Chapter 25: Corvustad

"I'm going to be late," I said as I rushed out of the bathroom of Scorpius's and my new flat in muggle London. I had gotten so caught up in being in my brand new, marble-floored showers with that stainless steel showerhead and the perfect amount of water pressure that I was running late when I told the guys that I would be at the studio to record and work on some new music.

Albus was going to go ballistic.

But last night had been our first night in the new place, and naturally I had woken up late because Scorpius had kept me up most of the night to christen the huge, new, king-sized, canopied bed that he had insisted on us buying—along with a ridiculous amount of new furniture. There were still boxes everywhere, and I had to maneuver around them to the bureau where I had scarcely put any clothes since the move. Scorpius glanced up from where he was drinking coffee and reading the Daily Prophet in bed—without a shirt, if I might add, distracting me, the bastard—and he just smirked as I tried to find something decent to wear.

We had found the place in record time, Scorpius insistent on finding a place absolutely as soon as possible, and Jasper's mum Joanna being wonderful at her job and finding the exact kind of place that we wanted within about a week.

It hadn't taken much for me to fall in love with the place. It was huge, covering the top two stories of a three-story brownstone, with five bedrooms—one of which now held boxes of all my musical equipment and would eventually become a small studio space for me. Leo's room was down the hall, which had caused me anxiety at first, but once Scorpius had set up a few spells that were essentially the magical equivalent of a baby monitor, I had felt loads better. The place was perfect, a combination of old and modern, hardwood floors covering the entirety of the first floor and soft, fluffy, beige carpet in the bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom was enormous, with a big walk-in closet and a large master bath with both a modern shower and a claw foot bathtub that was so big and deep that I could almost swim in it.

I mean, how could I not fall in love?

After we had seen it, Scorpius wanted to sign the papers that day, and so we did… and then we had taken the following week to get our things together and steadily move them from both of our old places to the new flat. I was determined to enjoy every moment, rather than worrying that things were moving too fast or that Scorpius was rushing the whole process out of grief and a need to have some control over life in general, and my decision to enjoy it all was making things even better than they already were. Scorpius was laughing again and happier than he had been in almost a month, and he may have been moving quickly out of grief, but I knew he wanted this—us, our family—and I wanted it, too. I was ready, and so was he, and I didn't want to turn back. After everything that had happened, I just wanted to keep moving forward with him.

It was a Sunday morning, so I was free to go to the studio while Scorpius stayed home to take care of Leo and did things around the house, unpacking, cleaning up, all that. And while I logically knew that I needed to go and work, Scorpius also looked like a fucking dream come true, sitting on that bed, looking all loungey and casual and perfect, shirtless, with the thick, crimson blankets bunched around him, still a bit mangled from the night we'd had.

"Could you make sure you unpack the kitchen stuff today?" I asked as I slipped on a pair of jeans and went to dig for a jumper.

"Yes, dear," Scorpius said from the bed.

I rolled my eyes, though smiling to myself, and shoved a chunky black jumper over my head before reaching for a tie to put in my still-wet hair as I turned to him just to watch him a bit before I had to go.

My heart practically jumped in my chest as I watched him, fighting back a huge grin, as I thought about how fucking lucky I was to have this perfect, sexy, albeit snarky man in my bed, and how happy I was that I would be coming home to this perfect, sexy, snarky man every day for the rest of my life.

"You're staring," Scorpius murmured without looking up. I giggled and shrugged, feeling absurdly giddy and happy, before I turned back to the bureau to find my diamond earrings that Scorpius had given me for my eighteenth birthday—earrings that hadn't been worn while he was gone, but that I had worn nearly every day for the past month and a half, since things had gone back to normal with us and the diamonds no longer brought up painful memories and dreadful longing.

After I put on the earrings, I glanced looked down at my left hand, staring at the huge oval diamond on my ring finger. I found myself doing that often—just looking at it, my eyes being drawn to it when the light caught it in a particular way or just remembering it was there and my eyes automatically going to it—and every time I did, my heart expanded in my chest, like the feeling the ring and what it represented was just too big and too powerful for my heart to hold.

I heard Scorpius clear his throat, interrupting my slight reverie, and as I turned around to face him, he was still gazing at the paper as he spoke. "Abby might stop by today."

I tried to tamp down the sharp pang of anger and jealousy in my gut—anger and jealousy that I knew, deep down, was irrational—and respond calmly as I moved to the chair in the corner to pack things into my bag to get ready to go. I feigned nonchalance, trying not to be furious at the fact that the two of them were clearly communicating enough to form whatever fucking play date they had arranged.

I knew I had nothing to be worried about, but I just needed time to really get over it and move past it, and most of the time it was fine. It really was. Most of the time when I thought about her I didn't get that sick feeling in my stomach that I used to get, but sometimes it still caused those pangs that I hated in myself.

"She wants to see the new flat, and I haven't seen her in a while," he said carefully.

I eyed him briefly, looking over my shoulder to find him still reading the paper, but noticing that he had tensed slightly, obviously preparing himself for me to react badly to this news. "Hmm," I said.

"She's just a friend," he said, his voice a slight warning as he turned the page of the newspaper.

"I know," I said, my back to him again as I zipped my bag. I picked it up and slung it over my shoulder and across my chest before leaving the bedroom to head downstairs for the rest of the things I needed to bring to the studio for the day, leaving quickly before I caused a fight on our first full day in our new flat.

I was standing in the living room, trying to find my keys in the utter disaster of the unpacked room when I heard him coming down the stairs.

"Rose."

I stood up straight from where I had bent over the sofa and saw him standing in the open archway that led from the foyer to the living room, leaning against the wall, one hand on his hip, head tilted, regarding me.

