A/N: I do not own the world that this story is written in, nor do I own 95% of the character's involved. That right belongs to the beloved Queen Rowling. That being said, the idea for this story came to me through a combination of things, the main one being the movie What to Expect When You're Expecting, though this is not a crossover. I hope you enjoy it! There's a whole lot more of story to come! ~Addy

Broken Foundations

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, Rose. I don't like you like you like me."

The memory, imprinted on her brain, haunting her dreams, began as it always did. Rose Weasley faced the boy she had harbored a crush on for more than four years, Scorpius Malfoy. She had just professed her love for him. The moment she heard the words from his mouth, her heart shattered. Of course he didn't like her. Why would he like her? She was a bookworm who loved chess and school and nothing more. He wasn't that into learning, more interested in Quidditch and pranks. But something had drawn her to him. Something had made her fall hard.

Rose thought she knew every aspect of what happened that night at the end of her sixth year at Hogwarts. She had been through the dream enough times in the past eight years to claim so. Therefore, she was shocked when the memory-dream went in a completely different direction.

Instead of running off, tears stinging her eyes, like she did all those years before, Rose unconsciously chose to stay. She watched Scorpius, more specifically his eyes. And the pain swimming in them was enough to cause her to question everything that happened between them.

"Scorpius?" she attempted to call to the dream manifestation of him.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Dream Scorpius whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

"Sorry for what?"

Dream Scorpius turned his back and walked away, headed toward the Slytherin common room. Rose tried to follow, but she was rooted to her spot. She felt her consciousness being pulled from the dream, and tried desperately to reach something that could keep her there, so she could follow Scorpius, but there was nothing in the desolate corridor she had dragged him to.

Dazed, Rose opened her eyes slowly, her bedroom ceiling coming into view inch by inch. She was more than railroaded by the dream she just roused from. Stretching, she pulled the covers over her head and yawned.

"Morning," called a familiar voice, one she had half a mind to murder for being in her bedroom so bloody early on her day off and without permission.

Throwing the blanket from her head, she rasped, "What are you doing in my room, Al?" She was immensely glad that the night before had been a bit chilly, and she had chosen to wear pajamas to bed.

"That doesn't sound like 'good morning, Albus.'"

Rose glared at her cousin, who was perched on her windowsill, cup of tea in hand. "Oh, you'll get your 'good morning, Albus' when I show up in YOUR room at the crack of dawn."

"Always so temperamental when you wake up, Rosie," Albus teased. "You'd think this morning would be a good one after what you were going on about in your sleep."

Rose froze. How could he possibly know what she was dreaming of? She barely remembered the dream herself, just the ocean of pain behind Scorpius's eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie, Rosie. You're not very good at it. You know full well what I'm talking about."

Rose folded her arms over her chest. She refused to acknowledge that Albus was right. "Don't tell me what I know, Al. Or do you not remember what happened the last time you tried to pull that with me?"

Albus merely chuckled. "No, I remember well, cousin. But I heard you saying his name, Scorpius. He was in your dream, wasn't he?"

Silence fell between them. Rose looked away, chewing on her lower lip.

"I knew it! What happened between you two? Things haven't been the same since the end of sixth year. You guys were practically attached at the hip back then. Have you even talked to him since we left Hogwarts?"

Rose frowned. She hadn't talked to Scorpius at all in a really long time, partly because of how she left things with him, and partly because she was sure he hated her. "No," she muttered slowly. "I've just been busy."

"Bull!" Albus barked, shaking his head. "That's rubbish, and you know it. Tell me, what did you do last night? Sit at home with me and my girlfriend when you could have gone out and had dinner with him."

Rose definitely did not like the direction the conversation had taken, so she decided to change it. "How IS my lovely roommate? I assume she let you in?"

Albus grinned wickedly, momentarily distracted. "She did . . . last night."

"Oi!" groaned Rose. "Not something I needed to know, you bloody numpty. Keep your love life with my best friend to yourself."

"Will do," he replied, chuckling. "And you're not getting away with that change of subject trick you tried to pull. I'm not letting this go, Rosie."

Rose merely ignored him as she climbed out of her bed, and padded over to her wardrobe. She chose an outfit for the day, and turned back to Albus. "Scorpius made his bed," she muttered cryptically, before heading off to have a shower.

