Hello everyone! Thank you for your wonderful reviews yet again! This one is a short one again, but the next four chapters that are written and ready to go are quite big.

Enjoy!

Rose's POV

"So I guess I'll see you in a month?"

I will admit, Scorpius leaving was making me pretty sad. This was all on me now. I'd known it was coming, and I had to get used to it.

His kiss at the front door on Christmas night had surprised me a little, but left me completely confused more than anything. I wasn't complaining, in fact, I leant in to keep the kiss going for a few seconds longer, but why did the kiss even happen in the first place? Was is meant to be a friendly kiss? A courtesy kiss? Was it something more? Either way, my brain had too much to worry about without trying to decipher it.

"Yeah, January 21st, I'll be back. And then again for two whole weeks on February 15th."

I hadn't really considered how long he would be away for. I was an independent woman for the majority of things, but somehow this pregnancy felt like too much for one person to handle. I guess that's why Scorpius was so desperate for my family to support me.

"Yeah, I know. I'll owl you with photos and letters when I can."

"Just promise you'll look after yourself? I wish I could be around, but I've got to push through this damn training and then we can move on with our lives."

"I promise I'll take care, as long as you do too."

"Of course," he smiled at me. That damn smile was making me melt. These fucking hormones were the work of Voldemort himself, I swear.

I considered bringing up the kiss at the door, asking him what it meant, but I knew it was too late to kick up anything serious like that. He was leaving my apartment, ready to go. He had casual denim jeans on with a grey polo shirt that held the label "Auror Academy: S. Malfoy" on it. He looked incredible. It wasn't fair.

We didn't even have a formal relationship yet, and I was already fantasising about ripping his clothes off and making out with him again. Merlin, these months were going to be torturous.

"Okay, I've really got to go. Take care, Rose."

No 'I'll miss you' 'goodbye baby' or 'I love you'. It was weird saying goodbye to the man you were pregnant to, without having a relationship that exceeded the 'all the best, buddy' conversations. However, that was the way life had turned out, and I just had to deal with it.

"You too Scorpius."

He grabbed my hand at the doorway. Fuck, was it going to happen again? I braced myself, somewhat excited for another kiss with this blond babe. Instead, he lifted up my hand and gave it a quick kiss. A sweet gesture, but such an anti-climax. He gave me one last smile before he headed down the stairs and left.

I turned back into my apartment. All alone. Come on, Rose, I thought, you've been alone for the past 5 years, get a grip!

I heard a knock on the door. He was back already? "Scorpius?"

"No it's Al! Let me in."

I released a disappointed sigh, but let my dark haired cousin into my house and lead him into he kitchen. "What brings you here Albus?"

He cringed at his full name and explained himself, "Look, I feel really awful for ruining Christmas for you. I had no idea what I was saying until it was out, but the whole family is fine with it now! They just needed a few days to adjust."

I knew this already. There had been a small flood of letters sent to me since Christmas, congratulatory ones, informative one, opinionated ones, all from the relatives who were there to see me crumble.

"Yeah I know Al. I understand why, I'm one of the last relatives they'd expect to be pregnant."

Al snorted, "No, that would be Lucy. Unlike you, she's actually still classed a child!"

I took in the state of my apartment and winced. It was a mess. That's what a couple of weeks of fretting over a pregnancy will do to you. Al must've taken in his surroundings too because I heard him give a disdainful grunt.

"Merlin Rose, when was the last time you cleaned this place?"

I glared at him, "I've been kind of busy, you know?"

"Well, as part of my apology to you, I'm going to help you clean it!"

"Al it's fine, I can do it."

"Rosie, you are a pregnant woman. Now I may not have paid much attention to the excessive pregnancies in our families, but I do know that you need rest and strength, with minimal activity, so allow me!"

"That's not what I need at all you buffoon!" I laughed as I helped him perform multiple cleaning charms. "How is flicking my wand going to exert me?"

We continued cleaning up the living room and kitchen before Al followed me to my bedroom and bathroom to begin tackling the messes in there.

"So I heard the Malfoy thing was a drunk, one-off thing?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Nice one Rosie. Hermione would've had a fit! And Ron, damn, how are you still alive?"

I shook my head as I charmed the bed to make itself. I really didn't know how I made it out alive from Christmas. Miracles must be possible. "Mum thinks I do it all the time."

"Oh man Hermione, everyone else knows you're a partial prude."