"What?" I said, acting like nothing was the matter as best I could, trying not to let my disappointment show that he had apparently decided to put on a t-shirt so we could have a serious conversation.

"Talk to me," he said gently.

I sighed as I bent to the couch again. "I can't find my keys," I said.

"Are you driving to the studio?"

"The keys to the studio," I said. "The main doors are locked on Sundays and we can't use magic."

I walked toward the kitchen, hearing him follow me, heart picking up as it always did when he pursued me in any way, no matter how casual or not.

"Rose," he said again.

"What?" I said—again—as I opened and closed drawers, most of which were empty.

"When we're upset, we talk," he said, coming to stand next to me at the kitchen island. "You said that, you're the one who told me—"

"It's nothing, Scorpius," I said with a sigh, slamming the drawer I had just opened and moving out of the kitchen, into the hallway, and toward the foyer where we had set up a sideboard the night previous.

"You're mad," he said, following me.

"Not mad," I said as I began to rummage through the junk we had already shoved into the long, mahogany sideboard.

"Hey," Scorpius said, reaching out and grabbing my wrist before I could continue my search for my goddamn missing studio keys.

I looked up at him, heart skipping just a bit at the sincerity and earnestness I saw in them.

"If you don't want her to come, I'll tell her she can't." His hand slid up my arm to cup my elbow, and I blinked slowly, taking a deep breath and then sighing out a breath.

"No," I said, feeling the tension leave me now that he was touching me, now that I was so close to him, now that his eyes reminded me that I had nothing to be jealous over, that he was mine, that I was his, and that I shouldn't be jealous over a friend who had done nothing but be there for Scorpius and be nothing but kind to me. Briefly, my thumb moved to fiddle with the ring on my finger, which made me further realize how ridiculous I was being. "She should come by," I said, moving my arm to grip his bicep as he continued to grip my elbow, linking us. "She's your friend."

"You're my friend, too," he said with a gentle smirk. "And she doesn't give me blow jobs, so there's that."

I snorted out a laugh and then broke into a smile. "Point taken."

He moved his other hand to hold my other arm and turn me more toward him, pulling me closer so that I had to tilt my head back slightly to meet his eyes. "But really, Rose," he said, eyes searching mine. "Just say the word."

I sighed and shook my head, reaching my free hand up to press against his chest. "It's fine, Scorpius."

"I love you," he whispered, eyes slightly wide as he tugged me closer so that we were pressed against each other. He dipped his head and brushed his lips against mine. "You make me so happy," he murmured against my mouth.

I inhaled. "Scorpius," I breathed against his lips before he sealed his mouth over mine, his arms holding my upper arms tightly so he could pull me against him. I tipped my head back, opening my mouth against his as I fisted the front of his shirt near his waist, needing him to make me feel secure about this entire Abby situation, needing his touch to reassure me that I was the most important thing, that no friendship he had with Abby could compare to the love he felt for me. I wanted to let myself go in his embrace, let the rational part of my brain erase the insecurity while the other parts of my brain just shut down and focused on nothing but the feeling of being near Scorpius.

Scorpius's hands slid slowly up my arms as he continued to kiss me, and his hands found the sides of my neck as he deepened the kiss even further, practically devouring me, making me whimper into his mouth as my hands fumbled at his waist, trying to grasp at him and pull him closer.

"I'm so glad we're doing this," he said, panting slightly as he broke the kiss briefly to whisper against my mouth.

"Snogging?" I laughed breathlessly as his mouth moved to kiss along my jaw, nipping and then soothing with gentle licks and sucks. I tilted my head to the side, sighing with pleasure.

"Living here," he breathed heavily against my neck, making a flush and a shiver break across my skin all at once. "Starting a new life together." He leaned back just enough so that he could meet my eyes, and my eyes nearly crossed as I tried to meet his. "It means everything to me," he said sincerely before leaning back in to kiss me again, as I whimpered and tried to fight back the tears that burned in my eyes, overwhelmed by the look in his eyes, the heat and enormity of this moment, as he continued to try and fight past his grief and embrace everything about being back with me again.

Scorpius kissed me hungrily, occasionally groaning softly, and his hands moved from my neck to slide down my back until he was gripping my arse. He yanked me against him so I could feel him, hard against my stomach, his desire for me obvious in every single one of his movements, and without warning, he gripped my hips, turned us, and then lifted me onto the sideboard, pushing between my legs as I wrapped my arms around his neck, breaking the kiss so that our heavy breaths mingled. My stomach flipped, and suddenly the need to have him inside me was so powerful that I was nearly overcome with it, feeling slightly lightheaded as the arousal coursed through my bloodstream.

"I want you," Scorpius breathed against my mouth, his hands slipping underneath my jumper and then into the waistband of my jeans.

"Then take me," I panted, my hands drifting away from his neck and down his arms, gripping his hard, muscular biceps in my hands, appreciating the muscles under my fingertips, and continuing my descent until my hands reached the drawstring of his sweatpants.

"You're late," he said, moving to suck at a spot on my collarbone, a spot that he knew drove me crazy, as he glided his hands to the front of my jeans and slowly popped the button open. The move was so casual—he had done it a thousand times—and every single time it made my skin flush with need, the mere anticipation of what that simple movement meant making me want to come out of my skin.

"They can wait," I practically moaned as he slid the zipper down and moved to hook his fingers into the waistband of both the jeans and my panties, nudging at me slightly so I would lift my hips.

"Are you sure?" he murmured as he began to slowly slide the jeans and panties down my legs, stepping back a bit to pull them all the way off and toss them to the floor. But his question was hollow. Both of us knew where this was leading—it was practically out of our control now—especially as he stepped back in between my legs and I reached forward to shove his sweatpants down past his erection, my mouth watering when I got my first glimpse of the hard length and shifted my hips to move closer, wanting him inside me that second.

