Scorpius was pacing. Which was unusual for him. It was Friday evening, his overnight bag was packed and he was ready to go. He stood at the doorway to his house, expecting any moment for Rose to arrive. What was taking her so long? Girls and all their packing. True, he had given her very little notice, a couple of hours via letter in the morning but she had been the one who had agreed to come along. He actually hadn't expected her to, it had been more of a device to inform her of his whereabouts for the weekend. He hadn't forced her had he? He reasoned it in his head. All she needed was some spare clothes, her wand and toothbrush. It wasn't like she was meeting strangers. These were his parents for crying out loud. They knew her and she knew they couldn't afford to be late. His mother might suffer a fit fearing their safety, or something ridiculous like that. "Traveling at night is never safe!" she would say. Plus, Scorpius was actually excited to get back to Malfoy Manor. He hadn't been back since the start of the season and he even though he got to write to his parents and telephone them, it wasn't quite the same as seeing them face to face. It was always good seeing your parents after all.

Scorpius cursed himself for not apparating to Rose's place in Chudley. That had been his initial plan. After all, he had yet to visit and was eager to see what she had done with the place. But Rose had been insistent over the phone when she called to tell him she would be coming that, she wasn't ready for visitors, her place was a mess. Scorpius was sure she was just being her usual finicky self. Mess to her was spick and span for everyone else. But then he hadn't wanted to push her. If she wasn't ready, he was fine with waiting. So here he was, waiting for her. Glancing at his wall clock, he sighed. She had said 7 o clock clock hadn't she? Scorpius was just about to walk over to the phone to ring her when he heard a loud crack behind him.

Turning around he saw Rose facing him. He frowned slightly at her. She looked just like herself, a green cardigan, denim, a national velvet hairstyle. Sweet and simple. She smiled casually at him, gripping her overnight kit with one hand and her other resting on her hip.

"What kept you?" he asked a little impatiently.

Rose's smile thinned.

"Sorry. I just lost track of time."

"You know my mum..."

"Yes yes I'll just explain it to her, that it was my fault." she insisted.

Scorpius sighed and shook his head. They stood in silence for a moment before he finally decided to take a step towards her. It was difficult to stay irritated with Rose. Rose never lied to him about anything and sometimes people could forget things right? Why shouldn't she be given some leeway? The look in her eyes was sincere and he couldn't deny her forgiveness. Rose sensed his change and took a step forward, pecking him on the cheek as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." she murmured as he hugged her.

"Me too, it means less time with my folks!" he chuckled.

"Are you sure you're sorry about that?" she questioned him, pulling away slightly.

Scorpius laughed as he stooped to pick up his bag. His arm still around her, he waited for her to hold his arm before they apparated to Malfoy Manor.

They landed in the fireplace in the dining room. Rose stared at it for a moment, blinking. The light from the familiar chandelier temporarily stunned her. She smiled slightly at the grand green persian rug beneath the dining table

"The view never gets old huh?" She commented at the grand table itself which had already been set. The four table sets looked pitiful on a table meant for a much larger gathering.

Scorpius shook his head smiling.

"Nope."

Taking her arm gently, Scorpius led her past the dinner table and they wound their way through the maze of hallways. Rose recalled the first time she had been directed through these corridors. At the time she had been a terrified impressionable young woman, meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time. She had been dragged through a house she was completely unfamiliar with and hadn't had the time to really register any of what she had seen. This time though, she followed Scorpius with confidence, having been back at Malfoy Manor many a time since her first visit. She now knew where every turn led to, what was behind every door. The knowledge of this made her feel secure in her skin as the reached the wooden door to the living room where Rose had first met Astoria Malfoy. Scorpius knocked on the door and paused, waiting for a reply.

"Come in" came Draco Malfoy's familiar yet still intimidating voice.

Scorpius smiled at Rose before opening the door and leading her inside.

Rose saw both the older Malfoys rise to welcome their visitors. There faces lit up when they saw Rose.

"Rose dear! How lovely to see you again." Astoria rushed forward to envelope her in a hug. Any worries about them being late had obviously been dispelled from her mind. She just seemed glad to see them.

