The Midsummer with Demetrius and Romeo

By RedCloakedMaiden

'Or else it it stood upon the choice of friends—

O hell! To choose love by another's eye.'

"Are you reading Aunt Hermione's complete works of Shakespeare?" Her cousin, Albus, asked as he suddenly appeared by her shoulder, glancing at the book in her lap.

"Yes, I am," Rose Weasley said calmly.

Al's green eyes glinted as he sat cross-legged next to her. "Really? Which one?" He urged.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream, if you must know," She tried to brush off the interuption and read Hermia and Lysander's laments to one another, but Albus wasn't fooled.

"I thought you didn't like romances," Albus accused her. Uncharacteristically, Rose considered hexing him, but he was acting annoyingly like James. "You've always said that Shakespeare used love to make his characters act really stupid—"

"Why aren't you off reading 'Lord of the Rings' or 'The Chronicles of Prydain' again?" She finally said waspishly. Albus looked stung and for a moment, it panged her, but it vanished when Albus didn't pry any futher. He knew she would talk when she felt like it after knowing her for so many years.

"You're coming to the birthday party tonight?" Albus asked uncomfortably.

"Remind me why it's a week early for both of them?"

"Because Dad's Ministry friends will be hosting a party for him on his birthday and Neville and Hannah are taking next week off as vacation." Albus said promptly. "So you have to come because it's your uncle and honorary uncle's birthdays, plus Mum and the Malfoys said it was ok for Scorpius to come over and the Scamanders came back from Kazakhstan two days ago and are invited."

"We'll be there at seven," Rose promised as Albus, mollified, descended down the ladder and back to the ground.

Rose idly flipped another page of the thick book on her knees and sighed noisily as she brushed back her unruly red curls. Summer really was the worst time of year for her hair, she decided. It made it frizzy from the humidity, the heat helped it grow faster and the sunlight brightened her hair from coppery, amber-hued to almost ruby-red. Deep down inside though, Rose knew that she was only musing on her hair to avoid considering the implications of Lysander Scamander being at the same place as her.

Admit it Weasley…You could have read As You Like It but you picked the romance with the name Lysander in it.

"Shut up," she growled to herself, but thankfully, nobody answered.

She had a crush on Lysander Scamander. And he had left for some foreign, funny-named country as soon as summer had started. Crushes and romance were not something Rose had ever considered before—that had been Dominique's department as far as Rose was concerned. So naturally, she hadn't mentioned the fact she liked him more than as a friend maybe before he left, but as Shakespeare said, 'I dote on his very abscene'.

Rose had never liked his romantic plays until this summer, but a line from the recently-read Romeo and Juliet floated through her head. "I fear too early; for my mind misgives some consequences yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night's revels."

***

Neville and Uncle Harry's joint birthday party was going well, but their reaction to how they liked their presents was the last concern on Rose's mind as she finally spotted Lysander through the throng of Weasleys and family friends that fill Grimmauld Place. Sneaking a glance to make sure her Mum is to absorbed in the party to notice, she sprung up and hurried out to catch up to him, brushing by Hannah Longbottom engaged in a conversation with an elderly-looking woman with square spectacles.

She met up with him on the stairs as he is going down as she ran up to him.

"Oh, hello Rose," Lysander said brightly as she reached his side. "Weren't you just going up the stairs?" Merlin, did she look like an idiot for changing directions on the stairs just so she could strike up a conversation?

"Yes, but I'd much rather ask how your trip went!" Rose claimed. That was a nice touch, a good way to get them talking…

"Kazakhstan has an excellent community of Umgubular Slashkilters," Lysander said knowledgably. "It really is a perfect climate for them and a few local wizards showed us how to defend ourselves from them and where they live—did you know that they prefer wizarding flesh to muggle? They can actually smell the difference—"

"So you just worked with the Ungrubby Slashandkillers the entire month?" Rose asked hopefully.