Albus wondered what she meant by that. But he had an idea that it wasn't good, for his cousin had been close to tears when she brushed past him. He knew that he pushed too hard, but he only wanted happiness for the both of them. While Rose showered, Albus decided it best not to bring up Scorpius, at least for a little while.

When Rose emerged, smelling much like her namesake, Albus had a cup of tea waiting for her. "You looked like you could use this," he mumbled, gesturing to the steaming mug in front of him.

"Thank you." Rose had to admit, her annoying, idiotic cousin could be pretty awesome sometimes. She sat in front of him, and sipped slowly from the mug.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Albus and Rose exclaimed at the same time, after a few moments of silence. They both burst into giggles, as if they were still children.

"J-Jinx," Rose choked out.

Albus pouted, attempting to con his way out of the silly Muggle game.

"Oh, fine," Rose murmured, rolling her eyes. "You have my permission to speak."

"Good. I was going to ask you something."

Intrigued, Rose eyed Albus carefully. "Go on," she prompted.

"Well, James's first Quidditch match of the season is today. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"Why aren't you taking your girlfriend?"

"Because she has to work," Albus replied with a shrug.

"And what makes you think I don't?"

"It's half past ten, and you've only just woken a while ago. If you had to work, you'd have been up hours ago. Face it, Rose . . . the people around you know your schedule better than you do." He smiled satisfactorily.

"When exactly did you find the time to pay so much darn attention to me," Rose questioned with a huff. "Between Kaydee and Auror training, you'd think your mind would be full up."

Albus smirked. "It doesn't matter. Just say you'll go with me."

"I don't know, Al," Rose muttered, wracking her brain for a reason why she shouldn't go.

"Come on. Please?"

Rose couldn't possibly say no to the face he was giving her. "Fine," she cried, exasperated. "But you're going to owe me, cousin, if I'm expected to take time out of my busy day of lounging around to go with you to a stupid Quidditch game."

Albus chuckled. He knew that she had become an avid fan of the sport, and was probably itching to go. "Sure, whatever you say."

Arriving at the Quidditch pitch, Rose had never felt more alive. There was something about the atmosphere at a Quidditch match that brought out the best in people. A genuine smile graced her face for the first time in a long while.

"Let's go find some seats," Albus suggested.

The pair of them wrestled their way through the crowd, some supporting the Tutshill Tornadoes, wearing sky blue clothing embroidered with double T's in a darker shade of blue. And some wore dark grey and white, with a falcon embossed across their chests, for the Falmouth Falcons. Rose, herself, was supporting her cousin, by wearing a Tornadoes T-shirt that James supplied her with for Christmas the year before.

Once they settled on what they deemed the best seats they could find, Rose and Albus made themselves comfortable.

Rose noticed that her cousin had begun to act very strange. She wasn't sure what was up with him, but didn't have the chance to ask, for the announcer cut her off.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" boomed the announcer. "It is almost time to begin this Quidditch match! But first, let's introduce the teams! In grey and white, we have the amazing Falmouth Falcons!" Nearly half the crowd erupted, whistling and cheering.

"Yes, yes, good luck Falcons! You're going to need it since you'll be facing the unbeatable Tutshill Tornadoes!" The rest of the crowd came to life. Rose jumped out of her seat, hollering and hooting, taking Albus by surprise.

When she calmed down, she noticed Albus eyeing her. "What?"

"Nothing," he murmured, shaking his head.

Rose decided to ignore him, to not let him ruin her amazing mood. She watched intently as the players flew out onto the field. Studying them through Albus's binoculars, she came across one very familiar man. She couldn't quite place him, though, and it began to nag at her.

Rose barely listened to the beginning of the game. Her eyes were glued to the familiar man's back, as he played the position of Chaser. His sky blue robes trailed behind him as he shot through the air, Quaffle tucked safely under his arm. She cheered when he scored through the center goal, after faking to the right.

Albus smoothed a crease in his cloak nervously. "So, erm, Rose?"

"Hmm?" muttered Rose, hardly paying any attention to him.

"I . . . I was thinking of . . . I was thinking of asking Kaydee to marry me." His words tumbled from his mouth in a rush. A blush crept up the back up of his neck, making the fine hairs there raise.

"That sounds great, Al," she murmured a million miles away, her mind in a completely different place.

Albus glared at his cousin. He was irritated that she was so into the game and couldn't bother to take herself out of it for one moment and be happy for him. He noticed Rose's half smile, and followed her line of sight to see something he never would have imagined.

