Hey all! I'm back!
This chapter is the first part of the long one I had written…
Its not great..but I just had to update something!
And needless to say…thank you for your fantastic reviews n support…!
A special thanks to Cherlemagne and KathGrangerPotter for their suggestions..

Disclaimer:- I don't own Harry Potter..if I did…I would have published this story..yes..there would be no grammatical or typo errors at all

9. And Then There Was James.

"DADDY!!"

Scorpius stirred as he felt small hands pull his nose. Bright light pierced his eyes through his eyelids, forcing him to groan and open his eyes to see Amelia looking at him, her eyes bright.

"Hey munchkin!", he said lazily, getting up and placing her on his lap, "It's nine already?"

"Happy 'appy birthday!" she squeaked, raising herself to give her father a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you!" he said, nuzzling her stomach with his nose, and making her giggle, "Where's mamma?"

"Bath."

Scorpius got up and hurried to brush his teeth. Then picking up Amelia, he made his way out of the room. He was walking down the hallway when one of the doors opened. Scorpius's jaw dropped as a towel-clad Rose stepped out from what he realised was one of the common bathrooms, her wet auburn hair down her shoulders. A surge of pure lustful, bold emotion washed over him as he eyed the amount of soft skin exposed by her. Maybe she looked shorter than she claimed her height was, but hell her legs were hot! The freckles on her shoulders looked so soft, making him want to run a hand over them. Her hair was a darker shade of red, and her blue eyes stood out more than usual. His eyes followed a droplet of water traveling from her ear, over the ever-so-delicate looking neck. He groaned inaudibly as the water droplet disappeared into her cleavage.

His eyes met hers, and she blushed furiously as she felt his eyes rove over her towel-clad form.

Kill me someone! He must be so disgusted by what he was seeing! Why did I end up having Dad's freckles and Mum's crazy hair? Time-turner, anyone?!

"Mamma! Daddy's birthday!" said Amelia, offended that Rose hadn't wished Scorpius yet.

"Happy birthday", said Rose awkwardly, shuffling her feet.

Scorpius sighed and looked at his daughter, "See I don't even get a birthday hug!"

"Mamma is a baddy!" said Amelia, scrunching up her nose in disgust. She got down and walked off towards the dining hall. Clearly she was still mad at her mother about yesterday.

"But I don't want you to get wet!" exclaimed Rose in her defence.

"You can take the towel off if you want. I have no problem with that"

Rose turned the slightest shade of pink before replying, "I prefer giving you a wet hug"

"Wet hug?" asked Scorpius, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Grow up, Scorpius!"

"You really expect me to?"

"Never mind. You asked for a hug. You'll get one. Happy Birthday!!!"

Rose jumped at him to give him the Rose-Weasley-knows-its-your-birthday-so-a-special-hug-for-you hug. Scorpius chuckled as she wrapped her arms tightly around his middle as he was too tall for her being able to wrap her arms around his neck.
"Thank you", he murmured, inhaling the scent of the shampoo he so loved because of her. Feeling her nakedness through her towel was making his hormones do a wild jig, almost forcing his hand to undo the fold that kept the towel in place. He could see a lot from up here. Now all needed to do was undo the fold, claim it as an accident and meanwhile feast his eyes on her body.

He felt something else as well, something that wasn't really pleasant.

"Oh Crap! Your towel is really wet!"

Rose looked up at him with a smirk, "Can I say I told you so?"

"It wouldn't be you if you didn't. So how come you used this bathroom?"

"No water supply in mine. Maybe there is a problem with the piping or the pressure."

"Okay. What about my birthday gift? Don't tell me I'm not getting any."

Rose looked at him guiltily.

Scorpius put on an expression of mock disappointment, "All right-'

"Can I give you a promise though?"

"Okay?" he said, curious to know despite his jest.

"You can wish for anything in the world, anything you want. I'll make sure you get what you want. Even if it kills me-"

"What makes you think I'll ask for something that may hurt you, Rose? I'll never do that!"

Scorpius looked earnestly at her, making her smile. He ran his thumb against her soft cheek, and she sighed.

They suddenly realized that they were still in a very tight embrace. Both pulled back awkwardly.

"So..anything I want, huh?", he croaked, a million possible things running around in his head, most of them related to Rose and his crazy fantasies, "This might take some time…hm…"

"It's ok. Just think and let me know. But use it wisely. Being a Weasley by blood means that I'll fulfil my promise no matter what"

"Ok. So I'll see you downstairs", said Scorpius, unsure of what else to say.

