Scorp, you have to let me go. Today's graduation, remember? I need to get ready." Rose whispered softly into Scorpius's ear, brushing away his very soft platinum blond hair.

When Rose said this, Scorpius let out a groaning noise, and reluctantly let her go. Once Rose was free, she gave him a thank you kiss on the cheek, and exited Scorpius's room to go get ready in hers.

Since Rose was now gone, there was no point in going back to sleep. Scorpius then fluttered his silver eyes open, and the realization of the events that would happen today hit him like a ton of bricks. Not only was he graduating from the school he went to for seven years, but also probably taking the next big step in his life. The nerves were back. He just surly hoped that his plan went accordingly today.

With a bit of debate, Scorpius decided to get out of bed. If he did want his plan to go accordingly, he would have to actually try and get out of bed. Once he was up, he glanced over his room. It was now just how he found it at the beginning of the year. On Friday night, all of the 7th Years were required to pack their trunks and belongings, because on Sunday, after the ceremony, they wouldn't be able to go back to their dorms. The house elves were going to take care of it all. The only things Scorpius left out were his clothes, shoes, graduation robes and cap, and the tiny ring box that held his mum's old engagement ring, that would soon and hopefully be Rose's.

Scorpius then proceeded to take a shower, and get ready. After placing a drying charm on himself, Scorpius walked back to his room to get dressed. He put on a collar shirt, dress pants, his Slytherin tie, his black graduation robes with the Hogwarts emblem stitched onto it, and his graduation cap. Once Scorpius was dressed, he picked up the only thing that was left on his bed, the ring box. He flicked open the lid, and observed the large diamond and emerald ring. As he was lookin at it, he was nervous and excited at the same time. He was nervous about if Rose would say yes or not, but if she did, then Scorpius would be able to spend the rest of his life with her. Before he started doubting himself, Scorpius decided to slide the ring in the pocket of his robes for now. Scorpius then gave his room one last look, before exiting it, and walking out into the Common Room.

***

Meanwhile, after Rose left Scorpius's room, she preceded to get ready for the day. After showering and a quick drying charm, Rose put on a pretty, white, summer dress. Over top of that, she put on her black graduation robes, and her graduation cap. Last night, her hair had returned to it's normal bushy, curly form, so the ends spewed out of the brim of the cap. Once she had all of that on, she tied on a pretty pair of platform heeled espadrilles. Rose then sprang up from the spot she was sitting on her bed, and looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn't believe she was graduating today. She felt like it was yesterday when she was 11, and her parents were dropping her off at King's Cross for the first time. So much had changed since then. Rose couldn't wait to see what her life had in store next.

Before exiting her room, Rose gave it one last glance. She to already had her things all packed up. She just truly couldn't believe that she would never be going to school here again. Before these thoughts drowned her, Rose left her room, and went out into the Common Room. When she got there, she noticed Scorpius and all the other Heads also had their graduation robes and caps on too.

"You know. I'm going to miss us all being together in this common room every day." Allison announced to the seven other Head Boys and Girls.

"Me too." Rhiannon, the Ravenclaw Head Girl put in.

For a few minutes, all of the Heads discussed to each other how great of a year they had with one another, before leaving the Heads Flat for the last time, and heading down to Great Hall for breakfast.

***

"Good morning graduates, students, teachers, parents, and families. On this fine June morning, we are acknowledging these students's amazing academic achievements in their seven years of attending Hogwarts. As Headmistress, it has been my honor to observe and make all of these young individuals into the Wizards and Witches they are today. Now, before the ceremony starts, we have a few speakers, and special things to announce." McGonagall announced standing at the podium. After breakfast, all of the 7th Years/graduates made their way down to the spot the ceremony would take place by the enchanted lake. When the got there, they had noticed that Hagrid had already set up the chairs for the graduates to sit in. They were lined up in four rows, one for each house. So, (obviously), Scorpius and Albus sat next to each other in the Slytherin row, and Rose sat directly behind them in the Gryffindor row. Then, there were more seats placed behind the four graduate rows, for parents, families, and students to sit in. The teachers seats were set up by the podium were McGonagall was.

"To start off with, I would like to acknowledge Mr. Harry Potter for speaking to our graduates today. Take it away." McGonagall continued. As she said that, Harry got up from out of his seat in the parents/family section, and walked up to the podium. This wasn't new for Harry, he spoke at the Graduation Ceremony every year.

"Well, first off, I would like to say congratulations to all of you. You all succeed in completing your seven years of challenging school. Even though some of you may not think this, that is a great achievement. As many people know, I did not finish school. I don't think I could have ever got through those N.E.W.T's. The fact that most of you can say that you passed the most important exams of your life is a great one. With those test scores, I believe that many of you will go on to do great things for the Wizarding world. I wish you all the best in life, and now back to Headmistress McGonagall to announce your Valedictorian this year." Harry announced to all the grads, and once he was done, he got a round of applause.

"It has come to my attention, for the first time in over 1,000 years, we do not have just one Valedictorian. This year, two individuals scored the exact same on both their O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's, scoring all E's and O's. Those individuals are Mr. Scorpius Malfoy, and Ms. Rose Weasley. Congratulations to the both of you. If you could come up and share with us what you think, that would be good." McGonagall stated. There were more applauses from the grads, teachers, parents, etc. Especially loud ones from the Potter-Weasley family, and Draco. Scorpius turned around to see Rose smiling and looking at him. They both gave each other a knowing look, and both preceded to get up out of their seats, and when they got to the aisle way, they walked up to the podium hand in hand.

As they did this, Scorpius felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest with nerves. It was time to put his plan into action. Still, no one had any idea what he was about to do. When they got up there, Scorpius gestured for Rose to speak first.

