Disclaimer: I definitely don't own any part of Harry Potter and the amazing world that JK Rowling created, although most days I really wish I did. Just my own little idea in a large world that isn't mine!

"Albus Severus Potter get your backside back here this instant!" Rose Weasley shrieked at him above the din of screaming, crying, shouting children and trying her best to sound like her Nana Molly. Either Al didn't hear her, she didn't get the tone right, or more likely he completely ignored her because a few seconds later all she saw was brilliant green lights in the fireplace and he was gone. Rose groaned in exasperation and wanted the ground to swallow her up, she felt the walls closing in on her as the noise levels seemed to rise exponentially. Her older cousins had all roped her and a few of their other childless cousins into babysitting for them while they went out for the night. There were currently nine children to the one lonely adult who'd been deserted by her good for nothing co-sitters. She breathed in deeply, she could do this, she could!

...

Forty five minutes later...

She couldn't do this, she couldn't! This was abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous and she was going to avada her cousins the moment she laid eyes on them! Al would get the worst punishment, she might crucio him for a bit first. Gracie, Dominique's four week old, was screaming loudly in her ear while Rose danced around the kitchen making her bottle, something she couldn't do by magic because she didn't know the spells well enough and she couldn't concentrate with all the noise. Fred's four year old twins Max and Mickey were currently running up and down the stairs and around the living room doing Merlin knows what alongside their two year old twin sisters Charlotte and Chloe (boy did Fred end up shouldering his dad's karma and it was hilarious to watch when they weren't her responsibility). Teddy and Victoire's five year old Francois didn't take much encouragement from the two sets of twins, having inherited his grandfather's penchant for mischief despite never having known him. James' son Samuel fell straight into that category too, although Rose was sure her Uncle Harry had taken every opportunity to instil it into him and given the fact he was only one year old, he'd done it very well. Molly's two year old Artie was sat in the middle of the lounge wailing because he had no idea what was going on and he just wanted his mummy back now, which only helped the situation by encouraging Juliette (Teddy and Victoire's nine month old) to burst into tears every five minutes for exactly the same reason. It was an emotion Rose felt she was very close to, she could already feel the tears in her eyes.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Rose whipped round at the sound of that all too familiar drawl and grit her teeth.

"Their parents all wanted a free afternoon and a night out so they roped in a bunch of us to take care of the kids..." Rose said, sticking the now ready bottle into Gracie's mouth,

"Who is us?" Scorpius asked as he caught a four year old and lifted him up, breaking the cycle,

"Hey, put me down!" Max cried indignantly,

"I believe you've been taught that running is for outside?" He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at Max who seemed to deflate and just nodded as Scorpius set him back down on the floor,

"Us is me plus three other dead relatives," She growled angrily, more at them than anything else,

"Dead relatives?" Scorpius turned his raised eyebrow to Rose,

"Roxie, Lily and Albus," Rose said with venom,

"What happened to them?" He asked,

"Lily bailed for a boy, something I only got pissed about after everyone else left..." Rose began to explain as Scorpius walked across the room and scooped up a shrieking Artie, he grabbed a musical toy of the floor and pushed it into the two year old's hands before looking back up at a baffled Rose.

"What?" He frowned,

"What are you doing?" She asked,

"Cuddling a crying child...?" He looked at her as though she'd gone mad,

"Why?"

"...because he was crying...?"

"No, I mean, why are you still here? Why didn't you just laugh and leave?" She said,

"Wow! I didn't realise your opinion of me was so low!" He snickered, "I'm evil but I'm not that evil," he laughed,

"Al is..." She mumbled, moving over to the couch so she could rest her arm holding Gracie on the arm of a chair. She sighed in relief as she sat down and adjusted herself so she was sitting comfortably. She watched as Scorpius kicked off his shoes and sat on the floor with Artie in his lap while he rotated toys as the tot calmed down, he leant across the small space and did the same for Juliette too.