Albus had made the wise choice not to tell Rose that James had gained himself a brand new teammate that year. He knew Rose would avoid the match like the plague if she knew his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, had landed himself a spot on the team.

The way Rose was staring after Scorpius made up Albus's mind once and for all. He was going to get the two of them together, even if it killed him.

While Albus was formulating various plots to get the two of them together, Rose was wracking her brain trying to figure out why the mysterious man she couldn't keep her eyes off was so familiar. She went through a list of people she went to school with, because she was fairly certain they were close in age, that played Quidditch, and more specifically, the position of Chaser. Her mind hit a brick wall, and she soon grew frustrated.

The game finished before Rose expected, with James just barely winning out in the race to catch the Golden Snitch. Every single person in blue erupted in a wild cheer, hollering at the top of their lungs. Rose grinned at Albus, happy to see that he had risen from his seat as well, and was cheering just as loud as she was.

"Come on," Albus shouted, barely able to rise above the noise. He pulled Rose along, headed to congratulate his brother and best friend.

James Potter was easy enough to find. He was hoisted atop his teammates, a wide grin adorning his face. He still wore his Quidditch gear, and every one of his teammates had a hand on him, congratulating him.

"Let me down, you lot," he called once he spotted his brother and cousin headed in his direction. They set him on his feet, a few of them taking the opportunity to clap him on the back once more.

"Never thought I'd see you here, cousin," James murmured, a smirk crossing his face.

"Oh, shove off, James. I couldn't very well miss your first match of the season, now could I?"

"My parents missed the game," James supplied.

"But they had their reasons," Albus jumped in quickly.

"Yes, yes. I know. I got the spiel last night when Mum forced me into dinner. They've been at enough of my games to earn themselves a bye, I guess. Still, I wish Dad had seen that wicked catch I made. I think he'd be proud."

"Of course he'd be proud, James," Rose murmured, smiling at her elder cousin. There was a time when he did nothing but annoy her. But they both had grown, Rose more than James, and grew to be somewhat closer than when they were children.

Albus tuned the two of them out. He focused on Scorpius, who had just noticed Rose. Once he got Scorpius's attention, he beckoned him over to join them.

As Scorpius sauntered over, he couldn't help but check out the girl he let get away. Rose had blossomed into a gorgeous woman, and he knew for a fact that her most beautiful asset was her mind. Through Albus, Scorpius had found out that Rose went into the Healing business, not that it surprised him one bit. She always had an uncanny ability to sense when someone needed her help, and did whatever she could for anyone she could.

Thanks to the recent win, Scorpius felt considerably confident. But at the same time, due to the way they left things between them, Scorpius grew incredibly nervous as he neared. He momentarily considered a change of direction, and chickening out of the situation.

"Well done, mate," Albus called, smirking. He could clearly see Scorpius debating and decided to make the decision for him.

Scorpius frowned at his best friend. "Hello, Rose," he murmured.

Rose whirled around only to come face to face with the Quidditch player she was unable to place. Once she was able to look at his face properly, her heart sunk. She knew that face, only her memory showed it a few years younger. It was the face of Scorpius Malfoy, the boy who never loved her, the cause of her pain for many years.

Seeing him in that moment was more than enough to bring back it all flooding back. She struggled to keep her emotions in check, to not show any signs of weakness.

"Hello," she replied, venom dripping from the word.

"You look well," Scorpius tried, his lips turning up slightly. He didn't miss the bitterness in her tone, choosing to overlook it and compliment her.

Rose turned to glare at her cousins. James surveyed the situation, standoffish. Albus watched more intently. Rose could see he had a plan of some sorts, and was suddenly furious with him for not warning her that Scorpius would be there.

"I . . . I forgot. I'm supposed to meet Mum and Dad for lunch." Rose turned on the spot, disappearing with a loud pop, but not before all three men caught the stray tear that rolled down her cheek and the hitch in her breath.

"What in the bloody hell was that about?" James asked, still starring at the spot Rose stood a second before.

Frowning, Albus simply shrugged.

"It's a long story," Scorpius murmured, looking away from the brothers. He knew exactly what made Rose leave so abruptly, and it made him feel terrible. For the reason she left was him.

