The curse was in Scorpius's bloodstream. His kidneys were supposed to recognize the threat and cleanse it, but the curse had rendered his kidneys inactive. What had to be done was a muggle procedure called dialysis. It was used to clean the bloodstream when kidneys weren't working.

All they had to do was clean Scorpius's bloodstream of the dangerous cells carrying the curse in his body, and he would recover.

So Rose watched through the window outside the room where Scorpius's blood was being drained, then cleaned and replenished through some muggle contraption.

He looked so small, lying there in the white bed. Rose had never associated 'small' with Scorpius, before. It was foreign. A novel concept and a ridiculous one at that. He was too tall, too big, had too great of a presence to be small. Yet, as Rose stood there at the window, he looked tiny and meek, as if he had not the power, nor the strength, to get out of that bed.

Rose turned at the hand she felt on her shoulder. "Hi, Dad," she mumbled.

"Hey, Rosie," he said. "How's he doing?" he nodded his head towards his son-in-law.

Rose shrugged. "He's going to be okay. He just…he looks so small," she confided, her voice sounding pitiful to her own ears.

Ron spun his daughter around by her shoulders to face him. "Listen to me, Rosie, he's alright, he's going to be okay." He gave her an encouraging smile.

Rose nodded and her spine straightened. "He'll be fine."

Scarlett O'Hara had nothing on Scorpius; he was a survivor.


Scorpius was cleared to go home two days later. He'd woken up only a few hours after the dialysis had been completed, free of the curse, but Healer Lottson and the other healers working (being trained) on his case had wanted to keep him longer, just to be sure.

He was ridiculously thankful to be away and free from St. Mungo's. In one spirited moment he'd shouted to Rose, with way too much glee for someone with three children (according to his parents, not Rose or Scorpius), "I'm never going back there! Ever, ever, ever! Never! You can't make me!"

Now, they were just at their house, enjoying being with their family.

Hugo was sitting at her kitchen table, something Rose was still shocked about. She kept turning and checking to see if he was still there every five minutes.

Hermione was sitting with Hugo, Cassie, and Kate at the table, teaching her granddaughters how to make cookies.

Ron was in the living room, arguing with Draco over the best way to teach Mia how to ride a broom. Scorpius had already done that, so the argument was futile, but completely predictable and typical of the two of them. While they had managed to patch up a lot of their problems and apologize for just about everything, both Ron and Hermione still couldn't go to Malfoy Manor because of the terrible memories and some things - like arguing - just stuck. Draco had apologized for the ordeal that had gone on there and explained (though neither of them had really forgiven him at that point – it took years after that).

Astoria was sitting quietly in an armchair in the living room, watching everything going on with a small smile of serenity on her face.

Scorpius was, like his mother, just sitting happily, content to observe everything going on. Rose sat on the arm at the edge of the couch, just next to Scorpius, occasionally interjecting into Ron's and Draco's argument and tickling Mia.

"It's good to be home," Scorpius whispered into Rose's ear.

Rose smiled at him and brushed some hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, it is. Try not to scare me like that, again."

Scorpius just rolled his eyes, but accompanied the action with a sheepish grin. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." He paused for a moment. "Did Al contact you about having dinner with him and Jessie?"

"No," she replied, puzzled. "Was he supposed to?"

"I dunno. He came by the office the other day, saying he wanted us and the girls to have dinner with he and Jessie. Apparently, he wants us to get to know her."

Rose scoffed. "We do know her. We went to school with her. She broke his heart, way back when."

"That's what I said." Scorpius was all set to rest his case, at this point. He wanted to believe that she would disappear relatively soon enough.

"First Louis, then Al, next it'll be Hugo, at this rate," Rose said.

"Louis?"

"Oh," Rose went beet red. "Lily mentioned she saw him snogging someone a few months ago; she told me while she was staying here when you guys were all off on the auror mission. He still hasn't said anything, obviously, so maybe it was a one-off or something."

"Who was it? Anyone we know?"

"Er, yeah, but it's not such a great thing to be shouting right now," Rose glanced around at the parents and kids (and one brother) in the room. She doubted any of them knew about Louis's boyfriend. Assuming he was a boyfriend.

Three hours later, after everyone except for the occupants of the house had left it, Scorpius and Rose lay in bed, only one of them attempting to fall asleep, apparently.

"So, who was Louis with?" Scorpius pestered.

Rose laughed. The only person with more curiosity than she possessed, was Scorpius. It was incredibly helpful for being an auror, but it made him a bit paranoid and relentless.

"No telling anyone, promise?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I promise."

"Eric Hensworth."

Dead silence. Then, "Isn't he that Ravenclaw who would sometimes help James, Callie, Louis, and Fred play pranks?"

Rose nodded.

"Oh, well, good for him." Another pause. "Wait, since when is he gay? Wasn't he practically engaged to Gloria Ramirez a few years ago?"

Rose nodded again. "Yeah, don't you remember in like, our sixth year, and we were all drunk and playing truth or dare and James dare Gloria to kiss me and Louis was all 'no, that's my girl' while the rest of you just cheered?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said with a wistful smile on his face. "Good times."

Rose rolled her eyes. Every 'good time' in the stories from Hogwarts, according to Al and Scorpius, had something to do with going overboard on the booze and girl-on-girl action. They never wanted to mention all the sweet, sentimental good times that actually meant more to all three of them. They were such men.

"But…I mean, the Weasleys are probably the most accepting and supportive family in existence. Why wouldn't he just, well, come out? It's not like whatever he says is going to make anyone love him less."

Rose laughed. "Fleur would probably love him more. And Dominique would be ecstatic. Fred, James, and Callie would probably be a little annoyed that he hadn't told them before, or maybe he has," Rose conceded, "but everyone will still love him and care about him."

Scorpius shuffled around in the bed and Rose laid down next to him, finally finished changing into her pajamas.

"Well," Scorpius yawned, "we're not going to figure it all out tonight. Let's just get some sleep. Chances are, everyone but us already knows."

Rose chuckled sleepily. "Not with this family's gossip wheel. Besides, Lily clued me in, thinking she knew some big secret. If Lily didn't know, the chance is that not many others, did."

"True," Scorpius mumbled. Seconds later, his snores overtook the room.

Rose snuggled into Scorpius's side, draping a hand lightly on his chest as she, too, let sleep overtake her.