Scorpius sat propped up on the bench as Rose paced nervously in front of it. The healer still hadn't come in.
She supposed that it was because it was Christmas, but she was still annoyed.
"Rose, please stop that," Scorpius said faintly. "You're making me dizzy."
Rose immediately stopped moving and jumped up on the bench next to Scorpius. She didn't want to do anything to make him feel worse.
The girls were still at the Burrow. Rose doubted they'd noticed that their parents had disappeared. They were too immersed in their presents, Molly's cooking, and their cousins. She'd asked Lily to just look after them as they'd rushed out of the house.
A brisk knock came at the door before Healer Lottson entered, wearing reindeer antlers with little bells on his head.
Rose giggled and even Scorpius cracked a smile.
Lottson just looked at them sheepishly. "I was with my grandkids. They forced them on me," he explained. After regarding Scorpius's chart on his clipboard for a moment he said, "Alright, let's take a look. And Rose, get off the table."
Rose smirked and slid off the examination table, settling instead on one of the uncomfortable chairs across from it.
She could see Scorpius much more clearly from the chair, but she couldn't hold his hand, something she ached to do upon seeing how pale he was.
Scorpius lifted him his shirt to show the spidery wound. He hissed in a breath as Lottson's hands glazed over it.
"Scale of one to ten, how much pain?" the healer asked.
Scorpius glanced at Rose before answering reluctantly, "Seven…and a half."
The more Lottson poked and prodded, the paler Scorpius's face became and the whiter his knuckles became with his tight grip on the table, attempting to combat the hurt.
Lottson did a few more tests before excusing himself to process the results.
Rose sat back up on the table the second he left. "How long has it been hurting?" she demanded.
"Awhile," Scorpius admitted. "It wasn't that bad until today, though," he added upon seeing Rose's angered look. "Lottson said it was likely I'd experience some pain so I wasn't too worried by it. Besides, I just took more of the pain-relief potions when it got too bad."
"You're a masochist, you know that?"
Scorpius rolled his eyes.
"Scorp, why didn't you tell me it was hurting?"
"Because you're worrying," he retorted. "You're always worrying lately. I didn't want you to have to worry anymore. I was finally out of the hospital. I was supposed to be healthy, again. You're not supposed to protect me, Rose. I'm supposed to protect you."
Rose gaped at him. Finally, she brushed his hair away form his eyes. "You're kind of chauvinistic, aren't you?" she smiled lightly, ignoring the hurt in her chest. It always felt like her heart was hurting when she realized just how much someone cared about her.
"Chivalrous," Scorpius corrected with a smile of his own.
"Tell me next time you're in pain?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
His hands were reaching towards her, grubby, the nails coated with grime. A sinister smile on his face was gleaming at her.
Rose shrank back into the ground, wincing as the cobblestones pierced into her back. But it didn't matter right then, he was after her and she had to get as far away as she could. Too bad she'd tripped, fallen. Now she was helpless on the ground, the devil incarnate hovering over her.
"No, please!" she shrieked, her screams piercing the heavy air. "Please, please! Stop! I'll do anything! Don't do it, please!"
"Rose!"
"No, no," she sobbed, writhing underneath the intruder. She had to get out of there, had to do anything to escape.
"Rose, wake up!"
His hands came onto her then, grasping and pulling. Rose's tears escaped her eyes. She kicked and bucked furiously, to no avail.
"Rose! Rose!"
"Mummy!"
Rose's eyes snapped open. She was breathing heavy, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She was coated in a sheen of damp sweat.
"Mummy?" a voice came from next to Rose and she whipped her head to the side to see Cassie standing on the side of the bed. "Are you okay?"
Rose tried to pull herself together. She couldn't lose it now, not in front of her daughter. She had to be strong. That's what parents had to do for their kids; they had to be strong for them, had to bear the burden of all of the terrible things in life to keep children from losing their innocence too soon.
Rose's hand moved of its own will, it seemed. It brushed over Cassie's hair. Rose heard herself speak: "I'm fine, Cass, don't worry." Her mouth quirked into a smile. "Just a nightmare."
"I get those, too," Cassie nodded, clutching her stuffed bunny. "Do you want Bunny?"
"No, you need it more than I do," Rose felt her heart break as Cassie shoved the bunny at her anyways.
"You feel better, now," Cassie fixed her mum with a stern glare. "Or else."
Cassie flounced off calling, "Good night Mummy and Daddy," leaving the sound to echo in her wake.
Rose put her head between her knees, taking deep breaths. She felt Scorpius's hand rubbing circles on her back and flinched.
She hadn't had one of these nightmares in years. Not since about a year after Mia was born. She hadn't been able to do anything with Scorpius sober until then. She'd been too afraid; every time they were close to sleeping with each other, she'd suddenly be transported back to York…she couldn't even think it.
