Hey guys, I'm really, really, really sorry. I have been under so much pressure with school and work and everything else that this fanfic had to be pushed down the priorities list for a while. I'm so sorry for this and I'll work on it I promise! Midterm exams are coming up and now when I should be revising, I'm writing fanfics. Obviously my mind is not exactly sane.

I hope this is okay for now; I'll pick it back up next time I promise! Oh and a quick hello to my ginger friend James, who is constantly reminding me to update this story :)

Scorpius' POV:

{I remember years ago
Someone told me I should take
Caution when it comes to love
I did}

Day 2 Continued.

The doors of the hospital wing opened and Madam Major led Rose's parents and brother in. Hermione and Hugo both rushed to engulf Rose in a tight hug, whereas Ron just stood in silence, staring at the ground.

"Rose, my darling baby girl. Oh Rose," Hermione cried into Rose's hair, I could see they were both crying, and I decided to fiddle with a loose thread on my sleeve.

"Mum," Rose croaked, "Mum I'm so, so sorry, I didn't… I just… I shouldn't have-"

"Shh, you're safe Rose, it's alright now. I'm so thankful you're still here."

"Dad?"

Ron looked up at Rose. He didn't say anything but his eyes began to spill with tears. Every one of us froze, not knowing what to do or say – what do you say to a father whose daughter just tried to take her life? Without another word, he strode over to the bed to hold her in his arms. He kissed Rose's forehead, "I'm sorry."

The family sat in an embrace for a good ten minutes; none of them spoke, but just appreciated each other's presence. I tried not to move, or make any sound in case I interrupted the moment, but of course, I felt a huge coughing fit building up in my chest. The more I tried to hold it in, the more painful it got so I let it out, awkwardly coughing a few times and unfortunately the family broke apart and all turned to look at me.

Ron stood up and came towards my bed. Shit. I flew into an apology, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I just couldn't hold it in!"

Instead of hexing me, or killing me, Ron held out his hand. I looked at it in surprise. Was Ronald Weasley going to give me a handshake? "Thank you Scorpius. I'm sorry."

I shook his hand and nodded, "Uh… I'm sorry too M-Mr Weasley, but as long as Rose is safe, nothing else matters."

The door opened again, and in came my parents; dad was holding mum's shoulders while she was frantically calling my name. Trust her to be making a scene. As if it couldn't get any more tense in the one room.

"Oh Scorpius!"

"Mum, calm down, I'm alright."

"Are you sure? The letter sounded terrible. I thought you were dead, Scor!"

"Well I'm not, hallelujah we can all rest tonight."

She gave me a small slap on the arm, before hugging me tightly. "Don't make light of it Scorpius, I couldn't bear to lose you."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at dad over mum's shoulder. He mimicked my action back and laughed. It was good to see them again, considering I could've been dead at this moment in time. I guess you never really appreciate these things, until something tragic happens and wakes you up. I wriggled my way out of mum's arms and with shaky, weak legs, I stumbled over to hug dad. It felt kind of embarrassing to have so many eyes on me as I wobbled on my own two feet, but I knew it could be a lot worse.

I spent the rest of the day with my parents, it was nice to have them with me and dad had even had a short conversation with Ron. And when I say short I mean, hello-I'm glad they're okay-goodbye short. But short was enough. Things were going to get better, I could sense it, even if Madam Major was worried about my conditions.

The teachers had spent some time trying to reciprocate Rose's deadly spell, but they weren't even sure that it was a real spell to begin with. It had to be though, how can Rose make up a spell, yet it still be cured? It's not that I would doubt that Rose was powerful enough to create her own spells, it's just that, why would she make a spell that could've killed me?

Day 3

Al's POV:

{Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will}

I sat next to the fire in the Hufflepuff common room with Sandy resting her head on my lap. Everyone was exhausted after the past few days, it hadn't been easy nor was it going to be for a long time to come.

It wasn't easy telling Becky and Dave the news, they'd both been out on the quidditch pitch at the time and I think Dave was just about to snap his broom with the grip he had on it when we told them. Becky didn't have anything to say, instead letting a few tears slip and then racing away to the hospital wing, where we were all denied access to. This got Dave mad enough to start trying to blow up the door, and then being taken into Neville's office because of it.

Apparently, we had to wait until the next morning to visit our friends (and cousin, mind you). So all we could do was go to classes, go to lunch, go to classes, go to dinner and then wait for the sun to rise which left Sandy and I eating marshmallows and talking about life by the fire.

"This is such bullshit," Sandy erupted, halfway through eating a marshmallow. "Why can't we see them?"

"They need to be with their families, hun."

"But you're Rose's family!"

"Let me correct myself," I laughed, "Immediate family."

She rolled her eyes and continued eating. I wrapped my hand around her growing stomach. 5 months. 4 months and our child would be here, kicking and screaming for our love, which I would give to them for the rest of my life.