I reached down to grip him with one hand as my other hand went to his waist to pull him closer, and I looked up at him as he hissed and I guided him to my entrance. His hands were gripping hard onto my thighs, spreading my legs apart and watching my hand move slowly on his cock as he nudged against me, making me flush even more with an almost unbearable heat. "Make me even later," I breathed desperately as he looked up at me and then shoved himself inside me, making me tip my head back and cry out loudly.

I was off balance and shaking with desire and flailing slightly when I reached forward and yanked Scorpius's shirt over his head as he thrust in and out of me, bringing me closer and closer, pulling me to the edge faster than I ever thought possible. And right before I was able to grip him around his back and pull him close—I needed him closer, needed the reassurance, needed to know there was no space between us—he pulled my jumper over my head and tossed it to the side before burying his face in my neck and grunting with each push.

Everything that happened next happened in quick succession, each moment shrouded in a thick haze of lust and need, moments whizzing by, blurring into one another, nearly impossible to know how long it lasted or when each moment began and ended.

Scorpius took me roughly against the sideboard—quick, dirty, hard, desperate—making me come loudly before he spilled himself inside me, and then he lifted me up, still inside, still hard, and moved me to the sofa in the other room, somehow expertly maneuvering around the boxes piled up in the room with single, driven focus.

Once I was on my back on the sofa, he slid out of me, making me twitch, and buried his head in between my legs, lips and tongue vigorous and determined until he made me come once more—the orgasm pouring slowly and heatedly through me like liquid fire in my veins—before flipping me over on the couch, doing whatever he wanted because I was too weak and powerless and needy to have any control over my own body, and he came up over me and pounded into me, making me scream through my third orgasm before I finally dragged myself away from him, stood up on shaky legs, and made it to the studio, having forced myself to leave the flat before I let Scorpius convince me to go upstairs and spend the rest of the day in our huge, new, comfortable bed.

He had breathed wicked promises in my ear before I left, kissing me thoroughly and leaving me weak and tingly as I walked out of the front door, somewhat dazed by everything that had just happened.

Needless to say, I was incredibly late, and I had to listen to a lecture from both Albus and Guy when I arrived, but when I remembered the desperate, needy, lusty sounds that Scorpius had made in my ear not too long ago, I realized it was absolutely worth it.

Because in those moments, Scorpius had known exactly what I needed. And yes it was his tongue and his dirty words and the feel of his hard length fitting perfectly. But more than that, I needed to know there was no space between us, that despite everything, despite Abby being there for him during our separation, despite the insecurity she still instilled in me because of that, no matter how much I tried to fight it, Scorpius had proved then that there was nothing between us, no separation. That it was him, me, us, right now. And forever.

"Rose," Guy said as I finished zipping up my guitar case and waved at Albus, Lysander, and Nate as they headed out the door.

I looked up at him as he walked toward me and sat on the piano bench.

"If you're going to lecture me again about being late, you can save it," I said without malice. "I just moved in with my really hot boyfriend, and I already apologized like five times."

Guy smiled and turned to face the piano, patting the bench next to him as he started to fumble with a few keys with his other hand, tapping out a gentle melody that I recognized as one of our songs—"Leaves"—that Albus had written for our first album.

I frowned and looked at his hand before I moved hesitantly to sit next to him.

"If this is about tour, Guy, I told you I'm not ready—"

He held up a hand, and I saw the beginnings of his sleeve of tattoos as the long sleeve of his black henley slipped down a bit. "Play with me for a minute," he said simply.

I sighed, and lifted my hands to join in the harmony of the song. We played for about a minute before Guy spoke to me over the gentle tune.

"How's everything going?" he asked, eyes still on the keys.

I looked over at him for a moment before I turned my head back and looked out the window behind the piano, watching as a bit of snow fell outside.

"Amazing," I said quietly. "Better than I ever expected."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw as he glanced down for a moment at the ring on my finger—Scorpius's promise that we would be together forever—the non-engagement engagement ring that Albus had screamed at when he first saw it. Guy hadn't commented so far, and as we sat there, I thought he would—braced myself for it—but all he said was, "The move went well?"

"Perfectly," I said.

Guy nodded. "And Scorpius is okay? With his mother and everything?"

I nodded a bit. "He's still really sad and he misses her, and I think he's going to grieve for a while longer." I swallowed. "But he's doing a lot better."

He stopped playing and turned his head to look at me for the first time since I sat down next to him. "And you?"

"What about me?" I said, continuing to play, not wanting to meet his eyes, not when I heard that tone in his voice.

"How are you?"

When he put his hand over mine—his thumb brushing against my ring—I stopped playing and looked at him, alarmed at how close he now seemed to be. I stared into his olive green eyes, seeing the concern there, along with something else that I refused to acknowledge, that I refused to put a label on, because if I did, that would just make things complicated and difficult, particularly for the band, and I wanted things to be simple and normal after I had gone so long without that.

"I'm happy," I said quietly as he gazed at me, his brow furrowed slightly. "Happier than I can ever remember being," I said, not wanting to hurt him, but knowing that I had to be honest.

"Are you sure?" he asked, nearly a whisper. And for a moment, I flashed back to Scorpius panting those words, desperate and laced with desire just hours before, as he asked if he could fuck me on the sideboard in the home we now shared together, as if there was anything in the world that I would rather do than feel connected to Scorpius in all the most beautiful and loving and carnal ways possible.

I swallowed, trying to push down the memory at least until I could get home to him, and when I opened my mouth to speak, I jumped when I heard a knock on the window that separated the room from the sound booth. I practically leapt out of my skin when I saw Scorpius standing there right before he pushed open the door, frowning at the sight of Guy and I sitting so close. I realized that his hand was still clasped over mine and I pulled it away slowly before turning away from him and standing up to walk over to Scorpius.