"It was my pleasure, thank you for having me. Oh and sorry we're a tad late." Rose replied, still clutching her overnight bag. Astoria's hug had knocked the wind right out of her.

Sensing this, Draco came to her aid.

"Come now Astoria, look at her, you're crushing the poor girl."

Rose gave Draco a look of gratitude. He smiled back at her a little cheekily as his wife detached herself from Rose and began straightening her outfit.

"Not to worry about being late! We know all about you young folk, so terribly busy all the time. No matter, no matter. Of course I'm sorry about that hug dear, almost smothered you! It's just that we've been terribly lonesome especially without Scorpius around. It's so good to have your company again. " Astoria smiled slightly.

Draco scoffed.

"Huh, you mean to say that you've been lonesome. Not we. I have been perfectly fine. In fact, I wouldn't care if we didn't have company. Less mess and less fuss!" he retorted.

But he wasn't fooling anyone, Rose could tell he was pleased that she was here.

As his parents crowded about Rose, taking her overnight bag from her, getting her to take a seat, offering her a snack before dinner or a drink, Scorpius smiled. It seemed like only yesterday when they had treated the idea of their son dating a Weasley with cold circumspection. Now, they looked at Rose as if she were a part of the family. Deciding it was about time he reminded his parents that Rose hadn't come alone, Scorpius cleared his throat.

"It's great to see you guys too!" he called out.

For a moment his parents turned to face him, looking a little blank. Then Astoria seemed to come to her senses and rushed to her son.

"Oh it's lovely to see you too dear, of course. We're sorry, it's just that Rose is here and you know, we don't want to seem inhospitable?" she blinked innocently.

"Oh, of course not." Scorpius smirked at her.

Astoria frowned and playfully smacked her son's head.

"But thank you for bringing her." she murmured to him quietly so that Rose couldn't hear. "You know me, I always like another woman in the house."

"But of course your mother doesn't mind you dropping in now and again."

His father stepped forward now. There was a look of poorly concealed happiness and pride on his face as he clapped Scorpius on the back.

"You've been doing well son. Keep it up." he nodded a little formally.

"I will Dad. It's good to be home again." after a slight pause, Scorpius tentatively reached forward to hug his father.

He expected to feel Draco tense up at this action. He had always been uncomfortable, even when Scorpius was a child, to outwardly display affection in a hug. And even when he did hug his son, Draco would do so as if he was a wooden block, rigid and not quite sure what to do with himself. But this time he pleasantly surprised him as any formality left his body and he hugged his son, gripping him tightly. Again, Scorpius could see that open affection that had been developing in his parents' behaviour towards him. That had been growing stronger and stronger since he left the Manor. It was wonderful to feel like this with them. To feel so loved. Embracing the moment, Scorpius suddenly felt tears begin to well in his eyes but he fought to hold them back. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed being back. It seemed a little ridiculous to miss his parents and the Manor so much. How long had he been gone? A couple of months? He couldn't bother to remember anymore. The point was that he hadn't been gone for a considerable period of time. But standing here, with his arms wrapped around his father, he forgot all about his ambitions to become a Quidditch star, to pursue his dream, to man up, assume responsibility and leave the nest. Instead, he felt like he was a 6 year old again, just wanting to stay in the comfort and safety of Malfoy Manor. Because it was familiar being here. Because he was home.

And as if echoing his thoughts, his father murmured gently,

"It's good to have you home Scorpius."

Rose, who had been forced into one of the plush green sofas by the fire, watched the scene unfold in front of her. Scorpius and his father embracing. Now that was a rare sight. But it wasn't an unpleasant one. Quite the opposite. Rose remembered once a long time ago how Scorpius had told her that he wanted his parents to be more like her family, open and warm, willing to express their feelings in public. Seeing this now, there was renewed optimism in her. She could see the change in his parents, she could see their love. She knew Scorpius could too too.

Well, the change wasn't as obvious as Scorpius might probably like it, I mean his parents weren't quite at the Weasley and Potter level of enthusiasm but it was getting there. Surely he could appreciate the small changes? Slowly, but surely it would get there. Who knew? Maybe one day, Malfoy Manor really would turn out just as rowdy as the Burrow? Though she doubted that the Malfoys would let it come to that... Still, everyone needs time to deal with things, to adapt, she reflected. For the moment all her problems, fears, regrets and the nagging thought that her apartment back in Chudley still looked like a war zone, seemed to ebb away as she watched them. Astoria had joined the men to form something of a group hug. Rose felt like an awkward stranger suddenly intruding on their privacy.