Rose just nodded and walked past him towards her bedroom.

Scorpius closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, sighing as he did so.

Things were becoming very hard to control. He was sure that everything was about to spill over very soon. His love and desire for her was becoming more and more obvious. Something had to be done before it all came out and ruin everything he had with her.

"OI MALFOY!"

And the prat returns.

He moved to the living room to see Albus Potter tossing Amelia in the air. She shrieked gleefully as she went up high into the air.

"You drop my daughter and you wish you'd never been born," said Scorpius sternly.

Albus caught her, and looked at him, "I'm her godfather, Scorpius. I would do her no harm. Would I Amy?" he looked at the little girl.

"No", she replied chirpily

"See? Oh and Happy Birthday by the way."

"Thanks. How did Elora take the news?"

Albus's expression became grim.

"She went berserk. Threw every light thing lying around at me. I was told to sleep on the couch. She said I had no sense of responsibility, and was running away from her because I was too scared of helping her through this pregnancy", he shook his head; "The woman has gone mental, seriously. The pregnancy is taking a toll on her. Just two days back, she asked me to make her chicken spaghetti with Strawberry jam at 3 AM! It tasted disgusting!"

"You had it?"

Albus looked sheepish. "Well in my defense, it looked good, and Elora was making these noises so…"

"Oh hey Al", said Rose, making an appearance in the room, completely dressed and her now dry hair pinned up in a bun.

"Hey! So what's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes, Cereal. Want any?" asked Rose, waving her wand to light up the stove and placing a pan on it.

"Nope. Just dropped in to wish Scorpius. I better get going before Elora finds me absent from the house. Might as well as spend the last day with her in peace. See you later"

Silence descended on the Malfoy household as the topic of the mission reverberated mutely in the air.

Amelia seemed to have made peace with her mother, as she ate her cereal delightedly.

"So what are your plans for today?" asked Rose as she flipped the pancakes. The silence between them seemed to be too suffocating.

"Don't know how to spend my last day here," said Scorpius nonchalantly but blanched when he saw Rose cringe, "Sorry."

"It's alright", muttered Rose, as she added pancakes to his plates

Another silence descended on them, broken by an occasional giggle from Amelia, who thought the atmosphere was too quiet for her liking.

"So I better get going", said Rose awkwardly.

"You're going to Mungo's?" asked Scorpius sitting up straighter, disappointment flooding him, "Today?"

"I have duty at the emergency department today as well. So I guess I'll be there for at least 10 hours. I'm sorry, but I have to be there."

"Hey, I'm cool. I'll be fine here with Amelia." his face saying otherwise.

He desperately wanted to use his present. He wanted Rose to stay with him and Amelia today. Nothing would have been a greater present than spending the day with the two girls he loved the most in the world. But he got this feeling that he would need the promise in future, a future that looked more and more uncertain with each passing day.

Rose felt her heart rip apart as she saw the look on his face. She hated seeing the look of disappointment and hurt on his face. But this was all a part of the plan she'd made for the day. And she hoped that the final thing would be worth hurting him on his special day.

"You're doing brilliantly, just fine," said Scorpius gently, as he helped his daughter ride the little toy broomstick in their backyard.

"I'm not going to fall, am I?" asked Amelia, looking at the ground two feet below her apprehensively.

"If you're not scared, you definitely wont. Do you want to go higher?"

Amelia nodded. The hair on the back of his neck suddenly prickled and he looked around. He felt someone's eyes on him. But there wasn't anyone in sight. Just as he was about to exclaim 'Revalio', Albus's voice startled him.

"Charming Scorpius, really. You think she's going to grow up into a champion flyer?"
Scorpius sighed, "Honestly Al, ever heard of knocking or dropping by after giving prior information-Oh hey Elora!" as he added, when Albus's very pregnant wife appeared behind him.

"Happy Birthday!" Elora Potter exclaimed, giving him a gentle hug.

"And how's Potter Jr. doing?" asked Scorpius smiling, looking at the bump.

"Fantabulous", she said, stroking her belly lovingly.

"So how come you guys are here, I thought you would want to stay alone today!"

"So I was thinking, how about we go fishing?" said Albus nonchalantly.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Albus and Elora looked at each other.

"You might want to take a little break from handling Amy," said Elora smiling slightly, "You've been doing this since Rose left, and it's almost 3 now. Just go and relax by the pond. Albus wanted to fish anyway so..I'll take care of Amy."

Scorpius looked at them suspiciously.

"What?! Can't I think good for you?" asked Albus incredulously, "Come on! Just wear some muggle clothing. Taking a break will help you relax!"