A soft sob escaped her mouth and Rose felt mortified at the sound of weakness.
"Shh, shh, it's alright," Scorpius murmured. "I'm here, everything's okay."
Rose turned and slid herself into Scorpius's arms. She could do this now; she knew Scorpius too intimately to ever confuse him with York. She let a few tears escape as she buried her face in the crook of her neck.
"He's not coming back," Scorpius comforted her. "He's never coming back. Don't worry. You're safe; you're here with me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise. You're alright."
"I wish…I wish there was a way to make him suffer as much as I did."
"There is," Scorpius reminded her. "Turn him in."
Rose shook her head. "Then everyone would know." She glanced up at him, pleading for an answer. She just needed to escape from all of those horrors in her past, again.
"We'll figure out a way," Scorpius rocked Rose back and forth in his arms. "We always do."
"Mummy had a nightmare last night," Cassie said solemnly.
"She dihd?" gasped Kate, holding fast to her stuffed dragon while in the crib.
Scorpius saw Mia roll her eyes from his spot just outside the door. It was just too funny, listening to what his daughters talked about when he and Rose weren't around. It appeared as if they got along a lot better without their parents. He still felt a bit guilty for eavesdropping, though.
"Of course she did, Katie," Mia retorted, her hands on her hips. "Didn't you hear her screaming? I made Cassie go check because I didn't want to get up. I think we should do something nice for Mum," she continued. "She's not feeling well, so let's cheer her up."
"Let's make her breakfast!" Cassie insisted.
Scorpius quickly ducked into the bathroom as the girls paraded by down to the kitchen, mostly liked headed to make a mess while attempting to do something incredibly sweet.
He skulked back to his and Rose's bedroom, careful not to make any noise lest the girls heard him.
He slipped back underneath the covers and moved to spoon against Rose. Scorpius decided to let her sleep a bit longer, rather than wake her up. It wasn't like she'd gotten a lot of sleep last night.
He sighed. They were a pair. Originally teenage parents, a woman who had been raped, a man who had been cursed, almost killed, by his own uncle and was now suffering painful aftereffects. What he wouldn't do to give Rose a happy adolescence. Too bad it was too late for that.
It was why he worked so hard as an auror, Scorpius knew. He was like James in that aspect.
Scorpius couldn't save, hadn't saved, Rose from the horror of what York had done to her, so he was going to save everyone else from anything else of the sort. Particularly his little girls. They were never going to experience anything like his wife had gone through. Rape, especially, and teenage pregnancy. He didn't fancy having to go through what Ron had gone through with his daughter. Feeling like a failure in protecting your child.
Rose shifted and curled up against Scorpius's chest. Her eyes began to flutter and she yawned as she regained consciousness.
"Morning," she mumbled and nestled her head back into the crook of Scorpius's neck.
Scorpius chuckled. "Morning, love. The girls are making you breakfast to cheer you up after your nightmare last night."
Rose smiled. "That's sweet of them. I'm not even going to make them clean up the mess they're bound to make."
"Are…are you feeling better?" Scorpius asked hesitantly. Often when he, or anyone else, said anything relating to what had happened with York, she'd refuse to speak, respond, acknowledge that they'd said anything. It seemed to be a defense mechanism. She did it whenever anyone mentioned anything like what had happened so many years ago.
Rose nodded cautiously. "Yeah," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I had that nightmare," she shook her head. "I…I haven't had a nightmare like that for…five years, I think."
Scorpius just wrapped his arm more tightly around her.
A few tears escaped Rose's eyes but she brushed them away quickly. Not quickly enough for Scorpius to be blind to them, though.
He sat up and brushed the tears away with the pads of his thumbs. "Don't cry, Rose, he's gone. He's not coming back and he can't hurt you anymore."
"I just…" Rose moved out of Scorpius's embrace and tilted her head back and sighed. "I just wish it had never happened, or that I'd been obliviated or something."
"I tried to get McGonagall to oblivate you," Scorpius admitted. "She wouldn't. She said you had to deal with it and come to terms with what had happened. Dumbledore agreed with her; or, at least his portrait did."
Rose shook her head. "I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said. "Do you think the girls are done making breakfast, yet?" she perked up.
Scorpius flopped onto his back, making the mattress bounce and causing Rose to fall on top of him.
She giggled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "My, my, Mr. Malfoy, what do we have here?" She ground her hips down against his.
Scorpius sighed in relief and then groaned in pleasure. If she was doing this, then she must be at least a little bit over her nightmare. Or at least she was pretending to be. Plus, it just plain felt good.
"Mum, what are you doing to Daddy?" Mia's horrified voice exclaimed from the doorway. She dropped the tray of cereal, milk splattering all over the carpet, and ran screaming back downstairs, "Mum is attacking Daddy!"