I barely knew what day of the week it was any more. Malfoy Manor became a timeless bubble where nothing spectacular happened, the same questions were asked each morning at breakfast and again at dinner "Any news?" Mrs Malfoy would ask her husband, he would return this with a tense shake of his head and regretful look in my direction. Nothing was happening. Since the invasion a week or so ago, I'm not sure how long exactly, the investigation was seemingly uneventful. I assumed that no news was good news in regards to my family, it's much better to hear nothing than to hear the worst.

Scorpius and I were spending an increasing amount of time together, he never left the Manor nor did he seem to want to. I personally thought it might be suspicious that the Malfoy son was not seen by anyone all summer but he assured me that no-one would even notice he wasn't around. I told him that everybody would be missed by someone, even if he didn't know who that person was. Scorpius was a sad person; not in a cries himself to sleep every night way, more that he didn't know of happiness. The more we spoke about our lives, about childhood, about our friends and families I soon realised he didn't speak as much as I did about happy memories because he didn't want to share, it was that he couldn't because he didn't have many. I was becoming more and more intrigued by Scorpius, the way he spoke, what he did and didn't say, how he would smirk and raise his right eyebrow before laughing. Everything about Scorpius Malfoy was interesting. I put down my fascination with the boy to the fact I have absolutely no school work left to complete and, thus, he was the only thing left for me to study. I think.

"Rose?" a familiar voice accompanied the opening of my bedroom door. "Are you awake?"

"Yep," I replied only slightly groggily. I'd been awake for about an hour and only managed to achieve scraping my hair into a bobble before drifting in and out of sleep since. "What's up?"

"Special delivery," Scorpius waved four different coloured envelopes in my face before planting himself next to me. "happy birthday!"

Wow, I really did need to learn to keep track of the days here. I had absolutely no idea that it was anywhere near my birthday nor did I really care. There wasn't anything to celebrate.

"Er, thanks" I mumbled whilst taking the birthday cards, examining the handwriting on each. The first was off my parents -my mum's perfect handwriting a dead give away-, the second was from Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry and the other two I didn't recognise.

"Well aren't you going to open them?" he said urgently "come on, it's not every day that it's your birthday Rose. My Dad brought them back from the office last night, why didn't you tell me that it's your birthday?"

"I forgot," I said honestly, not expecting him to believe me regardless. It's not exactly normal for a teenager to forget that its their birthday. I opened the card from my parents first, the knot in my stomach tightening as I grazed the envelope opening with my finger.

Rosie,

Happy Birthday darling, we know that you might not think there's much cause for celebration today but we want you to enjoy the day best you can. We are working tirelessly here to sort things out so we can see you soon.

We love and miss you,

Mum & Dad

xxx

A card. A card with a few sentences. That's all it took to shatter my heart into a tiny million pieces. It felt as though with every beat it ached for everything and everyone that I missed. Scorpius' face morphed from a hopeful smile to a concerned stare with every second that I was silent.

"My parents," I forced a smile and went to open the card from Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry. Theirs contained much the same as my parent's did, words of encouragement, telling me to try and enjoy my birthday. The third card was from Draco, Astoria and Grace, a kind gesture I thought. I had literally invaded their life and home, their kindness and hospitality is something I'll never forget for as long as I live. Scorpius' grin told me that the fourth card was from him as he waited breathlessly for me to open it.

Rose,

Even though you conveniently forgot to tell me that it was your birthday I have still organised a present for you – get dressed.

Love,

Scorpius

x

p.s happy birthday!

"How did you know I wouldn't be dressed?" I asked, slightly offended that he assumed by 11am I would still be in my pyjamas. He was right, of course, but that isn't the point.

"Because I know you Rose," he smiled before heading toward the door. "now get dressed, do you want your present or not?"

"Well get lost then, I need to get changed," I threw a pillow at the door as he fell over dramatically out of the room. Whatever misconceptions I had about Scorpius before I came here had been well and truly destroyed because the boy who goes to Hogwarts is not the same one I've been living with.

"Scorpius, I can't see!" I complained as he guided me down the stairs, grasping onto the rail for dear life.

"That's the whole point," he said, making me aware of how close he was to me as his hands clasped around my eyes. "I want you to get the full effect. The full Scorpius Malfoy Birthday experience."