"Oh, of course not; there were some days that Rolf and Luna wouldn't let Lorcan and me come so we'd go to the village and I met a nice girl there—"

Rose missed a stair step and crashed four steps down to the landing. It took her a moment for the ceiling to stop spinning and another before Lysander's face was looking down as her's. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Of course I am," Rose said bitterly as she gingerly got to her feet. "So, you met someone?" She asked, rubbing her elbow which had scraped the step on her fall.

"Yeah, I did." Lysander confessed. "Her name's Anya, and, well, we're not dating but we promised to keep in touch. Did you know that they don't have owls over there for mail? They prefer to use swifts instead."

Rose's heart leapt from the pit of her stomach to her throat and that little voice from her brain screamed Tell him! Tell him that you love him, tell him, Weasley!

Instead she heard herself say, "That's really great, 'Sander. I'm actually seeing someone too."

Rose couldn't believe her own ears or mouth but Lysander obviously did. "Who?"

Right then, Albus and Scorpius came up the stairs towards Al's room.

"Scorpius," Rose said quickly. "I'm dating Scorpius Malfoy."

***

"Reading romance books, coming over while the Weasleys are here…you two have been dating each other and neither of you bothered to tell your best mate and cousin?" Albus ranted an hour later.

By some miracle, Lysander had swallowed her bluff and Scorpius, who had stopped dead with Albus on the landing when she uttered those bloody words, had played along when he noticed the wand she pointed at his face behind Lysander's back while Albus had stared at his two best friends gobsmacked. But now the party was over, Lysander had left and Scorpius, who was sleeping over in Albus's room, and Albus had promised her Mum that Rose would floo herself home and then corralled her into Albus's room for an explanation.

"I haven't dated any of your cousins," Scorpius said indignantly. "She's the one who said it, not me!"

Damn.

"Spill, Rosie, what secrets are you hiding?" Albus rounded on her. Scorpius sat on the bed, arms-crossed as he waited for an answer. Rose bit her lip, she was sure her cheeks were as red as her hair.

"I ah…"She began but trilled off. Then she mumbled it. "I have a crush on Lysander." Of course, neither of them heard what she had said. So she cleared her throat. "I have a bloody crush on Lysander!" She moaned, burying her hands into her hair. Albus took a step back and collasped on his bed next to Scorpius, whose's arms were uncrossed as he leaned against the wall.

"When you say, 'I have a crush'," Albus began hestitantly.

"Merlin, yes, I act like Dominique around him. I turn red, I giggle, I say stupid stuff." She said impatiently.

"By 'stupid stuff', you mean 'I'm dating Scorpius Malfoy', right?" Scorpius cut in.

"He's seeing a girl who lives in a country infested by Ungrubbly Slashandkillers," Rose grumbled. "I had to say something."

"It's Umgubular Slashkilters," Albus prompted. Rose rolled her eyes as Scorpius snorted.

"Scorpius, I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend," Rose pleaded desperately. He jerked in surprise.

"I thought we agreed that we're not dating!" He argued.

"We aren't! And won't," Rose admended. "I just think that if someone were to make Lysander feel jealous, that I might be taken, he might realize that he really likes me—"

"I though you said he was dating someone," Albus pointed out.

"No, he and Anya are just keeping in touch. Which means that I need Scorpius to be my boyfriend so they don't get any closer." Rose said stubbornly.

"And should that mean that you are off-limits to him, Rosie?" Albus protested, but quickly quieted as he saw his cousin flare.

"And what's in it for me?" Scorpius demanded. "I get a pretend relationship in which I get dumped?" She eyed him disconcertingly.

"I'll throw in my autographed copy of A Team from Tutshill." She bargained.

***

At first, she worried how she'd get all three of them in the same room together, but the problem never occurs. When she got to the Burrow the next morning, Albus and Scorpius were already there playing chess in the living room and it is through the second game Rose watched them play does Lorcan Scamander floo in, ashes coating his dirty blonde hair that he shared with his twin.

"Lorcan!" Albus said suddenly as he got up to help pull him from the fireplace. "What are you doing here?"

Lorcan coughed from the soot and rubbed off his glasses. "Mrs. Weasley invited us to come over today, Lysander's coming through right now," He said as he wandered through the swinging door into the kitchen.