"Scorpius? What are you doing here? What's wrong? Is Leo okay?"

He frowned, glancing between Guy and me, before he shook his head slightly and walked toward me, cupping my face in his hands, the darkness in his eyes at seeing me with Guy sweeping away as I saw his eyes light up with eagerness and excitement.

"Rose," he said, smiling in spite of himself.

"Scorpius, what's wrong?" I asked again, trying not to smile at how giddy he looked.

"We have to go to Norway," he said, breaking into a full grin. "I think I know how to break the curse."

Scorpius had had quite the busy morning and afternoon after I had gone to the studio.

I had known that Scorpius and Abby had been spending time together occasionally since she had moved to London. It was something that I had struggled long and hard to come to terms with. It wasn't about being jealous of Abby in the sense of worrying that Scorpius had feelings for her or that she had feelings for him—I knew that Abby wasn't attracted to Scorpius and I knew that Scorpius loved me in a way that didn't leave room for anyone else. I knew that, deep in my heart that was something I knew, and that made it better.

But even before I had found out that Abby was a lesbian, that wasn't particularly the jealousy I had felt. Yes, there had been a time when I had worried that Abby and Scorpius had had some kind of fling together while he was in America, but if I had been forced to examine myself I would have known that that was never even remotely a possibility. Even in his pain, even in our separation, and even later, in my profound jealousy, I knew, deep down, that Scorpius never would have done anything like that. But that irrational thought at the time that maybe he had, had really stemmed from my jealousy that was more about her being with him when I wasn't. Knowing that she had been there for him and had listened to him and made him feel better when he was upset was deeply and astoundingly unsettling and upsetting to me. It was heartbreaking to know that he had been in pain and he had turned to her, he had found solace in her when he should have found it in me. And I tried to be okay, I tried to tell myself that it was good that he had had someone and it was good that he had built a lasting friendship with a person who had given him relief when I couldn't.

I tried to tell myself that, but sometimes it still hurt.

But when Scorpius told me that most of the time they had spent together had been spent researching the curse, I had been stunned. I had been under the impression that Scorpius had given up on finding a way to break the curse, but apparently when Abby came back, she had convinced him that he was an idiot and that he should keep finding a way to break the curse until he physically couldn't anymore, that giving up was absurd and cowardly. And once she found out about Leo, Scorpius had told me that afternoon as we were packing that she had convinced him that that was an even bigger reason to try and find something.

I hated that I was grateful to her. I hated that I was overwhelmed with love for her in that moment, knowing that she was able to convince Scorpius to actually research the curse and keep working toward a cure. But more than anything, I hated that jealousy that crept up again, that jealousy of knowing that she was the one who was able to convince him, that she had been the one that he had spent all those hours researching with when he had refused to do it with me. I knew that it was stupid and borderline petty, but I couldn't help but wonder what was so special about her that made him want to work with her for a way to break the curse when he had outright refused me even after I had begged him more than once.

After Scorpius's mother had passed, I had stopped pressing, stopped asking him for information or for what he had learned when we had been apart, but he hadn't stopped. In fact, that's when he had begun, and I understood a bit now that that had been a part of his coping mechanism, that it had been a way to take his mind off of things, and I couldn't be upset about that despite, again, wondering why he wouldn't come to me.

That afternoon when Abby and Scorpius had been spending time together and researching the curse, from what I understood, they had discovered something that might make a difference in the potion that Abby's grandfather Maynard had created.

Scorpius had explained everything that had happened in New Orleans one night when he had been unable to sleep a few weeks after his mother's funeral. We'd stayed up all night talking, and I didn't know the next morning if I was exhausted from lack of sleep or exhausted from all the information that I had taken in that night.

I knew about Abby, I knew about Maynard, and I knew about the potion. I knew that it hadn't worked, and I knew how devastated Scorpius had been after he had found that out. I knew that Maynard had said—in not so many words—that that potion was the final hope of breaking the curse.

But apparently Abby had found a book. It was modern, written in the last couple years or so, about curse breaking—not familial curses in particular—and in that book of fairly modern research that Maynard may not have known about, Abby had found a link, a link that had led Scorpius to believe that the only way we could break the curse was to go to Norway.

After they had found this "link"—that Scorpius had yet to explain at this point—Scorpius and Abby had apparated to New Orleans, hoping to gather some of the remains of the potion that Maynard had made, which, luckily, he had still had, tucked away safely. And after that, he had taken Leo to the Manor after explaining everything to his father and said that he and I would be gone for a few days. When I had asked why he took Leo to the Manor and not to my parents' house, he had just shrugged and looked away before saying a sentence that had practically broken my heart.

"I thought having Leo around would make him feel less alone."

And that was all Scorpius had had time to explain.

Now we were walking up a steep grassy hill toward a huge house that looked a bit like a small castle, Scorpius was carrying our bags on one arm, including a large vial of the potion from Maynard in one of them, and I was struggling to keep up with his long, determined strides while trying to get a glimpse of the land around me.

There were trees everywhere and lush green grass on either side of the dirt path that led up the hill and toward the house. It reminded me of manors I had seen in books about Medieval Europe, stories of serfs and fiefdoms and lords and ladies.

"Scorpius," I said, breathless as I tried to keep up with him. "Where are we?"

He had explained that we had to go to Norway because that was where Cepheus and Eydís's story began, and according to the family records, this was there Cepheus and his family had lived.

"Cepheus's father Corvus was a wealthy landowner," Scorpius explained as he kept his quick pace ahead of me. "A lot of people worked his land in exchange for housing and jobs."

"Okay so slaves, basically," I muttered. "Typical Malfoys."

Scorpius glanced at me sharply over his shoulder and I flashed him an innocent smile.