As if realising this, Scorpius' head snapped up and his eyes met hers. Their molten grey depths were filled with a spectrum of unreadable emotions. His face was slightly flushed and Rose could tell he had been on the verge of tears. He missed them, she realised. He really missed them. Rose felt a pang as the pain began crawling back to her. Her temporary solace quickly dissipated as it all flooded back to her. Drowning and overwhelming her. The thought of being away from her family, from Scorpius. The negativity always seemed to find it's way back to her.

She wished she could be like Scorpius, who got upset but then could get over it and move on with life. Because she annoyed herself. The way she was behaving, like a homesick child that was so afraid and whiny and pathetic, it annoyed her. And she didn't want to be this way. She wanted to be brave and independent, like Scorpius. But she couldn't be like him. Being surrounded by so many people who loved her her whole life, having such a big family, she wasn't accustomed to being alone. She thrived on company and being in groups. Even in Hogwarts she had had Albus and of course Scorpius. For the first time, she was truly on her own and not to mention she had the whole Keitch dram to deal with on top of that. It was stretching her to her limits. Rose hated being so unhappy and trying to pretend otherwise. But refusing to be annoying again and spoil the moment, Rose buried it and smiled at her boyfriend encouragingly. Scorpius gave her a smile in return before turning to his parents and clearing his throat gently.

The Malfoys promptly broke apart smiling at each other. Astoria was openly tearing, while Draco's hair was slightly disheveled. His eyes were dark though, as if deep in thought. Scorpius put his hand on his father's shoulder, squeezing it gently. Astoria quickly brushed aside her tears and sighed.

"Look at us, getting all silly and emotional over nothing! You'd have thought that Scorpius had been gone for 10 years looking at our reactions... Parents will be parents as they say. I'm terribly sorry about that Rose, suppose we just lost ourselves."

"No, no..." Rose said as she got up to join them, "I understand completely, you should see my family when we all get together." she chuckled lightly.

Scorpius threw her a look.

"I can imagine..." he smirked slightly.

Rose rolled her eyes playfully as Scorpius rested his hand on her waist gently.

"Dinner then? I expect you hungry now Rose after witnessing all this unbridled emotion? Now that Astoria has shed her tears I don't see any better time." Draco smiled.

Astoria scoffed. "That's right, make fun of me then..." she trailed off as she opened the doors lead them back to the dining room.

Soon the four of them were taking their places at the table. Draco sat at the head with Astoria on his right and Scorpius and Rose on his left. Draco clapped his hands and suddenly two house elves popped efficiently into the room, each holding two bowls of soup each.

"Brighella, Toby!" Scorpius suddenly rose from his seat as he recognised their familiar faces. The house elves started as they saw their master, struggling not to drop their soup bowls. Scorpius quickly outstretched his hand to help.

"Oh no master! No, no leave this to us. Not worry!" Toby cried out.

"We are so happy that you return master." Brighella smiled.

"Yes so happy. And Mistress Rose too!" Toby chimed in.

Rose smiled at the house elves. It was nice to know that they enjoyed her being here. With that quick conversation, Brighella and Toby set down the soup bowls, smiled at everyone once more and with another crack, were out of the room. Scorpius chuckled and sat down to join the rest of the company who were already beginning to tuck into their dinner. Rose felt warmth rush through her as she took a sip of the soup. What was it? Tomato, she thought. The Malfoys had always prided themselves with excellent food and tonight's meal was no exception. And they hadn't even reached the main course yet. In fact, if there was an award out there for the best tomato soup she had tasted, she would have handed it to the Malfoys on a silver platter in an instant. Glancing slightly at Scorpius slightly, she saw him gorging down the soup eagerly. No wonder, she reflected. Everyone knew that Scorpius was a decent but not that great of a cook. His food would never measure up to this.

"Remember to swallow Scorpius dear." his mother chuckled, noting his behaviour.

Scorpius glanced up for a moment to look at his mother.