The fire burned green as Rose flung herself into Scorpius's lap. "A Team From Tutshill," she hissed into his ear as she tries to think of things that seem 'datey'. Would brushing his hair back seem cute? Or what if she'd have to kiss him? Surely she wouldn't have to do that! Maybe if she just acted like Dominique does…

A moment later and Lysander emerged from green flames and black ashes grinning in delight as Albus and Scorpius vainly tried to regain their game. Rose gave off a high shriek of laughter. "Oh, Scorpius!" she gasped. "That was so funny!" Scorpius looked nonplussed.

-

Two days later, James got wind of her and Scorpius's relationship; something she learns after he cornered her in the pantry while she is looking for the chocolate syrup.

"So I hear you and that slimy git are dating," He began casually, blocking the only exit so she couldn't escape. Rose fought the urge to throttle him.

"Err, yes?" She offered weakly. James might curse Scorpius or he'd laugh at it all, she wasn't sure which. After all, she had never dated before and she was the first of James's younger cousins that he felt a Gryffindor-ish need to protect from the dangers of dating.

"Rosie Posie, you don't sound very sure," he taunted.

Her blue eyes turned to ice and she raised the bottle at his face and squeezed it, chocolate squirting everywhere into James's unsuspecting face as she stormed by him and into the kitchen where Albus and Scorpius are making sundaes.

She heard Albus say, "Rose, do you want Bertie Botts on yours?" before she is kissing Scorpius.

He tastes of whip cream and ice-cream, the scent of lemons that is unique to him is everywhere and she is kissing Scorpius, kissing him...

When she pulls away, there is James, coated in the ice-cream topping and looking dumbstruck at them and Albus is frozen, not realizing that the Bertie Botts are spilled all over the table.

Then Lysander bounded in, waving a letter.

"I'm going back to Kazakhstan! Rolf and Luna agreed that I could work there with the Umgubular Slashkilters and Anya's family is going to let me stay with them until school starts! Isn't that great?"

***

"So I guess that kiss was for nothing, right?" Scorpius said as soon as Lysander had flood home. Rose turned on him fast.

"I'll give you the book like I promised," she said through clenched teeth.

"I don't want it anymore," Scorpius said moodily.

"But," Rose said with a slight frown. "The Tornados are your favorite team."

"Why don't you just promise to not use me to get other guys by pretending you like me then because I'd take that instead!" Scorpius snapped.

Rose flared up at that. "What then, Malfoy? You don't like having to put up with me as anything more than a friend? Am I not pretty enough for you or is it something else?"

"You know what?" Scorpius shouted. "Just forget it!" He said angrily as he stomped towards the fireplace. Albus came running in then, skidding on the carpet and staring at the two of them.

"Guys, what is—"

"Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire!" Scorpius said shortly as he flooed out of there.

-

Twenty-five hours and twenty-six minutes since her first kiss and twenty-three hours and eighteen minutes since Lysander left the Burrow to pack again for Kazakhstan and she stopped pretending to be Scorpius's girlfriend. Twenty-three hours and fourteen minutes since she and Scorpius had fought and left their friendship in pieces.

Life sucked right then. Or in Shakespearan terms, "How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seems to me all the uses of the world!"

Albus had prodded the story out of her as usual and had flooed himself over to Scorpius's house and stayed the night there but Scorpius hadn't sent any apology letter by his owl yet so whatever they had done last night, it hadn't involved Albus calming Scorpius down.

-

Three days since she had last seen Scorpius did Albus climb up the ladder to her treehouse, finding his cousin reading Shakespeare again.

"Which one?" Albus asked patiently. Rose didn't spare him a glance.

"Othello. It's got a girl who loves a guy who would do anything for him, but one boy tries to screw up her relationship and her husband kills her." She informed him. "It's a good example of how guys are stupid and cause most of the tragedies in girls' lives."

"Right, Rose," Albus said distractedly now. "But for once, it was a girl who screwed up."

"What?" She protested. "Desdemona didn't do anything!"

"Not Desdemona—you!"