"Anyway, according to the records and maps of the first Malfoys, this"—he pointed to the enormous, sprawling building about half a mile away from us at the top of the hill—"is the main house on the property where Corvus was the Lord of the entire manor until Cepheus married and Corvus moved into a smaller house on the outskirts of the land."

"What about his mother? Corvus's wife?"

"She died shortly after the curse was cast," Scorpius said over his shoulder.

I frowned as he went on.

"So this is Corvustad," Scorpius said as he spread one hand out to indicate the entirety of the land we were on, and that's when it hit me. "Where Cepheus lived."

"Wait a minute," I said, taking a few quick steps forward and grabbing Scorpius's arm so he would stop and face me. He frowned in question, and I arched an eyebrow. "Do you mean… is this the original Malfoy Manor?"

Scorpius grinned.

"Who lives here?" I asked when we were finally standing in front of the grand oak and iron door that led inside the house. There was a long old fashioned rope that hung down on the right side of the doorway with an oblong block of wood attached to it, which I correctly assumed was the doorbell.

"According to the family records, a woman named Beatrice Rune began renting out the place in 1871 and her great granddaughter now lives here. Thalia."

"How sure are you that your information is correct?"

Scorpius looked offended as he pulled hard on the long rope and looked at me over his shoulder. "Malfoys keep immaculate records."

I rolled my eyes as he turned back and I crossed my arms, trying to stop my hands from shaking when there was just too much adrenaline running through me.

We stood there for about a minute as I fought not to bounce with eagerness and Scorpius just stood there, patiently, not giving anything away, even though I knew from the rigidness of his back that he was fighting hard against showing what was going on inside. After a few more moments I grew impatient and reached forward to ring the bell again.

Scorpius looked at me, amusement faint in his eyes, and I shrugged, too amped up to care.

After another minute I was about to ring the bell again when the door began to open slowly, creaking as it did.

So bloody dramatic, I thought, fighting another eye roll.

A moment later, a tall, beautiful, willowy woman with long white hair stepped in front of us in the doorway. She was probably in her sixties or seventies, but her heart-shaped face was quite striking, with hard lines and sharp angles everywhere. She was wearing a long off-white cotton frock that somehow made her hair look even whiter, with a high neck, capped sleeves, and thick cotton lace overlaying the bodice from the waist up. Then it hung down in thick pleats from her waist and ended in a bit of lace trimming at the bottom. She wore a dark blue shawl over her shoulders and was holding it around her as she stood in front of us. She would have looked almost anachronistic anywhere else, but standing in the grand entryway of this medieval-looking building, she fit, and it was me in jeans and a jumper and Scorpius in black sweatpants and a gray hooded jumper that looked out of place.

Her eyes met mine first and she frowned slightly, seemingly taking in all my features, looking directly in my eyes for just a moment, just a moment, but her look was so piercing that it stunned me for that short period, and I couldn't look away because they pinned me, almost glowing blue as they narrowed in on me, slightly upturned at the outer edges, focused but also distant. They were arresting, and I had never seen anything like them. And briefly I wondered how many other people in her life had been trapped by her gaze.

I expected she wasn't used to visitors, especially young visitors who clearly weren't from the area but knew exactly where this house was and who lived here. She seemed wary of our presence, but also incredibly, highly alert, and just ever so slightly pleased.

Then her eyes traveled to Scorpius, and I watched as something passed through them—uncertainty, perhaps, shock, but most importantly, recognition. But as soon as those emotions passed through, they were gone, and it was my turn to frown, watching this mysterious woman who was now studying Scorpius more thoroughly than she had studied me.

"Ms. Rune," Scorpius said, smiling a charming, polite smile and extending his hand. She gazed at it briefly before she extended her own hand and put it in his. He turned her hand over in his and leaned down to kiss lightly on her knuckles. I gaped at him, having never, ever seen him perform that gesture before, and when I looked at Thalia, I noticed that her cheeks had pinked just a bit—it wouldn't have been noticeable but for her pale skin. Obviously she hadn't gotten much male attention over the past few years, and having a guy who looked like Scorpius to be the one to give it to you, I knew from experience, could be an incredible feeling.

When he stood up straight again, he dropped her hand slowly and took a step forward. Apparently he planned on flirting his way inside this house. I glared at the back of his head.

"I'm Scorpius M—"

"Malfoy."

Scorpius faltered—I only knew because I saw the backs of his shoulders jerk slightly and then stiffen—"You know me?" he asked.

Thalia laughed lightly—a delicate, flowery sound that matched well with her delicate features and milky white skin—and shook her head. "No. I've just known several other Malfoy men over the years." She reached out and cupped his face, and I tried not to growl. "You all certainly do have dominant features," she murmured before she dropped her hands. "It's amazing how they carry from generation to generation."

"How many other Malfoys have you known?" I asked before I could stop myself. "You can't be much older than our parents, certainly not our grandparents."

Thalia looked at me, her eyes appraising, and I felt suddenly a bit sheepish, though I wasn't sure why.

"And who might you be?" she asked graciously, stepping toward me.

"Oh," I said. "Rose. Erm, Weasley? Rose Weasley?"

She smiled. "I'm Thalia Rune," she said, extending her hand. I shook it and she held it for a moment. Her grip was sure and strong and warm. "Just Thalia." She gazed at Scorpius. "None of this 'Ms. Rune' business." Scorpius smiled and she turned back to me, her intense eyes holding me to the spot yet again, but they didn't make me nervous despite the feeling of not being able to look away. And it made me realize why I had felt sheepish before—it was the way she looked like she could see right through me, to all my secrets, her eyes drawing me in, but I felt, looking in her eyes, like she could protect me from just about anything.