"Well it's not everyday you get to have some of the best soup there is." he replied.

"If not the best soup there is." Rose chimed in.

Scorpius smirked at her.

"Sucking up are we?"

Rose pretended to look aghast.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! It's the truth!"

Rose and Scorpius laughed before they fell into comfortable silence once more.

Soon they had gone through the soup, the main course, a lively pan fried dory with baked potatoes and assorted vegetables and for desert they each had a slice of chocolate cake. All in all, they had a agreed it was a most excellent meal. When they were done with desert, Draco clapped his hands once more and Brighella and Toby were back quite literally in a flash and were quick to remove the plates and clear the table. Rose was sure to tell the house elves to send her compliments to the chefs. They had beamed happily at this and had thanked Rose for agreeing to come and stay for the weekend. And with that, they cracked out of the room again. Draco Malfoy wiped his mouth with the corner of his napkin before he turned his attention to Rose.

"So Rose we've heard that practice has been very good for you so far?" he asked.

Rose glanced at Scorpius who shrugged.

"They wanted to know." came his reply.

"Oh I'm sorry if we were intruding?" Draco looked slightly worried.

But Rose was quick to dispel any feelings of uneasiness.

"No no, I was just surprised that's all. No worries. It's not bad, challenging like Scorpius. It's a big jump from Hogwarts to the big league. They make us do really intense exercises like dive practices." she commented.

Scorpius groaned at this.

Rose chuckled, "Yes and they make us pull up just before we hit the ground. And we do that over and over till the coach is satisfied. It's supposed to prepare us to be ready for a real life circumstance like that in the future."

Draco nodded.

"Yes I can imagine that's tough. It's a combination of calculated risk and your nerves isn't it?"

"Exactly, you have to look confidant enough to intimidate the other player, whoever it is but know where the limit is." Scorpius explained.

Astoria shook her head, as his trying to get the mental image out of my mind.

"Ugh, I was never much of a flyer myself. If I had to do those, what do you call them? Ah right, dive practices, I might faint." she shook her head once more.

"Well it's not so bad, I mean the chance of actually having to do that in a real tournament for beaters is so slim. It's just preparation. Ultimately it makes us more versatile as Quidditch players." Rose said comfortingly.

"What's it like with your new beater partner? I can imagine the change after playing with Scorpius for how long?" Draco asked.

"6 years" Scorpius and Rose replied without hesitation.

Both the elder Malfoys gave them a look of bemusement before Draco continued.

"Yes so what's it like Rose? I know Scorpius is somewhat struggling with Horton..." he teased.

Scorpius frowned a little. "I'm not struggling. It's just unusual. I need to adjust. Will's style is just very different and unpredictable, he's very difficult to read which is good because the opponent doesn't read him but then neither can I so I just have to tag along and see where we go. He's a very, spur of the moment sort of player, less tactical. And obviously that's a big difference compared to Rose. I think I'm just so comfortable to knowing the beater's every move, this has sort of thrown me off my game a little."

Astoria nodded her head in understanding and then turned her attention to Rose.

"You're playing with Andrew Keitch yes?"

Rose stiffened at his very name. Like she was building a defense mechanism against him.

"Yes" came her monosyllabic reply.

"There was a lot of bad blood between him and the Falcons when he left?" Astoria unknowingly prodded.

"But you can hardly blame them can you?" Scorpius defended his team.

"Yes" Rose added, "I mean you use a team to build your reputation and skills and then you leave them for no good reason except to further your own interests? That's pretty awful I think. And self centered."

An awkward silence suddenly filled the room. Nobody quite knew how to interpret Rose's comment. It was unusually cold and unfeeling for Rose to say something like that. At most, she called people unkind or self indulgent. Self centered and awful, she only used those words on people like Mel, Scorpius reflected. He decided to come to her rescue.

"Come now Rose you said he wasn't all that bad before." he implored.

Seeing her chance for redemption, Rose took his lead.