"Hello everyone. Wow, if I could talk to myself seven years ago, she would be flipping out right now. From the day I walked into Hogwarts for the first time, I have wanted to be up here on this platform with this honor. My mum told me from a young age, that if you study and put in the hard work, that it will all pay of for you in the end, even though the process may be rough at times. And, she definitely wasn't wrong about that. I have always strived at school, to get the best scores as possible. But now, I realize, that it's really not about just scores and grades anymore. It's about how it all affects you, and how it will help you in life. So, I would like to thank my teachers, especially Professor Longbottom, my very large family who is to many people to name, and last, but certainly not least, my boyfriend Scorpius Malfoy. Without you, I feel like I would be this frazzled girl who is always stressing about school. You made me realize how nice it is to enjoy school, and Merlin, you have made it so much better." Rose announced, but towards the end, instead of looking at the crowd, she was looking directly at Scorpius. When her deep ocean blue eyes locked with his, suddenly, the nerves slowly fled Scorpius's body. He was going to do it. Once Rose was done speaking, there were many applauses for her, (especially loud ones from Ron and Hermione), and she walked to a different spot so Scorpius could speak.

"Okay, wow, that's going to be hard to top. When I first got on the train many years ago, I felt only one way about school. Just go and get good grades. That's it. Well, through my school years, I've learned that there's way more to it than that. Part of succeeding in school is all about enjoying the experience. If you don't enjoy it, then there's no possible way to succeed. There are two people in my life who made me realize that. But, before I introduce them, I would like to say what an impact they've had on me. There's honestly no light way to put this, so here it goes. When I was in second year, I lost my mum to a blood curse. After that, I thought there was no point in enjoying life ever again. The first person who proved that wrong to me was my best mate, Albus Potter. Man, without him making me live a little, I don't know where I'd be. And, the second, was my girlfriend Rose Weasley. Rose, I don't think I could ever be where I am today without you. You brought me out of a darkness, and showed me the light. You make my life so much more full, I couldn't ever not have you in it. I can't even explain how much you mean to me and how much I love you. I don't think I will ever meet someone like you again, so Rose, I think since now that we are graduated, and we are taking the next big steps in our lives, I think we should spend it together. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" Scorpius said, first talking to the crowd. But, as he went on, he stepped out and away from the podium, and right by Rose, directly talking to her and her only. As his speech went on, he dropped down to one knee, grabbed the ring box from out of his pocket, and flicked it open.

Everyone in the crowd watched and listened to everything Scorpius did. Everyone's jaw dropped when Scorpius got down on one knee. Especially Rose's entire family, and even Draco. Draco knew that Scorpius was going to do it after school was done, but he didn't know that he was going to do it at the Graduation Ceremony. Ron's reaction was pretty similar to Draco's. He knew that Scorpius was going to do it, but he didn't know he was going to do it today! Ron could feel Hermione poking him in the arm, with a shocked expression on her face.

When Rose saw Scorpius walk out from the podium, she was curious to what in the world he was doing. But, when he dropped down to one knee, she felt like her knees were going to buckle. But, what hit her harder was when Scorpius grabbed the small box out of his pocket, and flicked it open to reveal a beautiful engagement ring to her. Rose thought she was going to faint, or that her heart was going to beat out of her chest with shock and happiness. Scorpius Malfoy just asked her to be his wife. SCORPIUS MALFOY JUST ASKED HER TO BE HIS WIFE!

Scorpius started to feel really nervous when Rose didn't say anything, and all of the crowd was staring at him with shocked expressions. Shoot. This was a terrible idea. He knew that they were to young, and she was going to say no. But, these horrible thoughts were interrupted by Rose saying something.

"Yes. Yes. YES! YES! YES! YES, SCORPIUS MALFOY I WILL MARRY YOU!!!!!" Rose answered, but put more of an emphasis on it to catch Scorpius's attention.

At those words, Scorpius immediately responded by slipping the ring on her finger, and planting his lips on hers. Rose of course basically leapt at him, and kissed him right back. Their kiss lasted for a little bit, before breaking apart realizing that they still were at their Graduation Ceremony. As they broke apart, they could hear applauses, cheers, and whistles come from the crowd. Scorpius and Rose just smiled and laughed at each other, as they went to go sit back down in their seats.

The rest of that day was spent collecting diplomas, taking many pictures, and celebrating. All of Rose's family couldn't believe that Scorpius had proposed to her. All of her girl cousins, mum, grandmum, and aunts surrounded her, wanting to get a look at the ring. While, her brother, uncles, dad, and boy cousins all pounded Scorpius with a million questions. Draco just laughed and watched all of them.

After the ceremony, everyone, even Draco, all went down to The Three Broomsticks to celebrate graduation and Rose and Scorpius's engagement. They all discussed different wedding/engagement related things, as Scorpius and Rose couldn't stop staring at each other, and clutching each other's hands under the table.

So, it was official. Victorie's bouquet toss was correct. Rose was the next one to get married. Rose and Scorpius were both over the moon with happiness. They were going to get married. Rose was not mad at all that Scorpius did not choose to wait. She actually thought it was a better idea to do it now instead of later. She didn't want to spend a minute of her life without Scorpius in it. So, the boy she used to despise was now her fiancé. Love is love, there's no denying it.

Author's Notes:AWWWWWWW! FINALLY! I have been waiting to write this chapter for the longest time! It's official now! And also, this was the last actual chapter! The next two are going to be part one and part two of the epilogue! I can't believe it! I really hope you guys have enjoyed this story. I know that I've enjoyed writing it for you. But, I'm not going to ramble on like I usually do, I'm going to save that for later, so, stay safe and healthy amigos.

-christinahpfan12