"Looks can be deceiving, Rose," she said to me after a moment. And before I could respond she angled her body so she was facing both of us, and I noticed vaguely that her hand was still gripping mine. "I imagine you didn't just come to see me so you could get a look at your old family house," she said, more to Scorpius than to me. "So why don't you two come in? I'll have Sam set out two more places. I was just about to sit down for tea."

"Thank you, Sam," Thalia said to the thin, slightly hunched, older man who brought in the tray of tea. He set down the tray on the round table, where Thalia sat on one side and Scorpius and I were opposite her, sitting closely, thighs pressed against each other, which was the only way I knew how nervous he actually was despite his cool and charming demeanor. His need for nearness always showed me his vulnerability.

I watched Sam as he began to pour tea into each of the cups. He was a small, slim man, maybe about an inch or two shorter than me. His black hair was graying at the temples and he had a smartly trimmed black goatee that was also flecked with gray. He was wearing a neatly tailored tuxedo and despite his small stature he would have been slightly daunting if not for the obvious kindness and warmth in his green eyes. And when he said, "Would ye loch sugar ur milk?" in his thick Scottish brogue, I was taken aback and I glanced up sharply at him.

"You're Scottish?" I asked, surprised that a Scot would be working for Thalia in Norway, rather than someone from the region.

"Aye, ma'am," Sam said.

"A bit of milk, please," I said. And then, "How did you end up here?"

"I met Sam several years ago when I was traveling in Britain," Thalia said.

"Ah was doon oan mah luck, an' Miss Thalia was kin' tae me when naebody else was."

Thalia smiled at him. "Sam is the kindest, most generous person I have ever met. No one has a bigger heart than my Sam." She patted his hand and he smiled down at her like she hung the sun.

"Well, with an introduction like that," Scorpius said, holding out his hand. "I'm Scorpius."

"Nice to meet you, Sam," I said, taking his hand next. He bowed slightly at me as I said, "I'm Rose."

"It's braw tae meit ye baith," he said.

His accent was so thick that it was almost hard to understand him, but that just made me like him even more than I already did. I could see what Thalia saw in him, how she was drawn to him in the first place. I was drawn to him, like I would be drawn to a kindly old man who told war stories or an old stranger feeding the birds on a bench in the park talking about places he'd been or a person from another country with different cultural experiences to share. He was just someone you could tell there was so much to, even when you hardly knew him.

"Anythin' tae eat, Miss Thalia?" Sam said, turning back to Thalia after he had dropped two spoonfuls of sugar into Thalia's glass and milk into Scorpius's and stood up straight.

"The lemon squares would be lovely, Sam," she said with a smile. And then Sam bowed his head slightly before reaching behind himself and surprising me yet again when he pulled a wand out of his back pocket. He flicked it at the center of the table and a plate of delicious looking cakes appeared in front of us.

As I watched, a thought struck me, and I looked from the plate back to Sam.

"Did you go to Hogwarts?"

Sam looked surprised when I asked the question, and for a moment, his eyes got this far away look before he looked back at me. "'At was a lang time ago, but aye, Ah did."

I grinned. "So did we," I said. "Slytherin," I gestured toward Scorpius. "Gryffindor," I said, gesturing toward myself.

"Ah was a Gryffindor mahself," he said to me, smiling wider and revealing a missing canine tooth.

"Cool," I said happily.

Sam smiled at me a moment longer and then turned to Thalia. "Anythin' else, ma'am?"

"That'll be all, thank you, Sam," Thalia said, smiling at him as he bowed his head again and exited the large library that Thalia had brought us into after leading us down the long, high-ceilinged corridor.

She took a sip of her tea and looked up at us. "So," she said. "What brings you to Corvustad?"

"It's… well, it's a long story," Scorpius began slowly.

Thalia sipped her tea again. "I've got time," she said gently.

Scorpius cleared his throat as Thalia began to reach for one of the lemon squares. "There's a curse," he said, and I noticed that Thalia's hand stilled for just a second and then she continued to reach for the lemon square, placing it onto a small plate in front of her. She unfolded a napkin and placed it gently on her lap before she looked up at Scorpius.

"A curse," she repeated evenly.

Scorpius nodded. "A curse on the Malfoy family."

Thalia looked at Scorpius, her alluring eyes boring into him as he looked back, his hand moving to seek mine out so he could twine our fingers together. I squeezed his hand encouragingly but didn't take my eyes off Thalia as she studied him. Her eyes flicked to me briefly and then she looked back at Scorpius. "Tell me about this curse."

And then Scorpius told her everything he had once told me, about Cepheus and Eydís, about how after a broken heart, Eydís had cast a curse that would take the love from every Malfoy man who married. He explained how it had stayed in the Malfoy family for generations, and how after finding out about the curse, he ended things with me and went in search of some kind of cure, some way to break the curse. He told her about Maynard and how he had created a potion, but that it didn't work and he had believed it had been his last hope.

Until now.

And then he got to the part of the story that even I knew next to nothing about, the part when the hope was renewed, and that renewal had led him right here.

"That's a lot to take in," Thalia said after swallowing a piece of the lemon cake and slowly looking up from her plate to Scorpius. The little squares looked delicious, but I wouldn't be able to eat one with just one hand without looking ridiculous, and Scorpius was squeezing my other hand so tightly that I couldn't let go if I wanted to.

"Tell me about it," I said under my breath, and Scorpius laughed a bit.

"I know," he said.

"It still doesn't really explain what you're doing here, though," Thalia said.

I agreed silently, looking at Scorpius as he nodded and swallowed.

