That evening, Scorpius arrived in the parking lot of Wynona's inn at 6 o'clock on the dot and made his way into the lobby to wait for Rose and Celestia. It was completely empty inside, and very quiet. There wasn't even anyone at the front desk.

Scorpius took a seat in the dusty green armchair while he waited for the girls, and just a few minutes later they walked into the lobby. Scorpius felt his stomach flutter as he looked up at the redhead. She was wearing a fitted black dress that cut off at the thigh and had three-quarter sleeves of black lace. Her long red hair was tied back into a high ponytail, with wisps coming down to frame her pretty face.

'You look great,' he said as he stood up from the armchair.

'Thank you.' Rose smiled at him, and for a moment he forgot that they weren't the only ones in the room.

'What about me?' Celestia chimed in, bringing Scorpius back to reality. The little girl's thick blonde hair fell down past her shoulders and was pushed out of her face with a soft pink headband, and she sported a pretty ivory dress and black Mary Janes.

'You look beautiful! Like a princess,' Scorpius said dramatically, and the little girl giggled. 'Ready to go?'

They stepped outside and made their way to the car, and while Rose buckled Celestia into her car seat, Scorpius leaned against the driver's seat door.

'You really do look lovely,' he told her softly as she closed the back door and made her way around the front of the car to the passenger seat.

'You don't look so bad either,' she replied, her cheeks turning pink.

X

'Table for three under "Malfoy".'

The maître d' flipped hurriedly through a list and located Scorpius' reservation. 'Right this way, sir.' He led the three of them to a round table in the corner of the restaurant and fetched a booster seat for Celestia. When they were seated, he handed them menus and pulled out a notepad and a pen. 'Can I bring you anything to drink?'

When he had taken their drink orders—once again, Celestia had asked for pumpkin juice, resulting in a strange look from the maître d'—he told them that their waitress would be over soon to bring their drinks and take their meal orders.

'This place is lovely, Scorp,' Rose said as she picked up a menu and flipped through it. 'So fancy.'

'A career in law has its perks,' he smiled.

It didn't take long for their waitress, Olivia, to make her way over to their table with a tray of drinks. She smiled politely as she placed the drinks on the table. 'Shall I start you with any appetisers?' she asked, pulling her notepad and pen out of her shirt pocket and flipping it to a clean page.

'Yes, thank you,' Scorpius said, perusing the menu. 'We'll start with the Turkish bread and dips.'

'And for mains, sir?'

Scorpius glanced over the list of meals, settling on the smoked salmon. He took a sip of his white wine and fidgeted with his napkin while Rose ordered for herself and Celestia. Olivia gathered the menus with a smile, and before turning to leave, she bent down to Celestia's height. 'Would you like some paper and crayons, sweetheart?'

Rose answered for the little girl. 'That would be lovely, thank you,' she smiled.

Olivia disappeared for a moment and returned with a cup of six crayons and some sheets of paper, placing them in front of Celestia. She then hurried off to the kitchen.

'So, I suppose it's back to work tomorrow,' Rose said to Scorpius as she leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table.

'Yes,' Scorpius said. 'You leave on Friday, don't you? How will you be spending tomorrow, then?'

'I don't really know, to tell you the truth. I suppose we'll just stay at the inn for most of the day; pack our things away and what have you. Perhaps we'll go for a walk.'

Scorpius bobbed his head. He hoped that Rose wouldn't unexpectedly turn up at his firm. It was one thing having her come to his house uninvited, but it was a whole other thing for her to knock on his office door with the little girl by her side. Imagine what Bannerman and Sharpe and Alcorn would say about the situation. Imagine what Julia would say.

'What are you drawing, Celestia?' Rose asked, trying to fill the silence.

'Aunty Shinny,' the little girl murmured as she scribbled away, her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration. She had drawn a stick figure with long orange hair in the centre of the page, sitting on a broomstick.

'Aunt Ginny,' Rose translated for Scorpius. 'Her Quidditch team recently played against the Caerphilly Catapults and won, 220 points to 60.'

'You're joking,' Scorpius said, leaning forward. At the mention of the game, he felt a pang of homesickness. Having become so used to Muggle life, it was easy to forget that he hadn't seen a game of Quidditch in over three years. He remembered playing as a Beater for Slytherin back in his school days, and going to his first match with his father and older cousin Caitlin.