"So...Lily bailed for a boy..." Scorpius looked back at her and waited,

"Yes, but to be fair, she did ask us all first which is the only reason she gets a quick and painless death," Rose huffed, "Roxie got a message from some friends twenty minutes later and barely told us she was leaving before apparating out and then Albus..." Her gaze turned from one of neutral explanation to pure and utter fury, "Albus bailed to go and play quidditch half an hour later, while they were all screaming!"

"Definitely a Slytherin," Scorpius chuckled,

"It's not bloody funny!" Rose barked,

"Why didn't they leave them all with grandparents?" Scorpius asked,

"Because they're all out with them, it's a whole family affair...me and the others weren't too interested in another charity ball..." Rose added quietly,

"Really? Roxanne not interested in dressing up for attention?" Scorpius scoffed,

"Yeah, that one is weird," Rose nodded, "Lily and Al make sense..."

"She knew she was bailing before tonight, I'd bet good money on it," he said,

"I wouldn't bet against you," Rose sighed, moving to sit Gracie up and patting her gently on the back to wind her. She fidgeted a little and let out a small reluctant cry before Rose cooed at her softly to comfort her. She looked over at Scorpius who was back to rotating toys and had just about managed to ease Artie off his lap without any protest.

It had been two weeks since graduation, two weeks since Rose had delighted in the knowledge that she wouldn't have to talk to the platinum playboy outside of large family gatherings whereby she could ignore him completely if she chose to, which she obviously would. She hadn't been dumb enough to dream she'd never see him again, but she'd at least hoped it wouldn't be any sort of circumstance beyond a public one, he was after all Albus' best friend.

"Why are you here, then?" Rose asked, having finally been able to collect her thoughts she realised he must have had a reason for stopping by.

"Albus and the quidditch he ditched you for," Scorpius answered, "I didn't know he'd already got the message,"

"He jumped at the message," Rose grumbled, "it was a miracle I knew he'd even got the message he moved so bloody fast!"

"I can't believe he was heartless enough to leave you here alone with nine screaming children," Scorpius shook his head in something Rose was sure resembled disappointment, something that confused her because Scorpius hated her as much as she hated him so he would never be disappointed that Albus left her hanging. Amused, yes, disappointed, no.

"Did you wanna get going now? It's quiet again and they're probably waiting for you...?" Rose couldn't believe there was actually a part of her that wanted him to stay, and she reluctantly had to admit to herself that Scorpius Malfoy had actually saved her. She'd been saved by Malfoy...ugh!

"No, I'm not in the mood for quidditch much now anyway," Scorpius shrugged and Rose tried, and failed, to stop her sigh of relief from escaping. Scorpius looked at her and smirked, his trade mark expression she'd come to loathe. Pretty much every girl at school would fall at his feet at that smirk, she'd even felt herself swoon once or twice in the beginning but the man only had to open his mouth and all her senses came rushing back.

"I heard that sigh," he grinned, "you don't want me to leave,"

Rose huffed in defeat, he always could read her better than anyone else outside of her family.

"It's not you, it's more the effect you have on the adult to child ratio in the house," Rose said,

"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, which just so happens to be you..." He sniggered, "what time are all the grown-ups getting back?"

"Tomorrow," Rose grimaced,

"Tomorrow?!" Scorpius repeated with wide eyed and Rose couldn't help the small giggle that burst through her lips at his panic. It was rare for Malfoy not to filter his immediate reactions.

"Yes, tomorrow, that's why we're at the Burrow...there's enough room for all the kids, it's safe and all their parents get some alone time," Rose said,

"Well, what time are your other cousins coming back? The ones who are supposed to be helping you?" He asked,

"Lily won't even think she needs to because she thinks Roxie and Al are here," Rose sighed,

"Roxie won't because she's obviously already planned a night out with friends..." Scorpius said, "I can't believe she's supposed to be the older and more mature one out of all of you,"

"Please! We all knew I was in charge the moment they all left!" Rose snorted,

"And yet it still managed to descend into chaos?" Scorpius lifted an amused eyebrow at her,

"Nine children...nine Weasley-Potter children to one frazzled adult...are you telling me you'd be fine alone?" Rose snapped,

"Yes...well, until tomorrow when your dad got home and murdered me for being within an inch of his nieces and nephews, let alone taking care of them," Scorpius laughed,

"Are you seriously that confident? Because I can leave now too...?" Rose challenged him,

"I am actually seriously that confident...kids aren't that hard, you just have to know how to read them," Scorpius offered, "for someone with such a massive family I'm surprised you didn't have all that much control, especially considering you're obviously a natural with kids..." He gestured to how she was now holding Gracie on her shoulder and absently rubbing soothing circles on her back. Rose blushed a little, not used to people being observant about anything other than her bookishness and certainly not used to Malfoy's observations being anything but snarky and teasing.