A few hours later, Albus let himself into the flat his girlfriend, Kaydee Longbottom, shared with Rose. He checked to see if his cousin had come home, but he knew better. Rose had looked terrible when he caught up with her, nursing her second fire whiskey at the Leaky Cauldron. She refused to speak to him for more than an hour, and when she did, he was glad words weren't able to physically harm, because hers would have cut him to bits for sure.
Albus sighed. He truly thought he was doing something good for Scorpius and Rose, because he felt they were perfect for each other, despite their past. In fact, he wasn't clear on the events that transpired between the two of them, and was determined to get to the bottom of it.
While he busied himself, preparing his favorite feast for the dinner he planned for his and Kaydee's seventh anniversary, he immersed himself in memories of days long gone, attempting to figure out when both of his best friends became miserable and why.

Albus was so consumed that he did not hear the front door opening, nor did he hear his girlfriend coming up behind him. Only when she wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed happily did he realize he wasn't alone in her flat.

"It smells delightful," she murmured, surprise coloring her tone.

"You say that with entirely too much disbelief," Albus retorted, pulling Kaydee in front of him to have a proper look at her. "I learned from the best cook there ever will be, my Gran. Happy anniversary, love." He kissed her sweetly.

Once Kaydee recovered from the effect his kisses had on her, she countered, "I'm pretty sure not even your Gran could save your cooking. What about our anniversary last year? You tried to make breakfast in bed for me, and wound up in St. Mungo's, with Rose treating you for what you assumed were second degree burns?" Kaydee giggled as she helped Albus float their dinner to the dining room table.

"You swore you'd never mention that again," Albus muttered, but was unable to keep the smile from his face. "And besides, that bacon grease was ridiculously hot! For all I knew, it could have been third degree instead of the minor skin irritation it got classified as."

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you cooked the bacon with your shirt off."

"Funny, it never occurred to me until that day." Albus went around the table to pull out Kaydee's chair for her. He wanted everything to be perfect for what he was about to do.

Throughout dinner, Kaydee dealt with the sense that something was off with her boyfriend. She chalked it up to stress, what with his Stealth test scheduled for less than a month later, and didn't comment on it.

Albus finished his food first, practically inhaling every morsel out of sheer nervousness. Would Kaydee accept his proposal? He hoped with his whole heart that she would.

The moment Kaydee put her last bite into her mouth, Albus shot up, mumbling something about going to get their dessert.

"I get dessert too? I wish every day was our anniversary."

Kaydee spent more than a few moments alone, before deciding to go see what was taking her boyfriend so long with their dessert. "Albus? Did you get lost? I know how my flat's layout can be confusing to you."

When Kaydee crossed the threshold of her kitchen, she was not expecting to see her boyfriend of seven years down on one knee, holding one of the most beautiful rings she had ever laid eyes on.

"Kaydee Marie Longbottom, I have loved you since I was seventeen years old. I have known you were the one for me for a pretty long time now. I think I might have even known it back when we first started dating, right after we made up from our first real fight. I couldn't bear to be without you during those two weeks, and after all this time, I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, and making me the happiest man in the world?"

Kaydee had been waiting for him to pop the question for months, and now that it had finally happened, she was immensely ecstatic. Wasting no time at all, she exclaimed an overly joyous, "Yes! Of course I'll marry you, Albus!"

Elated, Albus placed the ring he purchased from a Muggle jeweler on Kaydee's finger, and then stood to take her into his arms. His butterfly kisses on her face and neck made her squeal.

Once they had composed themselves enough to be able to take their dessert to Kaydee's dining room table, they began the talk of wedding plans.

"I want Rose to be my maid of honor," Kaydee murmured without a moment's thought. Of course she would want her best friend to be a part of her wedding. The two of them had been inseparable since they met their first year at Hogwarts.

Albus had absolutely no problem with his favorite cousin being a part of their wedding. It actually gave him an idea. "I would like Scorpius to be my Best Man." When he noticed Kaydee's look of protest, he continued, "Now, I know Rose may not be very happy about this, but Scorpius has been my best mate as long as you and she have been friends. It is our wedding, and we should have the right to choose who we invite into our wedding party. Rose is a big girl now. I am confident that she will get over what happened between the two of them all those years ago."

Kaydee stayed silent for a moment. She knew a fraction of what happened the night Scorpius broke Rose's heart, only the bits and pieces she was able to pull from her best friend's hysterics, and the things she observed. She had always wondered about the full story, but wasn't willing to bring up the past and the pain.