"A friend of mine and I have been doing some research, and a while back we thought we found something," Scorpius said as I watched his profile, ignoring the pang at even the vague mention of Abby. "Today we dug a little deeper." Scorpius let go of my hand for a moment—I flexed it in relief—so he could reach into the bag he had brought into the library (our other bags had been taken into one of the many guest rooms of the enormous house). He pulled out a book and opened it to a page he had bookmarked. "I'm going to…" he looked up at Thalia and then at me for a moment before he looked back at the older woman in front of us. "Is it okay if I just read this bit aloud?"

"Please," Thalia said with a small nod.

Scorpius swallowed and cleared his throat before he began.

"New research has been done in recent years about the impact of magical links in curses. In curses that are particularly personal—familial, generational, love and hate-based, and revenge curses, among others—the magic that generates from the curse is often too powerful to rest in the castee alone. In one study, a wizard in China found that when the castor of a curse cast a curse that made the castor's mother hate the castor's father after many years of abuse, hoping that the curse would cause the mother to ultimately leave the father, the strength and depth of emotion behind the curse made the magic behind the curse too powerful to exist solely in the castee—in this instance, the mother. As such, the magic found its way into a ring that the castee wore, given to her by her mother on her fifteenth birthday. In this instance the hatred the castee had for the father as a result of the curse was so powerful that her thoughts toward the father became murderous, causing the castor to see help in breaking the curse. After many failed attempts, one wizard found magic that had shifted to the ring on a mere hunch, and in using that magic, the curse was broken."

Scorpius finished and grabbed my hand again as he looked at me with excitement written all over his face and then at Thalia, who was frowning deeply.

I could feel the adrenaline slowly start to thrum through my veins as the weight of the text Scorpius had read began to settle inside me. I shifted a bit closer to him and looked between him and Thalia as Scorpius spoke.

"So," he sighed heavily, clearly trying to calm himself. "What we need is some kind of link—a magical link, I think, between Eydís and Cepheus. I believe her magic would have been powerful enough that it would have been too much for Cepheus alone, a broken heart, anger, betrayal." Scorpius was talking fast, faster than I'd probably ever heard him, ticking off his points on his fingers. "And then I remembered," he said, looking at me again and then at Thalia, who was watching him closely. "The Malfoys keep extensive records. It's almost ridiculous, paranoia or something," he muttered the last part more to himself as he released my hand again and reached down into the bag next to his chair again and pulled out another, much larger and heavier book and placed it on the table with a dull thud.

He flipped open to one of the first few pages and ran his finger down the page, his eyes darting, and I leaned in, glancing between the book and him, excitement coursing through me.

"Here," he whispered eagerly before standing and turning the book and himself so that both he and Thalia could read the text. "There's a locket." He glanced at Thalia and then back at the book. He opened his mouth, but then he looked up at me. "The Malfoys keep records of all valuable family heirlooms," he explained. "Furniture, china, flatware, jewelry, whatever. When it leaves the family—if it's gifted or loaned, it's documented."

I glanced at the ring on my finger—the ring that I found myself just gazing at from time to time, smiling like an idiot as I twirled it around or just simply stared—and then I held up my hand.

"Was this documented?"

Scorpius nodded. "Of course," he said simply.

"Bloody paranoid, the lot of you," I murmured as I looked down at the ring and then back up at Scorpius, who was smirking.

"Well, this locket," he said, looking back down at the book, albeit still smirking. "It was documented as 'gifted' during the same year that it was documented as 'returned to vault.'" He looked at Thalia, whose hand was resting gently on the book near Scorpius's hand as she frowned curiously at the text that Scorpius was pointing out. "So what I thought was—"

"Cepheus gave the locket to Eydís, and she gave it back when they broke up," I finished for him, leaning so far forward in my seat that I was liable to slip off at any moment.

Scorpius's head shot to me, and I saw a look of pride and approval in his eyes as he said, "Yes." He stared hard at me, and I knew I wasn't imagining the other look in his eyes because it was one I had seen there many, many times. Desire.

Was it just the fact that I had followed his theory? Or was it just all the excitement of being closer to breaking the curse than he had been in months? What was it that caused that look? Either way, all I could do was stare right back at him.

He didn't take his eyes off me as he moved back to sit next to me, shooting me a heated glance as he gripped the inside of my thigh and then looked back at Thalia, who was still staring at the book. My stomach fluttered just a bit.

"There are two Malfoy family vaults," Scorpius said as I wrapped my arms around the arm that ended between my legs, wanting to be closer since it was the only way I could currently act on how we both felt. "One is at Malfoy Manor in England. It holds all the most valuable Malfoy heirlooms," he said. "And the other is here." He looked at me and then at Thalia, who finally looked up. "The locket was last documented as being here in this house."

I was shocked when Thalia's eyes found mine, rather than Scorpius's. She stared at me, hard and long, her clear blue eyes meeting mine, boring into me, seeming as if she was trying to figure something out, figure me out, and I met her gaze, hoping that she would see in me whatever it was she was trying to see so that she would help us find what we needed to break this bloody curse.

"The locket was here," she said finally.

My heart leapt, pounding hard in my chest, but it plummeted right when she spoke her next words and I realized she had just used the past tense.

"But it was lost many years ago."

She was still looking at me, only me, and I wanted to know why. I didn't understand why she was apparently focusing on me, making sure I heard the words that she spoke. Because I heard them. Loud and fucking clear.

After a moment, Thalia stood, her teacup in hand, startling me with her movement, and she moved to stand next to the fireplace, staring intently at the small fire that blazed there.

"I don't know much, but this is what my estate planner and my appraiser were able to surmise," Thalia began. "Many years ago, one of the Malfoy men was deeply in debt, this we know from the family records. But then, suddenly, the records indicate that he was able to get everything back on track and out of debt. Most of the family didn't question this. They chalked it up to hard work and ingenuity." I heard the rancor in her voice. It was mild, but it was there, and, to me, justified. "But after we discovered that many of the Malfoy artifacts in the vault were fakes, we discovered that in his shame and desperation, he replaced several of the items with the fakes and then sold the real items so that he could bring the family out of debt and save his good name."