"I'm surprised you're so good at it considering you come from such a small family..." She retaliated, although not with as much feeling as she'd wanted,

"Me too," he smiled. An actual genuine smile and Rose couldn't help the breath that got caught in her throat. Scorpius Malfoy was, without a doubt, absolutely fucking gorgeous, and he knew it. Rose had never found herself particularly attracted to him, appreciative of his beauty but never wanting to indulge in it herself. Until that smile. The first genuine smile she'd seen on his face directed at her, and suddenly she was reduced to the mental state of some stupid teenage girl combined with an intensity of feelings akin to what she'd only read in erotic romance novels. Rose was in trouble, a lot of it. Because if there was one thing that was going to make a man even more attractive, it was watching him with children, and there were a lot of children here. Fuck! Rose mentally cursed herself as she gave Malfoy a weak smile back and tried to concentrate on something, anything, else.

Scorpius focused his attention back on the two year old at his side. He silently berated himself for letting that smile slip through, not that he hadn't meant it. He'd spent his entire school career masking any real feelings he had for anyone other than his closest friends, which included Albus, Felicity Nott and Gabriel Zabini. He knew the Weasley/Potter lot fairly well and was immensely surprised that there was no hereditary animosity when he'd started Hogwarts. He figured if anyone was going to hate him it was them, but they'd seemed indifferent to him and willing to make up their own minds unlike some of the other kids in school. In hindsight, Scorpius had come to realise that if anyone knew how it felt to be judged based on your last name it was them. It was one of the reasons him and Albus had become such good friends; they were both fed up of the expectations that were laid upon them, one of which was the continuation of the Potter-Malfoy feud. They'd both decided, at eleven years old, that the best way to piss off the press was to pretend like they were the best of friends, something that became increasingly easier as they did in fact become the best of friends.

The only spoke in the proverbial wheel was Rose. She was incredibly close to Albus, growing up together they might as well have been twins. Needless to say it hadn't gone down well when Albus had been sorted into Slytherin, with him. And it also hadn't helped that she was incredibly smart and immune to any attempt to charm her. It was one of the reasons Scorpius quite liked her, not that he'd ever admit it. It was like a breath of fresh air, speaking to a woman who wouldn't fall at his feet. He'd never really wanted to pursue her; he wasn't an idiot, he could see she was pretty appealing in her own right, but the minute she opened her mouth he couldn't help but want to rile her up, and it was so easy to do. Plus, no one could debate with him like Rose Weasley. It was actually a lot of fun, not that he'd ever admit to her that he enjoyed it.

He chanced a glance at her and wished he hadn't. He had no idea what two weeks away from school had done to him, but the way she so naturally lay the sleeping baby in the Moses basket and tucked her in made something in his stomach twist. Her bushy red her was definitely frazzled but for some reason he found it more endearing than he ever had at school and her bright blue eyes locking on to his sent his heart into overdrive. Shit! It was a glance that lasted a little too long and now he couldn't look away, and oh merlin! This was so embarrassing and it seemed to hit him like a freight train how bloody gorgeous she looked as her trade mark bright red blush crawled it's way across her skin...and why the hell was this girl rendering him speechless? And why did it feel as though he'd lost all rational train of thought? What the hell was that?! With a mixture of relief and concern there was a loud crashing noise from upstairs that stopped his eye contact with Rose going from brief and accidental to awkward and uncomfortable.

"What the...?" Rose mumbled as she flew up the stairs behind Scorpius, Juliette in her arms and Artie in his.