As if I the baby could hear my thoughts, I felt a few small flutters hit my hand. I froze. "Sand,"

"What?"

"Baby, moving," was all I could choke out.

Sandy pushed my hand out of the way to feel it "I can't feel it, it's stopped."

I put my hand on hers and smiled widely. My baby – our baby – was moving. It really put things into perspective, how precious life is. This small, living person that I created suddenly became so much more real. This person has arms and legs and a brain and a heart and I'm responsible for them, for who they become.

Our unborn baby had responded to my touch – no, I do not care how corny you think I am – and it was like the light had been turned on; some of the sadness had just melted away.

It also made me think about how Rose was irresponsible enough to end her life, a life her parents poured all their time and money and love and knowledge into. I couldn't imagine finding out that my child tried to kill themselves, Hermione and Ron must be in so much trauma over this.

"He must like you more than me," Sandy pouted.

"He?"

"I know we're keeping it a surprise, but I think it's a boy."

"What about a little girl?" I asked.

Sandy shovelled a few more marshmallows into her mouth, "Well I just have a feeling about it, a little Albus."

I'll admit it made my heart jump a bit.

"You know what, I can actually picture a mini me carrying our rings down the aisle at our wedding," Sandy stopped eating and looked at me. "I mean, well, depending on when we get married that is."

"I think it would be great Al, but I don't know, I feel like I want to raise our baby as a married couple. I just don't want him to be 4 years old and us still only be boyfriend/girlfriend."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I don't want us to be a yes, no, maybe couple while the baby is growing up. I wanted us to be a sure thing, not just a possibility," Sandy said.

"So you're saying you want to get married soon, like after the baby's born?"

She shrugged before nodding sheepishly. "Well alright then, I'm in," I smiled.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," I kissed her forehead.

Things were really going to start moving fast now, and I didn't know if that was good or bad.

Day 4

Scorpius' POV:

{I raise my flags, don my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose
We're painted red to fit right in
Whoa}

Finally, visitors were allowed to come in. Madam Major had been wary of bombarding Rose with curious and distressed friends. Rose agreed yesterday that seeing her parents was enough, and that other family and friends could visit in the next few days.

Pretty much anyone and everyone we were close with stopped by, and the sweets and flowers piled up. Rose couldn't understand why people were giving her flowers.

"It's not like I'm gone, are they trying to tell me something?"

I wasn't sure whether Rose had gotten better or worse. She seemed to be sarcastic towards the whole situation, and I don't know if I just didn't expect it, or if she really needed more help. She seemed fine, eating, sleeping, talking – everything you could ask for her to be doing. But it seemed too strange. Who nearly kills themselves and then shrugs it off as a mistake? It's more than a bloody mistake!

As for me, it still pained to walk. Apparently I'd made it worse by exhausting myself, but of course it was worth it. I just hoped it would stop soon, even though Madam Major had no idea why I was still having troubles. More tests. More time of school. More time to look after Rose. 2 out of 3 I could live with and that was enough.

Rose's parents had taken Rose out for butterbeer in hope that it would let her fall back into normality and I took the opportunity to sneak in a nap. I didn't know why, but my protective instincts always kicked in once Rose fell asleep and I had to watch her for most of the night. Perhaps it was because she was so defenceless in her sleep or maybe I had a fear that if I fell asleep that she would try something dangerous again. I honestly couldn't figure it out, but I had to have more trust in her.

Madam Mayor rushed through the hospital wing as I was drifting to sleep and much to my annoyance, it was me she wanted to see.

"Scorpius, I need to have a word with you."

I rolled over in the bed to face her, not opening my eyes. "What is it Madam Major?"

She took a deep breath, "Well, I've been studying your tests, Scorpius, and I'm a tad worried about your results."

This made me sit up. "What have I done?" I stressed.

Madam Major shifted uncomfortably on the bed she sat on before looking at me with sad eyes, "There's absolutely no improvement Scorpius, no whatsoever. Nothing is getting better; in fact, your symptoms are getting worse with time. I fear that you may not be able to walk soon unless we find a cure. I'm very sorry Scorpius; this is a different type of magic, one we don't know about. When Rose gets better, we'll be able to use some memory charms to see everything she was doing as she cast the spell, but until then I need you to try your hardest to improve please Scorp. Try and don't stop."

I couldn't speak. Not be able to walk, that couldn't be right. That couldn't happen to me, I needed to be able to move! This was all Rose's fault; I was going to be left motionless from the waist down because of Rose and her fucking mistakes. I don't know why I was blaming Rose for it, but everything had piled up and I'd finally crushed under pressure.

As if luck would have it, Rose entered the room with a stupid smirk on her unharmed face. "Hey Scorp, I thought you'd be asleep- oh what's wrong?"

"Rose, we need to talk."

I don't even expect you to review this one, but if you're that generous I'd probably cry with joy.

Thank you for sticking by this fanfic for all this time; if you don't give up on it, I won't either!

Love,
Alicia xx