The blonde just shrugged and looked at his daughter, who was stuck in mid-air.

"Sweetie. Daddy has to go with Uncle Bus," said Scorpius, using the name Amelia had for Albus, "Can you stay with Auntie Elora?"

"Only if she tells me about the baby?" said Amelia curiously.

Elora nodded frantically.

"Ok then, see you soon!" he kissed his daughter's head, and moved upstairs to change. He pulled on a shirt over a black t-shirt, wore an old pair of jeans, and checked himself in the mirror.

He looked like a muggle teenager. Would this get up make him more appealing to Rose? Ryan still had the boyish good looks whereas his own face seemed more mature and lined from all the tension of being an Auror and how to handle his love for Rose. He smirked at his reflection.

"Smooth," he drawled cockily, and then shut up immediately. That felt really idiotic, and too James Potterish.

He went downstairs to the living room to see Albus wearing clothes similar to his, and carrying what he believed were two fishing poles. He had a little box in his other hand.
"So let's go", said Albus tossing Scorpius his fishing pole.

"Bysie bye!" squealed Amelia, following them till the door. Elora watched till she could see them as little specks next to the humongous pond, almost half a mile away. There were already few other muggles there.

She closed the door quickly startling Amelia.

"Auntie, can you tell me about the baby now?" she asked, looking up hopefully at her.
"Not now Amelia, but I do have a little work for you", said Elora, walking towards the spacious backyard.

Just then the clock struck three, and five people appeared out of thin air. Four apparating and one removing the invisibility cloak.

"Mamma!" exclaimed Amelia happily, as she saw her mother appear from under the cloak.

"Hello bear", said Rose, lifting her daughter in her arms.

"You've been here all this time?" asked Elora, amazed.

"Not really. I came back at two. Since then, I've been sitting under the invisibility cloak here. I was shocked Scorpius never felt my presence. Or maybe I've just gotten better with stealth."

"Give her here Rose, it's been ages since I had her in my arms," drawled Draco Malfoy, as he approached his daughter-in-law and grand-daughter.

"You know what, Ferret?" said Ron Weasley, scurrying over to them, "It's been a longer time for me so if you excuse me-"

"Back off Weasel! The paternal grandfather has got more of a right over his grandchild so-"

"The paternal grandfather is mentally unstable. So he cannot be trusted with this job. So give her here, Rose"

"Gentlemen PLEASE!" said James Potter pompously, coming between the two men, "She might be your granddaughter, but she is my god child."

"Albus is her godfather. You are Ed's godfather." said Rose, raising her eyebrows. Amelia watched curiously.

"Really?! Oh well…I guess I've been proclaiming the wrong kid as my godchild…Oh Rose, can I hold her, seeing that these two would start a war here if Amelia is given to either of them?"

"That would be just fine", said Rose in relief, handing Amelia to James, while Draco and Ron scowled.

"So Amy? Ready to have some fun?" asked James smiling.

"Yes Uncle Nicompoooooo!"

Ron and Draco snorted as Rose narrowed her eyes dangerously. James laughed nervously, "I swear this had to be from Fred. You know me, Rose. I wouldn't teach Amelia any swear words or abuses. Would I Amy?"

Amelia just giggled.

"Mum's turning up with the food at four," said Hugo Weasley tiredly, plonking himself on the neatly trimmed grass. "It's ready at the restaurant. It's just that I'm not too confident about carrying that all that food with me around with me. I'm too clumsy"

"Cooking is an art only the graceful ones can handle," said Rose, her voice carrying a hint of French accent, "Isn't that what you used to say in the beginning?"

"Well what else is a chef supposed to say?"

"Don't know about that but you could have definitely asked someone else to take care of the catering", asked Ron irritably.

Rose almost snorted. She knew her parents very well. She knew her dad was looking forward to spending some alone time with her mum, something he usually did almost once in two days, or when there wasn't anyone at home, or when she got really fired up. She had once overheard her dad telling Uncle Harry that he always got really turned on whenever his wife went ballistic.

He would have definitely wanted to spend some time with her mum, before he left.
Rose sighed sadly, as she remembered that Scorpius would leave tomorrow night.

She turned to Elora who had a quizzical look on her face.

"What?" asked Rose.

"Have you ever thought of giving Amelia a sibling?"

Rose nodded. Of course she had thought about giving Amelia a little sister or a brother. Growing up as a Weasley meant hordes of annoying but loving cousins and not to mention that all of her cousins had at least one sibling. She absolutely loved Hugo, even though he was mostly a pain in the arse. She definitely didn't want Amelia to grow up alone.