We stopped somewhere downstairs in the Manor, Scorpius lent forward to open a door before pulling me into the room. I had absolutely no idea where we were, in fact we could be in some spider-infested dungeon and I wouldn't know. He's not that mean, is he? That would be unnecessarily cruel.

"This is phase one of the Scorpius Malfoy Birthday experience," he said slowly slipping his hands away from my eyes to reveal a room with a table full to bursting of snacks, a plush sofa and large screen. "when I was younger, my Grandma on my Mum's side would take me to the Muggle cinema sometimes and then she bought me this, it's called a D-V-D player and a television. I love it. So, here it is, not as big and not an actual cinema but it's going to play a Muggle film. Have you watched many of them?"

"Never," I said slightly bewildered by the thought that had gone into his present, especially at such short notice. "what is it?"

"I didn't know what film to pick," he said "I know you've read this, I've seen it in your room. Romeo and Juliet. My Mum loves this one, I hope you do too."

"Thank you," was all I had time to say before the moving pictures began and the Shakespearean dialogue filled the room transporting me to another world for a couple of hours, something I so desperately needed.

After the film had finished we snacked on some of the sweet treats that Scorpius had laid out -or maybe Astoria- and chatted aimlessly before suddenly Scorpius sat up, glanced at his watch and declared it was time to go to the garden. The Malfoy garden was somewhere I had barely explored, only touching the tips of the place, not wanting to venture into the vast grounds that surrounded the manor. I was assured that I was safe there and wouldn't be seen but I still felt exposed outside the safety of the walls, totally out in the open. Today, though, it looked like I had no choice but to go outside.

"Where on Earth are you taking me Scorpius?" I followed him out into the grounds, walking and walking slightly uphill. I hadn't realised just how large the Manor grounds were, stretching what had to be acres and acres into the countryside.

"You'll see," was all he said before smirking, raising his eyebrow and laughing. I smiled back without meaning to, there was something contagiously happy about his laugh.

We walked for another 5 minutes before reaching a small hill, a peak on what I assumed was the edge of the gardens. Scorpius grabbed my hand, the unexpected gesture catching me off guard, I could only hope that he didn't see me blush, and pulled me to the top of the mound.

"And this," he outstretched both hands towards a beautiful view of a lake and the fading sun creating a magical mixture "is the Scorpius Malfoy Birthday experience, phase two. Do you like it?"

"I love it," I answered genuinely, taking a seat next to Scorpius who'd perched himself on the edge, dangling his legs off the small drop. "it's beautiful."

"I come here all the time, I like to think here," he sounded embarrassed. "I know it's not very manly but watching the sunset here is the thing I miss most about home when we're at Hogwarts. It's peaceful. I thought you needed some of that peace right now. Everyone deserves to have a nice day on their birthday Rose."

"I'm glad you brought me here," I told him. "I didn't want to celebrate my birthday, I haven't got much to celebrate at the moment but you've made today special. I didn't think it was possible but you've done it."

"I know it's not going to be like your birthdays at home," he said with a smile "but it's still something."

I thought about how my birthday at home would have gone. I would wake up in the morning to breakfast in bed cooked for me by my Dad, he'd call it Brekkie Brunch because I'd always sleep in until at least 11. My presents would be waiting for me on the sofa when I did finally get up, Hugo would always moan about how I'd gotten much more than he always did, which was totally untrue, it was just a ploy to get my parent's to buy him more the next birthday. Then Al, Lily and James would come round for an hour or so before the whole family joined for a birthday meal, it would always be totally chaotic and there hasn't been a year yet without an argument breaking out over the table. It was a family joke that my birthday meal was like the summer Christmas.

"It's more than something, it's not the same, no, but it's just as nice. What do you do for your birthday?" I asked him, wondering if this was his very own birthday tradition.

"We're always at school for mine, Danny and I usually just go for a fly on the Quidditch pitch after hours. Nothing special. Last year there was a small party in the Slytherin common room but I think people forgot that it was my birthday. Why are you looking at me like that? We should be talking about your birthday, not mine."

I made a silent vow to myself that if we made it out of this mess I would make his next birthday special, like he has mine.

We watched the sunset in a beautiful silence, both of us just taking a moment to appreciate the perfect tranquillity that surrounded us for the first time in what seemed like a very long time.

A/N – hope you like, I know there's not any drama but hope it's ok nonetheless! :-) lemme know what you think!