'I don't suppose you've been to a Quidditch match in some time,' Rose said, as if reading his mind. 'You're more than welcome to come to Aunt Ginny's next game, if you'd like.'

'That sounds great,' Scorpius remarked, 'but I'm not sure when I'll be able to take time off work again.'

'Well, there's no hurry. I'm sure Aunt Ginny will have more than one game.'

They talked about Quidditch for a good ten minutes, stopping briefly as Olivia brought the appetisers over to their table, pausing to smile at Celestia's drawing ('Goodness, so creative!'). When she was gone, they went back to their discussion about Quidditch, and then found themselves reminiscing about their days at Hogwarts.

'Remember that time in Potions when Melanie Bones accidentally used Goosegrass instead of Oppopanax?'

'Poor thing had to draw her eyebrows on for weeks.'

'Diane Travers didn't stop teasing her about it until Christmas break.'

'Oh, remember that tiff Iris Hanley and Eleanor Griffiths had during that Quidditch game?'

'Yes! McGonagall made them scrub toilets in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, right?'

Rose nodded. 'And by the end of the week, Eleanor was so fed up with Myrtle's whining that she tried to hex her and ended up in the hospital wing with a broken arm.'

Scorpius chuckled. 'I can see why she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw.'

The two chatted about their school days for the rest of their time at the restaurant, Rose occasionally pausing to listen to Celestia or ask if she was okay. After dinner and dessert, Scorpius called for the check. Then they got up and left, the little girl clutching to her drawings.

X

Rose smiled lazily as she turned to look at Scorpius, her head against the headrest. She watched quietly for a few minutes as he drove, his left hand travelling back and forth between the steering wheel and the gearstick. He hadn't really changed since she'd last seen him, she thought. True, three years wasn't that long, but it was long enough for him to have gotten a different haircut, or dress differently. Yet, here he was, looking pretty much the same as he did on that day, three years ago.

'What?' Scorpius asked, interrupting her thoughts.

'Nothing,' she shook her head. 'Tonight was really nice, Scorpius.'

'Yeah, it was,' he agreed.

'This week was fun. I'm really glad Celestia and I came.'

'I'm glad too.'

'I've missed you. I wish you didn't have to go back to work tomorrow,' the redhead murmured, letting her eyes flutter shut.

Scorpius pursed his lips. 'Do you want to come over for a little while? Have a cup of tea, perhaps?'

'That'd be nice,' Rose said.

Neither of them said another word until they were back at Scorpius' house. Scorpius shut the car off and unlocked the front door while Rose unbuckled her heavy-lidded daughter and carried her inside. As Scorpius headed to the kitchen to prepare the tea, Rose put Celestia down on the couch. The little girl laid down and closed her eyes, while Rose stroked her hair and hummed gently.

'I love you, Mummy,' Celestia whispered.

'I love you, too,' Rose said, smiling down at her daughter.

Scorpius leaned forward against the counter, watching as he waited for the kettle to boil. He noticed the look of utter adoration on Rose's face as she looked down at the little girl, and felt his stomach knot as he remembered the way she used to look at him.

The kettle whistled and he picked it up, pouring hot water into the two mugs in front of him. Rose stood carefully and walked over to the counter.

'She fell asleep quickly,' Scorpius observed as he removed the teabags from the mugs and pushed Rose's tea towards her. Holding his mug, he moved around to the other side of the counter to stand next to the redhead.

'She's had a big day,' Rose replied. 'I haven't heard her giggle like that since Uncle George last came to visit.'

'They all love her, then?' As soon as he'd asked the question, it felt silly. Of course Rose's family loved the little girl.

Still, Rose nodded as though it was a perfectly normal question to ask. 'Very much,' she said, taking a sip of her tea.

'How did they react when you first told them?' Scorpius questioned, specifically wondering how Rose's father had taken the news. He had never been fond of Scorpius.

'Actually,' Rose said, 'they took it surprisingly well. I told Mum first, and then I told Dad about a week or two later. He said, "I see", and then he didn't say anything for 18 hours.'

'Wow.'