"I don't know everything," she began, wondering if she should be telling him any of it. But once the words were out, it was too late; Albus would have gotten it out of her one way or another. "Rose told me her crush on Scorpius began in our third year. It grew from there, to out-of-control, Scorpius-was-the-only-thing-on-her-mind, couldn't-focus-on-anything proportions. In sixth year, she'd had enough of the daydreaming—she wanted the real thing. One night, she dragged Scorpius to an unused corridor in the castle and confessed her feelings. Obviously they weren't returned, because by the time I found her hours later, still alone in that dark corridor, heartbroken, she was an utter mess. Do you remember that time she spent almost a week straight in the Hospital Wing with bandaged arms? That was when it happened. She just couldn't deal with all of the stress she was under so she hurt herself, burned her flesh pretty horribly. It's a miracle the scars aren't still visible, but magic is marvelous that way."

By that point in Kaydee's tale, Albus was fuming. Scorpius, his BEST FRIEND in the whole world aside from Kaydee, was the reason his cousin hurt herself. He could barely consume his rage enough to work out that this was the incident that broke up Scorpius and Rose's friendship. He would have never guessed back then that Rose liked Scorpius, what with the way she regarded him, and sassed him.

"Calm down, Albus," Kaydee murmured, clearly able to see him murdering his best friend in his mind. "It wasn't Scorpius's fault Rose did what she did. Yes, he played a part in it, but Rose could have acknowledged that she had a problem. I'm not saying that she was in the wrong either, but we were always there for her. She kept a lot of things buried back then, things I am sworn to secrecy about, so don't even try it, Mister."

Silence fell between the two of them. Albus wanted to question what things Rose kept quiet, but he knew he would get nowhere in that conversation, so he moved on to trying to wrap his head around why his best friend told his cousin no.

"I'm a little confused about something," Albus admitted.

"You're a little confused about a lot of things, Hunny," Kaydee joked, sticking out her tongue at him. "But what are you muddled about this time?"

"I understand that in some variation or another, Scorpius told Rose that he didn't like her, or that they couldn't be together. What I don't understand is why, if he did that back then, if he didn't actually like her, would he feel the need to ask about her every single time I see him, most times even before asking about you and me? And why is it when he asks about her, he has a weird look of longing in his eyes? Is he just trying to toy with her emotions, hoping that I would tell her every time her name passed his lips?"

It was a very good question, indeed. Kaydee took a few moments to mull it over. "I'm not sure why Scorpius told her he didn't like her back then, but maybe now that he's matured, he realizes that he made a horrible mistake and missed out on an amazing person?"

"But should he be allowed a second chance with her?"

"What do you mean?" Confusion colored Kaydee's features.

"This morning, I went into Rose's room to ask if she wanted to go to James's match today."

"Albus, what did you do?" Kaydee groaned, knowing she would be in for a discussion later that night, when Rose returned home.

Albus raised his hands in defeat. "I didn't do it on purpose! I was just waiting for her to wake up, and I heard her say his name, Scorpius. She was dreaming of him. So I figured when she saw him at the game, they'd begin the repair process on their friendship. It didn't quite work that way. Throughout the match, Rose couldn't keep her eyes off him. I thought my plan was working. It blew up in my face, though, when we went back to congratulate James and his team on their win. I guess Rose had no clue who Scorpius was while he played. But the moment he said her name, she knew. Boy, did she know. Not even a minute passed before she disapparated, mumbling something about lunch with Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, leaving us standing there like a bunch of idiots. How was I supposed to know what happened between them? Nobody tells me anything!"

Kaydee placed her hand on Albus's. "It's okay, love. You couldn't possibly have known. Your heart was in the right place. And you weren't wrong. Rose DOES still have feelings for Scorpius; she just won't admit it to herself. A girl never forgets her first love, even if he never loved her back." She paused, considering her next words. "So the only question left is, do we get involved, or do we leave it up to chance that they'll bridge the gap themselves?"

Albus didn't know how to answer her question. On the one hand, he only wanted happiness for Rose, and Scorpius, as well. But should Scorpius get a second chance at what he missed out on the first time? Albus wasn't sure if he did, but he figured if he were in the same position with Kaydee, he would have wanted the opportunity to, at the very least.

"So we're doing this? We're really doing everything in our power to fix things between Rose and Scorpius?"

"It looks like we are," answered Albus.