Despite it being Christmas Eve, Rose Gillenhall walked alone along the promenade a few blocks away from her house. Bitter white frost lay on the ground sparkling in the luminous light of the full moon. The moon itself was surrounded by glittering stars in the cloudless, inky black sky.

She leant against the railings staring out into the dark sea. It seemed to have no end to it, just disappearing into nothingness, nothing but darkness. The moon made a path of light across the rough waves, crashing into the sea wall. A lighthouse flashed to the right, momentarily lighting the darkness that surrounded it.

Somewhere in the distance a dog barked and an owl hooted, though it was barely detectable over the crashing of the waves and the whistle of the bitter cold wind. The salty sea air filled her lungs. The smell of fish and chips was so overwhelming she could almost taste it.

The cold air caused her ears turn red, her nose to start sniffling and her eyes to water. Her lips became dry and chapped while her long brown curls flew around her face. She stuffed her hands into her pockets to prevent them from becoming any colder.

She didn't know exactly why she was there; she just knew that she needed to get away. She needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas, she needed to get away from her family and she needed to get away from her husband.

Rose knew that leaving her daughter with Bret, her husband, but she just needed time to think on her own. That wasn't easy when she had a crying baby, loud and rowdy family and a nagging husband. In the end she had just got up and left frustrated.

She looked round at the sound of a drunken crowd of muggles staggered towards her. The group was entirely male. She rolled her eyes at them disgusted. Idiots, why on earth would you get drunk on Christmas Eve when you could be at home with your family? Rose thought. Then she thought, isn't that what I am doing? Coming here instead of being at home with my family? At least I'm not drunk out of my mind while doing it. She turned back around and stared back out into the crashing waves. They gave her some kind of comfort.

"Alright there, love?" one of the men said leaning against the rail sloppily. He looked as if he thought he was charming her. She gave him a disgusted look and turned away. "Hey, I said are you alright?" he asked snaking an arm around her waist.

"Yes, I'm fine," Rose said firmly removing his arm from her waist.

"Come on love, come for a drink with us," he said placing his hand on her hip.

"No," she said not bothering to keep the disgust out of her voice.

He now pulled her towards him and held her in a tight grip. "You know you want to," he whispered in her ear. Rose could smell stale booze and sweat on him.

"No, get off!" she said trying to push him off her.

He just laughed and pulled her more against himself. Rose was struggling with all her might. She just wasn't strong enough.

"Hey, leave her alone!" a deep voice shouted from behind her.

"What if I don't? What are you going to do about it?" the drunken man said.

The other man drew a long wooden stick and whispered, "Stupefy." The man crumpled to the ground unconscious. Rose took comfort in knowing that he was a wizard. But… what about the onlookers? They were muggle, what on earth was this man thinking?

Rose looked around and saw there was no one in sight. No one except her, the mysterious man and the unconscious drunk at her feet. She turned to the mysterious man who was concealed by shadows.

"Thanks, for that I mean."

"Its okay, he was being a disrespectful creep, Rose."

Rose was startled. Was he stalking her? "How do you know my name?"

The man chuckled. "Rose, we went to school together. I am surprised you don't recognise me, I recognised you straight away. It is hard to forget your first love, no?"

Then something clicked in her head. She knew his voice sounded familiar. "Scorpius?" she asked slowly, unsure if it really was him.

"The one and only," he replied stepping out of the shadows. Rose was relieved to see him. She had not seen him since they had graduated from Hogwarts, and she had, regretfully, dumped him. She had never forgotten that day and neither had Scorpius.

- Flashback –

"Scorpius, I have something to tell you," Rose said just after they had received their diplomas. "I want to break up."

Scorpius looked at her disbelievingly. "What? Why?"

"Scorpius, who are we kidding? We are never going to see each other again and I do not want to carry on with all these secrets anymore. I'm sorry but its over." And with that she walked away to where her parents and family were stood.

Scorpius stared after her before walking towards the lake. He stood looking out over it for a moment before taking a velvet box out of his pocket. He opened it and looked down at the small white gold diamond ring in it. His mother had given him this ring just before she passed away last year, telling him to give it to someone special. He thought Rose had been that someone. But it turned out she didn't love him as much as he loved her.

He considered throwing the ring into the lake for a moment but then decided against it because it was the only thing he had to remind him of his mother, besides the odd photo. He stuffed the ring back into his pocket before sitting down on the grass and letting a lone tear slide down his cheek.

- End flashback –

Both Scorpius and Rose regretted that day more than any other in their lives.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Scorpius finally asked, needing to break the silence surrounding them.

"I just needed time away from my crazy family to think. How about you, why aren't you with your dad?" Rose returned.

"For some reason he said he wanted to be alone this Christmas. And I don't have anyone else to spend it with, I have never been able to hold down a steady girlfriend since you," he said his face looked solemn. Then something caught his eye. He reached towards Rose's left hand and held it up to hid face. The diamond ring on it sparkled in the moon light. "It seems you had a lot more luck than me," he said bitterly. He wished it were his ring that was on her finger.

"Yeah," Rose replied noticing the bitterness in his voice. "Want to go for a walk?"

"No thanks. I have to go home to save the nanny from Seb," he said and began to walk in the direction he was facing.

"Scorpius, I thought you said you weren't in a relationship," Rose said confused now.