I gave him a smack on the arm. It was true though, despite how much I hated to admit it. 5 sexual partners since Hogwarts 6 years ago. Not even one a year. Holy hell I was a prude. "Why don't you get in trouble for your sexual adventures?"

"Ah, maybe because I don't knock anyone up in the process?"

I rolled my eyes. Damn it Scorpius, why was it so hard to remember protection? I continued into the bathroom, picking up towels and clothes, and cleaning up all the pregnancy potions that were still lying on the counter.

"So there's the dreaded vials everyone fears!"

"You got that right. Look at the lovely positive-pink shade, you don't know how happy I was to see that," I drawled sarcastically.

Albus chuckled, "Ah well, if I ever fuck up and need one, I'll come to you, the expert."

Again I bashed him on the arm. This kid had some nerve. I couldn't lie though, he did have a good sense of humour, just very little awareness of other peoples' feelings. We finished cleaning and headed to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

"So, becoming Rose Malfoy anytime soon?"

I jumped at the unfamiliar name. It didn't exactly sound fitting, but I guess people were going to expect it now that this baby existed. "I don't think so, we aren't even in a standard relationship yet."

"But you won't be with anyone else?"

I pointed at my stomach and raised my eyebrows, "You do know that these things are basically men deterrents? No one is going to jump into a relationship with a pregnant chick."

He laughed at me, the bastard. "Chin up Rosie, at least you're kind of good looking."

"Thanks?"

We sipped at our teas silently for a while before I heard an owl tapping it the window. The owl was unfamiliar to me, however, Al jumped up quickly at the sight of it and grabbed the note greedily. His eyes scanned over the note quickly and a huge smirk grew across his face.

"Something up?" I asked.

He nodded, stuffing the note into his pocket. "I got myself a second round with the lovely Ms Reeves."

Ashley Reeves was a year younger than Al and I, a journalist for The Daily Prophet, with a well-known history of screwing around. She was a fun girl, and I could respect that, but a round two? Ashley Reeves never gave a guy a round two. She was a woman on a mission. A mission to love and leave all the men she can. What had Al done to deserve such an honour?

"Well, Al, you must be Mr Right for Ms Reeves if you're getting invited back," I smirked into my cup.

He stood up proudly, "Damn right I am! Ashley is the epitome of sex and sexiness and I am one experienced man she couldn't quite let go of."

I rolled my eyes a his eagerness. At least he was enjoying himself. "Well, you have fun. Be safe!"

"Love you Rosie, you be safe too! No hey lifting of any kind-"

"-Yeah yeah yeah, now get lost!"

And with that, Al walked out of the apartment and disappeared with a pop.

I looked around the room and locked eyes with my new camera. I reached over the bench and picked it up, inspecting the item closely. I decided to have a play with it and prepare some photos for Scorpius, already.

I propped the camera up on the bench and took a few steps back. I lifted up my top slightly to expose my stomach and stood side-on. With my wand, flicked a spell to begin a three-second timer on the camera. I didn't know what to do with my face so I looked down at my stomach awkwardly.

The photograph shot out of the camera suddenly and I caught it mid-air. The moving image showed my face awkwardly looking at the camera, and then finding my stomach. I screwed my face up at the crappy photo, but decided to use it anyway.

I sat down and wrote Scorpius a letter.

Dear Scorpius,

So I tried out the camera you gave me and as you can see, I am definitely no professional photographer. However, I can promise you that I'll improve with time, and there seems to be a lot of that.

Anyway, I know you've only been gone for a day, but I thought I'd send you a letter now just to get the ball rolling, and keep you updated like you asked. I hope you enjoy your training.

Talk to you soon,

From Rose.

I read over the letter and pondered the if my high level of desperation was noticeable in my writing. I thought I'd done a good enough job to hide it, so I went over to the window and sent it away with Juniper.

I groaned at my foolishness. Not even through my first trimester and I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing.

I was falling for Scorpius Malfoy.

I collapsed on my couch and rubbed my eyes. This was definitely not a good idea. This pregnancy was enough to deal with let alone having feelings for him. I needed to make a new plan.

Did you like it? Please review if you did! I am going to update as soon as possible!
Love,
Alicia.

Also, I just wanted to give my condolences to the talented Alan Rickman. He brought a depth to the character Snape that I doubt other actors could have achieved, and after growing up with the Harry Potter series, his death feels more personal than most of passing actors. Rest in peace, Alan.