Thalia turned and faced us, taking a sip of her tea before slowly walking back to the table and sitting across from us. I could feel the sob welling up in my chest, threatening to escape, wanting to burst forth as the last vestiges of my hope for breaking this curse were dashed right in front of me. And in that moment, I knew exactly how Scorpius had felt that day in Maynard's shop, I knew exactly how it felt to be ridiculously full of hope one moment, only to have it ripped from you the next.

"So, you see, it is lost."

"We can find it," Scorpius said earnestly, clearly still clinging onto the hope that I had already choked on.

Thalia looked at him and then at me. She tilted her head just slightly to one side, regarding the two of us, looking as if she was just seeing us for the first time, anew, seeing something she hadn't seen before.

"You want to get married?" she asked quietly, looking at my hand where it was wrapped around Scorpius's bicep, the ring he had given me visible, before looking back up.

Both of us paused a moment, considering her words, and Scorpius looked at me, eyes full of love and devotion and sincerity, and I looked back at him, holding onto that look, hoping that I never, ever got over the way it made me feel when he looked at me like that. "I don't need to marry her to know that I'm going to spend my life with her," Scorpius said to Thalia, although he still looked at me. I put my arms around his arm tighter as I looked up at him, love seeping in and out of me like waves rolling off the shore. "It's not for us." Scorpius finally looked away and at Thalia. "We have a son, and we want to break this curse for him, to stop this thing from causing any more pain than it already has."

"You have a child?" she asked, her eyes widening slightly.

We both nodded, and Scorpius said, "Two and a half months old."

Thalia stared at us again in that arresting way of hers before she finally spoke.

"You left to protect Rose," she said to Scorpius, again quietly, her voice almost eerie.

Scorpius looked at me again as he said, "Yes."

"It's interesting," Thalia said, making both of us look at her. "From what you told me… it sounds as if Cepheus believed he was leaving Eydís for the exact same reason. To protect her. Very interesting." She regarded us again, and I watched her as she stood up and glided slowly over to one of the bookshelves, hand glancing over the spines until she found the one she was looking for. She looked over her shoulder at us as she pulled the book down, and I gasped as the wall dissolved away to reveal an entrance to a hidden room. She smiled. "Come."

I was amazed at all the artifacts that I found around the room. Scorpius told me emphatically to look and not touch, as many of the items that Malfoys collected often had very dark components and you never knew what kind of magic was contained within what items.

I was like a wide-eyed kid in a candy store, trying to take in everything I saw as best I could with just my eyes, afraid I would get scolded if I got too close. I was staring at a beautiful gold lamp when I heard Thalia call my name. I went over to her to find her holding a small trinket in her hand attached to a long gold chain. I was stunned by what I saw.

"Is that—"

"It isn't the locket," she said.

"No, no," I said, shaking my head. I had seen something like that before, my mother had told me about one she had come across years and years ago. I looked at Scorpius who was standing a bit away from Thalia, clearly only vaguely paying us any attention, and then I met Thalia's eyes again. "That's a time turner."

Scorpius's head shot up from where he was standing looking at an oddly shaped horn a few feet away and immediately he said, "No."

"Scorpius." Both Thalia and I spoke at the same time.

"No," Scorpius said, more forcefully this time.

"Scorpius, please listen—"

"Just hear what she has to say."

"If she's going to suggest that we go back in time, the answer is no."

"Do you want to break your curse?" Thalia snapped, making his eyes jump from me to her. "Because this is the only way," she said, her voice hardening slightly. "I see the way you love each other, and I want to help you. This is the only way I can."

"It's too risky. We could shift the entire timeline of our lives. What if we never meet?" he turned to me. "This locket. It helps get the Malfoys out of debt," he said. "What if it shifts the entire fate of the Malfoys? What if I never become Scorpius Malfoy as you know me?"

I stepped toward him, wanting to calm him and make him feel sure, to understand that this… this was it.

"The locket was one of several dozen items that were traded and sold. Without it there would still be plenty to bring the Malfoys out of debt," Thalia said.

"No," Scorpius said, shaking his head.

I stepped toward him and took his hands in mine. He lifted his eyes to me, looking desperate and uncertain.

"Rose," he whispered.

"Scorpius, it's our only chance," I said quietly. "Listen to me." I reached up and cupped his face in my hands. "I know…" I sighed. "I know we said we were doing this for Leo, for his future, but… Dammit Scorpius, I want it for our future, too. I don't need it. I don't need to marry you, but hell if I don't want it," I said urgently, hoping that he could see, hoping that he could understand how much I loved him and how much being with him meant to me. "I want everyone to know how much I love you, to know you're… mine," I said, watching the heat flare in his eyes at my words. "If there's a chance… I think we should take it."

"Rose…"

And suddenly I remembered words Albus had spoken to me. Words that he had said in order to convince me not to be scared of Scorpius, of us, of what the future might hold. Words that I hadn't realized I had been holding onto like a lifeline since he'd first said them, not until this moment when I knew they were exactly the words that Scorpius needed to hear, just like they had been the words that I had needed to hear.

"Sometimes you have to take risks in life," I said, repeating Al's words. "That's what love is about."

Scorpius sucked in a breath and stared at me, his gray eyes blazing as they searched mine.

And finally he said, "Okay."

I nodded, relief sweeping through me so hard that it made me breathless. "Okay?"

He nodded and I turned to Thalia, who was standing there watching us, with this look on her face like she was watching a movie she had seen a million times. I slid my hands away from Scorpius's face and found his hand so I could hold tight.

"Get some rest tonight," Thalia said. "Sam will make you a nice big breakfast in the morning and you'll go right after."