"I'm not, one of my old girlfriends left him on my doorstep telling me the baby was mine but she couldn't look after him because she didn't have enough money. I tried seeking her out but it turned out she had died a week later. So I had to keep my son," he explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rose said. He had been on quite a roller coaster.

"Don't worry about it. It was almost three years ago now. Anyway, I have to go. It was nice bumping into you," he said before taking off again.

Once he was back in the shadows and out of earshot Rose whispered, "You too."

Rose walked back up her frost ridden driveway listening to the muffled sounds of shouting coming from the house. Rose would bet anything that it was her parents. They had never quite made the transition from teenager to adult after the war. It was either that or everyone had gotten so drunk that they now could not keep down the party noises.

Upon walking into her home Rose found that it was in fact her parents arguing. She didn't know what about and didn't bother to ask. Instead she welcomed the warmth emitting from the many fires lit and the cheery sounds of chatter coming from the living room. That was until she heard her daughter start crying.

She sighed and ran upstairs to the nursery. She walked through the door to find her husband, Bret Gillenhall, rocking his daughter, trying to get her to go back to sleep.

"Do you want me to take Katie now?" she asked. Bret jumped slightly before smiling gratefully at his wife. He handed Katie to her before bounding down the stairs. Rose chuckled at his behaviour before walking round the room in circles rocking Katie slightly. After a minute or two Katie settled back into a peaceful sleep again.

Rose walked to her bedroom with Katie and laid down on her bed with her. Within a few minutes they were both sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the noises downstairs.

Scorpius walked home alone that night. He wished that he had something to look forward to this Christmas. He had Seb, of course but he couldn't help but miss the kind of love that only a woman can give. He felt as though he had a big gaping hole in his heart that needed to be filled by a woman.

Seeing Rose tonight had sparked old feelings within him again. He wished that he could touch her once more, feel her lips on his, just once. He could not deny that he still loved her. He had tried denying it just after they had broken up but it hadn't worked. He had tried forgetting about her and moving on but it just wasn't the same. Now, she was happy with another man. He couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if they hadn't broken up.

She would be married to him and they would probably have their own children. But, he wouldn't have Seb. Seb was the only thing that kept him going these days; he could not imagine life without seeing his son's angelic face with a bright smile constantly plastered on it. Or the way his grey eyes lit up whenever he saw him. Or the way his white blond hair grew whenever he did accidental magic. Scorpius didn't know why it did that, it was just a side effect he had noticed.

As he walked up his gravel driveway he heard a screech coming from inside the house. He wondered what the little guy was doing to the poor nanny this time. Shaking his head he walked into the hallway and through the first door on hi right to the living room.

"Sebastian Scorpius Malfoy stop this nonsense now!" the nanny shouted. Scorpius looked around to see Seb waving the nanny's wand around his head while the walls and furniture turned different colours and sparks flew out the wands tip. Scorpius couldn't help but laugh at how distressed the nanny was getting over something so little.

"Need a hand?" Scorpius asked startling the nanny.

"If you wouldn't mind!" she said briskly. Old prune, Scorpius thought to himself.

"Accio wand," he said and the wand came zooming towards him. He caught it and handed it to the nanny. She just took it sharply without even saying thankyou. He turned back to his son who was looking at his hand curiously wondering where the wand had gone. "Seb!"

"Daddy!" Seb exclaimed before running into his outstretched arms. Seb kissed him on the cheek before looking at his mirror self.

"Hey, little guy. Where you good for the nanny?" he asked already knowing the answer. His son nodded his head vigorously causing Scorpius to laugh and the nanny to scowl. "How much do I owe you?" he asked the nanny.

"Twenty galleons," she replied shortly.

"Twenty galleons! I thought it was two galleons an hour!"

"It's Christmas Eve, I charge double," she replied sharply. Scorpius didn't object. He reached into his money pouch and produced twenty galleons. "Thankyou." She walked out of the house as quickly as her short, fat legs would carry her.

"Seb, I think we need a house elf, that nanny is robbing me every time I ask her to watch you," he said tickling his son.

Seb squealed in delight and squirmed to get down. Scorpius obliged before going to make some tea for them both.

He placed the cheese on toast on the table before shouting his son. "Seb!"

Seb came running through the door and almost knocked Scorpius off his feet in his eagerness. Scorpius just laughed and sat down at the table across from him. They ate in silence before Scorpius took him upstairs to get him ready for bed.

Rose was woken from her wonderful dream by the sound of Katie crying next to her. Reluctantly she sat up and cradled Katie in her arms. She looked around the room and noticed Bret wasn't there. She also noticed the lack of noise from down the stairs. Everyone must have gone home, she thought. She glanced at the bedside clock. It read 5am.

Reluctantly she stood up and carried the still crying Katie downstairs and into the kitchen for her morning bottle. She took it out of the fridge and started to warm it with her wand. She then noticed a small square piece of parchment on the kitchen table.

Rose took the now heated bottle and put it in Katie's mouth before picking up the parchment. It was a note from Bret.

Rose, sorry but I got an urgent call from work and I wont be back until later tonight, have a good Christmas, Bret xxx.

"For god sakes Bret! It's Katie's first Christmas, and you won't even be here!" Rose exclaimed angrily, slamming the note back on the table. Katie looked up at her mum curiously. Rose smiled at her and wiggled the bottle in her mouth, signalling for her to keep drinking. "Looks like it is just you and me for Christmas, Katie."

AN: please review me... they make me smile :)