"Me?"

Albus sighed and stared glumly at his feet. "Rose, Scorpius, well, he has a crush on you."

"What?"

"For quite a while now, actually. Obviously, with you in love with Lysander, he didn't want to say anything, but then you kissed and dumped him…" Albus trailed off significantly at the end and looked up at her keenly.

Rose turned her blue eyes downward at the wooden planks. Scorpius was in love with her?

"He's at the Burrow right now." Al continued then.

-

Rose was knocking on the door to her Dad's old room. Nowadays, it was her and Albus's childhood hideout at the Burrow and currently where Scorpius was sulking.

"Scorp?" Rose called out, her heart thudding. "We need to talk."

There was no audible reply, but the door clicked open and she gently pushed it forward, glancing back at Albus on the landing as he mouthed, "Go get him, Rosie."

Scorpius was stretched out on the old, tangerine-faded bed, his back towards her as if he had never gotten up to unlock the door.

"Look," She started desperately. "I'm sorry I used and then dumped you for Lysander, but I didn't realize that you liked me—"

Scorpius shot up in the bed, looking alarmed. "Liked you? What are you talking about?"

"Albus said that you had a crush on me," Rose stated.

"Albus said that you were using the 'I have a crush on Lysander' as an execuse to go out with me." Scorpius said firmly.

It took them about a minute, but then they lunged for the door. Neither of them were fast enough to grab the knob before it clicked shut.

"ALBUS!" Rose bellowed. "You let us out—"

Albus's muffled voice came through the wall then. "Sorry, but I won't. You two mean too much to me to let you not realize that you two are really good together."

"You set us up so we'd start dating!" Scorpius shouted.

"This is from Much Ado About Nothing, Rosie!" Albus shouted back cheerfully. "Speak cousin, or if you cannot, stop his mouth with a kiss and let him not speak either!"

"And I will Pinch you and burn you and turn you about till candles and starlight and moonshine be out!" Rose shrieked back as Albus could be heard tramping down the stairs. "That was The Merry Wives of Winsdor, Albus Severus Potter!"

But there was no response this time and so Rose turned back to Scorpius.

"So now what?" She asked him dully. "We forgive, forget, go back to being friends who trade witty lines back and forth at each other?"

"I think Albus might be right." Scorpius said quickly.

"You are agreeing with that traitor?"

"Maybe." He acknowledged. "I mean, we both love flying, playing quidditch, reading, and we know we are equal in insulting each other, plus I think…" he turned pale pink and stopped, but she stared him down, lifting her left eyebrow up until he cracked. "I think you are pretty, Rose. And I really liked that kiss."

She stared at him and managed to utter. "I do like blondes. And that kiss." She admended.

"So…" Scorpius started awkwardly. "Do you…I mean—Are you and I?"

Rose kissed him agreeably, effectively shutting him up. "On two conditions," She said. "Kill Albus for me."

"Ok."

"And I don't want to end up with a dagger to my heart." She concluded as she kissed the confused look off his face. "Romeo and Juliet."

Scorpius mumbled then. "Just come and kiss me, Rose and we'll tell our families before the wedding."

This is my submission for The Reviews Lounge Summer Project as Rose Weasley! I'd like to cite all quotes as belonging to Shakespeare and give my thanks to him as my inspiration with A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing for this oneshot.

I should also add that this is NON-COMPLIANT with my other works. Except for Malfoys and Myths unless you are a Lily/Scorpius shipper.

"Or else it it stood upon the choice of friends—O hell! To choose love by another's eye." : A Midsummer Night's Dream

"I dote on his very absence." : The Merchant of Venice

"I fear too early; for my mind misgives some consequences yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night's revels.": Romeo and Juliet

"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seems to me all the uses of the world!" : Hamlet

"Speak cousin, or if you cannot, stop his mouth with a kiss and let him not speak either!": Much Ado About Nothing

"Pinch them and burn them and turn them about till candles and starlight and moonshine be out!": The Merry Wives of Winsdor

"Come and kiss me, Kate" : The Taming of the Shrew