"Great! So there is a possibility that Ron and Draco might live peacefully. So are you guys trying?"

But then that would mean, thought Rose turning pink, she would have to talk to Scorpius about them trying for a kid. She would have to sleep with him. She suddenly started feeling a little hot. The thought definitely wasn't uncomfortable. Only she knew how much she lusted for him, to have him on top of her or rather her on top of him.

She giggled.

"Not really. We haven't really talked about it thoroughly. But once we do…Draco!" she exclaimed, startling Elora, "When's Astoria coming? I need the recipe for the cake!"
Ron stared at her. "You're going to bake the birthday cake? Sorry to say this Rosie, but you're AWFUL when it comes to baking cakes! I thought you were mortally afraid of baking cakes"

Rose flushed, "I'm not that bad"

"Oh yes dear sis. You are." said Hugo, smirking, "Remember Dad and I almost died of food poisoning on my 13th birthday?!"

"To be fair. It wasn't that bad," said Ron, a small smile on his face, "I think you had just missed out on the sugar and there was too much of cocoa"

Rose's shoulders slumped. "But I just felt that I should try making one for Scorpius. He knows I cannot bake a thing as simple as a cake. I just thought I could surprise him!"

"She'll be here in a few minutes," drawled Draco, "Just get all the ingredients ready till then"

Rose nodded and moved towards the kitchen.

Few more cracks were heard and soon the place was crowded. James and Fred were setting up the music speakers and the dance floor. Hugo and Lily were taking care of the tables and food. Ron and Hermione had mysteriously disappeared somewhere. Harry and Ginny were sitting and talking to Elora happily, while Amelia sat in Draco's lap, watching the whole scene in awe.

Astoria was instructing Rose on how to bake Scorpius's favourite chocolate cake, something she'd tried a number of times, but had failed miserably.

"The batter tastes brilliant!" said Astoria, checking the taste, while Rose let out a sigh of relief. The work was half done, "It tastes better than mine."

After putting the cake in the oven, Astoria patted her back. "You're finally done my dear. He's going to be so proud of you!"

"I hope so too. I'll just get changed. Amy!!"

Soon the Scamander twins, Chris Thomas with his fiancée, Roxanne Jordon with her family had turned up.

"Hugo, have you seen your parents?" asked Harry worriedly, "Haven't seen them in a while!"

"Funny you should ask, Uncle Harry. I thought you would know where they are!"

"Why would I-Oh!", Harry turned pink, and shook his head at his best friends acting like horny teenagers even after being together for over three decades.

"Wotcher! I hope no one missed me!"

Harry watched in shock as Teddy Lupin suddenly appeared behind Hugo, who almost dropped the punch bowl he was carrying.

"Is everyone turning up today?" asked Harry weakly.

"Rose asked me to. She said she wanted a grand celebration before Scorpius left tomorrow", said the raven-haired man. Then adding a low tone, "Anyway, Uncle Ron, Al and Scorpius can stay at my place in France. I've already talked to Reno. By the way, Victoire would be here in a few minutes with Dora and Jacques."

Meanwhile, upstairs in her room, Rose eyed herself in the mirror. She wondered why she never wore dresses more frequently. The white dress with two thin straps hung magnificently to her curves. All thanks to Lily!

She pulled back her hair slightly with two hairpins and examined herself in the mirror. For the first time in her life, she felt she looked attractive. Very pleased with the results, she looked at her daughter sitting on her bed, wearing the miniature of her dress and looking absolutely adorable.

"I guess its time to surprise Daddy!" she murmured, as she ran a hand over Amelia's curls. The little girl grinned at her mother. Rose went downstairs with her daughter, to see hear loud noise of chatter.

"You look stunning!" exclaimed Roxanne, coming forward to hug her.

"You might want to reduce the volume of noise, Scorpius isn't that far away!" said Rose worriedly as she moved towards the backyard, where everything was being put in place. The sun was setting. The tables had been set. So had been the dance floor. Everyone was here.

"Rose the cake looks absolutely brilliant! I've already kept it in the fridge for it to cool down." exclaimed Astoria coming over to her, "WOW! The dress is-"

"Thank God!" said Rose in relief. "I know the dress is brilliant."

"Why do I have a feeling that you have dressed up for Scorpius?"

"Is there any other man I would dress up for?" asked Rose, blushing.

"Hey Rose!" called James panting hard, as he struggled to carry a box of fireworks. "Where do I keep them? Merlin they are heavy!"