'Yes, but he was wonderfully supportive after that. I suppose Mum talked to him, calmed him down.'

'What did he say when he found out that I'm…?'

Rose bit her lip and looked sideways at Scorpius. He turned to look at her, waiting for her response; and when she didn't answer him, he furrowed his brow. After a moment, a thought struck him.

'You haven't told him?' he cried.

Rose shushed him, eyeing Celestia to ensure that Scorpius hadn't woken her up. When the little girl did not stir, the redhead looked back at Scorpius. 'No, I haven't told him.'

'Who does he think her father is, then?'

'I had a fling with someone after you left.'

'Merlin, Rose,' Scorpius whispered angrily. 'How could you not tell him?'

'I just thought it would be easier,' Rose said defensively. 'You left, Scorpius. It wouldn't exactly look good to him, and he doesn't need another reason to dislike you.'

'He doesn't even have a good reason for disliking me, it's all because of a silly rivalry between him and my father when they were at school.'

'I know, Scorp, but you know how he is.'

'Why is it any better for him to think that other guy is the father? He left, didn't he?'

'It's different,' Rose said. 'I didn't really care about him. Not the way I cared about you, anyway.'

Scorpius exhaled. 'Does everyone else think that he's the father, too?'

'No,' Rose shook her head, whipping her ponytail from side to side. 'Dad is the only one who doesn't know.'

They were silent for a moment while Scorpius thought of how to respond. To be fair, part of him understood why Rose hadn't told Mr Weasley the truth. He had left. Of course, if he had known that Rose was pregnant, he would have stayed, but he supposed it wouldn't have mattered to Mr Weasley that he didn't know. He could be so stubborn. And perhaps it was for the best; even after having met Celestia and spending time with Rose, Scorpius wasn't sure he wanted a child. That may have been an awful thing to say, but he couldn't help it. The situation had just been thrust upon him with no warning, and he wasn't really cut out for being a father. And how was Celestia supposed to come to and from Scorpius' house? Would she be there every weekend? Would Rose bring her on the train and then go back by herself? It was a long way to go just to drop Celestia off. How would she get home? Would he have to take her back by train?

'You held her for the first time today,' Rose piped up, interrupting Scorpius' thoughts.

'What?'

'In the barn,' Rose said. 'You held her for the first time.'

Scorpius looked down at the little girl, asleep on the couch. He did hold her for the first time; it hadn't occurred to him until now. It was strange to think about; one week ago, Scorpius never would have imagined that he would hold his daughter for the first time so soon. He would've thought a moment like that was still years away.

'She's a wonderful little girl,' Rose said, holding her mug with both hands.

'How did you come up with the name Celestia?'

'Well, I actually wanted to name her Charlotte,' Rose explained. 'Right up until the moment she was born, I was absolutely certain that she would be Charlotte Weasley; but then when they handed her to me, I wasn't sure that 'Charlotte' was right for her after all. She had a couple of little freckles on her nose, and these beautiful blue eyes that sparkled like stars. She looked like a little angel, so I looked for names with that meaning, and I found 'Celestia' meaning 'of the heavens'. It fit her perfectly.'

Scorpius turned to look at Rose, her eyes glistening and her lips curving into a smile as she remembered that day. She sighed happily before she noticed the silence and quickly looked up at Scorpius.

'So, yeah,' she said awkwardly. 'She looks like you, you know.'

'I know,' Scorpius said softly, not taking his eyes off Rose. 'She's got your eyes, though. And your freckles.'

'And your hair.'

'Your nose.' Scorpius shuffled closer to Rose and put his unfinished mug of tea on the counter behind them. He turned his body so that he was facing her and slowly brought a hand up to brush her hair behind her ear.

'Scorpius,' she said, her voice almost inaudible, as Scorpius leaned down to touch his lips to hers. But before he could, she turned her head. 'We should get back to the inn. It's getting late.'

'Oh.' Scorpius felt his cheeks burn as he stood back up. 'Sure.'

The blond grabbed his car keys as Rose lifted a snoozing Celestia into her arms and made her way to the car. They drove to the inn in silence, and when they arrived, Rose gave Scorpius a hug.

'Goodbye, Scorpius,' she said, unable to look him in the eye. 'I'm sure we'll see each other soon.'