"Oh yes he's quite good as a player, like I said before you know, nimble, always on his toes, very very alert. And I mean he's willing to teach so I learn a lot watching and playing with him. It's just I don't respect him as a person for what he did. I think it was pretty self orientated and in Quidditch players should never be interested in the self but in the team. It's a team sport. It requires equal team effort. " she stiffly tried to justify her previous statement but it didn't really work. Everyone could tell by her tone that she was thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Good point Rose. Players aren't and they shouldn't really be considered as individuals but part of the collective identity. I guess it's because it's so rare for transfers in the first place, usually once you find a team you stick with them, so the fact that Keitch was the one who transferred out of all people; that was the bigger blow. Because it was just so unlikely that something like that was going to happen." Scorpius tried to salvage the situation one more time.

There was another pause before Rose suddenly rose from the table. She couldn't take all this talk about Keitch anymore. It hadn't been excessive but she had come here to try and get away from him and he just seemed to follow her everywhere! Even with the Malfoys! Even when she was with Scorpius! She didn't want to appear rude but she just needed to get some rest. She needed to put all these thoughts out of her mind.

"I'm not feeling so well. Do you mind if I turn in a little earlier?" she asked.

Draco and Scorpius had immediately risen from the table as is mimicking her action but it was Astoria that replied.

"Of course dear, must be all that Quidditch wearing you down. Sometimes Scorpius can sound so tired on the phone and in his letters. Perfectly understandable. Not to worry." She clapped her hands.

Brighella was back in the room, looking expectantly at her mistress.

"Brighella, Rose is not quite well, do you mind showing her to her room so she can have some rest?" Astoria asked.

Brighella nodded immediately.

"Of course of course. Anything for mistress Rose. Come now mistress Rose."

She walked towards Rose, taking her hand gently. Rose gripped it, as if her life depended on it.

"Thank you Brighella" Rose smiled. "I'm terribly sorry about this everyone, I'm not quite myself." she apologised.

The Malfoys shook their heads.

"No need to apologise, we'll see you in the morning." Draco assured her.

"Thank you." Rose offered a weak smile but as it faded as she caught Scorpius' concerned and confused stare. It made her feel so horrible, knowing that she was doing this to him.

Guiltily, she followed Brighella out of the room.

"Indeed" Draco murmured as the door shut behind her, "She is not quite herself."

"Has she been ill Scorpius?" Astoria turned to her son.

Scorpius shook his head.

"Not to my knowledge. But she has been very distant lately. Like there's something that she's not telling me. I don't know what though. I didn't want to ask her, she would have gotten upset."

"Maybe you should..." Draco was still murmuring as if in thought.

"Yes" Astoria added, "I know you want to give her her space and that's not wrong, she's an independent young woman. But when it comes to this, when she clearly not acting like herself, there must be something serious on her mind."

"If it was that serious, she would have told me." Scorpius insisted.

"I still think you should talk to her." Draco insisted. "She only got quite uneasy when we started talking about Quidditch. Maybe she's having trouble at work that she doesn't want to talk about much?"

"It's worth a try dear." Astoria smiled slightly.

Scorpius reflected on this for awhile. Maybe his father was right. All the times when he had noticed Rose was behaving in a strange manner, they had either been talking about Quidditch, or the fact that she lived in Chudley vs. Falmouth or Keitch. Keitch... After tonight's conversation, there wasn't much doubt in his mind that her strange behaviour had something to do with him. But what exactly did it have to do with Keitch? Why did Rose get so tense about the subject? Curiosity fueled him. He frowned as his mind tried to figure out the mystery though nothing plausible came to mind. The one thing he now could conclude was this: Rose was definitely not herself. He had been a fool for pretending to sweep it under the rug and ignore the signs! He had just been selfish. He had wanted everything to remain exactly the same, for his relationship with Rose to remain as "perfect" as it had been before. But he had overlooked a crucial component in the equation: Rose. Rose wasn't the same anymore. And he had to find out why. If his parents saw the change, it must be pretty obvious. The time for giving her her own space was over. This was obviously something that was consuming her and Scorpius knew that he had to help her get this out in the open and then help her deal with it. Otherwise nobody else would.

Scorpius turned his attention back to his parents. "You're right. I think something pretty serious is happening. I'll talk to her about it."

"When?" Astoria asked.

Scorpius sighed, folding his arms across his chest in exasperation, looking up at the chandelier and watching the crystals gently swaying from side to side, as if they were being rocked to sleep.

"Soon."