"Just keep them somewhere away from fire, which means away from Barbeque stands!" said Rose tiredly, pointing at Hugo who was busy with the barbeque.

"Right- Hugo! Can I have a sausage?"

"Bugger off James!" came Hugo Weasley's cross voice as the sausages sizzled on the grill.

"Hey.."

Rose shook her head as she watched the cousins argue. She was startled as she felt two arms snake around her waist. She turned around in alarm and then her face broke into a wide smile.

"Teddy! You made it!" she cried, jumping into his arms.

"You asked me to. Plus I wouldn't miss Malfoy's twenty-sixth birthday. Remind me why it so special? What's so great about turning twenty six?"

Rose flapped her hands, "Where're Victoire and the kids?"

"Isn't the dress too revealing?" he asked eyeing her dress.

Rose swatted him on the arm. She was about to say something when a shout froze her.

"EVERYONE HIDE!"

Rose could just watch in surprise as all her relatives scampered to the corners. She couldn't understand what was going on. And then she saw the box of fireworks smoking next to the barbeque stand. She looked around for her wand.

Brilliant. This just had to happen. And James Potter is so dead!

........................................................................................................

"Oh this is won-der-ful!" said Albus lazily, as he lay on the grass, while Scorpius threw his fishing pole at the ground in exasperation.

"No it isn't! There are no bloody fish in here!?! Let's go back!"

Albus literarily sprung up from his position. "But we just came here!!"

"Al, we've been here for over three hours. And we have managed to catch nothing! The last muggle left an hour ago. So let's just go. The sun's setting anyway. Its time for Amelia's milk"

"Elora can do that! Don't worry, so how about another try, eh?"

Scorpius stared at him.

"Al, I am T-I-R-E-D. Please can we just go back?!" said Scorpius rubbing his eyes.
"Fine! But wait for five minutes, let me try one last time. And I'll prove it to you that there are fish in the pond."

"OKAY! But get this; you take a second more than five minutes, I'll dunk your head in the pond"

Albus carefully walked over to the edge of the pond, and flung the hook onto the surface.

Two minutes had passed, when to Albus's surprise, he felt a tug.

"Scorpius! I think I caught one. WHOA! It's putting up resistance", said Albus excitedly, catching Scorpius' attention. Scorpius jumped to help him. They both started pulling the pole with all their strength.

"I hope you haven't caught a whale", said Scorpius, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, "Rose will kill you. She never stopped her fight to save whales and Dolphins"

"Of course not! Oh-What-DAMN- I think I'm losing-"

Rest of Albus's voice was drowned by a huge explosion. Scorpius turned his head to look in the direction of the explosion. Numbness flooded him as he saw a bright speck of fire instead of what he thought should have been his house.

"AMELIA!!!!" he roared, letting go of Albus, who promptly lost his balance and fell headfirst into the pond.

Forgetting the fact that he was a wizard, he ran towards his house at full speed, his heart threatening to burst out of his ribcage, and tears stinging his eyes.

How on earth did that happen?? He didn't have any explosive materials in his house. All the WWW products he had were in his office, mainly to keep them away from Amelia. He hoped against hope, hoping that his baby would be just fine.

He was just about hundred meters away from the house, when he stopped running and took in the scene before him that nearly blinded him. His house was fine only that it seemed to be covered with a sheath of fireworks, bursting into magnificent colours and patterns. Breathing hard, he stared at them dumfounded. What was going on?
He heard the loudest burst of a cracker somewhere above him and looked up. A tiny rocket whizzed up in the sky, forming the words "Happy Birthday, Scorpius!" in a scripture he thought belonged to Rose.

The firework sheath around his house had disappeared, the place smelling of smoke and gunpowder. Heart thudding loudly against his rib cage and feeling very dizzy, he opened the door wondering what he would see on the other side.

"SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!"

He saw a huge crowd of people in his living room, all smiling at him. That's all he could manage to see before his world turned black.

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AN:-
And that's all folks!
And this is the 2nd last chapter I'm posting before the story goes on hiatus…I have my national-level exams in march….
I hope to post the next chapter by next week..
A little teaser from the next chapter:

Draco stared at him, "It doesn't make any sense. He allowed you to marry Rose after you told him the truth about yourself?"

Scorpius frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you being gay with Ryan Smith!!"

Scorpius wondered if he was going to faint again. Or maybe just throw up. His father thought he was gay with Ryan Smith?? The Bloody son of a bitch Ryan Smith??

Until then..keep reading..n please REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!